Archive for category: Global Health

Information and stories about global health.

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mRNA TB Vaccine Research Moves Into Human Trials

mRNA TB VaccineIn 2019, years before most people had heard of the term “mRNA vaccine,” the German biotech company BioNTech signed an agreement with the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation to build one anyway, not for COVID-19, but for tuberculosis (TB). The world’s deadliest infectious disease had gone unanswered by a new vaccine for a century. Six years and one global pandemic later, that early bet is now sitting in active human trials.

A Killer with No New Answer

TB caused 1.23 million deaths in 2024 alone, making it the world’s most lethal infectious disease. The only approved vaccine, BCG, was introduced more than 100 years ago. It offers meaningful protection to young children but offers limited protection against pulmonary TB in adolescents and adults, the group responsible for much of today’s transmission.

The disease is also not evenly distributed. The 30 highest-burden countries are low- and middle-income countries and account for about 87% of global TB incidence. More than half of TB-affected households in low- and middle-income countries face costs exceeding 20% of annual household income, a threshold the World Health Organization classifies as catastrophic.

Patients can also lose work and income to the illness, and researchers in Malawi found that a year after completing treatment, TB survivors were less likely to be employed and were earning less than before they fell ill, while poverty among them had risen, a cycle that an effective vaccine could help break.

The Bet BioNTech Made Before COVID-19

BioNTech’s mRNA TB vaccine did not start as a pandemic side project. It began in September 2019, when the company signed an initial $55 million equity investment from the Gates Foundation to develop mRNA-based vaccines against TB and HIV. BioNTech CEO Ugur Sahin said at the time that targeting severe infectious diseases such as TB and HIV fit the company’s broader mission to apply its immunotherapy capabilities beyond cancer, into other areas of high medical need.

Four years later, in April 2023, BioNTech advanced BNT164a1 and BNT164b1 into clinical testing. The first study was Phase Ia, followed by a Phase Ib/IIa study in adults. By 2026, recruitment for the Phase Ib/IIa study had been completed.

A Second Vaccine Reaches a Major Milestone

BioNTech is not alone in the race. On July 16, 2026, the nonprofit IAVI and Spanish biopharmaceutical company Biofabri announced their own TB vaccine candidate, MTBVAC, had reached full enrollment in its Phase 2b trial, also known as IMAGINE. The trial recruited 5,500 adolescents and adults with latent TB infection across 16 research centers in South Africa, Kenya and Tanzania.

Keertan Dheda, principal investigator for the IMAGINE trial and professor of respiratory medicine at the University of Cape Town, said TB remains the leading infectious disease killer worldwide and a major global cause of chronic lung damage and disability.

Earlier results from MTBVAC’s preceding Phase 1b/2a trial, published in The Lancet Global Health in April 2025, showed the vaccine had a safety profile comparable to BCG and triggered immune responses in adults equal to or stronger than a BCG revaccination.

Why Two Different Approaches Matter

MTBVAC and BNT164 work in entirely different ways. MTBVAC is a live-attenuated, single-dose vaccine derived directly from the human TB bacterium, designed for easy use in hard-to-reach areas. BNT164, by contrast, uses the same mRNA platform that powered COVID-19 vaccines, teaching the body to recognize TB proteins without using any live bacteria at all. Running both approaches at once gives researchers two viable opportunities to succeed where BCG alone has fallen short for a century.

A Century-Long Wait, Finally Moving

“A new, efficacious and accessible vaccine against the world’s deadliest infectious disease would be a substantial accomplishment for public health, and IAVI and partners are working to make this a reality,” said Mark Feinberg, IAVI’s CEO and president.

Neither vaccine is approved yet, and TB has defeated promising vaccine candidates before. However, multiple credible candidates are now moving through human trials, including late-stage candidates such as MTBVAC and newer mRNA approaches such as BNT164. The bet BioNTech made back in 2019, long before mRNA vaccines were a household term, is now one of the clearest signs that the century-long search for a better TB vaccine may finally be gaining momentum.

– Naveeshaa Rengasamy

Naveeshaa is based in Lille, France and focuses on Global Health for The Borgen Project.

Photo: Flickr

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Lack of Healthcare in Madagascar Leads to Mass Exorcisms

Healthcare in MadagascarIn Madagascar, exorcisms are not just a plot of horror movies or scary stories. Across the country, numerous healing and revival camps perform daily exorcisms as the primary way to treat mental illness. While this practice is rooted in traditional ancestral customs, the prevalence of these exorcism camps intersects directly with the lack of healthcare in Madagascar, becoming a dangerous consequence of the country’s extreme poverty.

Poverty in Madagascar

Madagascar—a beautiful island known for its biodiversity, unique wildlife and the 2005 hit movie where New York animals escape their caged zoo life—has one of the highest global rates of poverty. Around 80% of the country’s population lives on less than 9,255 Malagasy ariary per day, which roughly converts to $2.15. One of the most prominent ways Madagascar’s poverty manifests is its extreme lack of access to healthcare. Most citizens must pay out-of-pocket for basic medical services that are unaffordable for the average household. In addition to roughly half of the country’s population living far from medical facilities, 75% of those health centers lack basic electricity and running water.

