Archive for category: Health

Information and stories on health topics.

,

Sierra Leone Demands Maternal Health Improvements

maternal_health_sierra_leone
In Sierra Leone, a new initiative is encouraging local communities to demand a higher level of health care services, in order to reduce the country’s high maternal mortality rates. One in every 21 women in Sierra Leone is at risk of death due to childbirth, and the campaign aims at empowering communities to push healthcare higher on the political agenda, by providing evidence to local authorities that they require higher standards.

The initiative, Evidence for Action (E4A), works in Sierra Leone and five other sub-Saharan countries, and brings together experts from academic institutions, internationally recognized advocacy and accountability coalitions and civil society organizations. E4A acknowledges while progress is possible, reducing infant and maternal mortality requires the effort of everyone involved. The leader of the project, Dr. Mohamed Yilla, said “The issue of babies and maternal health should no longer just be a government issue; it should be of community interest. The community can bring about the sustainable health system and maintain it.”

As part of E4A, the MamaYe! campaign is an program that advocates for safer maternal clinics. The campaign provides information to individuals and communities so that they can make more well-informed decisions about supporting maternal healthcare and encourage government authorities and politicians to improve healthcare services. The project collects data from clinics across the country, and draws attention to those that fall short on utilities such as electricity, running water and blood supply.

Last year, the program distributed 5,000 score cards to communities, rating clinics from all over the country. Yilla notes that thanks to the information, people started to ask questions and demand more from their government. Since the election in November 2012, Sierra Leone’s health spending has increased from 7.5% to 10.5%. Regarding the increase in spending, Yilla said, “Attribution is always difficult, but this advocacy work showed we were way below the budget target and contributed to that increase.”

Looking forward, Sierra Leone has huge prospects, partly due to a thriving mining industry and iron ore production. With an increase in GDP, along with more awareness concerning the condition of maternal healthcare facilities, Yilla is hopeful that investment in health will see major progress over the next two years.

– Chloe Isacke

Sources: The Guardian, Evidence for Action
Photo: New Security Beat

, ,

3 Incredible Accomplishments of the Carter Center

Jimmy and Rosalynn Carter in Ambassador's Circle
“We can choose to alleviate suffering. We can choose to work together for peace. We can make these changes—and we must.” These words of our remarkable former President Jimmy Carter form the foundation of a center striving for a better world. In 1982, former President Carter and wife, Rosalynn founded a non-profit organization “committed to advancing human rights” named, “The Carter Center.” In partnership with Emory University, the Atlanta-based organization has made great strides in improving the human condition worldwide. Here are three noteworthy initiatives of the Carter Center:

  1. In promoting global health, the Carter Center led a coalition poised to bring an end to Guinea Worm Disease. Also known as dracunculiasis, this disease was found in 3.5 million people in 1986. In that year, the Carter Center came to the fore and led a campaign to prevent this preventable infection in countries throughout Africa. In the years that followed, the Carter Center has been able to drastically reduce the prevalence of the disease through water filtration programs, water treatment programs, and programs educating the public about dracunculiasis. Today, Guinea Worm Disease is on the brink of eradication, with only 542 reported cases in 2012.
  2. In promoting democracy, the Carter Center has played an extensive role in overseeing elections in countries globally. Since its founding, the center has monitored over 90 elections in some 37 countries. In each election, the center plays a role in evaluating a given country’s electoral laws, overseeing voter registration, and assessing the fairness of campaigns. In 2005, the center became involved in drafting a document outlining the standards for election observers in countries around the world. Known as the Declaration of Principles for International Observation, this document has been embraced by organizations internationally
  3. Among the Carter Center’s most innovative programs is its Conflict Resolution Program. The center aims to improve dialogue and negotiations as a means of producing real solutions tailored to each given nation. In Liberia, for example, a country that endured lawlessness for years, the center is working to “reestablish the rule of law.” The center spearheaded a campaign promoting and strengthening legal institutions in the country, as well as creating constructive partnerships between citizens and their government.

Learn more at https://www.cartercenter.org/index.html.

– Lina Saud

Sources: Carter Center, CDC

Nigeria’s Flying Doctors

nigerias_flying_doctors_borgen_project_opt
The Flying Doctors Nigeria is an air ambulance service based in Lagos, Nigeria. Founded by Dr. Ola Orekunrin, the service is the first of its kind in West Africa. The company was founded to serve a need for immediate air transport for those injured or in desperate need of medical attention. According to Orekunrin, for many in Nigeria, medical help was next to impossible to find because the two or three good hospitals were two to four day journeys away. For a nation that has a huge oil and gas industry, the fact that there was no system for transporting to hospitals quickly seemed to be a glaring error in heath care to Orekunrin.

