Information and stories on health topics.

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The Nursery of the Future

Nursery of the Future
Premature births are a very real scare for mothers in developed countries like the U.S., but in developing countries, they can mean almost certain death. Worldwide, premature birth is the leading cause of death for children under five years of age. Despite advances in technology that have made tremendous strides in improving health outcomes for babies born earlier than 37 weeks, in developing countries, where women may be at a higher risk for giving birth prematurely, this technology is generally widely unavailable due to high prices and lack of access to adequate healthcare. Nursery of the Future is working affordable alternatives to those who need it most.

 

The Birth of Nursery of the Future

 

A bioengineering professor at Rice University in Texas, Rebecca Richards-Kortum, consistently saw this problem and wanted to do something about it. Along with colleagues and students, Richards-Kortum has begun to develop “the Nursery of the Future.” The team has developed prototypes of alternatives to high tech, and high cost medical machinery that is common across the U.S., for use in more underdeveloped areas around the world.

One such example of a low cost alternative is a belly band. One common problem in preemies is neurological underdevelopment that can cause the baby to stop breathing. In hospitals across the countries, monitors alert nurses if a baby stops breathing and the nurse then stimulates the baby somehow to remind them to breathe. In developing countries, these monitors are often too expensive to be used and often times infants die before a nurse notices. The belly band developed by Richards-Kortum and Maria Oden, a colleague, was designed with a tiny motor attached to it that detects when a baby’s air intake is low, or they stop breathing, and vibrates to remind the baby to breathe.

The belly band is just one step towards the development of a whole “Nursery of the Future” kit. Richards-Kortum and the team hope to make the Nursery available for under $10,000 and widely accessible for community hospitals. The belly band has been tested in Texas and is approaching its first international trial in Malawi in the near future. The Nursery of the Future is a huge step in the global fight against child mortality and overall accessibility and affordability of medical devices. Innovations made in the Nursery Kit for preemies hold promise for innovations in other medical technologies that could improve access to essential medical devices around the world.

– Emma Dowd

Sources: Houston Chronicle, TED Talks

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Zambian Rower Pulls for Clean Water and Health


Zambia has sent 166 athletes to the Olympic games since 1960. Of those two have earned medals—a silver in Atlanta for the 400-meter hurdles and a bronze in Los Angeles for boxing. Zambia, along with many other African countries, has never sent a rower to any Olympic games.

Zambian rower Antonia Van Deventer is hoping to change that in Rio 2016.

In July of 2011, Van Deventer and several international level scullers (rowers who use two oars instead of one) embarked on a journey to row 1,000 kilometers down the Zambezi River. The expedition, which took about 20 days, was wrought with obstacles from crocodiles to white water rapids.

“The aim is to promote grassroots sport—in particular, rowing,” said Van Deventer on the eve of the expedition.

Once the expedition closed, the best Van Deventer hoped for was that the boats used for the journey would be left behind for the benefit of the communities among the Zambezi.

In 2015, she can expect to get something better, as FISA (the international governing body for rowing competitions) and the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) have collaborated to build a state of the art rowing and research center on Zambia’s Kafue River.

As a major tributary of the Zambezi River, the Kafue is responsible for powering much of Zambia’s limited industry through a hydropower system. It is the main source of water, both for drinking and agricultural use for the communities that line its shores.

When the WWF became concerned about the degradation of the Kafue’s fresh-water ecosystem, they turned to FISA in hopes that sport could help promote ecological awareness and health in Zambia.

“The competing claims on the water of the Kafue River are a microcosm of what is happening in many parts of the world. The region is experiencing a conflict in demand from the population’s need for clean water…the lessons we learn from studying this ecosystem and interacting with all stakeholders will be valuable for use in Kafue and all around the world,” said Bart Geenen, a Senior Water Expert at WWF.

FISA is also optimistic about the opportunities that the sport of rowing can bring to Zambian athletes of all levels; from children to Olympic hopefuls like Van Deventer:

“We can use this Centre to help develop our sport in this region,” said Christophe Rolland of the World Rowing Federation. “It will provide a resident facility for the nearby schools and universities as well as rowers from universities around the world who can conduct their water research.”

What does a research and rowing center mean for Zambian citizens? The Kafue River and Rowing Center presents a unique opportunity to fuse the natural and athletic components of rowing with health outcomes in Zambia.

A 2010 Global Burden of Disease study conducted by the Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation named gastrointestinal problems such as diarrhea and non-communicable diseases (such as cardiovascular disease) as significant barriers to global health.