Underfunding, poor infrastructure, and a lack of utilities at most healthcare facilities in Madagascar have led citizens to seek alternatives. The most popular substitute is placing mentally ill individuals in exorcism camps.

History of Exorcisms in Madagascar

Madagascar has a deep ancestral tradition of holistic healing and spiritual well-being. Amid a period of severe socio-economic hardship in the country, a man named Rainisoalambo heard a calling from Jesus Christ to convert to Protestantism and add a ministry of exorcism to the Malagasy Lutheran Church. This divine experience galvanized him to start the fifohazana revival movement in 1894: a crusade that successfully translated modern European Christianity into a deeply local, culturally resonant experience. As the indigenous Christian movement grew, the traditional holistic healing of sick community members morphed into a violent expulsion of demons from those believed to be possessed.

Exorcisms and Poverty

Possession has less to do with a spiritual state and more to do with the absence of healthcare in Madagascar.

While traveling in Madagascar from 2006 to 2016, Riccardo Bononi, a visual anthropologist from Italy, visited one of the country’s most popular toby—the revival camps where exorcisms are performed. After observing many of these purification ceremonies, Bononi came to a troubling conclusion: most of the condemned people were not possessed, but actually ill. As a guest speaker for Boston University’s Conflict & Crisis Reporting, Bononi told a story of meeting a woman who was sent to the toby for showing indifference and disdain toward her newborn. While Madagascan culture labeled her as possessed by demons for such behavior, Bononi saw that she was instead suffering from postpartum depression.

Because only 1% of Madagascar’s national health budget is allocated for mental healthcare, Bononi’s story of mental illness being relabeled as possession is quite common. Olivia Legrip-Randriambelo, an anthropologist studying the religious healing practices of Madagascar, found that the prevalence of toby compensates for the scarcity and high cost of healthcare in Madagascar. Because chronic poverty, malnutrition and misfortune are frequently associated with spiritual disruption, and families usually bring patients to revival camps when they can no longer care for them for economic reasons, the country’s poverty seems to lead all roads to exorcism.

Harmfulness of Exorcisms

Even though exorcisms are important to Madagascar’s indigenous culture, the country’s economic dependency on them for solutions to mental and physical illness makes them extremely dangerous. In addition to Madagascar’s lack of healthcare, which causes families to bring patients with neurological disorders and mental health conditions to religious camps instead of hospitals, the conditions of these are extremely damaging. Bononi recalled that not only were the intensive exorcisms violent and traumatizing for such vulnerable individuals, but camp workers also chained together the wrists and ankles of most possessed Madagascans in a way that resembled the shackles used on enslaved people in America. Bononi observed that camp workers kept patients in small metal huts that resembled cages and fed them only one meal a day.

Ongoing Efforts

Water Yourself, a Malagasy organization founded in 2021, is just one of the many projects focused on destigmatizing mental health and closing the gaps in healthcare accessibility. The organization provides mental health services and education, including diagnosis, prevention, therapy, workshops and counseling. Since its founding, it has partnered with 15 businesses and five nongovernmental organizations (NGOs), helped more than 1,000 individuals, and achieved a 10% increase in mental health awareness. By addressing the country’s severe treatment gaps and confronting the stigma where psychological distress is frequently misunderstood as possession, Water Yourself is creating an alternative to religious torture. Its integrated approach blends therapy, advocacy and community empowerment.

Water Yourself, like many other organizations fighting the misuse of religious ceremonies as solutions to medical care, understands that poverty is the main cause. The underfunding, poor infrastructure, and lack of utilities in the country’s healthcare facilities are the main reasons this important religious tradition is being misused by struggling Madagascans. The solution is not stripping Madagascans of an important indigenous custom, but rather providing citizens with the economic means to access affordable healthcare in Madagascar.

– Mia Puleo

Mia is based in Park City, UT, USA and focuses on Global Health for The Borgen Project.

Photo: Flickr

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How Trachoma in El Salvador Was Eliminated

Trachoma in El SalvadorTrachoma, the world’s leading infectious cause of blindness, still affects some of the world’s most vulnerable communities. The neglected tropical disease is linked to poverty and limited access to basic services such as clean water, sanitation and health care. While many communities continue to face the threat of trachoma, El Salvador recently reached a major milestone in efforts to eliminate the disease.

Trachoma Elimination in El Salvador

On July 13, 2026, the World Health Organization (WHO) validated El Salvador’s elimination of trachoma as a public health problem. This makes El Salvador the first country in Central America and the second in the Americas to achieve this milestone. WHO validated the elimination after conducting targeted assessments between 2023 and 2026. Those assessments found no active transmission, no signs of the disease in children and no advanced cases among adults that could cause blindness.

Trachoma and Poverty

Trachoma is a neglected tropical disease caused by Chlamydia trachomatis and remains the world’s leading infectious cause of blindness. Repeated infections can scar the eyelids and cause blindness when severe. The disease disproportionately affects populations living in poverty, particularly communities with limited access to clean drinking water, sanitation and education. A study examining trachoma vulnerability across 22 Latin American countries found that these socioeconomic factors can help identify and prioritize communities for surveillance.

According to the World Bank, approximately 5% of the population lived on $3.00 a day or less in 2023. In 2022, El Salvador’s economic activity and market confidence increased, and strengthened security measures drove crime down. Challenges still remain in the country, however, including low productivity and limited human capital.