Dr. Orekunrin herself was impacted by the lack of transportation for the sick or injured. A few years ago, while Orekunrin was studying in the U.K., her 12-year-old sister fell gravely ill while on vacation in Nigeria. She needed medical care urgently but the local hospital could not care for the condition she had. The family was shocked to find out that there was no available air ambulance service in all of West Africa to move the girl to a better healthcare center  and that they would have to call for a flight all the way from South Africa. By the time the flight was even available, the little girl had already passed away.

For Orekunrin, the sudden loss of her younger sister was both shocking and life changing. A doctor by the age of 21, Orekunrin had a promising career in the U.K. as one the youngest, most talented, and ambitious young leaders. Yet she left it all to move to Nigeria to address healthcare in the African nation. So Orekunrin went to study evacuation models and air ambulance in developing countries. In 2010, she launched her own company Flying Doctors Nigeria.

Flying Doctors Nigeria is currently in its third year and continues to swiftly transport people who need urgent medical care. It has since airlifted and provided expert health care en route to 500 patients. The company uses a fleet of planes and helicopters in its work. The service has carried all sorts of injured or ill from victims of traffic accidents to gunshot wounds. This transportation is critical to patients as roads in parts of West Africa are often poorly maintained and badly lit at night, making transportation in cars both inefficient and difficult.

There are still many hurdles that this young company must face. First and foremost, aviation business is highly expensive in Nigeria. Orekunrin has stated “keeping costs down is always a challenge.” Furthermore red tape is always tangling up businesses. Yet with a growing financial services sector and a growing petroleum and gas industry could fuel demand for companies like Flying Doctors Nigeria. For Orekunrin and those who work with her, their labor is difficult, but the rewards for their hard work and dedication are life saving.

– Grace Zhao

Sources: CNN CP Africa Knowledge Fountain
Photo: Blogspot

,

Poverty in Costa Rica

poverty in costa rica
The poverty in Costa Rica surprises many tourist. In the United States, an image of tropical Costa Rica permeates travel websites. Beautiful sandy beaches, tropical getaways. A common suggested destination is the Province of Guanacaste. If someone searched Guanacaste during this week, it is unlikely they made it past the first half of the page without finding the link they needed. The last thing they are likely to find or look for in Guanacaste is social and economic unrest.

For the people of Guanacaste, sandy beaches and tropical getaways merely form the backdrop of their struggles. Costa Rica is no stranger to extreme poverty. In 1982, poverty marred the doorways of 48 percent of households in the country. Activists and policy changes cut away at that statistic and by 1994, less than 16 percent of households were affected. But where does that leave Costa Rica in recent years? In 2011, 15 percent of Costa Ricans were living in extreme poverty. One of every five employees receive all legal compensation, such as paid overtime. Income has decreased by seven percent. Figures from this year show a single percent decrease in national poverty. In Guanacaste, however, almost 22 percent of the regions residents live in extreme poverty.

The Annexation of Guanacaste Festival celebrates the province’s choice to become a part of Costa Rica instead of Nicaragua on July 15, 1824. So why is this normally joyous occasion gaining conflicted attention this year? Over 2000 protestors chose the holiday to air grievances in Nicoya’s central park, a site usually full of celebration. Specific messages were diverse, but the general message to their government was the same: We deserve better.

A prevalent issue among protestors was the lack of response by the Costa Rican government to cure and inform on the high arsenic levels in the water in the Guanacaste region. For three years, citizens have been looking for answers, but their cries have fallen on deaf ears. In fact, Costa Rica’s Constitutional Court issued a Writ of Amparo, or a way to protect constitutional rights, against President Laura Chinchilla and various government agencies due to their lack of action. Roy Wong with the Costa Rican Social Security System, the country’s public health administration, found that the rate for chronic kidney failure is almost 20 percent higher in Guanacaste than that national average. Though no official connection has been made, the high rate of kidney failure and high levels of arsenic coming from the taps of people’s homes could be connected.

