In September 2016, the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) declared antimicrobial resistance (AMR) a major health threat for nations in every part of the world. AMR comes about when bacteria evolve to resist antibiotics used for the treatment of many infectious diseases such as pneumonia, tuberculosis and salmonellosis. According to the Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), AMR can bring harm to people of all types and agriculture, health care and veterinary industries. Antibiotic resistance in Southeast Asia is of particular concern.
Antibiotics have been essential to curing infections ever since Alexander Fleming discovered the first form of antibiotics, penicillin, in 1928. In the developing countries of Southeast Asia, antibiotics often do not have regulation and are available for purchase without a prescription from a physician, which exacerbates the phenomenon of AMR and causes major concern. This is an example of how poverty in Southeast Asia contributes to the antibiotic resistance crisis.
Contributions to Antimicrobial Resistance
AMR is a natural process. With or without the use of antibiotics, bacteria will always evolve to fight for survival by strengthening their resistance or by multiplying. Despite this, humans make AMR worse. A plethora of unnatural issues exaggerates AMR, but there are two that are cause for the greatest concern: unregulated sale of antibiotics and the use of antibiotics not as medicine for humans but as growth promoters and disease treatments in livestock.
Unregulated Antibiotics and Self Medication in Southeast Asia
The World Health Organization Southeast Asia Region (WHO SEAR) includes the countries of Bangladesh, Bhutan, Democratic People’s Republic of Korea, India, Indonesia, Maldives, Myanmar, Nepal, Sri Lanka, Thailand and Timor-Leste. These countries are notorious for selling antibiotics as an unregulated product to the public, a reality of many developing countries around the world. In developing countries, the prevalence of infectious deadly diseases is higher than in more developed nations, making the likelihood of death from these issues higher.
Many consider the countries in Southeast Asia listed above to be hotspots for the spread of AMR. Here, the cost of antibiotics bought over the counter is lower than the cost to visit a physician or health professional. As a result, many self-medicate, making it the leading cause of AMR. Self-medication refers to the use of medication to treat ailments, diseases or infections without the guidance of a medical professional. Without curbing this habit practiced in WHO SEAR, bacteria quickly mutate to resist treatment, leading to more intense illnesses, increased medication prices and death.
The Use of Antibiotics for Livestock in Southeast Asia
In this region, the use of antibiotics in livestock outweighs the use of antibiotics in humans. To keep livestock in countries around the world healthy, farmers commonly use antimicrobials to treat and prevent diseases and decrease mortality in livestock. Though people widely practice this, the countries of WHO SEAR use this technique excessively due to poverty. With weak regulatory laws to govern or survey the effects this has on the AMR crisis, AMR is aggressively growing.
Where previously people ignored it when considering the causes of AMR, livestock antibiotic use has recently become a growing concern across the globe. With recognition came complication: in developing countries, farmers rely on the use of antibiotics to prevent illness or death of their animals so they can continue to make a profit. In Southeast Asia especially, the hard reality is that these issues layer and mix with other issues, such as poverty and food security. Policies regarding antimicrobial consumption in livestock that work for developed nations often do not work in underdeveloped nations, due to the complex differences of cultural differences and locations. It is for these reasons that poverty contributes to antibiotic resistance in Southeast Asia.
Efforts to Slow Antibiotic Resistance in Southeast Asia
Given that this crisis is on a global scale and affecting every nation, some are making efforts to control AMR. Unfortunately, there is no way to stop it completely. There are, however, the WHO’s action plans that can bring light to this topic. WHO has laid out five strategic goals: to increase recognition and understanding of AMR, to increase global monitoring and research, to decrease the prevalence of infectious diseases requiring antibiotic treatment, to improve the use of antibiotic treatment and to create a case for sustainable investment that includes all nations, no matter location or level of development
An example of raising awareness is World Antibiotic Awareness Week. Every year brings the annual World Antibiotic Awareness Week, created by the WHO in 2015. This week in November sets goals to increase awareness and encourage health care providers, policymakers and the public to practice healthy and sustainable techniques to slow the spread of antibiotic resistance in Southeast Asia.