El Salvador’s Path to Elimination

The country joined the regional elimination effort in 2023 to identify and eliminate trachoma. Through collaboration among El Salvador’s Ministry of Health, Pan American Health Organization (PAHO) and the Government of Canada, health officials planned surveillance in communities where trachoma was suspected to be a public health problem. A multisectoral approach supported El Salvador’s progress. The approach included strengthened health care and eye health services, as well as improvements in water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH).

El Salvador conducted rapid assessments as part of the regional elimination initiative to confirm whether trachoma was present in prioritized communities. The assessments confirmed the presence or absence of trachoma and helped health officials determine what actions were needed based on the evidence.

Dr. Marcelo Korc, a public health professional with 28 years of international experience with PAHO/WHO, has served as Head of Country Office in El Salvador since March 2025. In an interview with The Borgen Project, Korc emphasized the importance of evidence in the elimination process, saying, “One lesson is that elimination must be grounded in evidence.”

Strengthening Communities

Eliminating trachoma in El Salvador also strengthened the country’s health system, helping sustain the progress made toward eliminating the disease. The country trained health personnel, integrated trachoma surveillance into its health systems and established the capacity to identify and manage trichiasis cases. WHO recommends that countries that achieve elimination maintain surveillance and continued access to quality eye care to prevent the disease from returning. El Salvador’s work toward elimination placed the country in a group of 64 countries worldwide that have eliminated at least one neglected tropical disease.

The regional initiative also used trachoma activities as an opportunity to bring additional services to communities that can be difficult to reach. Outreach visits in participating countries combined eye care with services such as vaccination, nutrition and hygiene promotion, allowing health teams to address multiple needs during a single visit. The initiative also emphasized community participation and culturally appropriate approaches, including dialogue with Indigenous communities and training health teams to incorporate traditional knowledge into public health practices.

Progress Toward Elimination

El Salvador’s achievement comes as trachoma remains a public health problem in rural and remote areas of Brazil, Colombia, Guatemala and Peru. Other countries in the Americas are also investigating areas where the disease has been suspected, making El Salvador’s validation a significant step in the region’s broader effort to eliminate trachoma. The disease is one of more than 30 communicable diseases and related conditions that PAHO’s Disease Elimination Initiative targets, aiming to eliminate them in the Americas by 2030.

Eliminating trachoma in El Salvador also charts a path for other countries in the Americas as they continue collecting evidence and expanding interventions in priority communities. During the initiative’s third year, representatives from 11 countries reviewed progress and identified continued epidemiological assessments, WASH actions and evidence collection as priorities for the next phase. Evaluators recognized PAHO’s Disease Elimination Initiative for using communication as a strategic component throughout the initiative; this combined communication helped record and highlight country progress and elimination milestones.

For El Salvador, however, validation represents more than the absence of active trachoma. Speaking on the achievement, Korc emphasized, “El Salvador’s validation as having eliminated trachoma as a public health problem should not be viewed solely as the conclusion of a process, but as a contribution to a broader national, regional and global movement.” Looking ahead, El Salvador’s elimination of trachoma offers a model for other countries seeking to eliminate the disease and protect future generations from preventable blindness.

– Lily Hoch

Lily is based in Midway, PA, uSA and focuses on Good News and Global Health for The Borgen Project.

Photo: Pexels

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Tackling Chagas Disease in Argentina

Chagas Disease in ArgentinaChagas disease, caused by a parasitic infection, is endemic in 21 Latin American countries. It is primarily transmitted by contact with bugs, vinchucas, which dwell in the walls or cracks of buildings. This disproportionately affects people in extreme poverty who live in dilapidated housing, with a particularly high disease burden on impoverished rural and Indigenous communities in the Gran Chaco ecoregion, which covers Argentina along with Bolivia and Paraguay. Argentina’s high poverty rate, with close to 40% of the population living below the national poverty line in 2024, increases the country’s vulnerability to Chagas disease.

If not treated early, health consequences can be dire, with about 30% of chronic infection cases suffering from cardiac damage. With an estimated 1.5 to 2 million people infected in Argentina, government programs and the initiatives of international organizations like Mundo Sano and the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO) have made sustained efforts to tackle Chagas disease in Argentina.

Government Response: Vector Control and Legislation

The Argentine government has waged a long war against Chagas. Beginning in 1961, the National Chagas Control Program has striven to contain the disease through vector control, using insecticides to eradicate the insect vector that transmits the parasite Trypanosoma cruzi to humans. Subsequent legislation in 1980 bolstered the program by decreeing its implementation in independent jurisdictions.

The program has made significant strides in fighting Chagas disease in Argentina. In one 14-year regional intervention around Añatuya, Santiago del Estero, close to 400 households had their structures improved since 2005, and intra-domestic and peri-domestic infection rates dropped drastically, from about 18% to just 0.2% and from about 20% to 3%, respectively. Both the National Chagas Control Program and laws passed in 2006 and 2007, mandating testing of pregnant women and newborns to prevent mother-to-child transmission, contributed to the elimination of vector transmission in nine provinces between 2001 and 2018.

However, lack of enforcement of these policies has caused the number of cases to remain high. In response, regulations put forth in 2022 made tackling Chagas disease in Argentina a national priority, facilitating monitoring, control and treatment of Chagas in all regions.

