Archive for category: Health

Information and stories on health topics.

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Sierra Leone Declared Ebola-Free

No More Ebola in Sierra LeoneAfter nearly a two-year battle with Ebola, the World Health Organization (WHO) has announced that Sierra Leone is finally free of Ebola.

The country recently celebrated the milestone after almost 4,000 people died since the outbreak.

The WHO noted that 42 days have passed since the last confirmed patient was discharged on September 25 of this year. Anders Nordstrom, the Sierra Leone representative for WHO, revealed the positive news.

“WHO commends the government and people of Sierra Leone for the significant achievement of ending this Ebola outbreak,” Nordstrom said.

While the country has reached the 42-day benchmark, it still has to undergo a 90-day surveillance period.

Indeed, reaching the 42-days is a good reason to rejoice. However, it does not mean that Ebola in Sierra Leone is completely eradicated. Neighboring Liberia reached the 42-day goal in May, only to experience new cases before it was declared Ebola-free again.

Still, Sierra Leone remains optimistic with the news WHO has brought forth.

“We have prevailed over an evil virus. We persevered and we have overcome. We must not let down our guard,” said Sierra Leone President Ernest Bai Koroma.

The country will continue to take preventative measures to disable potentially new cases. Bodies will still continue to be swabbed and “safe burials will continue for all suspicious cases.”

It seems as though the disease has been prevented from spreading further. However, the people who had contracted the disease have ongoing health issues.

Juliet Spencer is considered by many to be one of the lucky ones. She contracted Ebola while taking care of her husband but was able to beat the virus. While she is happy that she is alive, she is still prevented from accomplishing tasks due to lingering complications.

“I feel good today that I have survived to see this day, witnessing this ceremony,” Spencer said. “My only regret is that I do not have a good health to carry on my business. I am unable to walk, I have joint pains and ear and eye problems.”

The 90-day surveillance period will be sure to test the country. However, the WHO and the people of Sierra Leone are confident that the disease will soon be eradicated. Nordstrom adds that the country could set an example for other countries looking to expunge Ebola.

“We now have a unique opportunity to support Sierra Leone and build a strong and resilient health system ready to detect and respond to the next outbreak of the disease or any other health threat,” Nordstrom said.

– Alyson Atondo

Sources: CNN, ABCNews, The Atlantic
Photo: Wikimedia

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Clinic-In-A-Box Helps Bring Healthcare to Africa

Clinic-_In-_A-_Box
Clinic-in-a-box (CiB) is an innovative solution to providing facilities with long-term health care to impoverished regions of South Africa and beyond. Manufactured in South Africa, it only takes four to six weeks for a CiB to turn up, and as promised, shipping is free.

The inexpensive design adapts the storage capacity of a freight container to fold out and erect a clinic whose size and shape is determined by the consumer’s needs.

The container that holds all of the equipment is recycled from old freight carriers. It is prefabricated before shipping, and by the time it reaches its destination it will only take four days until the completed product emerges, equipped with a unique selection of technology aimed at providing exactly what the region requires.

The reason clinic-in-a-box is so ingenious is not only because of its mobility but also due to its application to the health system in rural parts of Africa.

They will help to bring sustainable healthcare to those who lack the means to do so, seeing as the upkeep of the clinic can be met by a small community. So once a clinic has been established, it relies on the people to properly maintain it.

The price of visiting one of these clinics is $10-$15 (R77-R96) which is still not cheap enough for most impoverished Africans. However, the cost is significantly lower than state health care, which only covers about 20 percent in South Africa, the home of CiBs.

This inequality of health provisions brings about the issues of affordable and accessible health care that South Africa faces today.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uGHnr4DMwU8

In South Africa alone there is only one doctor per 4,000 people; this is because nearly 73 percent of the 165,000 qualified health practitioners work in the private sector, which is rather expensive for the 80 percent of people who live in areas where affordable healthcare is hard to come by.