By promoting clean water research at the Kafue River and Rowing Center, scientists may be able to improve water quality and significantly cut down on the instances of intestinal disease. Additionally the aerobic and muscular benefits that come from rowing may help promote more long-term health in Zambian communities.

– Emma Betuel

Sources: The Lancet, Rudern, World Rowing 1, World Rowing 2
Photo: worldrowing

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Destigmatization of Breastfeeding in Urban India

Destigmatization of Breastfeeding in Urban India
World Breastfeeding Week is celebrated internationally every year from August 1-7th. Each year, there are various events and activities intended to educate about the benefits and encourage the practice. The theme this year was ‘Women and work – Let’s make it work.’ This year, added emphasis was placed on advocating for widespread maternity leave and other accommodations for working mothers.

Many organizations such as UNICEF, World Health Organization (WHO), and the Breastfeeding Promotion Network of India (BPNI) have worked both independently and jointly with the Indian government to provide information and spread awareness throughout the country. The breastfeeding rates are higher in the rural Northern states than in the urban South.

UNICEF Nutrition Specialist, Gayatri Singh states, “The government of India has laws, policies and programs to protect, promote, and support breastfeeding. UNICEF supports national and state governments in the development and implementation of infant and young child feeding policies and plans for promoting optimal breastfeeding.”

Singh goes on to say, “Communication and advocacy activities on breastfeeding are also a key component of UNICEF’s support. We also support governments to design strategies for social and behavior change communication and in the implementation of the strategies through multiple communication channels.”

In an effort to promote breastfeeding, the Indian government enacted the Infant Milk Substitute (IMS) Amendment Act in 2003 which prohibits any form of advertising claiming newborn formula as an equivalent option.

“In India, between 2006 and 2013, there has been an improvement in the breastfeeding rates. The latest data shows that 44.6% of children are put to breastfeeding within one hour of birth and 64.9% of children under six months of age are exclusively breastfed,” states Singh. He goes on to add that while knowledge of health benefits appear to be even higher, there are societal factors hindering the practice.

Dalvinder Kaur, a public relations specialist, states, “A lot of people, while thinking of breasts, automatically think of sex, as if that’s their primary reason for existence. I feel that it is pretty much the heart of the matter. Women’s breasts are often defined as sex objects–and nothing more. And since sex is basically a taboo in the public realm, breastfeeding ends up being perceived as some sort of indecent, out-of-bounds behavior.”

Dhanya Ranjit, a software engineer and mother speaks on the stigma attached to breastfeeding, “Women find it difficult to breastfeed and more so, to nurse in public because of the lack of support from any quarter. They also don’t see it happening around them. While I was very hesitant to breastfeed my older child in front of others but the encouragement and exposure to information through the Facebook support groups made me realize that it is as natural as an adult eating food in public.”

As is the case with many social movements, the internet can be utilized very effectively to raise awareness and garner support. “Big Latch On” is an international gathering that occurs in many cities during World Breastfeeding Week and event calls for mothers to join together publicly and breastfeed together. Through a social media campaign, a “Big Latch On” event was held this past August 1st in Hyderabad, Telangana, India. The organization started in New Zealand but has spread to many countries around the world.

Recent attempts at normalization in mainstream media have begun to manifest themselves as well. Indian cinema has begun to prominently display breastfeeding such as in the recent blockbuster movie Baahubali. The highly anticipated film cost $40 million and is the most expensive movie in Indian history. Whether purposeful or not, the display of breastfeeding in such a popular film shows marked progress towards shifting attitudes of the viewers.

– The Borgen Project

Sources: India Times, Jantaka Reporter, IBN Live
Photo: Flickr

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Reducing Food Loss, Waste and Meat Consumption Could End World Hunger by 2030


The United Nations has called for the end of world hunger by 2030 in its Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). In Goal 2, of 17, the UN outlines the need for the promotion of sustainable agriculture that will improve food security and nutrition while protecting the ecosystem and fighting climate change. Although a tall order, the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) along with the Austrian think tank, International Institute for Applied Systems Analysis, believes that the goal is attainable.

“I don’t think it’s all that ambitious to eliminate hunger,” said Jomo Sundaram, assistant director-general of the UN’s Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO). He told Reuters he attributes his optimism to rising incomes in much of the world, improvements in the transportation of food, and new technologies that are keeping yields of many key crops on an upward trend.

But in order to achieve the goal of eliminating world hunger, food waste and the inefficiencies of the livestock industry need to be addressed.

Despite the fact that there is currently enough food produced globally to end world hunger, much loss and waste occur postharvest. According to the World Resources Institute (WRI), about 24 percent of all calories currently produced for human consumption are either lost or wasted.