– Anna Giffels
Photo: Flickr
Pressing Freedoms: How a Free Press Reduces Poverty
Strong governments and effective leadership offer lasting improvements for those living in poverty, as they provide social and economic structure for a nation. Efficiency and transparency of government actions and regulations are the first steps toward protecting individual rights. The promotion of transparent governments leans toward a democratic governing system, where citizens may have the right to elect their officials and representatives. The free press and its contributions to democracy in helping to eradicate poverty may not always be at the forefront of aid organizations’ initiatives. Many organizations, however, do recognize that journalists help provide transparency about the states of governments to the people and that a free press reduces poverty.
What is a Free Press and Who Has One?
A free press means that private and public newspapers, magazines or radio programs have the right to report the news without being controlled by the government. This critical freedom from the government’s powers means that the press may act as the people’s eyes and ears for the shifts and changes within the institutions of power.
Unfortunately, more than a third of the world lives under presses that are not free or media coverage that their governments highly control and censor. In the Reporters Without Borders’ 2019 World Press Freedom Index, it is unsurprising that more developed and economically stable countries find themselves at the top of the ranking. Norway comes in first, followed by Finland, Sweden, the Netherlands and Denmark. Ranking at the bottom are countries with highly restrictive governments or some of the poorest nations, such as Yemen, Syria, Sudan and Turkmenistan.
How Does a Free Press Reduce Poverty?
A free press reduces poverty by allowing for an open exchange of information and opinions among ordinary citizens; there is no need for government clearance to learn about the day to day government actions. Journalism provides transparency which helps decrease the risk of corruption in governments and holds them accountable for their actions. A free press helps provide a channel of information about government actions for public assessment and debate. Citizens can see exactly how governments spend taxes or what revenues from big industries they receive. They can even see inside houses of governments where administrators sign laws. Knowledge about the government and freedom to express opinions without fear empowers ordinary citizens.
Debate and exchanging information and ideas is a foundational component of democratic practices. Free presses allow for free debate among the people and not just the political leaders. While debates among community members may not immediately change laws, the debate itself establishes self-autonomy, because everyone participates in conversations and decisions that affect their lives.
Countries with stronger economies and less poverty require strong and stable governments to utilize their resources and to participate in foreign markets. Strong governments strive to enable the political voices of even the poorest populations. Improving governance includes maintaining fair laws, respecting human rights and combating corruption. By promoting all of these, a free press can reduce poverty.
Who is Fighting for Freedom of the Press?
The USAID is one organization that has recognized how a free press reduces poverty. By strengthening journalistic skills, building economic self-sustainability of media outlets and working to legally protect press independence, USAID promotes freedom of the press in 35 countries. The organization’s work in Afghanistan produced a national network of 50 Afghan-owned and operated radio stations.
Reporters Without Borders advocates for a free press in order to promote democracy, development and individual empowerment. It helps journalists gain access to equipment anywhere from bulletproof vests to insurance. Working in countries across five continents, the organization monitors a great number of countries’ treatment of journalists and their rankings of press freedom.
The Windhoek Declaration
Some countries, like Namibia, decided to take matters into their own hands. The 1991 Declaration of Windhoek on “Promoting an Independent and Pluralistic African Press” helped establish a foundation for a free press in Africa by joining the forces of journalists, editors and media owners across the continent. The Windhoek Declaration helped spark the establishment of the Media Institute of Southern Africa (MISA). MISA’s continental email alert system hoped to make the world aware of violations of media freedom as soon as they occurred, bringing national attention to the power and importance of journalists. Inspired by the success of the Windhoek Declaration, similar support for free press like the Declaration of Santiago in Chile, the Declaration of Sana’a in Yemen and the Declaration of Sofia in Bulgaria, soon followed.
The globe recognizes the Windhoek Declaration and leaders of the conference even consulted with the U.N. for the implementation of International Press Freedom Day every May 3rd. The Declaration has inspired and allowed journalists to start their own independent newspapers like MediaFax in Mozambique and The Monitor in Malawi.
The purpose of a free press is to empower ordinary citizens, no matter their economic status. By providing honest information, journalists help hold political leaders accountable and decrease government corruption. Through the democratic power of debate, even the poorest populations can have a political voice.
– Maya Watanabe
Photo: Flickr
New Immigration Proposal from Trump Administration
On July 16, 2019, the White House advisor, Jared Kushner, submitted a new 600-page immigration proposal from President Donald Trump. The administration urged Congress to review and consider the proposal prior to the August Congressional recess.
