Archive for category: Health

Information and stories on health topics.

Global Health Issues: Priority of Global Health Policy Forum

Global Health Policy Forum

Global health issues were the focus of the June 14 global health policy forum hosted by Health Affairs in Washington, D.C. The recorded event, titled “Global Health: Patient Safety, Cancer Care, Universal Health Coverage and Innovation,” attracted more than 150 experts in the health and healthcare fields and covered various topics concerning universal healthcare and patient safety.

Health Affairs is an esteemed academic journal which publishes health policy research and theory. Its mission is to address global health issues such as access to and quality of healthcare. The U.S. as well as international legislators and health leaders often cite Health Affairs in official legislation, and its publications and events are critical to global healthcare decision making.

Present at the forum, the World Innovation Summit for Health (WISH) is a global healthcare initiative of the Qatar Foundation. WISH’s presence at the forum was significant given that its mission to improve global health might influence legislators in Washington, D.C. As CEO of WISH Egbert Schillings said, “The ultimate purpose of WISH is to influence decision makers using the best possible evidence available.”

WISH was created in 2012 when Sheikha Moza bint Nasser of Qatar addressed global delegates at the Global Health Policy Summit in London and urged them to work together to prevent and to treat diseases. WISH facilitates global healthcare innovation, and the initiative collaborates globally with groups like Health Affairs in order to help achieve this goal.

Health Affairs and WISH’s global vision and willingness to cooperate make events like this month’s global health forum possible and effective. As Professor Lord Darzi of Denham, Executive Chair of WISH, said, “Our partnership with Health Affairs is evidence of the global impact of WISH research.”

Health Affairs and WISH’s research have the power to positively change global health issues as they work together to share accurate health research with decision makers worldwide. Their partnership is effectively enabling world leaders to solve global health issues through cooperation, collaboration and a dedication to sharing valuable information with decision makers.

– Addie Pazzynski

Photo: Health Affairs

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Water Quality in Afghanistan

Water quality in Afghanistan pollution

Water is a basic necessity for all life–it must be safe and clean for use. For the people of Afghanistan, water that is safe and clean is especially hard to come by. Fortunately, poor water quality in Afghanistan is a problem that both a global organization and its Afghan partners are working to resolve.

After more than a decade of armed conflict and neglect, Afghanistan has a problem with getting sanitary water to its people. The country of 32.5 million people gets its water from rivers and underground supply, which is reliant on rainfall and snow.

In recent years, climate change has caused a reduction in precipitation, resulting in a drop in water levels of six meters.

Other major obstacles stand in the way of improving the water quality in Afghanistan. Not only is there less water, but the water that is available is contaminated. In most major cities, underground water supplies have been compromised, due to the lack of canalization, proper waste management and proper waste disposal.

In big cities, hospitals commonly bury their waste underground or leave it above ground. Medical waste can contain poisons and infectious inhabitants, seeping into the underground water supply over time.

However, change is underway to improve this dire situation.

The Improvement of Water Quality in Afghanistan

Domestically, the Afghan Urban Water Supply and Sewerage Corporation has been working for the last 30 years constructing 40,000 clean water posts, with access for one million people. But, the Afghanis cannot do it alone. Much work is still to be done to meet all water needs in Afghanistan.

External help is underway from GIZ, a German company that specializes in developing solutions to global problems. With the backing of the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development, GIZ is making great strides.

In collaboration with the Afghan Urban Water Supply and Sewerage Corporation, GIZ has developed and is implementing a massive plan to decentralize and overhaul the Afghani water infrastructure. They will work with and train Afghani workers to complete the project and independently maintain it, also creating a sanitation and management program for water in Afghanistan.

Between 2011 and 2013, GIZ trained around 2,000 employees from the institutions involved. As a result, they are now able to better perform the work necessary improve water quality in Afghanistan.

Now that the workforce has been trained, substantial progress is being seen.

From 2007 to 2013, the number of households with a newly connected water supply in Kunduz, a major city in northeastern Afghanistan, rose from 370 to 7,700. This represents about 75 percent of Kunduz’s population. Kunduz is only one example of a trend spreading around the country.

Currently, newly constructed water infrastructure is not only becoming self-sufficient, but also now has the ability to self-fund more growth. In 2012, the Afghani government introduced a water tariff, which significantly increased the income of the water infrastructure. In some cities, Afghanis are willing and able to pay for their new access to clean water.

Since then, in the major cities of Kabul, Harat and Kunduz, the proportion of water that is paid for has risen greatly. As a result, the cities of Herat, Kunduz and Mazar-e Sharif have built and are operating six new wastewater plants. Big change is taking place for the better.