The WRI reports that by reducing postharvest losses there will be more food available to farmers and communities, making food more affordable and accessible to the poor and food insecure. This can be done, the group states, through attainable solutions for developing nations such as pest-resistant packaging and cooling-cellar storage.

Changing dietary habits is another important solution to ending global hunger, particularly shifting from raising cattle as a source of protein to growing fruit, grain, and vegetables. According to the FAO, the amount of human-edible protein that goes into raising livestock is higher than the human-edible protein yielded from livestock. The group estimates that 26 percent of the world’s land that is being used for livestock grazing could produce better and more nutritionally valuable yields if converted to growing plant-based food for human consumption.

In addition to increasing the yield of protein-rich crops, reducing the number of grazing livestock, particularly cows, will also lower annual greenhouse gas emissions. According to the FAO, “Livestock contributes both directly and indirectly to climate change through the emissions of greenhouse gases such as carbon dioxide, methane and nitrous oxide.” The FAO estimates that 18 percent of global greenhouse gas emissions come from livestock.

By implementing better waste prevention systems and simply eating less meat from grazing animals, the fight against global food insecurity could indeed be attainable.

– Claire Colby

Sources: Food and Agriculture Organization 1, Food and Agriculture Organization 2, Huffpost Impact, The Physics Factbook, The World Bank, The World Factbook 1, The World Factbook 2, The World Factbook 3, World Resources Institute
Photo: fao

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Smartphone App for Women’s Health in Uganda


Five female students from Makerere University in Uganda have developed a smartphone app for women’s health. The test kit will help rural women with little access to regular health care detect vaginal infections that may increase the risk of contracting sexually transmitted diseases such as HIV/AIDS.

Her Health BV kit is a combination of hardware and a software application. It comes with a test kit, which is connected to the smartphone app through Bluetooth. Users place urine or vaginal discharge sample onto the kit and pH values can be sent through the cell phone app. The app interprets the results and recommends visiting a local health clinic if unhealthy levels of bacteria are present. The app also informs the user of the closest nearby clinic.

Vaginal infections, known at bacterial vaginosis, are caused by a bacterial imbalance in the female body and can lead to an inflammation of the pelvic area. The condition is not especially dangerous, but it can make the infected woman more susceptible to a number of ailments. In pregnant women, vaginal infection has been shown to increase the risk of miscarriage, as well as uterine infections after giving birth. Vaginal infections also increase the likelihood of pelvic infections and complications during gynecological procedures such as cesarean sections.

These bacterial infections have also been cited as a risk factor for the contraction of HIV/AIDS: a recent study in the journal Sexual Transmitted Infections, part of the British Medical Journal, showed 88 percent of women found to be at high risk for HIV had experienced vaginal infections during the course of the study.

As vaginal infections present no obvious symptoms for the patient, diagnosis depends on regular pelvic exams, which can be difficult for rural women to obtain.

The group of five that created the kit call themselves Team Code Gurus. They hope to partner with various NGOs and nonprofits to distribute the testing kit in rural areas of Uganda. They also plan on raising awareness for this self-diagnostic kit through local clinics and pharmacies.

– Atifah Safi

Sources: Chronicle, Europe PMC, Nejm, Mayo Clinic
Photo: frontlinesms

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Rabies Outbreaks in Poor Rural Areas

Rabies outbreaks in poor rural areas
Rabies occurs in more than 150 countries in the world. The disease is present on all continents with the exception of Antarctica. Each year, tens of thousands of people die from the infection it causes.

Most of the areas that are affected are in Asia and Africa and account for over 95% of human rabies deaths. The disease occurs mainly in remote rural communities. Rabies outbreaks are rampant among impoverished and vulnerable populations.

Rabies is a zoonotic disease. It is caused by a virus that allows the disease to be transmitted to humans from animals. The disease may affect domestic and wild animals, known carriers include foxes, raccoons, skunks, jackals, mongooses and other wild carnivore host species. However, dogs are the primary sources of human rabies deaths. Rabies is spread to people through close contact with an infectious substance such as bites, saliva or scratches. Most people usually become infected after a deep bite or scratch by an infected animal. Upon the onset of the disease developing, the disease is nearly always fatal.

Prevalence in rural areas is due to the lack of vaccinations. There is low vaccination coverage of dogs, and an inability to finance the costs of vaccination for humans. Other factors include poor management of dogs, and in particular the free movement of dogs, which increases their risk of contracting rabies from wildlife.