By distributing more health centers in these containers, healthcare will quickly become easily obtainable and the price will become much more fixed.

In comparison to the $3,179 (R45,000) one pays to give birth in a South African hospital, a similar procedure curated in a clinic-in-a-box costs significantly less. This is because the price of building a hospital ($1.05 billion or R 1.5 billion) dwarfs the price of constructing a small clinic ($53,512 or R 757,443) capable of serving a wide variety of ailments–not to mention it only takes a few days to build the clinic and months to place a hospital.

The Clinic-in-a-Box holds promise for the thousands in rural parts of South Africa that healthcare will one day be accessible to the majority of people and not just to those who can afford it.

Because of this, it won an award in the SA Innovation Awards of 2015. The standard model starts at $50,000, but more selections are available and offer different options. However, all come with running water, air conditioning and a toilet—great luxuries for comfort-ability in areas that struggle day-to-day.

– Emilio Rivera

Sources: South Africa, Bus-Ex, SA Private Hospitals, PFSCM 1, PFSCM 2
Photo: Flickr

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How to Improve Global Health

global health
Think about how much of an issue health care is here in the United States. Then think about how, although not perfect, the majority of us have access to even basic healthcare and the right to go to a hospital if we need care.

In third world countries, the idea of healthcare and regularly scheduled doctors’ visits is almost non-existent. Even where healthcare does exist, there are not enough healthcare workers compared to the ratio of people. It is time to take action in thinking about the effects of poor healthcare and how to improve global health overall.

According to the World Health Organization (WHO), close to 60 countries currently have less than 23 health workers for every 10,000 people. Worse yet, 13 developing countries have less than one hospital per million people, a staggering figure that seems impossible but is a reality in these countries. These ratios are expected to get even worse in 2045 when the world’s population is projected to exceed 9 billion. It is clear that the time to implement initiatives to improve global health is now.

Although it is extremely important that there are an adequate number of healthcare workers and doctors in relation to the population that they serve, it is critical to advocate behavioral changes. Diseases and conditions such as HIV, obesity and malnutrition can be fought in part by simply taking the time to educate people on the importance of self-awareness, safety and proper sanitation.

Spending is another component of improving global health. Although the number of pandemic outbreaks such as SARS and Ebola has been increasing, the World Bank projects that less than a third of the $3.4 billion needed to maintain a strong (not excellent) pandemic preparedness system has been committed. Also, according to the World Health Organization, donor countries have only spent $3 billion of the $6 billion needed to maintain the health of the public globally.

In order to improve global health, the WHO sums it up best when it says that the main areas of focus are health systems, non-communicable diseases, communicable diseases, corporate services and preparedness. If the emphasis, time, effort and money can be placed on these areas of health, then the world will be well on its way to improving the global health of the public.

– Drusilla Gibbs

Sources: Time, Clinton Foundation, WHO, APA
Photo: Global Health

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LifeStraw Purifiers: Kenyan Schoolchildren with Drinking Water

LifeStraw Purifiers Provide Schoolchildren with Clean Drinking WaterIn Eastern Africa, 70 percent of hospital visits are related to contaminated water. This is due to a lack of clean water sources. The majority of people in developing countries depend on water sources like rivers to drink and bathe, but serious illnesses like typhoid fever, dysentery and guinea worm disease are common diagnoses for those who consume dirty water. In fact, diarrhea is the third leading cause of death in Kenya.

Vestergaard, a Swiss global health company, created a water filtration system called LifeStraw to put an end to these water-related infections. LifeStraw is a lightweight, portable filter that uses hollow fiber technology to filter up to 1,000 liters of water. The filter is also chemical-free and does not require any electrical power — instead, it depends on the suction generated by its user.

Water enters the plastic container and flows through narrow fibers under high pressure. These fibers then trap bacteria and other toxins that are flushed out of the water via backwashing. The clean water travels through pores in the walls of these fibers.

