Archive for category: Global Poverty

Key articles and information on global poverty.

, ,

Telemedicine In Bangladesh: The Way Forward

Telemedicine In BangladeshBangladesh, a South Asian country known for its river deltas and coastal regions, has faced rapid urbanization and environmental degradation due to large-scale flooding across the country. Increasing population density and environmental erosion have made many Bangladeshis the subjects of devastating poverty. In 2018, The World Bank reported that, while the situation in Bangladesh has drastically improved since the 1990s, 22 million people still fall below the poverty line. For many, this means their health is in jeopardy, health care education suffers compromise and access to medical services is nearly impossible.

Today, there is still a stigma surrounding the need for health care in certain rural regions of Bangladesh. One common saying is “rog pushai rakha.” In Bengali, the phrase translates to “stockpiling their diseases.” This refers to the lack of importance Bangladeshis have placed on their health care. In some cases, portrayals still show medicine as inaccessible and unnecessary. This mindset can spell trouble for those living in rural Bangladesh where medicine was not always widely available.

However, the emergence of new medical communication technology, known as telemedicine, is changing the outlook for health care in Bangladesh.

What Telemedicine is and How it Works

Telemedicine, sometimes called telehealth, is “a direct line — whether it’s a phone call, video chat or text message — to a physician or care provider via telecommunication.” It is a rapidly growing technology in the health care field around the world as it ensures easier access to those who may not otherwise receive medical care.

While the technology initially focused on elderly patients and those with disabilities, telemedicine is now helping people in countries with critical health care gaps caused by geography, limited numbers of physicians and financial restraints.

Telemedicine in Bangladesh

In Bangladesh, access to health care largely concentrates in urban areas. This means there is a large gap in health care between rural and urban areas. Seventy percent of Bangladeshis live in rural areas, according to the World Health Organization.

Telemedicine in Bangladesh is a recent advancement. In 1999, it first entered rural regions of Bangladesh that did not have easy access to medical care. While the initial care lacked critical technology infrastructure, the recent expansion of bandwidths and networks into rural areas has made telemedicine more accessible for Bangladeshis.

Moreover, the Bangladeshi government has taken steps to facilitate health care needs by establishing new telemedicine programs. In 2001, the government established a cooperative known as the Bangladesh Telemedicine Association to promote telemedicine organizations. In 2003, the Sustainable Development Network Program emerged to promote cooperation between different providers.

A boat delivers laptops, medical tools and prescription printing devices each week to rural areas in Bangladesh. Individuals in need of care can travel to temporary medical centers where they receive access to physician care through the internet. These checkups are similar to checkups that established medical centers offer where patients can describe their condition, ask questions and obtain prescription drugs.

Telemedicine in Bangladesh is beneficial for more than sickness. This new technology also allows individuals to ask questions concerning their personal development, their child’s development and their nutritional needs. For many, this is a life-changing experience that not only helps with illness but also expands the general knowledge and understanding of people who did not previously have access to such education.

Nonprofits Helping the Cause

The introduction of telemedicine in Bangladesh would not be possible without local cooperation. One non-governmental organization (NGO) helping the cause is Friendship Bangladesh. Friendship Bangladesh, an NGO started in 1994, emerged to “help poor people in remote and unaddressed communities in Bangladesh.” Its aid includes a variety of programs, including those focused on education, economic development, disaster management, citizenship and cultural preservation. The organization’s special emphasis on health care has led to the emergence of telehealth solutions.

The development of mHealth, an app that can diagnose up to 32 common illnesses, and SATMED, a satellite service that allows local NGOs to share patient information using the internet, are innovative solutions to the health care problems in Bangladesh. These programs, developed by Friendship Bangladesh, have dramatically increased access and improved the efficiency of health care.

In 2017, Friendship Bangladesh provided a total of 4.2 million people with access to Friendship’s health care, including 48,000 who garnered access to the mHealth app. Friendship also employed three floating hospitals with access to satellite communication and conducted 1,392 nutrition demonstrations to help educate people on nutritional needs.

In 2020, Friendship aims to increase the number of satellite clinic days, strengthen the nutritional demonstration sessions and maintain the current floating hospitals.

The Future of Medicine in Bangladesh

Most recently, in 2018, a new telemedicine technology entered Bangladesh. Teledaktar (TD) is the newest virtual medical service that is helping expand access to medical care, according to  NPR. By creating makeshift medical centers in rural regions with little access to health care, TD is further closing the gap between doctors and patients in the most rural areas of the country.

Despite the challenges in Bangladesh, access to adequate health care is possible. The inclusion of telemedicine into common health care practices is one development in improving health care. An increase in trained physicians, along with an increase in rural health facilities, are among the recent successes to Bangladeshi health care. Moreover, the government initiation of a stakeholder dialogue with the U.N. Human Resource for Health (HRH) has created more effective dialogues that advocate for the expansion of health care across the country. With new programs, new partners and new technologies, the future of medicine in Bangladesh is hopeful.

– Aly Hill
Photo: Flickr

, , , ,

10 Facts about Sanitation in Argentina

Sanitation in Argentina
Sanitation has been an ongoing issue in Argentina. In the last two decades, more citizens have gained access to running water and sewage than ever before. This is partially due to ongoing work by the United Nations, as well as an increase in national infrastructure. This article will provide a list of discussions around sanitation in Argentina, including causes, pollution and how the local governments are creating change.

