Archive for category: Health

Information and stories on health topics.

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Prenatal Sprinkles Offer Easy Solution to Malnourishment

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According to the Hunger Project, a non-profit organization that works to end global hunger, “malnutrition occurs when the variety or quality of food is insufficient to support proper development and health.”

Roughly 15 percent of babies born in developing countries are of low birth weight due to maternal malnutrition, and even those born at a healthy weight are at risk for malnutrition due to insufficient breastfeeding. Malnutrition causes one-third of global child deaths, perpetuated as undernourished women give birth in low-resource settings.

When a malnourished woman gives birth to a low-birth weight baby that has already been affected by her mother’s malnourishment, the child will suffer from a compromised immune system and will most likely stay malnourished, even when she reaches reproductive age. Her child, too, will be born malnourished, and the cycle of malnourishment will continue.

Seeking to break the cycle of malnourishment, the Hospital for Sick Children in Toronto, Canada is developing a daily microencapsulated micronutrient powder through its affiliate SickKids.

Called “Prenatal Sprinkles,” this powder contains iron, folic acid and calcium. Pregnant and lactating women in poor areas can simply sprinkle their food with this supplement in order to combat malnutrition.

Prenatal Sprinkles will help to combat anemia during pregnancy, which often leads to premature birth, and preeclampsia associated with hypertension, which often causes maternal and fetal death.

Prenatal Sprinkles can potentially lower maternal hypertensive disease related mortality by 20 percent and preterm birth by 24 percent. Previously, supplements could not contain both iron and calcium due to poor absorption, but Prenatal Sprinkles contain differential time-release nutrients that increase iron and calcium absorption and prevent calcium-iron interaction. They also have a smooth texture and a pleasant flavor, making them palatable for malnourished women.

The Hospital for Sick Children is partnering with companies in the private sector in order to finance the production of Prenatal Sprinkles, but the projected cost of mass production is very low for the supplement.

Though Prenatal Sprinkles are not yet in wide circulation, they offer a simple and cost effective solution to malnutrition, a problem that cannot be solved by food aid alone.

– Katie Bandera

Sources: Sprinkles (R) 60mg Fe for Pregnant and Lactating Women, Issues: Malnutrition
Photo: Girls’ Globe

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Project Concern International

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Project Concern International (PCI) is an organization which seeks to to prevent disease, improve community health, and promote sustainable development worldwide. PCI was founded in 1961 by Dr. James Turpin after saving the lives of two children suffering from pneumonia while working in a Tijuana clinic. This experience inspired the young doctor to go on and forever change the lives of millions. PCI envisions a world in which resources are abundant and shared, communities are capable of providing for the basic health and well-being of its members, and children and families can achieve lives of hope, good health and self-sufficiency. PCI conducts its work through field offices in host countries where directors can live in the area and get an intimate understanding of local needs.

Working in 16 countries, PCI hopes to reach at least 5 million people per year with its services. Overtime, PCI has expanded its reach through increased funding: from the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation to government grants to the Starbucks foundation, PCI has a well rounded list of supporters. PCI’s ultimate goals include addressing the root causes of poverty and poor health; working with the community to leverage their assets, capabilities and goals to create community-inclusive solutions; implementing holistic solutions; cultivating long-standing relationships with community leaders, investors, and stakeholders to catalyze the impact of aid spent; and developing tools which measure the long-term success of such programs. PCI addresses poverty through programs focused on women’s empowerment & poverty, children’s health, disease prevention, food & water programs, and disaster relief & recovery. Between 2013-2016, PCI hopes to reach over 10 million people worldwide and become a leader in building community capacity, resilience and self-sufficiency.

In addition to its programs worldwide, PCI also has a series of initiatives to further promote its goals. These intiatives include: Women Empowered, Legacy, Who Cares? and SHE.

