Bill Gates is asking investors and scientists to develop a new gadget—an improved condom.
It may seem like a job for Trojan, but the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation wants new condoms. The unique request is part of its “Grand Challenges in Global Health” initiative. The program awards grants of $100,000 and follow-up grants of as much as $1 million to individuals who develop solutions to global health issues. The latest report details successful recipients combating malaria, HIV, and tuberculosis.
According to the Grand Challenges website, “Condoms have been in use for about 400 years yet they have undergone very little technological improvement in the past 50 years.” The only major improvements include the switch to latex and quality control measures to test each individual condom during production. Both of these measures increased the effectiveness of condoms, but the basic design of condoms has yet to transform.
Condoms are the most ubiquitous defense against unwanted pregnancy and sexually transmitted diseases. This undervalued resource is a lifesaver in developing countries. Condoms should be necessary for sexual health, but many men and women shy away from using them due to discomfort, societal stigmas, and reduced sensation. Some cultures perceive condom use as a sign that the person has AIDS.
The Gates Foundation hopes to eliminate these concerns so more people will use condoms regularly. The challenge seeks to make prophylactics more user friendly. “If we could make something better, we could have a really substantial effect on HIV prevention and unintended pregnancy in Sub-Saharan Africa and South Asia,” said Stephen Ward, a program officer at the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation.
The program is limited to condoms rather than multi-purpose prevention devices (such as vaginal rings) because these programs are not readily available worldwide. The condom is still simple enough that it can be distributed at a low cost. Not to mention, condoms are useful even in communities that lack health care professionals. “Any advance or new design that gets people to use condoms would be a big plus,” said Dr. Anthony Fauci, one of the world’s leading AIDS researchers.
Applicants must complete a two-page application by May 7. Two frontrunners have already emerged. Origami, a California company, focused on usability and comfort. They are creating a new silicone injection-molded condom. University of Washington researchers look to increase the effectiveness of anti-HIV drugs. Their model features electrically spun fabric that allows sperm-blocking drugs to dissolve more quickly.
– Whitney M. Wyszynski
Source: Co.Exist
Photo: CNET
The Sound of Change Concert featuring Beyonce and Women Empowerment
Chime for Change is throwing a huge concert that will elicit large crowds because of the musical artists performing. Those who have the privilege of attending The Sound of Change concert on June 1, 2013 in London will see and hear performances by Beyonce, a member of the Chime for Change founding committee, John Legend, Florence and the Machine, Ellie Goulding, Iggy Azalea, Timbaland, Laura Pausini, and Rita Ora.
However, the driving force behind this concert is not the showcasing of musical talents or putting on a great show but rather raising funds and bringing attention to problems plaguing women globally, especially in the areas of health, education, and justice. In between the musical performances, attention will be directed towards women’s issues and personal stories of women across the globe. In addition to drawing attention to the issues,the Chime for Change organization and Gucci are ensuring that all proceeds from ticket sales are given to nonprofit organizations that are helping empower women.
Chime for Change is an organization founded by Gucci that brings together the voices of women across the globe to create discussion and raise funds and awareness for girls’ and women’s empowerment. In bringing this concert to London, as well as broadcasting it online for people all over the world to view, Chime for Change is putting girls’ and women’s issues on a world stage. Discussion of these issues are sure to occur as the result of this concert, which is one of the main points of the Chime for Change campaign. According to Ariana Huffington, an advisory board member of Chime for Change, as well as the Editor-in-Chief of The Huffington Post, the organization “brings together a range of voices, from women’s advocates and experts to business leaders and philanthropists” working to make girls’ and women’s issues a top priority.
Mixing fashion (Gucci) and charity work seems to be a winning combination. The Sound of Change concert will surely draw a large crowd and bring issues plaguing girls and women everywhere to the front and center.
– Angela Hooks
Sources: Elle, Huffington Post
3 American Tech Companies and Africa
While Africa has its share of security issues, it has its share of economic growth as well. In fact, as a continent, it is growing at a faster rate than North America. This has spurred a big push in many African countries to modernize technologically which has given rise to many tech hubs and even a few tech cities. All of this begs the question: What are American tech companies doing to contribute to and capitalize on this type of growth? Here is a list of what three of the largest American tech companies have been up to in Africa.
