Archive for category: Global Poverty

Key articles and information on global poverty.

, , ,

Learn About Poverty in Chad

Poverty in Chad
Located in Central Africa, the country of Chad is the fifth largest landlocked state and has a poverty rate of 42%. With a total population of approximately 15.5 million, a lack of modern medicine, dramatic weather changes and poor education have riddled the country with deadly diseases and resulted in severe poverty in Chad.

Poor Health Conditions in Chad Lead to Disease

The most common types of disease and the primary causes of death include malaria, respiratory infections and HIV/AIDS. Malaria, usually spread through mosquito bites, is a potentially fatal disease and is quite common in the country of Chad. Due to poor sanitation, Chadians are more susceptible to malaria; the most recently estimated number of cases was 500,000 per year.

Along with malaria, lower respiratory diseases contribute to Chad’s high mortality rate – the most common and deadliest of those being meningitis. Lower respiratory tract infections occur in the lungs and can sometimes affect the brain and spinal cord. A lack of available vaccinations in the country has increased susceptibility to meningitis. Meningitis is most deadly in those under the age of 20, and with a countrywide median age of 16.6 years old, Chad has seen a rise in total meningitis cases and overall deaths.

As of 2015, there were an estimated 210,000 Chadians living with HIV. According to UNAIDS, there were 12,000 AIDS-related deaths just last year, along with 14,000 new cases. Those living with HIV/AIDS are at a higher risk of death with their compromised immune systems. They are unable to fight off diseases and, with the preexisting severe risk of malaria and meningitis, they are more susceptible to death.

Harsh Weather and its Role in Food Insecurity and Disease

Due to its geography, Chad is one of the countries most severely affected by environmental challenges. Approximately 40% of Chadians live at or below the poverty line, with the majority relying heavily on agricultural production and fishing. The drastic change in rain patterns and the consequent frequency of droughts have placed a significant strain on their food supply. Fishing in particular has been sparse. Lake Chad, the country’s largest lake, has diminished by 90% in the past 50 years. The rising temperatures in Chad have caused a decrease in both crop yields and good pasture conditions, placing more strain on those who depend on Lake Chad for food and the nutrients it adds to farming.

In addition to affecting poverty in Chad, intense weather patterns have also increased the number of infectious diseases. The infrastructure of the country has not been able to keep up with the rapidly growing population in urban areas. This results in poor sanitation. The sanitation services are overwhelmed during floods, which contaminates the water supply.

Lack of Education Affects Poverty in Chad

Despite the relatively large population, less than half of school-aged children attend school. With attendance rates so low, the literacy rates in individuals between the ages of 15 and 24 fall; currently, they only reach 31%. According to UNICEF, attendance rates are astonishingly low; 8% for children in upper secondary school and 13% for lower secondary school. With education rates so low, income inequality, infant and maternal deaths and stunting in children continue to rise; as a result, the overall economic growth of the country declines.

Enrollment is low in Chad due to the lack of resources in schools. With the country in severe poverty, schools remain under-resourced, both in access and infrastructure. Some schools have no classrooms and no teaching materials. Furthermore, students often outnumber teachers 100:1. As a result, the quality of learning decreases, as does the overall attendance rate.

As of now, only 27% of primary-school-age children complete their schooling. According to UNESCO, if adults in low-income countries completed their secondary education, the global poverty rate would reduce by half. Even learning basic reading skills could spare approximately 171 million people from living in extreme poverty. Educated individuals are more likely to develop important skills and abilities needed to help them overcome poverty. Education also decreases an individual’s risk of vulnerability to disease, natural disasters and conflict.

Poverty in Chad is widespread, and the rate of impoverished people will continue to grow if it is not addressed. Poor health conditions and a lack of education are just a few of the many problems people face; while the living conditions may seem dire in Chad, a gradual decrease in overall poverty rates proves that there is hope.

– Jacey Reece
Photo: Flickr

,

Improving Healthcare in Albania

Healthcare in Albania
Albania became highly secluded following Enver Hoxha’s communist reign from 1908-1985. Medical staff would often make house calls for patients that were severely ill because there was only one hospital per city. The paucity of the country’s healthcare offset the highly skilled and thoroughly trained professors at the Mother of Teresa School of Medicine. This school emerged in 1959 and was the first school of medicine in Tirana. The doctors had the skill, but they lacked the proper tools to go about daily operations. The lack of resources during this time had a damaging effect on healthcare in Albania.

The Concerns

While professors who were to teach at the Mother of Teresa School of Medicine received training in other European countries, Albania still gave little to no personal freedom regarding matters of end-of-life to its patients. Documentations have determined that the nutrition of Albania became scarce under Hoxha’s rule. In fact, infant mortality rates supposedly increased; they are currently at 10.83 per 1,000 births (9.49 for females per 1,000 and 12.08 for males per 1,000). While the population began to dwindle, the communist regime led a movement in which women received the promise of a cow in addition to the title of “heroic mother” if they had six or more children.

