Even the most prosperous countries struggle to combat epidemics, which often disproportionately affect the poor. The top diseases in Germany, where poverty is on the rise despite a growing economy, are heart and lung diseases.
Top Diseases in Germany: Facts and Figures
Although the prevalence of ischemic heart disease dropped by 8.2% from 2005-2015, it remains the leading cause of premature death in Germany, closely followed by lung cancer, which has risen by 3.6% in as many years.
Studies by the German Health Update (GEDA) support a correlation between poverty and disease, and more specifically, heart and lung disease. Women at risk of poverty statistically experience more bronchial asthma and higher blood lipid levels, which can lead to cardiac disease, than their high-income counterparts. Likewise, low-income men proved more susceptible to heart problems, among other ailments, than high-income men of the same age group.
The obvious question is why? Low-income Germans engage in more health-risk behavior than the upper-class. GEDA finds that men and women who are at-risk-of-poverty are 1.3 times more likely to smoke than those with high-incomes, and due to a lack of exercise and a higher consumption of budget foods like potatoes, white bread and sausages, the ratio of obesity for low-income to high-income women is 3.3 to 1, and for men 1.6 to 1.
But can this health disparity really be reduced to the habitual differences between Germany’s rich and the poor? The GEDA study also attributes increased disease incidence among the poor to psychosocial stress. Experiences of exclusion, social comparison and anxieties about the future, all of which are more common to the impoverished, cause health-impairing stress, which insufficient social support exacerbates.
In an interview with the Foreign Policy Group in February 2016, a low-income woman named Heike Wagner explains, “If you don’t have any money [in Berlin], it’s really hard to be part of the group. Going to a bar, to the movies, you can’t do it…If you have friends with a good job, it’s tough to keep up those friendships.” In addition to the inaccessibility of healthy foods, the absence of physical recreation, the prominence of dangerous habits and the general stress of financial insecurity, social isolation deteriorates the health of Germany’s poor.
Because of the tight entanglement of income and health, combatting poverty ought to further the cause of disease prevention. With poverty “at its highest level in Germany since reunification 25 years ago,” political efforts to protect citizens’ health are crucial.
Programs Designed to Reduce Disease and Poverty
Among several efforts to reduce the top diseases in Germany across all economic backgrounds, the Federal Center for Health Education coordinates the Health Promotion for the Socially Disadvantaged network. Meanwhile, Federal Health Reporting continuously monitors and publishes data on the link between poverty and health to educate the public and inspire political change.
The German Heart Foundation (GHF) sponsors school programs which aim to impart preventative habits early in life. Skipping Hearts teaches children rope skipping and educates them about their hearts’ reactions to exercise and diet. GHF also brings the European Non-Smoking Project’s “Be Smart — Do Not Start” program into German schools.
Every November, GHF hosts a national campaign called Heart Weeks to inform the public about heart health. Cardiologists and heart health professionals give more than 1,200 seminars in hospitals and clinics across Germany.
Additionally, the National Action Plan, IN FORM, spreads awareness about nutrition, physical activity and well-being to encourage citizens to adopt healthy lifestyles. The program began in 2008 and is set to conclude in 2020.
– Robin Lee
Photo: Flickr
Maternal Mortality in India: A Preventable Evil
India is a developing nation with a wealth of natural and man-made resources. Yet, with parameters of development such as maternal mortality, the country falls short. According to UNICEF, approximately 800 deaths occur each day due to avoidable causes linked to childbirth and pregnancy, and 20 percent of these deaths occur in India alone.
However, a stark reduction in maternal mortality in India has been observed over the past few years. This reduction can be mainly attributed to better health care for child-bearing women, increased monitoring of maternal death cases and increased alertness towards any medical complications or emergencies.
Strategies to reduce maternal mortality include increasing health care resources such as the number of hospitals and trained health care professionals. It is also essential to facilitate immediate referral to delivery services. Maintaining clean, sterile hospital environments and regulating the numbers of deliveries made at a given point of time can also ensure greater safety during childbirth.
