Archive for category: Global Poverty

Key articles and information on global poverty.

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Threatening Diseases in Croatia


With an evolving population of 4.3 million people, Croatia is known for its rich historical culture, beautiful landscapes and pleasant climate. As a result, Croatia has become a booming tourist destination. Although widely known for its attractions, many transmittable diseases in Croatia threaten the health of its population and the country’s tourism industry.

Here are just a few of the threatening diseases in Croatia:

Typhoid Fever

Typhoid fever is a systemic infection, usually contracted through contaminated food or water. The symptoms include prolonged fever, nausea, headache, loss of appetite and constipation or diarrhea. It thrives in areas with poor sanitation and lack of clean drinking water. According to a study published in 2014, approximately 21 million cases and 222,000 typhoid-related deaths occur annually worldwide, demonstrating the real threat that this communicable infection poses.

Currently, there are two typhoid vaccines that are recommended for use, including an injectable polysaccharide vaccine (Vi-PS vaccine) for persons of age two years and above. The other vaccine is a live attenuated oral Ty21a vaccine for those over five years of age.

Malaria

Malaria is a life-threatening disease caused by parasites that are transmitted through mosquito bites. The symptoms include fever, headache, chills and vomiting, which usually appear within 7 days or more (usually 10-15 days). If not treated quickly, this can progress to severe illness, often leading to death.

Malaria is preventable and curable, easing the burden in many countries around the world. Currently, there are no licensed vaccines against malaria or any other human parasite. However, with insecticide-treated mosquito nets and antimalarial drugs, malaria can be prevented.

Hepatitis B

As a viral infection that attacks the liver, hepatitis B is a virus that is transmitted through contact with blood or other bodily fluids of an infected person. Every year, more than 686 million people die due to the complications of hepatitis B, including cirrhosis and liver cancer.

A vaccine against hepatitis B is available in preventing the infection and the development of chronic disease and liver cancer complications. However, the treatment does not cure all cases of hepatitis B. By only suppressing the replication of the virus, lifelong treatments are necessary in order to fight against the complications of the virus.

Although the diseases in Croatia are constantly threatening the health of the country’s population and its tourism industry, many are continuing to develop innovative methods to help bring vaccinations and preventable solutions to Croatia, potentially saving millions of lives.

– Brandon Johnson

Photo: Flickr

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Humanitarian Crisis in Yemen

Crisis in Yemen
The humanitarian crisis in Yemen is reaching new heights. There is a proxy war being fought between the Sunni Muslim state of Saudi Arabia and the Shiite Muslim state of Iran. More than 10,000 Yemeni civilians have been killed and roughly 2.1 million have been displaced.

According to the U.N., 80 percent of the population is in need of some form of humanitarian aid. There is a water shortage that may completely deteriorate in 2017. There are now 21 million people dependent on international aid to survive.

Factors Contributing to the Crisis

The Houthi uprising began in the wake of the Tunisian civil war in 2011. This was a major security concern for the Saudi government, as it shares its southern border with Yemen. Yemen’s President Ali Abdullah Saleh, backed by Saudi Arabia and the U.S., was forced to resign from office in 2011. This occurred after widespread protests were held in opposition to his illegal business dealing and his amassed $60 billion. A U.N. expert panel stated in a report that, “Many have argued that the country’s spiraling debt and economic problems would be alleviated with a repatriation of these alleged stolen assets.”

Power was ceded to Abd Rabbuh Mansur Hadi in February 2012. Houthi rebels then took control of Sana’a, the capital city, through a string of terrorist attacks. Hadi fled the country.

The humanitarian crisis in Yemen continued to worsen with a growing food deficit, increasing drought and terrorism concerns. Half of Yemen’s population was living below the poverty line, and almost half of the population was under the age of 18 and unemployed. Saudi Arabia led a U.S., U.K., and France-backed coalition in support of Hadi’s internationally recognized government against the Houthi rebels.

Former secretary-general Ban Ki-Moon announced that the U.N. had documentation of widespread violations of children’s rights in Syria that were committed as part of the Houthi child soldier recruitment efforts, as well as the child casualties from the Saudi airstrikes. Saudi Arabia threatened that if it were not removed from the report, they would cut off its funding to the U.N. and incredulously, the threat succeeded. This miscarriage of justice has hurt the U.N.’s reputation as an impartial mediator in the conflict.