Birthing units would hold five to seven pregnant patients per room: no husbands or other family members could fit or enter. Albania currently meets compliance with global labor standards regarding maternity protection. Mothers in the country can enjoy the benefits of a full maternity leave duration, full amounts of maternity leave cash benefits and breastfeeding breaks with breastfeeding facilities. The country also established that the government was the source of the cash benefits and not individual employers.

Lack of Freedom

Not only could “heroic mothers” not have their husbands or other family members around as they gave birth, but Albanians are still unable to deny poor medical treatment from hospital doctors and medical staff. The coverage for healthcare in Albania for citizens during communism mimicked the Soviet-type Semashko model and was free of charge. The Albanian government owned and directed the healthcare plan.

Today a combination of healthcare contributions from the state, employees and employers pay for Albanian public healthcare spending. In fact, the employer and employee each contribute 3.4% with employees’ portion coming from their salaries. The state subsidizes and pays for the rest. The fact that Albanian healthcare does not address the withdrawal of treatment gives Albanians little power to make healthcare decisions.

The WHO

Despite Albanians’ lack of healthcare freedom, the country is doing much to raise the quality of healthcare in Albania. The World Health Organization (WHO) mentioned the 2013-2022 Albanian Plan for Mental Health Services Development. The WHO highlighted the plan to protect the rights of individuals with special needs and mental health problems. The 11th National Report on the Implementation of the European Social Charter for Albania stated that as a part of its 2013-2022 plan, it built nine community mental health centers and 13 supported homes.

The idea behind supported homes is to deinstitutionalize psychiatric wards with high populations and transition these patients back into society. The method before this was to simply hospitalize mentally ill citizens. Albania is also home to Different and Equal, an NGO that assists victims of human trafficking, domestic violence and sexual abuse.

Moving Forward

Albania is not only developing mental health centers or supported homes; the government has also promised to revolutionize and increase financial output towards the health sector. The government believes that the need for medical devices will increase. Increased spending will lead to new technology in hospitals. It also maintains the idea that increased spending on the health of its country will cause investments in public hospitals to rise. According to the Albanian Ministry of Health (MoH), public healthcare spending in 2018 reached 48.6 billion Leke ($450 million). Expectations determine that more recent spending statistics should be higher than reports state.

In 2018, the WHO reported that during visits, its team noticed that the healthcare buildings were old but that they had received good maintenance. Also, the MoH developed a general medical check-up for everyone between the ages of 40-65 in 2016. The idea behind this check-up was that it would give individuals the motivation to visit their family physician. Albanians enjoyed this innovative solution to healthcare advocacy for free.

The Albanian government has chosen a route of seclusion in the past. Communism allowed citizens to have free healthcare but at the cost of the freedom to choose the right health options for themselves. The citizens of Albania are now helping to fund their own healthcare. Nurturing mothers have become a larger focus, which will hopefully lower the infant mortality rate. Albania is also addressing mental illness and future government healthcare spending is set to increase.

– DeAndre’ Robinson
Photo: Wikimedia Commons

,

How Duolingo Helps Refugees

duolingo helps refugees“Language is what ties us all together in our cultures, in our own countries. Being able to communicate is a vital part of the human experience.” – Photojournalist Justin Merriman

Duolingo is a popular language-learning platform available on desktop and mobile phones serving to boost the language skills of people around the world. Known for its iconic green owl mascot, Duolingo offers free courses in 38 different languages. These include widely spoken languages like English and Spanish, as well as endangered languages such as Navajo and Hawaiian. It even offers courses in fictional languages like Klingon from Star Trek and High Valyrian from Game of Thrones.

While not specifically an original intent of the platform, Duolingo has grown in popularity among immigrants and refugees who seek to learn the language of their new homes. Recently, the company even made a documentary film about how Duolingo helps refugees.

The Importance of Communication

The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) estimates that there were 79.5 million forcibly displaced people worldwide at the end of 2019. Among the world’s displaced people, 20 million are refugees or asylum-seekers who have crossed borders into another country. Most refugees come from Syria, who have seen 6.6 million displaced people.

Language is extremely important to everyday life. In unfamiliar situations, language can act as a barrier to interactions and opportunities among those who can’t understand each other. For impoverished refugees, learning the local language is both vital and extremely challenging. The resources refugees need to learn a new language are often unavailable or not easily accessible.