Mundo Sano’s Multifaceted Approach

Mundo Sano, a family foundation combating neglected health conditions, has been tackling Chagas disease in Argentina through various measures. The foundation strengthens houses and surrounding structures by repairing cracks and whitewashing to prevent insect entry, as well as creates hygienic cooking environments. Additionally, the establishment of doctor’s offices has made diagnosis and treatment more accessible. These measures have been implemented in numerous regions, such as Añatuya and Pampa del Indio, Chaco, equipping them with the resources and knowledge to combat Chagas.

Since the effectiveness of treatment decreases the longer a person has been infected, with PAHO estimating in 2021 that 70% of people with Chagas are unaware of being infected, the provision of medical assistance can be life-changing. Although symptoms of the initial acute phase of Chagas are relatively mild, including headache, fever and muscle pain, symptoms of the chronic phase are much more severe, including damage to the heart, nervous system and digestive system. Mundo Sano improves the health of Argentines through both preventive and remedial measures, ensuring a quicker recovery for those infected.

International Collaboration

As people infected with Chagas are at risk of spreading it across the continent, and even to the rest of the world, international collaboration is crucial to protect the lives of those most vulnerable to the disease. Argentina is part of the Southern Cone Initiative to Control/Eliminate Chagas Disease, partnering with PAHO and other Southern Cone countries like Chile and Uruguay.

PAHO’s Elimination Initiative

PAHO’s commitment to eliminate Chagas, along with more than 30 other diseases, in the Region of the Americas by 2030, has been an encouraging development for Argentina. Each year, PAHO/World Health Organization (WHO) provides 3,000 to 4,000 Nifurtimox treatments to countries affected by Chagas. These countries can also acquire Benznidazole through the PAHO/WHO Strategic Fund. Both medicines have a nearly 100% cure rate if administered at the start of the acute phase.

A Clear Strategy for the Future

Both the Argentine government and international organizations have set out a clear path for the elimination of Chagas. The identification of the root causes of the disease—decrepit structures, mother-to-child transmission and missed diagnoses—has led to solutions that address them comprehensively. These tremendous efforts to tackle Chagas disease in Argentina and the rest of the Americas offer hope for a decrease in the number of infections, helping those who are most impoverished.

– Katy Wong

Katy is based in Hong Kong and focuses on Good News and Global Health for The Borgen Project.

Photo: Flickr

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Victory Without Vaccine : Malaria in PNG

Malaria in PNGPapua New Guinea (PNG), located in the southwestern Pacific Ocean, is one of these hot places. The island’s high heat and humidity, combined with around 40% of the population living below the poverty line, has left the country extremely vulnerable to the life-threatening disease of malaria. In 2024, PNG accounted for 90% of reported cases in the Western Pacific Region, despite having a population of around 10 million.

Over the past 25 years, PNG has reduced its national malaria death rate by 92%, from 13 to 1 death per 100,000 people, according to figures the country’s Electronic National Health Information System recorded. This is part of the country’s effort to embrace digital health, pairing electronic information systems and devices to more efficiently track malaria cases. PNG has achieved this malaria reduction despite not having a routine malaria vaccine.

Testing and Treatment

Papua New Guinea introduced Rapid Diagnostic Testing (RDT) in 2012, after the World Health Organization (WHO) recommended it. RDTs, such as lateral flow immunoassays, provide quick (around 15 to 30 minutes), affordable and easily accessible diagnoses of disease. Research conducted in the United Kingdom (U.K.) found RDT sensitivity to be 93.6% when detecting malaria infection due to any Plasmodium species, microscopic infectious parasites that cause malaria.

The use of RDTs worldwide has steadily increased, with national malaria programs distributing 345 million in 2022. In Morobe Province, provincial health teams distributed RDTs, medicines and insecticide-treated nets to 60 health facilities across five districts in 2025, with home management of malaria available at 12 of those facilities.

Artemisinin Combination Therapies (ACT) work by combining a derivative of artemisinin, a medicine that has treated malaria for more than 20 years, with a partner drug. Between 2010 and 2023, manufacturers delivered an estimated 3 billion prequalified ACT treatment courses globally to the public sectors of malaria-endemic countries, out of 4.5 billion total courses manufactured. WHO data has shown ACT to provide an overall efficacy rate of more than 95%.

Government Focus

PNG’s National Malaria Strategic Plan between 2021 and 2025 focused on improving diagnosis and treatment, as well as increasing community engagement. PNG’s home-based management of malaria program trained Community Malaria Volunteers (CMVs), which enabled testing and treatment within remote villages. Evaluations in remote provinces of PNG, such as Sandaun, revealed that around nine in 10 of the population now seek help from CMVs at the first sign of fever.

The Asia Pacific Leaders Malaria Alliance, consisting of 22 governments, formed in 2013 with the aim of eliminating malaria in the region by 2030. In 2025, the governments of Indonesia and PNG signed a “major milestone” Joint Action Plan, spanning the course of five years (2025 to 2030). With Indonesia achieving malaria-free status in nearly 85% of its population, the nations will share resources, data, and communications regarding the disease. Practically, this will include introducing targeted vector control approaches and standardized laboratory networks to enhance public health services and surveillance.