War crimes are being committed on both sides as the humanitarian crisis in Yemen carries on. Unfortunately, these crimes will likely continue without reprimand or sanctions as Saudi allies, like the U.S., have vetoed the U.N.’s independent international investigation into these war crimes. This effectively kills any charges against the Saudi’s or Houthi rebels, endangering countless more children’s lives.

– Joshua Ward

Photo: Flickr

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Fast Fashion and Ethical Fashion

Fashion and Ethical Fashion
The fashion industry is having a dramatic impact on the environment and on the lives of people around the world, predominantly those in poverty. Fashion can be bucketed into two categories: fast and ethical. To the regular consumer in the United States or in Europe, it might be hard to know the difference between the two.

Negative Global Impacts of Fast Fashion

We are living in a world of fast fashion, a term Merriam-Webster defines as, “an approach to the design, creation and marketing of clothing fashions that emphasizes making fashion trends quickly and cheaply available to consumers.” Some of the large-scale fast fashion brands include H&M, Levis and Nike. With fashion trends changing quicker and fashion seasons getting shorter, cheap clothing is purposely being made poorly in order to not last.

With these big brands producing so much clothing at such a fast rate, there are more and more amounts of clothing going to thrift stores. Thrift stores can’t keep up either, though. What many don’t know is that about 40 percent of donated clothes end up getting baled up and sent to different countries overseas. In New York City, most donated clothes end up making their way to Africa.

Besides the overwhelming amount of tangible fabric leftovers, fast fashion is having a dramatic impact on the people who make our clothing. Garment workers are practically invisible, with 97 percent of our clothes being made overseas in developing countries.

Workers in the fashion industry are exploited; they receive extremely low wages while working in inadequate conditions. About 40 million people around the world (85 percent who are women) create clothes. In 2013, an eight-story garment factory called Rana Plaza collapsed in Bangladesh killing 1,135 people and injuring around 2,500. The average monthly income for a garment worker in Bangladesh is only 68 dollars.

Ethical Fashion is Gaining Visibility as a Solution

With such problematic issues surrounding the fashion industry, it is increasingly important consumers make responsible and sustainable purchases. Ethical fashion has gained popularity as many companies and organizations are adopting fair-trade and other responsible business practices.

The United Nations’ Ethical Fashion Initiative is just one of many such initiatives. Seeing fashion as a means for development, this initiative upholds that, “in all things, people need to come first.” This initiative also stresses the significance of “fair supply chains” and “dignified working conditions” that do not involve “any form of labor exploitation.”

There are many people who put work into creating the things we purchase. There is fast fashion and ethical fashion – it is our choice which one to support.

– Shannon Elder

Photo: Flickr

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Drought and Famine in Somalia

Famine is looming in Somalia and intergovernmental organizations are preparing to respond. According to the World Food Programme of the United Nations (U.N.), about half of Somalia’s population is affected by the drought and a quarter of the population needs urgent assistance.

Somalia has faced a drought since August 2015. The U.N. announced a risk of near-future famine in Somalia in early February. The U.N. appealed for 864 million dollars to help more than three million people in Somalia, and the U.N. Food Programme has a 26 million dollar plan to respond to the drought. Currently, the World Food Programme offers rapid emergency response, nutritional meals and vocational training, among other crucial services to Somalia.

The U.N. is not the only major non-governmental organization concerned about the possibility of famine. The European Commission’s Joint Research Centre and the Famine Early Warning Systems Network created a report with the U.N. Food and Agriculture Organization and the U.N. Food Programme to express risk of famine.

This is not the first time that Somalia has faced famine. When the country had a famine from 2011 to mid-2012, more than 250,000 people died. This famine resulted from a drought that began in October 2010. Philippe Lazzarini, the U.N. Humanitarian Coordinator for Somalia, said that more could have been done sooner to prevent these deaths. By the time the U.N. declared a famine based on the Integrated Food Security Phase Classification, many people had already died.

In addition to the famine in Somalia, there are also looming famines in South Sudan, Nigeria and Yemen. There are more than 20 million people affected by food insecurity in all of these countries combined. The U.N. needs 4.4 billion dollars by March to address the problem and the World Food Program needs 1.2 billion dollars of those funds to aid these four countries for the next five months.

Early intervention is necessary to avert the famine in Somalia and in nearby countries.