With LifeStraw, households in these regions will no longer have to boil contaminated water to make it drinkable. As a result, there will likely be a reduction in indoor pollution and house fires. People will also burn less firewood, which helps lessen deforestation. According to Vestergaard, the use of LifeStraw reduces carbon emissions by nearly three tons per year, per filter.

Of note, luxury car manufacturer Jaguar Land Rover (JLR) invested in LifeStraw in 2013 in support of sustainability. In partnership with the carbon-offset company ClimateCare, the LifeStraw Carbon for Water project was born. This partnership has provided 1,900,000 people in western Kenya with LifeStraw filters.

Within the next few years, this investment will also provide 300,000 Kenyan schoolchildren access to safe water and filtration training programs. Once LifeStraw filters are installed at a school in Kenya, a JLR team will monitor its use once every term for five years. Teachers and students will also complete training to learn about the significance of clean water.

In 2014, the Follow the Liters campaign was created by 80 LifeStraw volunteers to provide schoolchildren with safe water. If a person purchases one LifeStraw water filter, the company will provide a child from the developing world with clean drinking water for an entire year.
Last year, 158,000 African students were provided with a LifeStraw filter and 300 more schools in western Kenya also received filters.

– Kelsey Lay

Sources: Business Fights Poverty, Jaguar Land Rover, LifeStraw, The Examiner
Photo: Flickr

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Company Partnerships Aim To Increase Access to Vaccines

Company Partnerships Aim To Increase Access to Vaccines Worldwide1.5 million children die from vaccine-preventable diseases annually. To combat these rising numbers, the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation created a partnership with organizations to try a new approach and give children living in developing countries access to vaccines.

Since the development of the modern-day vaccine, millions of lives have been saved each year, becoming the most cost-effective health invention ever created.

While progress has been made, one in five children worldwide are not fully protected by the most basic vaccines.

With the help of a $750 million five-year pledge from the Bill & Melinda Foundation, the Global Alliance for Vaccines Immunization (GAVI) was created in January 2000.

The global public-private partnership’s goal is to save children’s lives and improve health through increasing vaccine access to the world’s poorest countries.

Since the inception of the alliance, the Bill & Melinda Foundation have committed $2.5 billion to GAVI.

“Investments in global immunization have yielded an extraordinary return,” said Julian Lob-Levvt, CEO of the GAVI Alliance. “The GAVI Alliance was founded just 10 years ago and has already saved 5 million lives by increasing access to immunization in the world’s poorest countries. The potential to make bigger strides in the coming decade is even more exciting.”

Through the global partnership, GAVI works with the World Health Organization (WHO), the World Bank, and UNICEF to deliver life-saving vaccines to developing countries.

By maximizing existing systems, the GAVI Alliance uses the following organizations so life-saving vaccines reach the poorest developing countries.

WHO: Since GAVI is not present on the ground, it works with WHO regional offices to decide where vaccines are desperately needed.

UNICEF: Using its supply division, UNICEF procures the vaccines while GAVI provides the funding. UNICEF procured $3.38 billion worth of supplies and services in 2014.

World Bank: The financial institution provides insight on supply and demand and plays a key role in innovative financing.

Since 2000, GAVI has contributed to the immunization of 500 million additional children.

Through continued partnerships, vaccines can prevent 264 million illnesses by 2020.

“We must make this the decade of vaccines,” said Bill Gates. “Vaccines already save and improve millions of lives in developing countries. Innovation will make it possible to save more children than ever before.”

– Alexandra Korman

Sources: Gates Foundation 1, Gates Foundation 2, Gavi
Photo: Flickr

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How Human Waste Could Be the New Power Source

human_waste
In today’s age of technology developments and exciting advances, there is still a population of up to 1.3 billion people living without access to electricity. The IEA, or International Energy Agency, shows that “this is the equivalent to 18 percent of the global population and 22 percent of those living in developing countries.”

