In an increasingly digital world, reducing paper consumption and productions seems like a good option. However, cutting out paper is not always just an issue of sustainability. Electronic voting in developing countries is a means of preserving democracy.
Electronic voting (e-voting) in developing countries is quickly gaining traction to replace paper-based voting. The technology is flexible. Citizens are able to vote remotely via the internet or use a variety of electronic kiosks. Developing countries’ reasonings behind making this switch lie in various prevailing issues around the world. These include election corruption and ballot cheating, low voter turnout or political violence.
Many developing countries historically experience rigged or unsuccessful elections. However, electronic voting in developing countries may hold the key to not only average but high voting rates. If implemented efficiently, it could appeal to youth voters and encourage marginalized people to vote. In addition, it could allow voting in different languages with instant translation features (a major advantage in countries with multiple native languages). There has been much success in the endeavors of electronic voting in developing countries.
India
India boasts a population of over 1.3 billion. Despite this, the country’s transition to e-voting is often hailed as an example of successful political technology. Experimentally implemented in 1998, India’s e-voting has skyrocketed to success in recent years. India’s main motivation for pursuing e-voting stemmed from the recurring high costs of paper-based elections and to “strengthen the electoral process” in general. This optimistic goal proved largely successful.
According to a 2017 study by Brookings, “the introduction of EVMs [Electric Voting Machines] led to (i) a significant decline in electoral fraud, (ii) strengthening the weaker and vulnerable sections of the society and (iii) a more competitive electoral process.”
Three major issues in previous Indian elections prompted these necessary solutions. Citizens would stuff ballot boxes, which led to untraceable fraud. Women, disabled citizens and lower castes were discouraged to vote since their ballots would often be deliberately uncounted by human talliers. Finally, as a result of years of voting fraud, politicians did not have much competition because fraudulent elections created a monopoly around the majority candidate.
E-voting largely solved these issues. The machines only register five votes each minute to combat virtual ballot stuffing. Marginalized groups are encouraged to vote since their vote will not be counted by a biased and politically motivated person. More candidates have a better shot at being elected due to the higher representation of all voices.
Philippines
Electronic voting in developing countries, such as the Philippines, also serves as a model of success. After implementing e-voting through the British company Smartmatic, the country’s 2016 election brought 81% of the Philippines’ 100 million people to the polls in a record turnout. At the time, the election stood as “the largest electronic vote-counting project in history.”
Aside from the high turnout, the election also broke a record for the fastest voting count. The e-voting machines immediately tracked and published the results online as votes came in. The technology was also carefully surveilled preceding and during the election with the aid of more than 200,000 citizen volunteers to prevent crashes.
After the election, Smartmatic CEO Antonio Mugica lauded the victory, calling it “a landmark in electoral automation with the largest ever manufacture and deployment of Vote Counting Machines making this a truly historic moment.”
While the Vote Counting Machines experienced widespread technical difficulties in the country’s 2019 midterm election, Filipinos are working to get their machines up and running in order to produce another smooth election like in 2016.
Nigeria
Nigeria looked to implement e-voting in the 1990s due to concerns that plague many African nations. It is among many countries in the continent that consistently report election violence, ballot stuffing, government-manipulated results and voter suppression as pressing issues in elections.
Nigeria formed the Independent National Electoral Commission to integrate Electronic Voting Systems into their elections. The group plotted out polling locations across the country. They used a Geographic Information System technology to map out the country’s population density to more accurately monitor the votes coming in from all areas.
While e-voting is still in its infancy in Nigeria, “it has been considered a necessity and as the only solution for credible elections.” The initial instating of e-voting proved largely unsuccessful in Nigeria. However, technology is seen as a promising means to curb the overflow of political violence and issues rampant in the country’s elections in the future.
Problems with and the Future of Electronic Voting in Developing Countries
While electronic voting in developing countries has promoted healthy, democratic elections in many instances, it is not without its problems. Technology, especially the type being sent to developing countries, has an easy tendency to glitch and lend itself to user errors for those unfamiliar with the technology.