– Jennifer Taggart

Photo: Flickr

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Top 10 Hunger Stats


Recent growth and investment in agriculture in Eastern Asia and Latin America have put the regions on the path toward eliminating hunger. On the other hand, climate change, conflict and poverty have prevented more than 50 countries from reaching international food availability goals. This list of the top 10 hunger stats references in-depth studies and highlights global trends. Additionally, the list offers perspective into the effects of hunger on impoverished communities. Ahead are the top 10 hunger stats.

10 Hunger Statistics

  1. Between 2014 and 2016, 794.6 million people faced undernourishment around the globe. This is equivalent to 10.9 percent of the global population.
  2. Of those undernourished between 2014 and 2016, 779.9 million lived in developing regions. This number is equivalent to 12.9 percent of the population of developing areas.
  3. In Africa alone, 232.5 million people were undernourished between 2014 and 2016. This represents 20 percent of the African population.
  4. Undernourishment in Eastern Asia has fallen by nearly 50 percent in the last two decades, from 295 million undernourished between 1990-1992 to 145 million undernourished between 2014-16.
  5. In 2011, undernutrition was estimated to be the cause of 3.1 million child deaths — 45 percent of all child deaths.
  6. In 2013, 51 million children under the age of five suffered from wasting, or a decrease in fat and muscle tissue, with 17 million of those affected severely. Two-thirds of those children lived in Asia and almost one-third lived in Africa.
  7. In developing countries, close to 40 percent of preschool children are estimated to be anemic, or iron-deficient.
  8. An estimated 250 million preschool children across the globe do not have adequate levels of Vitamin A. Of those 250 million children, between 250,000 and 500,000 go blind each year. Additionally, half of that number die within 12 months of onset.
  9. Conflict increases hunger. In 2012, the estimated number of conflict-affected residents represented 21 percent of the estimated 805 million undernourished people in that year.
  10. In 2013, there were a dozen countries with a rate of under-five mortality at 10 percent or higher. They are all on the continent of Africa. The country of Angola is the only country in the world with an under-five mortality rate greater than 15 percent.

Hunger begets hunger. Many times malnutrition and undernourishment leads to low weight and poor human growth and development. These symptoms cause future health and financial problems. These top 10 hunger stats represent that, while the numbers of hunger are improving, past deficiencies have stunted growth for many nations.

– Shaun Savarese

Photo: Flickr

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Striving to End World Hunger: 20 Key Facts

world hunger facts
While progress has been made in the effort to end world hunger, one in nine people around the world still go to bed hungry. Here are 20 world hunger facts:

Top World Hunger Facts

  1. Roughly 795 million people, or one in nine, of the 7.3 billion people in the world are suffering from chronic undernourishment.
  2. Of the 795 million suffering from hunger, 780 million live in developing countries. That is 12.9 percent of developing countries’ population.
  3. World hunger is dropping. The number of undernourished people in developing countries was reduced by 42 percent between 1990 and 2014.
  4. Hunger is most prevalent in Asia and sub-Saharan Africa. Two out of three of the world’s undernourished people live in Asia. In addition, one in four people in sub-Saharan Africa is undernourished.
  5. There are two types of malnutrition. The first is protein-energy malnutrition, which is a lack of calories and protein. The second is micronutrient deficiency, which is a shortage of vitamins and minerals. While both are important, protein-energy malnutrition is the focus of world hunger discussions.
  6. Every year, hunger kills more people than AIDS, malaria and tuberculosis combined.
  7. Sixty percent of the world’s hungry people are women.
  8. Hunger affects women’s pregnancies. Each year, around 17 million children are born undernourished because their mother was undernourished while pregnant.
  9. Every 10 seconds a child dies due to a hunger-related disease.
  10. World hunger is caused by inequality and poverty, not a shortage of food. The world already produces enough food to feed roughly 10 billion people.
  11. Food waste contributes to global hunger. One-third of the food produced each year is wasted, which costs the global economy close to $750 billion annually.
  12. In developing countries, approximately 896 million people live on $1.90 a day or less.
  13. Food aid, not including emergency relief, is often more damaging in the end. This is because free or subsidized food shipped from the U.S. and Europe and sold below market prices hurt local farmers who cannot compete.
  14. Approximately 66 million primary school-age children in the developing world attend classes hungry. This has a negative impact on their futures, as hungry children spend fewer years in school and cannot concentrate.
  15. The U.N.’s World Food Programme works to end world hunger by providing free meals and snacks in schools around the world. In 2015, the program provided 17.4 million children with meals or snacks. This not only helps to feed children around the world but is also an incentive for parents to send them to school.
  16. People involved in agriculture are especially susceptible to hunger. Fifty percent of hungry people in the world are farming families.
  17. Gender equality is a vital part of efforts to end world hunger. Around half of the world’s farmers are women, but they do not have access to the same tools, such as training and land rights, as men. If men and women had the same resources, female farmers could increase their productivity to help reduce world hunger for approximately 1.5 million people.
  18. One possibility for reducing world hunger is sustainable agriculture, which aims to preserve the Earth’s natural resources, through things like crop waste recycling and more precise fertilizer use.
  19. Microfinance also has the potential to end world hunger. These programs help to reduce poverty and improve gender equality through providing poor people, particularly women, with credit to develop small businesses.
  20. The U.N. estimated that it would take roughly $30 billion a year to end world hunger.