Humanitarian Aid

A host of international organizations have also assisted PNG in their ongoing fight against malaria.

  • Wantok Support Charity – A U.K.-based charity that has improved the lives of the people of PNG for more than 14 years through investing in education and healthcare projects. In 2024, they donated more than £1,000 to Mission Aviation Fellowship (MAF), allowing them to obtain jet fuel during a shortage, which they used to provide medical care and emergency relief in PNG. This donation allowed MAF to continue providing a “valuable lifeline” to the people of PNG.
  • Mission Aviation Fellowship – The world’s largest humanitarian air operator has used light aircraft to provide support to PNG for more than 75 years. In February 2023, MAF delivered 41 bales of mosquito nets to the rural community of Lapalama. Through a partnership with Rotarians Against Malaria (RAM), the two organizations have reached 380 isolated communities, delivering around 28,000 mosquito nets in 2022. Londe George, a worker at Lapalama Health Centre, describes the relief of being able to sleep protected from malaria and thanks MAF for “not forgetting us.”
  • Rotarians Against Malaria – The organization has collaborated with the Ministry of Health and stakeholders, training 1,848 CMVs to provide malaria services in remote and high-risk areas. It has implemented the program in 12 of the 22 province-led areas, with plans to expand it.

Work to be Done

Malaria mortality remains a formidable prospect, with PNG continuing to carry a disproportionate burden in the region. The expansion of malaria transmission due to increased temperature changes, as well as increasing evidence of partial artemisinin resistance in malaria treatment, presents PNG with a substantial obstacle.

Further government commitment of around $3.8 million toward malaria control, as well as continued funding from organizations such as the Global Fund, can prevent these obstacles from slowing PNG’s mission against malaria. PNG is learning lessons from previous failures, and with these lessons comes hope — regionwide hope for a future that will see the end of this disease.

– William Snow

William is based in Chepstow, Wales and focuses on Good News and Technology for The Borgen Project.

Photo: Flickr

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Charities Helping Women in Chad

Women in ChadWomen in Chad face numerous challenges regarding their human rights, often due to societal, cultural or religious norms, and the impact of poverty. Child marriage rates for girls in Chad are around 60%, and only 38% of girls complete primary school. This number drops to 14.1% for lower secondary school, and only 3% of Chadian women enroll in tertiary education. These factors limit opportunities for women, forcing them to rely on parents or husbands financially to avoid severe poverty.

Gender-Specific Challenges

Currently, only 34.4% of gender-specific Sustainable Development Goals are monitorable in Chad, and only 8.2% score a medium or high performance. The low performance is evident in statistics for gender-based violence. About 16.2% of women aged 15 to 49 have faced sexual violence by their partner in the last year, and 38.4% of women in this age group have undergone genital mutilation, most commonly between ages 5 to 9. This figure rises in regions such as Salamat, where 96.1% of women face female genital mutilation. Violent practices are also prevalent among Sudanese refugees in eastern Chad, where 71% report human rights violations, including sexual and gender-based violence.

The law to ban female genital mutilation has yet to be signed by the Chadian president, despite being proposed in 2002. Little governmental assistance has been provided to women facing violence and poverty. However, various organizations have stepped up to create safe spaces, education and basic needs for women in Chad, offering care that the government has failed to provide.

Charities Helping Women in Chad:

  • CARE International: CARE International has worked in Chad since 1974, providing crisis response, healthcare, and food and water to hundreds of thousands of people. Their efforts focus on women and girls, with main goals to strengthen economic independence, provide access to reproductive health services and reduce risks of gender-based violence. They have helped more than 104,000 women with these goals and engaged with nearly 123,000 men and women to promote gender equality.
  • ALIMA: ALIMA has operated in Chad since 2012, aiming to help refugees at the Sudanese border, improve healthcare and nutritional support, and provide mental healthcare for survivors of gender-based violence. ALIMA provided medical consultations to nearly 72,000 children under 5 in Chad in 2025.

Looking Ahead

These charities recognize that the human rights violations Chadian women face require external assistance. As more refugees from Sudan arrive, additional help will be necessary. Progress is being made, and laws to prevent gender-based violence are expected to be signed, offering a brighter future for the women of Chad.

– Ally Jones

Ally is based in Bethany, OK, USA and focuses on Good News for The Borgen Project.

Photo: Wikimedia Commons

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Community Projects in Niger: Rebuilding Lives

Community Projects in NigerIn recent years, Niger has endured both domestic and regional instability that has worsened the dire situation of people living in extreme poverty. Tillabéri is one of Niger’s seven regions this instability has severely affected. However, community projects in Niger have been working to provide a new beginning to those in the Tillabéri region who need it the most.

The Current Situation

Niger is home to approximately 27 million people, yet a large percentage of the population lives in poverty, with 60.5% living on $3 a day. The political instability Niger faces has, in part, driven the extreme poverty many endure. In 2023, members of the presidential guard detained President Mohamed Bazoum. This event has led to inflation, electricity outages and rising food insecurity.

The eastern parts of the country also face terrorism and threats from neighboring Chad and Libya, while the western parts of Niger face cross-border jihadist violence with Burkina Faso and Mali.

