Archive for category: Health

Information and stories on health topics.

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Global Dental Relief: Changing Lives One Pearly White at a Time

dental_reliefOral healthcare is something severely lacking in the developing world. The World Health Organization published that approximately 60-90% of school children have dental cavities. However, there is only 1 dentist for every 150,000 people in Africa.

“Developing countries face great challenges in their optimal oral care,” Dr. Tin Chun Wong, President of the World Dental Federation, noted. “Oral health is integral to general health and a basic human right, and we must ensure cost-effective solutions become available to all.”

Global Dental Relief started out as a small, short-term relief project in Nepal in 2001. Founders Laurie Matthews and Andrew Holececk were inspired to do something about the lack of dental care in impoverished countries when they took a sabbatical in Nepal. There were 120 dentists for a population of nearly 24 million people at the time.

Fourteen years later it has become a nonprofit organization offering free dental care to children in poverty in six different countries. More than 1,500 volunteers have gone on the trips hosted by Global Dental Health and 93,930 patients have been seen through their clinics since the organization was originally founded.

Global Dental Relief hosts 16 different six-day trips for volunteers to go to one of the six countries to serve those who have little to no dental care. In 2014, 249 volunteers provided free preventative care as well as oral health education to 13,000 in Nepal, India, Vietnam, Guatemala, Kenya and Cambodia.

Global Dental Relief offers people the opportunity to help improve dental health in poor countries through volunteer work and donations. Volunteers include dentists, assistants, hygienists, as well as those with no dental experience.

Global Dental Relief gives people the option to sponsor children when donating. A mere $50 sponsors complete dental care for five children and $5,000 sponsors a 6-day dental clinic that will serve between 500 and 1,000 children.

– Iona Brannon

Sources: Andrew Holececk, Colorado Expression, FDI World Dental Federation, Global Dental Health 1, Global Dental Health 2, Global Dental Health 3, World Health Organization 1, World Health Organization 2
Photo: Global Dental Relief

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How Artificial Tweezers Can Prevent Disease

artificial molecular tweezer,CLR01, an artificial molecular tweezer, was developed a little over ten years ago in order to study its reaction with different kinds of amino acids (also known as the building blocks of proteins). One of these amino acids turned out to be lysine, which is a key substance found in proteins that support HIV infections.

What happens is that once CLR01, also referred to as an “artificial molecular tweezer,” interacts with lysine, it disrupts the formation thereof while also interfering with the structure on the surface of the HIV also called the viral envelope.

According to the coauthored article published by eLife journal entitled ‘A molecular tweezer antagonizes seminal amyloids and HIV infection’, “CLR01 counteracts both host factors that may be important for HIV transmission and the pathogen itself.

These combined anti-amyloid and antiviral activities make CLR01 a promising topical microbicide for blocking infection by HIV and other sexually transmitted viruses.”

CLR01 was actually tested on other STIs, and it was found that the molecular tweezers also interfered with the viral envelope of the herpes simplex virus and the hepatitis C virus. This is good news for people in developing countries who have, for years, been suffering from preventable diseases.

According to UNAIDs, around one billion people currently lack access to health care and an estimated 33.4 million people were living with HIV in the year 2008.

In Africa specifically, there have been measures taken to increase funding for health care, but there are many economic problems that have not been addressed. Associations like the World Bank and IMF have required governments to sacrifice needs in favor of macroeconomic growth.

“The failure to prioritize public health denies its significance in promoting long-term economic growth. As the WHO Commission on Macroeconomics and Health recently concluded, health is more than an outcome of development, it is a crucial means to achieving development.”

Breakthroughs such as that of the molecular artificial tweezers would not only be beneficial to those living in first world countries but all over the world.

–Anna Brailow

Sources: eLife,, Global Issues,, Health Freedoms
Photo: IFL Science

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Mercury Poisoning in Artisanal Gold Mining

Mercury_Poisoning
Artisanal gold mining is the process of extracting metals from the earth by independent miners, who utilize the mined metal for small-scale independent projects. These miners, or artisans, work independently of mining companies, and are very often non-compliant with regulations pertaining to mining and metallurgy.

