Archive for category: Health

Information and stories on health topics.

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Digital Otoscope: Can a Smartphone Detect Ear Infections?

Digital Otoscope
Ear infections are very common among young children and can be easily treated. By the age of three, a majority of children would have already experienced at least one ear infection. The problem emerges when ear infections go untreated. It can possibly cause serious medical issues. Researchers from Umea University in Sweden and the University of Pretoria in South Africa wanted to make diagnosis easy and affordable for people in developing countries. They created a software-based smartphone system along with a digital otoscope that can diagnose ear infections.

Claude Laurent, a researcher at the Department of Clinical Sciences at Umea University, says “Because of lack of health personnel in many developing countries, ear infections are often misdiagnosed or not diagnosed at all. This may lead to hearing impairments, and even to life-threatening complications.”

A digital otoscope is connected to a smartphone and takes photos of the eardrum. Then it is displayed on the smartphone. Since the software is cloud-based, the image is uploaded to the cloud. It is then analyzed and compared to archived images. The system automatically places it into one of the five diagnostic groups.

The system is completely portable allowing it to be used directly in the homes in villages and small towns.

Laurent says “Using this method, health personnel can diagnose middle ear infections with the same accuracy as general practitioners and pediatricians.” This is extremely important, as there tends to be a shortage of ear specialist in developing areas.

Traditionally, a pneumatic otoscope is used by doctors to view how much fluid is behind the patient’s eardrum. Although this method has been used for a long time, it is not always accurate. Often ear infections are misdiagnosed which may cause harm to the patient.

However, the software could possibly fix the problem of misdiagnosis. The digital otoscope has an 80.6 percent accuracy rate, while traditional otoscopes have an accuracy between 64 to 80 percent.

“This method has great potential to ensure accurate diagnoses of ear infections in countries where such opportunities are not available at present. Since the method is both easy and cheap to use, it enables rapid and reliable diagnoses of a very common childhood illness,” Laurent says.

Once widely available, this software-based smartphone system, with the use of cloud technology and a digital otoscope, will provide relief for children in various parts of the world.

– Karla Umanzor

Photo: Flickr

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Water Quality in Syria

Water Quality in Syria
As the conflict in the country continues, water quality in Syria worsens, leaving the population more susceptible to diseases and forced to migrate in unsafe conditions.

Poor water quality in Syria is caused by damage and lack of maintenance to infrastructure as well as poor sanitation. Low power supply and lack of sewage sanitation also contribute to an insufficient clean water supply.

Water is also used as a weapon. For example, in Aleppo, pumps and electricity stations that fuel the water are controlled by different fighting parties. The water supply is often deliberately turned off for long periods of time as a tactic to wear the other side down.

As a result, civilians suffer and must resort to whatever supply of water they can find, such as wells, which are not guaranteed to be clean. Those who drink unsanitary water are at risk for developing diarrhea, typhoid, hepatitis and other health problems.

The Middle East has the lowest per capita water availability in the world as well as one of the highest rates of population growth, according to Ashok Swain, director of the International Center for Water Cooperation.

Syria and other nearby countries such as Iraq suffered a severe drought from 2007-2010, which severely lessened agricultural productivity and forced farmers and herders to migrate for water.

“The inability of Syria and Iraq to meet the demand for water — due to growing populations and/or decreasing supply and flawed water policies — has only exacerbated problems caused by drought conditions,” wrote Marcus King, associate professor of International Affairs at George Washington University, in his essay “The Weaponization of Water in Syria and Iraq.”

“Water scarcity played a meaningful but complicated role in creating conditions that led to political unrest and ultimately violent insurrection in Syria in spring 2011 and the spillover into Iraq,” said King.

According to the U.N. Refugee Agency, 6.5 million people have been displaced inside Syria, and 4.8 million have fled to nearby countries such as Jordan, Lebanon, Turkey, Iraq and Egypt since the conflict began in 2011. Neighboring countries are also experiencing clean water shortages as a result of the influx of refugees.