The proposal’s key aspect establishes a merit-based system for individuals seeking legal entry into the United States, effectively ending legal loopholes in the American immigration system. Kushner acknowledged that though “a 100 percent fix is difficult,” the administration believes its new plan has the ability to fix 90 percent of legal loopholes in immigration legislation.
The American Immigration Crisis
The United States of America has more immigrants than any other country in the world. Forty million people living in the United States came from another country and this number makes up one-fifth of the world’s migrants as of 2017.
Though there is disagreement over the cause of the crisis at the border, there is bipartisan agreement that the situation at the border between America and Mexico is a crisis. In January 2019, a CNN survey found that 45 percent of Americans felt this way, and in July 2019, the survey found that 74 percent of Americans see a crisis at the border. Additionally, the survey concluded that despite partisan divides, there is a majority agreement across party lines supporting a plan to allow some illegal immigrants living in the United States to become legal residents; 80 percent overall agree, including 96 percent of Democrats, 81 percent of Independents and 63 percent of Republicans.
As of May 2019, Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) was detaining an all-time record of 52,000 immigrants in jails around the United States. Two weeks prior, that number was 49,000, indicating a huge spike in jailed immigrants. The Trump administration made a decision to expand arrest priorities to nearly every undocumented individual in America, and as a result, the number of immigrants in ICE custody in the Trump administration has increased tremendously from the Obama administration’s average of 35,000 immigrants imprisoned by ICE.
Passing the Legislation
Previous legislation has focused on supporting humanitarian assistance and immigration enforcement, but with a goal of ending all legal loopholes, the immigration proposal from President Trump asks Congress to address problems that do not have funding. For example, there is no funding for changing asylum laws, indicating that President Trump’s new immigration proposal could face several hurdles to passage.
The immigration proposal from President Trump comes at a particularly partisan moment in Senate proceedings, following an eruption on the House of Representatives floor over Democrats’ decision to denounce a series of tweets from President Trump. Many believe that White House senior advisor Kushner will face difficulty in gaining bipartisan support for the bill due to the persistently rocky waters between Democrats and Republicans in Congress.
– Orly Golub
Photo: Flickr
Six Companies Provide Hurricane Dorian Relief
On September 1, 2019, hurricane conditions emerged within some of the Abaco Islands in the Bahamas. A mere few hours later, the conditions developed into a Category 5 storm named Hurricane Dorian with winds from 185 up to 220 mph, leaving massive amounts of chaos and destruction in its wake. The storm tore houses and buildings from their foundations as if they were cardboard and glue, leaving most of the citizens in the northwestern region of the island displaced and looking for shelter. The disaster also killed at least 50 people and many expect that number to rise as more bodies turn up. Reports state there are 2,500 people missing.
People classify hurricane Dorian as the joint strongest Atlantic storm to ever hit land. Many companies in the United States have made contributions to help the relief efforts, in addition to repairing some of the devastations in the Abaco Islands and Grand Bahamas.
Six Companies Donating to Hurricane Dorian Relief in the Bahamas
Disney: The Walt Disney Company announced on September 3, 2019, two days after the hurricane struck, that it would give $1 million dollars in efforts to help alleviate some of the devastations. The Disney Cruise Line led the donation with its president, Jeff Vahle, releasing a statement saying, “The Bahamas is such a special place to us and our guests, and we have watched the devastation created by Hurricane Dorian with concern and heartache.”
Lowe’s: The Lowe’s Emergency Command Center took action in the midst of the disaster on August 29, 2019. It set up a core team of people working tirelessly to send medical supplies to areas that the hurricane impacted. The company has also committed to sending a $1 million donation to the Bahamian Red Cross.
Verizon: The Verizon company waived all unlimited talk, text and data usage for its customers in the areas that suffered destruction from the storm in the Bahamas. People in this area received waived service from September 2, 2019, through September 9, 2019.
Coca-Cola: The Coca-Cola Foundation announced a $400,000 grant to the Salvation Army in order to send immediate help to those the devastation of Hurricane Dorian affected in the Bahamas. Furthermore, Coca-Cola Puerto Rico Bottling and other CC1 Companies are lending a helping hand to the Coca-Cola Bottler in the Bahamas by organizing donations and supply drives with the help of the Puerto Rican business communities.
Walmart: Walmart, Walmart.org and Sam’s Club pledged up to $500,000 in cash and in kind donations for the country’s recovery. The money that they committed will go to the organizations working directly with those impacted by the disaster. Walmart is also working very closely with government entities and local officials to alleviate the needs of the citizens.
