Archive for category: Global Health

Information and stories about global health.

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Addressing the Global Water Crisis

global_water_crisis
The statistics concerning the global water crisis are staggering, especially in developing countries.

  1. 1 in 9 people or roughly 783 million individuals globally are unable to obtain safe drinking water.
  2. In developing countries, one-third of all schools, as well as one-third of all health care facilities, lack safe water and adequate sanitation.
  3. According to the World Health Organization, 3,900 children globally die each day as a result of waterborne diseases.
  4. 1.8 million people die every year of diarrhoeal diseases obtained from drinking unclean water.
  5. The illnesses caused by drinking unclean water as well as the many hours a day devoted to collecting this water, take away from and severely decrease the quality of life for entire communities.
  6. According to the United Nations, by itself, Sub-Saharan Africa loses 40 billion hours per year collecting water.

These are just a few of the shocking statistics that highlight the seriousness of the global water crisis. However, by donating and investing in initiatives that are environmentally safe and cost-effective it is possible to turn back the tide of the growing global water crisis.

Students, especially girls, who no longer have to focus time and effort on collecting water, can devote more time to attending school. With the addition of safe and sanitary latrine areas, girls can also stay in school throughout their teenage years following puberty.

With access to water, food security can become a reality in developing countries. Fewer crops will be lost and schools can begin to feed their students through the use of their own gardens, which will slash costs.

Access to clean water also means clean hands which lead to healthier bodies. People can focus on ending the cycle of poverty instead of succumbing to water-related sicknesses.

Clear cut access to clean water can also help alleviate conflicts over 276 transboundary river basins. An improved understanding of proper sanitation can increase access to clean water and significantly reduce pollution through unsanitary practices such as waste dumping into these river basins.

According to The Water Project, access to clean water alone can go a long way towards breaking the cycle of poverty for millions of people. All that is needed is to act upon this knowledge.

– Drusilla Gibbs

Sources: World Water Council, Water, The Water Project
Photo: Occupy For Animals

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Lights, Camera, Global Health Film Festival

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The Global Health Film initiative held its first festival last month to use film and media as a catalyst for discussion and change on global health issues. The festival included film production workshops, in-depth panel discussions and pitching opportunities.

The inaugural event was held in London this year on Oct. 30-31. The festival – Films to Inspire Change, began a new era of global health discussion, incorporating art and expression into the previously science-only forum.

According to the Global Health Film initiative, workshops at the festival included:

  • Film for social change in low-resource settings ( by Medical Aid Films)
  • Guerrilla filmmaking and global health (by What Took You So Long?)
  • Crowdfunding for global health film (by Dartmouth Films)
  • Impact of global health film (by BRITDOC Foundation)
  • Innovation at grass roots: filmmaking in low resource settings (by BBC Media Action)
  • Media training for health advocate (by Rockhopper TV)

One of the films featured at the festival, “Body Team 12,” follows the first female member of the Ebola response teams in Liberia. Another, “Fire in the Blood,” documents the battle to make AIDS drugs cheap enough for poor countries to afford them (Sci Dev Net). “TB Unmasked” and “TB Silent Killer” cover tuberculosis, while “Outbreak” exposes the “hidden” beginning of the Ebola outbreak in West Africa.

In order to facilitate discussions such as those sparked at the festival, the Global Health Film initiative also developed two labs this year to support global health advocates and produce films that highlight critical global health issues. The Global Health Film Lab houses nine fellows and gives them the training and tools they need to produce their own change-inspiring films.

The initiative also holds screenings for new films that present new ideas in the global health field. Past screenings include “Girl Rising,” which promotes the education of girls in developing countries, and “Open Heart,” which tells the story of Rwandan children with rheumatic heart disease.

These films continue to raise awareness and present otherwise widely-ignored information in a way that evokes an emotional response.

– Ashley Tressel

Sources: SciDev, Global Health Film 1, Global Health Film 2
Photo: Pixabay

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Water and Sanitation for Nicaraguans

Water and Sanitation for Nicaraguans

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Nicaraguan urban poor have a long-standing history of lacking access to basic services, such as water and sanitation. In the capital city, Managua, the Greater Managua Water and Sanitation Project (PRASMA) was devised to create new water and sanitation infrastructure throughout the city.

