Archive for category: Global Health

Information and stories about global health.

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Global Soap Project: Changing the World with Suds

HealthHygiene-related illnesses cause more than 1.8 million deaths worldwide and the Global Soap Project (GSP) is taking a stand to reduce this number by taking advantage of the 2.6 million bars of soap are thrown away in hotels daily.

Founder Derreck Kayongo was inspired to provide hope to refugees around the world with his own experience as a refugee when he fled a civil war in Uganda for the U.S. at age ten.” Ask any refugee anywhere in the world, they’ll tell you that they lose dignity right off the bat,”  Kayongo stated in a passionate talk hosted by Keppler Speakers.

Since its inception in 2009, GSP has been improving the lives of people in 32 countries by distributing clean soap and educating communities on hygiene. The life-saving organization targets victims of disaster, refugees, the homeless and mothers and children living in extreme poverty. The goal? Making an impact on global health.

The Global Soap Project has implemented educational programs providing access to information otherwise unattainable, such as how and when to use soap and its importance to sanitation, hygiene and long-term health. The GSP and its partner, Clean the World, collects unused soap from hundreds of hotels that have united with the organization.

Then, GSP recycles and redistributes them, with help from organizations such as the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), Partners in Health and CARE.

The organization has created a micro-loan program that offers financial and training support to local, small-scale soap makers. To support this initiative, hotels send boxes of unused soap to GSP, where they are recycled, inspected and given to NGO’s for shipment to affiliations in impoverished areas.

NGO’s are not charged for the provided soap. After distribution, NGO partners relay reports of successful dispersion and educational programs. In Kenya, the Global Soap Project has had a sizable impact. The organization distributed soap to more than 300 families in Lindi, located within one of the largest slums in Africa. GSP also allocated soap to 1,320 students in Kenya.

https://youtu.be/htSyaFAGY4U

According to the GSP, a head teacher from a receiving school, commented on the organization’s success and expressed gratefulness. He stated, “Most of my kids know how to use soap after toilet, after eating, after playing, after classes, and you will find them with soap in their hands and in school compound. So thank you HHRD and GSP for this so unique gift, because it has brought a big impact in our school.”

Within the international community, world health has been a topic of concern. The World Bank has worked with organizations such as WHO and UNICEF gathering the most recent information about hygiene in developing and impoverished areas.

According to the World Bank, hygiene and hand washing have an immense impact on the quality of health and the ability to avoid deadly sicknesses like diarrhea and pneumonia. With over 4 billion cases of diarrhea per year, about 1.6 million of those are found in children under the age of five.

The GSP’s ideals are solidified by the World Bank, as it is suggested that, “public health promotion and education strategies are needed to change behaviors.” School health programs are imperative in ensuring that students have sanitation standards that can be translated into community principals.

The organization promotes involvement by accepting donations and volunteers and makes it easy for hotels to contribute. It has grown exponentially, expanding as a global leader in health promotion and implementation and continues to serve around the world. “Our soap doesn’t just mean health,” Kayongo says, “it means hope.”

– Kimber Kraus

Photo: Flickr

 

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Five Movies About Global Health

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There are many inspiring and thought-provoking movies about global health that highlight the very real crises faced today. The following movies about global health explore some of the most dire issues, including women’s health, AIDS, polio, the right to safe drinking water and the realities of providing medical treatment in conflict situations.

  1. Blue Gold. Water shortages are a very real concern. Access to clean drinking water is also a dire problem in many parts of the world, and the demand for water only increases as the world’s population increases. Blue Gold considers the ramifications of this as corporations, governments and militaries try to control the water supply and people fight back for the right to clean water.
  2. A Closer Walk. The film examines the devastation wrought by AIDS throughout the world. A Closer Walk is narrated by Glenn Close and Will Smith, it explores the effects of AIDS in different regions, and what it means to live with and to fight against AIDS.
  3. Grace Under Fire. This is a notable film addressing the health issues women face globally, particularly in conflict areas. Grace Under Fire focuses on the regional conflict in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), where half  a million women are reported to have been raped. Dr. Grace Kodindo, an advocate for women’s health and reproductive rights, is followed throughout this film as she talks to both medical professionals and regular people about the access to care for women in the DRC.
  4. Living in Emergency: Stories of Doctors Without Borders. Medecins Sans Frontieres, also known as Doctors Without Borders, gave film crews permission for the first time in this documentary to film the doctors as they work in conflict areas. Living in Emergency: Stories of Doctors Without Borders provides an intense look at what it is like to provide medical care in emergency situations where violence is always a threat.
  5. Last Child: The Global Race to End Polio. Although polio has long been eradicated in developed countries, the fight continues in countries such as India, Nigeria and Haiti. Last Child: The Global Race to End Polio highlights the significant strides that have been made thus far. It also addresses the obstacles health workers have faced in eradicating polio, raising the question of whether the disease could spread again.