Not long ago, the majority of Afghanis were desperate for clean water. Today, with the help and intervention of Germany, the major components that led to the water problem in Afghanistan are on the way to being improved. The work being done is changing lives, communities and cities across Afghanistan.

– Steven Jenkins

Photo: Flickr

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Japan Working to Improve Water Quality in South Sudan

Water quality in South Sudan

Water quality in South Sudan and clean water access has been a problem for a long time. However, Japan is trying to help with the Project for Improvement of Water Supply System in Juba.

Since 2012, Japan has been contributing money to the Republic of South Sudan—$310 million—in order to promote the development of a clean water supply.

Valentino Achak Deng’s Story

Valentino Achak Deng, subject of  the 2007 novel “What Is the What,” describes his childhood in the Republic of South Sudan. His story evokes empathy and increases awareness of the country’s living conditions.

Here is an example:

“I […] immerse my jerry can in the milky brown water. I fill the container, but am not satisfied with the amount of sediment inside.”

Previously, Deng used to run to the river without a thought in order to fetch water for a woman he liked. The passage went on to describe Deng filtering the water through his shirt into a bowl. This process was normal for Deng—there was no question that the water he drank would come from the river.

The Water Situation Today

The water situation in Sudan has not changed since Deng’s childhood. South Sudan’s 2010 Household Health Survey (SHS) found that only about 5.6 percent of households in have access to improved water sources and sanitation.

In Juba, the capital of the Republic of South Sudan, 13 percent of its residents can access municipal water. This water comes through either a small piped network, boreholes or a single public water filling station on the riverbank. Without clean water access, many of the Sudanese people end up fetching water from rivers, ponds and open wells.

Fetching water is the norm in the Republic of South Sudan—a behavior that must be broken. Otherwise, the population of the Republic of South Sudan will continue to catch water-borne diseases such as cholera and diarrhea. In addition, women and children will continue to lose time for employment and education opportunities.

Individuals used this contaminated water for drinking, food preparation and hygiene. As a result, the SHS found that poor water quality in South Sudan contributed to about 88 percent of deaths from diarrhea.

Japanese Assistance

Fixing this problem will require considerable funds. To address the cost increase, the Japanese government allocated an additional $40 million toward the project. With this, they intend on keeping the original project scale.

Through this project, Japan aims to provide easily accessible clean water to 60 percent of Juba’s population. An estimated 390,000 Juba residents will have clean water access by the end of September 2017.

Japan also encourages the women and children of Juba to spend more time on their personal and professional development rather than collecting water for their families.

However, because fetching water from rivers has been the norm in Sudanese behavior, community engagement is vital in this process. This improvement in water quality in South Sudan is vital, and it will vastly improve the lives of Sudanese citizens.

– Alice Gottesman

Photo: Flickr

Global Health Focused Social Entrepreneurship on the Rise

Social Entrepreneurship
Oftentimes, business and altruism seem to be at odds. Social entrepreneurship aims to dismantle that notion. This effort takes a number of shapes, but specifically, entrepreneurial initiatives addressing global health are on the rise. These types of businesses intend to implement solutions to health care problems faced by marginalized groups in ways that bureaucratic governments and health organizations cannot.

To backtrack, a social entrepreneur is someone who seeks to establish sustainable social change on a large-scale. They intend to promote social values while keeping fiscal responsibility in mind.

A key characteristic is innovation. A social entrepreneur should be able to adapt new or improved methods to fit the targeted populations in order to help the world. A social business is one that does not sacrifice responsibility for profit, but rather shoots for responsibility while turning a profit.

According to the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA), the rise in social entrepreneurship is an unmistakable trend in full force. At least 27 universities worldwide are currently offering courses or programs in that particular field of study. There are at least 25 annual competitions for social entrepreneurship, which reflects the rising popularity of this sect of the business world.

Unlike other businesses, social ventures do not rely on patented technologies or methods, but rather search to inject something new, namely perspective, into an already existing system. With healthcare, this means companies can circumvent the norm and introduce a unique lens through which healthcare is delivered.

Outside of the private sector, social entrepreneurship is changing the way the public sphere operates as well. Governments and NGO’s are learning from these ventures. From organizations in Bangladesh and Thailand to the U.K.’s own Oxfam, NGO’s are adopting entrepreneurial methods to maximize the effectiveness of their operations.

Governments are beginning to endorse social entrepreneurship as a valuable ally to local economies and social change.