The U.N. Children’s Fund brings portable water to refugees in Syria and other affected nations as well as implements cost-effective, sustainable water systems for communities in need. UNICEF is also working to relieve nations hosting refugees by augmenting existing water, sewage and waste collection systems to accommodate the increased demand.

Other relief efforts headed by UNICEF include:

  •  Improving access to quality education;
  •  Children’s programming and protection services;
  •  Providing vaccinations and nutritional supplements;
  • Issuing emergency cash assistance to families in need;

You can help Syrian refugees by making a tax-deductible donation to UNICEF.

– Cassie Lipp

Photo: Flickr

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500 Sails: Poverty in the Northern Mariana Islands

500 Sails: Poverty in the Northern Mariana Islands
In efforts to improve overall health and reduce poverty in the Northern Mariana Islands, the 500 Sails project is working to restore maritime culture to the Chamorro people. By 2030, the organization aims to have 500 traditional canoes, called proas, built, operated and sailed by the Chamorro people.

In the Northern Marianas, 51 percent of individuals live below the poverty line and more than 1,800 families make less than $5,000 a year. Additionally, non-communicable diseases like heart attack and stroke cause 45 percent of medical referral patients to need immediate health care. These diseases are responsible for seven in 10 deaths in the commonwealth.

The 500 Sails project aims to improve the overall health and well-being of the indigenous population by encouraging widespread participation in traditional proa construction and sailing. Promoting local maritime traditions will enhance Chamorro culture and bring economic benefits to reducing poverty in the Northern Mariana Islands.

Health problems in the Northern Marianas “are closely tied to modern sedentary lifestyles, high-carbohydrate diets, and the far-reaching consequences of poverty,” says Peter Perez, 500 Sails executive director.

The 500 Sails project was presented with a three-year developmental grant by the Social and Economic Development Strategies program and was met with broad public support. The grant is a part of the U.S. Congressional Native American Program Act of 1974, which promotes economic self-sufficiency of indigenous populations. Benefits of the program directly impact the local residents, as 500 Sails connects communities to their natural and cultural environment.

“This is not a giveaway program,” says Perez. Rather, participating individuals will help build and finish the proas and take water-safety courses to properly prepare for maritime activity.

By promoting the use of proas, Chamorros will have greater access to inter-island transportation and off-shore fisheries, improving physical health and diets.

Economically, the program will open employment opportunities and increase tourist activity, an industry that employs about a quarter of the workforce and accounts for nearly one-fourth of the commonwealth’s GDP. With a very young population and 11.2 percent unemployment as of 2010, strengthening employment in the tourist industry will help stimulate economic growth and prosperity.

The 500 Sails program addresses what acting Governor Ralph Torres views as the “three fundamental potholes toward prosperity — jobs, opportunity, and health.” By addressing these underlying issues of poverty in the Northern Mariana Islands, the fleet created by the project will navigate the Chamorro people out of poverty and toward cultural and economic prosperity.

– McKenna Lux

Photo: Flickr

Poor Health in the Pacific Has Hope

Poor Health in the Pacific Has Hope
The World Health Organization has identified nine out of the top 10 most obese nations as being located in the Pacific. Within these nine nations, rates of obesity range from 35 percent all the way up to 50 percent.

Obesity measurements are calculated by looking at an individual’s BMI, or body mass index. Pacific islanders naturally have a larger build than people of other ethnicities. This is the case because, at one time, people from this region were forced to endure long and difficult journeys at sea. People able to store enough energy in the form of fat were more likely to survive, and evolution selected for these genes. However, this genetic component still does not explain all of the obesity rates.

What does help to explain this epidemic is the increasing number of foods that are being imported to the islands. Traditional tropical diets included an abundance of fresh produce and fish, but these foods are now replaced with more processed foods, which provide a cheaper alternative. One World Health Organization worker and Fijian native even noted that “it’s cheaper to buy a bottle of coke than a bottle of water.”

Additionally, urbanization and increasing numbers of office jobs contribute to poor health in the Pacific. Historically, many jobs such as fishing and farming included a great deal of physical activity. However, as more people begin to drive to work in offices, physical activity is greatly reduced.