Each of these movies about global health provides a thought-provoking look at one of the major health crises affecting our planet today.

– Katherine Hamblen

Photo: Flickr

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Task Force for Global Health: Secretariat to Global Organization

Task Force for Global Health

Beginning in 1984 as the Task Force for Child Survival, the Task Force for Global Health started as a leading secretariat for various international health organizations such as UNICEF, The Rockefeller Foundation, and the World Bank. The Task Force worked alongside these global health organizations to design and improve effective child and family wellness, healthcare and survival strategies.

Thirty years later, the Task Force for Global Health has grown into a global nonprofit organization for public health. According to Forbes Magazine, the Task Force is the fourth largest nonprofit in the U.S. Headquartered in Decatur, Georgia, and under the leadership of public health expert Dr. Mark Rosenberg since 1999, the organization stands as the biggest nonprofit in Georgia since its expansion in 2013.

The Task Force focuses on three major areas: improving the efficiency of public health systems and field epidemiology, providing accessible treatment of immunizations and vaccines and eradicating neglected tropical diseases.

However, despite the Task Force’s incredible reputation and longstanding credentials, it remains largely unknown to a majority of the world. In an interview conducted by Georgia Center for Nonprofits’ (GCN) quarterly magazine, Georgia Nonprofit NOW, Rosenberg explains that keeping the Task Force under wraps was not only an intentional but effective strategy.

Rosenberg told GCN, “From the beginning, we have always tried to build coalitions, but it’s not always easy to get organizations to work together. If you want a partnership to work, our founder Bill Foege taught us, you’ve got to shine the light on your partners, and not on yourselves. We focus attention on our partners, and as a result, we are not well known in Georgia.”

The Task Force’s decision to maintain a low-key profile has resulted in high effectivity, not only as a major collaborator to some of the world’s most well-known nonprofit organizations but also as a large scale mobilizer towards peace and health care reform.

The Task Force for Global Health has managed to cover an incredible amount of ground in improving healthcare and offering accessible vaccinations and treatments to approximately 495 million people in 149 countries. The organization provides support and professional level healthcare training programs in 43 countries around the world, which results in widespread, efficient and accessible health care globally. Having formed strong partnerships with private and public healthcare providers and programs worldwide, the Task Force for Global Health has and continues to succeed in bringing about incredible reform and is changing the lives of millions of people every day.

– Jenna Salisbury

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WHO and PAHO Launch Worldwide Zika Virus Database

Zika Virus Database

The World Health Organization (WHO) has teamed up with the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO) to launch a Zika virus database to list and categorize all scientific studies on the Zika virus worldwide. The project is focused on helping global researchers understand and combat the virus.

The two agencies have identified and collected all investigations and research on Zika, including those that have been, or are in the process of being published and compiled them into a searchable database, according to a recent press release by the PAHO.

Experts creating the Zika virus database included the search mechanism in order to help researchers explore unknown factors about the possible relationship between Zika and congenital malformations.

The WHO declared a public emergency on Feb. 1, 2016, due to Zika’s suspected link to a range of serious health concerns, including birth defects in babies born to mothers who are infected with the virus and the development of neurological disorders in adults.

Researchers have been focused on identifying a correlation between Zika and microcephaly, a rare condition that causes infants to be born with abnormally small heads and brain damage.

Zika is a predominately mosquito-borne disease that arrived in Brazil last spring. Since then, it has spread to 34 countries and territories in the Americas. Between 3 to 4 million people could be infected with the virus by early next year, according to the WHO.

Communities affected by poverty face the most risk, as the virus is easily transmitted in crowded areas where access to sheltered air conditioned space is limited. A lack of running water and waste management combined with poor housing in urban areas also contributes to the continued spread of the virus.

The Zika virus database is part of the WHO’s wider plan to combat the disease globally through its Strategic Response Framework and Joint Operations Plan.

The strategy is currently focusing on mobilizing and coordinating partners, experts and resources to help countries provide medical care, communicate risks and proper protection measures to the affected communities. The initiative also involves fast-track research on vaccine development.

