Archive for category: Global Health

Information and stories about global health.

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Deworming Initiatives

Deworming Initiatives
The World Health Organization (WHO) estimated that in 2016, more than 836 million children were at risk of parasitic worm infections worldwide. This is more than 11 percent of the earth’s population, but it can be prevented. These parasitic worm infections are very easily transmitted in places of poor sanitation, often found in places of open defecation.

The two most prevalent infections, Soil-transmitted helminth (STH) and schistosomiasis, are found in populations exposed to parasitic worms and pose serious threats to both the physical and mental health as well as the overall quality of life of those infected. These diseases have been linked to cognitive dysfunction, malnutrition, anemia and impaired mental and physical development.

Though not as life-threatening, about 1.5 billion people are infected with soil-transmitted helminths (STH) worldwide. According to the World Health Organization, STHs affect the poorest, most deprived communities. Whereas with Schistosomiasis, more than 200 million people worldwide are infected, and it is the second most devastating parasitic disease. Schistosomiasis, like STHs, is often found in the poorest communities, most often in places of poor water quality and sanitation since infection can occur when skin comes in contact with contaminated water.

What can be or is being done about this?

The best way to clear those infected with these parasites is to ‘deworm’ them. This is done through an inexpensive and noninvasive method of ingesting medication orally in order to rid the body of the parasites. Yet, the cost of diagnosis is more than it costs to administer the pill to all. According to Evidence Action, to run the tests and diagnose individual people costs four to ten times the amount it costs to just administer the pill to everyone. Moreover, the medication is safe for those not infected, thus making mass deworming the easiest and most cost-effective solution.

Many deworming initiatives have been created and heavily endorsed by various nonprofits, such as The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, Evidence Action, The World Health Organization and World Bank. Most advocate for school-based deworming initiatives because they target children and help to ensure that all are being treated. This method of treatment was unanimously endorsed by the World Health Assembly in 2001 and is ongoing today.

Many of these programs aim to work directly with governments to establish high quality deworming programs within schools. Take Evidence Action for example; in 2016, their ‘Deworm the World Initiative,’ which supports governments in India, Kenya, Ethiopia, Vietnam, and Nigeria, helped to treat more than 196 million children. Furthermore, thanks to the combative efforts of these nonprofits, 68 percent of children at risk were treated for parasitic worms, and this number is rising.

In short, school-based deworming initiatives are effective in ending the endemic of parasitic worm diseases in impoverished countries. There are over 835 million children in the areas where these diseases are most intensely transmitted, and all of them can be treated at an average of less than $0.50 per child. Though there is a long way to go to ensure the end of these curable diseases, improvements have been seen and will continue to be seen with the help, initiative and work from nonprofits.

– Isabella Agostini
Photo: Flickr

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Understanding the Critical Effects of Yellow Fever

Understanding the critical effects of yellow fever
Many diseases still roam the Earth carrying deadly potential. One such disease is yellow fever. Understanding the critical effects of yellow fever is the best way to make progress in working to eradicate the disease.

Yellow fever is beginning to make a comeback in Nigeria and Brazil as both countries are seeing threats of the disease in urban areas. There was a spike in the disease in the 2000s in Africa and the Americas, which put 40 countries on the high-risk list. In 2016, yellow fever outbreaks were only contained when a mass vaccination drive reached the 30 million people most greatly affected.

What is Yellow Fever?

Yellow fever is an African mosquito-borne infection of primates. In its natural habitat, it’s transmitted between monkeys via forest-dwelling Aedes mosquitoes. The virus was introduced to the Americas through the slave trade and it is now enzootic in forest habitats.

Humans can be infected with yellow fever after spending time in a forest and then infect others through human-to-human transmissions. Yellow fever can cause a spectrum of symptoms across the board ranging from mild to fatal. It’s especially important to begin understanding the critical effects of yellow fever.

In some clinical cases, a sudden onset of fever with a severe headache, arthralgia and muscle pains happen first, followed by jaundice, which may appear on the third day. Jaundice usually indicates a poor prognosis. Transaminase elevations are also prognostic, and in severe cases, there may be spontaneous hemorrhage, renal failure, delirium, coma and death. Mortality of clinical cases can be as high as 80 percent.