IBM
IBM recently opened an office in Dakar, Senegal which the company believes will bring in roughly $20 billion by 2015. IBM is no stranger to the region as it sold supplies to South Africa in 1911. Recently, IBM has become more and more focused on Africa and has established a presence in 20 of Africa’s 54 countries. No doubt IBM is hoping to establish a bigger presence in many of the upstart tech hubs which have begun sprouting up all over the continent.
Microsoft
In an attempt to gain ground in the smartphone market as well as capitalize on Africa’s quickly growing tech industry, Microsoft has introduced its Microsoft 4Afrika initiative. Microsoft 4Afrika will be producing a moderately price $150 smartphone. The phone will be marketed toward Africa’s middle-class which comprises one quarter of Africa’s billion people. Microsoft has plans with Nokia to release two more smartphones in the near future. This decision was likely influenced by Africa’s number one spot as the world’s fastest growing region for smartphones. The region has grown by 43% per year since 2000.
Google
Google chairman Eric Schmidt noted that Nairobi has become a remarkable tech hub and has the potential to become an African leader in innovation. However, Google seems to be losing ground in Africa as French based mobile operator Orange and Baidu, China’s answer to Google, have collaborated on a jointly branded smartphone. This comes as no surprise as China has been aggressive in its attempts to forge business partnerships all over the quickly changing continent.
Africa’s main draw to tech companies is that it continues to grow while larger economies have stalled. If this trend continues, those companies who are left behind investing in these developed markets may see their profits eclipsed by these fast growing economies.
-Pete Grapentien
Source The Economist
US Water Partnership Fights Water Challenges
It’s been one year since former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton announced the start of the U.S. Water Partnership. The partnership consists of public and private sectors and “unites and mobilizes U.S. expertise, resources, and ingenuity to address water challenges around the globe.”
According to the fact sheet, “The USWP is an alliance of 18 U.S. government agencies and 29 U.S. private sector and civil society organizations.” However, the USWP has increased from 47 to 61 partnerships in the last year. They work together to improve water resources worldwide and focus primarily on developing countries.
The partners pledged $610 million dollars on June 20, 2012. Funded projects included: control or elimination of Neglected Tropical Diseases, increased solar power pump stations, and improved desalination projects.
The success of the USWP depends on collaboration and flexibility. Partners are able to work in groups or individually. For example, the Overseas Private Investment Corporation revitalized water purification systems throughout Ghana by providing funds for the Ghana National Water Infrastructure Modernization Project. World Vision helped boost rural and semi-urban schools in India through the “Support My School” campaign, whereas multiple organizations joined forces to provide WASH technologies. These technologies decrease infection and increase public health.
Hattie Babbitt, Chair of the USWP Steering Committee, led the USWP first anniversary event at the National Academy of Sciences on Mar. 21, 2013. She discussed the numerous projects that could not have occurred without the help of the partnership and congratulated the ten new partners. The USWP continues to grow and progress and strives to bring each person safe drinking water.
– Whitney M. Wyszynski
Source: U.S. Water Partnerships
Photo: US Water Alliance
USAID’s NEAT Program in Nepal
The information packets were made to be durable and they contain information on 13 types of crops. The information was prepared for illiterate and semi-literate farmers so charts and photos are used throughout the information packet. Another focus of the NEAT effort is to make it easier for farmers to take their goods to market to sell while also making seeds and fertilizers more easily available to the nearly 70,000 farmers that the program helps.
Overall, the farmers have experienced a gain of $85 million since the program began and nearly all of the program participants have increased market access for their goods. While the NEAT initiative will end this August the resources that USAID has compiled will continue to be helpful for farmers and the aid centers that they have established will continue to be staffed and will offer help to the Nepalese farmers. This is just one more great program that USAID has undertaken to fight poverty worldwide and promote food security.