Despite signing an emergency decree in March 2012, President Chinchilla and the Ministry of Health have made no apparent progress in finding a cause or solution for the arsenic. In the Writ of Amparo, citizens noted that the government recently issued a similar [emergency decree] due to coffee rust. The health of a bush gets more attention and more budget than the health of the citizens of the Republic. This infuriates us and we cannot let it continue. As it should.

Many onlookers of the protest in Nicoya sympathized with protesters. Hannia Carrillo grew up in Sámara, Guanacaste. While watching both the festivities and protests with her mother, Carrillo told the Tici Times that she agreed with the march. The president’s focus on tourism has left the rest of the province behind, she said.

Many residents felt that focus on tourism lead the Costa Rican government to leniency when dealing with big hotels and landowners. This, some believe, is exhibited best in the poverty prevalent throughout the country. Despite a report by PRWeb.com earlier this month of a growing middle class, the protestors shout something that many in the Costa Rican government might wish to ignore, that they are not treated equally. What do they ask in return? Accountability and transparency.

– Jordan Bradley
Sources: PR Web, YouTube, Tico Times, Inside Costa Rica, Costa Roca Law, World Bank
Photo: Inside Costa Rica

,

What is Rotary International?

african_farmer_farming_infrastructure_world_hunger_global_poverty_usaid_international-aid_opt (1)
With more than 34,000 clubs and 1.2 million members in over 200 countries, Rotary International is one of the largest service organizations in the world. Rotary International assembles business and professional leaders to build peace and goodwill. Members of local Rotary clubs, called Rotarians, engage in service both at home and abroad to alleviate poverty and promote health and education.

Having the primary motto of “Service above Self,” Rotary has been successful in transmitting its humanitarian fervor to young people. Rotary’s service club for young people ages 12 to 18, called Interact, is one of the fastest growing philanthropic programs in the world. It currently has over 300,000 teens involved. Similarly, Rotaract is the subset of Rotary International that caters to college-age people ages 18 to 30. Rotaract clubs boast a membership of over 200,000.

An important facet of Rotary, Interact, and Rotaract clubs is that despite being affiliated with Rotary International, the individual chartered clubs are self-governing – free to engage in service projects in their own communities as well as serve international initiatives. This leads to clubs becoming strong grassroots vehicles for the promotion of service.

There have been many noteworthy Rotarians throughout history, ranging from politicians like former president Warren G. Harding to accomplished entrepreneurs like Sam Walton, founder of Walmart.

One of Rotary’s flagship missions has been to eradicate polio, a goal this organization has been working on for over 25 years. The Gates Foundation has helped, providing Rotary with hundreds of millions of dollars over many years to assist in the eradication of polio. Most recently, in 2013, Rotary International and the Gates Foundation began a joint effort called “End Polio Now – Make History Today,” determined to prevent polio from making a resurgence. This endeavor has been successful, with the annual polio diagnosis rate being reduced by over 99%.

In addition to fighting polio, the Rotary Foundation has been instrumental in effecting change in world communities by establishing many innovative initiatives designed to create a healthier and more educated world. For example, Rotary clubs worldwide have taken a firm stance aimed at promoting literacy by creating a Rotary Literacy Month, establishing book donation drives, and holding reading events for schoolchildren.

Rotary has also worked with U.S. federal agencies such as USAID, thus creating a great partnership between an organization with strong grassroots ties and an agency with technical expertise. For example, in 2009, USAID and Rotary joined efforts to bring clean drinking water and sanitation to countries in the developing world.

Rotary International is an organization that seeks to transcend cultural, ethnic, and language boundaries in order to serve humanity, and it is impossible to overstate the impact this organization has had on the world.

– Rahul Shah

Sources:

Final Step in Ending Polio is Overcoming Mistrust

Final Step in Ending Polio is Overcoming Mistrust
The campaign to end polio is the largest and most successful disease-eradication effort the world has ever seen. In 1988, 350,000 people died from polio every year. That number dwindled to 250 last year. With an estimated five years left to eliminate polio completely, the battle is almost over.

In the Middle East, however, it has one massive obstacle left: deep, ingrained mistrust. During the search for Osama bin Laden, the CIA freely used vaccination campaigns as guises for gathering intelligence. As recently as last year, the agency paid a local doctor, under the ruse of vaccination, to collect DNA samples to identify members of Osama’s family—an act of treason for which that doctor now faces a 33-year jail sentence. Many Middle Eastern families, enraged with American covert operations, still believe the campaigns are ploys to mark areas for drone strikes or air raids. For many, the stigma of polio vaccination is greater than any perceived benefit.