Disease Prevention & Treatment

For half a century, a safe, effective and inexpensive vaccine known as YF 17D was used to beat yellow fever. Unfortunately, few countries implement routine vaccination and YF 17D requires more than one dose to have lasting effects.

Vaccination comes with a certificate but a routine of shots is required for the duration of one’s life. Although the vaccine doesn’t last the lifetime, the certificate of vaccination against yellow fever is valid for the life of the person vaccinated, beginning 10 days after the date of vaccination.

Many preventative measures exist but once contracted, there is no sure cure for yellow fever. Supportive therapy is the only option but the use of antivirals is an active field of research. Those who have contracted the disease must avoid aspirin and other anticoagulants as it increases the risk of bleeding. This is an example of why it’s important to understand the critical effects of yellow fever.

Understanding the Critical Effects of Yellow Fever

The current yellow fever outbreak in Nigeria began in Ifelodun, Kwara State in Western Nigeria in September 2017. By January 2018, a total of 358 suspected cases had been reported in 16 states, with 45 deaths. In late 2017, Nigeria aimed to quickly contain an emergency outbreak by vaccinating more than three million people.

The yellow fever virus continues to circulate where people remain largely unprotected. An immunization has been put in place as part of the continued efforts to eliminate yellow fever globally by 2026.

Brazil’s Ministry of Health reported that between July 1, 2017, and Jan. 23, 2018, 130 cases of yellow fever were confirmed in the country, of which 53 resulted in death. One-year earlier in the same time frame, there were 381 confirmed cases and 127 deaths were reported. Since 2017, Brazil’s Ministry of Health has provided some 57.4 million doses of the yellow fever vaccine.

The Pan American Health Organization (PAHO) and the World Health Organization have provided wide-ranging support to the Brazilian government in responding to yellow fever outbreaks by:

  • Supplying the yellow fever vaccine
  • Purchasing syringes through the PAHO Revolving Fund
  • Adhering to recommendations based on the best available scientific evidence
  • Acquiring special vaccination cards for fractional doses that ensure more people can have the vaccine and the doses can last longer (as used in the Democratic Republic of the Congo)
  • Working in the field alongside the national and local authorities

This year, helpers traveled to Minas Gerais to assist with the identification of yellow fever outbreaks in monkeys. These efforts of the national and state health authorities help them to better understand the circulation of the yellow fever virus while also serving as a reminder to further vaccination strategies.

Yellow fever has no limitations on the people it affects and is limitless in its reach. The first step in the fight against this disease is understanding the critical effects of yellow fever. Only then can it be abolished worldwide.

– Gustavo Lomas
Photo: Flickr

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How is Congress Fighting Neglected Tropical Diseases?

Fighting Neglected Tropical Diseases
Neglected tropical diseases (NTDs) are a group of diseases such as Dengue fever, rabies, hookworm and sleeping sickness that collectively affect more than one billion people around the globe. These diseases are crippling, but very often preventable and treatable. The world stands to gain a great deal from even moderate investment into fighting neglected tropical diseases.

Impact of NTDs

Neglected tropical diseases are widespread in sub-Saharan Africa, Asia and South America. They disproportionately affect the world’s poor and make it even harder for these people to climb out of poverty.

These diseases collectively kill hundreds of thousands of people each year and they significantly harm hundreds of millions more. NTDs can lead to sickness, deformities and even blindness. Infected children are also at risk of malnutrition and stunted growth.

These symptoms cause more than personal suffering; they also threaten the long-term development of entire communities. Adults afflicted by these diseases are often unable to work or care for their families and may become socially isolated. Affected children are often unable to regularly attend school to learn the skills they need to help themselves and their communities.

Taken together, the effects of neglected tropical diseases add up to billions of dollars in lost productivity. Those losses are hard to absorb for these already-impoverished areas.

Effectiveness of Treatments

The good news is that fighting neglected tropical diseases is easier, cheaper and more efficient than dealing with many other widespread health issues. These diseases are preventable and some, like river blindness, are treatable with currently available drugs.

Since several of these diseases are often concentrated in a single area, effective treatment of one often helps with others as well. Several of the most effective drugs are also available for free as donations from their developers. It is likely that half a billion people suffering from these diseases could be treated for less than $400 million.

