Archive for category: Health

Information and stories on health topics.

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Nobel Peace Prize Auctioned for Child Refugees in Ukraine

On the night of Monday, June 20, 2022, Russian journalist Dmitry Muratov’s Nobel Peace Prize sold at auction for $103.5 million, all of which was donated to UNICEF to aid child refugees in Ukraine.

Ukrainian Refugee Crisis

As of July 2022, more than 5.6 million refugees from Ukraine have been recorded across Europe as a result of the ongoing war, with 8.7 million recorded border crossings. With nearly half a million children in Ukraine, UNICEF worries about the effects of living in a war-torn area.

In response to the conflict, UNICEF has ramped up its humanitarian aid to the region. In a statement following the Russian invasion of Ukraine, UNICEF Executive Director Catherine M. Russell said, “heavy weapons fire along the line of contact has already damaged critical water infrastructure and education facilities in recent days. Unless the fighting subsides, tens of thousands of families could face displacement, dramatically escalating humanitarian needs.”

UNICEF’s response focuses on providing health, hygiene and emergency education supplies. It is also getting safe water to areas in conflict, assisting children separated from families and working to ensure there is help for children and families. It has additionally established a fund to assist child refugees in Ukraine.

Dmitry Muratov’s Nobel Peace Prize

Muratov received the Nobel Peace Prize in 2021 for his work toward journalistic freedom and safeguarding democracy. After the fall of the Soviet Union, Muratov founded a newspaper, the Novaya Gazeta. The newspaper advocated for freedom of press and expression in Russia.

The Novaya Gazeta is critical of Russian officials and does not shy away from exposing corruption within the Russian government. Six of the Gazeta’s journalists lost their lives for their journalistic work on Russian military operations.

Muratov is no stranger to taking on Russian imperialism and has used his place as editor-in-chief to be critical of the Russian annexation of Crimea in 2014.

The Auction

According to NPR, Muratov conducted the auction through Heritage Auctions and opened bidding online on June 1, 2022, with all proceeds set to go to UNICEF’s Ukraine child refugee fund. In-person bidding occurred on Monday, June 20.

By Monday morning, the ending day of the auction, the online bid had only reached $550,000. The auction increased in increments initially. Then, suddenly, the highest bid jumped from $16.6 million to the winning $103.5 million from an anonymous caller, NPR reports.

This is blowing away the previous highest bid for a Nobel Prize of $4.76 million. In response to the results of the auction, Muratov stated in an interview with the Associated Press, “I was hoping that there was going to be an enormous amount of solidarity, but I was not expecting this to be such a huge amount.” All of the funds are already in UNICEF’s possession.

Muratov is a lifelong advocate for freedom and a critic of Russian expansionism. This auction is his latest act of generosity and advocacy, resulting in $103.5 million for child refugees in Ukraine.

– Eleanor Corbin
Photo: Wikicommons

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Helping Afghanistan Recover from Earthquakes

Helping Afghanistan
On June 22, 2022, a magnitude 6.1 earthquake devastated eastern Afghanistan. An aftershock struck the same area, temporarily stopping all aid and recovery efforts on June 24. The earthquakes took the lives of approximately 1,000 people and destroyed nearly 10,000 houses, a number that poor rural infrastructure in Afghanistan exacerbated. The immediate danger stemming from the earthquake has now subsided and hundreds of thousands of Afghans still desperately need medical attention, shelter and aid. Fortunately, the international community has met the call to action. Here are four ways the international community is helping Afghanistan recover from its deadly earthquakes.

Temporary Shelters

Several countries and organizations have sent temporary shelters to Afghanistan. Poor rural infrastructure, with many people living in mud homes, characterizes much of the affected portion of Afghanistan. On June 23, the U.N. Refugee Agency (UNHCR) delivered 600 tents, 4,200 blankets and 1,200 plastic sheets to the country alongside other household supplies such as buckets and solar lamps. The U.S. announced on June 28 that it will be delivering temporary shelters to the country, though it has not disclosed the quantity. In all, the U.S. will send temporary shelters alongside water collection vessels, blankets, lamps, pots and clothes.

