Cholera outbreaks are not altogether uncommon in Iraq. The bacterial infection is endemic to the region and reported cases usually spike every two to three years around November. Due to this regularity, the Iraqi Ministry of Health has developed a multidimensional approach to combating these outbreaks—but this year has been different.
An unprecedented at-risk population has emerged, as more than 250,000 Syrian refugees have fled their homes to Iraq at the same time that Iraqis are becoming internally displaced by the ongoing conflict with ISIS in the north. Funding has been diverted away from municipal services to pay for defense, and authorities have been unable to fully address community wells that have been contaminated by sewage from flood drainage.
More than 2,000 cases of cholera have been reported over the last three months, including six that have been fatal. One in five of these cases affect young children, and many are being diagnosed in the 62-refugee and Internally Displaced Person camps across the country.
Health officials may also face being inundated with additional patients due to the millions of Shi’ite Muslims expected to make their pilgrimage to Iraq in observance of Arbaeen, a ritual marking the end of mourning over the death of Hussein. When these travelers return home, there is a good chance they will take the bacteria with them, and this will compound an outbreak that has already spread to Syria, Kuwait and Bahrain.
“There is, unfortunately, a high risk that cholera will reach more areas affecting marginalized and displaced children, women and their families, in particular,” UNICEF Representative in Iraq, Peter Hawkins, said. In response, the Health Ministry, UNICEF and the World Health Organization are ramping up their campaigns to vaccinate refugees, treat patients and educate communities on practices that will reduce the risk of transmission.
In late October, health officials trained 1,300 vaccinators and 650 social mobilizers to carry out a first-phase vaccination deployment. Since early November, more than 91 percent of targeted Syrian refugees received the oral vaccine and will receive a second dose by the end of December. The second round will guard against cholera for at least five years. It was a desperately needed victory for Iraq, but the World Health Organization stressed that vaccinations should not divert attention from other prevention measures.
“We need to intensify health promotion and education to help communities protect themselves,” WHO Representative, Atlaf Musani, said.
To that end, UNICEF has supported a massive public education campaign. Cholera prevention methods are being sent out on social media, in text messages, by volunteers taking pamphlets door to door and on billboards in affected areas. People are being urged to use water only from protected sources and to get seen by a doctor as soon as symptoms of cholera present themselves.
Primary school children at a refugee camp in Dohuk were taken from regular classes to learn how to properly wash their hands and blow their noses. Officials are hoping that by reaching students, the information will get back to families as well. “Families can protect themselves in simple ways,” Hawkins said.
For communities already infected, or at risk of infection, health officials and UNICEF have undertaken an aggressive treatment campaign. Bottled water has been distributed to 37,000 people, community wells capable of serving 15,000 people have been built, 820,000 packets of rehydration salts are being given out and 3.1 million water treatment tablets will reach households across the country. Some schools have even delayed the beginning of classes for at least a month.
As with most humanitarian missions, the fight against Cholera outbreaks in Iraq is being hampered by a limited budget. If UNICEF is to continue supporting the Iraqi government, a $12.7 million funding gap will need to be filled. For the most vulnerable patients, this funding will mean life or death.
– Ron Minard
Sources: WHO, Reuters, UN, UNICEF
Photo: Islamic Relief, Pixabay
CFHI and Omni Med Tackle Preventable Diseases in Uganda
Less than half of the population in Uganda has access to health care. In addition, the country suffers from a deficit of 1.5 million health workers. It is therefore not surprising that treatable diseases are the leading cause of death in Uganda.
The government created the Village Health Team program in 2001 to focus on the lack of health workers. The joint program “Community Health Workers & Global Health” will be based in Uganda’s Mukono District, 13 miles from the capital Kampala. The Child Family Health International organization offers global health education programs that “broaden students’ perspective on global health.”
Child Family Health International (CFHI) is partnering with Omni Med to expand health care capacity from rural to central Uganda. This expansion will improve Omni Med’s training and surveillance of Village Health Team and allow participants to assist the locally-led capacity building and quality assurance.
Omni Med began its work in Uganda in 2008 and has since trained over 1,200 community health workers and established protected water sources and cookstoves as well as distributing insecticide-treated nets. These teams include health educators in rural villages who make a big difference in the health of the world’s poorest people.
Village Health Teams are elected by local villagers and tasked with educating locals with preventative health information, referring sick people to health care centers and tracking health trends for Uganda’s Ministry of Health.
Child Family Health International Global Health Scholars, also known as participants, will assist the Village Health Teams in providing locals in rural Mukono with the best preventative tool: knowledge.