Furthermore, many countries have used e-voting to combat top-down corruption. However, the technology would still be under the jurisdiction of the government. Therefore, it carries the potential to be just as rigged and produce more fraudulent, difficult-to-trace results. E-voting also makes recounting virtually impossible due to the lack of a paper trail.
However, many developing countries have nonetheless used this technology to their advantage. They are in the process of making e-voting a dependable reality. Namibia, Ghana and Khazakstan are in the early stages of e-voting and hoping to solely run elections with e-voting soon. With the aid of continuing technological advancement, e-voting can hopefully plant a successful footing in developing countries.
– Grace Ganz
Photo: Flickr
Mud-Based Cooking Stoves in Uganda
The Problem
Deforestation in Uganda poses many concerns for the population. With only 10% of Uganda’s population receiving electricity, the only option to create energy to cook food for many people is to cut down trees and burn firewood. The effects of wood-burning stoves in Uganda are detrimental to the population. In fact, Uganda’s National Environment Management Authority predicts that Uganda’s forests will disappear in less than 20 years if the current conditions do not change.
Deforestation creates irregular weather patterns, which can lead to intense droughts and heavy floods during different times of the year. In May 2020, floods affected thousands of people, destroying schools, a hospital, roads and power lines. Irregular weather patterns and storms leave many people without homes, schools to attend and electricity to cook food and conduct other daily activities. This contributes to the issue of poverty in Uganda, as more than 21% of Ugandans live in poverty. The irregular and extreme weather also causes high rates of crop failure in Uganda, which affects farmers who hope to earn money and plant food to feed their families. In the Rwenzori Mountains, floods left soil loose and unfarmable. Since many Ugandans have low incomes and cannot afford many basic necessities, the few crops that they harvest sell for money to pay for schooling for children and other essentials, leaving many people hungry as a result. Additionally, many women in Uganda have respiratory issues due to indoor air pollution from typical wood-burning stoves.
The Solution
After witnessing all the problems that traditional stoves in Uganda were causing, Kyewalyanga was determined to create a solution. He developed a stove using mud, water and straw, all of which are abundant in Uganda. The stove is essentially free to make and easy to build. To make a stove, Kyewalyanga forms the ingredients into small balls and attaches them together around a matooke tree, a common plant in Uganda which is much like a banana tree. As the mud hardens into a chimney, ventilation pockets and combustion chambers, the trunk of the tree rots away, thus forming an oven.
Kyewalyanga’s energy-saving stove reduces the amount of wood needed to cook food by 50%. However, the stove not only helps to reduce the number of trees that people must cut down, but it also provides the population with a sustainable alternative to traditional stoves in Uganda that cause respiratory illnesses and problems among farmers. A woman who cooks for her family of six people described how the smoke-filled walls of her kitchen caused health problems and how she hopes that Kyewalyanga’s stove will help her “get rid of [her] respiratory illness.” Since 2017, Kyewalyanga has created 100 stoves, but he hopes to develop many more in the future to combat deforestation and provide a more healthy lifestyle for the inhabitants of Uganda.
– Shveta Shah
Photo: Flickr
Poverty and Obesity: A Paradox Amid COVID-19
The fact that both poverty and obesity simultaneously rose amid the COVID-19 pandemic, possibly tipping 130 million people into chronic malnutrition by the end of 2020, may initially come across as surprising. Yet, researchers have long documented the paradox of how impoverished individuals experiencing food insecurity are more likely to suffer from obesity than the wealthy. Poverty and obesity often go hand in hand as signs of food unavailability and a lack of healthy eating, respectively, but these conditions of malnutrition also carry more subtle risk factors like unemployment, lower education levels and limited social networks.
The Problem: Food Access, Not Just Food Availability
Food insecurity manifests itself in many ways beyond undernourishment from an insufficient quantity of food — the prominent of which is unreliable access to nutritious, healthy options. With COVID-19 exacerbating pre-existing inequities and inadequacies in global food systems, poor diets and their resultant boosting of obesity present an urgent problem for vulnerable populations in developing countries. “The pandemic is creating a problem not of food availability, but of food access because people will have less income because of the recession,” explained Maximo Torero, chief economist of the UN’s Food and Agriculture Organization.