The Tillabéri region is located in the west of Niger, where almost 250,000 internally displaced people live. The Global Terrorism Index has described the Sahel region as the “global epicentre of terrorism,” and Tillabéri has become the deadliest part of that region for civilians, highlighting the serious threat such violence poses to the livelihoods of Tillabéri.

Many people here lack reliable access to socioeconomic services, community infrastructure and clean water. This severely impacts women and young girls. Often, they walk for hours to collect unclean water from unsafe and overcrowded areas. This journey results in them missing out on school and employment, creating further challenges within the region. However, various community projects in Niger are seeking to improve daily lives within the Tillabéri region.

PCRSS

One of many community projects in Niger, the World Bank finances this operation, which has already improved the lives of more than 32,000 people through the construction of solar-powered boreholes and distribution points for clean water. Furthermore, labor-intensive works have created employment opportunities for more than 2,000 young people, while more than 75,000 farmers have received agricultural funding aimed at helping them generate a steady source of income.

The PCRSS has provided more than 9,000 households with essential goods and aid during the worst phase of the crisis. The project also supports a women’s agricultural group, where members gain access to seeds, tools and land so they can train and earn money for their families and communities.

Mobile Health Clinics

Another one of the community projects in Niger providing essential support is mobile health clinics that the International Rescue Committee organizes with funding from the European Union. In Filingué, a town in Tillabéri, enduring political instability has left 36% of health centers inaccessible.

The International Rescue Committee (IRC) has deployed two mobile health clinics here and in the neighboring town of Ouallam, each staffed with a doctor, nurse, midwife and a vaccination provider. This community project in Niger aims to provide free and essential health care to those living in rural areas of the Tillabéri region affected by insecurity, with particular attention given to the elderly, women and children, through constant communication with local leaders and health districts.

The project also supports health care centers in Attaloga, Gao and Talcho, districts within Tillabéri, that provide essential care to refugee and displaced populations. While they provide treatments, they also aim to raise awareness about illness management and health topics.

Flooding Response in Niger

In April 2026, Cooperazione Internazionale collaborated with European Humanitarian Aid to install 3,500 meters of rainwater drainage channels in six neighborhoods of the Tillabéri region. This community project in Niger reduced the buildup of waste and protected homes from the risk of flooding. It also strengthened disaster prevention and response and addressed increasing population displacement, while providing 120 workers with temporary employment.

This community project in Niger benefited nearly 32,000 residents directly. It also improved hygiene and sanitation levels in their respective areas while reducing flooding risks for 62,000 people within the urban area.

New Beginnings for the Tillabéri Region

In light of prolonged political and economic instability, these community projects in Niger have brought positive improvements to those in the Tillabéri region. From employment to health care and natural disaster prevention, these projects offer a sense of stability and hope to vulnerable communities, highlighting the impact of investment and community support. Momentum exists to continue funding community projects in Niger, both in the Tillabéri region and across the country.

– Maya Tailor

Maya is based in London, UK and focuses on Global Health and Politics for The Borgen Project.

Photo: Flickr

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Maternal Mental Health in Pakistan

Maternal Mental Health in PakistanWorldwide, about 10% of pregnant women and 13% of women who have just given birth experience a mental health condition, primarily depression, according to the World Health Organization. In developing countries, that figure rises to about 15.6% during pregnancy and nearly 20% after childbirth.

Depression is among the most common mental health conditions during pregnancy. It is often exacerbated by conditions brought on by poverty, such as unstable living situations, low social support, violence and more.

In Pakistan, poverty remains a significant challenge. In 2024, approximately 23% of the population lived below the World Bank’s $3-a-day poverty line. This economic instability made access to mental health care even more difficult.

Pakistan’s landmark trial addresses the importance of maternal mental health while also taking a novel approach by considering the strain on resources in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs).

The Perinatal Mental Health Crisis

The well-being of the mother is crucial for both the long-term stability of the family and the healthy development of the child, as it contributes to preterm birth, low birth weight, anemia and preeclampsia.

While certain nations have begun to bring attention to maternal mental health, with the United States even devoting $125.5 million in federal funding to the National Maternal Mental Health Hotline, other developing nations simply lack the resources to address this crisis at the same level.

Challenges

Low- and middle-income countries lack the resources. There is a shortage of trained mental health professionals due to limited educational opportunities. Social stigma permeates many cultures, with help-seeking behaviors seen as weak or shameful. Healthcare infrastructure, such as hospitals and mental health clinics, remains unavailable to the larger population, and proper funding is practically nonexistent.

Pakistan has one of the highest reported rates of postpartum depression in Asia, ranging from 28% to 63%. Additionally, more than half of cases go undiagnosed, meaning the majority of women receive no treatment at all.

Maternal Mental Health in Pakistan

Researchers worked to address the high rates of anxiety and depression among pregnant women in Pakistan. By treating women early in their pregnancies, they aimed to prevent more serious mental health issues, such as psychosis and suicidal ideation, following childbirth.

Led by Pamela Surkan, the researchers’ first step was to recruit pregnant women in Pakistan and randomly assign them to control and intervention groups. Then, they trained non-specialist providers in cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) and the Happy Mother-Healthy Baby program. These providers held a degree in psychology but were not licensed clinical therapists. They received around 50 hours of training and weekly supervision from mental health specialists.