Undernourishment remains a pressing issue in both developing and developed countries; however, new research and technology reveal promising solutions to help end world hunger.

– Alexi Worley

Photo: Flickr

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8 Examples of Gender Discrimination in the Middle East and North Africa

Gender Discrimination Examples
The inception of the United Nations (U.N.) Millennium Goals spearheaded the push towards achieving more social progress by promoting gender equality and the empowerment of women. Despite the fact that two-thirds of the developing world have achieved a level of parity, the problem still persists in the Middle East and North African countries. The lack of access to education, the right to marriage, ownership and custody rights are some very common and debilitating issues that contribute to gender discrimination. However, some of the following examples of gender discrimination shed light on the more uncommon and often overlooked examples of gender inequality.

8 Powerful Examples of Gender Discrimination

1. The Gender Gap
Developing and developed countries have faced this social issue, although to varying degrees. Women in developed countries still face social hindrances owing to the gender – wage gap – a phenomenon that will still take 188 years to even up, according to the World Economic Forum. Women also have fewer responsibilities and are given fewer rewards for their work.

2. Being Forbidden to Drive
Across many conservative communities in Saudi Arabia, women still face this major social bulwark. Despite it not being a law, women are still not allowed licenses and can only exercise the right to go out in public if accompanied by a chaperon. The Arab Spring in 2011 resulted in a deluge of rallies and protests among women. Even though society is becoming more progressive, especially with regards to allowing women to contribute to the labor force, it will take further social reform to overcome this hindrance.

3. Restrictions on Clothing
Upon the pretext that women should not ‘flaunt their beauty,’ women in many conservative communities have to wear the complete body burqa, coupled with loose-fitting clothes when they are out in public as an interpretative exegesis of the Sharia Law. Many world leaders like U.K. Prime Minister Theresa May have spoken against the issue which is very pervasive in Saudi Arabia, Gambia, Sudan and North Korea.

4. Not being Allowed to Travel
In some extreme cases, women are not allowed to leave the country without the consent of their husbands. Up until the age of 40, single women are required to ask their father for permission. For example, Niloufar Ardalan, the Captain of the Iranian Women’s Soccer team was banned from taking part in the Women’s Futsal Championship of Malaysia in 2015 by her husband as it was in violation of Islamic Law.

5. Honor Killing
This is a deplorable practice that revolves around the hidebound idea that girls have to uphold the supposed ‘cachet’ of their families and abide by the patriarchal demands of the society. Honor killing is largely attributed to the poor education system and ineffective government legislation among rural communities. Consequently, Qandeel Balcoh was killed by her brother Waseem Ali in 2016 because she had supposedly brought dishonor upon her family because of how she expressed herself on social media.

6. Female Genital Mutilation
This problem is prevalent in Sub-Saharan African countries, Egypt and other countries in South Asia due to lack of sex education and awareness. The practice stems from a fundamentalist cultural ideology still held by many traditional communities and based on ensuring a girl’s fidelity before marriage. It is one of the very dire examples of gender discrimination and is a human rights violation. It results in severe pain, difficulties in urination and spread of infection.

7. Female Infanticide
Unfortunately, this practice is rather prevalent among rural communities in India, Pakistan and China. For example, China’s one-child policy has contributed to this issue. Boys are thought to galvanize the financial security of the family, while women are treated as burdens and often seen only as child-bearers and caretakers of the household. In some regions, there are as low as 300 girls for every 1,000 boys. Moreover, Beti Bachao, Beti Padhao (Save Girls, Teach Girls) in India, is a social reform initiative that is cracking down on related issues like child marriage.

