Homelessness is a problem waiting to be solved everywhere around the globe. The Institute of Global Homelessness was launched in 2014 to be a resource to solve this problem and believes that the cause is not hopeless. DePaul University and Depaul International partnered to establish the IGH.
It is located at DePaul University in Chicago and is the brainchild of Depaul International, a charity based in London. The university is the largest Catholic University in the U.S. The charity is the parent organization of a group of charities that supports the homeless and marginalized people around the world. Both organizations were founded by the Vincentians, a congregation of priests and brothers, who follow the values of St. Vincent de Paul, a 17th century French priest. Throughout his life, St. Vincent dedicated himself to serving the poor.
IGH focuses its efforts to solve global homelessness on research, leadership and responding to need. On June 1-2, 2015, less than a year after its opening, IGH hosted its first bi-annual research conference, Homelessness in a Global Landscape, at DePaul. Kat Johnson, the Director of IGH, has previously worked for nine years around the globe on issues related to housing and homelessness in various support and leadership roles.
What were the reasons for establishing the Institute of Global Homelessness at DePaul University?
The idea for IGH came from the realization that there was nothing operating at the international level that could act as a resource and consulting hub for leaders around the world who are working to end homelessness.
Mark McGreevy, group chief executive of Depaul International in the U.K., often fielded requests for advice and expertise about ending homelessness by policymakers, service providers and nonprofits and realized there was nowhere to refer them. McGreevy contacted DePaul University in Chicago knowing that aiding the poor is central to the university’s Vincentian mission. DePaul University’s belief in coordinated, effective public service informed the institute’s aim to provide research, leadership, consultancy and shared resources to those working to end homelessness.
Why is DePaul interested in global homelessness instead of focusing on homelessness in Chicago (since it is one of the top 25 cities in the country with a large homeless issue)?
The idea behind IGH is that by connecting effective practice and tenacious leaders across regions, we can accelerate an end to homelessness everywhere. It is DePaul University’s hope that the institute’s work will directly contribute to ending homelessness here in the city. In fact, the day following the conference, we worked with five Chicago-based homelessness organizations to host tours and exchanges with the international attendees.
Since assuming the director role for the institute, I’ve met many professors and students who work closely with the Steans Center for Community-Based Learning, University Ministry and academic programs at DePaul University that look at homelessness from various angles or volunteer with programs addressing homelessness around the city. The decision to lead the IGH has only strengthened DePaul’s drive to contribute to and support the efforts of Chicago’s homelessness advocacy organizations.
How did DePaul come to host the Homelessness in a Global Landscape Conference?
We wanted to gather the best and brightest minds working in the homelessness field in a room and to begin building a global movement to end homelessness. We also used the opportunity to get feedback on our global framework on homelessness, which attempts to set out a common vocabulary and broad definition of homelessness to enable collaboration.
What is your overall reaction to the conference?
The conference convinced me that a global movement to end homelessness is possible. Although we had a back-to-back schedule, people approached us between sessions with the desire to discuss concrete steps toward building a global movement. As a result of those informal conversations, we rearranged the second day’s agenda to include facilitated discussions.
It was one of the most heartening things I’ve seen—delegates from places as varied as India, Canada, Chile and Kenya raising their hands, saying, “I’m ready to see an end to this problem. What will we do to make sure that happens?”
Did the conference fulfill its purpose?
The conference was a success. We saw a robust exchange of ideas, knowledge and sharing of best practices among leaders from almost 30 countries. Our proposed definition and framework of homelessness was largely accepted by attendees, and a willingness to join a global movement emerged.
Could you give some examples of what homelessness means across the globe including an example from a developed country and a developing country?
Soon, we will be sharing widely the final framework, which captures variations of what homelessness can mean. We break homelessness into categories and sub-categories. Any given country will see some of these categories as homeless and others not. Our first category identifies people without accommodation. If you went to Delhi you might hear people talking about “pavement dwellers,” who stay on the pavement in a consistent location. In the U.S., you would more likely hear the term “street homelessness” or “unsheltered homelessness” to describe pavement dwellers. In a third category, there is considerable variation across countries for people defined as living in severely inadequate housing. Some places might consider someone staying on a relative’s couch homeless, others not. I was recently in Pretoria, South Africa, where we saw an informal settlement with structures that consisted of a few boards of wood as walls and a piece of corrugated metal along the top. The structure provided very little protection from weather and no sanitation services. Some people you ask would absolutely consider that homelessness; others would say it isn’t.