  • Women Empowered: Established in May of this year, Women Empowered is an initiative in support of women’s equality, human rights and success. PCI believes that women are the solution to poverty, poor health and vulnerability and that through WE, women can attain social and economic empowerment. WE programs are currently being implemented in Guatemala, Bolivia, Botswana, and Malawi. One such success story comes from Maweta in Zambia. After raising six children of her own, Maweta returned to parenthood to raise her grandchildren after their parents died from AIDS. Without a steady source of income, Maweta struggled to provide for her grandchildren. After attending a community orientation hosted by PCI, Maweta began mobilizing women in her community to form a self-help group. Nine months later, Maweta has learned how to read and write, perform basic accounting and save $60 by selling mangoes to her community. Maweta has since received a loan to start a small business. Maweta buys food in bulk, repackages it into smaller quantities and sells these to her village. Since starting the business, Maweta has been able to provide for her grandchildren’s basic needs and education.
  • Legacy: PCI’s Legacy Programs focus on maternal/child health and nutrition, as well as economic empowerment. As the name suggests, ‘Legacy’ for PCI means consistent and compassionate commitment to the communities involved. These programs include: Well Baby clinics, Ventanilla de Salud (VDS), Casa Materna, and the Street and Working Children Program. Ventanilla de Salud (VDS) targets at risk immigrant populations near the border, by providing basic health and community services, while these families are waiting for service at the Mexican consulate. VDS has reached more than 41,000 people with health education information and nearly 20,000 with HIV/AIDS prevention messages. However, the VDS program suffers from a lack of funding and has been scaled back by more than 25 percent.
  • Who Cares?: An online campaign which celebrates, recognizes and encourages those who are giving back to the greater good. Who Cares? provides volunteers with the opportunity to network, share stories, or just get motivated about a cause. Who Cares targets the youth and young adults because they believe that the ability of today’s youth to mobilize others is huge, yet largely untapped. In addition, Who Cares provides tools to help the youth mobilize others and make their efforts pay off.
  • SHE: SHE, which is short for Strong, Health and Empowered, is a group of ambassadors who dedicate their time to PCI’s projects across the globe. These ambassadors work within the community to promote women’s empowerment and find innovative solutions to ensure that women lead strong, healthy lives.

To learn more about PCI’s work, explore PCIglobal.org for more info.

– Kelsey Ziomek

Sources: PCI Global, The San Diego Foundation, Washington Global Health Alliance, Coronado Eagle

Toxic Waste Causing Health Problems in Asia

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A study by Mount Sinai researchers lead by Kevin Chatham-Stephens, MD, exposes a largely under-reported health threat to people living in India, Indonesia and the Philippines: toxic waste. The result of this waste is the loss of 829,000 years of healthy lives in 2010, when the study was conducted. These numbers are as staggering as good health years lost to malaria and air pollution in the countries studied. In 2010, people prematurely lost 1.45 million healthy years due to air pollution and 725,000 years were lost because of malaria. Given that toxic waste is the third major cause of loss of good health years, it should no longer be overlooked.

The types of toxic waste people living in India, Indonesia and the Philippines are exposed to include lead, asbestos and chromium. Currently, about 8 million people are exposed to these “industrial pollutants,” which means they are highly susceptible to developing cancer, anemia or heart disease.

An even bigger concern is the effect toxic waste has on children and pregnant women, a demographic that makes up two thirds of the studied population. Dr. Chatham-Stephens explains, “If a woman is pregnant, the fetus may be exposed to these toxic chemicals… the prenatal to early childhood period is the time when individuals are very vulnerable to some toxic exposures, such as lead’s impact on the developing nervous system.” This is extremely pressing since a projected 35 million additional people are likely to be affected by toxic waste sites not included in the study.

However, now that policy makers are aware of this research, they will be better prepared to implement solutions. The removal of toxic waste from sites near communities will drastically improve the number of healthy years lived by the population in that area. As other studies have discovered, one of the keys to alleviating poverty is improving quality of life and healthcare. Once developing countries decrease toxic waste, it is likely that human wellbeing will improve and thus effect economic growth.