Medical Supplies

Now that the immediate danger of the earthquake has passed and rescue efforts have concluded, the difficult task of treating survivors and dealing with the medical fallout associated with temporary shelters and natural disaster aftermath begins. The already overburdened medical system in Afghanistan, with many hospitals being understaffed or outright closed due to a lack of supplies and personnel, has made the situation worse. Neighboring countries, the United States, UNHCR and the World Health Organization (WHO) are helping Afghanistan by delivering medical supplies.

On June 22, hours after the initial earthquake, WHO sent 10 tonnes of medical equipment to the region, enough to perform 5,400 surgeries and treat an estimated 36,000 people. In addition to treating survivors, much of the medical equipment will go towards preventative measures. The population of East Afghanistan is in severe danger of waterborne illness in the coming weeks and months. To counter this, much of the supplies that UNHCR and the United States sent come in the form of sanitation, hygiene and water supplies.

Workers on the Ground

UNHCR deployed several exports to Afghanistan in the immediate aftermath of the earthquake. The workers helped set up shelters and supply food and household goods to some 4,200 survivors. Further, additional teams from UNHCR have worked to set up supply hubs in three separate districts in east Afghanistan to facilitate rapid aid delivery. The World Health Organization sent eight ambulances and 20 medical teams alongside medical supplies on June 22.

Financial Support

The government of Afghanistan may have some difficulties in receiving financial aid from citizens of the world as well as some countries due to the heavy sanctions that the United States imposed on them. Donations to crowdfunding sites such as GoFundMe cannot transfer to Afghanistan banks for that very reason. The U.S. announced on June 28, that it will provide $55 million in aid, some of which is purely financial. However, there have been several calls for the United States to unfreeze some Afghan assets in order to facilitate humanitarian relief. The government of South Korea pledged on June 23, financial support totaling $1 million to help Afghanistan recover from its deadly earthquake.

Looking Ahead

Efforts in helping Afghanistan recover from its deadly earthquakes are well underway. Delivery of medical supplies, temporary shelters, household goods and financial aid have been plentiful and will continue to ease the suffering of thousands of Afghans. Additional help on the ground from UNHCR and other agencies has also sped up the recovery process while keeping victims of the earthquakes safe. Despite this, the recovery will remain a long and arduous task. Fortunately, the international community has thus far been sufficient in providing aid and shows no signs of stopping.

– Benjamin Brown
Photo: Flickr

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Pharmaceutical Companies are Changing Global Health Care

Pharmaceutical Companies are Changing Global Healthcare
Prior to the last decade, getting medicinal aid to poor countries in Africa was a challenge due to the high prices of disease-fighting drugs and the negligence of the pharmaceutical companies of the world, but there are some pharmaceutical companies changing global health care. Some drugs that helped combat deadly diseases like HIV, malaria and tuberculosis could have cost up to nearly $15,000 a year. The pharmaceutical companies in the past were more concerned with making a profit rather than saving the world’s poor. However, an incredible turnaround has occurred during the last decade and now as many as 20 million Africans have access to drugs and medicines to fight HIV, tuberculosis and malaria for as little as $100 per year.

The Change

Pharmaceutical companies began changing global health care about a decade ago when they experienced international backlash for their disregard for the struggling healthcare systems of the world’s poorest countries and their inability to combat diseases such as HIV/AIDS and malaria. This led to countries similar to South Africa legally suspending drug patents which allowed for small national companies in South Africa to begin producing cheaper alternatives to the highly expensive mainstream HIV drugs. Pharmaceutical companies dropped their lawsuits after the international backlash and instead decided to compete in these poor countries.

Competition Bred Change

The best way for many pharmaceutical companies to remain competitive in the global health care market is to cut their prices and sub-license their patents to generic drug makers. Price cuts have allowed for more than 400 drugs to sell cheaper than ever in Africa. Sub-licensing allows generic drug makers to temporarily have access to patents that pharmaceutical companies created, allowing them to cheaply and effectively create about 30 HIV/AIDS and Hepatitis C drugs over the last decade.

Newest Improvements

The most recent way that pharmaceutical companies are changing global health care is with the creation of Sanofi Global Health and their new brand Impact. Sanofi launched its nonprofit branch Sanofi Global Health in 2021 and dedicated its efforts to providing drug distribution and better healthcare implementation in the world’s poorest countries.