Duolingo’s Role

In 2018, Duolingo’s creators noticed an intriguing pattern in their 300 million person user base. The most popular languages being learned in many countries were actually the native language of the area. In Miami, most Duolingo users were learning English and in Sweden, most users were learning Swedish. They found that most of these users were immigrants and refugees learning to speak the language of their new home.

Duolingo helps refugees by making language learning accessible and convenient. Available to anyone with access to an electronic device, the learning platform teaches basic conversational skills in a fun and easy way. It teaches reading, writing, listening and speaking through conversational situations where users simultaneously learn vocabulary and grammar. After receiving thousands of thank you letters from global users who benefitted from the app, Duolingo decided to create a documentary film following real refugee users as they learned new languages and navigated their new environments.

Something Like Home

“Something Like Home” highlights the stories of four refugees. Photojournalist Justin Merriman went to Turkey and Jordan to interview these refugees and create the film, which is available for free on Youtube or at duolingomovie.com. Merriman states that “It wasn’t really, in the beginning, about Syria and displaced refugees. It was about people using language to change their lives.”

One of the featured refugees, Noor, is a Syrian refugee who fled to Iraq, Dubai and finally to Turkey. Noor was the only refugee from the film able to attend its premiere at the Kelly-Strayhorn Theater in Pittsburgh, as her Iraqi citizenship allowed her to obtain a travel visa over the others who are Syrian citizens. She now works as a computer programmer and software engineer in Turkey, speaking five languages.

Another featured refugee, Ahmed, also fled Syria for Turkey where he now works as an engineer overseeing water and sanitation programs for internally displaced Syrians. Ahmed, formerly an engineer in Syria, was only able to find employment in Turkey after using Duolingo to learn the language and communicate his skills to employers. He is a prime example of how Duolingo helps refugees in these critical situations

Noor and Ahmed are just two examples of the global refugee experience—being violently torn from normal life and forced to start over somewhere completely unfamiliar. Duolingo helps refugees by freely offering an opportunity to make the transition into their new lives easier.

– Kathy Wei
Photo: Wikimedia

 How Young Women in Senegal are Gaining Reproductive Healthcare

Reproductive Healthcare in SenegalThe country of Senegal has made major strides over the past 10 years for access and care in women’s reproductive and maternal health. Here are some initiatives and four recent centers that have opened to provide women with reproductive healthcare in Senegal in both rural and urban settings.

Reproductive Healthcare Barriers for Senegalese Women

Senegal’s healthcare system is not free to the public. If one does not have the funds to pay for their needed care, they are refused treatment. With more than 50% of Senegal’s population in poverty, only 32.5% of births are performed with a healthcare professional, making the maternal death rate one in 61 women.

Senegalese women are averaged to have at least four children, which is often a result of early forced marriage and the patriarchal family structure. Young women are limited from attaining an education, inhibiting their ability to gain knowledge and power over their reproductive and maternal health.

Over 77% of Senegalese women who desire sexual contraception such as birth control, do not have access to that resource. This has led to unplanned pregnancies for women 20 years old and younger. Additionally, most young women do not receive sexual education in school or at home. This results in less than a third of women in Senegal having a comprehensive understanding of HIV/AIDs or how to protect themselves from such diseases. Government initiation and non-profit organizations are improving these statistics. More women in Senegal are receiving resources and education for their reproductive healthcare.

The Maputo Protocol

Before the 2000s, there was no access to national government or international organizations’ reproductive health for Senegalese women. In 2005 Senegal signed the agreement of the African Charter of Human Rights and Rights of Women, known as the Maputo Protocol, declaring Senegalese women’s reproductive health to be a “universal human right” that must be protected. Following the Maputo Protocol, the Senegalese healthcare system began providing contraception as well as pregnancy and STI testing for women over the age of 15.

4 Centers and Initiatives for Women’s Reproductive Healthcare in Senegal

  1. Keur Djiguene Yi Center: The Keur Djuguene Yi Center is the first public OBGYN clinic in Dakar, Senegal that provides complete reproductive and maternal care to women who cannot afford or have access to government-provided healthcare options. Opening its doors in 2017 with the help of Dr. Faye, the lead gynecologist on-site, more women than ever before in Senegal now have access to pre and post-natal exams, “education on contraception, HIV prevention, family planning and infant immunization,” free of cost. Dr. Faye has been consciously expanding on the center, adding another full-time gynecologist in 2019. She hopes to expand the center to operate at full capacity with an entire team of OBGYN professionals to help four times the number of patients the Keur Djiguene Yi Center services currently.

  1. VOICES mHealth Program: The World Health Organization partnered with the Voices project, created an initiative for reproductive and maternal awareness in Senegal. The VOICEmHealth Program uses voice messages to spread the word about openings of women’s healthcare centers as well as education on maternal care and child-feeding practices. The project works with Bajenu Gox, known as “community godmothers,” to extend the amount of knowledge and power for young women through home visits and information on their healthcare during and after their pregnancy to reach women who do not have access to a cellular device. Voices mHealth program is a highly effective project in its ability to have immediate, trusted contact with Senegalese women living in both rural and urban communities.

