Botswana, located directly north of South Africa, has been victim to epidemics of deadly diseases such as HIV/AIDS, tuberculosis (TB) and malaria. Prevention and treatment of these diseases is a top priority for Botswana’s ministry of health. Since these diseases have high mortality rates, it is important to look at the root causes and risk factors associated with common diseases in Botswana.
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), the deadliest common diseases in Botswana and the percent of deaths for which they are responsible are the following: HIV (32 percent), malaria (7 percent), tuberculosis (6 percent), diarrheal diseases (4 percent), cancer (4 percent), pre-term birth complications (2 percent), Ischemic Heart Disease (2 percent), stroke (2 percent) and STDs (2 percent).
The top three common diseases in Botswana — HIV, malaria and TB — are all communicable diseases, meaning that they are transmitted through contact. Communicable, maternal, neonatal and nutritional diseases comprise the deadliest category of diseases in Botswana. The next two categories of diseases with the highest mortality rates are non-communicable diseases and injuries, respectively. Cardiovascular diseases and cancer account for nearly half of deaths from non-communicable diseases. The top causes of deadly injuries in Botswana are self-harm and interpersonal violence, unintentional injuries and transport injuries, respectively.
Unsafe sex is the most prevalent risk factor for deadly diseases, accounting for about 60 percent of behavioral risk factors for contracting a deadly disease. It is by far the most common risk factor for HIV/AIDs and TB. Unsafe water, sanitation and handwashing habits account for 46.3 percent of environmental risk factors, followed by air pollution accounting for 37.1 percent of environmental risk factors. These are the most common risk factors for contracting diarrheal and infectious diseases. Alcohol and drug use is also a prevalent risk factor for contracting a deadly disease, such as HIV through needle sharing, or for certain injuries.
Several projects have been implemented for disease prevention and treatment, specifically for HIV as it causes almost one in three deaths in Botswana. Areas of focus for the national HIV program include high-quality prevention, care and treatment services; HIV counseling; blood safety and early infant diagnosis.
Evidence-based public health procedures are effecting change in Botswana for preventing HIV. The Botswana Combination Prevention Project evaluates the effect of proven HIV-prevention measures to reduce the number of new HIV infections over time.
Some procedures for prevention and treatment that have decreased the incidence of HIV cases. These include HIV testing, which positively changes behavior, prevention of mother-to-child transmission and antiretroviral treatment for those infected with HIV, which can cure the patient while also preventing the transmission of the disease to another partner.
Additionally, the CDC works to strengthen healthcare systems in order to sustain an effective HIV program. Strengthening healthcare systems includes improving workforce development, disease surveillance and epidemiology, health information systems and program monitoring.
As of 2012, 96 percent of men, women and children in Botswana in need of HIV treatment received it. The mother-to-child transmission rate of HIV has decreased to less than 4 percent. Botswana has integrated their TB and HIV programs, which improved the quality, impact and coverage of both programs.
Education for prevention and access to these services are very important. These steps for prevention and treatment, however, require resources that developing countries like Botswana do not have. This is where foreign aid strongly benefits a developing country. Through PEPFAR and the establishment of CDC Botswana, the U.S. government has had a significant impact in ameliorating common diseases in Botswana, specifically HIV. Foreign aid will continue to be a key component in tackling global health crises.
– Christiana Lano
Photo: Flickr
Threats to Human Rights in Armenia
Sakunts is the director of the Helsinki Citizens’ Assembly Vanadzor Office (HCA-Vanazdor). HCA-Vanazdor is a high-profile defender of human rights in Armenia. Sakunts received a highly specific death threat via Facebook, which illustrates that the issue of human rights is hotly debated in Armenia. The Armenian government’s record with respect to human rights is somewhat uneven. In 2008, the government pledged to combat violence against women. However, no legislation was passed since. For example, there is no law criminalizing domestic violence.
LGBTQ populations also do not have anti-discrimination protection or legal protection against hate speech. The lack of legislation makes it difficult for women and LGBTQ groups to find a legal solution to advocate for their rights. Peaceful protesters are sometimes met with excessive force and with ill treatment in custody.