10 Facts About Sanitation in Argentina

  1. Fracking damages natural water supplies. In September 2019, in Argentina’s Neuquén province, a fire burned for 24 days until professionals were finally able to stop the blaze. It was one of the many accidents that fracking caused in the country. In addition, oil leaking into the local water supply is one of the most common problems with fracking. These issues impact some of the most vulnerable communities, such as low-income areas, families with children, the elderly and disabled and local indigenous people.
  2. Low-income neighborhoods regularly struggle for clean drinking water. In the last three decades, Argentina has made strides to increase the amount of clean drinking water throughout Argentina. However, low-income areas and rural parts of the country remain without properly sanitized water for much of the year. In neighborhoods such as Villa La Cava, just outside of the capital Buenos Aires, it has become common practice for people to create their own makeshift water filters. People have also put small amounts of bleach in containers in an effort to clean their water.
  3. The United Nations has committed itself to sanitation in Argentia. In the summer of 2010, the United Nations General Assembly declared clean drinking water and sanitation human rights. The U.N. revealed during 2010 that the city of Córdoba was without access to public water distribution networks. A report showed that the city relied on heavily polluted groundwater and wells. At the time, the U.N. required local authorities to provide each household in the city with 200 liters of clean water per day until public water services were fully accessible.
  4. Argentina set a goal to provide sewage to 75 percent of the population. Water professionals and government officials met in 2017 to discuss solutions for better access to sanitation. During the meeting, Argentina announced a new goal of providing sewage access to 75 percent of the population.
  5. About 90 percent of the population currently has access to sewage.  The national government’s 2017 goal has proven to be successful. As of 2020, approximately 90 percent of the population has access to a sewage system. Much of this is due to the recent construction of a sewage pipe, which the Argentinian government has called “the most important one in 70 years.” The pipe cost $1.2 billion to make and runs 40 kilometers underground. These efforts have successfully increased the overall sanitation in Argentina.
  6. Proper sanitation in Argentina requires more infrastructure. Argentina received a loan of $320 million to improve the infrastructure in the Buenos Aires area. The money will go towards making much-needed improvements for sewage filtrations, renovating existing water treatment plants and 130 kilometers of water treatment pipes and expanding already-existing sewers. The loan specifically targets the infrastructure in the Buenos Aires region. While this is the most populated part of Argentina, much of the country still requires significant sanitation infrastructure.
  7. Regulation of public water utilities has grown in the last decade. Due to the involvement of the United Nations and a push from the public, government officials have become more focused on the regulation of public water utilities. Since the increasingly strict regulation of public waterways, the country’s overall sanitation has improved. This has led to a better quality of water not only in households but also in restaurants and schools.
  8. Water consumption in Argentina is among the highest in the world. ResearchGate reports that Argentina’s national water use is approximately 387 liters of water per person per day. This is some of the highest in the world. In Buenos Aires specifically, the water use is higher at 500 liters and people use it for personal use, hygiene, cleaning and drinking. In contrast, the Water Footprint Organization predicts that the average worldwide water consumption is 157 liters per person per day.
  9. The majority of water usage goes towards agriculture. Argentina uses most of its clean water for agriculture and farming. Because the country has such a vast variety of soil and tropics, farmers can grow many different types of crops to export throughout the world. Argentina is the largest international supplier of soybean meal and the third-largest supplier for corn. Pollution can be damaging to millions of these crops if water is not sanitary, resulting in lost time and money.
  10. Drier areas sometimes lack access to safely treated water. Because of Argentina’s varying climates, certain areas across the country are drier. These places are generally more rural and the people are less connected to the main pipes of larger cities. This can be dangerous because inhabitants often depend on rainwater collection for the ability to cook food and shower. When rain is scarce, people have to travel to lakes and rivers for water, making it difficult for Argentines to ensure that their water is safe to drink.

Sanitation in Argentina continues to be an ongoing challenge in rural areas, according to local townspeople. When the United Nations declared drinking water a human right in 2010, the Argentinian government began adding new infrastructure including pipes, sewage systems, water filtration tanks and water purification systems. While current efforts demonstrate that the level of sanitation in Argentina can undergo a major transformation, many areas throughout the country still struggle for clean drinking water each day.

– Asha Swann
Photo: Flickr

 

, ,

How AI Could Reshape Education in India

How AI Could Reshape Education in India
India has the largest K-12 educational system in the world with 260 million students. However, it still ranks low globally on academic achievement and student performance. Nearly half of students lack basic literacy and math skills after studying in school for five years. However, the rise of new classroom technologies, such as artificial intelligence (AI), shows promising hope for rural communities seeking to improve student success. Here is how AI could reshape education in India.

The Challenges

Thirty-eight percent of government public school students in grade three are unable to read simple words. Only 27 percent of students could perform double-digit subtraction. Teacher preparedness and competency is also a reported issue. In one study, only 11 percent of government school teachers in the Indian state of Bihar could demonstrate the steps by which to solve a three-digit by one-digit division problem.