With this in mind, there is a very real chance that the impact of neglected tropical diseases could be severely reduced within a generation. The World Health Organization even has a goal to completely eradicate two or more by 2020. To achieve this goal, though, it is likely that the international community will have to make a greater commitment to cooperate in fighting neglected tropical diseases.

U.S. Response to Fighting Neglected Tropical Diseases

In recent years, U.S. efforts to support researching and treating neglected tropical diseases have amounted to little more than treading water. Congress has had to renew support for existing research centers on a yearly basis since long-term authorization ended in 2009. This may be changing soon, however.

In November, the End Neglected Tropical Diseases Act was sent out of committee to be considered by the full House of Representatives. While it is still in a relatively early stage, the bill has already been cosponsored by representatives from both parties.  

If implemented, the bill would protect current research funding and keep Congress more directly informed about neglected tropical diseases. It would also shift U.S. policy into directly supporting the international effort against them. Specifically, U.S. representatives at the U.N. and World Bank would be instructed to promote researching, monitoring and fighting neglected tropical diseases.

While the bill does not allocate a great deal of money for the problem (the CBO estimates that the bill will cost only $14 million over five years), the End Neglected Tropical Diseases Act would be the first step in years toward more directly involving the U.S. in this crucial global health issue. With continued U.S. and international efforts, these diseases may no longer be so neglected.

– Josh Henreckson
Photo: Flickr

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Health Education in Myanmar

Health Education in Myanmar
Although Myanmar has significantly reduced its poverty from 48.2 percent in 2004 to 32.1 percent in 2015, poverty still inhabits about a third of the population. Furthermore, of the 15.8 million people living below the poverty line, 13.8 live in rural areas. This disproportionate distribution of the poor is correlated largely with the limited reach of health education in Myanmar. 

The Need for Health Education in Myanmar

Rural children’s growth, physically and cognitively, is often stunted by poor basic health education including that of HIV, malnutrition, and high infant mortality. Health issues are especially detrimental to the welfare of rural households as income is often based on agricultural jobs that are physically demanding. Poor health education which results in poor health, in turn, damages the labor market and the economy. The World Bank, in its assessment of Myanmar’s poverty, foresees increased growth especially in rural areas, and health education is one of their most important priorities as a part of its Country Partnership Framework program.

Myanmar has benefitted from successful collaborations from organizations within the international community.

  • The World Bank: Since 2015, about 5.4 million people have benefited from the World Bank’s support of better schools, and stipends have given 150,000 more children the opportunity to study. Development of more health clinics and corresponding services are reducing extreme poverty in Myanmar. Infectious diseases and child mortality rates are lowered by the strengthening of national health systems and education curriculum.
  • USAID: USAID along with Global Development Alliance partner P&G collaborated to educate people from central and eastern Myanmar on how to prevent diarrheal diseases which is common among poorly informed citizens. So far this year, these organizations have assisted about two million people in achieving an understanding of proper sanitation habits. Health education in Myanmar can lift communities out of a vulnerability to conflict and build more resilience to preventable diseases.
  • UNICEF encourages increased government investment from its natural resources to education and healthcare to alleviate Myanmar’s socio-economic issues. In the fiscal year 2012-2013, Myanmar’s government only spent 2.3 percent of its GDP on the social sector while surrounding Southeast Asian countries spent more than twice as much on education and healthcare. This neglect continues to result in malnourished, poor street children and high child labor.

Innovative Strategies to Increase Health Education in Rural Areas

Many poor villages in Myanmar are popular regions for human trafficking activity, and thousands of children without access to relevant medical information are victims of preventable diseases. About 260,000 people have HIV, many of whom are poor.

In response to the trafficking crisis and other health issues affecting young Myanmars, some innovative strategies are now in place.