When we set out to write a framework of homelessness that would resonate globally, it was important for us to capture all the complexities in naming and defining homelessness in order to offer common language to discuss the various circumstances that can be described as homelessness. So it’s not that any one country would consider everything in our framework as homelessness, and we aren’t pushing anyone to do that. But for the first time, we have a menu with language that will make it possible to compare apples to apples.
Finally, I’d like to note that within this broader set of categories, IGH drew a very clear line around our own focus populations, which are people without accommodation as well as some forms of people living in crisis or temporary accommodation (for example, homelessness shelters or women and children living in refuges for those fleeing domestic violence).
Did you come any closer to a universal definition of homelessness?
We presented our proposal for a global framework of homelessness and received feedback during and following the conference. We are now in the process of refining the definition and expect to publish the final version soon.
Measuring homelessness was a goal of the conference. Is homelessness measured by the reasons people are homeless? Is there any way to tell the numbers of homeless based on the reason for homelessness, such as extreme poverty, natural disasters, runaway youth or LGBT issues?
We begin by looking at a person’s living situation. For example, “people sleeping in the streets or LBGT in other open spaces” will measure exactly that. In most of the world this basic level of measurement is not happening; getting those basic numbers will be paramount at a high level in assessing trends and determining how policy affects the issue. But, of course, to solve the problem we need to know why people experience homelessness and, ideally, also know the individual people experiencing homelessness in a particular place by name and housing need. We see basic measurement as necessary but not sufficient to end homelessness outright. So we will be working on causes—and even more importantly, solutions—alongside the measurement work.
What are your plans for future conferences?
We plan to hold a conference every other year, so look for the next one in 2017. We anticipate narrowing the focus to a specific topic within homelessness. Of course, between now and the next conference, we will continue to run small convenings to support and connect regional networks and gather people.
– Janet Quinn
Sources: Institute of Global Homelessness, DePaul University
Photo: DePaul University
UC Irvine’s ‘Solutions for Poverty Challenge’
New technology and modern innovations have played an ever-increasing role in the fight against global poverty in the 21st century, but where do these new tools and practices come from? Most come from established technology and manufacturing firms like GE, IBM and Apple. Major universities are also hotbeds for invention. However, in the last five years there has been a surge in innovation coming from grassroots and non-traditional organizations with the help of social media and other sites, such as Kickstarter. Keeping with the changing tides, the University of California at Irvine launched a contest in May of this year encouraging students to propose original solutions for poverty relief.
The contest took development out of its traditional setting and encouraged all to participate. Undergraduates, graduate students, faculty and UCI alumni were all invited to come together and take part. The Blum Center for Global Engagement hosted the challenge. The goal of the challenge, as Blum Center Director Richard Mathew states, was “to bring the vast stock of ingenuity, creativity, knowledge and passion that exists across the campus to bear on alleviating poverty at home and abroad.” The Solutions Challenge presented an unorthodox approach to relief development as it aimed to bring minds of all backgrounds together in the hopes of producing greater results.
Participants were only required to submit a “feasible idea.” That is to say that the participants did not need to be engineers. All submissions had to meet three criteria, however. First, the proposals had to elaborate on the specific impact on poverty that the device or technology would address. Second, the proposal had to be reasonably realistic and achievable given limited time and resources. Finally, participants had to enumerate the scope their proposal would cover as long as their long-term goals. Three finalists were chosen and met with potential investors in a private venue.
First place was given to PhD student Katya Cherukumilli. Her proposal was to use certain minerals to remove toxic fluoride from drinking water in rural India. Erik Peterson, a resident of Irvine, won second place with his proposal for Lifesign, which would be a device given to homeless citizens as a register that would include data such as health information, hometown and needed services. Replacing handwritten signs, the device would show a code to be entered on the Lifesign website to donate to certain causes and services. Irene Beltran, an undergrad at UCI, took home third place with her “Lab on a Chip” proposal. The chip is tiny and only requires a drop of blood to test for tuberculosis. All three finalists are now consulting with industry leaders and investors.
UC Irvine’s challenge was inspired in part by another school in the University of California system. UC Berkeley’s Development Impact Lab runs a similar contest every year, encouraging engineers, computer scientists and IT specialists to develop technology-based ideas for global aid. UC Irvine’s contest encourages a more theoretical approach, prioritizing creativity in ideas ahead of a physical prototype.
– Joe Kitaj
Sources: Govtech, Blumcenter, Berkeley
Photo: UCI
Preservation Technology Allows Vaccinations for All
For people in America and Europe, getting vaccines is easy. Schedule an appointment, go to the doctor, and get a quick prick in the arm before heading home as if nothing happened. But in the developing world, it is not as simple.