– Connor Borden

Photo: The Startup Couch

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Lab At Your Fingertips: The Power of Low-Cost Diagnostic Tools

Low-Cost Diagnostic ToolsWhen health clinics are a two-day excursion away, diagnosis and early detection are crucial. While it is estimated that the practice of diagnostics comprises only three to five percent of healthcare spending, it impacts about 70 percent of healthcare decisions, according to the Royal Society of Chemistry. Therefore, investing in low-cost diagnostic tools has the potential to drastically impact the prevention and treatment of the leading causes of death in the developing world.

Diagnostics For All, a non-profit organization based in Cambridge, Massachusetts, strives to create innovative, point-of-care, low-cost diagnostic tools specifically designed for those that live in “resource-poor” communities. Among their research endeavors, Diagnostics For All has developed a paper-based diagnostic tool the size of a fingernail that can be used to diagnose a myriad of diseases including tuberculosis and diabetes.

Dr. George Whitesides, co-founder of Diagnostics For All, describes the paper microfluidic tool as a more advanced, quantitative version of a pregnancy test in a 2009 Boston TED Talk. The paper chip is used to wick away fluid such as urine and changes color depending on the micronutrients being tested.

Next, the idea is to have the user take a picture of the color-developed paper “microchip” and send it to a laboratory for analysis. This technology has the potential to eliminate the need to send doctors to these developing regions, lowers the risk of disease transmission that can occur when using “sharps” such as needles and can be inexpensively repeated various times for efficacy.

Why choose paper over other materials? “One reason for using paper is that it’s everywhere. We have made these kinds of devices using napkins and toilet paper and wraps, and all kinds of stuff,” says Whitesides. “So, the production capability is there. The second is, you can put lots and lots of tests in a very small place.”

Although paper is an economical resource, it would cost an estimated $800 to fund a single printer that is used to embed wax reading-strips into the chip to complete the device. Even then, the wax printer pays for itself when considering its ability to create 10 million tests per year if it ran 24 hours a day—each chip costing a mere five cents.

Cornell University’s Interaction Design Lab is currently developing a low cost diagnostic tool called Nutriphone. Nutriphone is a smartphone application and micronutrient testing device. Users add a dab of blood to a test strip that’s then inserted into a custom phone accessory which triggers the phone’s camera to take a photograph of the test strip. The Nutriphone app then analyzes the blood results to provide accurate health markers such as testing Vitamin B12—low levels of which may indicate anemia.

However, the main drawback of both Whitesides’ paper microfluidic chip and the Nutriphone app is cellular access in impoverished regions. While the spread of cellular technology is increasing in the developing world, 10 percent of the world population still lacks access to basic voice and text services, according to the Consumer Technology Association.

If increasing access to mobile phones in tandem with funding for the development and distribution of low-cost diagnostic tools were prioritized, the potential to bring DIY-medical testing to underprivileged communities could empower the world’s poor.

– Daniela N. Sarabia

Photo: Flickr

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New Model to Predict Outbreaks of Zoonotic Diseases

Zoonotic diseasesResearchers from the University College London (UCL) conducted a study in which they developed a new model that could be used to predict future outbreaks of zoonotic diseases, diseases that are transferred by animals to humans. The study demonstrates how changes in climate, population density and land usage alters the probability of contracting zoonotic diseases.

Zoonotic diseases account for 60 percent of the infectious diseases contracted by humans. Zika and Ebola, for instance, are both zoonotic. Lesser-known zoonotic diseases include Rift Valley fever and Lassa fever, the latter of which was used to conduct the study.

The scientists observed 408 outbreaks of Lassa fever in Africa between 1967 and 2012 according to Reuters. Humans can contract Lassa fever through direct contact with Mastomys rats, which carry the disease, by consuming the rats or by coming into contact with food or household products that have been contaminated with rat excrement. After infection, the disease can also be spread from person to person by the transferring of bodily fluids.

The model can be useful in policy-making decisions by demonstrating how different policy options will likely impact the spread of zoonotic diseases. Professor Kate Jones, co-author of the study hailing from University College London, told The Telegraph, “Our model can help decision-makers assess the likely impact of any interventions or change in national or international government policies, such as the conversion of grasslands to agricultural lands, on zoonotic transmission.”

Through observing the impacts of environmental changes on the hosts of the disease and humans, they were able to create a model that links the changes in the distribution of the disease host to the changes in mechanics of how that specific zoonotic disease spreads. This has not been done before, according to The Telegraph.

Now they can predict the frequency in which people are likely to be exposed to disease-carrying animals and the risk of them actually contracting it. The models also considers additional factors such as travel infrastructure, human interaction rates and poverty in order to accurately predict disease risk, according to UCL news.