– Mary Penn

Sources: Mount Sinai Hospital
Photo: Sci Dev Net

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New Hope for the Deaf and the Blind in Kenya

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This year, Sense International, an organization targeting sensory disabilities in developing nations, launched its first deaf-blind curriculum in Kenya. The program will formalize education and promote specialized home care for over 17,000 deaf and blind children in a country with no precedent for disability education.

Sense International Kenya has been at work since 2005, when teachers began protesting in earnest to the Kenyan Institute of Education about the lack of programs and metrics to guide and measure deaf-blind education.

Kenya currently has 10 centers of education for the deaf-blind—in a country with a population of 42 million. The great demand for specialized care coupled with a total lack of curriculum has left many classrooms in chaos. Teachers with the best intentions, but no tools, have no recourse.

But the problems have roots far deeper than a lack of curriculum. For many families, the distance is just too great or boarding fees too expensive to enroll their children in the few special learning centers.

Without care or intervention, struggling families often can’t help but marginalize their deaf-blind children. Thousands of disabled people live shuttered, lonely lives due to a lack of education.

Sense International addresses these problems on several fronts. First, it recently pioneered a deaf-blind education program in Kenya, fully equipped with material and performance gauges on every academic level. It built the curriculum based on studiously researched input from parents and teachers of the deaf-blind, as well as established practices from its operations around the world in countries like Romania, Peru, India, and Uganda.

Sense also works with community organizations to ramp up specialized care for children with severe disabilities. They provide home-based education and therapy, train parents to care for their disabled children, and connect families with experts and organizations that offer advanced support.

Yet, perhaps most important of all, Sense advocates for policy geared toward the deaf-blind. For example, Tanzania, one of its countries of operation, currently subsidizes transport costs for disabled children to and from special learning centers. Sense is pressuring Kenya to adopt similar practices.

The notoriously bureaucratic Kenyan government presents another problem in itself. To combat this, Sense is cutting away at the red tape prohibiting reform by maintaining constant contact with leaders on sensitive issues.

“This project has shown just what can be achieved with political will and the expertise of organizations such as ourselves,” reports Edwin Osundwa, the country representative of Sense International Kenya. “We are proud of what has been achieved and are now keen to repeat the process for home-based education.”

– John Mahon

Sources: Sense International, The Guardian
Photo: The Guardian

What Is Management Sciences for Health?

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Management Sciences for Health (MSH) has one mission: to save lives and improve health of the world’s poorest and most vulnerable by closing the gap between knowledge and action in public health. This global health non-profit organization uses proven approaches to help leaders, health managers, and communities in developing countries create stronger health systems for a greater health impact. Since its founding in 1971, MSH has left its mark in over 150 countries working with policy makers, health care consumers, and health professionals to improve the overall availability, affordability and quality of health services.

The work of MSH is centered on four core beliefs and values: effective local leaders and local institutions are key to creating lasting health impact; health is a basic human right, realized through healthy living conditions and access to health care for all; healthy people and communities are more able to contribute to economic growth and political stability; and better evidence to scale up current methods and technologies will fuel widespread health impact.

Since it’s founding, MSH’s operations have been based on the 3,500 year old Tao (Way) of Leadership, working shoulder-to-shoulder with local partners and colleagues and empowering them to succeed. In the 1960s, MSH’s founder Dr. Ron O’Connor, was taught the principles of the Tao of Leadership by Dr. Noobora Iwamura, a mentor and friend. Dr. Iwamura, as the only survivor of his high school class in the Hiroshima bombing, decided to lead a life of service in the remote, rural areas of Nepal. Through his work he discovered that creating sustainable changes meant much more than medical care on its own: it meant engaging communities actively in their own health needs.