  • The Mandalay Marionette Theatre utilizes face-to-face learning through puppet acts as an effective and innovative strategy to make health education accessible and memorable to children from rural backgrounds. While more affluent countries are exploring the educational uses of artificial intelligence and virtual reality, this puppet group advocates for its emotionally engaging productions. “When children experience an exciting event, they continue to talk about it when it’s over. It enforces a peer effect. They begin to ask each other, ‘Did you actually wash your hands and practice good hygiene?” says Dr. Shakuntala Banaji, a communication scholar at the London School of Economics, who recognizes the potency of puppet entertainment for education.
  • The Myanmar Red Cross, partnering with the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies, initiated an education program that uses television and film to cover different relevant health topics for remote communities. It has provided 40 villages with TVs, speakers, solar panels and more, to make media a reliable educational tool. This technology provides a positive system of change to understanding and implementing safer health habits. The educational videos cover many first aid topics. The ones in higher demand instruct people on how to maneuver commonplace perils such as snake bites and burns. These videos also combat many uninformed, indigenous beliefs. Malaria, a common threat in Mogok, was falsely understood to be a result of eating certain plants. A village administrator has learned otherwise from video sources and has informed the people of other effective preventative methods to protect themselves from the actual source of malaria, mosquitoes.
  • The ‘Mama Oo’ radio drama series of 2015-2016 is another creative means of stimulating change in attitudes regarding maternal and child health. An entertaining way of imparting more information on maternal and child health issues to the community, this radio show provided a convenient way through short episodes of understanding the eight key health messages approved by the Ministry of Health.

The current government prioritizes education as the core of its reform strategy with the ambition of lifting its country into the ranks of upper-middle-income countries by 2030. The different innovative strategies for disseminating important messages regarding good health is evidence of these efforts. Inclusive health education in Myanmar serves as one of the most important roots to tend to as the country climbs out of poverty.

– Alice Lieu
Photo: Flickr

Five Facts About Health Regulation in Ghana

Health Regulation in Ghana
Health regulation in Ghana has strengthened in recent years. Ghana has made great progress to improve its public health conditions, and the international community has also assisted in its endeavors to better health procedures and legislation. Below are five facts about health regulation in Ghana.

Facts about Health Regulation in Ghana

  1. Ghana passed its first Comprehensive Public Health Bill. This is a crucial milestone for public health within Ghana, and more generally, Africa. Ghana has domestically expanded programs for tobacco control, vaccinations, food and drugs, environmental sanitation, infectious diseases and more. The Public Health Bill essentially enhances the recognition and responses to public health issues. This bill emulates Public Health Institutions in Norway, which is one of the strongest healthcare systems in the world.
  2. Ghana and the International Association of National Public Health (IANPHI) have been allies since 2009. The IANPHI has helped Ghana create institutions, websites and legislation addressing new public health procedures. The IANPHI have helped health regulation in Ghana by providing resources to combat outbreaks, by assisting the creation of Ghana Health Service and by supporting ghanahealthservice.org. The site updates Ghanaians and the global sector about public health news.
  3. Health regulation in Ghana has been monitored by the World Health Organization (WHO). The WHO has listed a number of Ghana’s achievements since 2005. Ghana has passed many health bills that align with the values of International Health Regulation (IHR). The WHO has also trained public health officials and staff about IHR protocol. Ghana continues to stay in contact with WHO and abides by IHR.
  4. Ghana’s mental health system is improving rapidly. In 2012, Ghana enacted a new Mental Health Act. The provision includes that individuals with mental health issues retain their human rights and that the system mirrors modern mental health programs. The Mental Health Act provides protection and treatment for those who struggle with these issues. Additionally, the bill established the Mental Health Authority, Health Review Tribunals, Regional Visiting Committees and the Mental Health Fund.
  5. Fortunately, human rights are becoming highly entwined with public health practices in Ghana. IHR’s underlying principles are based on human rights. Ghana has inherited its values when implementing public health bills and programs. Each patient must be treated with dignity, particularly mental health patients since they were previously discriminated against. Prior to 2012, Ghanaians would shackle individuals who had mental health issues. Fortunately, the public is being educated, and the stigma is changing.

Ghana and the international community have made great strides to amend and better its healthcare system. Ghana has set a precedent for other Sub-Saharan countries — it could act as a beacon of hope for nations struggling with the implementation of public health legislation.

– Diana Hallisey
Photo: Flickr

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Price Agreement on New HIV Treatment Will Save Lives

HIV Treatment
In September of 2017, it was announced at the seventy-second U.N. General Assembly that the HIV treatment regimen TLD (tenofovir disoproxil fumarate, lamivudine and dolutegravir) has been made more accessible to low and middle income countries. This has been accomplished with a price agreement established through the partnership of various countries and global aid programs.