Artisanal mining of gold is a significant source of income in low-income countries with noteworthy deposits of gold, such as Colombia and Peru. Mining companies hold the monopoly over most of the gold ore in the areas, and the miners employed by their contractors are not particularly well-paid. Artisanal mining allows for the miner to extract as well as finish the gold product, which gives a higher monetary return than the wage labor in the mines.

Notwithstanding the somewhat uncertain nature of artisanal mining, it employs an estimated 30 million people worldwide, mostly in the developing countries. Some people adopt this practice seasonally as an alternate to farming; in other instances, gold mining is their sole source of livelihood.

Despite the financial incentive of independent mining, the challenges associated with it are substantial as well. The most immediate one of these challenges is the issue of extracting the gold metal from its mined ore. To ensure a decent yield, an effective metallurgy process needs to be used. In absence of industrial purification, the next best alternative is usually the use of mercury extractions.

Mercury extraction of gold was once a popular technique for the metallurgical removal of gold from its ore. It has largely been replaced with other methods now due to its potential for health and environmental hazards. In developing countries, this process is still popular for artisanal mining. The method involves amalgamating gold ore with mercury metal. The gold metal is melted into the mercury, while the impurities are separated. The gold-mercury amalgam is then heated to a high temperature, where the mercury evaporates, and pure gold is left behind.

The method, although effective, uses the highly toxic mercury metal. The evaporation process yields the highly dangerous mercury vapor. The improper handling of mercury in artisanal mining is a major issue for the environment, as well as the health of the miners. Mercury can be inhaled in airborne droplets from the extraction process. The inhalation can cause potentially fatal damage to the lungs, as well as kidney failure, seizures and permanent brain damage. Mercury poisoning in pregnant women can cause long-term cerebral damage to the fetus.

The implications of improper handling of mercury are vast; international regulations encourage the elimination or reduction of mercury usage in metal purification. Nevertheless, almost 400 metric tons of airborne, toxic mercury are produced from gold mining each year. The miners and people in close vicinity of these mines are the ones to face the harshest consequences of mercury pollution. The continued usage of mercury extraction is a manifestation of poverty of resources, both financial and educational, that hinders the safety of artisanal mining.

To eradicate this harmful practice, the World Bank has launched several programs that educate miners to utilize safer, cost-effective methods. These programs facilitate a better selling price and demand for products manufactured through these alternative methods. In a program initiated by the US State Department, 10,000 Peruvian miners were taught alternative metallurgy methods by 2013, and encouraged to sell the ores at a higher price than the amalgamated gold price. These methods successfully decreased the mercury production in the area by 50 percent.

The problem of mercury pollution and the health hazards it poses to artisanal miners in developing countries is one that has garnered much attention globally. Training the miners in better extraction techniques, as well as incentives to trade crude ore can eliminate the problems associated with mercury without damaging the livelihoods of the artisanal miners.

– Atifah Safi

Sources: World Bank, Science Direct, Human Rights Watch, EPA
Photo: The Ecologist

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Why Clean Water Matters

Why Clean Water Matters
It’s all too easy to take for granted all of the conveniences available to us as citizens of a developed country. Having access to clean water is a privilege that goes far beyond just being able to use it for drinking or cooking. It can significantly improve the lives of people in poverty for a number of reasons.

For example, access to clean water usually means a person is more likely to have food to eat. After all, 70 percent of our global water use is for irrigation and agriculture. Often, a lack of clean water means a corresponding lack of food, because communities are unable to grow their own. About 84 percent of the people who don’t have access to clean water live on subsistence agriculture, which means that they are dependent on the growth of their own food for survival.

If people have access only to dirty, contaminated water, then they are in constant danger of waterborne diseases like diarrhea, cholera, fluorosis, HIV, malaria, typhoid and parasites such as intestinal worms. All of these run rampant through unsafe water supplies.