While this is true, though, the world recognizes that energy is essential to economic development. UN studies have stated, “Energy provides mobility, heat, and light; it is the fuel that drives the global economy. But the production and use of coal, oil, and gas cause air pollution and climate change, harming public health and the environment.”

In response, studies have been made to find the most cost-efficient way to provide eco-friendly energy sources. The new power source that is currently being tested comes in the form of human waste.

To show the true potential of the source, the United Nations University created a study to find the value of human waste in terms of energy.

The study showed that “biogas from human waste, safely obtained under controlled circumstances using innovative technologies, is a potential fuel source great enough, in theory, to generate electricity for up to 138 million households – the number of households in Indonesia, Brazil, and Ethiopia combined.”

With that number in mind, the UNU’s Institute in Canada estimated “that biogas potentially available from human waste worldwide would have a value of up to US$ 9.5 billion in natural gas equivalent.”

The waste would be dried and charred, producing a sludge-like substance similar to coal but with the added bonus of being eco-friendly.

With all of these facts, however, the concept is still a major taboo in people’s eyes. To combat this, experts have shown that the world already reuses water and nutrients from wastewater and continue to fight for the new energy source potential.

With World Toilet Day on Nov. 19 being around the corner, the U.N. hopes to combat the stigma. UNU-INWEH Director Zafar Adeel stated that it will hopefully “promote new thinking and to continue puncturing the taboos in many places that inhibit discussion and perpetuate the disgrace and tragedy of inadequate human waste management in many developing world areas. This report contributes to that goal.”

– Katherine Martin

Sources: World Energy Outlook, UN Foundation, UNU
Photo: Pixabay

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Going Door-to-Door to End Malnutrition in South Sudan

malnutrition_in_south_sudan
UNICEF and the World Food Programme announced recently that volunteers will go door to door over the next 12 months in an effort to screen 250,000 children for acute malnutrition in South Sudan.

The initiative will target households in the state of Warrap in Buhr el Ghazi, where an estimated 26,000 children are thought to suffer from life-threatening cases. Volunteers have been chosen from local communities and trained by the state Ministry of Health with support from UNICEF and WFP.

“Visiting every single home will help ensure that children who are malnourished or sick will be referred for treatment and will receive life-saving care,” said Vilma Tyler, Chief of Nutrition for UNICEF in South Sudan.

The announcement comes just as the recent Integrated Food Security Phase Classification warns that the situation in some areas of the country could escalate to famine levels if humanitarian assistance isn’t delivered by December. Nearly 238,000 children in South Sudan are currently experiencing Severe Acute Malnutrition (SAM).

Widespread food insecurity in the newly formed country has been the result of ongoing conflict between various rebel groups and the fledgling South Sudanese governing body.

Civil war came to a head in Juba in 2013 amidst ethnically motivated attacks, civilian massacres, and the displacement of over 750,000 children as people fled their homes to escape the violence.

Record food prices caused by the resulting economic downturn and unreliable rainy seasons have exacerbated an already dire problem; the number of children facing SAM doubled from the previous year.

With time running out, volunteers are working quickly to triage those in need. Children at risk of starvation will receive treatment at UNICEF-supported health facilities and outpatient therapeutic programs while caregivers will be offered guidance on how to keep children healthy through nutrition, hygiene and sanitation practices.

For children with SAM, initial treatment often means utilizing Ready-to-Use Therapeutic Food (RUTF) – 500kcal spreads containing essential amino acids, lipids, and minerals – as their sole nutritional intake.malnutrition_in_South_Sudan

UNICEF is hoping to build on the progress it made in 2014 by prioritizing three strategic objectives: continuing humanitarian intervention in UN Protection of Civilian (PoC) and Internally Displaced Person (IDP) sites, scaling up its Rapid Response Mechanism (RRM) in hard to reach locations and supporting capacity building by engaging community-based organizations.