This obesity academic is exhibited in children as well. Roughly one in five Pacific children are obese, and diabetes is a constant concern for children as well as health services who struggle to meet increasing demands.

Despite these unfortunate circumstances, there is still much hope for improving health in the Pacific. Members of the World Health Organization are confident that higher taxes on soft drinks, controlled marketing of products aimed at children and general promotions of a healthy lifestyle can help to turn things around.

Additionally, Australian researchers recently found an issue with the way that the rates of Type 2 diabetes were being measured in the Pacific. Essentially, blood glucose levels measured in the first phase of the survey were mistakenly compared to plasma levels in the follow-up portion of the survey. This caused rates to become inflated to nearly twice their actual value.

It was originally believed that Samoa experienced a 24.3 percent increase in diabetes from 2002 to 2013 when the actual increase was less than 3 percent. Tonga was thought to have experienced a 12 percent increase when diabetes rates actually decreased by three percent. Clearly, a recalculation may be required.

Although this inflation certainly does not mitigate the entire health crisis occurring in the Pacific islands, it does mean that at least rates of diabetes may be lower than was previously thought. Further steps to improve health in the Pacific will need to include conscious efforts on behalf of national governments, health organizations and citizens to strongly promote healthy living.

– Nathaniel Siegel

Photo: Flickr

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Low-Income Communities Deserve Sanitary Menstrual Products

Low-Income Communities Deserve Sanitary Menstrual Products
In 2015, 18 percent of Rwandan females didn’t go to school or work because they couldn’t purchase sanity menstrual products.

Sustainable Health Enterprises (SHE) recycles trunk fiber from banana farmers to be cut, carded, washed, fluffed and solar dried for menstrual pads. The company supplies farmers with the necessary equipment and training services for production. They offer health and hygiene education to the community through schools.

SHE believes it’s a personal injustice that menstrual hygiene is seen as a luxury item. In Rwanda each year, the country has roughly a gross domestic product (GDP) loss of $115 million for women needing to take sick leave due to their periods. The company is fighting for the removal of value-added taxes on menstrual pads.

“We’re creating a blueprint to franchise globally. It’s a sustainable system that can be rolled out anywhere. We think it’s straight up common sense,” SHE outlined on the company’s website.

Most U.S. food stamp programs do not define sanitary menstrual products as an essential item. In India, people believe menstruation makes women impure. Most of the time females who are on their period are banished from completing their household obligations such as cooking, or even from inhabiting their homes at all.

In the largest slum, Mukuru, in Nairobi, Kenya, a study found that girls 10 to 19 years old were having sex with older men to gain access to sanitary menstrual products, according to Dignity Period.

In Burkina Faso, 83 percent of girls don’t have a sanitary menstrual changing area, and more than half of schools in the poorest countries lack private toilets, according to UNICEF.

Diana Sierra, a founder of Be Girl Inc., created a pair of underwear with a menstrual, mesh pocket that females can fill with any type of recyclable materials, such as cotton, grass or fabric, depending on the materials readily available in their geographic location.

After Sierra finished a master’s program in sustainability management at Columbia University, she traveled to Uganda for her internship. While conducting research on a coffee farm and cultural arts, she was working on the side to create a prototype for the most effective sanitary pad.

“So I said okay I’m going to hack this material with what I have handy. I took an umbrella for the layer on the bottom, I took like a mosquito net and cut it in pieces and stick it all together and created a kind of a universal pocket, a mix-proof pocket for a certain material,” said Sierra.

Sierra took her product to a school and the children found it successful, but they didn’t like the color black because they found it boring. In Tanzania and Malawi, the stigma associated with menstruation is more than a negative connotation. It is considered a curse.

“When we were asking them, they were talking about how they can’t touch an animal because the animal would just drop dead, and they cannot touch a baby because the baby can die. They cannot go through the crops because the crops will die,” said Sierra.