One of the most significant elements of Sanofi Global Health is Foundation S, which can fight childhood cancer in the poorest nations in the world, as well as increase health care access to populations that changing weather patterns most affect. The grandest aspect of Foundation S is the dedication to providing 100,000 free vials of treatment for patients with lysosomal storage disorders (LSD) every year.

The Most Significant Impacts

Sanofi Global Health just announced its new brand Impact on July 4, which promises to be one of the most influential announcements of the decade in terms of pharmaceutical companies changing global health care. Sanofi and Impact will target the poorest and most vulnerable regions of the world, providing 40 of the lowest-income countries with 30 Sanofi drugs and medicines. Among the medicines include insulin and treatment for tuberculosis, malaria and even cancer.

The Impact project also includes a fund for aiding startup companies in these poor countries so that the companies can one day provide sustainable health care within their own nation. This fund supports technical and financial applications of healthcare company innovation while working closely with other nonprofits to train healthcare professionals and increase investment in the healthcare industry.

Looking Ahead

The world’s poorest countries are certainly experiencing a never-before-seen increase in the quality of health care thanks to pharmaceutical companies and their commitment to changing global health care. With more than 40 countries receiving life-changing drugs and investments in their own health care systems, it is possible that this new age of global health care will change the lives of millions of the world’s poor.

– Declan Harkness
Photo: Flickr

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Migratory Birds: Representing The Un-Represented

Migratory BirdsThe Migratory Birds is a newspaper that 15 Afghan refugees founded while working with the Network for Children’s Rights Center in Athens, Greece. The paper’s mission is to report the situations and the lives of refugees within the youth center. Refugees have always lacked a voice in the media, which led to Migratory Birds’ goal of providing them with one. Operating out a youth center in Athens, many journalists spanning many different countries and origins are coming together to share the stories of those whose hasn’t been shared before.

Refugee-Led Initiative in Greece

Migratory Birds, a bi-product of the Young Journalists program, which, “boasts a bi-monthly circulation of 13,000″ is the only still standing initiative in Greece that refugees are reading, according to The World.

Each issue of Migratory Birds has articles that consist of first-hand accounts about life as a refugee. This, among others, includes love poems refugees write and recipes for traditional dishes from the author’s home country. The local distribution route of Migratory Birds goes to refugee camps and various humanitarian organizations all throughout Greece.

Founding Voices

Mahdia Hosseini, 28 and Fatima Sedaghat, 16, are the founders of Migratory Birds and work at the Network for Children’s Rights Youth Center in Athens, Greece. These two met in a refugee camp called Schisto, which is also located in Athens. They, along with 13 other refugees, founded the newspaper because they wanted to change the way the mainstream media represents refugees and migrants, The World reports.

The main motivator behind the project was the fear that refugees felt when talking to journalists. A fear that came from not having their stories shown to the world in a proper manner. The goal of the publication is to “empower the social integration of adolescent and young refugees and fight xenophobia.” The publication dedicates itself to the principles of journalism, promoting conversations across a variety of cultures and helping young people express themselves.

Operating from a youth center based in Kolonos, a neighborhood within Athens, the mission of Migratory Birds is to share the truth regarding the lives of refugees in the Schisto camp, “their fears and frustrations and hopes and dreams,” according to The World.

First-Hand Accounts

Hosseini has a desire to show the world who refugees truly are because she feels that most people don’t possess a true understanding of refugees. “I think we needed to be heard and for people to understand us, I mean refugees and migrants,” she said to The World.

The freedom of speech, an essential right to all but especially to these aspiring journalists was an opportunity provided by Migratory Birds. The newspaper gave these refugees something that wasn’t available in their home countries. Abdul Rashid, a 16-year-old refugee from Afghanistan and a member of Migratory Birds said that he’s happy that he gets to write about what he experienced during migration without fear, The World reports.

Morteza, who is a member of the Young Journalists team, described the way that mainstream media often covers refugee stories. “Eventually what comes out is often the story of the ‘miserable refugee.’ I think this is unfair. That is why I participate in the Newspaper ‘Migratory Birds.’ We write our own stories, we get to know the world and we give people the opportunity to get to know us better,” he said.

The Problem

Exactly how does the media represent refugees? Social psychology defines the “identifiable victim effect,” as people interacting differently with words and images that depict the struggles of a single person rather than groups of people.

