Several crises in Lebanon have crucially impacted its ability to feed its people. Three of these are the 2020 Beirut Explosion, ongoing conflict and internal displacement, in addition to ongoing conflict and the influx of refugees. All of this coincident with the long-term effect of COVID-19 and a severe economic crisis leading to inflation of over 221% in 2023 and over 98% devaluation of the Lebanese lira.
The 2020 Beirut Explosion
On August 4, 2020, an explosion devastated the port of Beirut, Lebanon. Without a functioning port, this had a serious impact on the country, which imported 65% to 80% of its food. Such dependence on imports was a threat to food security before the disaster, and the impact was thus exacerbated by the destruction of the port.
Internal Displacement
The escalating regional conflict in fall 2024 has seen one million displaced civilians in southern Lebanon (a fifth of the population) as of the end of September, with 900,000 fleeing in that last week.
Refugees
UNHCR, the United Nations Refugee Agency, reports that the 1.5 million Syrian refugees in Lebanon, plus 11,238 refugees from other countries, make Lebanon host to “the largest number of refugees per capita and per square kilometer in the world.” Access to food and the practice of skipping meals are just two of the many challenges faced by both the Lebanese population and refugees. Over half of the Lebanese live below the poverty line, while 90% of Syrian refugees struggle to meet their basic needs.
Hunger Crisis
Another way to look at the situation is suggested by ANERA, American Near East Refugee Aid, a 56-year-old NGO providing humanitarian and development aid in the Middle East. ANERA sees the current food security crisis in Lebanon as being created by the perfect storm of economic collapse, political instability and continuing regional conflict, including the current war with Israel.
The recent hostilities in southern Lebanon are reported to have impacted the earnings of 72% of farmers, with crop and livestock losses resulting from the extensive destruction of farmland. This, of course, severely restricts access to food. ANERA reports that 37% of the population in the south is experiencing severe food insecurity.
Northern Lebanon, typically less affected by these conflicts, is nevertheless also food insecure, especially as displaced southern families move north. ANERA notes that the World Food Programme reports up to a third of northern households facing food access challenges, and UNICEF suggests a quarter of Lebanese children are experiencing malnutrition and over 40% of children under five are at risk of malnutrition in some areas of the country.
Humanitarian Crisis
In July 2024, The World Food Programme’s External Situation Report for Lebanon, indicated a tripling of poverty over the last decade, affecting 44% of Lebanon’s population. Also reported was a March 2024 IPC analysis projecting an increase in the number of food insecure in Lebanon to as many as 1.26 million people by September 2024.
IPC, the Integrated Food Security Phase Classification, is a global partnership to determine the severity and magnitude of acute malnutrition and chronic and acute food insecurity to assist decision-makers in improving food security.
At the same time, humanitarian aid is needed. In October, OSCHA (U.N. Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs) issued a Flash Appeal for Lebanon for October – December 2024 for humanitarian assistance. This was described as “fully complementary to, and supportive of, the Lebanon Response Plan (LRP) 2024,” co-led with the Lebanese Government. (By mid-year, the LRP had received just 25% of its appeal for $2.72 billion.) The U.N. and NGO partner responses include meal distribution; bread, water and food parcels; emergency nutrition rations and micronutrient supplements; and child malnutrition screening.
Long-Term Impact
As IPC points out, current crises and their impact on food security and agricultural livelihoods, if not addressed, will eventually have a long-term effect on the health and education levels of “an entire generation” of vulnerable populations. This in turn may lead to an increased financial burden on the host countries and populations. So the “flash” and continuing appeals for external assistance are critical.
– Staff Reports
Photo: Flickr
Updated: October 26, 2024
Creating Economic Gender Parity in Egypt
Private Sector Partnership
Therefore, one of the main goals of this program is to bridge the gap between the private and public sectors. The diversity of businesses brought in will provide the necessary local insight and planning to make this project successful. The IFC will be partnering with an Egyptian business association to create this platform for working women and their peers that raises awareness and shares knowledge, as well as improves women’s access to jobs.
From the private sector, four CEOs that have influence over a large spectrum of businesses will lead the Accelerator. Representatives from the private sector include the Commercial International Bank (CIB), Qala’a Holdings, Travco Group International and Delta Investment Holdings. From the public sphere, the program will be led by the Ministry of International Cooperation and the National Commission for Women (NCW).