Surprisingly, a survey through the Center for Global Development has found no significant correlation between high teacher salaries and achievement in India. After evaluating per capita GDP and economic context, Indian teachers receive relatively good pay. Nevertheless, reports determined that low-cost private schools had similar learning levels where teachers received significantly less pay. The results highlight the need for more highly trained teachers and better professional preparedness programs.

Notwithstanding these educational challenges, early evidence shows a number of adaptive AI programs offer promise in mitigating the educational deficits in poor educational communities and schools. Oftentimes, these programs supplement the traditional curriculum and even absent teachers. This is how AI could reshape education in India.

How AI Could Reshape Education in India

  1. Mindspark: Mindspark is an adaptable Indian AI program that adjusts to a learner’s knowledge and skills. As the student progresses, it introduces more challenging concepts. The software includes text, video, games and interactive tutorials that people can access on multiple devices. Proponents of Mindspark have remarked that although AI may not be the best educational solution for countries that already have an effective education infrastructure, it has shown to raise scores for areas that experience teacher shortages or absenteeism. MIT’s randomized study in Delhi of 619 government school students found that students progressed significantly in math and Hindi after using the Mindspark software. Priced at approximately RS 1,000 per month ($14 per month), it is a cost-effective program for students.
  2. Byju’s: Named after its founder, Byju Raveendran, Byju’s is an Indian learning app. Similar to Mindspark, the program’s AI adapts to student users to create personal learning experiences, a mapped syllabus, interactive tests, recommended videos in response to mistakes, interactive questions, quizzes, games and interactive lessons. The program uses a bank of student data on learning patterns to personalize feedback and assessments. Although innovative and fun, the company currently only markets adaptive software to urban families looking to supplement their child’s education with a new delivery method. Forbes India recognizes that while the model receives good funding through venture capital, greater access to Byju’s AI for poorer communities through government and nonprofit investments would be advantageous to the country.
  3. Onebillion: Onebillion is a U.K. education nonprofit that created a modular course for children designed to improve their writing, reading and numeracy. It includes carefully structured courses with a huge bank of activities, games and stories adapted into many different languages. It includes a digital teacher who offers individualized, weekly diagnostic tests to ensure the addressing of learning gaps. Teachers can monitor student progress through the system as well. It is for students who have little or no access to formal schooling. The organization incorporates a localization process that keeps the content relevant by partnering with local communities and experts. Like Mindspark, the aim of the organization is to get the software directly into the hands of the student who lacks formal educational mentors. Onebillion has reached more than 100,000 students globally, including students in rural India in 2016.

The Future for India’s Education

What is evident thus far, especially from the implementation of Mindspark, is that AI has the potential to address gaps in education in India for poor, rural communities that lack high-quality teachers and programs. Access to effective tools is currently in favor of wealthier communities in India. Forbes India opines that more investment from the government, nonprofits and companies is necessary to expand the influence of these new technologies into the communities that need them. India, which already has one of the world’s largest software industries and telecommunications systems, may prove how AI could reshape education in India with investments in education technology.

– Caleb Cummings
Photo: Wikimedia Commons

Poverty Rates of Filipinos in Different Regions

Poverty Rates of Filipinos
Crystal Tai, a journalist from South China Morning Post, reported that Filipinos were the largest immigrant minority in Alaska. They represent at least 15 percent of the population. According to the article, Filipinos have been in the state since the late 1700s, often heading to the Last Frontier for jobs. Many held positions as sailors, ore sorters and salmon cannery workers. People would eventually describe these seasonal workers and their descendants as Alaskeros. Some of the descendants came from Filipino soldiers who married Alaska Natives. Filipinos in the Philippines, Filipinos in the United States, Alaska Natives and Filipinos in Alaska or Alaskeros tend to have different economic outcomes. Poverty rates of Filipinos in different regions look different because each region brings out different challenges.

However, it is hard to tell which data belongs to which group as people continue to aggregate them or forget them altogether. People may have even overlooked Filipinos when it came to their status as Asians among other Asian countries. Some even describe Filipinos as the “orphans of the Pacific.” Researchers often overlook native people. As a result, Alaskeros and Filipino descendants in Alaska, in general, suffer from a multi-dimensional statistical invisibility cloak. The descendants of the Philippines in these respective regions deserve an honest look at how poverty has evolved or changed. Looking at each group individually might help distinguish the data.

Poverty in the Philippines

A December 2019 article of the Philippine Daily Inquirer declared that the poverty rate in the archipelago had fallen to 16.6 percent. It decreased from 23.3 percent in 2015. However, there is a difference between the poverty incidence of the Philippines and the subsistence incidence. The subsistence incidence is the proportion of Filipino families whose incomes fall below the food threshold. For the Philippines, the per capita food threshold was P1,505.6 per month in 2018. The poverty threshold was P2,145.36 per month for an individual or P10,726.79 for a family of five. ” Research group IBON stated that one could consider the Philippine Statistics Authority’s (PSA) April 2019 report on poverty misleading.

According to PSA, poor Filipinos fell to 21 percent in the first semester of 2018. This was 23.1 million poor Filipinos down from 27.6 percent or 28.8 million poor Filipinos in the first semester of 2015. IBON observed that the improvements were based on daily per capita poverty. The research group did not consider these thresholds to be decent minimum standards for basic necessities. It found the official poverty line to be too low and grossly underestimating the true number of poor Filipinos. If one were to take the average of the poverty rates of Filipinos in different regions, the variable of the country of the Philippines would bring the average down.