Recently, a study in the British Medical Journal revealed that Assam, a state in North-East India, has approximately double the maternal mortality rate of India as a whole. This conspicuous disparity in maternal mortality rates can be explained by crowded, unclean and unfavorable hospital settings. These poor conditions can dissuade women from seeking immediate medical care and can even increase a risk of complications linked to pregnancy.
Another study reveals that approximately half of maternal deaths due to sepsis are caused by abortion through illegal means. This suggests that along with health factors, societal ideals also have an important role to play in observed maternal mortality.
Gender bias towards males can result in some families deciding to abort their children on the basis of gender. Poor households, in particular, are more likely to act in accordance with this bias as they believe that males have greater ability to obtain higher incomes and thus extract them out of their poverty. These societal stereotypes can be addressed by increasing a fairness of treatment of females in job sectors in terms of incomes and job responsibility.
Recently, UNICEF estimated that approximately 55,000 of all deaths due to maternal causes in India could have been prevented with better health care services. High levels of illiteracy are also deemed as a cause for these vast number of avoidable deaths.
Without proper knowledge of the precautionary methods for intercourse and the amount of resources required to support a child, poor households often have a higher number of children than average. This is based on the erroneous belief that more children will eventually result in greater incomes, but the costs of their upbringing are not taken into account.
Piyasree Mukherjee, CEO of the Foundation for Mother & Child Health, expresses her views on the situation by stating that, “In rural India, access to healthcare, specifically during delivery remains an issue, and there is also a lack of information.”
This comment potently underscores the paucity of available childbirth clinics and trained professionals in local communities. By increasing the number of delivery services and educational campaigns and improving the state of maternal and child care in India, there will hopefully come a time when maternal mortality in India is close to being eliminated.
– Tanvi Ambulkar
Photo: Flickr
The Top Diseases in Germany and Poverty’s Effects on Health
Even the most prosperous countries struggle to combat epidemics, which often disproportionately affect the poor. The top diseases in Germany, where poverty is on the rise despite a growing economy, are heart and lung diseases.
Top Diseases in Germany: Facts and Figures
Although the prevalence of ischemic heart disease dropped by 8.2% from 2005-2015, it remains the leading cause of premature death in Germany, closely followed by lung cancer, which has risen by 3.6% in as many years.
Studies by the German Health Update (GEDA) support a correlation between poverty and disease, and more specifically, heart and lung disease. Women at risk of poverty statistically experience more bronchial asthma and higher blood lipid levels, which can lead to cardiac disease, than their high-income counterparts. Likewise, low-income men proved more susceptible to heart problems, among other ailments, than high-income men of the same age group.
The obvious question is why? Low-income Germans engage in more health-risk behavior than the upper-class. GEDA finds that men and women who are at-risk-of-poverty are 1.3 times more likely to smoke than those with high-incomes, and due to a lack of exercise and a higher consumption of budget foods like potatoes, white bread and sausages, the ratio of obesity for low-income to high-income women is 3.3 to 1, and for men 1.6 to 1.
But can this health disparity really be reduced to the habitual differences between Germany’s rich and the poor? The GEDA study also attributes increased disease incidence among the poor to psychosocial stress. Experiences of exclusion, social comparison and anxieties about the future, all of which are more common to the impoverished, cause health-impairing stress, which insufficient social support exacerbates.
In an interview with the Foreign Policy Group in February 2016, a low-income woman named Heike Wagner explains, “If you don’t have any money [in Berlin], it’s really hard to be part of the group. Going to a bar, to the movies, you can’t do it…If you have friends with a good job, it’s tough to keep up those friendships.” In addition to the inaccessibility of healthy foods, the absence of physical recreation, the prominence of dangerous habits and the general stress of financial insecurity, social isolation deteriorates the health of Germany’s poor.