Founding Parliament, a radical group opposed to the government, seized a police station in the capital of Armenia, Yerevan, killing a policeman and taking several others hostage on July 17, 2016. The gunmen eventually surrendered on July 31. Yet the seizure of the police station proved to be a catalyst for protest movement against the government.
In late July, peaceful protesters were showing their support for Founding Parliament in the same neighborhood of the seized police station. Without warning the protesters, police fired stun grenades into the crowd. The protesters sustained first and second-degree burns and fragmentation wounds. Other protesters were beaten with clubs.
Journalists covering the protest were warned by the police, but some journalists suffered the after-effects of stun grenades fired specifically at them. Protest leaders and participants were detained, with the authorities citing criminal charges leveled against them. Detainees were held up to 12 hours without documentation. Authorities relied primarily on police testimony to press criminal charges. Detainees were also denied access to lawyers and were not permitted to inform relatives about their detentions.
The explosive events of July 2016 demonstrate the palpable tensions between Armenian citizens and the government. Fortunately, groups such as Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch continue to report violations of human rights in Armenia. Generating awareness for human rights issues can pave a path towards finding legal, political and more permanent solutions for such human rights violations.
– Smriti Krishnan
Photo: Pixabay
Improving Access to Education in Cambodia
Reforms in 1996 solidified the general educational pattern of six-three-three, meaning six years of primary education, three years of lower secondary education and three years of upper secondary education. The government runs the public education system, but there are several opportunities for private education in Cambodia.
In 2014, the government formulated an Education Strategic Plan to improve the education system and subsequently stimulate the economy. The plan focuses on equal access to education, increasing the quality of the school curriculum, and encouraging teachers and school faculty towards excellence in their roles as educators.
Eighteen percent of the national budget has been dedicated to education. These efforts from the Cambodian government have been met with great success. As of 2015, 98 percent of school-age age were enrolled in some form of school. Female students comprised 48 percent of this statistic. In the last decade, almost 1,000 schools have been built and school resources have been significantly expanded.
While education in Cambodia has enjoyed great success, the country still has many areas they need to improve. The student-to-teacher ratio is very high compared to other nearby countries, and teachers are not paid enough to support themselves. Forty-seven percent of third-grade students are unable to read at a third-grade level, and the overall illiteracy rate is incredibly high.
With the government’s resurgence in attention towards the education system, education in Cambodia has flourished in the past decade. While there are many aspects that still need work, the country is on the right track and will be rewarded with improvements in the economy and reduced poverty levels as a result of a strengthened education program.
– Julia McCartney
Photo: Flickr
Causes of Common Diseases in Botswana
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), the deadliest common diseases in Botswana and the percent of deaths for which they are responsible are the following: HIV (32 percent), malaria (7 percent), tuberculosis (6 percent), diarrheal diseases (4 percent), cancer (4 percent), pre-term birth complications (2 percent), Ischemic Heart Disease (2 percent), stroke (2 percent) and STDs (2 percent).
The top three common diseases in Botswana — HIV, malaria and TB — are all communicable diseases, meaning that they are transmitted through contact. Communicable, maternal, neonatal and nutritional diseases comprise the deadliest category of diseases in Botswana. The next two categories of diseases with the highest mortality rates are non-communicable diseases and injuries, respectively. Cardiovascular diseases and cancer account for nearly half of deaths from non-communicable diseases. The top causes of deadly injuries in Botswana are self-harm and interpersonal violence, unintentional injuries and transport injuries, respectively.
Unsafe sex is the most prevalent risk factor for deadly diseases, accounting for about 60 percent of behavioral risk factors for contracting a deadly disease. It is by far the most common risk factor for HIV/AIDs and TB. Unsafe water, sanitation and handwashing habits account for 46.3 percent of environmental risk factors, followed by air pollution accounting for 37.1 percent of environmental risk factors. These are the most common risk factors for contracting diarrheal and infectious diseases. Alcohol and drug use is also a prevalent risk factor for contracting a deadly disease, such as HIV through needle sharing, or for certain injuries.