Amazon: In partnership with the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies, Mercy Corps and the Grand Bahama Disaster Relief Foundation, the Disaster Relief by Amazon team is sending two Amazon Air flights full of supplies to the areas Hurricane Dorian impacted. The planes will contain tarps, buckets and water containers. Amazon has also launched a wish list campaign, specifically created for nonprofit partners, for customers to donate materials to aboard the plane by September 13, 2019.
These six largely successful companies have made monumental efforts to alleviate some of the devastation caused by Hurricane Dorian and give back to communities that lost so much. Rebuilding the communities will likely take years, but these donations are a wonderful starting point.
– Joanna Buoniconti
Photo: Flickr
15 Facts About Poverty in Afghanistan
15 Facts About Poverty in Afghanistan
Concluding Thoughts
There are tangible issues that fuel poverty, and these 15 facts about poverty in Afghanistan represent only a part of the complex issues the country’s economy faces. Remember that a country is more than just its politics – it comprises people. Others can help the Afghani people through various actions in order to reduce the suffering of millions of Afghan citizens.
– Melanie Rasmussen
Photo: Flickr
Joe Biden’s Stance on Foreign Policy
Former Vice President Joe Biden recently announced his candidacy for the 2020 Presidential campaign. Biden served as V.P. from 2009 to 2016 under the 47th President of the United States, Barack Obama. His political career in Congress began in 1973 where he served as Senator of Delaware and a member of the Foreign Relations Committee. He has the most foreign affairs experience out of all the candidates for President. Joe Biden’s stance on foreign policy gives insight into how he will act if the American people elect him to the seat of President.
Joe Biden’s stance on foreign policy does not align with traditional principles of the Democratic party. He has been quoted as saying that despite the difficulty and cost, the United States must be the global leader in foreign policy initiatives. He is the standout favorite of the Democratic candidates, not only because of his experience, but also his moderate position on key political issues like foreign policy.
A Question of Priorities
Although Joe Biden’s stance on foreign policy demonstrates that he is willing to address global poverty, it is unclear if it is one of his top priorities. His legislative history includes co-sponsoring a bill to eradicate extreme global poverty for the more than a billion people. The strategy developed by the bill was to halve the number of those living on less than a dollar a day by 2015. This effort points to Biden’s recognition of the immediate need to improve living conditions for the world’s poorest through U.S. intervention.
Global Economics and Trade
In a 2016 speech, Biden touted the immense value of foreign trade to the global economy. He promoted selling more products and services abroad, where the vast majority of the world’s consumers reside. The World Bank estimates that about 82 percent of the world’s population is poor. Although those who live in extreme poverty do not currently have the purchasing power to buy American products and services, the potential is still there, should their economic situation improve. Biden’s stance on foreign policy recognizes that small consumers are still consumers and if the U.S. focuses on improving trading relationships and increasing foreign aid, the American economy will benefit greatly.
Outside of Partisan Politics
Joe Biden’s stance on foreign policy does not directly align with either Democrats or Republicans. He remarked that Republicans lacked strategy and Democrats were not tough enough when it came to foreign policy. Biden is generally dovish on foreign policy and values the importance of dialogue with all countries, prior to the use of military force. Biden is also a strong proponent of supplying foreign aid to countries in need. In 1999, he voted down a bill to cap foreign aid at $12.7 billion and rather sees a need to increase aid spending to developing countries. Among other bills that Biden supported while in Congress was a multi-year commitment in 2001 to supply food and medicine to Africa.
The Big Issues
Overall, Joe Biden’s stance on foreign policy demonstrates that he values peaceful compromises and nonviolent negotiation tactics. He also has a strong record of supporting foreign aid assistance to developing nations. International aid proponents will closely monitor Biden’ statements during his presidential campaign regarding foreign policy and extreme poverty overseas.
– Jessica Haidet
Photo: Flickr
Project Healthy Children in Tanzania
Global hunger is one of the most pressing and visible poverty-related issues in our world today. People can easily recognize the defined ribs, sunken eyes and bone-thin limbs of starvation. However, there is another side to hunger that is not as obvious: micronutrient deficiency.