If people are getting sick, then someone in the family has to take care of them. That leaves two people out of school or work. Two people whose education or livelihood is put on hold because there isn’t an accessible clean water source.

Oftentimes, women undertake the time-consuming act of hauling water from its source to the villages where it is needed. In Sub-Saharan Africa, 40 billion hours a year are spent hauling water. This leads to to a sort of “time poverty,” where there is less time for endeavors like receiving an education or making money.

Without access to proper sanitation, many girls drop out of school when they reach puberty. Unsafe water acts as a barrier to education for young women in particular, perpetuating the global poverty and gender inequality cycle.

When mothers fear their children are going to die of diseases, they have more children in the hopes that some of them will survive, which often leads to poor maternal health and overpopulation problems. Poor maternal health can also lead to orphaned children who are left to fend for themselves and do not have time for education because they are focused on survival.

In fact, access to clean water is something that underlays almost all of the Millennium Development Goals – eradicating extreme poverty and hunger, achieving universal primary education, promoting gender equality and empowering women, reducing child mortality, improving maternal health, combating disease and ensuring environmental sustainability. In the new set of Sustainable Development Goals, ensuring access to water and sanitation for all is a goal in itself.

Gary Evans of Living Water International put it like this: “We’re in a world where there are 900 million people barely treading water, and the water’s too low for them to reach the ladder. They don’t need a boat. They don’t need a helicopter to rescue them. They just need a little boost so they can reach the ladder. Then they can climb out on their own. Clean water provides that boost.”

So, it’s clear why clean water is important. And the best part? There really is plenty to go around. Groups like The Water Project and Living Water International are working to build sand dams, wells and devices for water collection and sanitation. Every dollar invested in water and sanitation generates about eight dollars worth of health, time and productivity.

Unsafe water and lack of water causes a lot of problems, but what this really means is that there is one simple fix that will address a multitude of global poverty issues. Clean water means a better world in terms of equality, education, health, food security and more.

– Emily Dieckman

Sources: UN 1, UN 2, UN 3, UNICEF, Water, The Water Project
Photo: Easy Drug Card

How Chemical Dyes are Harmful to Workers in Developing Nations

How Chemical Dyes are Harmful to Factory Workers in Underdeveloped Countries
Imagine looking out on an indigo river as the sun sets in the horizon, as beautiful and crimson as the river was the day before. You look down at your hands — they are colored a slight yellow tinge — as you reach for your water, which is brown and dirty. The sun sets and the sky resumes its greenish-yellow hue. The night begins for you and your family on yet another starless night.

For many families in the developing world, the story illustrated above has become a reality, and while the colors may differ, the reaction does not. Fabric dyes have put a new filter on the developing world, and it is not a flattering one.

When walking through a department store, the colors seem endless. You can see every hue of every color imaginable, perhaps even arranged in rainbow order; however, those colors never occur in nature and they are not something that can be grown on a tree. Most of the colors we see are a result of unnatural chemical dyes that have been added to our cloth in developing nations throughout the world.

While these dyes may produce beautiful colors, they can bring great harm to the societies in which they are produced. Many factories that use these dyes do not follow safety regulations and workers can find their skin dyed a certain hue depending on what is in style. Eventually, after prolonged exposure, their skin will begin to flake off, leading to a much higher rate of skin cancer. Aside from ignoring workers’ safety, many factories allow their run-off to flood into the local water supply, turning rivers various different colors. This high concentration of pollutants leads to the contamination, and ultimately the death, of all the organisms in the waters. Local citizens are forced to rummage through a selection of mercury-laden fish, which have a myriad of other contaminants within them. This water issue also spreads further, affecting all locally grown crops. Imagine living in a world where you cannot eat anything out of fear of the damage it would do to your body, but having to deal with it because there is no way to stop it.

Synthetic dyes used to create the beautiful array of colors also contain dioxin — a carcinogen and possible hormone disruptor — toxic heavy metals and often formaldehyde. Prolonged exposure to these toxins can be detrimental and even fatal, and when entire communities are affected by this, it is a wonder that more has not been done about it.