Scholars will accompany the teams on their home visits, train and maintain the team’s health knowledge by teaching in quarterly meetings and aiding in other Omni Med local activities.
“We believe strongly that it is not enough to feel good about what we do–we have to measure the impact we make, and then adjust our programs based on the data,” president and founder of Omni Med, Dr. Ed O’Neil Jr said.
– Marie Helene Ngom
Sources: PRweb, CFHI
Photo: Flickr
Lottie Moon: A Southern Belle
Why do citizens in the poorest states give the most to charity? When it comes to statewide charitable funds, this question seems to arise time and time again. As for the reason – research has suggested the answer lies in religion.
In 2013, Southern Baptists gave approximately $153,000 to the International Foreign Mission Board through the Lottie Moon Christmas Offering. Each Christmas, Southern Baptists participate in this tradition through donations. Who is Lottie Moon, and how does she continue to fight global poverty?
Charlotte Digges “Lottie” Moon was born on Dec. 12, 1840, to a wealthy Virginia family. She cherished education and became the first woman to obtain a master’s degree from a southern college. Around age 18, she became a Christian and desperately desired to become involved with foreign mission work. At the time, this field was closed to single women.
Moon’s sister, Edmonia, began writing to the secretary of the Foreign Baptist Foreign Mission Board, Henry Tupper. Surprisingly, he agreed to let them help, and in 1873 at age 32, Moon and her sister arrived in Tengchow, China.
Moon wasn’t there simply to teach her religion, she was a reformist. She taught school and was a strong advocate for women. Moon fought ardently against the women’s practice of foot binding. In foot binding, a woman’s toes are forced to curl down into her heel, producing a crescent shape. Even though foot binding was a symbol of the elite, it was painful and harmful to the body.
Even though many other missionaries fled, Moon remained in China during the Russo-Japanese War of 1904-1905. Starvation surrounded her, so she took in children and animals, even refusing to eat if they could not.
She wrote home suggesting a week of prayer and offerings be set aside for missions during Christmas. People responded and the Women’s Missionary Union was born. The union is alive and productive in the South today; it collects more than $20 million annually for Southern Baptist mission work overseas.
Eventually, Moon herself fell ill. She did not want to leave China, but her colleagues sent her home on a ship. She died in 1912 on Christmas Eve, and there are conflicting stories about her exact cause of death.
Nevertheless, Lottie Moon has become a beloved friend of Southern Baptists and a martyr among missionaries. Sandra Spears, a Southern Baptist from Mississippi, said she learned about Lottie Moon as a child and has given to the cause for more than 50 years. It’s a tradition.
It should be noted that even though the donations received for the Lottie Moon Christmas Offering are designed for mission work, they aren’t solely spent on building churches and supporting missionaries. Some of the work could be considered “humanitarian” as the missionaries provide meals, medical resources and a host of other critical needs that exist in developing countries.
A 7-year-old boy who was growing up Southern Baptist in the Deep South asked his mother, “When does Lottie Moon ever get paid off?” A humorous question from a child, but when it comes to lifting others out of poverty and giving to help others, the possibilities seem endless.
– Dana McLemore
Sources: BDC Online, History’s Women, The Pathway, Cornell University
Photo: Wikimedia
Unlikely Heroes Fights in Underdeveloped Communities
Unlikely Heroes is a nonprofit organization fighting slavery in communities in Thailand, Mexico, the United States and the Philippines. The organization rescues children from all forms of slavery, including the labor and sex industry, and bring the children to live in one of the many homes owned by Unlikely Heroes.
According to an article by the Boston Globe, slavery traps impoverished communities in a vicious cycle. Many of these communities’ future leaders are taken away from their homes and stripped of their innocence and the chance of an education.
Instead, they are forced into hard labor and used for sex. Slavery also results in inequality which inhibits villages and communities from creating sustainability and progression.
Today, the number of people trapped in slavery is double what it was when the Trans-Atlantic slave trade was in action, accounting for more than 27 million people.
Twenty-eight million dollars is generated each year in the sex exploitation industry, which makes it the second most lucrative crime in the world, with more than 100,000 children prostituted each year.
Members of Unlikely Heroes spend much of their time in dangerous regions breaking children out of slavery.
These children are then taken to restoration homes, where Unlikely Heroes provides them with food, shelter, education, medical care and therapy. The children are raised to become leaders and overcome the difficulties of their childhood.