Several projects have been implemented for disease prevention and treatment, specifically for HIV as it causes almost one in three deaths in Botswana. Areas of focus for the national HIV program include high-quality prevention, care and treatment services; HIV counseling; blood safety and early infant diagnosis.
Evidence-based public health procedures are effecting change in Botswana for preventing HIV. The Botswana Combination Prevention Project evaluates the effect of proven HIV-prevention measures to reduce the number of new HIV infections over time.
Some procedures for prevention and treatment that have decreased the incidence of HIV cases. These include HIV testing, which positively changes behavior, prevention of mother-to-child transmission and antiretroviral treatment for those infected with HIV, which can cure the patient while also preventing the transmission of the disease to another partner.
Additionally, the CDC works to strengthen healthcare systems in order to sustain an effective HIV program. Strengthening healthcare systems includes improving workforce development, disease surveillance and epidemiology, health information systems and program monitoring.
As of 2012, 96 percent of men, women and children in Botswana in need of HIV treatment received it. The mother-to-child transmission rate of HIV has decreased to less than 4 percent. Botswana has integrated their TB and HIV programs, which improved the quality, impact and coverage of both programs.
Education for prevention and access to these services are very important. These steps for prevention and treatment, however, require resources that developing countries like Botswana do not have. This is where foreign aid strongly benefits a developing country. Through PEPFAR and the establishment of CDC Botswana, the U.S. government has had a significant impact in ameliorating common diseases in Botswana, specifically HIV. Foreign aid will continue to be a key component in tackling global health crises.
– Christiana Lano
Photo: Flickr
Causes of Poverty in Zimbabwe
When looking at the causes of poverty in Zimbabwe, it is necessary to take the effects of the 2008 financial crisis into account. As a result of the crisis, Zimbabwe saw its Gross Domestic Product (GDP) decline by 17 percent. By comparison, the GDP growth rate for other African countries was five percent.
Although Zimbabwe made great progress to recover from the 2008 crisis, its GDP growth rate is declining since 2013. According to the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD), this decline is the result of stalling investments and adverse climate conditions that hurt the agricultural sector. Nearly 60 percent of Zimbabwe’s workforce is employed in the agricultural sector.
Drought and Poverty in Zimbabwe
As a result of the 2015-2016 drought that affected most of southern Africa, the rural poor have become more vulnerable to the loss of both their food security and their livelihoods. A 2016 study by the Zimbabwe Vulnerability Assessment Committee (ZimVAC) shows that approximately 4.1 million Zimbabweans, nearly a quarter of the population, face food and nutrition insecurity due to the drought.
ZimVAC is a consortium of the Zimbabwean government, agencies of the United Nations, NGOs and other international organizations. Formed in 2002 to assess the issues facing Zimbabwe’s poor, it is overseen by the Food and Nutrition Council of Zimbabwe which works to find multi-sector solutions to the country’s food insecurity.
Some of the groups heavily impacted by food insecurity are children and pregnant or lactating women. Zimbabwe has one of the highest rates of maternal mortality in the region as well as one of the highest rates of HIV globally, at approximately 15 percent as of 2014. Women and children living in food insecure homes are HIV prone and either already or in danger of becoming malnourished.
Children under the age of two that do not benefit from optimal breastfeeding are more likely to contract diarrhea or pneumonia. They may also not develop to their full potential. Acutely malnourished children under the age of five are more likely to contract diseases that require intensive care.
Drought and reduced rainfall also negatively affected the quality and availability of water. Almost half of households lack sufficient water for their livestock. Eighty-one percent reported having insufficient water for their crops. Zimbabwe’s average rainfall is projected to drop by 10 percent by the end of the century. IFAD asserts that the rehabilitation and maintenance of irrigation systems must be of the utmost importance to stabilize agricultural production. Improving irrigation systems would minimize crop failure, raise household incomes and increase food security for rural smallholder farmers.
To understand the causes of poverty in Zimbabwe, the poor performance of the country’s manufacturing industry must also be explored. Manufacturing surveys estimate that industrial capacity utilization decreased from 57 percent in 2011 to 36.3 percent in 2014. This is mainly because of an erratic power supply, a lack of capital, higher input costs, antiquated machinery and deficiencies in infrastructure.