Some of the groups that collaborated on the new price agreement include UNAIDS, the Clinton Health Access Initiative (CHAI), PEPFAR, USAID, the World Health Organization (WHO), the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation and the governments of South Africa and Kenya. Teams in many countries have begun developing plans to transition TLD into use by the end of 2019. Over 50 low or middle income countries have already introduced or are planning to introduce TLD as the favored first-line treatment for HIV.

Improvements to TLD

TLD medication is already considered a preferred method of HIV treatment in the United States. However, with the use of a generic treatment and a pricing agreement, TLD is now expected to cost health programs in low to middle income countries covered by the agreement only $75 per person per year once the treatment has been fully transitioned into use.

The newly released TLD is a generic treatment consisting of a single pill taken once a day containing a dolutegravir base. Studies have shown that the TLD regimen has fewer side effects on the patient and also has less vulnerability to the development of drug resistance that would render it ineffective. This helps because it means that fewer people would have to start new levels of treatment. TLD has also been shown to provide a more rapid repression of viral load.

Effects of New HIV Treatment

Three countries that began using the TLD treatment by the end of 2017 include Brazil, Botswana and Kenya. Within three months of treatment, studies show that 81 percent of patients using TLD in Brazil had an undetectable viral load, as compared to another HIV treatment regimen with an EFV (efavirenz) base, which had 61 percent presenting with an undetectable viral load after three months of treatment. Botswana and Kenya have shown similar success, with 90 percent of those using the treatment reaching full viral suppression in 2018.

In 2016, only 53 percent of people infected with the HIV virus were receiving treatment. Under the licensing agreement that sets a maximum price on the dolutegravir-based medication, 92 low to middle income countries will be able to provide the treatment to their citizens. These countries represent 90 percent of the people living with HIV in low to middle income countries. The TLD pricing agreement will not only be able to reduce the cost of treatment for the people in these countries but will increase availability so that more people can be treated.

A Brighter, Healthier Future

The launch of this new TLD treatment is another step forward in the treatment of people suffering globally from HIV and AIDS. People who did not originally have access to the dolutegravir treatment due to cost and availability will now be able to use this treatment. TLD provides a more reliable treatment regimen that will improve many people’s lives and ultimately bring the world a little further in the fight against HIV.

– Lindabeth Doby
Photo: Flickr

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How Glasko Smith Kline Fights Poverty Through Global Healthcare

Glasko Smith Kline Fights Poverty
Around the world, health challenges are coupled with extreme poverty. Those who live in and experience extreme poverty are more likely to suffer from diseases and lack equipment to fend off and eradicate those diseases. However, organizations are working to provide vaccinations and medications globally to those in need. An excellent example of one such organization is Glasko Smith Kline — a group who fights poverty through global healthcare.

What is Glasko Smith Kline?

Glasko Smith Kline (GSK) is a “science-led global healthcare company with a special purpose: to help people do more, feel better, live longer.” The company hopes to be innovative in their methods of healthcare by trying to reach as many people as possible. Glasko Smith Kline Fights Poverty through three areas of research and development in pharmaceutical medicines, vaccines and consumer healthcare products.

In the pharmaceutical arena, GSK is currently working on new medicines for HIV diseases and oncology. The organization has been a leader in respiratory disease for over forty years and has strengthened its repertoire of medications in recent years. GSK has an extensive portfolio for their vaccinations — they deliver two million vaccine doses per day to over 160 countries. Lastly, the consumer health care business focuses on oral health, pain relief, respiratory, nutrition and skin health. GSK leads in both over-the counter healthcare companies worldwide and rankings within the Wellness category in 36 markets.

GSK championed the effort to develop the first ever malaria vaccination, which took approximately thirty years to develop. Although preventative efforts have decreased the number of African children dying from malaria, vaccinations continue to decrease the mortality rate.

First Steps Towards Change

As of 2017, Ghana, Kenya and Malawi were set to begin the pilot vaccine with young children the following year. The World Health Organization’s (WHO) goal is to eradicate malaria by 2040, and as WHO works to implement these vaccines, GSK will eventually work to analyze the vaccine’s effectiveness and side effects. These findings will compliment the pilot evaluation data.