Sierra realized that she spent years working for global companies, designing for about 10 percent of the population with their extra TVs and face steamers, but she wondered about the other 90 percent of the world who feel that they aren’t deserving of a sanitary product.

Be Girl was launched in the U.S. to fiercely distinguish between and within genders. Sierra is mining a conversation of equality worldwide. It’s a product not exclusive to any socioeconomic status. She wants women to educate themselves about their options and teach others in every country so that generations that follow will spread the knowledge.

“They have the same value as a human being, but they’re completely overlooked. So that was the very first thing that I said I have to go and see this for myself and experience firsthand what it is that a designer can do for this type of scenarios,” said Sierra.

– Rachel Williams

Photo: Flickr

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Mother’s Delivery Kits Provide Affordable Birthing Supplies

Mother's Delivery Kits Provide Affordable Birthing Supplies
After a close friend died during childbirth, Adepeju Jaiyeoba founded the Brown Button Foundation, an organization in Nigeria that trains birthing attendants in 2011.

Training the birthing attendants led Jaiyeoba to another realization: the supplies being used to deliver babies often were not sterile and posed hazards to the health of both the mother and baby. In response, Jaiyeoba started the Mother’s Delivery Kits in 2013, a for-profit company that provides affordable birthing kits with safe and sterile equipment.

Jaiyeoba intended for her kits to be used as a safe alternative. However, it is not uncommon for dangerous practices to be used when health care practitioners and families lack access to safe and sterile birthing tools.

This is especially common in rural Nigeria. For example, traditional birth attendants may cut the baby’s umbilical cord with a rusty blade or suck mucus out from the baby’s nostrils to prevent them from asphyxiating. Both practices can lead to infection. In contrast, the Mother’s Delivery Kit provides sterilized scalpel blades and a mucus extractor along with another 13 to 15 sterilized delivery tools.

Development of the Mother’s Delivery Kit has been so influential that Jaiyeoba was recognized by President Barack Obama during the Washington Fellowship for Young African Leaders Presidential Summit in 2014 for her ventures.

Mother’s Delivery Kits provides birthing kits for health centers, hospitals, university teaching hospitals, maternal and child health organizations and Traditional Birth Attendants. They have about 205 attendants and institutions that have registered for a consistent supply. Over 7,500 kits were sold in the first year alone. Such use has yielded a 100 percent safe delivery record.

As of 2015, 11,000 kits have been delivered. This life-saving company hopes to continue expansion through Nigeria and franchise their model to other organizations in countries with similar problems of high maternal and infant mortality rates during childbirth.

– Laura Isaza

Photo: Flickr

AIDS Today: Where Has the Aid Gone for AIDS?

AIDS Today: Where Has the Aid Gone for AIDS?
How dangerous is AIDS today?

While many wealthy nations have found ways to manage HIV, neither it nor AIDS had yet been eradicated.

Since the epidemic began in 1981, over 70 million people have been infected with the HIV virus, and upward of 35 million have succumbed to AIDS.

In 2015 alone, 1.1 million people died of AIDS or of an AIDS-related illness. Sub-Saharan Africa houses a majority of the AIDS infected population. One in every 25 adults is infected with the disease.

Sub-Saharan Africa accounts for nearly 70 percent of the worldwide infected population, while the other 30 percent are dispersed primarily throughout Western and Central Africa, Asia and Latin America.

Despite these substantial numbers, investments in HIV prevention research have decreased. Many donors were met with a slew of competing funding demands. Others no longer see the retrovirus as posing a current threat. Much of the world views HIV and AIDS as medical relics — diseases of a time long gone. Yet every day nearly 5,753 people are infected with HIV. That is about 240 people every hour.

HIV is transmitted from person-to-person through unprotected sexual intercourse, transmission of contaminated blood and from mother to child during birth or through breastfeeding. There is no cure for HIV, but the virus can be treated to almost a complete halt with antiretroviral therapy.

However, marginalized groups of people are not granted access to this therapy. As of December 2015, more than 60 percent of people living with HIV did not have access to antiretroviral therapy.