Western media commonly represents refugees as “anonymous, faceless masses.” The result of this depiction is the audience feeling detached from the hardships the subject has to face. According to The Conversation, a recent study showed pictures of refugees to almost 4,000 Europeans. After showing them images of large groups or images where they cannot identify the individual, viewers showed increased desensitization of the refugees at that point. Some of the responses from the test subjects revealed that they felt refugees are a crisis in the countries that they journey to.

Migratory Birds seeks to share the whole truth regarding the lives of the refugees living within camps in Athens, Greece. Due to a lack of a proper voice in mainstream media, Migratory Birds took the mission of providing them with one onto themselves. By bringing together journalists that come from various backgrounds and cultures, the publication desires to give refugees proper and genuine representation, so the world can know what life as a refugee is truly like.

– Henry Hyman
Photo: Flickr

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Ending Malaria and NTDs by 2030

End Malaria and Neglected Tropical Diseases
According to the World Health Organization (WHO) in 2020, there were approximately 241 million malaria cases globally. The African region accounted for 95% of the cases and 96% of the deaths. However, governments and other organizations, and companies have recently pledged to end malaria and neglected tropical diseases (NTDs) by 2030.

Historic Kigali Summit

On June 23, global leaders led by Rwanda President Paul Kagame convened at the Kigali Summit on malaria and neglected tropical diseases. This historic summit was the first to discuss these diseases in Africa. Members of the summit convened to discuss and introduce solutions and strategies to end malaria and neglected tropical diseases by 2030. The summit caused governments, companies, organizations, philanthropists and others in the private sector to commit more than $4 billion. Countries that these diseases affected donated more than $2.2 billion. Supporters similar to the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation and Pfizer pledged a combined donation of more than one billion dollars to the cause. Additionally, pharmaceutical companies donated 18 billion medicine tablets to prevent and treat neglected tropical diseases.

The attendees highlighted specific goals to achieve to follow WHO’s global malaria strategy for 2016 to 2030. Some of the goals to reach completion by 2030 include:

  • Decreasing the number of new malaria cases by at least 90%
  • Decreasing malaria death rates by at least 90%
  • Ensuring at least 35 countries abolish malaria
  • Decreasing the number of people needing treatment for neglected tropical diseases by 90%
  • Eliminating dracunculiasis and yaws, two neglected tropical diseases.

Past Progress in Ending Malaria and NTDs

In the past, governments and other organizations have been working hard to end malaria and neglected tropical diseases. With the increase in government funding and access to treatment, malaria and neglected tropical diseases cases have decreased.

Here are a few achievements:

  • The number of malaria cases and deaths has significantly reduced since 2000. From 2000 to 2020, about 10.6 million malaria deaths and 1.7 billion malaria cases did not occur.
  • The WHO director-general labeled nine countries as free from malaria since 2015.
  • Forty-six countries have removed one NTD.
  • One billion people have received treatment for an NTD between 2015 and 2019.

Impact of Kigali Summit

While malaria and NTD cases have decreased since 2020, there is still a long way to go. The 2022 Global Malaria Action Plan by the Roll Back Malaria Partnership, a group of more than 500 organizations dedicated to ending malaria, emphasizes that 3.3 billion people in 109 countries are at risk of malaria. Each year, 185,000 people die because of an NTD. However, the Kigali Summit provides greater opportunities for treatment and preventative measures to fight these two deadly diseases for people worldwide, impacting billions of people.

The summit also demonstrates the cooperation of countries, organizations, and others and their dedication toward one goal. Because of the African leaders’ persistence through the COVID-19 crisis, they were able to secure high-level commitments of billions of dollars. The world is one step closer to the goal to end malaria and neglected tropical diseases by 2030.

Looking Ahead

Malaria and NTDs have affected billions of people across many countries worldwide. The dedication from governments, organizations and members of the private sector indicates a different future, one free of these deadly diseases. At the Kigali Summit, WHO Director-General Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus stated that “…we have the tools and the strategy to prevent that – and, with new tools, to start to dream of a malaria-free-world.”

– Janae O’Connell
Photo: Wikipedia Commons

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USAID Programs in Namibia

USAID Programs in NamibiaThe United States Agency for International Development (USAID) has been working since the 1960s to provide aid to developing countries across the world. Since Namibia’s establishment as a free country in 1990, USAID programs in Nambia have focused on a wide range of developmental factors in the country.