Another function Unlikely Heroes operates is the education of people everywhere. They create awareness and prevention campaigns to educate people about slavery in the modern age. Their teams have educated over 20,000 people worldwide and continue to spread awareness throughout the world.
Unlikely Heroes made their first rescue four years ago when they saved 10 girls from brothels in the Philippines. Last year, Unlikely Heroes counseled more than 270 of the Chibok schoolgirls who escaped a mass kidnapping in Nigeria.ave
Today, the organization continues to fight slavery and poverty. In December, Unlikely Heroes will open their first restoration home in the United States.
– Julia Hettiger
Sources: Unlikely Heroes, End Slavery Now, The Blaze
Photo: Pixabay
Asante Sana for Education
The ceremony was attended by the Founder of ASFE Ashley Washburn, Parliament member Dr. Shukuru Kawambwa, Tanzania’s Minister of Education and other government officials.
Asante Sana means “thank you very much” in Swahili and Washburn was inspired to create ASFE in 2010 after she volunteered at pre-primary and primary schools in Tanzania. “Day to day it seems like it’s taking so long and year to year so much has gone on,” Washburn said.
Despite being a fairly young non-governmental organization, the latest primary school was the second school built by ASFE and its donors. The first primary school was built in June 2011, in a village called Mogogoni. Prior to the construction of that school, Mogogoni children had to walk five miles to get their education.
In addition to building schools in impoverished communities, ASFE creates a unique learning environment for students in rural Tanzania to connect with students in the United States using Skype.
“One of the first Skypes we ever did was to connect my Tanzanian students with my other passion which is the Covenant Preparatory School in Hartford, Connecticut,” Washburn said. “I thought that these kids and my kids over here have so much in common and I wanted them to meet each other, not just through letters, so we tried Skype.”
The Student Empowering Students program for secondary students works to teach Tanzanian students English communication, writing and hands-on computer skills. These traits are especially valuable in an environment such as rural Tanzania, where electricity and access to the internet are limited.
Members of the program are provided funding for tuition and school supplies, as well as medical expenses, in order to minimize the impact of factors that prevent poor children from getting an education.
The Parents Empowering Parents Group was established to ensure that students of the program get after school support in their studies from parents and guardians. Members also take the opportunity to use ASFE to improve their own English and computer skills.
“The last five years have been challenging, frustrating, joyful and have made me so proud,” Washburn said.
– Marie Helene Ngom
Sources: HartfortCourant, ASFE
Photo: Pixabay
Millennium Development Goals Successes
While the Millennium Development Goals have had many successes, some goals have not been reached. World leaders have come together once again to decide on the new long-term sustainability goals, building on the past successes.
According to the UN, The Sustainable Development Goals, “will break fresh ground with ambition on inequalities, economic growth, decent jobs, cities and human settlements, industrialization, energy, climate change, sustainable consumption and production, peace and justice.”
– Drusilla Gibbs
Sources: The Guardian, UN
Photo: Flickr
Combating Cholera Outbreaks in Iraq
An unprecedented at-risk population has emerged, as more than 250,000 Syrian refugees have fled their homes to Iraq at the same time that Iraqis are becoming internally displaced by the ongoing conflict with ISIS in the north. Funding has been diverted away from municipal services to pay for defense, and authorities have been unable to fully address community wells that have been contaminated by sewage from flood drainage.
More than 2,000 cases of cholera have been reported over the last three months, including six that have been fatal. One in five of these cases affect young children, and many are being diagnosed in the 62-refugee and Internally Displaced Person camps across the country.
Health officials may also face being inundated with additional patients due to the millions of Shi’ite Muslims expected to make their pilgrimage to Iraq in observance of Arbaeen, a ritual marking the end of mourning over the death of Hussein. When these travelers return home, there is a good chance they will take the bacteria with them, and this will compound an outbreak that has already spread to Syria, Kuwait and Bahrain.
“There is, unfortunately, a high risk that cholera will reach more areas affecting marginalized and displaced children, women and their families, in particular,” UNICEF Representative in Iraq, Peter Hawkins, said. In response, the Health Ministry, UNICEF and the World Health Organization are ramping up their campaigns to vaccinate refugees, treat patients and educate communities on practices that will reduce the risk of transmission.
In late October, health officials trained 1,300 vaccinators and 650 social mobilizers to carry out a first-phase vaccination deployment. Since early November, more than 91 percent of targeted Syrian refugees received the oral vaccine and will receive a second dose by the end of December. The second round will guard against cholera for at least five years. It was a desperately needed victory for Iraq, but the World Health Organization stressed that vaccinations should not divert attention from other prevention measures.