In Pakistan, one of the last three countries on earth with circulating strains of polio (the other two are Afghanistan and Nigeria), many children still die every year because of the disease—and it permanently cripples hundreds more. In rural parts of Pakistan, polio eradication efforts often meet violent resistance due to fear and hatred of Western influence. A staggering 300,000 children still live in areas too dangerous for vaccinators to travel. Yet a new political development has given polio fighters in Pakistan new hope: the neighboring country of India just announced the end of polio within its borders.

To Pakistanis, whose rivalry with Indians has deep cultural roots, the humiliation of lagging behind is insufferable. Soon after India declared itself polio-free, the Pakistani government formed an executive polio committee, doubled vaccinator’s pay, launched a massive awareness campaign, and induced religious leaders to support polio eradication. Bill Gates, one of the leading figures in polio resistance, unhesitatingly calls the Pakistan-India rivalry “our biggest asset” for ending polio in Pakistan.

Many groups continue to resist vaccination, of course. In parts of Pakistan under Taliban influence, vaccination teams often travel with armed escorts to protect themselves from a lethal attacks. Some carry around bags of rupees, bribing locals to accept treatment.

Yet even militant opposition to the anti-polio effort is waning. The Taliban in Afghanistan, for example, recently announced that it supports polio eradication programs and encourages people to seek treatment. Although it still does not tolerate foreign workers, the group promises to work with local health workers and “lend a hand to all those programs which work for the health care of the helpless people of our country.”

Aziz Memon, the head of the Rotary Club’s polio eradication program in Pakistan, celebrates the good work being done to end polio in his country. According to him, the only way to undermine doubt and encourage participation is slow, careful work. The final step in ending polio is overcoming mistrust—which, in other words, is overcoming fear with compassion. “We can’t twist arms,” he says. “We want to win them over with love and affection.”

— John Mahon

Sources: NY Times, Gates Foundation, CBC

Photo: Polio5060

Global Vaccine Summit in Abu Dhabi

Global Vaccine Summit in Abu Dhabi
Last week in Abu Dhabi, the Gates Foundation drew together a diverse group of partners and world leaders to highlight the investment case for immunization and recommit to the fight for polio eradication at the Global Vaccine Summit. At the Summit, Rotary International’s President Sakuji Tanaka stated that the eradication of polio requires “the commitment of national and local leaders where polio still exists, the continued support of donor countries, and the steadfast commitment of heroic vaccinators.”

At the Summit, global leaders made statements in support of efforts to immunize children around the world and the Global Polio Eradication Initiative formally launched its bold new 6-year endgame strategy. In response, public and private donors announced $4 billion in financial commitments towards the $5.5 billion global need for polio, including $1.8 billion forms the Gates Foundation, $457 million from the U.K., $250 million from Canada, $240 million from Norway, $120 million from Abu Dhabi Crown Prince Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed al-Nahayan, $227 million from the Islamic Development Bank, and $130 million from Germany.

Even though there was much focus on the eradication of polio at this Summit, there were many other important issues that were addressed.

As the funding for immunization efforts was being pledged in Abu Dhabi, new child vaccines were being distributed on two other continents. Thanks to the previously-committed donor support to the GAVI Alliance, GAVI and its partners on the ground were about to distribute three vaccines in three new countries: pentavalent in Somalia, rotavirus in Haiti, and pneumococcal in Uganda.

– Matthew Jackoski

Source: ONE, SABIN
Photo: Breitbart

Raising HIV Awareness in South Sudan

Raising HIV Awareness in South Sudan
South Sudan has one of the highest rates for HIV infection in the world. It is estimated that only 100,000 people in South Sudan live with HIV. But out of those 100,000, only 4,678 people receive antiretroviral therapy (ARTs). The Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Malaria, and Tuberculosis have launched a project in Southern Sudan to raise awareness and provide treatment to people who have HIV.

The project specifically focuses on HIV patients who are also at risk for Tuberculosis (TB). It provides information on prevention, surveillance, testing, and counseling to those living with HIV and TB. In 2012 the program offered treatment to 1,500 TB/HIV co-infected patients received ART treatment and 4,882 people with TB received treatment. From 2005 to 2012 those who received counseling for HIV or TB rose from 1 person to 12, 753.