IFAD believes that by prioritizing climate-smart, efficient agricultural production and investment in infrastructure and industrial capacity building, the causes of poverty in Zimbabwe will be diminished.
– Amanda Lauren Quinn
Photo: Flickr
The First Reported Case of HIV Remission in Africa
HIV patients are treated with a combination of antiretroviral drugs to prevent the development of AIDS. Treatment reduces the amount of viral load in the body and bodily fluids. It can also protect the immune system from infections and cancer.
The child in remission took part in a clinical trial called Children with HIV Early Antiretroviral Therapy (CHER) along with 143 other infants. Treatment lasted for 40 weeks with the hope that the virus would reach undetectable levels and of achieving a higher volume of HIV remission in Africa. Of all HIV-affected children, 91 percent live in Africa.
While the virus can reach low enough levels to avoid detection in the blood, there is still not a cure for HIV. But doctors are learning that there is a correlation between early treatment and long-term remission.
According to the World Health Organization, poverty-stricken countries experience HIV epidemics at a much higher volume than wealthy countries. With less money, it is hard to get quality treatment, if any treatment at all. This increases the potential for epidemics by allowing transmission. Poverty is decreasing in the area, but 60 to 65 percent of wealth still lies with the wealthiest 10 percent.
South Africa spends more than $1.5 billion annually on HIV and AIDS programs to treat seven million people.
In 2013, the “Mississippi baby” was in remission for two years after early aggressive treatment. However, in 2014 the child had to restart treatment after the virus reemerged. Another child in Vancouver was in remission for 11 years following a failed six-week treatment and a six-year, four-drug treatment.
The benefits of long-term remission are obvious. Symptoms of the drugs subside and the financial burden of drugs and treatment lessen. The cases of remission are encouraging, but the widespread effects of early treatment are still unknown.
“Further study is needed to learn how to induce long-term HIV remission in infected babies,” Anthony S. Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, said in a news release. “However, this new case strengthens our hope that by treating HIV-infected children for a brief period beginning in infancy, we may be able to spare them the burden of life-long therapy and the health consequences of long-term immune activation typically associated with HIV disease.”
– Madeline Boeding
Photo: Flickr
Why Is El Salvador Poor?
Why is El Salvador Poor? In a country with a highly urbanized workforce and a small wealthy elite who became rich through coffee and sugar, it is surprising that almost 40 percent of the population falls below the poverty line.
More than half a million Salvadorans live on less than $2 a day, making it very difficult to buy food with proper nutrition. Even with the land reform and property redistribution that occurred in the 1980s and helped some rural people make sustainable incomes, there is still a large divide between the wealthy and the poor in El Salvador.
Why is El Salvador Poor? Top 3 Reasons
USAID reports that El Salvador’s per capita income is the fifth-lowest in the western hemisphere. The economy is stagnating in a decade-long cycle of low growth that has restricted the creation of higher paying jobs, which translates to low productivity and higher crime, especially in terms of the “Maras,” or the violent criminal gangs that have high profiles in El Salvador and around Central America.
Many youth in rural areas live in poverty and choose to migrate rather than stay in a harsh cycle of unemployment or join a gang. This problem is in large part due to a weak education system that sees less than 50 percent of Salvadorans graduate from the sixth grade, one out of three completing the ninth grade and only one out of five completing high school.
What other factors can answer the question: why is El Salvador poor? The Salvadoran healthcare system is another public service that needs to be stronger in order to support financial gains that take people out of poverty. Medical unions and the Salvadoran government have been going back and forth for a long time, with the unions resisting privatization of healthcare and conducting medical personnel strikes frequently.
Hospital budgets primarily go toward paying salaries, leaving little extra funding for basic drugs and medical equipment. While the infant mortality rate has fallen by more than 70 percent in the last three decades, the overall death rate for children is still extremely high at 81 deaths per 1,000 children.