For the first time since the beginning of the AIDS epidemic, scientists believe we are in reach of an entirely AIDS-free generation. Since 2000, the United Nation’s International Children’s Emergency Fund estimates that about 30 million new infections have been averted, eight million lives have been saved and 15 million people who would not otherwise have access are now receiving treatment.

The International AIDS Conference is a biennial meeting held for people working in fields actively related to the prevention of HIV. This year, nearly 18,000 delegates and 1,000 journalists showed up. Many of those in attendance were policymakers, people living with the disease and others committed to putting a stop to the epidemic. This year’s theme was “Access Equity Right Now.” It focused primarily on the ways in which the world can refocus global efforts on HIV/AIDS today and hopefully making treatment readily available to everyone.

But why should we stop there? With access to birth control and prenatal care, better sex education and sterile medical equipment, it is conceivable that we could live in a world that is entirely HIV-free — a world where AIDS really is history.

– Kayla Provencher

Photo: Flickr

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Major Diseases in Malta: A Continuing Struggle

Major Diseases in Malta: A Continuing Struggle
Known for being a premier island for holiday travel, Malta is an island located in the Mediterranean Sea between North Africa and Europe. Since gaining its independence from Great Britain in 1964, the island of Malta has made substantial improvements to all sectors of government, including their health care system.

Diseases in Malta are generally under control in part due to the fact that the country has made extensive progress in improving its health care system. According to the WHO, “The health care system is relatively equitable and comprehensive. The health care reforms are well focused on sustainability and quality based on an integrated and holistic approach.”

However, even with these advances to their health care system, many diseases in Malta are still present and increasing within the nation. Major diseases in Malta fall under the category of non-communicable diseases. These diseases range from bronchial asthma to obesity, to heart disease and cancer.

In 2003, ischaemic heart disease was the most deadly disease in Malta, killing almost 22 percent of the population that year. Studies have shown that both Maltese women and men over the age of 30 have a higher percentage of dying from ischaemic heart disease than the average European individual.

Uterine as well as breast cancer is also a major concern in Malta. Research indicates that death rates for these particular types of cancer, in Malta, are above average than other European nations. Additionally, death rates for cervical, ovarian and pancreatic cancer have decreased within Malta, but the percentages are still above European averages.

Despite the majority of diseases in Malta being non-communicable, the CDC also recommends that for those traveling into the country to have their routine vaccines as well as vaccines for hepatitis A, hepatitis B, yellow fever and rabies current and up to date.

In 2013, both an improved Mental Health Act and a general Health Act were approved by the government of Malta. These improvements have helped to steadily decrease rates of cancer and obesity while also helping those with mental diseases. The new Mental Health Act has seen tremendous success by promoting community treatment and securing the rights of mental health patients.

The government of Malta has sequentially promoted a plethora of health strategies such as the Non-Communicable Disease strategy in 2010, the National Cancer Plan in 2011, the Sexual Health strategy in 2011, the Tuberculosis Prevention strategy in 2012 and the Healthy Weight for Life strategy in 2012. These strategies were designed in order to promote health and prevention methods on a national scale.

Moreover, efforts to reduce diseases in Malta are both ever-constant and ever-changing thanks to the participation of the Maltese people and their government. These positive changes will ensure that rates of non-communicable diseases will continue to decrease while promoting a happy, healthy and well-engaged society.

– Shannon Warren

Photo: Flickr

Nepalese Newborns and Chlorhexidine: Match Made in Heaven

Nepalese Newborns and Chlorhexidine: Match Made in Heaven
Every year, thousands of Nepalese newborns die due to various life-threatening infections contracted early on that go unaddressed. Currently, one in 19 Nepalese children dies before they reach the age of five and half of that number die before reaching even 28 days of life.

Finding successful ways to nurse newborns to health in Nepal has been a challenge for decades. Navel Glazers, a simple topical application of chlorhexidine digluconate (CHX), are helping to pave the way to a brighter future for Nepalese children.