  1. Le Korsa: Le Korsa is a nonprofit organization that empowers communities and healthcare centers in Senegal to improve their provided healthcare with grants and educational resources. One of the organization’s most impactful recent projects was in 2017 when Le Korsa began the renovation of the Tambacounda Hospital’s Maternity and Pediatric Units. The project is expected to finish in 2021, providing more enhanced and comfortable care to the 47,000 annual visitors.

  1. Bajenu Gox Project — Action Et Developpement: The Action Et Developpement organization in Senegal has made major strides in having increased community inclusion and education on women’s healthcare with a global lense. Partnering with the Bajenu Gox of the Kaolack, Fatick, Saint Louis, Louga and Dakar regions in 2015, the Bajenu Gox project has brought new, needed knowledge to rural and urban Senegal. The Bajenu Gox in these locations are now trained on how to talk about the prevention of  STI’s and HIV/AIDs in their local communities. They are bringing a new wave of education to young women and forever changing the empowerment of women in Senegal through awareness of their rights.

With the remarkable breakthroughs in women’s reproductive healthcare in Senegal, women now have access to centers and initiatives. The foundation for a new perspective, action and approach towards the autonomy of a women’s health and reproductive system in Senegal is now able to grow and flourish.

– Nicolettea Daskaloudi

Photo: Flickr

,

5 Most Influential Photographs: Children in Poverty

5 Most Influential Photographs: Children in PovertySome of history’s most prominent and influential moments have been documented by a camera. Whether born into a low-income household or displaced by war, millions of children have lived in poverty. Over the years, thousands of photographs regarding child poverty have surfaced, engraving sympathy in millions of hearts and impacting the world. Currently, every 1 in 3 children lives in poverty. Here are 5 of the most influential photographs of children in poverty.

5 Most Influential Photographs of Children in Poverty

  1. Migrant Mother by Dorothea Lange: Dorothea Lange took Migrant Mother in 1936, the photograph epitomizes the effects of the Great Depression. It depicts the disparity and destitute the United States was in. The Congressional Budget Office reported that from 1930 to 1939, the United States debt increased by 150%. In addition, around half of Americans fell into poverty. Florence Owens Thompson, the subject of the photograph, was a mother of seven children working in agriculture. Her family inhabited a leaning tent in Nipomo, California whilst living off of frozen vegetables found on surrounding fields and birds killed by her children. Moreover, around 20,000 schools closed down nationwide. As a result, this put 750,000 children on the National Youth Administration (NYA) program. Due to the separation of families, there are more than 200,000 deserted children wandered around the United States.
  2. Albino Boy, Biafra by Don McCullin: In 1969, Don McCullin, a British photographer captured an enthralling image of a young. It is a photograph of a severely malnourished orphan in present Nigeria. Additionally, the image depicts a juxtaposition through the solitary state of the boy due to his albinism and the “normality” of his peers. This picture alone shone a light onto an unknown war and spread the inhumanity of war. As a result, it incited thousands of households throughout the United States and Europe to donate to the cause. At the time, Biafra, a state composed of the ethnic minority, constantly fought with Nigeria over resources. Consequently, this affected over one million civilian casualties due to starvation and another million from war. Moreover, Biafra denied foreign aid in the beginning. Thus, it put most of its population under extreme poverty.
  3. The Terror of War by Nick Ut: After being shot in 1976, “The Terror of War” has become an icon of the Vietnam War. In the photograph, crying children flee from a war-torn battlefield while a group of soldiers surrounds them. Through the image, people felt the pain and suffering of the children, impassiveness of the soldiers and sorrow for the fallen soldiers. According to UNHCR, over 3 million people were displaced in the Vietnam War, leaving 800,000 children orphaned by the conflict. Luckily, 3,000 of the orphans were airlifted to the United States in Operation Babylift.
  4. The Vulture and the Little Girl by Kevin Carter: In the image, an emaciated child huddles on a field of debris while a vulture watches her as if waiting for her death. Ravaged by war and drought, South Sudan affirmed that the nation was in a state of famine. More than 90% of the population lives under the poverty line, affecting the children of the state. About 1 in 5 children attend school while 75% of the population lacks access to healthcare. These aspects are crucial in lifting people out of poverty. However, looking at the land and resources, South Sudan has the potential to become a wealthy country, improving the general economy of the entire nation.
  5. A Starving Boy and A Missionary by Mike Wells: In 1980, Mike Wells caught a seemingly “beautiful” moment between a catholic missionary and a starving Ugandan boy. The boy developed malnutrition because of the famine from attle raiding and droughts in Karamoja, Uganda. Half of the infants and 20% of the population of Karamoja died during the crisis. UNFPA states that 61% of the people in the region live in poverty. In addition, only 0.9% of students aged 6-12 enrolled in school. Unable to break the poverty cycle, the UN is focusing on rehabilitating this area.