The factors include prevention and treatment for HIV/AIDS and tuberculosis, fundamental access to education, “community-based natural resource management”, “democracy and governance” and establishing employment opportunities and expanding on existing enterprises.

Energy Programs in Namibia

Electricity access is still lacking in parts of southern Africa. In 2020, The World Bank reported that only 56% of Namibians had access to electricity. Namibia is one of 11 nations in the Southern African Energy Program (SAEP), which was launched in 2017. Another country targeted by SAEP is Zambia. In 2021, Namibia imported 100 megawatts (MW) from Zambia according to NamPower, Namibia’s national electric utility provider.

Of note, renewable energy has been a focus of the SAEP, using existing resources from its parent organization USAID to fund a renewable energy feed-in-tariff program. The feed-in-tariff program provides individuals with means to renewable energy similar to solar panels. Excess or unused energy produced is sent to the national power grid and the individual is given a tariff or small sum for the unused energy. If an individual in the program needs more energy than they produced, they can get energy from the national grid.

Tuberculosis in Namibia

Tuberculosis (TB) is the fourth highest cause of death in Namibia. Around 1,500 people died from TB in 2020 according to the organization Stop TB.

Still, Namibia has had some recent success thanks to USAID treatment programs. New incidences of TB in Namibia were at the lowest rate in over a decade with approximately only 11,700 cases in 2020.  Additionally, treatment programs were largely successful; USAID reports an 87% success rate in new TB cases in 2020. A course of several antibiotics is the routine treatment for TB.

TB ties into a greater health problem in Namibia, human immunodeficiency virus (HIV). According to USAID, 61% of people in Namibia with TB are also HIV positive. In 2020, 1,989 Namibians were diagnosed with both HIV and TB.

Combating HIV in Namibia

In Namibia, USAID and PEPFAR have provided substantial help in the fight against HIV. USAID programs in Namibia geared toward HIV provide counseling, resources and treatment for Namibians with HIV. This includes pregnant women at risk of passing HIV to their children.

USAID’s efforts have paid off. For 20 years, new HIV and AIDS cases have been on the decline. HIV is the virus that, if left untreated, can develop into AIDS. In 1998, new AIDS cases in Namibia were estimated to be at 22,000. In 2020, there were only an estimated 5,500 new AIDS cases according to UNAIDS, the joint program in the United Nations dedicated to fighting HIV/AIDS.

One of the most effective ways to prevent HIV is using condoms during sex. In Namibia, the demand for access to condoms exceeds the supply, which is where USAID comes in. Supplying condoms to Namibians is one prong of the strategy to combat HIV. The most recent update to fighting HIV through USAID programs in Namibia came in early June 2022. USAID donated 6.9 million condoms and 2.6 million bottles of personal lubricant to the country to fight to help prevent the spread of HIV.

Final Thoughts

USAID programs in Namibia have been actively fighting to improve conditions in the southern African country. Direct efforts from USAID, including energy programs through SAEP, have given access to electricity to thousands of Namibians. Healthcare to treat and prevent diseases like HIV and TB have increased living conditions in Namibia, highlighting the need for programs to help Namibians in the fight against poverty and disease.

– Emma Rushworth
Photo: Flickr

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Resurgence of Polio in Pakistan

Polio in Pakistan
Polio, for many in the United States today, is not much more than a history lesson. Whether it is former President Franklin Delano Roosevelt’s battle with the disease or the innovations of Dr. Jonas Salk in his creation of a vaccine, the illness tends to only touch most people through books and movies, or when a newborn is vaccinated. Over the last few decades, much of the rest of the world has shared in these triumphs. It is still present in the human population and though outbreaks are diminishing, they do occur. After experiencing significant progress throughout 2021 and for some time into 2022, there are new cases of polio in Pakistan.

What the Outbreak Looks Like

While most people will clear the polio virus without experiencing serious issues, its debilitating symptoms can leave victims with brain and spinal cord injuries. Polio will cause meningitis in around one out of 25 people infected and paralysis in one out of 200. Furthermore, adults who have previously recovered can develop post-polio syndrome which presents itself as new muscle pain or paralysis later in life.