“We need to intensify health promotion and education to help communities protect themselves,” WHO Representative, Atlaf Musani, said.
To that end, UNICEF has supported a massive public education campaign. Cholera prevention methods are being sent out on social media, in text messages, by volunteers taking pamphlets door to door and on billboards in affected areas. People are being urged to use water only from protected sources and to get seen by a doctor as soon as symptoms of cholera present themselves.
Primary school children at a refugee camp in Dohuk were taken from regular classes to learn how to properly wash their hands and blow their noses. Officials are hoping that by reaching students, the information will get back to families as well. “Families can protect themselves in simple ways,” Hawkins said.
For communities already infected, or at risk of infection, health officials and UNICEF have undertaken an aggressive treatment campaign. Bottled water has been distributed to 37,000 people, community wells capable of serving 15,000 people have been built, 820,000 packets of rehydration salts are being given out and 3.1 million water treatment tablets will reach households across the country. Some schools have even delayed the beginning of classes for at least a month.
As with most humanitarian missions, the fight against Cholera outbreaks in Iraq is being hampered by a limited budget. If UNICEF is to continue supporting the Iraqi government, a $12.7 million funding gap will need to be filled. For the most vulnerable patients, this funding will mean life or death.
– Ron Minard
Sources: WHO, Reuters, UN, UNICEF
Photo: Islamic Relief, Pixabay
President Zuma: Free College Education is Possible
Jacob Zuma, South Africa’s president, said that free college education in South Africa could become a possibility in the future.
In a recent interview for Bloomberg Business, President Zuma said, “It’s possible, but it’s not a question you can do overnight. You’ve got to be able to have the resources.”
President Zuma spoke out about the possibility for free college education in South Africa after the recent Fees Must Fall protest over South African universities’ increase in tuition and student costs. Students protested near Zuma’s offices in Pretoria by throwing stones at buildings and starting fires on the lawn outside the buildings.
Student enrollment in South Africa’s universities has doubled to nearly 1 million since the end of the apartheid, and the government wants that number to grow to 1.6 million by 2030. However, only about 5 percent of South African families can afford to comfortably pay their children’s university fees.
The South African Institute of Race Relations has analyzed whether it would be possible to provide free college education in South Africa. The Institute suggests that it is possible if the government can adjust its spending priorities.
Right now the spending level on universities in South Africa is around 0.8 percent of the country’s Gross Domestic Product, which comes to around 25 billion rands.
In order to make tertiary education free, an additional 71 billion rands is required. The South African Institute of Race Relations believes that such levels of funding are possible if government spending is adjusted.
The Institute found that if the state’s wage bill were to be cut by just 5 percent, it would give 22 billion rands toward universities. If military and defense were cut by 25 percent, this would send another 10 billion rands to universities. Finally, cutting off all subsidies to parastatals and other entities would deliver around 45 billion rands per year. These cuts total 77 billion rands.
According to The South African Institute of Race Relations, “our figures and estimates are deeply conservative and yet they suggest that fully subsidized undergraduate education is affordable for all students currently attending universities.”
Prioritizing government spending could make a free college education in South Africa a strong possibility, but it will take time and support from the South African government.
– Jordan Connell
Sources: Bloomberg Business, Daily Maverick, IB Times
Photo: Wikimedia
Global Warming and the World’s Poor
In developed nations, vast annual quantities of greenhouse gas emissions are causing global authorities on climate change to be seriously concerned. The World Resources Institute reported in 2014 that the biggest offenders are China, the U.S. and the E.U.
However, the people who will be most adversely affected by the impacts of climate change will not be developed nations. The real damage will lie between global warming and the world’s poor.
In March 2014, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change was held to discuss the growing number of concerns surrounding global warming.
Riding on the coattails of the December United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change’s 20th annual Conference of the Parties, the report was the result of one of the most thorough data collecting and analyzing efforts in climate research history.
The report drew a tragic connection between global warming and the world’s poor, asserting that the most vulnerable, least prepared, most exposed and impoverished communities will be hit the hardest.
A particularly dangerous side effect of global warming will be the destabilization of growing cycles, disrupting and reducing crop yields. This decrease in crop yields drives up the price of food, putting more people in danger of malnourishment.
Another concerning connection between global warming and the world’s poor is that underdeveloped regions are less resilient to weather-related disasters, whether it be drought or hurricane. This lack of weather resistance in a community makes it more vulnerable to an increase in poverty.