Because of the tight entanglement of income and health, combatting poverty ought to further the cause of disease prevention. With poverty “at its highest level in Germany since reunification 25 years ago,” political efforts to protect citizens’ health are crucial.
Programs Designed to Reduce Disease and Poverty
Among several efforts to reduce the top diseases in Germany across all economic backgrounds, the Federal Center for Health Education coordinates the Health Promotion for the Socially Disadvantaged network. Meanwhile, Federal Health Reporting continuously monitors and publishes data on the link between poverty and health to educate the public and inspire political change.
The German Heart Foundation (GHF) sponsors school programs which aim to impart preventative habits early in life. Skipping Hearts teaches children rope skipping and educates them about their hearts’ reactions to exercise and diet. GHF also brings the European Non-Smoking Project’s “Be Smart — Do Not Start” program into German schools.
Every November, GHF hosts a national campaign called Heart Weeks to inform the public about heart health. Cardiologists and heart health professionals give more than 1,200 seminars in hospitals and clinics across Germany.
Additionally, the National Action Plan, IN FORM, spreads awareness about nutrition, physical activity and well-being to encourage citizens to adopt healthy lifestyles. The program began in 2008 and is set to conclude in 2020.
– Robin Lee
Photo: Flickr
Diagnostic Methods Build the Foundation of Outbreak Control
The case of Ebola in Liberia provides an example of how breakthrough disease-testing methods can save thousands of lives. Jude Senguku, one of the leading physicians who treated Ebola patients in Liberia, told BBC that misinformation, panic and misdiagnosis kept people from seeking help at the onset of symptoms.
People knew very little about the deadly disease and feared being sent to Ebola isolation units. Public health workers needed better diagnostic methods to screen people for Ebola in order to obtain medical evidence that would support or invalidate a diagnosis.
For Monrovia’s Redemption Hospital, the solution came in the form of GeneXpert, a machine that rapidly tests for Ebola and provides results within 90 minutes.
At the beginning of the Ebola outbreak in 2014, there were 50 licensed doctors for a population of 4.3 million. To provide each symptomatic person a one-on-one doctor visit was both unfeasible and impractical. During and after the outbreak, GeneXpert allowed health care workers, including volunteers with limited medical training, to accurately test patients for the presence of the Ebola virus and direct them to care in time to receive life-saving treatment.
Senguku says that since 2014, GeneXpert was “very critical” in reducing Ebola scares and restoring Monrovia’s confidence in their doctors.
The technology uses a process called DNA amplification, which tests a human specimen — cheek cells, saliva, etc. — for the disease’s specific DNA sequence. In contrast to other diagnostic methods, the technology can identify extremely low amounts of viral DNA as well as drug-resistant strains, which makes it incredibly sensitive and accurate. The machine, which is used for multiple tests, costs about $17,000. The test cartridge, which is used in every test per person, costs a mere $10.
One of the technology’s most valuable features is its usability. The health care worker administering the test does not need to be trained to identify a specific disease. Rather, they simply need to know how to operate the machine. Moreover, because of its low dependence on electricity, GeneXpert is an ideal diagnostic tool for regions with limited access to power.
The diagnostic process plays a critical role in outbreak control, stabilizing population health and providing a sense of security to an affected community. Events like the Ebola outbreak of 2014 serve as examples of how improved diagnostic methods are helping health care workers deliver faster and more efficient care under strenuous circumstances.
– Jessica Levitan
Photo: Flickr
The Policy of Foreign Aid: Modern Challenges
In less than a decade, Europe suffered severe destruction and was quickly torn apart due to World War II. Soon after that, a huge foreign aid package known as the Marshall Plan helped European nations overcome modern challenges and seek a path of democracy and sustained peace.
Today, the U.S. continues to invest in foreign aid to advance its national security and global leadership. This has played an indispensable role in strengthening the country’s strategic, economic and moral obligations.
Foreign aid strengthens national security by cutting the roots of terrorism. It also helps in stabilizing weaker regimes, promoting regional security and long-term stability. Foreign aid helped nations such as South Korea and Colombia recover from instability. Nations who receive aid could serve as potential markets and attract investors.