Filipinos in the United States

The Migration Policy Institute states that the United States is home to the largest number of Filipinos abroad with 1.9 million residing in the country in 2017. The rate of poverty for Filipinos in the United States was 8.8 percent in 2015. The median household income for Filipinos living in the U.S. in 2015 was $80,000.

Identifying Minorities on a Census

According to a Census.gov fact sheet on American Indians and Alaska Natives, 19.9 percent of Alaska’s population identified as a member of one of the two groups, alone or a combination, in 2016. That was the highest share for this race group of any state.

In 2014, the Pew Research Center listed the poverty incidence for Alaska Natives and American Indians as the highest in the United States with 26 percent of this group living in poverty. Another 2014 Pew Research Center article found that millions of Americans who had selected one race or ethnicity in the 2000 census had changed it in the 2010 census. Hispanics, mixed-race individuals, American Indians and Pacific Islanders were the ones most likely to do so. The article noted that a variety of factors could influence why people decide to change their race or ethnicity on a census form. They might discover an ancestor of another racial or ethnic group or they might discover that there are benefits to ticking a certain box.

A 2014 meta-analysis of how researchers studied multiracial populations over 20 years, even noted that “not reporting data from multiracial participants, or combining data from all mixed subgroups together into a single “multiracial” category) have led to conflicting representations in the literature.” The difficulty in coming by accurate research on Native populations is determined both by researchers’ oversimplifications and by participants’ complex and changing views on race, their own or otherwise. According to a 2018 report on the economic well-being of Alaska children, the number of Alaska children living in poverty is worsening to a rate of more than a third of them living in poverty.

Poverty in Alaska

There are many Alaskans who are Filipino descents. Nez Danguilan, a local Filipino community leader, noted that most Alaskans do not even realize that they are of partial Filipino descent. People start to realize when they communicate with more recent arrivals from the Philippines. Filipinos appear to have low rates of poverty in the United States and both Filipinos and Alaska Natives share a history of colonialism. This particular Asian group appears to be one of the more successful Asian populations. However, the poverty rate of Filipino descendants who live in Alaska specifically remains unclear.

It is difficult to tell which policies Alaskeros would be interested in. The poverty rates of Filipinos in different regions are diverse. Thus the policies could end up being very diverse as well. A good place to start however would be with disaggregating data on AAPIs. The census conflates Asians and Pacific Islanders. In addition, the Census conflates Alaskan Natives and Native Americans.

Hence, an Alaskero has the added issue of the truths of their communities getting scattered among three or four different statistical identifiers. In December 2019, New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo vetoed a bill that would require state agencies to disaggregate and collect data on Asian American and Pacific Islanders of different ethnic backgrounds. As a result, this issue continues to be important and the 2020 census needs to take the differences of these groups into account. The different poverty rates of Filipinos in different regions demonstrate that.

– Julia Stephens
Photo: Flickr

The Road to Peace in Sudan

The road to peace in sudanPeace in Sudan has proven to be a challenging goal. Sudan has been fraught with violence from the beginning. British and Egyptian forces relinquished Sudan in 1956. With imperialistically-sanctioned divisions between the north and south and little institutional direction, the new nation was immediately thrown into confusion and instability. The first military coup occurred two years after independence. Since then, peace in Sudan has been an abstract concept that the nation desperately needs but has only seen intermittently.

Conflict after Conflict

Economically, Sudan has been heavily reliant on oil since the discovery of oil fields in what is now South Sudan. The country began exporting oil in 1999. Ultimately, Sudan secured the industry’s overwhelming importance in the accumulation of the country’s revenue. In 2011, oil exports accounted for 98 percent of the revenue for the southern government. The discovery of oil has had a longstanding effect on tensions between the north and south, specifically, regarding who controls the trade and reaps the subsequent benefits. Although oil reserves are abundant in the south, the north established the refineries and trade hubs.

Frustrations over the regions’ codependency have manifested in intense fighting between the north and south.  Conflicts over the small, oil-rich region of Abyei in 2002 is a good example. The oil industry has remained at the core of the lack of peace in Sudan because of its role in perpetuating regional struggles.

South Sudan

The conflict between northern and southern Sudan was not brought upon merely by oil. For more than 50 years, South Sudan was overwhelmed with civil wars, experiencing only brief periods of peace. The first civil war began in this region in 1962. Unfortunately, conflict is still prevalent in the country today. This decades-old conflict now consists of unending violence and countless accounts of human rights violations. The U.N. reported events taking place in the country such as ethnic and sexual violence, which may amount to be war crimes. These circumstances serve as a consistent threat to solidarity or reconciliation in Sudan.

The Sudanese civil war was largely due to colonizer-enforced divisions between northern Muslims, southern Christians and Animists. In fact, former president Omar al-Bashir was responsible for the unrelenting assault on the lives of southern Sudanese. For 30 years, Sudan was under the control of Omar al-Bashir, who ruled ruthlessly as a pro-Arab dictator in continuous oppression and violations of human rights. Beginning in February of 2003, he brutally ordered the systematic killings at Darfur, a region in western Sudan.