The report also found that as resources become tighter the risk of conflict rises. Historically, as food shortages occur, food riots and clashes between farmers and herders over land use, as well as unrest about where and how water should be used, skyrocket.
However, Chris Field, a co-chair of the 2014 U.N. report, said adapting to more sustainable and climate-friendly practices can lessen the blow of climate change.
“Climate-change adaptation is not an exotic agenda that has never been tried. Governments, firms, and communities around the world are building experience with adaptation,” Field said. “This experience forms a starting point for bolder, more ambitious adaptations that will be important as climate and society continue to change.”
Dr. Vicente Barros, who chaired the report, added, “Investments in better preparation can pay dividends both for the present and for the future.”
– Jordan Connell
Sources: UN, World Bank, WRI, The Guardian
Photo: Flickr
Meningitis A Vaccine in Africa Almost Eradicates the Disease
We can thank a vaccine developed only five years ago. It was produced to help curb meningitis A, a strain that only impacts Africa.
The need to create the vaccine became apparent in 1996 when more than 250,000 people became infected with the disease and 25,000 people died.
While meningitis can be fatal, prevention is possible. Brown University estimates that a simple vaccination can prevent up to 70 percent of meningitis bacteria strains.
However, for those living in impoverished conditions, accessing life-saving medications may not always be possible. In 2010, the United Nations reported that approximately 28 million people in sub-Saharan Africa lived on less than $1.25 per day.
The meningitis epidemic prompted action from African health ministers. Answering that call was the Serum Institute of India, which produced a low-cost vaccine that only costs 50 cents a dose.
The vaccine was made possible in large part to the generosity of the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation that provided $70 million to initiate its development.
“The disease is highly feared on the continent; it can kill or cause severe brain damage within hours,” the World Health Organization (WHO) said.
“But just 5 years after an affordable meningitis A vaccine was introduced, its use has led to the control and near elimination of the deadly meningitis A disease in the African ‘meningitis belt’ stretching across the continent from Senegal to Ethiopia.”
The success of the vaccine is incredible. In 2013, WHO revealed that there were only four laboratory-confirmed cases across the 26 countries in Africa’s “meningitis belt.”
“We have nearly eliminated meningitis A epidemics from Africa, but the fact is the job is not yet done,” said Dr. Jean-Marie Okwo-Bele, WHO’s director of Immunization, Vaccines and Biologicals. “Our dramatic gains against meningitis A through mass vaccination campaign will be jeopardized unless countries maintain a high level of protection by incorporating the meningitis A vaccine into their routine childhood immunization schedules.”
The vaccine does more than prevent the deadly meningitis A strain. A WHO study suggests “90 percent of people who received the vaccine still have the antibodies 5 years later.” Additionally, an added benefit is a protective boost against tetanus.
According to the WHO, more than 237 million people across 16 countries have been treated. However, 10 additional countries still need to implement the vaccination.
– Alyson Atondo
Sources: UN 1, Columbia University, University of Minnesota Twin Cities, UN 2
Photo: Flickr, Pixabay
Results of the Millennium Development Goals
According to the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), “the eight Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) form a blueprint agreed to by all the world’s countries and all the world’s leading development institutions. They have galvanized unprecedented efforts to meet the needs of the world’s poorest.”
Now that 2015 is coming to an end, the world is evaluating the success of the MDGs. While the overall targets were not met, significant progress has been made toward achieving several of the stated goals.
The official report declares, “The 15-year effort to achieve the eight aspirational goals set out in the Millennium Declaration in 2000 was largely successful across the globe, while acknowledging shortfalls that remain. The data and analysis presented in the report show that with targeted interventions, sound strategies, adequate resources and political will, even the poorest can make progress.”
In terms of fighting poverty, the MDGs produced the largest and most successful anti-poverty movement so far in the world’s history. With every country focused on the effort, the results have been impressive and inspirational.
For example, looking closer at the goal of education: “Primary school enrollment figures have shown an impressive rise, but the goal of achieving universal primary education has just been missed, with the net enrollment rate increasing from 83 percent in 2000 to 91 percent this year,” according to The Guardian.
Each target area received similar improvements. But the biggest result that has come from the MDGs is a determination to succeed in ensuring sustainability for future generations of the world’s citizens. Since the conclusion of the MDGs, countries have regrouped and pushed on into phase two: the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
The UN has caught hold of the vision and is pressing forward. “The United Nations is… defining Sustainable Development Goals as part a new sustainable development agenda that must finish the job and leave no one behind.”
– Katherine Martin
Sources: UNDP 1, UNDP 2, The Guardian, UN
Photo: Pixabay