For centuries, people lived with the fear of disability from this disease. Since the advent of vaccinations, the vast majority of nations have eradicated polio. Pakistan, along with its neighbor Afghanistan, has been slower to share in this progress. These two countries are the last where polio is still considered an endemic disease, meaning that it is constantly spreading.

Cases have been diminishing for a long time, however. For example, the incidence of paralysis from polio in Pakistan fell from around 20,000 in the early 1990s to just 84 in 2020. The country recently experienced a hiatus in polio detection that lasted from January 2021 until April 2022 when the diagnosis of polio in a baby boy in the North Waziristan district interrupted the progress, The Guardian reports. Eleven children in Pakistan have been diagnosed with the illness since.

Why is Polio Resurging in Pakistan?

Polio continues to cause outbreaks in Pakistan for much of the same reason that other diseases as many in the population do not have immunity against it. Polio vaccines have proven to be highly effective on the individual level and can create herd immunity when around 80-85% of the population receives a vaccine.

Reaching the level of vaccine coverage that herd immunity from polio requires is difficult because of the misinformation surrounding vaccines in Pakistan. Due to vaccine hesitancy, some parents in Pakistan have obtained fake vaccine markings or simply refused inoculation. Even when they do follow through on receiving a vaccine, mistrust is still high. In 2019, more than 25,000 students asked for hospitalization after unsubstantiated claims of adverse vaccine reactions spread in northwest Pakistan.

Mistrust is not just an endogenous problem. The actions of foreign entities have also caused harm to Pakistan’s health system. In 2011, the CIA ran a fake vaccination program, which collected blood samples of children in an attempt to track down Osama bin Laden by finding his relatives. Oxford University Press article demonstrates that news of the CIA’s campaign not only led to a drop in vaccine uptake between 23% and 39% but also empowered extremist groups.

These groups have engaged in violence against vaccination workers that carry on to this day. Most recently, on June 28, 2022, a gunman killed a polio worker and two policemen involved in vaccination.

What Are the Solutions?

While imperfect, things are far from grim in the fight against polio in Pakistan. As noted earlier, the incidence has plummeted in the last few decades. Much of this is due to vaccine drives from a number of sources including the government and international organizations.

Since the 1990s, the Pakistani government has partnered with the Pakistan Polio Eradication Initiative (PPEI), a group that a consortium of international organizations funded, to create the annual National Emergency Action Plan (NEAP). These plans have demonstrated success through various initiatives to immunize populations via vaccination programs, disease surveillance and outreach.

Under part of its plan, hundreds of thousands of vaccinators go door-to-door offering immunizations to children below the age of 5. Another method these groups have employed to keep spread in check is regular wastewater inspections. This gives public health officials a better idea of disease prevalence and where it is spreading. Finally, to counter much of the misinformation and hesitancy, the plan calls for partnerships with civil society and religious leaders to mainstream the use of vaccines.

Though most countries technically eradicated polio, Pakistan is not alone in the recurrence of it. In 2022, cases have occurred in 30 countries across Africa, Europe and the Middle East. In June 2022, the United Kingdom detected the disease in London’s wastewater. With a polio vaccination rate of 86% in London, a significant part of the population is susceptible to infection demonstrating the danger that festering diseases, such as polio, pose to people all around the world.

– Joey Harris
Photo: Wikipedia Commons

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Malawi Uses Drones to Tackle Malaria

Drones to Tackle Malaria
Although it is a country of progress, Malawi faces social issues and is currently dealing with the impact of disease and finding solutions. The use of a technology method, specifically drones to tackle malaria, is helping to identify and eliminate mosquito breeding grounds and it could be the breaking point of innovation used to eradicate malaria throughout the nation.

Impact of Malaria on Malawi’s Health Care

In Malawi, malaria is the leading cause of death in young children. Each year, there are about 5 million cases of malaria. Experts believe that Malaria is responsible for 34% of all outpatient visits and 40% of all hospital admissions among children under the age of 5. Although Malawi strives to improve economically it still remains one of the world’s poorest nations.

More than 70% of the population lives in poverty, with $1.90 per day. According to the World Bank, the COVID-19 epidemic has had a significant impact on the economy of Malawi. This is because COVID-19 has had a negative monetary impact on economic growth and health care. Prior to COVID-19, telemedicine innovations were expanding due to their promise to provide accessible health care to remote populations that lack access to local resources or expertise.