– Kevin Sullivan
Photo: The Borgen Project
Childhood Stunting Has Long-Term Effects
Healthy nutrition is most important in the first five years of life. In six countries (Afghanistan, Burundi, Ethiopia, Madagascar, East Timor, and Yemen), 50 percent or more of children under 5 years old are stunted. This number is terrifying because stunting can lower cognitive capacity for life. Children who suffer from stunting have a reduced ability to learn. This poor nutrition can affect future earnings and success. Any inadequate nutrition within the first two years of life is permanent and irreversible.
Being four to six inches shorter than their peers is the most superficial concern for stunted children. They are “five times more likely to die from diarrhea due to physiological changes in a stunted body.” Furthermore, the typical stunted brain has fewer cells and fewer connections between cells, which means impaired functioning.
Despite these numerous health effects, childhood stunting continues to receive little to no media attention. Organizations like UNICEF work to combat malnutrition, but people do not realize the effects of this extreme malnutrition.
UNICEF and its partners provide cost-effective solutions, such as vitamin A supplements, iodized salt, and therapeutic foods. Its famous Plumpy’nut is a peanut-based food that helps malnourished children gain up to two pounds per week.
Childhood stunting is preventable, and it is time for people to understand their effects. Numerous studies and organizations name hunger as the “gravest single threat to the world’s public health.” The effects of hunger alter a community’s culture, economy, and overall well-being.
– Whitney M. Wyszynski
Source: TIME
Photo: Fast Company
BRICS Advance Plans for Development Bank
The BRICS countries met in Durban, South Africa last week to finalize plans for the establishment of a New Development Bank that would be led by the quickly developing countries. While the negotiations were not finalized and a plan wasn’t cemented, officials claim that progress is being made.
The BRICS are a group of large, quickly industrializing countries; Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa. Early last year they made the announcement that they would consider creating a separate development bank run by the leaders of the developing world for the developing world.
While South Africa’s Minister of Finance stated that the negotiations had been completed the day before the meeting, they apparently were not. However, they say that progress was made and that the New Development Bank will be established soon and that they are pleased with the rapid materialization of a concept that only came into their discussions one year ago.
One of the issues remaining is where the central bank will be built, as each country would obviously like to have such a large institution and the profit and recognition that would come along with it. In response to significant pressure from activist groups and student and humanitarian groups, representatives of the five countries made statements condemning the abuse of humanitarian rights in Syria and pleaded that aid workers and organizations be allowed to freely access the region to provide help for those suffering.
– Kevin Sullivan
Source: Voice of America
Photo: Post
New Vaccine Aimed at Preventing Endemic
Throughout many developing nations, foot and mouth disease is considered an endemic in livestock; especially in Asia, Africa, and parts of South America. Previously, the only vaccines for foot and mouth disease were very fragile and had to be created inexpensive labs with the proper equipment, and needed to be kept refrigerated in order to stay “alive,” preventing possibilities of any long-distance transportation.
Now, researchers have created a synthetic version of the foot and mouth vaccine that does not require refrigeration, making it much more accessible to rural areas where the disease is common. The new vaccine can be transported and even created in developing countries since it can withstand varying temperatures.
Within the last few years, the UK, South Korea, and Japan were all victims of an outbreak of the virus that had originated in Asia. The foot and mouth outbreak in the UK cost the country an estimated 8 billion pounds.
The researchers’ goal of having the foot and mouth vaccine distributed globally in order to stop the virus at the source instead of waiting for an outbreak will now be much more practical with this synthetic version. Scientists say that the new version could be widely available within 6 to 8 years. Researchers are also working on synthetic vaccines for diseases that affect human populations, including polio and human hand, foot, and mouth disease.
– Christina Kindlon
Source: Guardian
The Unequal Reality
The issue is that the majority of these successes are happening on the surface, on the “aggregate” levels as opposed to on the extremely low levels. A report done by Save the Children evinces the hidden inequality behind improvements arguing that only wealthier parts have been directly affected by these successes. For example, rich women in Indonesia now have a skilled attendant; however, between 2007 and 2010, children in poorer households continued to experience severe malnutrition despite overall nutrition improvements.