Immunization in the developing world “is one of the most cost-effective public health interventions to date, saving millions of lives and protecting countless children from illness and disability.” Because of vaccinations polio is on the verge of irradiation. The prevalence of measles, one of the biggest killers of children, has gone down 71% globally. Immunization coverage around the globe has never been higher than it is today.
Vaccinations have not yet fulfilled their full potential, though: 21.8 million children under the age of one had not received the recommended doses against tetanus or diphtheria. Furthermore, 21.6 million children did not get a single dose of measles vaccines in 2013.
Because of this, 29% of deaths in children between the ages of one and 59 months old in the developing world are caused by diseases that are vaccine-preventable. This breaks down to 1.5 million deaths a year, or one death every 20 seconds. A major reason this happens is the difficulty in delivering vaccines to many parts of the developing world.
Much of the Global South’s environment is a combination of heat and humidity. This environment is not good for vaccines, which must be kept at low temperatures—usually between 36 and 46 degrees Fahrenheit. That is not a lot of room for error, and the difficulties associated with transporting such delicate immunizations over such long distances are numerous.
Not only must they be kept at that temperature range during transit, but also once they arrive at their destination and until they are used. This becomes troublesome since many experience black-outs, or do not have power at all.
What is the answer to this temperature conundrum? Silk. More specifically, proteins in silk. Researchers at Tufts University have discovered a new vaccination preservation technology through the use of certain proteins contained in silk. They can eliminate the need for refrigeration by essentially curing vaccines, much like food was pickled or salted before refrigeration even existed. But this time it works even better.
The proteins in silk keep vaccines “folded.” In other words, when a vaccine becomes too warm the shape unfolds, rendering the vaccine useless. That sounds pretty complicated, but what is important is that the silk can essentially “pin the structure in place,” keeping immunizations effective in hostile environments.
Silk protein-stabilized vaccines can withstand a temperature of 100 degrees for two or more weeks. Immunizations include those against mumps, measles and rubella. Without the silk proteins, these vaccinations would go bad in under a day.
Silk is approved by the Food and Drug Administration for some medical uses, but the protein-stabilization for vaccines is not yet a pharmaceutical reality. While the potential for usefulness is high, it remains merely a concept in labs and not a medical reality. The upside is high, however. Getting rid of the need for electrical cooling would enable for vaccines to be spread to areas of the globe which they have yet to reach, bringing the unvaccinated closer to life-saving immunizations.
– Gregory Baker
Sources: Vaxess, NPR, UNICEF, GHSPJournal
Photo: Flickr
Kat Johnson Discusses the Institute of Global Homelessness
Homelessness is a problem waiting to be solved everywhere around the globe. The Institute of Global Homelessness was launched in 2014 to be a resource to solve this problem and believes that the cause is not hopeless. DePaul University and Depaul International partnered to establish the IGH.
It is located at DePaul University in Chicago and is the brainchild of Depaul International, a charity based in London. The university is the largest Catholic University in the U.S. The charity is the parent organization of a group of charities that supports the homeless and marginalized people around the world. Both organizations were founded by the Vincentians, a congregation of priests and brothers, who follow the values of St. Vincent de Paul, a 17th century French priest. Throughout his life, St. Vincent dedicated himself to serving the poor.
IGH focuses its efforts to solve global homelessness on research, leadership and responding to need. On June 1-2, 2015, less than a year after its opening, IGH hosted its first bi-annual research conference, Homelessness in a Global Landscape, at DePaul. Kat Johnson, the Director of IGH, has previously worked for nine years around the globe on issues related to housing and homelessness in various support and leadership roles.
What were the reasons for establishing the Institute of Global Homelessness at DePaul University?
The idea for IGH came from the realization that there was nothing operating at the international level that could act as a resource and consulting hub for leaders around the world who are working to end homelessness.
Mark McGreevy, group chief executive of Depaul International in the U.K., often fielded requests for advice and expertise about ending homelessness by policymakers, service providers and nonprofits and realized there was nowhere to refer them. McGreevy contacted DePaul University in Chicago knowing that aiding the poor is central to the university’s Vincentian mission. DePaul University’s belief in coordinated, effective public service informed the institute’s aim to provide research, leadership, consultancy and shared resources to those working to end homelessness.
Why is DePaul interested in global homelessness instead of focusing on homelessness in Chicago (since it is one of the top 25 cities in the country with a large homeless issue)?