Photographs of suffering often ignite passion throughout people, inflicting change amongst society. At present, there are multiple organizations and countries aiding people in need in order for the world not to take any more photographs of agony.

– Zoe Chao

Photo: Flickr

Reducing Infant Mortality in Liberia Using Chlorhexidine

Infant Mortality and Chlorhexidine in Liberia When applied to the umbilical cord and stump, the antiseptic chlorhexidine has been shown to reduce neonatal deaths by preventing infection. Liberia, which has high rates of infant mortality, has included chlorhexidine in its national health policy. As health is closely linked to poverty, this is an important measure in improving both the health and prosperity of Liberians. Chlorhexidine and infant mortality in Liberia represent a global health success story.  

Liberia and Public Health: A Brief Background 

Liberia is a country in western Africa with a population of around five million and a per capita income of $710. The country faces a variety of public health crises. For instance, life expectancy in Liberia is 64 years for women and 62 years for men, and the infant mortality rate was 50 per 1,000 live births as of 2018. Neonatal disorders are the third most common cause of death, exceeded only by malaria and diarrheal diseases, which also commonly affect infants and young children.

Chlorhexidine

Around the world, 21% of neonatal deaths are caused by severe bacterial infection. This amounts to over 500,000 neonatal deaths annually. Fortunately, simple and affordable interventions can greatly reduce the occurrence of neonatal infection. Chlorhexidine is a prime example. It is an affordable antiseptic that is easy to manufacture and use. Hospitals often use chlorhexidine as a preoperative skin disinfectant, as well as for sterilizing surgical instruments.

When chlorhexidine is applied to the umbilical cord stumps of newborns, it can prevent infection and the complications of infection. Studies demonstrate that using chlorhexidine on newborns can decrease the risk of severe infection by 68% and can decrease the risk of neonatal mortality by 23%. Chlorhexidine is now used in neonates in several countries around the world, including the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Malawi, Madagascar, Afghanistan, Pakistan, Nepal and Bangladesh.

Using Chlorhexidine in Liberia

In Liberia, the newborn mortality rate was 26 per 1,000 live births in 2013. Neonatal deaths accounted for 35% of deaths of children under the age of five, and severe infections were the cause of 28% of neonatal deaths. To address this problem, Liberia adopted a chlorhexidine policy in 2013 requiring the application of chlorhexidine. The Liberian Ministry of Health and Social Welfare stated, “Henceforth 7.1% chlorhexidine digluconate (4% free chlorhexidine) will be applied to the tip of the [umbilical] cord, the stump and around the base of the stump cord of all babies delivered in Liberia immediately after cutting the cord as with repeat application once daily until the cord separates.” The policy follows WHO guidelines for infants born in areas of high neonatal mortality. Chlorhexidine was also added to Liberia’s essential medicines list.

Liberia has benefitted from the support of the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) Maternal and Child Survival Program and NGO partners like Save the Children. These organizations have helped Liberian healthcare to implement chlorhexidine use, train health workers and ensure supply and intake. The policy reduced infant mortality in Liberia by 2.2% annually.

The Ministry of Health and various organizations have made important strides in reducing the rates of infant mortality in Liberia. Using chlorhexidine in Liberia is a powerful example of how simple interventions can effectively improve health, save lives and help to end poverty. 

 

– Isabelle Breier

Photo: Flickr
,

Mass Incarceration in Colombia: Facts and Solutions

Mass Incarcerations in ColombiaThere is currently a problem of mass incarceration in Colombia. This South American country has a population of nearly 50 million people as of 2018. Currently, Colombian prisons have a capacity of 80,928 people. However, as of May 2020 the incarcerated population reached 112,864, or 139.5% of capacity. The Colombian prison system is known to be very overcrowded. Overcrowded prisons infer and amplify broader social issues. These prison environments amplify the spread of infectious diseases like HIV, tuberculosis and, most recently, COVID-19.