The Human Development Research Foundation (HDRF), a Pakistani research organization founded in 2003, also played a role in the trial. Abid Malik supervised its implementation and data collection, while Najia Atif helped develop the Happy Mother-Healthy Baby intervention.

Every woman in the study attended six individual sessions during their pregnancy. The sessions helped them manage anxiety through techniques such as targeting unhelpful thoughts and practicing healthier behaviors. Additionally, the trial considered culture.

The women were encouraged to turn to their families and their communities as sources of strength and support, rather than isolating them to a singular provider. After childbirth, the researchers checked in with women about their current levels of anxiety and depression.

Results

Although 12% of women in the intervention group developed postpartum depression, the numbers were significantly lower compared to the 41% of women in the control group. Overall, the cognitive behavioral therapy approach given by non-specialist providers led to 81% lower odds of postpartum depression or moderate-to-severe anxiety.

Support from trained non-specialists clearly improved maternal mental health outcomes in Pakistan. These positive results also suggest that the approach could be cost-effective and more easily implemented in low-resource settings, offering a potential model for other LMICs as well.

Scalability

Somalia, another region where maternal mental health is overlooked, could benefit from this intervention. Similar to Pakistan, mental health care is extremely limited, with a lack of trained specialists, disparities between rural and urban areas, lack of transportation and high costs associated with treatment.

Additionally, stigma prevents many women from seeking help. A culturally sensitive approach is necessary for participation, which could include community health workers, home visits, religious leader support and more.

Pakistan’s trial demonstrates that certain forms of maternal mental health care can be delivered by trained non-specialists, potentially reducing many of the barriers created by shortages of resources and mental health professionals.

Given that Somalia has an even more fragile healthcare system, the intervention would need to be adapted to its unique context. Regardless, the results in Pakistan demonstrate the potential of community-based, low-cost care to expand access to maternal mental health services in resource-limited settings. As similar interventions are adapted to the needs of underserved communities, these findings could help expand access to maternal mental health care in countries where traditional options remain limited.

– Diya Rajkumar

Diya is based in Redmond, WA, USA and focuses on Good News and Global Health for The Borgen Project.

Photo: Flickr

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Henrik Lundqvist Foundation: Triumph Against Poverty

Henrik Lundqvist FoundationHenrik Lundqvist, a former New York Rangers goalie, founded the Henrik Lundqvist Foundation with his wife, Therese, in 2014. The foundation combats poverty internationally by funding education, safe play spaces and health resources for marginalized children.

Partnerships

The Henrik Lundqvist Foundation ambassadors have partnered with Ebba Lovenskiold, the founder of Together For Better. The foundation helps children in Haiti and the Dominican Republic access proper education. The foundation works with Together For Better to construct a large playground at a school in La Ramona, Dominican Republic, where 250 children currently lack a safe place to play. The partnership has resulted in the construction of three schools and two playgrounds. It also provides supplies and hires teachers. In Haiti, an IPC analysis found nearly 277,000 children face acute malnutrition between December 2023 and November 2024, including 125,000 who are severely malnourished, driven by factors including recurrent cholera epidemics, child morbidity and poor food intake.

Child poverty in the Dominican Republic stands at 21.5%, rising to 27% in rural regions, with nearly 5% of children living in extreme poverty. The Borgen Project spoke with Ambassador Michael Polt, a professor at Arizona State University and board member for the nongovernmental organization (NGO) Baltic-American Freedom Foundation. Polt said sport is a key part of the social fabric of communities, both nationally and internationally, and that for young people in disadvantaged circumstances, participation in sports activities is often the only way out of poverty. “Lundqvist knows that and therefore supports critical improvements of the living environment of young people so they can best avail themselves of the opportunities sports bring to improve their lot in life,” Polt said. “Hats off to Henrik Lundqvist and his family.”

Construction of Sanitation Facilities

In 2024, the Henrik Lundqvist Foundation initiated a $17,600 grant to create new sanitary facilities at the Foundation for the Unity and Growth of the People’s school in the Dominican Republic. This school serves 240 students in La Ramona, Dominican Republic, most of whom are of Haitian descent. Approximately 3 million children in Haiti needed humanitarian support as of 2023, according to UNICEF, the highest number on record. Twenty-eight percent of the population in the Dominican Republic face challenges including lack of access to health and primary education, and approximately 40% of children in the country do not finish primary school. The foundation aims to provide the school community with a safe, consistent restroom to support student health, decency and learning. It built girls’ facilities with three restrooms and three sinks, boys’ facilities with two restrooms and two sinks, and staff facilities with one restroom and a sink. The foundation impacts children aged 3 to 13 and roughly 10 teachers and staff annually, promoting handwashing, clean water and facility care to reduce illness and improve attendance.

Ronald McDonald House

The Henrik Lundqvist Foundation has been working with the Ronald McDonald House in Huddinge, Sweden, since 2023. Between 2023 and 2024, Henrik Lundqvist Foundation donated $50,000 to support the improvement of the Ronald McDonald House’s playground and outdoor areas. As of the end of 2025, the project remained in progress after facing delays, with the foundation expecting to share results once construction is complete in 2026. In April 2025, Henrik Lundqvist, together with New York Rangers alumni, participated in the 31st annual “Skate with the Greats” event and rang the opening bell at the New York Stock Exchange, raising money to support Ronald McDonald houses in New York.