Egypt is the first country in the African and Middle Eastern region to launch a program that collaborates between the public and private sectors to take action on economic gender parity. As the title “Closing The Gender Gap Accelerator” suggests, the program focuses on four objectives to accelerate gender parity in the workforce in Egypt.
Targeting Obstacles
These objectives are: preparing women for the working world post-COVID-19 pandemic, closing gender gaps in salary, getting more women to participate in Egypt’s workforce and advancing women in the workforce to take part in more leadership and management positions. This program is a three-year initiative that came about as a solution to the serious threats posed to women’s engagement in Egypt’s economy during and after the COVID-19 pandemic. The program plans to help make businesses more resilient and inclusive, especially during a crisis.
According to the Ministry of International Cooperation, “The Accelerator is designed to identify key economic gender gaps, develop public and private-sector interventions for narrowing these gaps and commit relevant stakeholders from both sectors to a three-year action plan.”
A recent study showed that Egypt’s gross domestic product (GDP) could jump 32% if the gender gap in the labor market narrowed. Currently, the gender wage gap stands at 22% with women being paid less for the same work as men. With this commitment from both sectors of the country’s economy, it is hopeful that not only will Egypt’s GDP be raised, but there will be great strides taken towards economic gender parity in African and Middle Eastern regions.
– Giulia Silver
Photo: Flickr
COVID-19 in Africa: What the Numbers Don’t Reveal
On a world map of the distribution of COVID-19 cases, the situation looks pretty optimistic for Africa. While parts of Europe, Asia and the United States have a dark color, indicating relatively high infection rates, most African countries are light in comparison. This has created uncertainty over whether the impact of COVID-19 in Africa is as severe as other continents.
Lack of Testing
A closer look at the areas boasting lighter colors reveals that the situation in Africa is just as obscure as the faded shades that color its countries. In Africa, dark colors indicating high infection rates only mark cities and urban locations—often the only places where testing is available.
Although insufficient testing has been a problem for countries all over the world, testing numbers are strikingly low in Africa. The U.S. completes 249 tests per 100,000 people per day. In contrast, Nigeria, Africa’s most populous country, only executes one test per 100,000 people daily. While 6.92% of tests come back positive in the United States, 15.85% are positive in Nigeria. Importantly, Nigeria is one of the best African countries for testing: it carried out 80% of the total number of tests in Africa.
As a continent housing 1.2 billion individuals of the world’s population, Africa is struggling to quantify the impact of COVID-19 without additional testing. To improve these circumstances, the African CDC has set a goal of increasing testing by 1% per month. Realizing the impossibility of reliable testing, countries like Uganda have managed to slow the virus’ spread by imposing strict lockdown measures. As a result, the percentage of positive cases in Uganda was only 0.78% as of Sept. 1, 2020.
A Young Population
COVID-19 in Africa has had a lower fatality rate than any other continent. In fact, many speculate that fatality rates may even be lower than reported. Immunologists in Malawi found that 12% of asymptomatic healthcare workers had the virus at some point. The researchers compared their data with other countries and estimated that death rates were eight times lower than expected.
The most likely reason for the low fatality rate in Africa is its young population. Only 3% of Africans are above 65, compared with 6% in South Asia and 17% in Europe. Researchers are investigating other explanations such as possible immunity to certain variations of the SARS-CoV-2 virus and higher vitamin D levels due to greater sunlight exposure.
Weak Healthcare Systems
Despite these factors, the impact of COVID-19 in Africa is likely high. Under-reporting and under-equipped hospitals unprepared to handle surges in cases may contribute to unreliable figures. In South Sudan, there were only four ventilators and 24 ICU beds for a population of 12 million. Accounting for 23% of the world’s diseases and only 1% of global public health expenditure, Africa’s healthcare system was already strained.
Healthcare workers are at the highest risk of infection in every country. In Africa, the shortage of masks and other equipment increases the infection rate among healthcare workers even further. Africa also has the lowest physician-to-patient ratio in the world. As it can take weeks to recover from COVID-19, the infection and subsequent recovery times for healthcare workers imply that fewer are available to work. Thus, COVID-19 in Africa further exacerbates its healthcare shortage.