Effects of Mass Incarceration in Colombia on Health

  1. Capacity Rates: There are 132 prisons in Colombia with a total maximum capacity of just over 80,000 people. Despite this capacity, Colombian prisons have reached 139.5% of occupancy, or just over 112,000 people. Women make up about 6.9% of this number—about 7,700 women. Currently, there are no incarcerated in Colombia. Congress has actively fought against the release of prisoners, instead choosing to keep the prisons full.
  2. Effects of COVID-19: Prison riots are becoming increasingly common in Latin America with the spread of the COVID-19 virus. Mass incarceration in Colombia has created panic amongst prisoners, who have demanded more attention to their conditions. The Colombian Minister of Justice, Margarita Cabello, has not outwardly acknowledged the prison riots as demands for better care against COVID-19. Rather, Minister Cabello stated that the riots were an attempt to thwart security and escape from prison. Furthermore, due to the scarcity of doctors, prisoners continue to contract and/or die from complications of COVID-19.
  3. Infectious Diseases: Besides COVID-19, mass incarceration in Colombia has allowed the spread of diseases such as HIV and tuberculosis. Many Colombian prisons have a designated cell block for those who contract HIV, as it is common for prisoners to engage in sexual relationships with guards. Healthcare facilities are not readily available in prisons and condoms are in scarce supply. Active cases of tuberculosis also correlate with mass incarceration in Colombia. Approximately 1,000 per 100,000 prisoners have been diagnosed with tuberculosis. Unfortunately, mass incarceration has further limited prisoners’ access to affordable care.

Striving for Improved Conditions

Local citizens Mario Salazar and Tatiana Arango created the Salazar Arango Foundation for Colombian prisoners. After being imprisoned on fraud charges in 2012, Mario Salazar’s experience drove him to find ways to make prison sentences more tolerable. Salazar and Arango Foundation provides workshops for prisoners in the city of La Picota and puts on plays for fellow inmates. Prisoners have found the organization to be impactful to their self-esteem and their push for lower sentences.

Mass incarceration in the Colombian prison system is both a result and driver of poverty. Issues of food shortages and violence have created poverty-stricken conditions within prisons. Despite these conditions, organizations such as the Salazar Arango Foundation seek to improve the lives of prisoners. Hopefully, with time, external forces will help to reduce the rate of incarceration in Colombia. In essence, efforts to due so would have considerable impact on the lives of prisoners and their families.

– Alondra Belford
Photo: Flickr

, ,

The Process of Improving Healthcare in Puerto Rico

Healthcare in Puerto Rico
Puerto Rico is a United States territory located east of Cuba with the Atlantic Ocean and the Caribbean Sea surrounding it. This beautiful tropical paradise is a land of wonder with picturesque landscapes for tourists and residents alike. However, behind this convincing guise is the reality of poverty and illness that plagues the country. With 43% of Puerto Rico living in poverty, the healthcare system is a system of great importance as it acts as a crutch to those living in poverty. Here is some information about healthcare in Puerto Rico.

Medicaid in Puerto Rico

Medicaid in Puerto Rico serves approximately half of Puerto Rico’s population of 3.2 million people. The Medicaid program in Puerto Rico is an outlier in comparison to other U.S. states, having to supply healthcare to those in need while facing shortages of doctors and funds. The annual healthcare budget in Puerto Rico is $367 million as of 2019, however, estimates determine that expenditures are closer to $2.8 billion.

Additionally, the Medicaid program operates on a Managed Care system. This system helps to manage cost, utilization and quality, making healthcare in Puerto Rico more affordable and offering better utilization of health resources.

Additional Funding

The Affordable Care Act, section 2005, provided the Medicaid program in Puerto Rico with $5.4 billion in additional Medicaid funding from July 1, 2011, to Sept 30, 2019. Puerto Rico also received an additional $925 million in funds to establish a healthcare market. The country had to exhaust Previous Affordable Care Act funds before it could use additional funds. The Affordable Care Act is a health reform law that passed in March 2010. The law has three goals including increasing the availability of affordable health insurance, expanding the coverage of the Medicaid program to cover adults below 138% of the federal poverty line and supporting innovative methods of medical care delivery to decrease costs of healthcare.

Doctors Leaving the Country

While medical professions receive respect and high pay in the U.S., this is not necessarily true for Puerto Rico. In fact, many Puerto Ricans enter the medical field so they can one day migrate to the mainland U.S.A. According to the Economic Research Institute, the annual average income for a Family Doctor is $194,307, while the U.S. average is $237,000.

Another issue that doctors in Puerto Rico are facing is the scarcity of medical equipment and personnel, often resulting in prolonged waiting times for appointments. According to Vox, the waitlist can take “as long as four to six months to see professionals,” a direct result of Puerto Rico losing approximately 15% of all medical personnel on the island.