UN Data further showed that if the trend of limited food access continues, the world’s hungry will surpass 840 million by 2030 — the very same year 193 countries have set as their target by which they will have eliminated all forms of malnutrition. And with disruptions to agricultural supply chains due to COVID-19, governments face growing pressure to take unprecedented action to tackle the worldwide spikes in food prices if they are to meet this target. It is also no coincidence that nearly all of the 50 countries with the most risk for sustained food-price swings have developing economies, according to Nomura’s Food Vulnerability Index.
Healthy eating emphasizes fresh produce and lean meats, ideally locally-sourced with minimal processing and preservatives. However, the agricultural and meat industries were the first and most affected when governments implemented COVID-19 quarantines and travel restrictions. The successive disruptions meant it was more difficult for farms to receive agriculture inputs of seeds, fertilizer and equipment, further delaying production of healthy eating staples: rice, maize, wheat, vegetables and other produce. Producers of unhealthier, more processed foods don’t face the same problem of financial losses from rotting food. Thus, during this time, those foods are more accessible and affordable at the expense of poorer consumers’ health.
The Effects: COVID-19 and Obesity
Unfortunately, the connection between COVID-19, poverty and obesity works in reverse as well. Obesity is a major risk factor for a more severe infection, resulting in higher hospitalization and death rates once one has caught the virus. Most recently, a number of studies and anecdotes have noted obesity as the predominant risk factor in youth, with cardiologist David Kass concluding “in populations with a high prevalence of obesity, COVID-19 will affect younger populations more than previously reported.” The CDC has incorporated these findings by specifying that obesity is just as significant a risk factor for severe COVID-19 illness as a suppressed immune system or chronic lung disease.
Though researchers have mostly focused on the link between COVID-19 and obesity in high-income countries, it may have more devastating effects in the developing world. Not only does evidence show “over 70% of the world’s 2 billion overweight and obese individuals live in low or middle-income countries,” obesity also leads to higher health care costs and lower work productivity, which go hand-in-hand with greater consumption of cheaper, unhealthy food options. The created feedback loop is referred to as the “double burden of malnutrition.” Moreover, as Kass’s findings suggested, the victims of COVID-19 in developing countries are younger. In India and Mexico respectively, less than 12% and 17% of deaths were of individuals older than 75, and both of these countries report much more deaths of middle-aged and younger individuals than the U.S. and Europe do.
Solutions to Improve Global Food Security
One estimate of how much governmental spending is needed to combat COVID-19’s effects on hunger and obesity was $10 billion, put forth by the International Food Policy Research Institute. However, even this amount may be insufficient when considering that food insecurity will only continue compounding if addressing poverty isn’t a cornerstone of the solutions put forth. The World Food Programme has prioritized this need for financial safety nets and social protection programs until investment in nutrition and expansion of social protections. Their Executive Director David Beasley plans to allocate $1.9 billion of already pledged funding to build food and cash stockpiles as a “life-saving buffer,” protecting the world’s poor from food shortages and food-price hikes. They also requested a further $350 million to set up transportation systems, limiting shortages and disruptions in the agricultural industry from occurring in the first place.
In combination with these correctional measures, governments should adopt a preventative approach to addressing obesity. “One of the most effective ways to address obesity and other non-communicable diseases is by ramping up investments in affordable, quality primary health care,” says Dr. Muhammad Pate, Global Director for Health, Nutrition and Population at the World Bank. “This makes sense both from a health and an economic perspective. Putting more resources on the front lines to detect and treat conditions early, before they become more serious, saves lives, improves health outcomes, reduces health care costs and strengthens preparedness.” With these efforts in place, the paradoxical relationship between poverty and obesity may begin to ease.
– Christine Mui
Photo: PXFuel
The World Bank Fragility Forum Addresses Poverty and Fragility
What is Fragility?
There is no simple definition for a fragile setting or context since each fragile region is circumstantially unique. The Fragile States Index (FSI), though, says there are many common indicators that include state loss of physical control of territory or social legitimacy, loss of state monopoly on legitimate force, loss of connection to the international community and an inability to provide basic public services. The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) also explains that there are common characteristics of fragile settings, like extreme poverty, authoritarian regimes, high rates of terrorism, high rates of armed conflict and short life expectancy. The majority of fragile settings currently exist in sub-Saharan Africa, and the Fragile States Index lists Yemen, Somalia and South Sudan as the three most fragile contexts in the world.