However, the foreign aid budget planned for next year is only $34 billion. This number is expected to decrease further in coming years.
Furthermore, there have been more conflicts in the 21st century that gripped the attention of the U.S. War in Afghanistan and Iraq, coupled with a rising global trend of terrorism, are some of the factors that challenge foreign aid programs. Hence, there comes a greater target zone for aid programs and more communities to address.
Such challenges make the process of development and the execution of programs a lot harder. Agencies are put under pressure as they have to provide support for a lot of people in a short time. Furthermore, political dilemmas and conflicts complicate the tasks of agencies to access data and effectively manage aid programs.
With all the modern challenges of the 21st century, the U.S. aims to make the process of foreign development programs more transparent, accountable and effective. Over the last decade, Washington has succeeded in creating new standards and metrics as part of foreign aid reform. Such transparency and accountability reforms can be expanded into developmental programs such as delivering aid packages and managing educational programs.
The U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) understands the modern challenges regarding foreign aid. It aims to address such challenges by aligning resources with goals to transform development. It also tailors programs according to need and opportunities.
USAID has also adopted the hopeful policy of selectively increasing resource allocation to improve their capacity to handle modern challenges.
– Noman Ashraf
Photo: Flickr
Germany and Its Dedication to Improving Welfare Efforts
Although Germany is experiencing record-low unemployment and the economy has been improving over the years, overall poverty in Germany is increasing. Since Germany’s reunification in 1990, the poverty rate has never been higher than its current state. Ulrich Schneider — chief executive of Germany’s Equal Welfare Organization — was quoted in an article by the “Deutsche Welle” saying “Poverty has never been as high and the regional disunity has never run as deep.”
In 2013, a survey titled “Living in Europe” released results showing that 16.2 million people in Germany were victims of poverty. That astounding number makes up 20.3% of the German population. As previously stated, poverty in Germany has been increasing over the years and the statistics only support that fact. The percentage of the impoverished German population has ranged from 19.6 to 21.9 since 2008. The poverty issue in Germany has affected men and women alike, but it has affected children more than anything.
In 2014, there were an estimated 1.9 million minors growing up in impoverished households in Germany. Surprisingly, that number shot up by 52,000 in the span of one year. This horrific statistic will haunt the lives of many for years to come. Statistics show “that 57.2 percent of children between the ages of seven and 15 had been supported by basic welfare for a period of at least three years.” Anette Stein — an expert working at the Bertelsmann Foundation — knows from work experience: “The longer that a child lives on welfare, the worse the consequences are.”
The consequences of welfare are horrible because welfare-dependent children are not just affected financially, but also physically and socially. Welfare dependent children have higher chances of struggling in social situations, struggling with health issues and struggling with education.
How Germany is Trying to Appease Poverty
Schneider is aware of Germany’s current status and has proposed to appease the situation by increasing welfare rates and creating more employment opportunities. It was decided in 2015 that in order to create thousands of new jobs for poverty-stricken German citizens, a substantial amount of money would have to be spent. Andre Nahles — a German Labor Minister — stated Germany “will use 2.7 billion euros ($3 billion) from the European Social Fund, plus 4.3 billion euros from within Germany.”
This plan will create 26 different programs within Germany and run until the year 2020. The German labor industry claims that almost 40% of the money will be invested in “the promotion of social integration and the battle against poverty.”
Although Germany is currently in a poor position, their current state does not come as much of a surprise. Statisticians have reported that the European Union as a whole is in worse shape than Germany. Twenty-four point five percent of the EU’s population is facing poverty and social exclusion. Additionally, “16.7 percent of the population was at risk of poverty, 9.6 percent significantly material-disadvantaged and 10.7 percent were living in households with very low labor market participation.”