Additionally, individuals who are at-risk or uninsured can rarely afford life-saving treatment in Africa. For example, a drug called remdesivir showed promising results in treating COVID-19. However, the cost of treatment with remdesivir is $3120. While this is a manageable price for insurance-covered Americans, it is not affordable for the majority of Africans. Poverty therefore has the potential to increase the severity of COVID-19 in Africa.
Economic and Psychological Factors
Strict lockdowns have helped some nations control the spread of COVID-19 in Africa, but at a heavy price. A general lack of technology means that, following widespread school shutdowns, students have stopped learning. Many adults have also lost their jobs. More than 3 million South Africans have become unemployed due to the lockdown.
Furthermore, the lockdowns have also resulted in much higher rates of domestic violence, abuse and child marriage. Many such cases are unreported, meaning that the real scope of the problem is probably larger. Mental health services for victims or those struggling through the pandemic are also often unavailable. In Kenya, the United Nations has appealed for $4 million to support those affected by gender-based violence.
The slow spread of COVID-19 in Africa has allowed the continent and its leaders to prepare. Importantly, its young population will lessen the severity of the virus’ impact. Although these circumstances provide reasons to be hopeful, there is no doubt that Africa’s economy and future will suffer from the virus. This potential highlights the need for foreign assistance not only in controlling COVID-19 in Africa but in the continent’s recovery for years to come.
– Beti Sharew
Photo: Flickr
Addressing Healthcare Worker Emigration
Why Is Healthcare Worker Emigration a Problem?
When healthcare workers emigrate, they leave hospitals in developing countries without enough skilled workers. Lower-income countries are likely to carry a greater amount of the global disease burden while having an extremely low healthcare staff to patient ratio. For example, sub-Saharan Africa only has 3% of all healthcare workers worldwide, while it carries 25% of the global disease burden. In many African countries with severe healthcare worker emigration, like Lesotho and Uganda, hospitals become overcrowded. Furthermore, hospitals cannot provide proper treatment for everyone due to the lack of skilled workers.
This directly affects the quality of care patients receive in countries with high healthcare worker emigration. Newborn, child and maternal health outcomes are worse when there are worker shortages. When fewer workers are available, fewer people receive healthcare services and the quality of care worsens for populations in need.
Why Do Healthcare Workers Emigrate?
The emigration of doctors, nurses, and other skilled healthcare workers from developing countries occurs for a number of reasons. The opportunity for higher wages elsewhere is often the most important factor in the decision to emigrate. Additionally, healthcare workers may migrate to higher-income nations to find political stability and achieve a better quality of life. The rate of highly skilled worker emigration, which has been on the rise since it was declared a major public health issue in the 1940s, has left fragile healthcare systems with a diminished workforce.
Moreover, the United States and the United Kingdom, two of the countries receiving the greatest numbers of healthcare worker immigrants, actively recruit healthcare workers from developing countries. These recruitment programs aim to combat the U.S. and U.K.’s own shortages of healthcare workers. Whether or not these programs factor into workers’ migration, both the U.S. and the U.K. are among the top five countries to which 90% of migrating physicians relocate.
Mitigating Healthcare Worker Emigration
The World Health Organization suggests that offering financial incentives, training and team-based opportunities can contribute to job satisfaction. This may motivate healthcare workers to remain in the healthcare system of their home country. Some developing countries have implemented these strategies to incentivize healthcare professionals to remain in their home countries.
For example, Malawi faced an extreme shortage of healthcare workers in the early 2000s. Following policy implementation addressing healthcare worker emigration, the nation has seen a decrease in the emigration rate. Malawi’s government launched the Emergency Human Resources Program (EHRP) in 2004. This program promoted worker retention through a 52% salary increase, additional training and the recruitment of volunteer nursing tutors and doctors.
In only five years after the EHRP began, the proportion of healthcare workers to patients grew by 66% while emigration declined. Malawi expanded upon this program in 2011 with the Health Sector Strategic Plan. Following this plan, the number of nurses in Malawi grew from 4,500 in 2010 to 10,000 in 2015. Though the nation still faces some worker shortages, it hopes to continue to address this with further policy changes.