The idea behind IGH is that by connecting effective practice and tenacious leaders across regions, we can accelerate an end to homelessness everywhere. It is DePaul University’s hope that the institute’s work will directly contribute to ending homelessness here in the city. In fact, the day following the conference, we worked with five Chicago-based homelessness organizations to host tours and exchanges with the international attendees.
Since assuming the director role for the institute, I’ve met many professors and students who work closely with the Steans Center for Community-Based Learning, University Ministry and academic programs at DePaul University that look at homelessness from various angles or volunteer with programs addressing homelessness around the city. The decision to lead the IGH has only strengthened DePaul’s drive to contribute to and support the efforts of Chicago’s homelessness advocacy organizations.
How did DePaul come to host the Homelessness in a Global Landscape Conference?
We wanted to gather the best and brightest minds working in the homelessness field in a room and to begin building a global movement to end homelessness. We also used the opportunity to get feedback on our global framework on homelessness, which attempts to set out a common vocabulary and broad definition of homelessness to enable collaboration.
What is your overall reaction to the conference?
The conference convinced me that a global movement to end homelessness is possible. Although we had a back-to-back schedule, people approached us between sessions with the desire to discuss concrete steps toward building a global movement. As a result of those informal conversations, we rearranged the second day’s agenda to include facilitated discussions.
It was one of the most heartening things I’ve seen—delegates from places as varied as India, Canada, Chile and Kenya raising their hands, saying, “I’m ready to see an end to this problem. What will we do to make sure that happens?”
Did the conference fulfill its purpose?
The conference was a success. We saw a robust exchange of ideas, knowledge and sharing of best practices among leaders from almost 30 countries. Our proposed definition and framework of homelessness was largely accepted by attendees, and a willingness to join a global movement emerged.
Could you give some examples of what homelessness means across the globe including an example from a developed country and a developing country?
Soon, we will be sharing widely the final framework, which captures variations of what homelessness can mean. We break homelessness into categories and sub-categories. Any given country will see some of these categories as homeless and others not. Our first category identifies people without accommodation. If you went to Delhi you might hear people talking about “pavement dwellers,” who stay on the pavement in a consistent location. In the U.S., you would more likely hear the term “street homelessness” or “unsheltered homelessness” to describe pavement dwellers. In a third category, there is considerable variation across countries for people defined as living in severely inadequate housing. Some places might consider someone staying on a relative’s couch homeless, others not. I was recently in Pretoria, South Africa, where we saw an informal settlement with structures that consisted of a few boards of wood as walls and a piece of corrugated metal along the top. The structure provided very little protection from weather and no sanitation services. Some people you ask would absolutely consider that homelessness; others would say it isn’t.
When we set out to write a framework of homelessness that would resonate globally, it was important for us to capture all the complexities in naming and defining homelessness in order to offer common language to discuss the various circumstances that can be described as homelessness. So it’s not that any one country would consider everything in our framework as homelessness, and we aren’t pushing anyone to do that. But for the first time, we have a menu with language that will make it possible to compare apples to apples.
Finally, I’d like to note that within this broader set of categories, IGH drew a very clear line around our own focus populations, which are people without accommodation as well as some forms of people living in crisis or temporary accommodation (for example, homelessness shelters or women and children living in refuges for those fleeing domestic violence).
Did you come any closer to a universal definition of homelessness?
We presented our proposal for a global framework of homelessness and received feedback during and following the conference. We are now in the process of refining the definition and expect to publish the final version soon.
Measuring homelessness was a goal of the conference. Is homelessness measured by the reasons people are homeless? Is there any way to tell the numbers of homeless based on the reason for homelessness, such as extreme poverty, natural disasters, runaway youth or LGBT issues?
We begin by looking at a person’s living situation. For example, “people sleeping in the streets or LBGT in other open spaces” will measure exactly that. In most of the world this basic level of measurement is not happening; getting those basic numbers will be paramount at a high level in assessing trends and determining how policy affects the issue. But, of course, to solve the problem we need to know why people experience homelessness and, ideally, also know the individual people experiencing homelessness in a particular place by name and housing need. We see basic measurement as necessary but not sufficient to end homelessness outright. So we will be working on causes—and even more importantly, solutions—alongside the measurement work.
What are your plans for future conferences?
We plan to hold a conference every other year, so look for the next one in 2017. We anticipate narrowing the focus to a specific topic within homelessness. Of course, between now and the next conference, we will continue to run small convenings to support and connect regional networks and gather people.