Poverty and Fragility
The World Bank explains that addressing poverty and fragility go hand-in-hand. While only 10% of the global population live in fragile contexts, more than two-thirds of the people around the globe who live in extreme poverty live in fragile contexts. Experts expect this figure to rise to 80% by 2030. Poverty and fragility exist in a sort of feedback loop, as it becomes more difficult to escape poverty in a fragile setting given poor living conditions and likely economic ruin, while poverty is also an initial driver of fragility. Global Washington reports that fragility hurts economic productivity – violent conflict caused a 12.4% decrease in economic activity in 2017 alone – and is the main driver of both global hunger and refugee crises.
Fragility Forum Highlights
Three lectures from the Forum in particular address key components of poverty and fragility by looking at case studies: the social and economic inclusion of refugees, the use of country platforms to increase the effectiveness of global aid and the effectiveness of existing economic programs in fragile contexts. These lectures were:
The World Bank Fragility Forum has made the link between poverty and fragility apparent. Hopefully, an increased understanding of how these two topics interlink will help eliminate poverty in fragile settings.
– Emily Rahhal
Photo: Wikimedia
Electronic Voting in Developing Countries
Electronic voting (e-voting) in developing countries is quickly gaining traction to replace paper-based voting. The technology is flexible. Citizens are able to vote remotely via the internet or use a variety of electronic kiosks. Developing countries’ reasonings behind making this switch lie in various prevailing issues around the world. These include election corruption and ballot cheating, low voter turnout or political violence.
Many developing countries historically experience rigged or unsuccessful elections. However, electronic voting in developing countries may hold the key to not only average but high voting rates. If implemented efficiently, it could appeal to youth voters and encourage marginalized people to vote. In addition, it could allow voting in different languages with instant translation features (a major advantage in countries with multiple native languages). There has been much success in the endeavors of electronic voting in developing countries.
India
India boasts a population of over 1.3 billion. Despite this, the country’s transition to e-voting is often hailed as an example of successful political technology. Experimentally implemented in 1998, India’s e-voting has skyrocketed to success in recent years. India’s main motivation for pursuing e-voting stemmed from the recurring high costs of paper-based elections and to “strengthen the electoral process” in general. This optimistic goal proved largely successful.
According to a 2017 study by Brookings, “the introduction of EVMs [Electric Voting Machines] led to (i) a significant decline in electoral fraud, (ii) strengthening the weaker and vulnerable sections of the society and (iii) a more competitive electoral process.”
Three major issues in previous Indian elections prompted these necessary solutions. Citizens would stuff ballot boxes, which led to untraceable fraud. Women, disabled citizens and lower castes were discouraged to vote since their ballots would often be deliberately uncounted by human talliers. Finally, as a result of years of voting fraud, politicians did not have much competition because fraudulent elections created a monopoly around the majority candidate.
E-voting largely solved these issues. The machines only register five votes each minute to combat virtual ballot stuffing. Marginalized groups are encouraged to vote since their vote will not be counted by a biased and politically motivated person. More candidates have a better shot at being elected due to the higher representation of all voices.
Philippines
Electronic voting in developing countries, such as the Philippines, also serves as a model of success. After implementing e-voting through the British company Smartmatic, the country’s 2016 election brought 81% of the Philippines’ 100 million people to the polls in a record turnout. At the time, the election stood as “the largest electronic vote-counting project in history.”
Aside from the high turnout, the election also broke a record for the fastest voting count. The e-voting machines immediately tracked and published the results online as votes came in. The technology was also carefully surveilled preceding and during the election with the aid of more than 200,000 citizen volunteers to prevent crashes.
After the election, Smartmatic CEO Antonio Mugica lauded the victory, calling it “a landmark in electoral automation with the largest ever manufacture and deployment of Vote Counting Machines making this a truly historic moment.”
While the Vote Counting Machines experienced widespread technical difficulties in the country’s 2019 midterm election, Filipinos are working to get their machines up and running in order to produce another smooth election like in 2016.