Although this project is incredible for those in South Sudan who are already living with HIV, a key strategy for HIV reduction is raising awareness about prevention. A group in the state of Western Equatoria, where nearly seven percent of residents are infected with HIV, is going out into the community to spread the message of safe sex. Zereda AIDS information Center group has been influential in its community. It has grown to 470 members and encouraged dozen of community members to get tested.

“When I got the disease, I was very worried, but when I started getting counseling – before I thought I had no life in this world. But after joining the group I realized am still useful in this world,” said Angelina Baptist, who is a member of Zereda.

Projects and support groups such as these are necessary for raising HIV awareness and preventing the prevalence of HIV in Southern Sudan.

– Catherine Ulrich
Sources: UN, Voice of America News

, ,

What is the Millennium Water Alliance?

Formed in 2003, the Millennium Water Alliance is a collaboration of U.S. based non-governmental organizations working in water and sanitation. The organization is designed to offer sustainable solutions to water access through knowledge, advocacy and collaborative programming. The work of the organization aims to reach the Millennium Development Goal (MDG) of halving the proportion of people without safe access to water and sanitation.

The MWA creates field programs that are a coordinated effort between member NGOs to strategically address water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH) in vulnerable countries. Major programs by the MWA include operations in Africa and Central America. These collaborative programs allow separate NGOs to provide their own distinct strengths and ideas into one mission that is designed for maximum efficiency and long-term effectiveness.

The MWA program in Kenya, for instance, improves WASH to reduce negative impacts that come from the severe droughts and floods in the target areas. It builds the water supply in vulnerable areas of the country using low-cost, resilient technologies like rainwater harvesting facilities and improved simple water storage tanks. The program also focuses on promoting better household water treatment and safe storage techniques.

Until 2009 the MWA was run by member organizations, but the expansion of the organization’s consortium programs led to the hiring of a full time program director. Since then, the MWA’s staff has increased to a total of four full-time employees, two part-time employees, and several consultants in the U.S. and abroad.

Thanks in part to the MWA, the world met the MDG target of halving the proportion of people without access to improved sources of water by 2010, five years ahead of schedule. According to the U.N. MDG website, “between 1990 and 2010 more than two billion people gained access to improved drinking water sources.”

But the global WASH crisis continues to be an issue. Based on UNICEF’s 2013 statistics, 2.5 billion people lack improved sanitation facilities, and 768 million people still use unsafe drinking water sources. Lack of access to WASH leads to decreased productivity due to illness and labor wasted with hours spent carrying water from place to place. The work of the MWA needs to continue for the furthering of global sustainable development.

– Kirsten Harris

Source: Millennium Water Alliance, United Nations, UNICEF

What the Supreme Court Did for HIV Prevention

What the Supreme Court Did for HIV Prevention
On June 20, the United States Supreme Court delivered their decision in the case of the US Agency for International Development (USAID) v. Alliance for the Open Society Institute International (AOSI). The highest court in the country ruled 6-2 that USAID had violated the first amendment of the U.S. Constitution by requiring private organizations to take a pledge not to provide funding for HIV prevention to sex workers. The landmark decision means that HIV/AIDs prevention organizations all over the world will now be able to seek USAID funding without having to sign a pledge that would exclude the very people they are trying to serve.

In 2003, USAID implemented a new law that required all groups receiving U.S. government funds for international HIV/AIDs work to adopt policies opposing prostitution. The “anti-prostitution loyalty oath” mandated that these organizations take the official position on prostitution that the U.S. government does, which is that all forms of sex work are illegal. The oath resulted in the defunding of numerous HIV prevention organizations that deliberately serviced sex workers.

The government, and by proxy USAID, officially equate prostitution with human trafficking. These organizations, however, take the stance that not all sex work is the result of trafficking and that some women and men willfully enter into prostitution. They want to make sex work safer for those involved, recognizing that it will continue despite attempts to stop it.

In September 2005, AOSI began challenging the loyalty oath in federal courts, labeling it unconstitutional. They argued that the oath was in violation of private organizations’ first amendment rights because it required them to adopt the government’s point of view and restricted what they could say or do. The Supreme Court agreed. This ruling brings the U.S. one step closer to accomplishing its goal of eradicating HIV. Instead of adopting policies that contradict their objective, USAID will now have to align itself with it.

– Allana Welch

Sources: Huffington Post, Johns Hopkins, PR News Wire
Photo: Politics PA