Anti-government groups accused the al-Bashir administration of neglect. Subsequently, an onslaught of ethnic cleansing ensued, displacing more than 3 million people and taking the lives of over 400,000. The conflict ended only when South Sudan was at last granted independence through a referendum obtaining the backing of 99 percent of voters in 2011. However, the longstanding friction between the north and south still plagues the two countries today.

Glimpses of Peace and Hope

There have been many attempts to end conflict and strife in order to protect the lives of Sudanese directly affected by the ongoing violence perpetrated by dictatorship, neglect and oppression. The U.N. Security Council intervened in 2003, in order to provide humanitarian relief in an attempt to stabilize the region. For example, in Darfur, it created the United Nations Hybrid Operation in Darfur (UNAMID) in 2007, which allows for current, ongoing facilitation of peace talks between rebel groups and the government of Sudan. UNAMID has allowed for peacekeeping operations to provide mediation to conflicting groups and aid to civilians affected by continuing violence.

A breath of fresh air came in 2005 when the Government of Sudan and the Sudan People’s Liberation Movement signed the Comprehensive Peace Agreement in a historic resolution to lead the country on a road to development and stability. This was the start of a hopeful understanding between conflicting groups in Sudan to invest in the distribution of resources in order to begin bettering the lives of its people. Most recently, in 2019, the Transitional Government of Sudan and Darfur armed forces signed a peace agreement in an effort to express both sides’ willingness to establish peace in Sudan.

Sudan is seemingly seesawing between one conflict and another. Where peace is established or agreements are reached in one area, violence ensues elsewhere. Protests are not uncommon, but the people of Sudan are fighting for democracy and to bring attention to the necessity of elections and a civilian-led government. Peace in Sudan is not an impossible task. With the combined determination of international organizations and internal efforts to establish inclusive institutions, Sudan has hope of bringing itself out of its violent past.

– Jessica Ball
Photo: Flickr

,

7 Health Improvements in Afghanistan

Health Improvements in Afghanistan
Conflict has torn Afghanistan apart. Like all conflicts, it is the innocent civilians that suffer the most. Afghanistan continues to face a great amount of insecurity within its borders. Yet, despite the harsh conditions that are an everyday reality for civilians, the country continues to make additional health improvements. Here are seven health improvements in Afghanistan.

7 Health Improvements in Afghanistan

  1. Increased Health Facilities: Readily available health facilities initiated health improvements in Afghanistan, according to the Senior Health Specialist at the World Bank, Ghulam Dastagir Sayed. As of 2003, there were only 500 health facilities available for Afghan civilians. As of 2018, that number skyrocketed to 2,500 facilities. These facilities are located all over Afghanistan, but USAID makes it clear that low-income populations and rural areas are the most important to reach.
  2. The International Midwife Association: NGOs in Afghanistan have trained over 4,000 community midwives around the country and provided them with the necessary information to provide anti-natal care, postnatal care,  deliveries and immunization services to the people of Afghanistan. The NGO International Midwife Association has helped women in Afghanistan. Before it provided this help, many women did not have the necessary knowledge and help to have a safe pregnancy.
  3. Infant Mortality Rate: Afghanistan has the highest infant mortality rate in the world. However, from the year 2003 to 2015 the number of children dying before their 5th birthday has dropped by a total of 34 percent. This has lowered deaths from 137 per 1,000 births to 91 per 1,000 births. Health services and a better health care system in Afghanistan have caused these numbers to drop.
  4. Pregnant Women: Health care available to pregnant women in the country has also been among the health improvements in Afghanistan. From 2010 to the year 2018, health professionals have seen pregnant women at an increase of 3.5 percent each year. Additionally, women’s use of contraceptives and the number of births that professionals aided increased by 2 percent during the same eight years. The Afghani government has launched effective national health campaigns that have educated Afghani women and led them to seek out professional help during pregnancy. Women in the country are benefiting greatly through these increased health services. From the year 2003 to 2015, the number of women dying per 100,000 births has reduced by 64 percent. Similar to the improved child mortality rate above, a better health care system that reaches and educates Afghan women about their health has caused these improvements.
  5. The Afghanistan Development Association (ADA): NGOs are working to contribute to health improvements in Afghanistan. Seventy-two percent of the NGOs in the country are Afghan and are on the front lines providing medical treatment. One such NGO is the Afghanistan Development Association. ADA provides development and humanitarian aid to the country of Afghanistan.
  6. Drug Availability: Drug availability has risen in the country. It rose from 13.8 percent in the years from 2004 to 2010 and an additional 0.6 percent in the years 2011 to 2016. The government established the National Medicine and Health Products Regulatory Authority (NMHRA) that regulates medicines and other health products. This is one such program that is helping medicinal drug availability. Many Afghans have had to resort to smuggling medicinal drugs from neighboring countries or rely on traditional medicine. While Afghanistan has improved this problem, it can only continue its progress through programs like the NMHRA.
  7. Patient Counselling: Patient counseling is an important part of health care. From 2004 to 2010, patient counseling saw an increase of 6 percent annually followed by an additional 1.3 annually between the years 2011 and 2016. Patient counseling is important in the realm of family planning and child services.