Micronutrients are vitamins and minerals such as zinc, iron, iodine, vitamin A and folic acid. In developed nations like the United States, most people get these critical nutrients from maintaining a well-rounded diet or taking a daily supplement. But it isn’t always that simple in some other parts of the world. In fact, micronutrient deficiency remains a big problem in Eastern and Southern Africa but often does not get the attention it deserves because the effects are not immediately visible. For this reason, micronutrient deficiency has been nicknamed “hidden hunger.”
Hidden hunger has real and long-lasting consequences. Insufficient amounts of vitamins and minerals can result in learning disabilities, mental retardation, low work capacity, blindness and premature birth. These deficiencies lower overall health and weaken the immune system, thus making it much harder to survive infections like HIV and measles. They can cause extreme birth defects in children and are the leading cause of maternal death during childbirth.
Background
Clearly, micronutrient deficiency is a pressing issue that deserves the attention necessary to mitigate it. An organization called Sanku’s Project Healthy Children (PHC) is doing just that through a process known as food fortification: essentially, they add critical micronutrients to the flour people already consume.
PHC is based in Tanzania and currently supplies almost 2 million people with fortified flour to help them get the vitamins and minerals they need. Flour is a staple food that many people consume regularly; according to the PHC website, “over 50 million Tanzanians eat maize flour every day,” but more than 95 percent of it is produced without added nutrients in small, rural mills. Countries like Tanzania are in desperate need of better access to micronutrients—here, about 35 percent of children under 5 years old have stunted growth due to under-nutrition. Project Healthy Children uses the mills and distribution systems already in place to simply add essential micronutrients to the flour with no additional cost for the consumer. This way, people can get the nutrition they need without changing their eating or purchasing habits.
Why Food Fortification?
The Future of Project Healthy Children
In the past few years, Project Healthy Children has become even more streamlined in its approach to food fortification. A partnership with Vodafone, a mobile network based in the United Kingdom, allows PHC staff to remotely monitor flour mills so that they instantly know when a machine is down or a mill is low on nutrients. The partnership saves money, time and manpower, allowing PHC to run more smoothly.
Project Healthy Children currently helps nourish about 1.7 million people in sub-Saharan Africa but hopes to reach 100 million people by 2025, an ambitious goal that would be instrumental in lifting communities in Southern and Eastern Africa out of extreme poverty.
– Morgan Johnson
Photo: Flickr
Arc’Teryx is Using Tech to Help the World’s Poor
REI shoppers and outdoor lovers are likely familiar with Arc’Teryx. The brand, based in Vancouver, British Colombia, has been selling outdoor survival gear and clothing with top-notch technology for the last few decades. In recent years, the company decided to open some of its profits and expertise to encourage using tech to help the world’s poor.
Solving Problems with Tech
What started as a request for the help of an Arc’Teryx engineer to design insulated shelters for Mongolians has turned into a company-wide passion to apply technological innovations towards helping the poor. Arc’teryx provides significant funding and support to Global Good, a Seattle team of engineers and scientists who travel the world, identify technology gaps that perpetuate poverty and design affordable, situational solutions. The results of their partnership with Global Good has encouraged Arc’teryx to fund similar projects using technology to help the world’s poor; it is currently hosting a Problem Solver tour and campaign to seek out individuals and organizations using technology to help the poor, promising support to these problem-solvers that they deem are really making a maximum difference.
The Borgen Project attended Arc’Teryx’s Problem Solver Tour, where representatives from Arc’Teryx and Global Good discussed projects Arc’Teryx has helped fund in recent years as a way to inspire more activity. Global Good’s goal is to “dedicate energies towards the bottom billion” rather than using technology to develop more “tools and toys for rich people” as Nathan P. Myhrvold, CEO of Intellectual Ventures, explained.
Arc’Teryx Funded Projects
One project is wrapping up the prototype for a one-step, DIY malaria test. Currently, a blood sample is the only means to detect malaria. This innovation by Global Good aims to create something as easy as “a pregnancy test for deadly diseases.” With one drop of blood inserted into the small contraption, the test will alert the user whether the patient has tested positive or negative for malaria. This will save the lives of children whose parents cannot accurately detect whether or not their child is suffering from malaria or a milder infection without having to invest in expensive lab procedures. Researchers in the battle to eliminate malaria will also be able to efficiently and effectively measure malaria’s presence in villages by mass-distributing the tests.