This includes a system of low-cost sewage networks designed to target the poor regions of Managua. Although the PRASMA was a solid start, city officials realized that more was needed if they hoped to achieve their goal of reaching universal piped water connectivity.

The Ministry of Finance and Public Credit (MHCP) reached out to the World Bank for funding to create the Nicaraguan Water and Sewerage Enterprise (ENACAL) in order to expand 15,798 water and 19,716 sewer connections to some of the poorest households.

Before ENACAL was launched, only 26.5 percent of households had access to piped water. Only 1.2 percent had in-house toilets. The majority of the population, more than 72 percent, used latrines. The remaining portion of the population concerned city officials the most, with more than 26 percent lacking access to any sanitation services.

Among the poorest neighborhoods, it was not uncommon to see raw sewage running down the streets. In other impoverished neighborhoods, even for those connected to piped-in water, service was less than reliable. Some households received water as infrequently as two hours per day.

Since collecting $20 million in credit and $20 million in grant money from the World Bank to get ENACAL operational, the project has improved service reliability for 161,896 Nicaraguans as well as increasing the overall financial sustainability of its operations.

The World Bank reported a little less than half of the money was used to expand and add additional infrastructure. The remainder of the funds were used to optimize technical efficiency and strengthen institutional activities.

Moving forward, ENACAL is developing the Master Plan for Operational Efficiency in Managua. This focuses on non-revenue water reduction and the optimization of energy efficiency.

With the assistance in the funding of $300 million from the World Bank and other international donors, continued improvements under the Program for Human Water and Sanitation will take place over the course of the next 15 years.

Thus far, ENACAL has benefited 62,295 residents and improved the percentage of households with access to water for 16 or more hours a day to 72 percent.

– Claire Colby

Sources: Central America Data, World Bank
Photo: University of Colorado Boulder

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How to Improve Global Health

global health
Think about how much of an issue health care is here in the United States. Then think about how, although not perfect, the majority of us have access to even basic healthcare and the right to go to a hospital if we need care.

In third world countries, the idea of healthcare and regularly scheduled doctors’ visits is almost non-existent. Even where healthcare does exist, there are not enough healthcare workers compared to the ratio of people. It is time to take action in thinking about the effects of poor healthcare and how to improve global health overall.

According to the World Health Organization (WHO), close to 60 countries currently have less than 23 health workers for every 10,000 people. Worse yet, 13 developing countries have less than one hospital per million people, a staggering figure that seems impossible but is a reality in these countries. These ratios are expected to get even worse in 2045 when the world’s population is projected to exceed 9 billion. It is clear that the time to implement initiatives to improve global health is now.

Although it is extremely important that there are an adequate number of healthcare workers and doctors in relation to the population that they serve, it is critical to advocate behavioral changes. Diseases and conditions such as HIV, obesity and malnutrition can be fought in part by simply taking the time to educate people on the importance of self-awareness, safety and proper sanitation.

Spending is another component of improving global health. Although the number of pandemic outbreaks such as SARS and Ebola has been increasing, the World Bank projects that less than a third of the $3.4 billion needed to maintain a strong (not excellent) pandemic preparedness system has been committed. Also, according to the World Health Organization, donor countries have only spent $3 billion of the $6 billion needed to maintain the health of the public globally.

In order to improve global health, the WHO sums it up best when it says that the main areas of focus are health systems, non-communicable diseases, communicable diseases, corporate services and preparedness. If the emphasis, time, effort and money can be placed on these areas of health, then the world will be well on its way to improving the global health of the public.

– Drusilla Gibbs

Sources: Time, Clinton Foundation, WHO, APA
Photo: Global Health

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Eradicating the Guinea Worm Disease

guinea-worm-carter-comic-book-horizontal-large-galleryBack in 1999, Nigerian farmer Abdullahi Rabiu faced an agonizing reality. An estimated 84 worms, narrow in form and each of them two to three feet in length, had painfully ruptured through his skin. And there was nothing he could do to stop it.