Puerto Rico College of Physicians and Surgeons

Shortages in medical personnel and lack of funding have increased wait times and created shortages of medical supplies in Puerto Rico. Thankfully, the Puerto Rico College of Physician and Surgeons is working to combat these challenges. This organization emerged through Law 77 in 1994 and is mandatory for all students pursuing a career in the medical field. The Puerto Rican government uses it to provide doctors where people need them most. The Puerto Rico College of Physicians and Surgeons ensures that doctors studying in Puerto Rico serve there for sometime before finding opportunities elsewhere. As of 2016, the organization has lost approximately 4,000 members to the “temptation in accepting one of those lucrative job offers,” shrinking the number of members from 14,000 to 10,000.

Jaideliz Moreno

The state and quality of healthcare in Puerto Rico have fallen as the years pass by, proving to negatively affect the population. On a seemingly average day in Vieques, a small island off the coast of mainland Puerto Rico, Jaideliz Moreno developed flu-like symptoms. This is a common issue that people face on the mainland U.S.A., but it was a life or death situation for Jaideliz. This was because Vieques, recovering from the destruction that Hurricane Maria caused in 2017, lacked a proper hospital. A small clinic for veterans alongside a labor and delivery room has replaced the hospital that Hurricane Maria destroyed. The small clinic named Susana Centeno Community Health Center lacked the medical supplies necessary to cure 13-year-old Jaideliz Moreno. A helicopter rushed her to mainland Puerto Rico but she died on the way there.

FEMA —Federal Emergency Management Agency— is an agency that strives to support citizens and first responders to show that as a nation we work better together in the face of adversity and disaster. As of January 2020, FEMA has approved $39.5 million to fund the Susana Centeno Community Health Center until a permanent hospital in Vieques is built. As of now, there is no projected completion date of the Vieques hospital.

Healthcare in Puerto Rico is a developing system in need of vital resources and proper funding. This kind of support is key to the growth and improvement of Puerto Rico’s medical work.

– Ernesto Gaytan
Photo: Flickr

Strategies to Stop Human Trafficking in Latin America

human trafficking in Latin America

According to the work of Benjamin Skinner, a writer who has extensively investigated and documented the modern-day slave trade, there are more enslaved persons in existence today than any other point in history. Precise data is difficult to attain, but roughly 1 of every 280 human beings are forced to exist in modern slavery. There are challenges inherent in the efforts to dismantle such an entrenched, profitable, and hidden industry. However, communities are making progress.

Human trafficking exists in a myriad of forms in the modern global economy. It can range from forcing teenage boys to commit murder in organized crime, to 16-hour days of domestic housework to the most profitable sector, sexual exploitation. Women and children are disproportionately affected. However, for each unique trafficking challenge, there are unique solutions.

24-hour Courts

In Gerona Guatemala, local leadership created a 24-hour court specifically to process cases of violence against women, including human trafficking cases. The United States Agency for International Development worked alongside the Attorney General’s Office of Guatemala to provide innovative technology and equipment along with personnel training so the court could be staffed with prosecutors, psychologists, doctors and lawyers. This addition of supplies and workers streamlined the process of bringing a case before a judge. It even included a forensic clinic in the building to gather much-needed evidence in a timely and reliable manner for trial. In the first 6 months of operations, the court passed 846 protection measures for women, issued over 300 arrest warrants and sent 125 perpetrators to prison for crimes against women.

Prevention through Education

Tlaxcala, Mexico is a region that has chronically suffered from the presence of organized crime that utilizes human trafficking. However, in 2019 the state opened only three criminal cases regarding trafficking. To change this landscape, teachers in Tlaxcala are putting faith in the next generation to have different attitudes toward human trafficking. In one school, teachers have added their own take on the traditional “Snakes and Ladders” game. In addition to advancing via rolling dice with the traditional rules of shortcuts and setbacks, blocks on the game board include statements such as (in Spanish) “Less consumption = fewer exploited women” or “love does not mean supporting violence” or “we must not put money above the lives of women”.

The overall purpose of the game is to normalize the equality of men and women. It is also meant to combat attitudes that normalize trafficking or glorify traffickers in a community where some young men look up to family members who traffic humans for monetary gain and power. Those involved in the workshop now include older teens, who are effective and relatable role models for the younger students. The team believes small but countercultural activities such as this might be enough to show students that trafficking is violence. The team also believes changing the perspectives of even a few students would mean the project is a success. Although this is one possible solution, it is an example of the ingenuity of local leaders coming together to create a multifaceted approach to stop human trafficking in Latin America.

Transnational Approaches

In addition to efforts being piloted in local communities, transnational approaches are also necessary. Tumultuous border regions between nations are a dangerous area for vulnerable persons who are subject to increased risk of becoming involved in the trafficking business against their will. Due to the current socio-economic and political upheaval in Venezuela in recent years, spanning from water shortages to high unemployment rates, large numbers of Venezuelan citizens are moving across borders into neighboring states. As of June 2019, four million Venezuelans have fled the country, creating circumstances of social upheaval that are ideal for traffickers to profit from.