Experts say that the overburdened health care system leads to increased cases of individuals dying from illnesses like malaria before receiving treatment and COVID-19 has slowed down health services. Therefore, lowering the possibility of transmission of malaria could be an essential part of the nation’s malaria control effort.

The Implementation

Malawi is using drones to tackle malaria in order to keep an eye on mosquito breeding sites in Malawi’s central district known as Kasungu. This is the way to assist scientists in mapping the locations of mosquito infestations in water bodies, according to the World Economic Forum. Along with the African Drone Academy and the Malawi-Liverpool-Wellcome Trust (MLW), researchers set out to track mosquito habitats in Kasungu. Kasungu is abundant in dams and reservoirs, which sustain insect breeding sites during the dry season, The Telegraph reported.

Researchers used drones to map prospective larval homes in an area of 10 kilometers squared by taking in-depth pictures of the area from a height of about 120 meters. With the help of a GPS, the researchers then sampled larvae in order to find out which areas were more prone to mosquito breeding. Following that, they monitored the possibility of exposure within the home, enabling extremely focused malaria disruption activities.

The Aftermath

It is evident that Malawi strives to curb the impact that malaria has on its people. A campaign has started in order to stop malaria by the year 2030 and such efforts have the potential to be achieved. The use of technology to curb issues within a modern world is showing to be progressive. In fact, according to The Telegraph, researchers claim that the investigation of using drones to tackle malaria has improved understanding of how minor dams and reservoirs impact mosquito populations.

The project’s success has encouraged the researchers to modify the technology to track the effects of plastic trash on the ecosystem and human health as well. Malawi’s continued progress and innovation could help the poor fight against malaria, leaving less of a burden on them for health care.

– Frema Mensah
Photo: Unsplash

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CHN on the Go: Community Health Nurses in Ghana

Nurses in Ghana
On a routine home visit, Barbara Senu, a nurse, was worried about a newborn baby’s umbilical cord stump. The baby’s young mother applied sand and toothpaste and Barbara feared it would lead to an infection that could turn deadly. The nurse, while still in the young mother’s home, pulled out her phone and took a video to post it on the CHN (Community Health Nurse) on the Go WhatsApp group. At that time, she was informed to tell the mother not to do so and gave the mother instructions on umbilical cord care. CHN on the Go has helped nurses in Ghana better serve the community.

Working in Aloneness

Discovered in July 2014, CHN on the Go is a smartphone app that is helping nurses in Ghana bring the necessary needed maternal and child health services in hard-to-reach areas in Ghana. The app is also improving the knowledge and skills of nurses in developing communities to feel less lonely from their relatives that live far from their area, Concern Worldwide U.S. reported.

Regularly nurses would walk for hours or get around by motorcycle or canoe to get to their patients. The nurses would leave their homes early in the morning and return late at night, visiting more than a dozen villages in one month, according to Concern Worldwide U.S. Once the nurses arrive, they have to deal with difficulty in helping young mothers and newborns because of the lack of recognition and potential for career advancement, this has left the nurses unmotivated and shell shocked.

Communication Skills

The most popular feature of the CHN on the Go smartphone app is the app’s e-courses. The app lets the nurses in Ghana get credit for the completed and passed classes, helping them to get credit while also increasing their clinical knowledge and improving their education and careers. More than half of the nurses find it difficult to leave their jobs and return to school.

According to Concern Worldwide U.S., the topics on the app range from family planning to pregnancy issues. The nurses have said they go over the e-learning courses at least once or twice before going to bed at night. The pictures on the CHN on the go smartphone app help the nurses effectively communicate a problem if it arrives. The images help because some clients aren’t literate, and the nurses can’t speak the local dialect. Visuals placed on the smartphone help mothers throughout their pregnancies and even after.

In Closing

CHN has achieved the health-related Millennium Development Goals (MGDs). CHN argues that this app will help improve health service deliveries and positive outcomes such as maternal and child health, guinea worm station coverage and HIV/AIDS treatment. CHNs have faced many challenges, like capacity problems and neglect by the health care system but have no plans of giving up.