According to Access to Medicine Foundation’s index of drug companies, Glasko Smith Kline ranks first out of drug-making companies in its availability to developing companies. This nonprofit also reports that GSK’s major strength is research, and that its development projects are in need of further attention.

GSK and Save the Children

Glasko Smith Kline Fights Poverty in partnership with an organization called Save the Children. Save the Children advocates for children’s rights, basic needs and human rights. This organization works towards increased education, lower mortality rates and better health for the most vulnerable of human beings.

Save the Children recognizes that poverty is a common cause that effects a child’s future; therefore, the organization works to give a child a healthy start to life. The goal of the global partnership between GSK and Save the Children is to combine their expertise of global health and children rights to provide resources to save the lives of one million of the world’s poorest children.

Overall, Glasko Smith Kline Fights Poverty through multiple avenues. They utilize their strengths in consumer healthcare, vaccinations and medications, research breakthrough finds, and deliver these solutions to the people who are most in need. Also, by collaborating with other organizations, GSK is able to expand its reach to eradicate poverty through their passion for global healthcare.

– Jenna Walmer
Photo: Flickr

Healthcare in Zambia: Four Major Improvement Methods

Zambia
Free medical textbooks, increased medical training and resources, rural community-based intervention programs and a new medical facility are helping to improve healthcare in Zambia.

Sachibond: A Small Clinic Becomes First-Level Hospital

In a remote area of northwestern Zambia, Sachibondu started as a small clinic in an area where many people lack access to basic physician care, some walking for days to reach this facility. It is now turning into a new hospital facility, undergoing major construction and upgrades which “will meet government requirements for a first-level hospital, which will attract more funding and staff resources from the Ministry of Health.” The new hospital will potentially reach tens of thousands of patients.

Upgrades at Sachibondu include x-ray and scanning technology, full operating capabilities, extensive inpatient and maternity wards and isolation areas for infectious disease control and treatment. The construction includes innovative design for ensuring fresh-air ventilation capacity and maximizing a layout for providing worker well-being and optimal clinical accessibility function. Also, designers strategically placed plants and other shades for providing privacy and to reduce overheating.

One of Sachibondu’s new architecture goals was to optimize worker and patient well-being because, as Jackson Amone from the Uganda Ministry of Health said, “Health is the state of physical and mental well-being, not just the absence of infection and disease.”

Sachibondu is run by the Zambian Government Ministry of Health, the Churches Health Association of Zambia (CHAZ) and the Sachibondu Health Committee; several volunteers also participated in the construction.

Enhancing Rural and Remote Medical Intervention Training

With 60 percent of Zambia’s 16 million people living in rural or remote areas, training villagers with basic medical emergency intervention methods has the potential to help save many lives.

Lack of skilled healthcare workers and quality facilities in rural and remote areas inspired community-based intervention training services, such as the formation of Safe Motherhood Action Groups (SMAGs).

SMAGs are groups implemented in rural and remote communities which are comprised of a variety of community health volunteers. These volunteers include birth attendants, health committees and community members specially trained to identify danger signs and encourage women to attend healthcare services. Such groups are supported and implemented by Health for the Poorest Population (HPP), the Ministry of Community Development, Maternal and Child Health in Zambia and UNICEF.

Increasing Healthcare Workforce Training and Resources for Preventing Diseases and Early Deaths

The United States Agency for International Development (USAID) works with the Zambian Ministry of Health to strengthen the healthcare in Zambia. One such method is through the USAID Systems for Better Health, which is a training program that has produced over 1,600 new healthcare workers so far. Support from USAID for improving Zambian healthcare systems includes mentoring, supplying financial services and providing supply-chain management.

The U.S. government and USAID also support several programs combatting diseases in Zambia, such as is its efforts to control and prevent HIV, tuberculosis and malaria.

The United States President’s Malaria Initiative (PMI) helped Zambians reduce their death rate from malaria by over 30 percent by providing access to test-kits, life-saving medicines, insecticide-treated bed nets and residual spraying availability. USAID has also implemented updated technology and training for local healthcare workers to detect and treat a high prevalence of HIV and tuberculosis cases in Zambia.