Germany has a lot of improvements to make before it can get back on track as a country, but it is attacking its problems head-on. The Germans have not shied away from improving welfare efforts and have implemented plans for progression. With Germany’s economy on the rise and the unemployment rate on the decline, it should only be a matter of time before poverty in Germany takes a turn for the better.
– Terry J. Halloran
Photo: Flickr
America Has Strong Advocates for the Global Poor
The U.S. House of Representatives Committee on Foreign Affairs and the U.S. Senate Committee on Foreign Relations possess the constitutional authority and resources to manage national security, international health crises, and address human rights abuses. On a daily basis, congressional members are strong advocates for the global poor.
To address the complexity of the international affairs, the governing bodies established regional subcommittees and assigned specific representatives to create solutions that are tailored to the unique needs of the diverse and multi-polar system.
Rep. Christopher Smith, with Rep. Karen Bass as the Ranking Member, chairs the U.S. House of Representative’s Subcommittee on Africa, Global Health, Human Rights, and International Organizations. Past actions of the committee include calls for the promotion of good governance in Eritrea; accountability in human rights reports; and cooperation with the U.N. to stabilize South Sudan.
Sen. Jeff Flake, with Sen. Edward J. Markey as its ranking member, chairs the U.S. Senate Foreign Affairs Subcommittee on Africa and Global Health Policy. The committee has recently passed legislation highlighting their dedication to being an ally to the global poor. The legislation is called Electrify Africa, which partners with sub-Saharan governments to provide power services for at least 50 million people.
Other responsibilities of the Senate Subcommittee promote good government and identify threats for the intelligence and military community to further evaluate. These elected representatives work diligently to be effective advocates for the global poor.
However, congressional leaders are elected to serve the American people. If you are one of millions of Americans who care about the globally impoverished, then have your voice heard.
By emailing, calling or writing, individual Americans can lobby their representatives to support bills that demonstrate their allegiance to assisting the global poor. Often times, it does not take more than five constituents reaching out to make something become a topic of discussion. It’s amazing to think that individual American citizens can have a big impact by being influential advocates for the global poor.
There has never been a more important time to get involved. The world is at a pivotal point: continue improving the living conditions of those who live on less than a dollar a day or forfeit the hard work of generations. The choice is up to every American to become an ally of the global poor.
– Adam George
Photo: Flickr
Education in Spain
Education in Spain is important to the country’s future. Although the literacy rate in Spain among male and female youth has been extremely high for many years, the country has been devastated by a financial crisis and a depleting economy. In Spain, the literacy rate for youth ages 15 to 24 is excellent. The U.N.’s Children’s Fund (UNICEF) reported that an estimated 99.5% of males and an estimated 99.7% of women were literate from 2008 to 2012. These numbers are very promising but Spain’s ongoing financial crisis might make these statistics a thing of the past.
The European Union (EU) mandated spending cuts that required Spain’s “education spending [which] amounted to 4.4 percent of gross domestic product in 2014… [must now] fall below 4 percent in 2015.” The reductions in public funding also increased university tuition, cut student scholarships, increased class sizes and cut teacher salaries. In the previous year alone, Spain experienced education cuts of $2.2 billion. Consequently, there was an estimated decrease in student enrollment by 45,000 students.
In order to make the system of education in Spain more appealing and beneficial for students, José Ignacio Wert, Spain’s minister of Education, implemented new legislation called the Organic Law for the Improvement of Educational Quality (LOMCE). This piece of legislation made numerous changes to Spain’s educational system and warranted mixed feelings between the people of Spain.
One of LOMCE’s initiatives was to end a practice called Selectividad, an entry-level exam that incoming international students were required to pass before being accepted. Another initiative reduced the amount of undergraduate schooling from four years to three and increased the Master’s School requirement from one year to two. Wert said this was a significant change because Spain is “currently isolated from the rest of Europe. We currently don’t recognize graduates from other countries with a three-year degree, even if they come from Cambridge.”