– Lauren Lewis

Photo: Flickr

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Nutrition Strategy Counters Vitamin A Deficiency in Ghana

Ghana Vitamin A Deficiency
As a leader in fighting extreme global poverty, government agency USAID is currently revolutionizing health and nutrition for northern Ghanaians. In order to counter the vitamin A deficiency from which many people in Ghana suffer, USAID introduced the sweet potato to the country. Since its introduction, the sweet potato has become one of the region’s most popular vegetables, USAID reports.

The implementation of the sweet potato is part of USAID’s 2014-2025 Multi-Sectoral Nutrition Strategy. The project is aligned with the 2025 World Health Assembly Nutrition Targets and focuses on decreasing chronic malnutrition and improving other nutrition investments. According to USAID, over one-third of children under the age of five, in five northern districts, suffer from stunted growth resulting from poor nutrition, so the strategy is crucial for bettering the future generations.

USAID team members visited Ghana last year and taught 439 women in 17 districts how to grow the sweet potato. The crop instantly became admired, with villagers calling it “Alafie Wuljo,” or “healthy potato” in the Dagbani language. Ghanaians have also been taught different ways to cook the potato, such as schoolchildren enjoying sweet potato fries.

“Now everyone wants to grow orange-fleshed sweet potatoes,” said the head of the project, Phillipe LeMay, in a USAID article.

The Nutrition Strategy goes beyond just the sweet potato. The project also focuses on educating farmers about other nutritious crops, linking farmers to markets, helping community members create savings and loans, promoting better hygiene and improving water and sanitation infrastructure.

USAID and the government of Ghana aim to change the lives of roughly 300,000 people with this project. Northern Ghana is an area of particular focus because it is relatively remote with a harsh climate and limited resources. This work will also be assisting with the goals of the U.S. government’s global hunger and food security initiative, Feed the Future. Feed the Future aims to decrease child stunting by 20 percent and double incomes of vulnerable households. With USAID tactics, this is becoming a reality.

The project has received positive responses thus far. The Ghanaian government has taken the initiative to promote a solution to vitamin A deficiency and nutrition in general, according to USAID, which has beneficial long-term effects. The organized training provided by USAID has also educated many people on how to practice proper sanitation and good nutrition.

“I now understand the links between poor sanitation, diarrheal diseases and nutrition,” said West Gonja District member Ama Nuzaara, in a USAID article. “I also make sure that my children wash their hands with soap and water after they use the toilet. I do this for my family’s health and well-being.”

– Kerri Whelan

Sources: USAID 1, JSI, USAID 2, Feed the Future
Photo: Feed the Future

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Assessing the Global Health Security Agenda

Global Health Security AgendaA new tool for assessing progress toward the Global Health Security Agenda (GHSA) goals has now been piloted in five countries, the CDC reports. International health organizations in Georgia, Peru, Portugal, Uganda and the UK have all submitted evaluations of the assessment.

The Global Health Security Agenda was launched in 2014 as a way to bring focus to the need for a global health strategy that would respond quickly and effectively to potential epidemics — a need that was highlighted later that year by an outbreak of Ebola in West Africa.

“GHSA is about strengthening health systems for every country,” said U.S. Ambassador Bonnie Jenkins. “That means GHSA will help to prevent, detect and rapidly respond to infectious diseases like Ebola.”

The assessment is designed to measure baselines and strategies for potential improvement in regards to 11 action packages developed by GHSA countries in 2014.

Following the “Prevent-Detect-Respond” framework, these action packages include, among others, preventing microbial resistance, strengthening biosecurity, delivering immunizations, facilitating surveillance and reporting, fostering global communication and coordinating emergency response deployment and operations.

Each pilot country was scored on their capacity to take these actions based on indicators such as having biosecurity training programs, proper communication practices, national vaccine coverage, trained epidemiologists and resources to implement emergency responses. The teams then evaluated the assessment itself to determine if it was constructive and scalable.

Evaluators in Portugal, which is considered to have a strong health security strategy, noted several important improvements the assessment needs to undergo before it is launched on a broader scale.

They say that current indicators do not reflect global objectives as closely as they could. They recommended pulling indicators from existing global health initiatives (such as the Global Vaccine Action Plan) in order to maintain a focus.

Evaluators also noted that their team was given a limited amount of time to complete their assessment. This prevented them from conducting random samples from various regions across the country, in order to verify the information they received from the central health ministry. They also noted a lack of efficiency in the process stemming from the fact that the country being evaluated was not given the assessment ahead of time. The evaluators therefore suggest giving assessment missions a three-month lead time in order to properly prepare.

Overall, the teams think the tool is a promising step in assessing progress toward the Global Health Security Agenda. With further development, they are confident it can be launched in all partner countries.