The application of CHX has been used in health care settings to reduce the development and transmission of infections for a number of years now. However, due to limited support regarding its effectiveness in reducing newborn umbilical cord infections, it is not a widely known practice.

Per the recommendation of the World Health Organization (WHO) more studies have been done to assess the navel-glazing strategy, specifically in high-risk environments like Nepal.

Country-wide clinical trials of CHX application post-birth were rolled out in Nepal through the support of the National Institutes of Health, the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation and USAID.

It was found that applying a 4 percent chlorhexidine solution to the umbilical cord after birth significantly reduced neonatal mortality.

“This is very important because, after its implementation, the number of infected umbilical cord cases in my facility declined,” explains Birendra Ghale, a health worker in charge of this peripheral-level health facility in Banke, Nepal. “I have also seen that fewer babies are dying in my VDC [village development committee].”

For a long time, cultural barriers kept the implementation of the newly-found, life-saving technique from being used. Nepalese mothers are accustomed to applying substances like turmeric, ash, cow dung or vermilion to their child’s umbilical cord post-birth.

Now, single-dose tubes are freely distributed to all expectant mothers in their eighth month of pregnancy. They also receive a one-on-one educational session to explain how to apply the gel after cutting the cord as well.

Chlorhexidine has rolled out to 26 of 75 districts in Nepal as of July 2012. The country’s government has committed to incurring the full expense of buying the commodity as well as other program costs from its own resources. They are even using a local manufacturer to help with a production of a high-quality product, and distribution continues to rapidly expand — mainly through community health workers.

Delegates from more than 20 countries learned from Nepal and its implementation of the program. At least five of those countries have implemented similar interventions.

According to the Healthy Newborn Network (HNN), the application of CHX is recognized as being successful, acceptable, feasible and cost-effective newborn care intervention. The widespread practice of CHX cord cleansing, or navel glazing, could prevent more than 200,000 newborn deaths each year in South Asia.

– Keaton McCalla

Photo: Flickr

Top Diseases in Eritrea and How the Country is Fighting Them

Diseases in Eritrea
Located in the Horn of Africa, the country of Eritrea is bordered by Sudan, Ethiopia and Djibouti and has a population of about 5.6 million. Constant conflicts, the threat of war and severe droughts have transformed Eritrea into one of the poorest nations in Africa. Because the country has little money to spend on health care, many diseases in Eritrea remain a constant threat to travelers and citizens.

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), individuals traveling to Eritrea are at risk of contracting typhoid, malaria, meningitis, rabies, yellow fever and hepatitis A and B. These diseases can be contracted through contaminated food and water, sexual contact, mosquito bites or non-sterile medical or cosmetic equipment. Many of them, however, are highly preventable through vaccination.

Diseases such as rotavirus are the leading causes of fatal diarrhea in children under five in Eritrea. In 2010, an estimated 1,201 children under five died from rotavirus.

The Zika virus is also a growing concern among Eritrea’s citizens. As in many countries, non-communicable diseases in Eritrea are steadily growing more prevalent. These diseases include cardiovascular diseases, malnourishment, hypertension, diabetes, chronic obstructive pulmonary diseases and cancer.

However, it is also important to note that Eritrea’s government has made substantial progress in disease control and improving the overall health of its citizens. In 2000, as a member state of the United Nations, Eritrea adopted the eight Millennium Development Goals, committing to further development and human security. Since then, Eritrea has made tremendous strides in providing health care to its 5.6 million citizens.

The World Health Organization (WHO) reports that eight of Eritrea’s major vaccine-preventable diseases are no longer a public health issue. Cost-effective vaccinations for diseases in Eritrea that still pose a concern, such as rotavirus, have also become available.

Public health concerns such as measles, maternal and neonatal tetanus in Eritrea have been reduced to less than 90 percent as of 1991. Eritrea has been certified as dracunculiasis-free and polio-free due to an increase in vaccinations. In addition to this, the country is seeing a steady decline in the prevalence of HIV/AIDS, with HIV infection rates in the population at less than 1 percent.

– Shannon Warren

Photo: Flickr