– Janet Quinn
Sources: Institute of Global Homelessness, DePaul University
Photo: DePaul University
Western Celebrities and “White Man’s Burden”
In 1899, Rudyard Kipling published “The White Man’s Burden,” a poem that seemingly outlines the necessity for White help to countries that were not, in his eyes, as far along as those in Europe.
Although what initially spawned was colonialism—wherein the African continent was forced to be subject to European powers while living under deplorable conditions—the White Man’s Burden turned into something more: a white savior complex, the need to rescue people of color from what is assumed to be a horrid status.
Many have viewed Western celeb aid to developing countries as just that.
Since movie stars were famous, it has been a commonality for successful stars to go to Africa and Asia to ‘help’ the children and countries. Many see this as a win-win for the celebrities—they get a tax write-off for donating money, they get good press and they ease their conscience.
Celebrities in these countries also affect those in America. When people click on pictures showing celebs like Bono, Madonna and Audrey Hepburn, they admire their charity and the things they are doing.
However, when Americans see these faces among black and brown children in poverty, it can stimulate a savior complex. Although Kipling’s poem influenced the white man’s complex, it has turned into a Western savior complex.
Americans are no strangers to the ‘Africa the country’ phenomenon. Many assume most of Africa is an underdeveloped jungle full of natives who need help. When media only shows the parts of Africa that are in trouble coupled with the infrequency to learning about it in school, many Americans feel the need to save them from themselves and their conditions.
While this condescending attitude may seem harmless on a small scale, it is dangerous on a national scale.
When politicians are discussing sending aid and support, it is often times not done properly, sometimes worsening the situation. Earlier this summer, Pastor Rick Warren urged the Senate to have a different type of attitude towards those stuck in extreme poverty.
By changing the narrative and the education, aid can be properly and respectfully given to countries in Africa, developing mutually beneficial relationships between the U.S. and the East.
– Erin Logan
Sources: History Matters, Newser, LA Times, Senate
Photo: The New Yorker
Local Architecture and Government Planning in Rocinha, Brazil
Rocinha, a neighborhood in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, is one of the largest and densest slums in Latin America. The neighborhood that still struggles with drug cartels, lack of access to education and healthcare, and seemingly inescapable poverty is beginning to slowly change with the visionary architectural work of Ricardo de Olivera, as well as impactful government planning initiatives.
Featured in the series Rebel Architecture, architect Olivera has no formal training. This has given him the adaptable ability to work with the material of the local context of his favela, rather than imposing ineffective westernized techniques. “Ricardo is famous around here. Everyone wants his services,” says a local resident in the film entitled “The pedreiro and the master planner” directed by May Abdalla.
“A foreign architect would not get into this hole and dig. He would hire someone or would hire machines. But here in the favela, we are hands on… Most of the buildings here were built by pedreiros like me… I did all three things. I didn’t need an engineer or an architect or a decorator,” says Olivera in the film.
Olivera has built over 100 houses, as well as supermarkets and parking garages. He is visionary and passionate about improving the quality of life of his birthplace. Olivera’s simple designs meet the needs of his clients and neighbors both socially and financially. Favelas arise spontaneously with no help or design from the government, explains the film. Rocinha is considered Brazil’s most urbanized slum. The tiny 0.8 by 0.8 square mile, steep area is home to 100,000 to 200,000 people. Residents live in states of extreme poverty, in small shanties stacked on top of each other, up to 11 stories high.
Residents of Rocinha rarely have access to education. Citizens on average have had only 4.1 years of formal schooling, and less than one percent of adults have earned a degree above a high school diploma. Jobs in Brazil are reserved for citizens with formal degrees—so Rocinha residents do not have easy access to escaping the impoverished conditions they were born into.
“It has its problems—sanitation, access to quality housing. The other problem is because of the narrow streets where the police can’t go, drug traffickers settled in Rocinha. The government closed its eyes to the arrival of those forming the favelas because they didn’t have the resources to provide housing and they needed cheap manpower. This logic is present in each and every city in which there is a poverty belt,” says Luis Carlos Toledo, the architect behind the master plan for the government’s improvement plan for Rocinha in the film.
As Rio preps itself for the upcoming Olympic games, there are competing forces at play determining the future of Rocinha. The city has implemented pacification programs, which destroy slums in an attempt to make the city look cleaner and less impoverished to outsiders.
The city has also created an ambitious transportation plan— a cable car system that connects downtown Rio with Rocinha. Citizens are against this system, seeing it simply as an investment in the tourism industry rather than a viable transportation solution.