Education in Spain
Wert believes that by implementing LOMCE, Spanish families will save $168 million altogether and students will be eligible to enter the job market by age 21. This is where the LOMCE education bill has created mixed feelings throughout the country because many students have a very different perspective on the matter. The LOMCE education bill was ratified in 2013 and that has decided the future of many students.
For one, students believed that by cutting undergraduate education by one whole year, they were losing the quality of education they could have experienced. Additionally, students believed Wert increased the Master’s School requirement by a full year in order for students to shell out more money to obtain their degrees.
The newly ratified bill for education in Spain is also basing the future of every student off of the examination score they receive on standardized tests. The recorded scores will determine what regions of Spain receive the most educational funding and what students are allowed to continue their education. The students that fall below the minimum requirement “will be separated and their vocational training determined for them.”
Wert stands by the LOMCE education bill because he believes it will help bring Spain’s educational system up to par with the other European countries. The only problem is, Spain’s history of civil war and fascist dictatorship sets it apart from other European countries.
The reign of General Francisco Franco left a gigantic scar throughout Spain and makes its citizens wary of any laws passed down by the national government. Wert and the people of Spain have to find a solution that will provide all aspiring students with the opportunity to pursue an education, without cutting university funding, scholarships and teachers’ wages.
– Terry J. Halloran
Photo: Flickr
DoctHers Strives for Accessible Health Care in Pakistan
The organization DoctHers, is working to provide more accessible health care in Pakistan. DoctHers uses cutting-edge technology to connect female doctors to those in Pakistan who have been historically underserved — namely, other women and children. Female patients in conservative areas often feel uncomfortable working with male doctors, and that is where this life changing organization hopes to step in.
DoctHers works by using a teleconference or video-chat software to put female doctors in touch with clinics in areas in need. Working with the clinic nurse, the doctor is able to check symptoms and prescribe necessary treatment. DoctHers is currently operating eight telemedicine centers across Pakistan. The goal is for the organization to empower Pakistani women in medicine, who often face severe cultural and social backlash. In many cases, these women are forced to stop working after marriage or pregnancy.
This was the case with two of DoctHer’s cofounders, Dr. Sara Khurram and Dr. Iffat Zafar. “My motivation was that I was terminated from my residency as I conceived the baby,” said Khurram in an interview with Al Jazeera.
Health care in developing countries like Pakistan is a serious issue. According to a study prepared for The Annual Review of Economics, 15 million people die of preventable and treatable diseases such as malaria, tuberculosis and AIDS, many of them in impoverished nations where health care is lacking.
The study added, “In the absence of any proactive health behavior to prevent or treat these diseases, the likelihood of a child in a poor country living to the age of 5 and of an adult living to the age of 50 is significantly lower than in a rich country.” This data is augmented for women and children. The World Health Organization states that women in Pakistan continue to have limited access to reproductive health services and face relatively high-rates of pregnancy related illness.
By using technology to deliver more accessible health care in Pakistan, DoctHers hopes to reduce this number and de-stigmatize women’s reproductive health.
– Sabrina Santos
Photo: Flickr
Women-Only Villages of Kenya Defy Patriarchal Laws
In some countries, structural change fights systemic oppression. Historically disenfranchised groups will organize and work their way through the existing power structure in order to undermine the ruling class.
The women-only villages in the foothills of Kenya have a different approach. In order to fight the patriarchal laws of the Samburu region, they’ve formed gender-exclusive villages where their peers support the women and provide resources to raise their children without husbands or other family members.
Umoja, which means “unity” in Swahili, is the most prominent of the women-only villages in the southeastern region of Kenya. It is home to about 50 permanent residents who support themselves by opening up their village to tourists and selling handmade jewelry.
Chairlady Rebecca Lolosoli established Umoja 25 years ago with 15 other women. They had all experienced rape and abuse by British soldiers and felt unsupported by their communities. In Samburu tradition, women are considered men’s property and therefore not legally protected in cases of rape and abuse. A group of men brutally beat Lolosoli for speaking out against the patriarchal standards of Samburu culture; she was recovering in the hospital when she got the idea for Umoja.