By looking at the labels of products we buy and avoiding overly dyed substances as well as those that are primarily synthetic, consumers may be able to make a small dent in the issues facing workers in the third world. These individuals need these jobs to keep themselves out of poverty, but they should also be kept in good health while doing them.

– Sumita Tellakat

Sources: Green Cotton, Hesperian
Photo: Sean Gallagher Visuals

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Best and Worst Developed Countries for Medical Care

Best and Worst Developed Countries for Medical Care
Medical care as an institution exists to help the population of a country be healthy and thrive. Yet, even in major developed countries of the world, there are large gaping holes within the medical care system, leaving more than tens of thousands of people without the proper care they desperately need. The following list will showcase the world’s developed countries’ best and worst systems, based on The Commonwealth Fund report.

Best:

1. Sweden

With health expenditures rising to over $3,925 per capita, efficient and quality care has been provided to all citizens of this country. This means that both people with below-average and above-average incomes have access to the same healthcare services and rate them similarly.

2. Switzerland

With health expenditures of about $5,643 per capita, Switzerland scores high in healthy lives, quality of life and easy access to its citizens. The country’s citizens receive relatively timely healthcare. A lower percentage of people forgo medical treatment because of costs, and a lower percentage of people skip out on medical tests, skip prescriptions or have claims denied by insurance.

3. United Kingdom

The U.K. ranked number one overall compared to all of the other countries in the Commonwealth Fund report. Using $3,405 in health expenditures per capita, it also ranked superiorly in cost, quality, access and efficiency. In terms of effective computerized reminders for follow-up care, the U.K. scored a 95 percent. It also scored a 95 percent for providing diabetes patients with all four recommended services in chronic care.

Worst:

1. France

Although France had the lowest preventable mortality rate, a high life expectancy and a low infant mortality rate, the country ranked ninth overall when compared to the other countries in the report. France ranked dead last in terms of access, scoring low in both timeliness and cost of care measures.

2. Canada

Surprisingly, Canada ranked tenth overall relative to the other countries in the report. The country ranked the lowest in efficiency, with the largest number of patients visiting emergency departments for conditions that could have been treated by regular doctors, a high percentage of re-hospitalizations after treatment and some inefficiency with medical records that did not reach the doctor’s office in a timely manner.

3. The United States

Coming in dead last is the United States. The U.S has the most expensive health care costs per capita, at over $8,500, and the most expensive health care expenditures overall, at 17.7 percent of the nation’s GDP, but it scored worse than every other country in the report. Within the data, there appears to be marked differences in care between those with lower-than-average incomes and those with higher-than-average incomes. Sadly, the U.S. was reported to have had the highest number of infant moralities out of all the tested countries and it ranked second to last in preventable deaths.

These findings are a stark reminder that while developed countries do have a better probability of providing health care to its citizens, they do not inherently have that position. Choices made by governing bodies and institutions that provide the care cannot simply rely on a budget or seek their own personal gain by preferring to treat wealthier individuals over the non-wealthy.

Understanding this is key to providing medical care not only for the United States, but for the world and for those undeveloped countries that are in desperate need of an efficient and stable healthcare system.

– Alysha Biemolt

Sources: Commonwealth Fund, Cheat Sheet, Medical Dictionary
Photo: The Richest

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Four Girls for Families: Youth Making a Difference

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In 2010, a trip to Cambodia changed the lives of four young girls. As two girls witnessed the health problems caused in Cambodia due to unsanitary drinking water, they both decided to start a mission to help families protect their health. Four Girls for Families began when sisters Rae (11 years old) and Emmy (eight years old) Specht traveled to Cambodia with their family during the winter of 2010.

While in Cambodia, both sisters were introduced to the harsh living standards of the local people. The two sisters decided to make a difference when they discovered that 75 percent of deaths in Cambodia were the results of drinking unsanitary water. Once they arrived in the United States, the Specht sisters began to brainstorm with their friends Clara Walker (10 years old) and Maddie Joinnides (11 years old). Four Girls for Families was born.