At the same time, various foreign urban planners, NGOs, and architects have come to Rocinha with good intentions, but without a working knowledge of the local community, threatening to bring gentrification to Rocinha.
Amidst these various forces, citizens of Rocinha are speaking up more than ever before. Community meetings in Rosinha have raised a collective voice against the cable car system. “Only the population of Rohica can preserve the spirit. And without that, there is no future for Rohinca,” declares the film.
“The residents have aspirations for the whole favela, not just their house,” explains the film.
Despite the Brazilian government’s mixed history with creating helpful change, localized urban planning by the government has brought improvements to parts of Rocinha. In 2011, an ambitious project to change the district called Rua 4 was successfully implemented. Residents were moved to public housing within their neighborhood, rather than being moved to the outskirts of the city which is often the case in attempts to improve housing.
Before the changes, the Rua 4 area was a 60 centimeter ally, known for having the highest tuberculosis rate in the world.
Dictated by the urban planning project, roads were widened in Rua 4 to about 12 meters. Buildings were improved structurally and painted brightly. Gardens and plazas shot up. Staircases were built to connect different levels. Residents have contributed to building playgrounds, a stage, mosaics and murals.
Here, people relax on their porches outside and no evidence of the drug trade is present. Head architect Luiz Carlos Toledo said “Rua 4 is… an example of how you can, without abandoning the traditional pathways of a favela, improve them, adapt them to the scale and the topography of the site.”
The successful government project and Olivera’s rebel architecture demonstrate that impactful change in favelas is possible. As the community begins to demand more change collectively, hope and greater improvements in Rocinha seem to be in the favela’s future.
– Margaret Mary Anderson
Sources: Arch Daily, Al Jazeera, Mundoreal, Rio On Watch
Photo: Flickr
HIV and Syphilis Transmission: A Cuban Success Story
With education and preventative measures, sexually transmitted diseases such as HIV and syphilis can be stopped. For unborn children, however, a voice is not heard and a choice cannot be made. Cuba has eradicated the transmission of these diseases from mother-to-child.
The World Health Organization (WHO) has validated Cuban success in eliminating mother-to-child transmission of HIV and syphilis, making it the first country in the world to do so, and, according to WHO’s director-general Margaret Chan, one of the greatest public health achievements possible.
HIV/AIDS is a disease that affects the human immune system. AIDS is the final stage of Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV). Syphilis is a sexually transmitted disease that can cause damage to the infected person’s internal organs. Both conditions without treatment are deadly and have a high likelihood of transmission from the mother-to-child during birth.
It is estimated that every year globally, 1.4 million women infected with HIV give birth to children. If left untreated, the rate of disease transmission from mother-to-child during birth is 15-45%, resulting in thousands of children born only to have their lives cut short by a debilitating virus that with proper care could be prevented.
The diseases are transmitted during pregnancy through labor, delivery or breast feeding, but can be greatly reduced with the administration of antiretroviral medicines to both mothers and children throughout the stages when infection can occur. In fact, the transmission rate plummets to just over 1%. Since 2009, rates of transmission have been cut nearly in half, dropping from 400,000 cases to 240,000 cases in 2013, still well over the global target of just 40,000 by 2015.
Worldwide, nearly a million pregnant women live with syphilis, which can cause a spectrum of dangers for the mother and child including early fetal loss and stillbirth, neonatal death, low birth weight infants and serious neonatal infections. By early screening and treatment with medications such as penicillin, most complications can be wiped out.
As a part of an initiative, Cuba has worked tirelessly with the WHO, ensuring widespread HIV and syphilis testing for both pregnant women and their partners, early access to preventative and prenatal health care, Cesarean deliveries and breastfeeding substitutions, successfully curbing the disease transmission rate. In 2013, only two babies were born with HIV in Cuba, and only three babies were born with congenital syphilis.
The services are a part of an accessible and universal health care program in Cuba, and according to Pan American Health Organization (PAHO) Director, Dr. Carissa Etienne, “Cuba’s achievement today provides inspiration for other countries to advance towards elimination of mother-to-child transmission of HIV and syphilis.”
The WHO’s validation process is outlined in its 2014 publication Guidance on global processes and criteria for validation of elimination of mother-to-child transmission of HIV and syphilis. In Cuba, the process consisted of an international cooperative mission in March 2015 involving experts from Argentina, the Bahamas, Brazil, Colombia, Italy, Japan, Nicaragua, Suriname, the United States and Zambia.