The Salvadoran government is working with international organizations to reduce poverty, especially in rural areas. In 2011, it launched the Plan de Agricultura Familiar (Family Farming Plan) to improve agricultural production and supplement the income of poor rural families while also increasing the competitiveness of domestic agriculture in markets. By localizing many services and improving the healthcare system while working to reduce crime, rural families can begin to utilize a public safety net that will help them out of poverty and create a middle class in Salvadoran society.
– Saru Duckworth
Photo: Google
The Cost of Living in Angola: Most Expensive Capital City
Around half of Angolans live on less than $2 a day, which raises the question: how has the cost of living in Angola become so unreachable to most of the population?
Several factors have produced the current economic situation. The Angolan Civil War, which lasted from 1975 until 2002, destroyed the country’s infrastructure. As a result, importing and exporting is a laborious and expensive process. The country’s business elite, who largely control the import companies, have made little attempt to bring down costs from which they profit.
Angola’s large expat population helps explain why the country is able to sustain its status as more expensive than Singapore or Hong Kong, despite the bulk of the population living in extreme poverty. Angola has Africa’s second-largest oil reserves and as a result, a large expat population based in Luanda has high levels of expendable income.
Post-civil war, Angola’s GDP grew at an astronomical rate, reaching 23 percent growth in 2008, buoyed by a flood of foreign investment. Housing and infrastructure failed to keep up. This has left the cost of living in Angola at its current unattainable level, with only Luanda’s expat population able to afford it.
Extreme poverty has indeed declined by one-third since the civil war, but economic inequality has grown exponentially throughout Angola’s oil boom. For rural Angolans, the country’s economic windfall has done little, aside from making the capital city an inaccessible place of extreme expense. The rural poverty rate stands at 57 percent, compared to 19 percent among urban Angolans.
The government is looking for resolutions and bringing down prices on basic foods has been made a priority. If this is successful, Angola’s cost of living can become less of a burden on its largely poverty-stricken population, who are currently shut out of the new wealth the country is enjoying.
– Jonathan Riddick
Photo: Flickr
Facts and Figures of North Korea
Hidden behind the tensions of military bluster between the U.S. and North Korea lies a sad and often overlooked reality: North Korea is an incredibly impoverished country.
The conflict on the Korean peninsula can be traced back to when Japan controlled Korea till 1910. After the Japanese lost in World War II, the peninsula was divided between a communist northern half and a democratic southern half.
Tensions between the north and south erupted into war in 1950. The U.S. led a United Nations coalition to support the south; China was the principal ally of the north. The war ended in a stalemate with the current division becoming a demilitarized zone. North Korea has languished since, relying heavily on outside aid.
Most of the developed world stopped sending monetary aid to North Korea in 2009. South Korea ended aid in 2010 due to conflicts with the incoming government of Kim Jong Un.
Much of North Korea’s poverty problem stems from government spending, or the lack thereof. Most of the country’s budget is allocated to military and defense spending. This means that most of North Korea’s budget is not invested in its people.
This lack of aid has impacted North Korea’s investment in education, health services and infrastructure.
The average education level for a North Korean is only 11 years. The average annual income is only $1300. These disparities stem from the government’s sole interest in military spending, and its lack of interest in its people. These facts and figures of North Korea illustrate that the impoverished Asian nations strongly needs foreign aid, as well as restructuring its own budget, to combat its extreme poverty.
In the interest of its citizens, North Korea could decrease spending on its military and defense program. This could increase international confidence in the country’s financial and political system, therefore increasing foreign aid that could be used for basic services for its populace.
Until the North Korean government focuses on its people instead of its military, and makes serious efforts to combat these disastrous poverty-related facts and figures of North Korea, it will continue to be an impoverished nation.
– Raymond Terry
Photo: Google
How to Help People in Liberia
How to help people in Liberia starts with the food insecurity rate. Chronic malnutrition is high, 41 percent of Liberians are considered food-insecure. Farmers that can barely support their own families are common in Liberia, this has led to more than one-third of the population being malnourished. More effective measures of farming need to be put in place to help people in Liberia.
The country has plentiful rainfall and good soil, yet it is not being used effectively. The government of Liberia has granted large plots of land to multinational companies for rubber, timber and palm oil. This has reduced opportunities for farmers to produce large amounts of food at a rapid pace. Agricultural reform needs to be made in order to fix the measures of farming and the allocation of land.