8. Lack of Legal Rights
This form of gender discrimination is ubiquitous in many countries. From child custody and rape laws, this broad term encompasses many aspects where women are not given enough legal counsel. Spousal rape is not criminalized in many countries and complaints lodged with the police never materialize. In many countries in the Middle East, divorce laws are very weak. The evidence is often not admissible in court and eyewitnesses are always required for cases to be considered.

The progress made over the decade to combat gender discrimination is truly remarkable. Historically pivotal revolutions like the Suffrage movement have been the foundation for women’s rights activism today. Both modern and classical feminism are becoming widespread concepts that many in the international community are adopting. The steady momentum of human rights organizations like Amnesty International, the International Alliance for women, U.N. Women and other local non-governmental organizations have already made a big difference.

Achieving women’s rights is an effective way to crumble ramparts made by society. Female participation greatly helps bolster the economy and catalyze social development in the long run.

– Shivani Ekkanath

Photo: Flickr

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10 Facts About Hunger in Sierra Leone

Hunger in Sierra Leone
The West African country of Sierra Leone is home to some of the greatest diamond, gold, and titanium mines in the world. Despite this natural wealth, however, more than half of Sierra Leone’s people live below the poverty line. Here are 10 facts about hunger in Sierra Leone:

  1. There are more than 6.4 million people living in Sierra Leone, 52.9 percent of whom live below the national poverty line.
  2. Malnutrition is the greatest cause of child mortality in Sierra Leone, accounting for nearly half of all child deaths. Almost one-third of children under five are chronically malnourished.
  3. Roughly 60 percent of the population lives in rural areas, the majority of whom rely on subsistence agriculture for their livelihoods.
  4. Agriculture, however, has faced many challenges in recent years due to lack of equipment, poor quality seeds, deforestation and climate change. Rice production has declined so significantly that only four percent of farmers produce enough to meet their needs.
  5. Due to these agricultural struggles, the country now imports large amounts of food. Between $200 and $300 million is spent each year importing rice alone, harming local agriculture and increasing the country’s vulnerability to global price fluctuations.
  6. Economic development halted between 1991 and 2001 due to a civil war. This has had lasting impacts on the country’s economy, as approximately 1.5 million people were forced to leave their homes and livelihoods.
  7. The Ebola outbreak also worsened hunger in Sierra Leone. Approximately 280,000 people were made food-insecure due to the disease.
  8. In order to encourage young people to attend school, and to increase the education that is vital to rebuilding the country post-war, many primary schools offer feeding programs.
  9. In areas of the country where agriculture is still not providing enough food to feed the villages, food-for-work and food-for-training programs are in place to help support people as the country’s infrastructure is rebuilt.
  10. The World Food Programme runs a number of programs in order to combat hunger in Sierra Leone. Among them is a supplementary feeding program in order to treat malnutrition in lactating mothers and children under five.

While the country is still struggling to rebuild its economy after repeated crises, progress has been made. Numerous programs have been put in place that are making a significant impact in the fight against hunger in Sierra Leone.

– Alexi Worley

Photo: Flickr

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15 Statistics on Refugees

refugee statistics
The refugee statistics are appalling. The last few years have seen the highest levels of refugees on record. The topic is everywhere — on television, online and on the minds of both those displaced and those trying to help. To grasp how big the world refugee crisis truly is, below are 15 statistics on refugees worth knowing.