While Afghanistan is still a country with many problems, one cannot deny that the progress it is making deserves celebration. The Afghan government partly made many of these improvements by actively engaging NGOs to tackle the health issues within its borders.

– Jacob E. Lee
Photo: Wikimedia Commons

 

,

The Poverty Reduction Strategy of Tanzania

Poverty Reduction Strategy of Tanzania
Recently, the World Bank released its list of nations that most successfully reduced domestic poverty from 2000-2015. The top five countries reduced poverty between 3.2 percent and 2.6 percent between 2000 and 2015, with Tanzania reducing the highest percentage. The top fifteen countries lifted 802.1 million individuals out of poverty. This article outlines the successful poverty reduction strategy of Tanzania and international support that caused the most drastic reductions in poverty around the world.

History of Tanzanian Poverty

Historically, Tanzania has been one of the most impoverished countries in the world. In 2000, 86 percent of Tanzanians were impoverished, but this number dropped to 28 percent in 2018.

Tanzania reduced poverty by 3.2 percent in 11 years, making it the country that reduced poverty the most in the last 15 years. The poverty reduction strategy of Tanzania is due to three elements: reducing income poverty, increasing access to basic necessities and improving government infrastructure.

Economic Growth

The first strategy focuses on sustainable economic growth, which includes decreasing inflation and focusing on growing parts of the economy that have the largest poor population. The employment and empowerment programs utilized in these strategies focus on agriculture, manufacturing, mining and tourism in addition to macroeconomic growth in exports and imports. Between 2000 and 2015, Tanzania’s export volume grew from 120 to 272, making it the world’s 130th largest exporter. This successfully increased Tanzania’s GDP from $13.3 billion to $47.3 billion.

Tanzania’s unemployment rate dropped from 12.9 percent in 2001 to 10.3 percent in 2014, because of the liquid capital that injected into Tanzania’s economy, a focus on job creation and an industrial transition that opened new jobs. The economic focus of the Tanzanian government lifted thousands of individuals out of poverty and made it the seventh-largest economy in Africa.

The Impoverished Individual

The second strategy focuses on the personal needs of those in poverty. Poverty reduction efforts seek to increase the quality of life and ensure that those in poverty have access to social welfare. Efforts concentrated on education, clean water, sanitation and health services. Because of these efforts, Tanzania increased the number of individuals who had access to clean water by 9 percent between 1990 and 2009. In the same period of time, Tanzania’s health care became more accessible. As a result, child mortality rates dropped from 162 to 108, infant mortality rates dropped from 99 to 68 and the rate of malaria contraction dropped from 40.9 percent to 40.1 percent.

Another poverty reduction strategy focused on education. Tanzania made education more accessible by increasing funding for education, bettering its transportation mechanisms (including roads) and emphasizing vocational education and education for girls. This focus on education increased school enrollment from 68.8 percent in 2000 to 84.6 percent in 2015.

Tanzania’s Commitment to its People

The third strategy is one of the governmental commitments to the impoverished Tanzanian people. This included ensuring the enforcement of the law, the accountability of the government for its people and the prioritizing of stability in order to avoid poverty. The IMF reported that Tanzania has become more accountable to its people, less corrupt and has increased citizen participation in governance, thus ensuring an effective political framework.

International Participation in Tanzania’s Poverty Reduction Strategies

The international community was critical to Tanzania’s successful poverty reduction. The United States, Tanzania’s largest source of aid, began giving Tanzania foreign aid in 2006. In that year, the U.S. gave $151.29 million. This number increased every year, with the U.S. giving Tanzania $633.5 million in aid in 2015. This aid has consistently gone towards the very areas in which Tanzania has seen the most improvement: humanitarian aid, governance, education, economic development and health.

While Tanzania still has a long way to go until it completely eliminates poverty, it has made significant progress since the beginning of the millennium. The poverty reduction strategies of Tanzania, including economic growth, investment in individuals and infrastructure and governance development, have been successful to a great extent. International aid has consistently been a contributing factor to Tanzania’s ability to reduce poverty and has successfully targeted the areas in which Tanzania required the most improvement.

–  Denise Sprimont
Photo: Flickr

,

10 Facts About Life Expectancy in Honduras

Honduras Life Expectancy
Honduras is a Central American country with a population of nearly 10 million people. Though the country has faced extreme poverty and disease, there have been significant signs of improvement in the country’s overall quality of life. These 10 facts about life expectancy in Honduras detail the improvements the country has made throughout its history.