– Ron Minard

Sources: Borgen Project, CDC, Huffington Post
Picture: Google Images

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Smartphones: The Future of Disease Detection and Diagnosis

Smartphones_Healthcare Disease DetectionDr. Aydogan Ozcan is revolutionizing disease detection and diagnosis. The electrical engineer and bioengineer from the University of California, Los Angeles has developed a microscope that utilizes smartphones.

Smartphones seem a simple alternative to expensive lab equipment. “We have close to six billion cell phone subscribers today,” Ozcan said on the timeliness of his development. Of these users, 70 percent come from developing countries that have a greater need for this microscope.

The system weighs about 200 grams and is able to identify particles as small as 100 nanometers. According to Charles Choi of Scientific American, the microscope can also detect relatively large viruses like HIV and harmful bacteria present in food and water.

The device is easy to use, which means more people can use the smartphone microscope for their benefit. The portability and cost-effectiveness of the device may prove invaluable in remote areas without easy access to medical facilities or trained personnel.

How exactly does the microscope function?

Instead of lenses, this device creates images electronically, according to a New York Times article by Anne Eisenberg. Choi explains that molecules known as fluorophores “[that] fluoresce under certain wavelengths of light” identify and locate the target particles to which they attach.

A blue laser shined onto the particles excites them, creating a hologram from which information can be extracted. The hologram may prove quicker than microscopes in disease detection and diagnosis, according to Eisenberg.

This speed and effectiveness could play a crucial role in future research by, for instance, facilitating the screening of entire regions. This could help gather information on how diseases spread and subsequently inform future responses, Ozcan said.

Ozcan continues to develop his research for the betterment of global healthcare. Holomic LLC, a start-up he founded, “aims to commercialize the computational microscopy.” Commercialization may give his and similar innovations a greater reach and applicability.

– Jocelyn Lim

Sources: Anna Eisenberg, Charles Q. Choi, Holomic, National Geographic, Biophototonics
Picture: Google Images

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Fighting Malaria with Genetically Modified Mosquitoes

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Scientists have genetically modified mosquitoes in an effort to combat the spread of malaria globally. This technological advancement could substantially reduce the transmission of malaria which continues to have devasting impacts especially in developing countries.

Malaria Facts

According to the World Health Organization (WHO):

  • In 2015, there were 214 million malaria cases across the globe and approximately 438,000 deaths.
  • Sub-Saharan African countries, such as Chad, Sudan, and Angola, are the most at risk for contracting malaria and 90 percent of all malaria deaths occur in these areas.
  • Children are one of the most high-risk groups – 482,000 children under the age of five died from malaria in 2012 alone.

Researchers affiliated with Imperial College London will seek to genetically modify Anopheles gambiae, the mosquito species most responsible for malaria transmission. Using a technology called “gene drive,” the researchers will use a modified gene to “disrupt” the egg production in female mosquitoes, making them sexually unable to reproduce.

However, some mosquitoes will simply become carriers of the modified gene. The gene will then be passed down “at an accelerated rate to offspring,” slowly discontinuing the spread of malaria throughout the population over time.genetically_modified_mosquitoes

In order to test the gene drive, the team identified three genes that were important in female fertility. After diagnosing those genes, they altered them, resulting in an adjustment that “disrupted the activity.”

The genes were modified with the CRISPR/Cas9 endonuclease, a special type of tool that is able to cut designated parts of the genetic code. Having the enabled ability to cut DNA at an exact location, researchers could then mutate them, rendering female mosquitoes infertile.

The researchers are optimistic that the spread could not only drastically reduce the number of malaria cases, but, in three years’ time, local populations of malaria-carrying mosquitoes could be eliminated.

“If successful, this technology has the potential to substantially reduce the transmission of malaria,” said co-author Andrea Crisanti from the Department of Life Sciences at Imperial.

The technique, although only targeting the Anopheles gambiae, could be tested on other mosquito species as well. The team did target other species while conducting their research; however, they decided to focus their efforts on Anopheles gambaie. Their range of testing proves that their “gene drive” is flexible and can be applied to a range of varied genes.

However, it will still be a substantial amount of time before the gene-altered mosquitoes will be ready. Professor Austin Burt from Imperial’s Department of Life Sciences told The Economic Times that he expects it will be “at least 10 more years before gene drive malaria mosquitoes could be a working intervention”.

Naturally, there is more work that needs to be accomplished before genetically modified mosquitoes can be introduced. Safety assessments and extensive reports must be generated before field trials can take place. However, the futuristic technology is encouraging and could dramatically alter the spread of malaria, as well as change the way scientists will attack other diseases.