Rabiu, who eventually recovered from the ordeal, contracted a waterborne parasitic disease called Guinea Worms by drinking contaminated pond water.

It’s a cycle: an infected person seeks relief from the painful rupturing of the worms by entering the water. There, the worms release hundreds of thousands of larvae. The larvae are then eaten by tiny water flies barely visible to the human eye. Finally, people who drink from that pond run the risk of consuming the flies and becoming infected with the worm.

In 1986, an estimated 3.5 million cases of guinea worm were reported across 21 countries in Africa and Asia. Since then, the Carter Center, founded by former President Jimmy Carter, has led an international campaign to eradicate the disease.

And they are winning.

After visiting more than 26,300 villages, mostly in sub-Saharan Africa, and training people in health education, the eradication of the guinea worm is not only possible — it’s in sight. Between Jan. 1 and Aug. 31 of this year, only 15 cases were reported across four countries.

“The potential for disease eradication to permanently improve quality of life worldwide is tremendous,” said Dr. Donald Hopkins, vice president for Carter Center health programs. Once a disease that incapacitates people like Rabiu is eradicated, the health of individuals improve and economies benefit from increased productivity.

Eradication of the guinea worm would make it the first human disease to have been wiped out since smallpox in 1980. It stands to be the first disease to be eliminated without a vaccine or medicine.

In the case of guinea worms, the key was as simple as education. People in these communities have learned to filter water, making it safe for drinking. Those who have become infected know not to enter the water.

While it is impossible to predict exactly when guinea worms will be completely eradicated, there is hope to see it gone in the next two to three years at the latest.

Now facing terminal cancer, Jimmy Carter was recently asked what he would like to accomplish before dying. His response: “I would like the last guinea worm to die before I do.”

– Kara Buckley

Sources: The Carter Center 1, BBC 1, BBC 2, The Carter Center 2, The Carter Center 3
Photo: CNN

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Reach Every Mother and Child Act: Ending Preventable Deaths

Reach Every Mother and Child Act
The Reach Every Mother and Child Act of 2015 would work to end the preventable deaths of mothers, newborns and young children in developing countries.

U.S. Senators Chris Coons, D-Del., and Susan Collins, R-Maine, introduced the Reach Act this summer as a solution for deaths related to pregnancy and childbirth.

“Over the past several years, we have made great strides in saving moms, babies, and kids in some of the poorest parts of the world, but it’s clear that more help – and more resources – are needed,” Sen. Coons said in a press release.

The Reach Act seeks to build on the progress made over the past few years in maternal-child health. According to Countdown to 2015’s report for this year, the global maternal mortality ratio has decreased by 45 percent over the past two decades, and the number of maternal deaths has dropped from about 523,000 a year to 289,000.

Maternal education and income growth have had a significant impact on the improvement of conditions for mothers and children in developing countries, the Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation said, as well as technological innovations in medicine and other areas.

However, problems such as HIV, poor hospital conditions, and malnutrition still plague mothers and children in those countries. The Reach Act would help provide the means to solve these problems.

If enacted, the Act would:

  • Require a ten-year strategy to achieve the goal of ending preventable maternal, newborn, and child deaths by 2035;
  • Establish a permanent Maternal and Child Survival Coordinator at USAID who would be focused on implementing the ten-year strategy and verifying that the most effective interventions are scaled up in target countries.s
  • Require the Administration to develop a financing framework that would allow the use of U.S. government dollars to leverage additional commitments from the private sector, nonprofit organizations, partner countries, and multinational organizations.

The Reach Every Mother and Child Act of 2015 is currently being referred to the House Committee on Foreign Affairs.

Email your congressional leaders in support of the Reach Every Mother and Child Act and help save the lives of 600,000 women and 15 million children by 2020.

– Ashley Tressel

Sources: Senate, Health Data, Countdown to 2015: Maternal, Newborn & Child Health Data
Photo: Flickr

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Experts’ New Plan for Eradicating Tuberculosis

eradicating_tuberculosis
In a new study published in The Lancet, experts introduced an all-encompassing approach to achieving the Zero TB Declaration, which urges the rapid eradication of tuberculosis (TB).