10 Facts About Life Expectancy in Honduras

  1. Life expectancy is increasing. The life expectancy in Honduras has increased by almost a decade in the past 30 years. According to the 2019 Human Development Report from the United Nations Development Programme, the life expectancy at birth in 1990 was 66.7 years and rose to 75.1 years by 2018.
  2. Some of the top causes of premature death in Honduras are significantly lower than the average global comparison. The rate of deaths due to diarrheal diseases is 584.4 per 100,000, while the global average is more than 1,000. Similarly, the rate of deaths from stroke is less than 1,000 per 100,000, while the average is more than 1,800. Finally, the rate of deaths due to lower respiratory infections is 388.7 per 100,000, while the average is almost 2,000.
  3. The average years of schooling in Honduras has increased by more than three years since 1990. In 1990, the average years of schooling were only three and a half. In 2018, the average was more than six and a half. An increase in education often leads to higher-paying job opportunities, and therefore, access to better health care. Since 1957, the government of Honduras has had free primary school, which has led to a literacy rate of 83 percent.
  4. According to the Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC), Honduras has a low public investment in health per capita. The country currently ranks second in Central America and fourth in Latin America. The Latin American and Caribbean average is about $392 per person, while Honduras lies at about $101 per person.
  5. The mortality rates of both infants and children under 5 have both declined in the last 30 years. In 1990, the mortality rate in children under 5 was 53.4 per 1,000 live births. In 2017, the rate was just 14.6. For children under the age of 1, the mortality rate was 41.3 per 1,000 live births in 1990, which decreased to 11.6 in 2017.
  6. Some of the leading causes of premature death in Honduras include heart disease (41.6 percent), stroke (38.7 percent), violence (15 percent), road injury (16.4 percent), respiratory infections (2.5 percent) and other diseases. However, the World Bank approved the Country Partnership Framework for the country in 2015, which objectives include increasing access to finances, improving farming productivity and improving local governments to prevent violence and crime. The World Bank’s portfolio of the country is $259 million.
  7. The Honduras Social Security Institute (IHSS) has plans to expand its health facilities. The IHSS currently provides the public health system for about 37.1 percent of the working population. The institute currently has two public specialty hospitals and 10 outpatient facilities.
  8. In 2017, the World Bank reported that there were 0.314 physicians per 1,000 people in Honduras. Comparatively, Guatemala reported 0.355 physicians per 1,000 people.
  9. In 2015, the National Congress approved the Framework Law on Social Protection. This is the first time in Honduras that there was ever a law to define the national health care system. The multi-pillar law aims to extend health insurance, unemployment insurance and workmanship compensation to the working population, as well as Hondurans living in poverty.
  10. The Human Development Index (HDI), which measures the quality of life, health and wellbeing in Honduras, has increased from 0.508 to 0.623 from 1990 to 2018. To compare, Guatemala had a rating of 0.651, El Salvador a 0.667 rating and Haiti a 0.503 rating.

Although Honduras still needs to make progress in health care and safe water access, it has made a lot of improvements for its citizens in recent years. Honduras should be able to continue ensuring a long, healthy life for its citizens by continuing its improvements.

– Alyson Kaufman
Photo: Pixabay

, ,

5 Mental Health Effects of the Yazidi Genocide

5 Mental Health Effects of the Yazidi Genocide
In the past few years, the Yazidi populations of northern Iraq and northern Syria have faced forced migration, war, the enslavement of women and girls and genocide. These traumatic events have resulted in several, severe psychological problems among Yazidis. A lack of adequate treatment and a prolonged sense of threat compounds the five mental health effects of the Yazidi genocide.

The Yazidis, a Kurdish religious minority, practice a non-Abrahamic, monotheistic religion called Yazidism. When the so-called Islamic State declared a caliphate in Iraq and Syria, it specifically targeted the Yazidis as non-Arab, non-Sunni Muslims. ISIS has committed atrocities against the Yazidis to the level of genocide, according to the United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC); these crimes included the enslavement of women and girls, torture and mass killings. This violence caused many Yazidis to suffer from severe mental health disorders.

5 Mental Health Effects of the Yazidi Genocide

  1. Disturbed Sleep: According to a study by Neuropsychiatrie, 71.1 percent of Yazidi refugee children and adolescents have reported difficulty sleeping due to the trauma they have experienced. These sleeping problems include trouble falling asleep, trouble staying asleep and nightmares. Children are afraid that if they fall asleep they will not wake up again. Importantly, disturbed sleep will worsen other problems, such as anxiety.
  2. Post Traumatic Stress Disorder: PTSD is one common mental illness that the Yazidi genocide caused. According to the European Journal of Psychotraumatology, 42.9 percent of those studied met the criteria for a PTSD diagnosis. Women and men experienced traumatic stress differently. Women with PTSD were more likely to show symptoms such as “flashbacks, hypervigilance, and intense psychological distress.” Men with PTSD more frequently expressed “feelings of detachment or estrangement from others.” Additionally, more women than men reported having PTSD. According to a study that BMC Medicine conducted, 80 percent of Yazidi women and girls who ISIS forced into sex slavery had PTSD.
  3. (Perceived) Social Rejection: Perpetrators of genocide have often employed systematic sexual violence against women to traumatize the persecuted population. In addition to the devastating injuries women experience, they also suffer from several psychological disorders, including PTSD, anxiety, depression and social rejection. Families and communities frequently reject survivors; Yazidi women who suffered enslavement perceive social rejection and exclusion from their communities at high rates. For instance, 40 percent of Yazidi women that BMC interviewed avoid social situations for fear of stigmatization, and 44.6 percent of women feel “extremely excluded” by their community. Social support is a crucial way to alleviate some of the pain from sexual violence and enslavement since rejection from their community magnifies the likelihood that girls will experience depression. Thus, social support, such as community activities organized by schools, can help by decreasing the factors that worsen psychological disorders like depression and by increasing the rate at which girls report instances of sexual violence.
  4. Depression: The Neuropsychiatrie researchers also found that one-third of the children they studied had a depressive disorder. In another study by Tekin et al., researchers found that 40 percent of Yazidi refugees in Turkey suffered from severe depression. Similarly, a 2018 Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF/Doctors without Borders) study in Sinuni found that every family surveyed had at least one member who suffered from a mental illness. The most common problem was depression. As a response to the growing mental health problems among Yazidis, MSF has been providing emergency and maternity services to people at the Sinuni General Hospital since December 2018. MSF has set up mobile mental health clinics for those displaced on Sinjar mountain and provides services such as group sessions for patients. In 2019, MSF health care officials conducted 9,770 emergency room consultations, declared 6,390 people in need of further treatment in the inpatient wards and have helped 475 pregnant women give birth safely. While MSF has increased its health care activities in the region, there are still people on the waiting list to receive treatment.
  5. Suicide: Since the ISIS takeover of the Sinjar region of Northern Iraq, the Yazidis’ historical homeland, the incidents of suicide and suicide attempts among Yazidis have increased substantially according to Médecins Sans Frontières. The methods of suicide or attempted suicide include drinking poison, hanging oneself and drug overdose. Many Yazidis, particularly women, have set themselves on fire. To alleviate this uptick in suicide and other negative mental health effects, MSF increased its presence in the area and offered psychiatric and psychological health care. Since the start of this initiative in late 2018, MSF has treated 286 people, 200 of whom still receive treatment today.