In terms of policy, rabies is lacking policy formulations to combat rabies throughout developing countries. As a result of the poor level of political commitment and effort to control rabies, there is a lack of understanding of how rabies impacts public health and socioeconomic affairs.

Rabies is a vaccine-preventable viral disease. Each year over 14 million people receive a post-exposure vaccination to prevent the disease. This vaccination prevents hundreds of thousands of rabies deaths. Other strategies to control the disease consist of controlling the dog population, vaccinating domesticated animals and education about prevention to reduce the number of animal bites. After a bite, immediately cleaning the wound, and immunization within a few hours after contact with the animal can prevent the onset of rabies.

The World Health Organization promotes human rabies prevention through the elimination of rabies in dogs. Their target is for the elimination of human and dog rabies in all Latin American countries by 2015, and South-East Asia by 2020.

– Erika Wright

Sources: Iowa State University, International Journal of Infectious Diseases, NIH, WHO
Photo: CNN

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How a New Program Could Reconnect the Supply Chain

When Communication Really is Key; How a New Program Could Reconnect the Supply Chain and Keep Health Care Clinics Stocked
According to the World Health Organization (WHO), out of the close to the 1 million health centers in the developing world 40 percent of them are stocked out of essential supplies or medications.

In some countries, people walk three days to reach the nearest health clinic only to learn that they are out of stock of their medication. At the same time, health workers admit that they have life saving medications gathering dust and expiring on their shelves because their patients do not need them.

Reliefwatch is a platform for heath care organizations in the developing world to track the supplies in clinics and pharmacies. All clinics need to partake in Reliefwatch is a basic cellphone, which most clinic workers already own. The program involves no new hardware or installations and because all it requires is workers to punch in their inventory numbers into the cellphone, the training process is fast and simple.

Reliefwatch’s method is simple. An automatic call is sent to participating clinics whose staff enter their supply and medication inventories when prompted (Reliefwatch uses multilingual support systems). All the collected data is stored in their cloud system making it available in real-time anywhere in the world.

The information collected through Reliefwatch allows suppliers and NGOs to more accurately distribute medical supplies and medications. So instead of blindly shipping out supplies to clinics every three weeks, suppliers can effectively re-stock clinics based on their needs.

Daniel Yu, the founder of Reliefwatch, says his nonprofit has reduced stock-outs to 10 percent of current levels. Suppliers are more aware of which clinics need which drugs and facilities that have excess items can give them to clinics in need of them.

Reconnecting the supply-chain has a powerful effect. Suppliers can feel confident that their provisions are reaching places that need them, clinics and health care workers can adequately serve their patients and patients can depend on their medication being available when they need it.

– Brittney Dimond

 

Sources: Next City, Relief Watch
Photo: Flickr

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How Feed Projects Reduces World Hunger

How Feed Projects Reduces World Hunger
Malnutrition is a devastating reality for 805 million people around the world. Often a result of extreme poverty, hunger makes people more susceptible to illness and disease, stunting mental and physical development. It is the greatest risk to health.

Lauren Bush Lauren founded Feed Projects in 2007 after seeing the negative implications of malnutrition as an Honorary Spokesperson for the World Food Programme (WFP). During her travels with WFP, Lauren noticed that child hunger was best alleviated by school meals; not every school, however, could provide food for its students.

A free, nutritious school lunch has the power to break the cycle of poverty by making food easily accessible to children. It is Feed’s goal to provide meals for as many undernourished children around the world as possible.

As an online shopping platform, Feed primarily sells totes and bags but produces t-shirts and accessories as well. For every product sold, meals are donated, where the amount of meals provided depends on the price of the product sold. For example, the Feed Kenya bag sells for $250 and provides 370 school meals for children in Kenya. The Feed 1 bag is $80 and provides 185 meals.

All of Feed’s products are made under fair-trade regulations and with environment-safe materials. Additionally, the organization has built professional relationships in Columbia, Guatemala, Haiti, India and Kenya, providing job opportunities and sustainable livelihoods to developing communities.

Feed then sells the artisan-made products and gives meals back to those countries where the products were made. Feed provides food relief in 63 countries in total.

Lauren fully understands that world hunger is solvable and Feed does everything in their power to ensure that children are being fed. By providing meals for children in school, Feed also ensures that kids are attending school and receiving the proper nutrition to perform well. In other words, Feed works to eliminate world hunger and increase global education.

So far, Feed has provided 87,649,628 meals to children around the world. But it does not end there; in addition to school meals, Feed also provides micronutrients, mother-child nutrition, food aid in the U.S., emergency food aid and Vitamin A.