Also through USAID’s efforts supporting improvements of healthcare in Zambia, infant mortality rate dropped by 36 percent between 2007 and 2014. Safe high-quality birthing services are increasing throughout Zambia through various programs including Saving Mothers and Giving Life. USAID assists by providing equipment, improving supply chains, strengthening links, training caregivers and educating community members.

Free Higher Education Books

With a 63 percent adult literacy rate and 51 percent of Zambians completing at least some secondary schooling, free higher education books (including medical textbooks) are helping to improve healthcare in Zambia by providing greater access to better-quality education.

Book Aid International is a non-profit organization based in London, England that distributes free up-to-date textbooks to universities, training institutions, libraries, clinics and hospitals in areas where people can’t afford books, such as Zambia. Book Aid International is often the sole supporter of many African libraries.

Improving Healthcare in Zambia, and Worldwide

One of the organization’s motivations to supply free higher education books is to improve healthcare worldwide. Book Aid International declares: “Access to accurate, reliable information is absolutely crucial in order to deliver medical care and health education, yet around the world, people cannot afford the books they need.”

In 2017, Book Aid International donated over 65,000 books to Zambians. With 42 percent of Zambians living on less than $2 per day, free books are a welcome and needed route for developing improved healthcare in Zambia. With assistance from international collaborations, Zambia’s healthcare has vastly improved throughout the country, and the nation’s future looks brighter than ever.

– Emme Leigh
Photo: Flickr

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Key Improvements in Maternal Health in Sierra Leone

Improvements in Maternal Health in Sierra Leone
The life expectancy of women in Sierra Leone is just 61 years old. The country leads in the world in maternal mortality ratio, ranking in 1,360 deaths per 100,000 live births — nearly 500 more than the next nation and three times higher than the average for sub-Saharan Africa. Lack of clean water and well equipped sanitary equipment has unsurprisingly come with generally high maternal health risks. Maternal health in Sierra Leone is improving (albeit with further necessary upgrades) despite its numerous impediments.

Sierra Leone’s Economic and Political State

In 2010, the government in Sierra Leone announced an ambitious program — the Free Health Care Initiative — to provide free care in public facilities for pregnant and lactating women and young children. Still, mothers felt care to be inadequate as little transportation assistance, sociocultural barriers and poor quality still remain difficult years later.

In addition, a devastating 2014 outbreak of Ebola further stunted improvements in health conditions in the nation. In fact, according to a 2015 paper, the reduced number of health personal after the epidemic may have forced maternal mortality to increase by 74 percent in Sierra Leone. But workers are on the ground making progress — individuals from as close as neighboring communities, to as far as a dozen time zones away in Asia, are dedicated to creating improvements in maternal health in Sierra Leone.

Impact of Aid Organizations

A UNICEF partner, Sierra Leone Social Aid Volunteers, built modern toilets, a laundromat, incinerator, placenta pit, water well and water supply system in the nation. And that’s not all — UNICEF and other humanitarian aid organizations have offered aid to over 150 facilities across Sierra Leone.

Fatmata Conteh, midwife at the Konta Line Community Health Center, stated that as a result of these efforts, people in Sierra Leone “can easily clean the health facility and wash all our equipment here. Mothers have access to convenient toilets and water in the bathroom to have a bath after delivery.”

The health center where Conteh is employed provides service to over 7,000 individuals across nearly 30 cities in which nearly one half of patients are under the age of five. In December 2015, UNICEF, funded by the European Union, oversaw 16 separate construction and rehabilitation projects started across the country. All theses projects aimed to improve basic health infrastructure, including maternal facilities.

In November 2017, the World Health Organization (WHO) launched a new five-year strategy for Reproductive, Maternal, Newborn, Child and Adolescent Health in Sierra Leone. The strategy highlights several focus areas, including emergency obstetric and neonatal care, management of newborn and childhood illnesses and prevention of teenage pregnancy. This strategy will hope to launch off the recent progress of late — the females’ increased attendance (at least four checkups) during pregnancy and malaria treatment.

“WHO is proud to have supported the country in developing this strategy together with our partners, but we are also aware that this is just the beginning,” said Alexander Chimbaru, Officer-in-Charge of WHO Sierra Leone.