The study was prompted by Salmaan Keshavjee, Director of Harvard Centre for Global Health Delivery, and co-edited by Soumya Swaminathan, Director-General of the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR).

Currently, the strategy for treating TB is to target those in serious condition; the study done by Keshavjee and Swaminathan states that early detection is crucial to eradicating tuberculosis.

They suggest finding individuals infected with TB before they can transmit and thoroughly treat them for all strains of TB. It is also important to treat individuals in close contact and at high risk.

“The drivers of TB include poverty, poor housing, under- nutrition and HIV infection, underscoring the need to address this problem holistically,” Swaminathan said.

The study also draws attention to the importance of focusing on middle and low-income settings, as poverty and malnutrition make people vulnerable to airborne diseases. In addition to stopping transmission, the study suggests addressing “the social mechanisms that fuel tuberculosis.”

The World Health Organization’s End TB Strategy also supports the prevention aspect of the Swaminathan and Keshavjee study. The End TB Strategy also aims to treat those in close contact and high-risk individuals through collaborative tuberculosis/HIV activities.

Swaminathan stated: “We have to hit this bug hard and hit it quickly. Cutting transmission in the community is key to the control of any infectious disease. Many cities in the world are seeing worrying increases in transmission of drug-resistant tuberculosis. All of us are vulnerable and, therefore, we must all act.”

– Marie Helene Ngom

Sources: Zeenews, TheLancet, WHO
Photo: United Nations

India Offers Rewards to Parents for Vaccinating Children

vaccinating_children
Health officials are conducting a new randomized trial approach to get parents to take their children to clinics for immunizations in developing nations.

Using a reward system based on the “randomist” economics principle, parents are given gifts for the primary and final round of immunizations their children successfully complete, raising the number of children protected against life-threatening and preventable illnesses.

Immunizations are currently one of the most cost-effective and reliable methods available to prevent childhood death and illness.

Yet, despite the fact that standard immunizations are free at public clinics throughout India, an estimated two to three million people die each year due to diseases that could have been prevented by vaccination. Vaccinating children at a young age can help significantly reduce the number of preventable deaths in India.

Currently, 70 local clinics in the Indian state of Haryana are running trials to see if gift giving will improve immunization rates. In these clinics, parents are given one kilogram of sugar for bringing their children in to start the first of a standard series of vaccinations.

Parents are given further incentives to make sure that their child completes the entire series by being promised a free liter of cooking oil if they comply.

The 70 clinic test group is a part of a larger scale experiment using randomized controlled trials, where some clinics are randomly chosen to give gifts and others are not, to see if communities with chronically low immunization rates can be improved with little incentives.

The results for the larger trial are not expected to be available until next year, but smaller trials conducted in India have already produced amazingly positive results. In 2010, a pilot program set up monthly medical camps in locations with poor immunization rates.

The establishment of these camps tripled completion rates. Taking it a step further, camps started to offer families a kilogram of lentils and a set of plates for their compliance, increasing completion rates sixfold.

Economist Esther Duflo, from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) in Cambridge, who was involved in the 2010 trial and is currently working with the Haryana trial, says that it’s not a sense of greed or lack of care for their children that creates low immunization rates.

Experts involved in the 2010 and other regional studies found that families were generally interested in vaccinating their children but, due to external factors, such as distance, cost and time commitment, could not do so.

A full course of immunizations typically requires a minimum of five visits, so many families cannot justify the effort without the incentive provided by the randomized trials.

Although randomized trials and using economics to combat poverty-related issues is a fairly new practice, the popularity of randomized trials is gaining momentum throughout the international development community due to their incredibly successful results.

According to one of the leading randomist economists, Dean Karlan, at Yale University in New Haven, CT, “We’ve changed the conversation.”

Duflo is hopeful that this shift in conversation will lead to radical strides in poverty reduction.