Trinidad is another a country that has mitigated the challenges faced by the emigration of healthcare workers. Trinidadian doctors who train in another country now get government scholarships to pay for their training. However, these scholarships rest on the condition that they return home to practice medicine for at least five years. Such a financial incentive creates a stronger foundation for healthcare professionals to practice in their home country.
A Turn Toward Collaboration
A recent study determined that the collaboration of nurses, doctors and midwives significantly decreased mortality for mothers and children in low-income countries. As developing countries work toward generating strategies to manage the emigration of healthcare workers, a team-based approach can improve the quality of healthcare. When there are shortages of certain kinds of health professionals in remote areas, family health teams composed of workers in varying health disciplines can collaborate to provide care.
Improving working conditions and providing both financial and non-financial incentives to healthcare professionals in developing countries not only benefits workers and the patients, but the nation’s healthcare infrastructure as a whole. An increase in the number of skilled healthcare workers in developing countries gives people there the opportunity for a better life.
– Ilana Issula
Photo: Flickr
3 Crises Affecting Hunger in Lebanon
The 2020 Beirut Explosion
On August 4, 2020, an explosion devastated the port of Beirut, Lebanon. Without a functioning port, this had a serious impact on the country, which imported 65% to 80% of its food. Such dependence on imports was a threat to food security before the disaster, and the impact was thus exacerbated by the destruction of the port.
Internal Displacement
The escalating regional conflict in fall 2024 has seen one million displaced civilians in southern Lebanon (a fifth of the population) as of the end of September, with 900,000 fleeing in that last week.
Refugees
UNHCR, the United Nations Refugee Agency, reports that the 1.5 million Syrian refugees in Lebanon, plus 11,238 refugees from other countries, make Lebanon host to “the largest number of refugees per capita and per square kilometer in the world.” Access to food and the practice of skipping meals are just two of the many challenges faced by both the Lebanese population and refugees. Over half of the Lebanese live below the poverty line, while 90% of Syrian refugees struggle to meet their basic needs.
Hunger Crisis
Another way to look at the situation is suggested by ANERA, American Near East Refugee Aid, a 56-year-old NGO providing humanitarian and development aid in the Middle East. ANERA sees the current food security crisis in Lebanon as being created by the perfect storm of economic collapse, political instability and continuing regional conflict, including the current war with Israel.
The recent hostilities in southern Lebanon are reported to have impacted the earnings of 72% of farmers, with crop and livestock losses resulting from the extensive destruction of farmland. This, of course, severely restricts access to food. ANERA reports that 37% of the population in the south is experiencing severe food insecurity.
Northern Lebanon, typically less affected by these conflicts, is nevertheless also food insecure, especially as displaced southern families move north. ANERA notes that the World Food Programme reports up to a third of northern households facing food access challenges, and UNICEF suggests a quarter of Lebanese children are experiencing malnutrition and over 40% of children under five are at risk of malnutrition in some areas of the country.
Humanitarian Crisis
In July 2024, The World Food Programme’s External Situation Report for Lebanon, indicated a tripling of poverty over the last decade, affecting 44% of Lebanon’s population. Also reported was a March 2024 IPC analysis projecting an increase in the number of food insecure in Lebanon to as many as 1.26 million people by September 2024.
IPC, the Integrated Food Security Phase Classification, is a global partnership to determine the severity and magnitude of acute malnutrition and chronic and acute food insecurity to assist decision-makers in improving food security.
At the same time, humanitarian aid is needed. In October, OSCHA (U.N. Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs) issued a Flash Appeal for Lebanon for October – December 2024 for humanitarian assistance. This was described as “fully complementary to, and supportive of, the Lebanon Response Plan (LRP) 2024,” co-led with the Lebanese Government. (By mid-year, the LRP had received just 25% of its appeal for $2.72 billion.) The U.N. and NGO partner responses include meal distribution; bread, water and food parcels; emergency nutrition rations and micronutrient supplements; and child malnutrition screening.
Long-Term Impact
As IPC points out, current crises and their impact on food security and agricultural livelihoods, if not addressed, will eventually have a long-term effect on the health and education levels of “an entire generation” of vulnerable populations. This in turn may lead to an increased financial burden on the host countries and populations. So the “flash” and continuing appeals for external assistance are critical.