Nigeria
Nigeria looked to implement e-voting in the 1990s due to concerns that plague many African nations. It is among many countries in the continent that consistently report election violence, ballot stuffing, government-manipulated results and voter suppression as pressing issues in elections.
Nigeria formed the Independent National Electoral Commission to integrate Electronic Voting Systems into their elections. The group plotted out polling locations across the country. They used a Geographic Information System technology to map out the country’s population density to more accurately monitor the votes coming in from all areas.
While e-voting is still in its infancy in Nigeria, “it has been considered a necessity and as the only solution for credible elections.” The initial instating of e-voting proved largely unsuccessful in Nigeria. However, technology is seen as a promising means to curb the overflow of political violence and issues rampant in the country’s elections in the future.
Problems with and the Future of Electronic Voting in Developing Countries
While electronic voting in developing countries has promoted healthy, democratic elections in many instances, it is not without its problems. Technology, especially the type being sent to developing countries, has an easy tendency to glitch and lend itself to user errors for those unfamiliar with the technology.
Furthermore, many countries have used e-voting to combat top-down corruption. However, the technology would still be under the jurisdiction of the government. Therefore, it carries the potential to be just as rigged and produce more fraudulent, difficult-to-trace results. E-voting also makes recounting virtually impossible due to the lack of a paper trail.
However, many developing countries have nonetheless used this technology to their advantage. They are in the process of making e-voting a dependable reality. Namibia, Ghana and Khazakstan are in the early stages of e-voting and hoping to solely run elections with e-voting soon. With the aid of continuing technological advancement, e-voting can hopefully plant a successful footing in developing countries.
– Grace Ganz
Photo: Flickr
5 Businesses that Support Ending World Hunger
Many people in developed countries take things for granted, whether a clear blue sky or a cheeseburger from McDonald’s. However, across the world, approximately 805 million people around the world are undernourished, consuming well under the recommended number of calories per day. Those suffering from poverty often do not have the money to purchase food or land on which to produce it, resulting in global suffering. Some businesses are aware of this issue and want to help make a change, using their influence to make an impact on world hunger.
5 Businesses that Support Ending World Hunger
World hunger is a problem that will not be solved overnight. Companies such as those listed above understand the importance of aiding those who struggle to obtain proper sustenance every day. These five businesses that support ending world hunger have partnered with incredible organizations devoted to providing children and their families with nutritional food and vitamins needed for healthy growth. Through their efforts, they are making a large impact on world hunger.
– Ciara Pagels
Photo: Flickr
Healthcare in Lebanon During COVID-19 and Beyond
The recent economic crisis in Lebanon has led to a massive shortage of medical supplies and hospital capacity, worsening an already strained healthcare system. The COVID-19 pandemic is further intensifying the nation’s economic crash and incidents of supply shortages. However, relief programs are stepping in to help improve health conditions in Lebanon.
Causes and Contributing Economic Factors
Lebanon has held substantial debt since the country began accepting aid to recover from its 1975 civil war. On top of this, Syria and the surrounding region experienced turmoil in 2014 that significantly reduced the value of the Lebanese pound relative to the U.S. dollar. This process has been exacerbated by government mismanagement and the decreasing amount of money being sent in payment from the Lebanese diaspora. The country has now racked up debt equal to 170% of its gross domestic product.
As COVID-19 challenges the global economy, the situation is rapidly intensifying. The value of currency in Lebanon has decreased by 78% since October 2019. The main issue facing healthcare in Lebanon results from the country’s lack of U.S. dollars. Depositors are withdrawing their money from Lebanese banks due to fears of further inflation, bank restrictions on withdrawals to curb the crisis and decreased foreign investments as a result of Lebanon’s perceived instability. Since Lebanon imports four-fifths of its consumer goods and depends on U.S. dollars to facilitate these transactions, the country is now facing shortages in all sectors of the economy, including healthcare.
The Current Hospital Crisis and COVID-19
The Lebanese government cannot pay both private and public hospitals using funds like the National Social Security Fund due to its present debt and currency inflation. This financial setback jeopardizes hospitals’ capacities to provide essential surgeries or import medical supplies. Private hospitals make up 82% of all healthcare in Lebanon. The national government only paid private hospitals 40% of what they were meant to receive in 2019, and has yet to fulfill any of its regular payments this year.