Until March 2014, UNICEF primarily operated within United Nations’ PoC and IDP sites, which sheltered only a fraction of the 800,000 people displaced by conflict. Ethnic and gender-based harassment and shifting security situations prevented volunteers and specialists from reaching 90 percent of at-risk individuals across the country.

Still, for 90,000 people, life-saving treatment and sustainable training came just in time. In addition to nutrition services, children benefited from guidance on sanitation and hygiene and were enrolled in school.

The development of RRM revolutionized UNICEF’s reach in the country. Mobile teams of specialists are now equipped to deploy to locations previously inaccessible because of deteriorated security.

During the 34 missions these teams conducted last year, more than 500,000 additional people were screened, and the number of children receiving life-saving treatment for SAM climbed to 93,000.

These teams are also equipped to collect more extensive data on the ground and to implement warning systems, which will alert them to return to communities when progress begins to reverse. UNICEF is hopeful that by ramping up RRM capabilities, they will continue to see more patients.

To prevent recurring cases, UNICEF will step up engagement with community-based organizations with a focus on capacity building. Last year, the organization worked with 88 local organizations to train around 1,900 partners on SAM treatment, infant and young child feeding, and nutrition surveys.

It also supported local working groups seeking to maintain progress in affected areas and engaged the government of South Sudan on water sanitation and national planning.

These efforts will be critical to ensuring that sustainable development continues even after these next 12 months, and UNICEF is hopeful that, for children in South Sudan, it will.

– Ron Minard

Sources: IpcInfo 1, IpcInfo 2, UNICEF 1, UNICEF 2
Photo: Flickr, Wikipedia

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Cooking Up a Solution to Poverty and Malnutrition in Haiti

malnutrition_in_haiti
A chef connects solutions to poverty and malnutrition in Haiti with cooking.

Chef José Andrés has discovered a new approach to solving poverty in Haiti, and it starts in the kitchen.

In Huffington Post’s recent feature on Andrés, Lifestyle Blog Editor Zoë Lintzeris details Andrés’ love affair with Haiti, describing his innovative ideas to improve the country’s cooking conditions and, subsequently, save it from poverty.

Andrés’ solution focuses on improving cooking apparatus to decrease safety hazards in the cooking process with his “clean cook stoves.”

Cooking safety hazards in the region include the use of “dirty” firewood and coal, two fuel sources that are unsustainable and not very profitable.

These dangerous methods have gone hand in hand with deforestation and pollution in the region. Erosion of soil, extreme and frequent flooding, degradation of water resources and habitat destruction are some forces linked to socioeconomic turmoil.

“Haiti has the highest rates of deforestation of any country in the world — a mere 2 percent of Haiti’s original forests remain,” says TriplePundit.

In turn, deforestation is responsible for a large portion of Haiti’s increasing poverty rate. Haiti’s real GDP growth has slowed down in the past two years, going from 4.2 percent in 2013 to a forecasted 1.7 percent in 2015, according to the World Bank.

GOOD Magazine suggests that “efficient stoves can help in the meantime, according to Jean Kim Chaix, the founder of the Charcoal Project, which aims to become a clearinghouse on charcoal alternatives and a consultant for green entrepreneurs.”

The Charcoal Project has undertaken a project to provide an energy efficiency program for schools, to teach them to produce fuel for cooking and lighting.

The project utilizes wood and stoves that reduce smoke and save fuel, which is just what Andrés is shooting for with his clean cookstoves.

The Global Alliance for Clean Cookstoves, hosted by the UN foundation, is Andrés’ initiative to save lives and protect the environment by creating a global market for “clean and efficient household cooking solutions.”

The Alliance has set out a 10-year goal to foster the adoption of clean cookstoves and fuels in 100 million households by 2020.

Andrés also discussed Haitian cuisine in his PBS special, “Undiscovered Haiti with José Andrés.” In the video, he describes the deep ties between the food and the country’s history and culture.

Andrés’ relationship with Haiti has led him to uncover a revolutionary solution to a problem that has a long history. Perhaps economic prosperity really can start in the kitchen.