The mission and work of MSH is based on Dr. Iwamura’s concern that communities be empowered with the knowledge of solutions to basic health problems and challenged to take control of their own health. These values are resonated today in MSH’s staff of over 2,400 based in over 65 countries. MSH focuses its efforts on strengthening health systems in the priority health areas: HIV & AIDS; tuberculosis; family planning and reproductive health; maternal, newborn, and child health; malaria and other communicable diseases; and chronic diseases.

In the organizations’ 2012 Annual Report, MSH outlined universal health coverage (UHC) as the framework for maximizing health impact. More than 50 countries have achieved universal health coverage, with an additional 50 countries working towards the same goal. MSH is contributing to this UHC movement through its coordination with local communities to develop health system innovations, such as the scaling up of community health shops, and by directly building local ability to deliver health services through training health workers and staff. There is much work to be done, but MSH is pushing to make effective healthcare available to anyone in need.

– Ali Warlich

Sources: MSH,WHO

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Improving Access to Reproductive Health Services

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Improving access to reproductive health services in the developing world is critical to poverty alleviation. Pregnancy and childbirth-related complications are a leading cause of death of girls, aged 15 to 19, in developing countries. An estimated 7.3 million girls under age 18 give birth each year, and a great percentage of births occur in Africa. To counter this, the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) has announced it will partner with eight African countries to improve access to reproductive health services for millions of girls. The programs will span over the next three years, and will hopefully make a difference in lives of millions of young people.

“We are working specifically to ensure that the continent’s adolescent girls, between the ages of 15 and 19 – some 45 million of whom live in sub-Saharan Africa – get a good education, are able to decide whether and when to marry and have children, are protected from HIV, remain safe from violence, and have their fair share of opportunities to work and contribute to the economic development of their countries,” said UNFPA Executive Director Babatunde Osotimehin.

UNFPA will partner with the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Ethiopia, Mozambique, Niger, Nigeria, Sierra Leone, South Sudan and Tunisia. The programs will deliver comprehensive sexual and reproductive health services for young people. The hope is to reach disadvantaged and impoverished girls who are most at risk for poor sexual and reproductive health, violence and exploitation.

UNFPA programs will ensure young people have access to age-appropriate sex education, whether they are in school or out, to prepare them for adult life. The programs will bring together governments, young people, the private sector and other stakeholders to access the needs of young people.

UNFPA is the lead United Nations agency that promotes sexual and reproductive health services. They are at work in 150 countries, ensuring that young people have the information, services, and supplies they need to make safe and healthy decisions.

“Over the next three years, in partnership with governments and young people themselves, we will commit to making a tangible difference in the lives of millions of young people right across the continent. It is their rights we must uphold and it is they who are our best hope for a prosperous and peaceful Africa,” said Dr. Osotimehin.

– Catherine Ulrich
Sources: UNFPA, UN News
Photo: Join Tokyo

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5 Ways to End Global Poverty

5 Ways to End Poverty
The end of global poverty is in sight. While this may seem like a difficult, if not impossible feat, in fact, the opposite is true. By adhering to these concepts, the United Nations states that poverty can be ended in the near future.

  1. Economic Growth: Training and education are key for economic growth in the developing world. Once these two necessities are met, more jobs can be created and people will earn more money to fuel the economy.
  2. Representative and Responsible Government: Corruption has been known to prevent foreign aid from reaching the most impoverished people. Open governments are less likely to be corrupt and more likely to provide social services to their citizens.
  3. ‘Green’ agriculture and development: Due to climate change and population increases, environmentally friendly policies are critical for ensuring sustainability and healthy lifestyles.
  4. Healthcare/Sanitation: Without access to proper healthcare, communities are affected by disease, illness and death, factors that contribute to lack of economic development and social progress. Access to clean water and sanitation will also improve health conditions. When children are healthy, they can go to school and grow up to have careers, thus ending their parents’ poverty cycle.
  5. Global Partnerships: No one country can end global poverty on its own. In order to reduce poverty, everyone must work together to ensure that these other factors are met. Foreign aid, improving trading relations or diplomacy are ways that countries can contribute to eliminating poverty.