– Staff Reports
Photo: Flickr
Updated: October 26, 2024
5 Facts About The International Day of Peace
The International Day of Peace has been occurring every year in September since 1981 and celebrates the building of a peaceful and sustainable world. Countries across the globe gather within communities to both reflect on past achievements and come up with what further progress they can accomplish. Here are five important facts about this International Day.
5 Facts About The International Day of Peace
It is important to keep in mind that the main components that led the world to establish the International Day of Peace are ones to hold on to. Especially during a global pandemic, the power of coming together is so much greater than simply just standing back and waiting for the good to arrive. People have the means to help out the underdogs and this day is a reminder to do just that.
– Natalie Whitmeyer
Photo: Flickr
Video Advocacy in Africa: WITNESS
Platforms like WITNESS extend human rights advocacy toward the field of technology. WITNESS uses film footage to publicize global crimes against humanity. Also, impoverished communities reach a large audience through film resources that help contextualize and disseminate eyewitness documentation.
The Borgen Project spoke with Adebayo Okeowo, WITNESS Africa Program Manager and human rights lawyer, to gain insight on WITNESS’s involvement in Africa. In 2017, internet access in sub-Saharan Africa increased to 25%, providing approximately 25% of the population with access to online, human rights resources.
A Digitized Form of Advocacy
Video advocacy is film footage used to publicize humanitarian issues that require international attention. WITNESS provides resources on video production and curation, allowing documented forms of injustice to reach a wider audience. Once issues of injustice receive global attention, influential policymakers and human rights lawyers are more likely to intervene.
According to The World Bank, “eight of the ten most unequal countries in the world, when looking at the Gini coefficient, are in sub-Saharan Africa.” Socioeconomic conditions such as income inequality, government corruption and inequitable tax systems lead to high levels of disparity in impoverished African nations. As inequality rises in Africa, remote villages face an increased likelihood of war and violence. Here, video advocacy in Africa holds great potential for change. WITNESS helps reduce inequality by assisting in the publication and preservation of videos that expose injustices.
Capturing Global Attention
Although internet access has risen in sub-Saharan Africa, remote communities face challenges in bringing global awareness to humanitarian issues. For instance, inadequate IT infrastructure and poor Wi-Fi connection can lead to a decline in internet access. This, in turn, decreases the number of users who document and publicize acts of injustice. This presents a challenge for video advocacy in Africa. Furthermore, rural African communities lack global attention, to begin with. This, in turn, makes it difficult for humanitarian crises to gain traction in the media.
Okeowo stated that when the 2015 Baga massacre occurred in the same week as the Charlie Hebdo attack in Paris, hashtags like #JeSuisCharlie trended on Twitter while the mass killing of approximately 2,000 Nigerians failed to reach global news. Okeowo told The Borgen Project that “we must double our efforts in prioritizing interventions in every corner where there is injustice, but more especially in the forgotten places.”
Justice for Child Soldiers in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC)
In 2012, WITNESS partnered with AJEDI-Ka, a local nonprofit in the eastern Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). The aim was to assist in the conviction of militia leader Thomas Lubanga Dyilo. WITNESS and AJEDI-Ka presented two films comprising video documentation of Lubanga recruiting child soldiers to the International Criminal Court (ICC). As a result, the ICC sentenced Lubanga to 14 years in prison for the war crime of enlisting child soldiers under the age of 15.
The video documentation, ranging back to 2003, initiated an ICC investigation by providing general information on Lubanga’s war crimes. WITNESS, AJEDI-Ka and the ICC protected the human rights of potential child soldiers by holding Lubanga accountable for breaking international law. The 2012 ICC verdict and the 2014 upheld conviction signaled a warning to future militia leaders planning to recruit children for military purposes.
Okeowo told The Borgen Project that film publication “is not so much about how many eyes see the video, but that the right set of eyes see the video.” WITNESS is one of the leading organizations using video documentation to bring justice to impoverished areas, representing approximately 135 countries globally.
– Madeline Zuzevich
Photo: Wikimedia Commons
Microsoft’s Global Skills Initiative
Digital Skills
Microsoft believes these newfound digital skills will give people the ability to take on jobs where digital skills are necessary in order to be successful. The initiative targets those who have lost jobs due to the pandemic, as well as minorities, women and others affected by poverty.