Top Refugee Statistics

  1. Nearly one in 100 people worldwide have been pushed out of their homes due to war or political instability.
  2. Including 5.2 million Palestinian refugees, the total number of refugees in the world today is 21.3 million. This does not include internally displaced persons (IDPs) who have not left their country’s borders but were forcibly moved from their community. More than 65 million people are affected by war and power struggles, including IDPs.
  3. Fifty-three percent of refugees come from Somalia, Afghanistan and Syria. Respectively, 1.1 million, 2.7 million, and 4.8 million refugees are from these countries.
  4. The Middle East and North Africa host 39 percent of refugees. Africa hosts 29 percent, Europe and the Americas host 18 percent, while Asia and the Pacific host 14 percent. Turkey, Pakistan, Lebanon, Ethiopia, and Jordan rank as the top hosting countries.
  5. The number of people seeking asylum in Europe has also reached a record high of 1.3 million. Most of these refugees are from Syria, Afghanistan and Iraq.
  6. Germany, Hungary and Sweden have become the top destination countries in Europe for refugees.
  7. In the history of statistics on refugees, the last five years have seen the greatest rate of increase on record. The greatest rate of decrease occurred between the years 1994 to 1999. The lowest recorded number of refugees was in 1963.
  8. Nine out of 10 refugees head for neighboring countries. Most do not seek asylum in industrialized countries. About 86 percent are hosted in developing countries.
  9. Pakistan and Iran house nearly 95 percent of Afghan refugees.
  10. Turkey, Lebanon, Jordan, Iraq and Egypt house nearly 95 percent of Syrian refugees.
  11. The U.N. Refugee Agency was underfunded by $10.3 billion dollars in 2015. It is estimated that the annual cost of U.S. airstrikes against ISIS in Syria will be $10 billion.
  12. Several countries are doing their statistical “fair share” to assist in the latest refugee crisis. Canada is at the top of this list, receiving almost 250 percent of its estimated fair share of refugees. Norway is second, accepting 144 percent of its fair share, and Germany is not far behind, welcoming 118 percent.
  13. The countries that accept the least of their fair share include the U.S., Spain and France, all standing at 10 percent. Japan, Russia and South Korea rank last, having accepted zero percent of what would be considered fair.
  14. The largest refugee camps in the world include Kakuma Camp in Kenya, Zaatari in Jordan and Yida in South Sudan. Each of these camps hold more than 70,000 people, which is more than the population of Boston.
  15. Many case studies illustrate the need for clean water. In Kakuma camp, households that had access to 110 liters of water per day saw 11 cases of cholera; those who had access to 37 liters of water per day noted 163 cases.

These statistics on refugees show the extent to which this unprecedented crisis has affected the world. Certain regions are more affected than others, but affected most are the displaced persons themselves.

– Michael Ros

Photo: Flickr

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Malaria in Zanzibar: Conquering Disease with Technology


Among other diseases endemic to the region, malaria presents a constant danger in sub-Saharan Africa. While the disease continues to spread, new methods and technology are utilized to contain and treat it. Habiba Suleiman Sefu, a malaria surveillance officer, stands on the front lines of this fight on the archipelago of Zanzibar, off the coast of Tanzania.

Malaria is by far the deadliest disease known to mankind, killing more than 1,000 children a year. Most victims of the disease live in sub-Saharan Africa, in moist, humid regions where disease-carrying mosquitoes thrive. While the disease is not contagious, it is blood-borne and can spread quickly in areas with poor sanitation and standing water.

Historically, malaria in Zanzibar has been a constant danger, as it is the leading cause of death in mainland Africa. In 2000, malaria accounted for 30 to 50 percent of all hospital admissions and approximately half of all hospital deaths.

Sefu, 29, is an environmental science graduate and works as a malaria surveillance officer in the village of Shikani, in the southwest region of Zanzibar. Habiba tracks and treats malaria on the archipelago using her tablet, mobile phone and motorcycle, all supplied to her by the U.S. President’s Malaria Initiative (PMI).

When a case of malaria is reported at the local clinic in Shikani, Sefu receives an SMS message on her mobile phone. She then visits the family of the patient and tests them for the disease. If it is detected, she distributes medication and encourages affected individuals to go to the hospital.

In addition to treating malaria, Sefu educates families on the disease and makes certain that they are aware of contributing risk factors. She makes sure that families understand the importance of intact mosquito nets, insecticide, and the elimination of standing water, which provides a breeding ground for mosquitoes.

Sefu represents a new generation of disease control, utilizing new methods and technology to target malaria at its source and stop outbreaks before they begin. These new methods of malaria identification and treatment have yielded unprecedented results in fighting the disease. In fact, the prevalence of malaria in Zanzibar was reduced from 40 percent in 2005 to less than one percent in 2012. In addition, hospital admissions for malaria decreased to less than five percent in 2012, and no malaria-related deaths have been reported in Zanzibar since 2009.

While malaria has historically been a problem in sub-Saharan Africa, places like Zanzibar are making great strides towards eradicating the disease through the use of new technology and tracking methods. These methods have effectively eliminated malaria in Zanzibar, and with the use of surveillance officers like Sefu, malaria can be similarly eradicated on the African mainland.

– Chasen Turk

Photo: Flickr