Global Good has been able to make a huge difference in health care in the fight against poverty. Another invention is an insulated thermos, about three feet tall and 1.5 feet in diameter, that is able to keep vaccines for 6,000 people at the required temperature for as long as 40 days in desert climates. The thermos has become essential to inexpensively distributing life-saving vaccines to remote villages. A modification on the thermos has even enabled the provision of Ebola vaccines, which are more difficult to transport due to a lower required temperature.
Arc’Teryx’s Work Continues
The company is always looking for more opportunities to offer its outdoor survival technology to projects working to help people. Alongside that work, it is continuing to fund poverty-fighting organizations and is now conducting a continental search for individuals using tech to help the world’s poor.
– Olivia Heale
Photo: Flickr
10 Pieces of Good News About the Northern Triangle
Many know the Northern Triangle countries of Honduras, Guatemala and El Salvador for their high crime rates and their role in the refugee crisis at the southern border of the U.S. The good news about the Northern Triangle, however, is that crime and murder rates are declining, there has been notable poverty reduction and the economy is growing in the region. The future of the Northern Triangle is not as bleak as news coverage often indicates. These 10 facts provide information on the good news about the Northern Triangle.
10 Pieces of Good News About the Northern Triangle
These countries are building new schools and growing crops, while crime rates are falling and they are taking steps to fight corruption. These examples all spell good news for the Northern Triangle. It it is easy to be ignorant of the progress taking place when the media characterizes the Northern Triangle as a place defined merely by poverty and violence. It is also vital for people to note that the good news about the Northern Triangle links to U.S. aid, which funds programs that create new jobs and new opportunities in the region. If this aid continues along with a commitment to progress, then the dream of a brighter future in the Northern Triangle can become a reality.
– Emelie Fippin
Photo: Flickr
Mental Health Awareness in Honduras
May 2019 marked the 70th anniversary of the first Mental Health Month in the U.S. While 70 years of mental health awareness activism seems like a long time, the Mental Illness Policy Organization estimates that there are 3.5 million adults with untreated schizophrenia or bipolar disorder in the U.S. on any given day. That figure excludes individuals suffering from other mental illnesses such as acute anxiety and depression. Untreated mental illness is a problem at the forefront of the U.S. health care system and improvement seems imminent for suffering Americans. For countries plagued with poverty and violence like Honduras, accessible and affordable health care is scarce. Lack of health care options in Honduras causes more barriers for those living with mental health conditions, which makes raising mental health awareness in Honduras extremely important.
Mental Health Awareness in Honduras
Mental health awareness in Honduras is an uphill battle. In 2006, the government allocated 6.61 percent of the country’s general budget to health care. Less than 2 percent of that amount supported mental health. As social security often lacks resources to treat mental health illnesses, most cannot afford to pay for medication. Unfortunately for those suffering from mental health-related issues, most never receive proper care.
Being one of the poorest and most dangerous countries in the world, Honduras is home to prevalent violence and poverty that specialists point to as key factors in an increase in mental illness in the country. Experts estimate that 10 percent of Hondurans suffer from mental illness or substance abuse.
Visit to a Mental Health Facility in Honduras
In 2018, this author had the opportunity to visit a local mental health treatment facility in a small Honduran town called El Porvenir. The facility was the only public mental health resource within five hours, which meant that many families dropped their relatives off with the prospect of going years before seeing them again. One nurse who came in twice a week monitored the treatment center. Between her visits, however, patients, including some who suffered from severe illnesses like schizophrenia, lived in the three-bedroom house unsupervised. For some patients, it was the only option their families could afford.
Doctors Without Borders
Luckily, change is starting to look imminent and mental health awareness in Honduras is increasing. Since 2011, Doctors Without Borders (DWB) prioritizes treatment for victims of violence and sexual assault, as well as for their family members. “We try to work on the emotions, feelings, and thoughts that people experience as a result of what happened to them,” said DWB mental health supervisor Edgard Boquín. “We use cognitive behavioral therapy to help patients take the detrimental elements and replace them with positive coping tools, such as anxiety control, breathing, and relaxation techniques, or by making small life plans which will allow them to cope with their environment again.”
In 2016, DWB expanded activities in the country’s capital, Tegucigalpa, and its sister city, Comayagüela. The number of patients suffering from mental illness treated by DWB jumped 117 percent from 2015 to 2016. Community Health Partnership Honduras, a nongovernmental organization, also travels to southwestern Honduras twice a year, which is among the poorest regions in the world. The organization partners Honduran and American volunteer medical workers to increase access to mental health care.