Recent statistics predict that over 250 million people globally may be unemployed by the end of 2020 due to COVID-19. Microsoft found that in the U.S. alone, in May 2020, women had an unemployment rate of 14.4% compared to men who were at 12%. Additionally, Latinx populations had unemployment rates of 16.7%, which is much higher than other groups. These statistics indicate why the initiative particularly targets populations such as women and minorities.
By learning digital skills, those who are at an economic disadvantage will be able to take on jobs in the digital age and improve their economic status. Those who attain these newfound skills might even be able to teach others and distribute their knowledge to uplift an entire community.
Three-step Process
The three partnered companies have come up with a three-step process that they hope will encourage economic growth in communities across the globe. The first part relates to the Linkedin Economic Graph. The Economic Graph is a digital representation of the global economy based on more than 690 million professionals, 50 million companies, 11 million job listings, 36,000 defined skills and 90,000 schools. In short, it is data that shows available jobs and their required skills as well as global hiring rates. These insights will help create economic opportunities for the global workforce.
The second part consists of free tools, programs and content that people will be provided with, in order to learn the skills necessary for job applications. This initiative will give people free access to content from LinkedIn Learning, Microsoft Learn and the GitHub Learning Lab.
Thirdly, low-cost certifications and other cost-free job-seeking tools will be available to help people pursue new jobs with their newly developed skills.
Along with this digital skills initiative, Microsoft will be backing $20 million worth of cash grants that will be distributed across the globe to different nonprofit organizations. These grants will help nonprofits to combat the effects of the pandemic and allow the nonprofits to further extend reach in order to help more people.
Microsoft believes that global shutdowns and social distancing have accelerated the path to digitalization in all fields and economies. The company knows that digital tools are now necessary regardless of the field of work and will continue to be relevant far after the pandemic has passed. Microsoft’s global skills initiative may help the world’s economic recovery and may possibly uplift the entire globe during the COVID-19 pandemic.
– George Hashemi
Photo: Flickr
5 Countries With the Most Generous and Principled Foreign Aid Policies
5 Countries Foreign Aid Policies
Striding Forward
These five countries’ foreign aid policies are impressive examples of how developed nations can make valuable contributions to global well-being. Hopefully, more undeveloped countries continue to benefit from foreign aid policies of more developed nations. Likewise, it is important these developed countries continue their efforts to achieve the U.N. goals, for theirs and the world’s greater benefit.
– Camryn Anthony
Photo: Pixabay
Hunger in Maldives: The FAO Assists
Problem in Numbers
With various scattered islands in the Maldives, it must be noted that most citizens live in urban areas. However, despite this setting, 17.3% of children in the Maldives are underweight, while 10.6% are wasted, a condition where a child’s muscle and fat tissues dissolve away to the bone.
It is estimated that only 47.8% of babies are exclusively breastfed during their first six months of life. As a result, many infants do not receive the essential nutrients needed for healthy development, which could lead to significant health problems in the future.
Alongside the impact of malnutrition on children, it is important to highlight that the adult population also experiences a significant burden, with 42.6% of women of reproductive age suffering from anemia.
Causes of Hunger and Poverty
Various factors cause food insecurity in the Maldives. One major factor is poverty, which has been exacerbated by a decline in tourism. Tourism is estimated to contribute to two-thirds of the nation’s GDP, so the recent border closures due to COVID-19 have had a severe impact on the livelihoods of the citizens. With one-third of adult males and a quarter of females engaged in tourism-related occupations, thousands have lost their jobs, making it harder for people to provide food and other necessities for their families.
Climate change, environmental degradation and declining ocean health threaten food security in the Maldives. Rapid temperature changes, flooding and drought impact agricultural yields, reducing the ability to produce food locally.
Another contributing factor to the hardships many families face is the decline in fish exports. Since fisheries after tourism represent a significant portion of the GDP, many families that rely on fishing as their primary source of income have experienced severe financial impacts.
Road to Change
Despite the rising hunger rates among the population of the Maldives, several organizations have mobilized to assist those in need. A prominent organization in this effort is the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), which is committed to advancing both fisheries and agriculture in the Maldives.