– Ashley Tressel

Sources: Huffington Post, Good.is, TriplePundit, World Bank, Charcoal Project, Clean Cook Stoves
Photo: SCINet

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Reach Every Mother and Child Act: Ending Preventable Deaths

Reach Every Mother and Child Act
The Reach Every Mother and Child Act of 2015 would work to end the preventable deaths of mothers, newborns and young children in developing countries.

U.S. Senators Chris Coons, D-Del., and Susan Collins, R-Maine, introduced the Reach Act this summer as a solution for deaths related to pregnancy and childbirth.

“Over the past several years, we have made great strides in saving moms, babies, and kids in some of the poorest parts of the world, but it’s clear that more help – and more resources – are needed,” Sen. Coons said in a press release.

The Reach Act seeks to build on the progress made over the past few years in maternal-child health. According to Countdown to 2015’s report for this year, the global maternal mortality ratio has decreased by 45 percent over the past two decades, and the number of maternal deaths has dropped from about 523,000 a year to 289,000.

Maternal education and income growth have had a significant impact on the improvement of conditions for mothers and children in developing countries, the Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation said, as well as technological innovations in medicine and other areas.

However, problems such as HIV, poor hospital conditions, and malnutrition still plague mothers and children in those countries. The Reach Act would help provide the means to solve these problems.

If enacted, the Act would:

  • Require a ten-year strategy to achieve the goal of ending preventable maternal, newborn, and child deaths by 2035;
  • Establish a permanent Maternal and Child Survival Coordinator at USAID who would be focused on implementing the ten-year strategy and verifying that the most effective interventions are scaled up in target countries.s
  • Require the Administration to develop a financing framework that would allow the use of U.S. government dollars to leverage additional commitments from the private sector, nonprofit organizations, partner countries, and multinational organizations.

The Reach Every Mother and Child Act of 2015 is currently being referred to the House Committee on Foreign Affairs.

Email your congressional leaders in support of the Reach Every Mother and Child Act and help save the lives of 600,000 women and 15 million children by 2020.

– Ashley Tressel

Sources: Senate, Health Data, Countdown to 2015: Maternal, Newborn & Child Health Data
Photo: Flickr

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Experts’ New Plan for Eradicating Tuberculosis

eradicating_tuberculosis
In a new study published in The Lancet, experts introduced an all-encompassing approach to achieving the Zero TB Declaration, which urges the rapid eradication of tuberculosis (TB).

The study was prompted by Salmaan Keshavjee, Director of Harvard Centre for Global Health Delivery, and co-edited by Soumya Swaminathan, Director-General of the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR).

Currently, the strategy for treating TB is to target those in serious condition; the study done by Keshavjee and Swaminathan states that early detection is crucial to eradicating tuberculosis.

They suggest finding individuals infected with TB before they can transmit and thoroughly treat them for all strains of TB. It is also important to treat individuals in close contact and at high risk.

“The drivers of TB include poverty, poor housing, under- nutrition and HIV infection, underscoring the need to address this problem holistically,” Swaminathan said.

The study also draws attention to the importance of focusing on middle and low-income settings, as poverty and malnutrition make people vulnerable to airborne diseases. In addition to stopping transmission, the study suggests addressing “the social mechanisms that fuel tuberculosis.”

The World Health Organization’s End TB Strategy also supports the prevention aspect of the Swaminathan and Keshavjee study. The End TB Strategy also aims to treat those in close contact and high-risk individuals through collaborative tuberculosis/HIV activities.

Swaminathan stated: “We have to hit this bug hard and hit it quickly. Cutting transmission in the community is key to the control of any infectious disease. Many cities in the world are seeing worrying increases in transmission of drug-resistant tuberculosis. All of us are vulnerable and, therefore, we must all act.”

– Marie Helene Ngom

Sources: Zeenews, TheLancet, WHO
Photo: United Nations