More than 75 percent of the population has little to no access to referral care services. The health care system in Liberia is heavily dependent on aid from outside resources. USAID funded Rebuilding Basic Health Services (RBHS), and since 2008, RBHS has been working closely with the Liberian Ministry of Health and Social Welfare to rebuild the health system in Liberia.
Training organized groups and volunteers, investing in basic infrastructure, and supporting the prosperity of the health system are crucial. Interventions must be put in place to develop a line of communication with village chiefs, community health committee members and political representatives. A multi-faceted approach is necessary when addressing the health system in Liberia.
Poor conditions Liberia can be traced back to the military coup in 1980. An absence of political stability in any country causes conflict and poor conditions. In Liberia’s case, being unable to change economic conditions through political activism condemns the poor to stay poor. Lack of opportunity alone does not cause poverty, it is also a lack of political power to change the systems and practices that cause impoverishment.
How to help people in Liberia starts with knowledge and action, both being essential factors. Influencing public policy, financial contributions and working directly with the poor are all impactful. Even though Liberia has not had a prosperous history, there are many successful programs that are encouraging future growth for this West African country.
– Lucy Voegeli
Photo: Flickr
Why Is Benin Poor?
One reason is poor agricultural practices. Cotton makes up about 70 percent of Benin’s export earnings, so the country’s economy is at risk of low levels of crop production.
The country’s emphasis on cotton has led to land degradation, making it even more difficult for small-scale Beninese farmers to earn a living. Monoculture and pesticide use damages the land’s fertility and reduces cotton and other crop production.
Eighty percent of Benin’s population earns a living through agriculture, and this puts millions of people in a vulnerable position. Farmers may face low rainfall in dry seasons and disastrous floods in wet seasons. Poor farmers may not be able to afford fertilizer, farm machinery or good seeds. All those things would improve crop yields and hence profits when used correctly.
Another obstacle for farmers is a lack of education on what is necessary for optimal crop growth. They may adhere to monoculture farming or plant seeds too close together when it is best to practice crop diversification and give plants enough room to grow.
Another answer to the question of why is Benin poor is low education rates. The literacy rate for people aged 15 and up is 38 percent.
Six years of free primary education is required in Benin, but around one in every four children does not complete it. Some children have to help financially support their families if their parents do not earn enough or a parent died from a disease such as HIV/AIDS, hepatitis A or malaria.
More than one million Beninese children are employed. They work in family farms, construction sites, small businesses, markets and more. According to the World Factbook, many families even send their children to work in wealthy households as servants. Children leaving school to work greatly reduces their chances of getting an education and, consequently, breaking the cycle of poverty.
Uncertain trade is another cause of poverty. Benin’s economy could benefit from increasing trade. Benin’s annual exports reach $1.8 billion, but it imports $2.6 billion, creating a trade deficit.
According to the World Bank, “Benin’s economy relies heavily on informal re-export and transit trade with Nigeria, which makes up roughly 20 percent of GDP.” Despite this, Benin’s trade with its neighbor Nigeria is not as high as it could be. Nigeria imposes import bans and high tariffs on goods ranging from used cars to cigarettes.
Benin is susceptible to market shocks because of its reliance on Nigeria’s much larger economy. Low oil prices and low growth in Nigeria indirectly affect Benin, according to the World Bank.
International cooperation is tackling the root causes of poverty in Benin. The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations has taught thousands of farmers how to increase productivity by diversifying crops and implementing better agronomic practices.
Other programs in Benin aim to increase primary school enrollment to get as many children as possible on the path to education. The Global Partnership for education has grown the primary school completion rate from 40 to 54 percent in target districts and has trained more than 10,000 teachers.
Although Benin remains one of the world’s poorest countries, its economic outlook is improving. The government’s 2016 to 2021 action program is expected to boost the economy 6.2 percent in 2018. The plan aims to reduce poverty by focusing on the Benin’s agricultural potential, trade position and industrial sector. Maybe soon no one will have to ask: Why is Benin poor?
– Kristen Reesor
Photo: Flickr