External Influencers

China has also been an influential partner in the region through its support of aid programs in Sierra Leone. In early June, a group of Chinese health workers touched down in Freetown and joined other medical technicians at the Jui China Sierra Leone Friendship hospital. The hospital provides medical care to children, pregnant and mothers free of charge.

To accompany such dutiful care, the first lady of Sierra Leone, Fatima Bio, officially launched the China-Sierra Leone Maternal and Child Health Care Innovation Project. At a launch event, Bio highlighted the importance of a strong education system and health network, as well as the negative effects of teenage pregnancy.

Closer to home, individuals make substantial sacrifices to assist mothers in giving healthy births. Health Poverty Action has featured Mary Turoy, a successful Maternal Health Promoter in the Kamalo village in the Northern Bombali District of the country. To mitigate the difficulties women face in just traveling to medical centers, Turoy and others in her community offer housing, pregnancy information and much-needed advice.

Maternal Health in Sierra Leone

One of the Sustainable Development Goal health targets is to decrease from 216 maternal deaths per 100,000 in 2015, to less than 70 maternal deaths. The United Nations (U.N.) holds that maternal deaths can be largely prevented if programs bolster the level of care during delivery. And improvements around the globe are, in fact, being made — infectious diseases and adolescent childbearing are down worldwide.

However, conditions remain the most concerning in sub-Saharan Africa. Improvements in maternal health in Sierra Leone are happening, but change is still necessary. Healthcare and maternal conditions in this coastal, west African nation are still an area of concern that could do with continued care today and in the future.

– Isabel Bysiewicz
Photo: Flickr

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Ghana Eradicated Trachoma, a Disease That Left Millions Blind

Ghana Eradicated Trachoma, a Disease That Left Millions Blind
On June 13, 2018 the World Health Organization (WHO) confirmed that trachoma, an infectious and painful disease of the eye that may potentially lead to blindness, is no longer a public health concern in Ghana.

Trachoma and Ghana

Ghana sits on West Africa’s Gulf of Guinea and is a home to 28 million people — 2.8 (or 15 percent) of which were at risk of trachoma in 2000. The WHO attributes the success to a collective effort between local and regional communities and international collaboration.

Trachoma is caused by Chlamydia bacterium and is spread by flies, a lack of sanitation and lack of access to clean water. When a person has the disease, the inside of the eyelids become scarred and curl inwards, causing the lashes to scrape against the lens of the eye, eventually destroying it if left untreated.

The disease was once common in the west, but has since been reduced to areas of the world where people do not have the resources to fend off the disease, usually attacking the world’s poor and leaving them unable to properly carry out their daily tasks.

Trachoma of the Past, Present and Future

Often described as a sensation of “thorns” in the eyes, trachoma is an extremely uncomfortable and serious disease. The disease is ancient, and dates as far back as the time of the pharaohs and ancient Greeks and Romans. Even prominent figures across ancient history such as St. Paul, Cicero, Horace and Galileo were believed to have suffered from the disease.

In 2000, the Ministry of Health and Ghana Health Service put in place a national Trachoma Elimination Program. This program involved putting the Surgery for Trichiasis, Antibiotics to Ward Off Infection (SAFE) strategy into action.

Surgery for trichiasis, the condition in which the eyelashes grow inward, was provided free of charge for more than 6,000 patients, and the pharmaceutical company Pfizer donated 3.3 million doses of Zithromax antibiotics to help avoid infection.

Pfizer also has plans to continue to donate Zithromax globally to help other trachoma-endemic countries. The importance of hygiene and facial cleanliness was promoted throughout the community during events, school health education and radio messages — while Ghana’s Community Water and Sanitation Agency worked towards environmental improvements.

Number Seven, Ghana

Ghana is the seventh country to have officially wiped out the disease, along with Oman, Morocco, Mexico, Cambodia, Laos and Nepal — and it is the only sub-saharan African country to have done so. In spite of this brilliant success, up to 200 million people are still at risk of contracting trachoma in 41 countries, many of which are on the African continent.

Experts are hopeful for the future eradication of the disease considering the ways in which Ghana eradicated trachoma. WHO Director-General Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus expressed his optimism saying, “Although there’s more work to do elsewhere, the validation of elimination in Ghana allows another previously heavily-endemic country to celebrate significant success.”

– Camille Wilson

Photo: Flickr