Public hospitals have also received a fraction of their regular government aid in recent years. This lack of funding limits hospitals not only from purchasing critical supplies, but also from paying employees. Hospitals are being forced to delay salary payments and even to consider cutting salaries in half. Lebanese hospitals import 100% of their medical equipment and rely on U.S. dollars for these shipments, so the absence of U.S. dollars has created a supply shortage. Since September, the country has imported less than 10% of the supplies it needs.
The recent rise of COVID-19 has not only left hospitals unprepared to meet increased patient demand, but also places immense strain on healthcare in Lebanon as a whole. Hospitals lack appropriate protective gear like masks and gloves, ventilators and spare parts. Furthermore, without the money to pay their employees full salaries or hire new workers, hospitals are finding themselves understaffed amidst the surge of demand precipitated by the pandemic.
Solutions and Relief
Many organizations like the United Nations (UN) have offered aid to help improve healthcare in Lebanon. The Central Bank has also intervened, guaranteeing half of the money withdrawn for imports will be exchanged at the official rate, rather than the inflated rate, in an effort to help hospitals purchase supplies. In March, the World Bank also gave Lebanon a 39 million dollar loan to prepare public hospitals for COVID-19.
The World Health Organization (WHO) and the UN have committed to help Lebanon obtain medical supplies during the pandemic. The Chinese government also shipped medical supplies to Lebanon and pledged to continue providing relief.
Nonprofit groups are working on the ground to address the needs of healthcare workers in Lebanon. Direct Relief, a humanitarian aid organization that addresses poverty worldwide, delivered a shipment of N-95 masks, face shields, gloves and other supplies in May. Direct Relief will continue to cooperate with local organizations to provide essential resources during the pandemic.
The economic crisis in Lebanon has led to a strained healthcare system. COVID-19 has served to exacerbate the already difficult situation. However, acts of global partnership and aid show promise for eventually strengthening the system of healthcare in Lebanon.
– Emily Rahhal
Photo: Flickr
6 Facts About Hunger in Liberia
Liberia is a country on the West African coast. Neighboring the Ivory Coast, Guinea and Sierra Leone, it spans just under 100,000 square kilometers of land. A long civil war, consistent disease outbreaks and widespread economic instability have led to prevalent hunger and malnutrition. Here are six facts about hunger in Liberia.
6 Facts About Hunger in Liberia
Fighting Hunger in Liberia
While hunger, malnutrition and poverty are persistent issues, many humanitarian organizations such as the WHO, UNICEF and the Action Against Hunger are working toward improving Liberia’s living conditions. Action Against Hunger, for example, recently assisted more than 90,000 people and helped the country’s government implement policies to make progress in alleviating Liberia’s hunger.
Action Against Hunger started Liberian programs in 1990 and has continually improved the lives of hundreds of thousands in the country. One of the prominent programs started by the organization involved training of mother-to-mother support groups to ensure healthy child-feeding practices. With widespread malnutrition, Action Against Hunger also worked with Liberia’s Ministry of Health to implement clean water, sanitation and hygiene improvement programs.
Moving Forward
Hunger in Liberia, while affecting millions every day, is on the path of improvement. With the help of numerous humanitarian organizations, hunger in Liberia will hopefully decrease. The United Nations aims to end hunger and diminish food insecurity in Liberia within the next ten years. Accomplishing this will require a continued focus on decreasing hunger in the nation.
– Omer Syed
Photo: Flickr
10 Facts About Sanitation in Kyrgyzstan
With a population of just over six million people, Kyrgyzstan is a small, mostly rural country in Central Asia, nestled between the fertile Fergana valley and some of the highest mountain ranges in the world. Today, much of Kyrgyzstan’s population does not have access to proper sanitation facilities. However, with a rise in international support, Kyrgyzstan is making hopeful strides towards better health and sanitation. Here are 10 facts about sanitation in Kyrgyzstan.