In the aftermath of ISIS’ genocide against the Yazidis of northern Iraq and northern Syria, many survivors have experienced mental health problems stemming from the trauma. These genocidal atrocities will have long-term psychological effects on the Yazidis, but such issues can be mitigated by psychological care. The five mental health effects of the Yazidi genocide outlined above prove the necessity of such health care for populations that have endured genocide and extreme violence.

– Sarah Frazer
Photo: Flickr

 

,

Improving Public Health in Mali 

Public Health in Mali
Mali is a nation that has had both ups and downs in recent decades where public health is concerned. Food and waterborne diseases are particularly problematic within the country. The degree of risk for attracting some sort of major illness or infection within Mali is very high. Among the top 10 causes of death in Mali are neonatal disorders, malaria, malnutrition and lower respiratory infections. Many of the issues surrounding public health in Mali largely correlate with access to food and clean drinking water.

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC)

The CDC has been working in a close partnership with the country since 1996 in an effort to provide aid for public health in Mali. A CDC epidemiologist first began working with Mali on stopping diseases like smallpox and measles. However, its mission within the nation’s borders has expanded. One goal of the CDC’s current partnership with the nation is to improve public health in Mali. The CDC is expanding access to solutions for vaccine-preventable illnesses and other leading causes of death. Another goal is strengthening the country’s laboratory and workforce capacity to help it be more prepared for disease outbreaks.

The U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID)

Despite some serious achievements within the health sector of the country, public health in Mali still remains one of the largest concerns within its borders. The newest strategy under the U.S. Agency for International Development focuses heavily on development within the region in several different ways. It prioritizes the comprehensive packaging of high-impact health services at the community level and pushes for making said necessary health initiatives accessible to those who need it the most. Additionally, the organization supports the goals of the U.S. Government Global Health Initiative. The organization is continuously looking for ways to improve public health by making effective, quality health services to Mali’s citizens.

Prioritizing Mothers and Children

Even more specifically, Mali and initiatives must give special attention to mothers and children within the country as part of any approach to improving public health in Mali. Some organizations prioritize this above all else, like Mali Health. Its approach focuses on promoting financial health and stability. Mali Health removes financial barriers that stand in the way for many citizens of Mali. The thinking behind this approach is that with fewer financial barriers posing as obstacles for mothers, they will be able to seek out medical care for themselves and their children easier than it may have been previously to do so. Approaching public health in Mali primarily by tackling issues that heavily affect mothers and children first is an intuitive idea. Doing so means that healthier mothers are able to raise healthier children. The children will live and thrive past the years where certain illnesses can be particularly deadly. In addition, when more children survive and thrive, it leads to successes in Mali’s workforce, population growth and economic growth.

Clean Water in Mali

Another integral approach to solving the issues which plague public health in Mali is one that focuses primarily on clean water. Diarrheal diseases are especially lethal and often emerge out of a lack of access to clean and safe drinking water. One nonprofit organization, Medicine for Mali, has drilled 28 clean water wells within the country in hopes of providing cleaner water to its citizens. Solar even powers some of these wells and the organization has provided training within the villages it services so that users know how to maintain and repair the wells. It is through organizations like these that profound impacts are visible on public health in Mali. The implementation of health services and wells can change the lives of thousands of people all at once. This sparks a movement to help a nation on its path to growth.

Like many other countries, Mali still needs improvement in order to become substantially healthier. Public health in Mali still faces many issues. The real challenge lies in ensuring that clean drinking water, necessary medications and vaccinations and preventive health services are accessible throughout the country. The country should undoubtedly achieve this through the combined efforts of nonprofit organizations, its government, its citizens and foreign aid agencies in the U.S.

– Hannah Easley
Photo: Flickr