According to the study, the number of people infected with Lassa fever will double because of climate change and population growth.

The good news is that this model provides insights on where to focus prevention efforts. Jones told the BBC, “We hope it can be used to help communities prepare and respond to disease outbreaks, as well as to make decisions about environmental change factors that may be within their control.”

– Laura Isaza

Photo: Flickr

Doctors Without Borders: Equitable Access to HIV Treatment

Doctors Without Borders

Nonprofit medical aid conglomerate Doctors Without Borders, or Medecins Sans Frontieres, requests increased access to treatment for Western and Central African countries. Although not the highest-risk demographic, less than one-third of the afflicted receive life-saving medicines.

Eastern and Southern Africa hold half of the world’s HIV-infected population. As a result, intervention, prevention and treatment overwhelmingly pour into this region of the world, leaving others without equitable aid. Dr. Cecilia Ferreyra, HIV adviser for Doctors Without Borders, reports that in the last five years, “the number of people on life-saving HIV treatment worldwide doubled.” Yet, 4.5 million people in Western and Central Africa do not receive treatment.

The plea from the organization came a day before an important U.N. meeting discussing the prevention of AIDS. On June 10, a U.N. press release indicated the member states would implement a bold course of action to end AIDS as a public health threat by 2030. With a goal like this, areas of concern can now be reached with renewed vigor.

It seems Doctors Without Borders has been effective in lobbying the UN for increased attention to regions with a lower HIV prevalence. In the press release, UNAIDS stated, among its other goals, that it would set “an action agenda for getting to 90-90-90,” referring to the percentage of people who know their HIV-positive status, receive antiretroviral treatment and reach viral suppression. Its goals also promise UNAIDS will be “leaving no one behind” in the quest to completely eliminate AIDS.

The U.S. specifically has committed to introducing a $100 million Key Populations Investment Fund that is intended to bridge the gap between PEPFAR and those who don’t normally receive financial help. It aims to assist people facing discrimination, such as sex workers, gay men, intravenous drug users, transgender people and prisoners. This could help regions like Western and Central Africa in which stigmatization prevents those with HIV from receiving proper treatment.

Despite the region-specific challenges faced by Western and Central Africa—which (besides stigma) includes a shortage of well-trained medical staff, service shortcomings and high fees—the spread of HIV/AIDS is certainly slowing. The goal of ending AIDS by 2030 encompasses the entire globe, not just the areas in dire need.

– Connor Borden

Photo: Flickr

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Global Soap Project: Changing the World with Suds

HealthHygiene-related illnesses cause more than 1.8 million deaths worldwide and the Global Soap Project (GSP) is taking a stand to reduce this number by taking advantage of the 2.6 million bars of soap are thrown away in hotels daily.

Founder Derreck Kayongo was inspired to provide hope to refugees around the world with his own experience as a refugee when he fled a civil war in Uganda for the U.S. at age ten.” Ask any refugee anywhere in the world, they’ll tell you that they lose dignity right off the bat,”  Kayongo stated in a passionate talk hosted by Keppler Speakers.

Since its inception in 2009, GSP has been improving the lives of people in 32 countries by distributing clean soap and educating communities on hygiene. The life-saving organization targets victims of disaster, refugees, the homeless and mothers and children living in extreme poverty. The goal? Making an impact on global health.

The Global Soap Project has implemented educational programs providing access to information otherwise unattainable, such as how and when to use soap and its importance to sanitation, hygiene and long-term health. The GSP and its partner, Clean the World, collects unused soap from hundreds of hotels that have united with the organization.

Then, GSP recycles and redistributes them, with help from organizations such as the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), Partners in Health and CARE.

The organization has created a micro-loan program that offers financial and training support to local, small-scale soap makers. To support this initiative, hotels send boxes of unused soap to GSP, where they are recycled, inspected and given to NGO’s for shipment to affiliations in impoverished areas.

NGO’s are not charged for the provided soap. After distribution, NGO partners relay reports of successful dispersion and educational programs. In Kenya, the Global Soap Project has had a sizable impact. The organization distributed soap to more than 300 families in Lindi, located within one of the largest slums in Africa. GSP also allocated soap to 1,320 students in Kenya.

https://youtu.be/htSyaFAGY4U

According to the GSP, a head teacher from a receiving school, commented on the organization’s success and expressed gratefulness. He stated, “Most of my kids know how to use soap after toilet, after eating, after playing, after classes, and you will find them with soap in their hands and in school compound. So thank you HHRD and GSP for this so unique gift, because it has brought a big impact in our school.”