With the aid and support of their parents, the four girls began to create homemade jewelry, crafts and T-shirts to raise awareness about unsanitary drinking water in developing countries. The money the girls raised during their sells was used to buy water filters that would be delivered to Cambodians in need.

The water filters used by Four Girls for Families are designed to kill 99.9 percent of bacteria and are given to individual families. In a country where 65 percent of the population does not have access to clean drinking water, water filters play a vital role in protecting the health of families.

Nearly five years later, Four Girls for Families has become a non-profit organization that still continues to provide water filters to rural places in Cambodia. From 2011 to 2014 Rae and Emmy Specht, Clara Walker and Maddie Joinnides have raised nearly $40,000 and supplied 2,000 water filters to families.

This past year, the organization has gained more support in its hometown of Bellport, New York, which has allowed Four Girls for Families to provide 300 water filters to families this past spring. Four Girls for Families relies on fundraisers and profits from their online shop. As the organization gains more acknowledgement and support, all four girls continue to think of ways to provide more water filters to Cambodia.

– Erendira Jimenez

Sources: Four Girls for Families, YouTube, Bellport
Photo: Four Girls for Families

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Healthy Eating in Brazil

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Brazil is the largest country in Latin America and has been on the rise for many years. Along with a rise in overall GDP and standard of living, experts have found a rise in obesity levels. This trend has come to be associated with countries that are rapidly developing as snack foods have become a symbol of wealth and locally grown produce is seen as cheap and unrefined. Bela Gil, daughter of one of Brazil’s most famous singers, Gilbert Gil, recently posted a photo of her daughters’ lunchbox, and this created an uproar.

The young girls’ lunchbox contained fresh food, yams, bananas and more, all locally grown and in proper portion size, her daughter was being fed well and with Brazil recently being named the nation with the best health reforms, it would usually be something worthy of praise. Instead, the internet reprimanded Gil, saying that she was not feeding her daughter enough and making jokes about how little food there was and how unrefined it was. The truth is that was a great meal because it was so unrefined, in the processed sense of the word.

This healthy farm to table style of eating has only recently gained popularity, and with more and more celebrities jumping on board to endorse healthy eating, it is a wonder it has not been more popular. By posting pictures of her daughters’ healthy meal and various other meals, Gil is using her position of influence to proposition the public to really watch what they are eating. While fast food and highly processed snacks with name brands may be a sign of wealth they are also the cause of Brazil‘s increased obesity rate which has nearly doubled in the past decade.

While we often associate poverty with a complete lack of food, we must also begin to connect it to an abundance of unhealthy food. Overall health can be an indicator of a country’s poverty levels and Brazil’s is on the steep decline. In order to remedy this, individuals of influence must begin to associate wealth with healthy eating and good health habits. By posting pictures of this and promoting healthy portion size and control we are promoting healthy living, saying that class can be found in the food choices we make. Essentially, in order to take away the stigma of wealth and junk food we must reassociate it to wealth and health food.

While many other celebrities are joining this bandwagon, some coming under similar scrutiny for their choices, it may take some time for this new idea of healthy living to really take hold in nations that are just reaching the peak of their development, such as Brazil. These healthy meals are grown in the farms of Brazil, supporting local business and people in the neighborhood, and these choices will not only make for a better person, but a better community as a whole.

– Sumita Tellakat

Sources: NPR, CNN
Photo: NPR

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CNNMoney’s Upstart 30 Project

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CNNMoney launched its Upstart 30 Project in late June. It profiles 30 young innovative startups and their respective founding entrepreneurs and investors.

The list is broken down into five categories: the idealists, the funders, the simplifiers, the playmakers and the futurists. All of which comprise individuals from a variety of fields.

To take part, startups must be established in the United States, be no younger than five-years-old, and harness technology in hopes of making the world a better place. After a series of tests, the Upstart 30 Project was formed. The list is diverse in geography, gender, race, and industries.

Whether it is a solution to the current archaic U.S. school system, an agricultural phenomenon in a box, or an ingenious medical tool, Upstart 30 spotlights visionaries that are making serious headway, all before the age of 40.