The FAO’s primary objective was to reassess the situation in the Maldives and create opportunities to grow the fishery and agriculture sectors. By establishing a stable framework, the organization enabled thousands to secure new jobs in the agriculture industry while increasing demand for specific goods.
Additionally, the FAO focused on teaching sustainable practices to hundreds of Maldivian farmers. By supporting small-scale farms, the FAO significantly boosted production in underprivileged communities. The organization also equipped farmers with the tools and knowledge to thrive amid climate change. This included providing methods to enhance the productivity of their crops, livestock and fisheries despite challenging climatic conditions.
Despite significant support from the FAO, the Maldives still struggles to adequately feed its entire population. While organizations like the FAO can provide short-term assistance, long-term solutions require active involvement from the government. To effectively reduce hunger, the Maldivian government must collaborate with nonprofit organizations to improve food security nationwide. By working together, NGOs and the Maldivian government can help decrease the overall hunger rate in the Maldives.
– Aditya Padmaraj
Photo: Flickr
Updated: November 1, 2024
CRISPR Gene Editing To Treat Sickle Cell Disease
What is Sickle Cell Disease?
Sickle cell disease is most prevalent in African countries, where having one copy of the sickle cell gene helps protect people against malaria. However, having two copies of this gene results in sickle cell disease. Sickle cell disease occurs because of a genetic mutation that causes red blood cells to develop a sickle-shape and this obstructs healthy blood flow. The condition can cause serious pain and negative health effects, usually resulting in early death. When considering children with the disease, 70% are born in sub-Saharan Africa. Unfortunately, these countries do not have adequate resources to properly alleviate the symptoms of this condition, let alone treat them.
A Potential Cure
In recent months, it has been discovered that CRISPR gene-editing technology may be the key to curing sickle cell disease. CRISPR–Cas9 is a naturally occurring defense system that edits DNA sequences to fight viruses in the human body. In the past decade, scientists have discovered how to harness this system’s ability to manipulate DNA in chosen ways. The result of this is CRISPR gene editing is a powerful technology that can correct genome defects and even alter entire genomes.
CRISPR technology works by editing genes, which modifies how the body functions. First, medical professionals remove patients’ bone marrow and treat it. Then, CRISPR allows scientists to “cut and paste” bits of the genome by either cutting or adding a sequence of DNA into the genome. This can correct genetic mutations, ultimately improving a patient’s health.
In the U.S., a trial of using CRISPR to cure sickle cell disease is yielding promising results. The treatment uses CRISPR technology to activate a gene that instructs the body to produce fetal hemoglobin instead of adult hemoglobin. The presence of fetal hemoglobin prevents the blood cells from sickling. In this way, the treatment alleviates the health complications typically resulting from sickle cell disease. The subject of this trial is much healthier and has made exceptional progress in her recovery. These spectacular results have left many people hopeful that CRISPR technology could successfully treat sickle cell disease, with more widespread results by 2022.
The Future of CRISPR Treatment
For CRISPR treatment to reach its full potential, it must become more accessible to those who need it most. Therefore, the underprivileged in sub-Saharan Africa would benefit greatly. One suggested way to overcome accessibility barriers is through a tiered-pricing system. This system would offer gene therapy treatment to patients in developing countries at a reduced price, while patients in high-income countries would be expected to pay for the treatment in full.
There are currently logistical barriers to this solution, as gene therapy can cost thousands of dollars. The cost of CRISPR treatment would have to be greatly reduced (beyond the normal price drops of tiered pricing) to be successfully made available to the underprivileged. Additionally, this treatment requires consistent doctor visits. Much of sub-Saharan Africa lacks access to health clinics and other essential resources, such as refrigeration.
Breaking Down Barriers
Organizations are helping to eliminate the barriers blocking CRISPR treatment for sickle cell disease in developing countries. The National Institutes of Health and the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation donated $200 million to this cause in 2019. This money will help make gene therapy accessible throughout the world and improve the quality of life for thousands. With the promise of affordable CRISPR gene modification therapy, there is hope for individuals worldwide to treat sickle cell disease. Permanently improving the quality of life is the end goal. Those living in developing countries, the global poor and those vulnerable to falling into poverty will be the most to benefit from this exciting, technological development.
– Hannah Allbery
Photo: Flickr