Within the international community, world health has been a topic of concern. The World Bank has worked with organizations such as WHO and UNICEF gathering the most recent information about hygiene in developing and impoverished areas.

According to the World Bank, hygiene and hand washing have an immense impact on the quality of health and the ability to avoid deadly sicknesses like diarrhea and pneumonia. With over 4 billion cases of diarrhea per year, about 1.6 million of those are found in children under the age of five.

The GSP’s ideals are solidified by the World Bank, as it is suggested that, “public health promotion and education strategies are needed to change behaviors.” School health programs are imperative in ensuring that students have sanitation standards that can be translated into community principals.

The organization promotes involvement by accepting donations and volunteers and makes it easy for hotels to contribute. It has grown exponentially, expanding as a global leader in health promotion and implementation and continues to serve around the world. “Our soap doesn’t just mean health,” Kayongo says, “it means hope.”

– Kimber Kraus

Photo: Flickr

 

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The Economic Importance of Breastfeeding

Breastfeeding
The importance of breastfeeding is not limited to health benefits. Higher rates of breastfeeding reap economic benefits too, which in turn can alleviate the strain of poverty in developing nations.

According to a series of studies published in The Lancet, a British medical journal, if a greater number of women breastfed from birth through at least six months of their baby’s life, it could save nearly 820,000 lives and billions of dollars.

The United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) estimates that if 50 to 75 percent of mothers breastfed through six months, the U.S. alone would save $3.6 billion each year.

The actual savings could be even higher, as these figures come from the cost savings of only three illnesses that are most common among children who are not breastfed. Breastfeeding reduces the risk factor of many other diseases and health complications as well.

In poorer countries, breastfeeding substantially reduces the number of childhood deaths from preventable diseases such as pneumonia and diarrhea.

These diseases are most commonly found in children in poor and underdeveloped countries, which typically already suffer huge economic losses from health problems.

Not only can breastfeeding greatly reduce the risk of these health problems, it can also save millions that would be spent treating these diseases after the fact.

The continued evidence of the importance of breastfeeding is greatly heartening. The difficulty is in getting this critical information to the women who need it most.

As a Huffington Post article explains, the real and current battle involves increasing awareness and education specifically to poorer mothers about the importance of breastfeeding.

Investments in healthcare programs in developing countries should continue focusing on health education, with a strong priority on basic elements of women’s health.

By increasing awareness of women’s health, including the importance of breastfeeding, countries can save many precious lives and valuable resources.

– Emily Milakovic

Photo: Flickr

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Five Movies About Global Health

Global_Health
There are many inspiring and thought-provoking movies about global health that highlight the very real crises faced today. The following movies about global health explore some of the most dire issues, including women’s health, AIDS, polio, the right to safe drinking water and the realities of providing medical treatment in conflict situations.

  1. Blue Gold. Water shortages are a very real concern. Access to clean drinking water is also a dire problem in many parts of the world, and the demand for water only increases as the world’s population increases. Blue Gold considers the ramifications of this as corporations, governments and militaries try to control the water supply and people fight back for the right to clean water.
  2. A Closer Walk. The film examines the devastation wrought by AIDS throughout the world. A Closer Walk is narrated by Glenn Close and Will Smith, it explores the effects of AIDS in different regions, and what it means to live with and to fight against AIDS.
  3. Grace Under Fire. This is a notable film addressing the health issues women face globally, particularly in conflict areas. Grace Under Fire focuses on the regional conflict in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), where half  a million women are reported to have been raped. Dr. Grace Kodindo, an advocate for women’s health and reproductive rights, is followed throughout this film as she talks to both medical professionals and regular people about the access to care for women in the DRC.
  4. Living in Emergency: Stories of Doctors Without Borders. Medecins Sans Frontieres, also known as Doctors Without Borders, gave film crews permission for the first time in this documentary to film the doctors as they work in conflict areas. Living in Emergency: Stories of Doctors Without Borders provides an intense look at what it is like to provide medical care in emergency situations where violence is always a threat.
  5. Last Child: The Global Race to End Polio. Although polio has long been eradicated in developed countries, the fight continues in countries such as India, Nigeria and Haiti. Last Child: The Global Race to End Polio highlights the significant strides that have been made thus far. It also addresses the obstacles health workers have faced in eradicating polio, raising the question of whether the disease could spread again.

Each of these movies about global health provides a thought-provoking look at one of the major health crises affecting our planet today.

– Katherine Hamblen

Photo: Flickr