In June 2019, more than 80% of CHN had had at least supervision interactions with their clients. There was a total of 215 CHNs using the CHN on the Go app as well as 55 supervisions using the app as well between January and July 2015 across five districts. CHN on the Go hopes to continue helping mothers and their children in hard-to-reach places.

– Alexis King
Photo: Flickr

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Energy Poverty in Ireland

Energy Poverty in IrelandAccording to The Irish Times, energy poverty is “spending more than a tenth of [ones] income on energy.” In Ireland, 29% of households, up from 13% in 2015, meet this “threshold for energy poverty.” This widespread energy poverty in Ireland has resulted from the sudden surges in gas and electricity prices which are partially due to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

The Problem

On average, Irish households are spending €21 more weekly on energy instead of other essential goods. To make matters worse, if motor fuels are included, families are spending €38 more weekly than before the recent inflation, according to The Irish Times.

According to research by the Irish Houses of the Oireachtas, “it is well established that certain groups are more vulnerable to energy poverty and its consequences.” Research by the House discussed that not only do poorer households have limited capacity to support their energy needs due to economic restraints, but they also frequently have increased energy costs. Many of the poorer households in Ireland live in less energy-efficient accommodation, such as mobile homes and trailers, which leads to higher energy costs.

The groups suffering from increased energy costs the most are the Irish Traveller and Roma communities residing in Ireland. These communities frequently face “financial exclusion” and energy-inefficient accommodation. In fact, 40% of Travellers and Romas in Ireland significantly struggle to make ends meet, and 13% live in accommodations in bad condition. “These factors result in significant health and safety risks for Traveller families,” says research by the House.

Specifically, energy poverty affects individuals’ health, social inclusion and housing tenure. Additionally, homes often use cheaper alternatives, such as coal, to meet their energy needs, which has serious effects on air quality and climate change. Thus, it is in everyone’s best interest to reduce energy poverty and ensure all households can safely meet their energy needs.

Possible Solutions

Social Justice Ireland, a think tank and justice advocacy organization, stated that, in theory, the solution to both the financial and environmental costs is as simple as making homes more energy-efficient. This would reduce the carbon emission of individual homes and require less fuel, in return reducing cost. In order to do so, the organization suggests a “state-led retrofitting scheme” to improve the condition of poorer quality homes.

In research by the House, it endorsed the need for grants and programs in order to retrofit homes. However, it also suggested the need for “income supports in the form of transfer payments” and subsidizing energy in order to prevent more homes from falling below the threshold for energy poverty.

National Efforts

Currently, the Irish government aims to alleviate the effects of spiking energy prices by cutting indirect taxes on fuel, such as the carbon tax. However, the Economic and Social Research Institute (ESRI) has criticized the government’s efforts, as “most of the aggregate gains would go to the highest-income 40% of households while less than a third would go to the lowest-income 40%,” The Irish Times reports. Alternatively, the think tank suggested income supports, such as welfare payments, similar to the recommendation by the Irish Houses of the Oireachtas.

Unfortunately, according to Tánaiste Leo Varadkar, “the Government might already be at the limit” of what it can do, due to the constantly rising levels of energy poverty in Ireland.

Local Actions and NGO Efforts

Considering the government’s limited ability to act, local and NGO actions are even more valuable in alleviating and preventing energy poverty than usual.

Locally, according to a report by the European Commission, the Deep Retrofit Transforms Wexford Sheltered Housing project has helped retrofit 12 one-bedroom homes, including social housing, in Wexford, Ireland. The projects will not only have serious economic and environmental benefits but will also benefit the homeowners’ health and wellbeing.

Furthermore, Energy Action, established in 1988, fights to address energy, specifically fuel poverty in Dublin, Ireland. The NGO, which was “Ireland’s first community-based energy project,” provides free insulation in the homes of the disadvantaged, such as the elderly and poor. Since its founding, Energy Action has insulated 35,000 homes. The remarkable NGO has also helped tackle poverty in Ireland by employing and training the formerly long-time unemployed, “providing them with sustainable and ecologically sound employment opportunities.”

Although Ireland lacks a national program to tackle energy poverty, Energy Action supports multiple “community-based organizations ” fighting energy poverty throughout the country to get started with their own projects.

– Lena Maassen
Photo: Flickr