Plus, they encourage childhood education. Feed is working in big ways to eliminate world hunger and alleviate global poverty, bringing nutritious meals to children in need.

– Sarah Sheppard

Sources: Feed Projects 1, Feed Projects 2
Photo: Google Images

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Obesity and Malnutrition in Developing Countries

Obesity and Malnutrition
In 2014, more than 1.9 billion adults were overweight, and more than 600 million of these adults were obese. While we may often associate the epidemic of obesity with the developed countries, it has spread to the developing world as well.

There is a “double burden” of obesity and malnutrition in developing countries. Food that lacks important nutrients but is high in carbohydrates and sugars has become widely available in the developing world for a very low cost. Families that may not have a lot of money often resort to these food options.

This burden of both obesity and malnutrition is particularly evident in urban areas of poverty-stricken countries. The subsidization of agriculture in combination with multinational companies has made the production of foods with refined fats, oils, and carbohydrates cheap and widely accessible. Furthermore, more than 50 percent of low-income countries lack recommendations for food and beverage consumption.

In March 2015, the World Health Organization (WHO) released a guideline for sugar intake. While this is a step in the right direction, there is still more work to be done.

Potential solutions include taxations of high sugar content products, restrictions in marketing these products, and food industry regulations.

It is essential that the developing world does not repeat our mistakes. More importantly, it is not acceptable for developed countries to supply cheap, low-quality food simply for profit. There is a global accountability and responsibility that accompanies the rise in globalization.

– Iliana Lang

Sources: NIH, The Lancet, Oxford Journals, Food Navigator

Photo: Flickr

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The Benefits of the Egypt Recycling Program

New Wheels in Cairo: The Benefits of Egypt's Scrapping and Recycling
At 7 a.m. every Friday and Saturday, members of the Cairo Runners Club wake up and prepare to hit the soon-to-be crowded streets of Egypt’s capital. Yet these intrepid urban runners are not trying to exercise before work—the weekend actually has already begun (an Egyptian weekend lasts from Friday to Saturday).

Their early waking is rather a matter of health and safety than of discipline. By rising with the sun, they can avoid the noxious air pollution and congested streets that perpetually plague Egypt’s capital.

In fact, according to environmental data from the World Health Organization (WHO), Cairo is more polluted than even Beijing, Bangkok and Mexico City. It has a level of fine particulate that is seven times the WHO standards. These extreme levels of pollution often can lead to heart disease and cancer.

In order to curb air pollution, the Egyptian government has turned to a variety of strategies, including banning the burning of waste and spending more on public transportation. One program that is showing promising results is an initiative supported by the World Bank, which aims to replace old and inefficient mass-transit vehicles in the city.

The program, named Egypt Vehicle Scrapping and Recycling Program, provides cash incentives of up to 5,000 Egyptian Pounds, roughly 640 U.S. dollars, to taxi owners to relinquish and recycle their aging vehicles.

The Egypt recycling program also uses operating licenses to leverage compliance. Mass transit vehicles older than 20 years can no longer receive new operating licenses. Before the program, the age of the average taxi in Cairo was a whopping 32 years. Vehicles this old suffer from poor safety ratings, bad reliability and lack the catalytic converters that filter out pollutants from an engine’s exhaust.

Although the program is reinvigorating the transit fleet in Cairo, its effectiveness does not necessarily extend beyond the metropolitan area. In fact, since the program does not prescribe the method for disposing of these aging vehicles, owners can sell parts to private parties where the law is not in effect.

The Egyptian Environmental Affairs Agency also outlined a variety of challenges this program must face in order to succeed. First of all the program requires the complete motivation and organization of the vehicle owners, traffic department and the Ministry of the Interior.

The first project of its kind worldwide, the program also was entering uncharted waters and therefore only a small number could provide the required services. The complexities of Egyptian bureaucracy were also noted as hindrances to the program and would require attentiveness in order to coordinate affairs.

Nonetheless, since the program has been initiated in 2010, the World Bank has reported noticeable improvements. It estimates that during 2013 and in 2014, the program prevented over 130,000 tons of carbon dioxide emissions. The program also has exchanged an impressive total of 40,689 old taxis with new taxis in Cairo alone.

Many of the old taxis were in excess of 50 years old, well above the already high average of 32 years. As Cairo replaces more of its aging taxis it can expect cleaner skies and perhaps even more runners.

– Andrew Logan

Sources: The World Bank 1, The World Bank 2, United Nations Environment Program, Egyptian Environmental Affairs Agency, USA Today
Photo: Flickr