“Aggregate targets” are dictating such unequal distribution of improvement vs. worsening because governments are naturally choosing to aid and invest in what is easier to help; “this means that those close to the poverty line experience improvements while the very poorest are left behind.” Children are the most vulnerable group affected by such inequality because they are dependent on others for development and growth. Therefore, price increases affect their meal intakes, health budget cuts could cause deaths, and low-quality schools have the potential of keeping these children in poverty. In order to fight off inequality, there is a need for quality services such as availability and equal access to schools and health facilities to all kinds of people.
– Leen Abdallah
Source: South China Morning Post
Gates Foundation Wants New Condoms
Bill Gates is asking investors and scientists to develop a new gadget—an improved condom.
It may seem like a job for Trojan, but the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation wants new condoms. The unique request is part of its “Grand Challenges in Global Health” initiative. The program awards grants of $100,000 and follow-up grants of as much as $1 million to individuals who develop solutions to global health issues. The latest report details successful recipients combating malaria, HIV, and tuberculosis.
According to the Grand Challenges website, “Condoms have been in use for about 400 years yet they have undergone very little technological improvement in the past 50 years.” The only major improvements include the switch to latex and quality control measures to test each individual condom during production. Both of these measures increased the effectiveness of condoms, but the basic design of condoms has yet to transform.
Condoms are the most ubiquitous defense against unwanted pregnancy and sexually transmitted diseases. This undervalued resource is a lifesaver in developing countries. Condoms should be necessary for sexual health, but many men and women shy away from using them due to discomfort, societal stigmas, and reduced sensation. Some cultures perceive condom use as a sign that the person has AIDS.
The Gates Foundation hopes to eliminate these concerns so more people will use condoms regularly. The challenge seeks to make prophylactics more user friendly. “If we could make something better, we could have a really substantial effect on HIV prevention and unintended pregnancy in Sub-Saharan Africa and South Asia,” said Stephen Ward, a program officer at the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation.
The program is limited to condoms rather than multi-purpose prevention devices (such as vaginal rings) because these programs are not readily available worldwide. The condom is still simple enough that it can be distributed at a low cost. Not to mention, condoms are useful even in communities that lack health care professionals. “Any advance or new design that gets people to use condoms would be a big plus,” said Dr. Anthony Fauci, one of the world’s leading AIDS researchers.
Applicants must complete a two-page application by May 7. Two frontrunners have already emerged. Origami, a California company, focused on usability and comfort. They are creating a new silicone injection-molded condom. University of Washington researchers look to increase the effectiveness of anti-HIV drugs. Their model features electrically spun fabric that allows sperm-blocking drugs to dissolve more quickly.
– Whitney M. Wyszynski
Source: Co.Exist
Photo: CNET
Emily Oster’s Ted Talk on AIDS in Africa
Emily Oster, a University of Chicago economist, uses the dismal science to rethink conventional wisdom, from her Harvard doctoral thesis that took on famed economist Amartya Sen to her recent work debunking assumptions on HIV prevalence in Africa.
Emily Oster re-examines the stats on AIDS in Africa from an economic perspective and reaches a stunning conclusion: Everything we know about the spread of HIV on the continent is wrong.
She brought up an opinion that more exports means more AIDS and that effect is really big, by testing new data and information about prevalence over time. The data that Emily Oster offers suggests that if you double export volume, it will lead to a quadrupling of the new HIV infection. And this has important implications both for forecasting and for policy. From a forecasting perspective, if we know where trade is likely to change, we can actually think about which areas are likely to be heavily infected with HIV and we can go and try to deploy pre-emptive preventive measures there. Likewise, as we are developing policies to try to encourage exports, if we know there is this externality, we can think about what the right kinds of policies are.
But it also tells us that even though poverty is linked to AIDS in the sense that Africa is poor and they have a lot of AIDS, it is not necessarily the case that impoving poverty in the very short run is going to lead a decline in HIV prevalence.
And she also questioned the HIV prevention case in Uganda, the only country in Sub-Saharan Africa with successful prevention. It is true that there was a decline in prevalence in Uganda in 1990s and they had an education campaign for it. But there was actually something else that happened in Uganda in that period. Their exports went down a lot in the early 1990s and actually that decline lines up really closely to HIV infections at that time, according to Emily Oster.
– Caiqing Jin (Kelly)
Source:Ted Talk
Photo:Flickr