Through her efforts in co-creating the Abdul Latif Jameel Poverty Action Lab (J-PAL) in Cambridge with two fellow MIT economists, more than 600 evaluations in 62 countries have been conducted and 6,600 people have been trained to administer and measure the results of randomized trials.

– Claire Colby

Sources: Nature, Poverty Reduction Lab
Photo: United Nations

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USAID Grants Palladium Health Policy Plus

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USAID tasked Palladium with implementing Health Policy Plus (HP+), which is a five-year $185 million project that focuses on strengthening health policy, financing, governance and advocacy in developing countries.

The initiation of Palladium Health Policy Plus is in perfect timing with the establishment of the new Global Sustainable Health Goal (SDGs).

It directly focuses on Goal 3, which is to “ensure healthy lives and promote well-being for all at all ages,” and goal 17: “strengthen the means of implementation and revitalize the global partnership for sustainable development.”

Palladium is greatly experienced in leading initiatives on social and economic development. They have led projects in 84 countries in collaboration with the U.S. Government and World Bank.

Ed Abel, president of Palladium’s U.S. business unit, said: “We are grateful to USAID in recognizing Palladium’s leadership in bringing positive impact to its global effort to end extreme poverty and promote resilient, democratic societies through health policy and financing.”

HP+ builds upon the previous Health Policy Project (HPP) that ended on Sep. 29, 2015. HPP was active from 2010 to 2015 and was implemented in 48 countries worldwide.

The USAID-funded HP+ was initiated on Aug. 28, 2015. Palladium plans on using the following “four pillars” to achieve success: International Development, Strategy Execution Consulting, Research Development and Training and finally Impact Investing.

These approaches will also take into account gender equality and equity issues, family planning and reproductive health (FP/RH), maternal and child health (MCH) and HIV and AIDS.

Palladium will be working in collaboration with Avenir Health, Futures Group Global Outreach, Plan International USA, Population Reference Bureau, RTI international, The White Ribbon Alliance for Safe Motherhood and ThinkWell.

Suneeta Sharma, HP+ Director, commented: “We’re looking forward to collaborating with USAID, health ministries and civil society actors worldwide to foster more equitable, sustainable, rights-based health services, supplies and delivery systems using evidence-based approaches for decision making and resource allocation.”

– Marie Helene Ngom

Sources: PRNewswire, Federal Grants, UN Sustainable Development, Palladium
Photo: Rachel Yang

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Sustainable Blood Flow in West Africa

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Sisu Global Health has developed a device that recycles blood without using electricity for hospitals in developing countries.

According to the World Health Organization (WHO), “75 countries report collecting fewer than 10 donations per 1,000 population.” The vast majority of these countries are located in Africa.

Not only is blood itself in short supply (and expensive), clean and effective ways to obtain and transmit it are also lacking.

Of the donations low-income countries receive, only 16% are monitored through external quality assessment schemes, says the WHO. This leads to the continued spread of diseases, such as HIV.

In addition, unnecessary and unsafe transfusions run rampant in low-income clinics, creating even more problems.

Fortunately, a hospital in West Africa came up with a blood-collecting technique that would become the inspiration for a revolution in blood technology.

When Carolyn Yarina and Gillian Henker visited the hospital, they saw doctors use a cup to collect and reuse blood from internal bleeding, reports The Baltimore Sun.

Using this idea as a foundation, they created Sisu Global Health, a medical device company for emerging markets.

Their breakthrough technology, called the Hemafuse, is a manual autotransfusion device used to retransfuse a patient’s own blood during an internal hemorrhage, according to their website.

The Hemafuse does not need electricity to run, which makes it the perfect solution for clinics in developing countries.

With such a revolutionary, environmentally-friendly product, Sisu has already attracted attention from big-time investors.

According to The Baltimore Sun, the company has obtained a $100,000 investment from AOL Co-Founder Steve Case, after entering his “Rise of the Rest” startup competition.

Yarina and Henker have stumbled onto an immensely valuable idea here, one that will help ensure blood safety and sustainable blood flow in countries that have a desperate need for plasma.

– Ashley Tressel

Sources: Baltimore Sun, WHO, SISU Global Health, Rise of Rest