Today, the women of Umoja share in the day-to-day responsibilities of maintaining the village and protecting it from angry neighbors. They build homes, operate a school for their children, conduct jewelry sales and sleep in shifts in case men from nearby villages come to claim their wives. Many of the current residents consider themselves refugees, coming to Umoja after escaping abusive marriages.
Another reason women come to Umoja is to escape the culturally-ingrained practice of female genital mutilation (FGM). Historically, FGM is used as a mechanism to disempower women and enforce strict patriarchy.
Once “circumcised,” girls as young as eight can be given away to older men. Despite its reputation in traditional cultures for being safe and healthy, FGM frequently results in long-term health consequences, like urinary problems, menstrual problems, life-threatening infections and psychological trauma. The World Health Organization considers FGM a human rights violation and strongly advises against its practice worldwide.
Umoja provides a type of mobility that women of the Samburu tribe don’t have in a traditional setting. The opportunity to earn and save her own money liberates a woman from relying on her husband or family.
On top of that, living in Umoja allows women to raise their daughters beyond the confines of traditional Samburu culture, protecting them from FGM and forced early marriage. For single women who don’t wish to marry or have children, Umoja offers a safe environment in which they can work and live.
There are several other women-only villages in Kenya, including Nachimi and Supalake. In contrast to Umoja, men in Nachimi are allowed in the community, but they must respect the women’s authority.
In Supalake, gender rules still exist, but reversed; men complete chores like house maintenance and water retrieval, while women make the laws and conduct business. Each village serves as a place of refuge for women who have faced oppression or victimization of harsh Samburu traditions.
The women-only villages of Kenya are important to understanding the obstacles women face in traditional tribal cultures. Seeing how women live beyond the confines of patriarchal laws can help people understand the kind of institutional changes needed for gender equality. Places like Umoja, Nachimi and Supalake show us that economic independence is a requisite for social mobility.
– Jessica Levitan
Photo: Flickr
Uganda’s Struggling Universal Primary Education Policy
The Ugandan government spends roughly $300 million annually on universal primary education. Despite the government’s devotion to free public education, the universal primary education policy is enduring severe growing pains.
One main issue is that despite the government’s large expenditure, parents still pay for half of their students’ fees. According to Nelson Wanambi, an economist at Uganda’s Ministry of Education, parents now pay 46.9 percent for education whereas the government pays a mere 27.6 percent.
The high cost for families causes many children to drop out of school as education becomes burdensome for parents. This economic strain on families contributes to Uganda’s staggering 75.2 percent primary school dropout rate.
After the universal primary education was introduced in 1997, Ugandan schools grew at such a high rate that not enough teachers could be trained to accommodate the increased enrollment rate. Further, many teachers receive insufficient salaries, resulting in strikes and frequent teacher absenteeism.
Fortunately, the government has recently received financial support from the Global Partnership for Education. The most recent contribution was over $100 million to support Uganda’s Education Sector Strategic Plan (EESP). The ESSP originally ran from 2004-2015, and the Global Partnership for Education has made a pledge to continue the program from 2014-2018.
As in many developing nations, gender-related issues contribute to the high drop out rate. On average, Ugandan boys stay in school for two more years than girls — 6.3 compared to 4.5 years respectively. In Uganda, 30 percent of girls drop out of school when they start menstruating because they cannot afford sanitary pads.
Organizations like Afripads, which is headquartered in Uganda, work to increase accessibility to sanitary pads for young girls and provide job opportunities for Ugandan women. Some schools, such as Katwe primary school, are successfully implementing the universal primary education policy. At Katwe, the school provides sanitary pads for their female students.
In theory, the universal primary education program would relieve the burden for many families to pay tuition for their children and increase graduation rate. However, the program has faced many obstacles. With the help of organizations such as Global Partnership for Education and Afripads, Uganda’s future for education is bright once again.
– Sabrina Yates
Photo: Flickr