With those missions in mind, mental health awareness in Honduras is spreading from the cities to the rural regions. Consequentially, treatment and support are increasing as well.
– Julia King
Photo: Pixabay
Poverty and Antibiotic Resistance in Southeast Asia
In September 2016, the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) declared antimicrobial resistance (AMR) a major health threat for nations in every part of the world. AMR comes about when bacteria evolve to resist antibiotics used for the treatment of many infectious diseases such as pneumonia, tuberculosis and salmonellosis. According to the Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), AMR can bring harm to people of all types and agriculture, health care and veterinary industries. Antibiotic resistance in Southeast Asia is of particular concern.
Antibiotics have been essential to curing infections ever since Alexander Fleming discovered the first form of antibiotics, penicillin, in 1928. In the developing countries of Southeast Asia, antibiotics often do not have regulation and are available for purchase without a prescription from a physician, which exacerbates the phenomenon of AMR and causes major concern. This is an example of how poverty in Southeast Asia contributes to the antibiotic resistance crisis.
Contributions to Antimicrobial Resistance
AMR is a natural process. With or without the use of antibiotics, bacteria will always evolve to fight for survival by strengthening their resistance or by multiplying. Despite this, humans make AMR worse. A plethora of unnatural issues exaggerates AMR, but there are two that are cause for the greatest concern: unregulated sale of antibiotics and the use of antibiotics not as medicine for humans but as growth promoters and disease treatments in livestock.
Unregulated Antibiotics and Self Medication in Southeast Asia
The World Health Organization Southeast Asia Region (WHO SEAR) includes the countries of Bangladesh, Bhutan, Democratic People’s Republic of Korea, India, Indonesia, Maldives, Myanmar, Nepal, Sri Lanka, Thailand and Timor-Leste. These countries are notorious for selling antibiotics as an unregulated product to the public, a reality of many developing countries around the world. In developing countries, the prevalence of infectious deadly diseases is higher than in more developed nations, making the likelihood of death from these issues higher.
Many consider the countries in Southeast Asia listed above to be hotspots for the spread of AMR. Here, the cost of antibiotics bought over the counter is lower than the cost to visit a physician or health professional. As a result, many self-medicate, making it the leading cause of AMR. Self-medication refers to the use of medication to treat ailments, diseases or infections without the guidance of a medical professional. Without curbing this habit practiced in WHO SEAR, bacteria quickly mutate to resist treatment, leading to more intense illnesses, increased medication prices and death.
The Use of Antibiotics for Livestock in Southeast Asia
In this region, the use of antibiotics in livestock outweighs the use of antibiotics in humans. To keep livestock in countries around the world healthy, farmers commonly use antimicrobials to treat and prevent diseases and decrease mortality in livestock. Though people widely practice this, the countries of WHO SEAR use this technique excessively due to poverty. With weak regulatory laws to govern or survey the effects this has on the AMR crisis, AMR is aggressively growing.
Where previously people ignored it when considering the causes of AMR, livestock antibiotic use has recently become a growing concern across the globe. With recognition came complication: in developing countries, farmers rely on the use of antibiotics to prevent illness or death of their animals so they can continue to make a profit. In Southeast Asia especially, the hard reality is that these issues layer and mix with other issues, such as poverty and food security. Policies regarding antimicrobial consumption in livestock that work for developed nations often do not work in underdeveloped nations, due to the complex differences of cultural differences and locations. It is for these reasons that poverty contributes to antibiotic resistance in Southeast Asia.
Efforts to Slow Antibiotic Resistance in Southeast Asia
Given that this crisis is on a global scale and affecting every nation, some are making efforts to control AMR. Unfortunately, there is no way to stop it completely. There are, however, the WHO’s action plans that can bring light to this topic. WHO has laid out five strategic goals: to increase recognition and understanding of AMR, to increase global monitoring and research, to decrease the prevalence of infectious diseases requiring antibiotic treatment, to improve the use of antibiotic treatment and to create a case for sustainable investment that includes all nations, no matter location or level of development
An example of raising awareness is World Antibiotic Awareness Week. Every year brings the annual World Antibiotic Awareness Week, created by the WHO in 2015. This week in November sets goals to increase awareness and encourage health care providers, policymakers and the public to practice healthy and sustainable techniques to slow the spread of antibiotic resistance in Southeast Asia.
– Anna Giffels
Photo: Flickr