Cuba should serve as a model to the rest of the world, demonstrating the potential of accessible healthcare and the power of humanitarian efforts. As the rest of the globe tries to catch up, Cuba, a small speck of an island off the coast of one of the greatest policy-leading countries on the planet, can enjoy the results of their hard work and HIV-free children for years to come.
– Jason Zimmerman
Sources: The Health Site, WHO 1, WHO 2
Photo: YouTube
Johnny Depp and Stephen Graham Costume Up for Sick Children
This week, celebrities Johnny Depp and Stephen Graham reprised their roles as Captain Jack Sparrow and Scrum, respectively, at Lady Cilento Children’s Hospital in Brisbane, Australia.
The surprise event took place when the actors felt the need to bring joy to several of the hospital’s sick children. The actors, filming the new Pirates of the Caribbean movie off of the Gold Coast, decided to spend over three hours entertaining the children, all while in character.
Depp and Graham have made a lasting memory in these children’s lives that they will soon not forget. This marks yet another memorable difference these two actors have made in the lives of the less fortunate.
No stranger to charity work, Depp and Graham are both heavily invested in charities, fundraisers and events all aimed at helping those in need.
Depp supports several organizations such as the Actors Fund of America, Children’s Hospital of Los Angeles, the Environmental Justice Foundation, Much Love Animal Rescue, Project HOME and more. With Depp being as generous as he is, it should be no surprise that his patronage to these charitable organizations has influenced his fans to follow suit. “Johnny’s Angels” is a group of passionate Depp fans that follow his philanthropic spirit and fundraise, organize public charity events and make large donations to Depp’s charities in the name of “celebrating [their] admiration for Johnny and [their] devotion to embracing one another and spreading hope to those who need it most.”
Graham is no stranger to charity as well, as can be seen by his tremendous efforts with Stand up to Cancer U.K. and Cancer Research U.K. He has done everything from fundraise, attend charitable events, donate to participate in a dance-off for charity, and jump off a 12-story building (in an attached safety harness of course), all in the name of defeating cancer. Graham has literally put his life on the line and spent hours of his time with these charitable organizations.
It’s truly amazing to see celebrities care about those in need, and then physically go out of their way to make a difference in the life of someone else.
– Alysha Biemolt
Sources: Look To The Stars 1, Look To The Stars 2, Johnny’s Angels, Look To The Stars 3, YouTube, Look To The Stars 4, Stand Up To Cancer, Cancer Research UK
Cuba’s Mother-to-Child Transmission Victory
This past week, Cuba has been a hot topic in the media. News about bridged U.S.–Cuba relations has taken over the news circuit. But Cuba has also recently reached a public health milestone in the fight against AIDS. Cuba has virtually eliminated HIV and syphilis mother-to-child transmission.
Health officials in the country credit a combined task force from the World Health Organization and the Pan American Health Organization. These organizations implemented programs aimed at improving prenatal care, sexually transmitted infection and HIV testing for pregnant women and their partners, treatment for mothers and babies, Cesarean section deliveries and substitutes for breastfeeding. These services were provided through a universal healthcare system to increase accessibility and affordability, two huge components of any health-related intervention program.
Worldwide, over 1.4 million women with HIV become pregnant, which if untreated, puts 15 to 45% of their babies at risk of infection at birth. However, by providing antiretroviral medicines to pregnant women and children after birth, the risk of transmission to their children can be reduced to a mere 1%. Reducing transmission rates is largely a case of improving accessibility and affordability. Through Cuba’s integration of maternal and child health programs with HIV and sexually transmitted infection programs, they can combat the problem on all fronts. By providing services through a universal health system, more women from varying income levels and geographical locations were able to take advantage of them.
The success brings hope in a long fight against HIV/AIDS. The case in Cuba is an encouraging step towards eradicating AIDS, despite not having a cure. The success also serves as an example for countries around the world to analyze and model programs after in their individual battles against the AIDS epidemic. The evidence supporting universal healthcare has gained new support from the Cuba’s success and as other countries continue to try to reduce transmission rates, they may be more compelled to imitate Cuba.
– Emma Dowd
Sources: CNN, Global Research, Time, Washington Post
Photo: Time
How Malnutrition Affects Pregnant Women in Developing Countries
Malnutrition is a significant problem in developing countries. Without substantial resources, many men, women and children go to bed hungry. Tackling malnutrition should be a priority for everyone, especially pregnant women.
A woman’s nutritional intake impacts both her health during pregnancy and the health of her baby. Without proper care, she is susceptible to illnesses and her baby’s health is at risk. Malnutrition during pregnancy can cause devastating results.