Although this is a simplified list, these big ideas are vital for finally ending world poverty. Once poverty is reduced, hunger, war, and illicit operations common to developing countries will no longer be prevalent because people will no longer be imprisoned by extreme poverty. The U.N. is on track for meeting its Millennium Development Goals and hopes to see the end of world poverty by 2030.

– Mary Penn

Sources: Plan Canada, Government of the United Kingdom
Photo: The Guardian

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Deafness in Sub-Saharan Africa

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The Deaf in sub-Saharan Africa face a unique set of challenges. They tend to be isolated from society in ways that people with hearing struggle to understand, and they are often seen as burdensome or even as a bad omen for their families. Education for the Deaf in sub-Saharan Africa is severely lacking, and they are often denied the opportunity to live independent and fulfilling lives. The concept of Deaf culture, in which deafness can be seen as a neutral or even positive trait, has yet to take root in most African societies. However, in some countries, exciting progress is being made.

Andrew Foster (1927-1987) is often considered the father of deaf education in Africa. After becoming the first African American to graduate from Gallaudet College, the preeminent school for the deaf, Foster founded the Christian Mission for Deaf Africans in the United States in 1956. A visit to Accra, Ghana the following year inspired him to found a school for the deaf in Ghana. Foster highly emphasized the importance of sign language, rather than forcing deaf children to communicate using only oral speech, as theory known as Foster’s Total Communication philosophy.

Throughout his adult life he founded 31 schools in 17 African countries where deaf children could be educated and empowered. Many of these students returned to their home villages and educated other deaf children, spreading the message that deaf children can and should be educated.

Today, education for the Deaf in most sub-Saharan African countries is sub-par at best. In societies where primary education is not yet universal, priority is given to general education that benefits more children. Programs are usually run by non-governmental organizations, often resulting in a lack of oversight and regulation. Teachers are usually not deaf and often lack the skills necessary to teach deaf children. Funds are often low, so textbooks and other school supplies are often in short supply. Perhaps most problematically, there is generally no expectation that deaf children will continue past primary school.

No sub-Saharan African country has reliable data concerning its deaf population. Instead, they often end up disappearing from school systems, workplaces, and society in general simply because they cannot hear.

Lack of skilled medical care exacerbates the problem, resulting in a lack of early identification and investigation. It is also generally assumed that deafness rates in developing countries are higher due to limited treatment options, malnutrition, and chronic illnesses that affect hearing. It should also be noted that in more affluent societies there are many hard of hearing children who can function as fairly easily. These children are usually provided with hearing aids, but most families in the developing world cannot afford them.

Cultural attitudes also contribute to the lack of urgency when it comes to deaf children’s education. While sub-Saharan Africa is incredibly diverse and there are clearly exceptions for every trend, there are some harmful stereotypes about the Deaf that are common in many countries. Some see deafness as an act of fate or a sign of God’s punishment. Deaf children are often hidden because they are considered a source of familial shame. They may also be pitied and seen as burdensome and helpless, which can result in abuse such as sexual violence towards deaf women.

These negative attitudes generally increase the isolation of deaf children and feed into the stigmatization of deafness. Governmental policies that fail to protect the Deaf from discrimination, as well as derogatory language similar to the English phrase “deaf and dumb”, are manifestations of this stigmatization.

In the face of the clear inequity suffered by the Deaf in sub-Saharan Africa, it is encouraging to recognize the progress being made. Four sub-Saharan African countries (Zimbabwe, Botswana, South Africa, and Uganda) have prohibited discrimination against people with disabilities. Additionally, Deaf culture is gaining headway. Uganda is one of just a few countries worldwide to have officially recognized a sign language in its constitution and there are currently two journals focusing on Africans with disabilities. Deaf Link Uganda, a non-profit founded in 2007, is currently working to empower deaf individuals in Uganda by creating Deaf communities and providing education and job training, as well as work opportunities. Educational opportunities for the Deaf, including primary schools and beyond, are increasing, especially in Nigeria.