Support to Children’s Hospitals

In 2024, the Henrik Lundqvist Foundation supported New York Presbyterian Children’s hospitals, including Morgan Stanley Children’s Hospital and the Komansky Center for Children’s Health. In New York, roughly 1,000 children under age 20 have cancer, and more than 315,000 children have asthma. The foundation provided a $25,000 grant to enlarge child life assistance services. In February 2024, Lundqvist visited the hospital to deliver gifts and memorabilia collected by the foundation’s young ambassadors. The foundation renewed its support in 2025 for the hospital’s child life services with another $25,000.

Garden of Dreams Foundation

The Henrik Lundqvist Foundation has partnered with the Garden of Dreams Foundation since 2014 to help kids facing illness or hardship. In 2020, during the COVID-19 pandemic, the foundation and Garden of Dreams launched a hunger initiative in New York City, donating $100,000 to four organizations to support food-insecure children and their families, and sending 1,530 children and their families to New York Rangers games, New York Knicks games and MSG concerts. Roughly one in four children in New York City, or 24%, face food insecurity and lack stable access to food. More recently, in 2024, Henrik Lundqvist Foundation granted $26,000 through Garden of Dreams to send 68 children and their families to a Rangers game at Madison Square Garden, and renewed its support in 2025 with an additional $25,000 grant for the 2025 to 2026 National Hockey League (NHL) season.

Food Bank of New York City

The Henrik Lundqvist Foundation’s partnership with the Food Bank of New York City in 2024 granted $50,000 to support the Food Bank’s campus pantry and mobile pantry programs for the 2024 to 2025 school year. This support has enabled the Food Bank to provide more than 32,280 meals to 425 children and their families. In September 2025, the foundation renewed its $50,000 grant to support the Food Bank’s mobile and campus food pantry programs.

– Ruba Alghurab

Ruba is based in Debary, FL, USA and focuses on Good News and Politics for The Borgen Project.

Photo: Pexels

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An 18 Cent Packet of Water Purifier is Fighting Illness in Uganda

Illness in UgandaFirst launched in Uganda in 2004, P&G’s water purifier is fighting illness in Uganda, including cholera, typhoid fever and dysentery. This 4-gram packet of powder can fight bacterial, viral and parasitic infections, with one packet purifying up to 10 liters (about 2.6 gallons) of water to make it safe for drinking.

According to the World Health Organization, only about 18.7% of households in Uganda currently have access to safely managed drinking water. This means 81.3% of Ugandans rely on risky sources. This lack of access contributes to the spread of waterborne illnesses, high costs for medical treatment, lower crop yield and high costs to pay for access. Ugandans spend upward of 22% of their income to buy water from private vendors. Dedicating about a fourth of income toward water means less financial stability to break the cycle of poverty. Thus, the P&G water purifier becomes a valuable resource that not only reduces waterborne illness in Uganda, but also fights poverty by increasing access to safe drinking water.

Reducing Waterborne Illness

While sustained illness reduction relies heavily on continuous infrastructure development that supports multiple health care technologies, the introduction of P&G packets has nonetheless impacted waterborne illness rates. These packets remove 99.999% of bacteria, viruses and protozoa and take only 30 minutes to clean 10 liters of water.

Studies in several countries have found that the water purification packets can reduce diarrheal disease by 16% to 90%, although the impact varies by setting. In Uganda, national cholera surveillance data show that the reported case-fatality rate declined from 4% to 7% in the late 1990s to about 2% to 3% between 2004 and 2010. Multiple factors, including improved cholera response and access to safe water and sanitation, have helped reduce the impact of waterborne disease. However, significant challenges remain, particularly in communities with limited access to safe water and sanitation.

The Impact of WaterQuip Uganda Limited

WaterQuip Uganda Limited is a program that aims to create reliable water treatment setups for rural villages, schools and institutions by delivering affordable water purification systems to homes and businesses. The company also serves as an authorized supplier and distributor of P&G water packets in Uganda.

Headquartered in Kampala, the company provides these packets for $43.80 per box of 240 sachets — about 18 cents per packet. This provides rural communities with access to Centers for Disease Control and Prevention-formulated technology and helps ensure access to safe drinking water and sanitation.

It Is Accessible

P&G water packets are widely available through many major retailers, and P&G distributes millions of packets through its nonprofit Children’s Safe Drinking Water Program. They are easy to use and require no training. Users simply empty the sachet into 10 liters of water, stir for five minutes, let it settle for five minutes, strain it and then wait for the chlorine to disinfect the water for 20 minutes. This makes the technology easy to use and widely distributed around Uganda, building awareness of water-purifying solutions and tackling waterborne illnesses.

Final Thoughts

P&G’s water purifier is fighting illness, and thus poverty, in Uganda through easy-to-use technology that gives communities a simple way to make unsafe water safer. While water purification packets cannot replace long-term investments in sanitation and infrastructure, they provide an immediate tool for communities facing waterborne disease. By making clean drinking water more accessible, affordable and easy to treat, P&G’s water purifier can help reduce illness and give Ugandans a stronger foundation for healthier communities, which are key contributors to poverty reduction

– Julia Kozin

Julia is based in Livermore, CA, USA and focuses on Technology and Politics for The Borgen Project.

Photo: Wikimedia Commons