10 Facts About Sanitation in Kyrgyzstan
While sanitation in Kyrgyzstan remains one of the country’s most pressing issues, it is clear that progress is being made. With continued support, Kyrgyzstan may soon overcome one of its most critical issues, enabling people across the nation to transform their lives for the better.
– Shayaan Subzwari
Photo: Flickr
4 Myths About Overpopulation
4 Myths About Overpopulation
The Population Reference Bureau (PRB)
The Population Reference Bureau (PRB) is one of the largest organizations in the U.S. doing invaluable work. PRB is a private, nonprofit organization that provides information and population demographics that guide global action against overpopulation. PRB, as well as many other organizations, must continue to receive funding to further its work that effectively combats overpopulation.
The four myths about overpopulation show that overpopulation is a complex issue that requires accurate information in order to facilitate effective action. Misconceptions regarding overpopulation can be greatly damaging to our collective understanding of the causes and effects of overpopulation. Overpopulation does not just threaten the environment but eliminates the possibility of economic growth for impoverished areas, due to the strain overpopulation places on education, health and infrastructure. However, organizations like PRB are making progress.
– Lily Jones
Photo: Pixabay
Tackling Tuberculosis in Botswana
Treating Tuberculosis in Botswana
Tuberculosis treatment cures patients by eliminating the presence of infectious bacteria in the lungs. The first phase of treatment lasts two months. It requires at least four separate drugs to eliminate the majority of the bacteria. Health workers administer a second, shorter phase of treatment to minimize the possibility of remaining bacteria in the lungs.
Early identification of tuberculosis is a crucial step in the treatment process and significantly reduces the risk of patient death, according to the Ministry of Health. Preventative treatment methods are vital because they inhibit the development of tuberculosis infection. They also reduce the risk of patient death significantly.
Health workers detect tuberculosis with a bacteriological examination in a medical laboratory. The U.S. National Institutes of Health estimate that a single treatment costs $258 in countries like Botswana.
Involving the Community
Botswana’s Ministry of Health established the National Tuberculosis Programme (BNTP) in 1975 to fight tuberculosis transmission. The BNTP is currently carrying out this mission through a community-based care approach that goes beyond the hospital setting. Although 85% of Batswana live within three miles of a health facility, it is increasingly difficult for patients to travel for daily tuberculosis treatment. This is due to the lack of transportation options in much of the country.
Involving the community requires the training and ongoing coordination of volunteers in communities throughout the country to provide tuberculosis treatment support. Community-based care also improves treatment adherence and outcome through affordable and feasible treatment.
The implementation of strategies such as community care combats tuberculosis. For example, it mobilizes members of the community to provide treatment for tuberculosis patients. The participation of community members also provides an unintended but helpful consequence. For example, community participation helps to reduce the stigmas surrounding the disease and reveals the alarming prevalence of tuberculosis in Botswana.
A Second Threat
In addition to the tuberculosis disease, the HIV epidemic in Africa has had a major impact on the Botswana population, with 20.3% of adults currently living with the virus. Patients with HIV are at high risk to develop tuberculosis due to a significant decrease in body cell immunity.
The prevalence of HIV contributes to the high rates of the disease. The level of HIV co-infection with tuberculosis in Botswana is approximately 61%. African Comprehensive HIV/AIDS Partnerships (ACHAP), a nonprofit health development organization, provides TB/HIV care and prevention programs in 16 of the 17 districts across the country in its effort to eradicate the disease.
Fighting Tuberculosis on a Global Scale
The World Health Organization (WHO) hopes to significantly reduce the global percentage of tuberculosis death and incident rates through The End TB Strategy adopted in 2014. The effort focuses on preventative treatment, poverty alleviation and research to tackle tuberculosis in Botswana, aiming to reduce the infection rate by 90% in 2035. The WHO plans to reduce the economic burden of tuberculosis and increase access to health care services. In addition, it plans to combat other health risks associated with poverty. Low-income populations are at greater risk for tuberculosis transmission for several reasons including:
The WHO emphasizes the significance of global support in its report on The End TB Strategy stating that, “Global coordination is…essential for mobilizing resources for tuberculosis care and prevention from diverse multilateral, bilateral and domestic sources.”
– Madeline Zuzevich
Photo: Flickr