– Alyson Atondo

Sources: WHO 1, WHO 2, IFLScience, India
Picture: Flickr1, Flickr2

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Global Partnership for the Global Health Security Agenda

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The U.S. along with 30 countries has announced a commitment to achieving the targets of the Global Health Security Agenda (GHSA). Targets include responding to infectious disease threats and preventing epidemics.

The GHSA “seek[s] to accelerate progress toward a world that is safe and secure from infectious disease threats and to promote global health security as an international security priority,” GlobalHealth.gov said.

The Agenda was created in response to epidemic threats, such as ebola and seeks to promote global health and protect citizens around the world from life-threatening diseases.

The 30 countries that the U.S. has partnered with are: Bangladesh, Burkina Faso, Cambodia, Cameroon, Cote d’Ivoire, Democratic Republic of Congo, Ethiopia, Georgia, Ghana, Guinea, Haiti, India, Indonesia, Jordan, Kazakhstan, Kenya, Laos, Liberia, Mali, Mozambique, Pakistan, Peru, Rwanda, Senegal, Sierra Leone, Tanzania, Thailand, Uganda, Ukraine, and Vietnam, as well as the Caribbean Community.

The commitment includes a five-year country roadmap that will detail practical plans for the GHSA.

“These roadmaps are intended to enable a better understanding across sectors and assistance providers of the specific milestones, next steps, and gaps toward achieving capacity needed to prevent, detect, and respond to biological threats,” the White House said in a press release.

The countries involved seek to collaborate on a global issue that impacts millions of people in developing areas. Infrastructure, equipment and skilled personnel are some of the resources that the GHSA partnership plans to provide.

During this year’s G-7 Summit in Germany, G-7 leaders committed to collectively assisting at least 60 countries, including the countries of West Africa, over the next five years. The G-7 Health Ministers agreed to announce these countries by the end of this year according to the White House.

This collaboration provides a bright spot for the future. Health security is a huge issue today, as infectious diseases kill over 17 million people a year. At least 30 new diseases have emerged in the last 20 years, and they all require attention and research in order for cures to be discovered according to the World Health Organization.

Next year’s GHSA event will be hosted by the Netherlands and will highlight progress and continue to build momentum on these issues.

– Ashley Tressel

Sources: White House, WHO, Global Health
Photo: Flickr

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10 Ways to Prevent Global Health Crises

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The Independent Panel on the Global Response to Ebola recently made recommendations to prevent future global health crises based on the outcomes of the West African Ebola outbreak last year.

The outbreak killed over 11,000 people in 2014, including health workers. Experts blame the slow response, lack of leadership and lack of proper training for a large number of deaths caused by Ebola.

The panel’s report was published online by The Lancet, a medical journal. Here are their recommendations:

  • The global community should come up with a strategy for strengthening health systems, including funding to help developing countries do so.
  • The WHO should publicly commend countries that report disease outbreaks promptly and shame those that delay reporting. Financial incentives to compensate countries for losses linked to transparent disease reporting should be created.
  • The WHO should set up a permanent outbreak response center with a guaranteed budget. It should report directly to the director general.
  • The WHO should name a permanent emergency committee of experts to advise it on the threat posed by outbreaks. The committee should be able to convene itself and should consider adopting a graded system of warnings. Currently, emergency committees can only declare that something is or isn’t a global emergency.
  • The UN should create an independent accountability commission that assesses response to major disease outbreaks.

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Photo: Pixabay

  • Governments, NGOs, the scientific community, and industry should develop rules for conducting research during an outbreak and a program for accelerating research between crises.
  • Research funders should set up a facility to finance development of vaccines, drugs, disease tests, and other medical necessities for diseases which the pharmaceutical industry won’t develop for on its own.
  • A global health committee should be set up as part of the UN Security Council to bring high-level attention to health issues and crises.
  • The WHO should return its focus to its core functions, concentrating on efforts that only the WHO can undertake.
  • The WHO’s executive board should establish a freedom of information policy; countries should stop earmarking the funding they provide the WHO, and countries should demand a WHO director general strong enough to stand up to the most powerful governments.

The proposed changes to responding to global health crises were categorized into five themes: preventing disease outbreaks, responding to outbreaks, monitoring and sharing data, garnering knowledge and technology through research and, lastly, global coordination to prevent and respond to outbreaks.

– Marie Helene Ngom

Sources: STAT, The Lancet, BBC
Photo: World Affairs