In many countries, tradition forces women to be the last to eat at meals, which may result in them receiving smaller portions. This notion severely impacts pregnant women.
A woman that is undernourished at the time of conception is at risk of serious health issues for both herself and her baby. Not only is it unlikely that her nutritional status will improve throughout the pregnancy, but her body also experiences additional demands due to the growing baby. Without enough food, she will most likely lose weight, which increases the risk of maternal mortality.
When her body is unable to obtain or store enough nutrients required to support embryo growth, the cells may not divide properly, resulting in a chance that the fetus’ development will be impaired. The placental cells, which support the fetus’ growth during pregnancy, are more likely to surround the fetus in large numbers, forcing the fetus to become smaller than it should be. This leads to the baby being born at a low birth weight, which in turn often leads to severe cognitive and developmental deficits.
A baby’s organs develop during the first five weeks of pregnancy. In order for the organs to grow properly, it is imperative for women to be healthy and have food supplies readily available.
A woman’s caloric needs increase with pregnancy. An additional 150 calories per day is needed to support the baby in the first three months of the pregnancy. In month four, the additional calories needed increase to 300 per day.
In addition, women must have the proper nutrients in their diet, such as foods with folic acid, iron calcium, protein, vitamin B12, vitamin D and vitamin A. According to the World Food Programme, half of all pregnant women in developing countries are anaemic (having an iron deficiency), which causes around 110,000 deaths during childbirth per year.
Without enough nutrients, a baby is at higher risk of neural tube defects, brain damage, premature birth, underdevelopment of organs, death and more. If a child becomes malnourished in the womb, the damage can be permanent.
Improving nutrition is an investment that could save the lives of women around the world; it will also decrease the number of birth defects and disabilities seen in newborns and young children. In many developing countries, nutrition is essential to promoting a happy and healthy lifestyle where no person goes to bed hungry.
– Kelsey Parrotte
Sources: Livestrong, Mother and Child Nutrition, Virtual Medical Center, World Food Programme
Photo: The Visible Embryo
Online Meal Planner Reduces Malnutrition in Ghana
Ghana is one of the most successful countries in the Sub-Saharan Africa region in combating hunger and malnourishment. The proportion of undernourished people went from 23.5% in 1996 to 2.9% in 2013, allowing them to achieve the first Millennium Development Goal (MDG1) target for halving the proportion of people suffering from hunger.
In northern Ghana, 63% of the population lives in extreme poverty, and most rely on crop production. Most of the service and industrial industries are in the south, where poverty is less prevalent.
School feeding helps keep malnutrition low: every day, 368 million children around the world eat a meal at school. The World Food Programme (WFP) provides monthly rations to families who send their daughters to school, and they provide scholarships for secondary school to those who complete the program with an 85% attendance rate.
Over 1.7 million children every day are fed through the Ghana School Feeding Program. The Partnership for Child Development (PCD) is collaborating with the government to link nutrition with school meals and community training. One way the PCD is developing nutritious school meals is through the use of an online meal planner.
The web-based planner allows the user to create and add the costs from local ingredients. It links prices from local markets and displays the total cost of each meal. Only 12.3% of the population has access to the Internet, so for those who do not have access, the PCD developed an offline meal planner.
“By coupling high-tech digital resources such as the meals planner with low-tech engagement, integrated school feeding and health programs are vital if governments are to tackle the malnutrition crisis facing the next generation,” said Dr. Lesley Drake, executive director of PCD.
PCD is also combating malnutrition in Ghana through community meetings and 400 community-based champions of health and nutrition in order to convey the importance of proper nutrition and hygiene.
Feed the Future is fighting for food security in Ghana by focusing on rice, corn and soybean production to help farmers where poverty is most prevalent. The agricultural industry needs more support in order to do more research for crop-yielding and improve irrigation infrastructure.
USAID is committed to sustaining agricultural productivity by managing natural resources. Feed the Future and USAID activities support Ghana’s goals of reducing poverty and increasing food security.
Malnutrition in Ghana is declining due to programs like the online meal planner and the work of organizations like Feed the Future and USAID. Undernourishment and hunger continue to decline, but since 2007, the prevalence of underweight children under the age of five in Ghana has only dropped 0.5% after declining 11.8% between 1997 to 2007. Today, 13.9% of children under five in Ghana are underweight.
– Donald Gering
Sources: HGSF, Impatient Optimist, Knoema, Social Progress Imperative, UNDP, USAID WFP 1, WFP 2
Photo: Modern Ghana