Refugees International is conducting research in Colombia, Ecuador, Trinidad and Tobago and Curacao to monitor how migration patterns and scarce resources can create hot spots of human trafficking. Recommendations born out of this research include the following:

  1. Expanding legal pathways for refugees to enter neighboring countries to reduce migration via trafficking networks
  2. Creating avenues for refugees to work in host countries to prevent needing to work with traffickers for monetary gain
  3. Ensuring any victim can file a legal complaint against traffickers with local authorities regardless of immigration status

Although these efforts require expanded access to resources for organizations, federal and local legislative policies such as these are a crucial part of stopping human trafficking in Latin America.

An effective counter-trafficking agenda requires an interdisciplinary approach. It requires protecting refugees and creating new legal systems, while simultaneously prioritizing financial security for vulnerable victims and changing attitudes in 21st-century teens. Even celebrities have a role to play, such as the music group Calle 13 that has recently and extensively raised awareness against human trafficking. With so many humans falling victim to trafficking in every country around the globe, each organization, individual, and state agency must pool resources. Together, organizations must strategize about how to finally put an end to an industry that deprives millions of people of the ability to create their own life.

– Patrick Tolosky

Photo: Flickr

, ,

How Gender Equality in Cambodia is Improving

In the past decade, Cambodia has made progress in reducing the inequality gap between men and women. In partnership with the UN and USAID, gender barriers and negative social norms surrounding women’s place in society are being broken.

Women have taken the lead in various areas of poverty reduction, such as participating in the democratic process and spearheading efforts against water insecurity and climate disaster.

Here are some ways in which gender equality in Cambodia is improving.

Changing Societal Norms

During the Khmer Rouge in the 1970s, violence against women escalated, including rape. The UN has worked to support victims and correct assumptions and inattention surrounding violence against women in Cambodia. Through the UN Joint Global Programme on Essential Services for Women and Girls Subject to Violence that began in 2017, survivors of rape and violence are receiving help and support. They focus on various needs of victims.

Through such programs, the UN has made efforts toward openly discussing and reducing violence against women, promoting gender equality in Cambodia.

A UN survey found that 82% of men and 92% of women accept that a woman’s main role lies only in overseeing the home. By using media, the UN is educating the public about negative social norms surrounding the role of women. For example, UNDP Cambodia and the Ministry of Women’s Affairs of Cambodia (MoWA) developed an initiative that focuses on improving gender equality in Cambodia. Between 2017 and 2020, this initiative focused on three areas:

  • Refining various institutions in the health, legal, and economic sectors to implement policies that empower women.
  • Using media to educate and engage the public to break societal norms and gender barriers.
  • Advance efforts to place women in positions of leadership and decision-making.

Women Lead Efforts Toward Water Security

Not only is the conversation surrounding gender equality in Cambodia changing, but women have stepped into positions of leadership in poverty reduction. For example, women are instrumental in efforts to achieve water security. In Cambodia, women are the main members of the household to fetch and handle water.

In addition to daily water needs, women also depend on water for its use in farming. Almost two-thirds of Cambodians are farmers, many of whom are women. The USAID Sustainable Water Partnership (SWP) recognizes the leadership skills of women and trains them to aid efforts toward water security. For example, in 2018, this program trained 17 women in the Stung Chinit Watershed and placed them in positions of leadership. These women gained knowledge in various areas, including conflict resolution, teamwork, communication and overseeing finances. In future years, the SWP plans to continue to include women in the fight for water security.

Women in the Democratic Process

The USAID has also worked toward including women in the democratic process. Through grassroots organizations, women are now becoming part of various civil rights causes. The USAID has promoted the participation of women in lobbying for workers’ rights and human rights.

Cambodia’s National Assembly is still composed of 80% men, but efforts to place women in political leadership positions are being undertaken. For example, a Cambodian NGO SILAKA is focused on partnering with political parties to engage women in politics. In 2017, the Cambodian People’s Party (CPP) and the Cambodia National Rescue Party (CNRP) focused on including qualified women candidates on candidate lists during council elections.

Women and Climate Disaster

In 2019, UNDP Cambodia increased efforts to prevent climate disasters and protect communities from these disasters. The UNDP has emphasized the role of women in disaster management. They are equipping local women with leadership and decision-making skills as a part of the Charter of Demands for Disaster Risk Reduction and Climate Change Adaptation.

Looking Forward

With the aid of the UN and USAID, Cambodia has made crucial efforts toward reforming negative societal norms. This has come through media campaigns and through involving women in poverty reduction efforts. To achieve greater gender equality in Cambodia, further efforts are needed to empower women politically, economically and socially.

– Anita Durairaj
Photo: Needpix