These positive developments reflect a changing culture. Deafness in sub-Saharan Africa is becoming more accepted and supported. Such progress is sorely and urgently needed, making it all the more exciting to witness.

– Katie Fullerton

Sources: Project Muse, Deaf Link Uganda
Photo: Commission Stories

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How Prevalent is Stunted Growth?

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Millions of children around the world suffer from undernutrition. It is defined by UNICEF as a diet bereft of the calories and proteins necessary for growth and bodily maintenance, or the inability to utilize the nutrients in food due to an illness. This undernutrition is the cause of death of 5.6 million children in the developing world annually. And it is largely responsible for the stunted growth of millions of others.

Stunted growth, or low-height for age, can be attributed to a number of factors including infection, parasites, and, as mentioned, undernutrition. While these factors are not explicitly related, they are each correlated with lower incomes and poverty. Moreover, as a result of these conditions, particularly during the early years of a child’s life, he or she may not receive the nutrients necessary for proper development.

Stunting could begin as early as gestation in the womb, and has lifelong consequences as a “chronic restriction of a child’s growth.” Children with stunted growth have restricted brain development, preventing them from achieving their full potential in schooling and the workforce thereafter. In terms of disease, stunting puts children at a greater risk of dying from infection.

The countries in the world with the highest prevalence of stunted growth include Peru, India, Ethiopia, and Vietnam. These countries have risen to the challenge of preventing stunted growth in their children, like Peru with its “5 by 5 by 5” program. This specific program aimed to “reduce stunting in children under 5 by 5 percent in 5 years” by following simple steps like bettering women’s nutrition, encouraging breastfeeding, providing vitamins and nutrient-rich foods, and so on. The success has been widespread in Peru and elsewhere. By 2011, stunting in Ethiopia was reduced from 57% to 44% in children below the age of 5.

– Lina Saud 

Sources: Do Something, World Food Programme, UNICEF, Princeton Publications
Photo: Flikr

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WoundCure Chip Assesses Chronic Wounds

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Dr. Manuela Martins-Green and PhD candidate Sandeep Dhall have started a project to develop a diagnostic tool called a “gene chip.” The chip would provide accurate diagnostic tests for chronic “non-healing” wounds. The gene chip can predict how a patient’s chronic wound should be treated in order to increase the chance of healing. If the WoundCure chip project is successful, it could potentially treat millions of people who are affected with bed sores, skin ulcers, diabetic foot ulcers and other related chronic wounds.

Martins-Green and Dhall say that chronic wounds affect an average of 6.5M people and cost roughly $25 billion a year in the U.S. The WoundCure chip data could steer doctors toward effective treatment plans so that wounds can heal properly. Many times, the solution to chronic wounds is to amputate the affected limbs. Open sores are also more prone to infection, which can potentially spread throughout the body.

The WoundCure chip data will be an excellent tool that will allow doctors to quickly determine which wounds require aggressive treatment. The chip will identify which genes have been altered, thus providing quick diagnosis and proper treatment. In an interview with Dr. Martins-Green, she goes more in detail about how the chip works. She explains that, “If the expression of the gene is elevated, it will show red. If it’s not regulated, it will show green. If you use the chip with a wound, the prediction is that the more red the more serious the wound will be.”

The researchers behind this innovative tool are hopeful that it will be a positive impact on tens of millions of people affected by chronic wounds. For the WoundCure chip to actually happen, Martins-Green and Dhall will need to reach their funding target for this project. Those interested in learning more and supporting their research can visit their crowd funding page.

– Daphne Jeon

Sources: Microryza, Motherboard
Photo: Motherboard