While many of the startups tackle commonplace inefficiencies, several address national and global issues, and have the potential of reducing global poverty in unlikely ways.

BioBots brings personalized medicine tools. According to its profile on CNNMoney, the startup’s first product was a 3D printer for building cells, tissues and organs. BioBots’ printer is uniquely small and inexpensive. It can fit on a desktop and is priced at around $5,000. For now, the bio printer is for research. CEO Danny Cabrera, 22, said that his two co-founders and him are hoping to broaden their client base to include pharmaceutical companies who could use their products for testing cancer drugs. BioBots has a bright future in the United States, but could do wonders internationally.

Freight Farms is a farm in a box. Founders, Brad McNamara and Jonathan Freidman, created the boxes out of old shipping containers. The insulated, camera-equipped devices use LED lights and advanced monitors to regulate weather conditions, nutrient intake and carbon dioxide levels, all without soil. The startup launched in 2011, and already made $5 million. At $76,000 apiece, restaurants, schools, and hotels have mainly bought the boxes. While this is very expensive, the payoffs are incredible: each container produces 4,000 to 6,000 plants a week according to Shawn Cooney, a small business owner testing the Freight Farm. This is nearly 80 times more than Cooney would have gotten from a conventional farm space. The high cost keeps Freight Farms away from the developing world but, if ever brought down, Freight Farms could increase food security around the world.

uBiome scans a person’s body and micro biome. uBiome kits locate where diseases take root, and how they escalate. According to CNNMoney, uBiome completely changes the ways we examine anxiety, diabetes and heart disease. The $79 kits test bacteria, analyze results, and compare data to other profiles. This quick and cutting-edge device could easily help millions of people in developing nations.

Plangrid is a paper-saving blueprint alternative for construction engineers. By using a tablet to alter and share blueprints, Tracy
Young, Ryan Sutton-Gee, Ralph Gootee and Kenny Stone are making sure buildings are drawn from reliable sources. So far, Plangrid has been a success since it began only three years ago. The app helped build over 90,000 projects worldwide. Plangrid, however, has a long way to go until it can reach rural populations most in need of new buildings.

– Lin Sabones

Sources: PlanGrid, CNN
Photo: CNNMoney

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Backpack PLUS Project Empowers Health Workers


The Backpack PLUS project was established in 2013 with the purpose of empowering community health workers (CHWs). These CHWs are the front-line workers of health delivery; they are often unpaid, volunteer workers that carry out the goals of a given health project.

When it comes to making a difference in global poverty, CHWs are absolutely vital. According to the Backpack PLUS research, a well-trained, well-deployed CHW can decrease child mortality of a community by 25 percent.

The purpose of Backpack PLUS is to “create a reference framework to gather the best practices, assess gaps and align partners to scale up existing and future CHW initiatives.” The project is more than just a tool kit for the workers; it is a system of solutions to real-world problems.

Backpack PLUS has two faces: physical and structural. The physical backpacks that CHWs receive contain key drugs, commodities, diagnostics and tools. The structural side of the program has to do with training, efficiency and thoroughness. This aspect of the program is deeply researched to maximize their results.

In 2013, the project launched into its design phase, where technical partners, policy makers, suppliers and other initiatives collaborated in search of a solution. Since 2013, the project has been focused on field research in Uganda and Senegal where they work to find the most efficient system for CHW aid relief.

The next phase of the project will be developing country plans, mobilizing resources and sharing tools, with a focus on collaboration between workers and between countries.

As of now, Backpack PLUS has partnered with UNICEF, MDG Health Alliance, Save the Children, PSI, the One Million CHW Campaign and Frog Design. This project aims to attack global poverty by empowering workers.

This project is large scale. The purpose is widespread, systematic change that will have a huge impact. Undeniably, the current health delivery system is fragmented, which is why Backpack PLUS’s goal is to unify the process.

– Hannah Resnick

Sources: Backpack PLUS, One Million CHW Campaign, UNICEF, UNICEF
Photo: Frog Design