Posts

, , ,

Fighting the Infant Mortality Rate

Infant mortality rateEvery year newborn babies take their first breaths after their mothers give birth to them. Around the world, these same mothers hope that their children will grow into adulthood without any major health complications hindering their development. Unfortunately, millions of babies have died within their first few months of life due to health issues. Those born in areas with populations vulnerable to poverty experience more frequent cases of infections compared to others living in better environments. Therefore, organizations around the world have implemented ways to lower the infant mortality rate. It is important to understand what causes high infant mortality rate (IMR) and what groups across the globe have been doing to help lower the rate over the years.

Infectious Diseases

Babies born in areas of extreme poverty are at higher risk of contracting an infectious disease compared to those delivered in more sanitary locations. Every year, an estimate of about 2.6 million lose their lives within their first month. Moreover, roughly 15% of the total amount of deaths are attributed to severe infections contracted. Many of those cases involving infections could have easily been lowered if the necessary medicine was available to help the babies recover. However, the issue is that these treatments are too expensive for most families to purchase even if it would save their children.

Additionally, there are many different infections and diseases that newborns can contract due to unsanitary environments during delivery. Data taken from the 1990s to 2017 recorded which infections and disease were the leading causes of deaths among children. The top cause of death for children under 5 was lower respiratory infections. After lower respiratory infections, preterm birth complications, birth asphyxiation and trauma were the next biggest reasons. In addition, there are many more problems that contribute to the high IMR early in its collection of data. However, one good piece of information is that since the 1990s, the IMR has lowered significantly.

USAID to the Rescue

The United States Agency for International Development (USAID) has worked with several partners to produce cost-effective measures to help lower the IMR, especially for those in poverty. Expensive treatments have been one of the main reasons why children die at an early age —  a terrible outcome just because their parents could not afford the necessary treatments. In order to solve this problem, USAID has helped manufacture chlorhexidine to save more lives at a significantly cheaper rate. Chlorhexidine is an antiseptic product that comes in a liquid or gel form. It helps to treat infections for newborns, thereby lowering the infant mortality rate by lowering the cost of the product. This single intervention has helped lower the IMR in multiple countries.

Lower IMR Guidelines

The Guttmacher Institute released data explaining that practicing family planning can greatly reduce the IMR in countries with areas of poverty. They recommend that more contraceptives be made available to those who wish to use it. That will increase the likelihood of women giving birth to healthier children if they choose to have any. The institute argues that people living in areas of poverty lack access to such resources. It is that very lack of resources that increase the odds of children contracting infectious diseases when born.

While there are still many factors contributing to the infant mortality rate, there are also many out there who are working to lower that rate. Organizations like USAID and the Guttmacher Institute are trying to make sure that as many children reach adulthood as possible. It is through simple measures like lowering treatment costs and increasing access to medicines and family planning options that infant mortality can be reduced globally.

– Donovan Baxter
Photo: Flickr

, , ,

Improving Maternal Health in Guinea

Maternal health in Guinea

Guinea, officially known as the Republic of Guinea, is a country in West Africa with a significant amount of natural resources, such as bauxite and iron ore as well as gold and diamond mines that could bring the country immense wealth. However, due to its reliance on agriculture and the Ebola outbreak of 2014, the country remains in poverty and has some of the lowest health rates in the world. The philanthropic focus on eradicating Ebola has shifted funds from maternal health to ending the Ebola crisis, endangering the lives of women and children. Improving maternal health in Guinea needs to become a priority.

Maternal Health in Guinea

Of the numerous social problems facing Guinea, maternal health is one of the most detrimental to the country. The neonatal mortality rate in Guinea is 25 deaths per 1,000 live births. The maternal mortality rate is 679 women out of 100,000 live births. This compared to a global neonatal mortality rate of 18 deaths per 1,000 live births depicts a country struggling with maternal health development. Throughout the country, only 36.1 percent of children are vaccinated and approximately 31 babies die each day while 21 babies are stillborn.

One aspect of maternal health that could use improvement is prenatal care and scheduled doctor visits. In rural areas, fewer than 40 percent of women receive prenatal treatment while 71 percent of women in urban areas attend doctor visits before the birth of their child. These low percentages of prenatal care correspond to equally low rates of women who give birth in facilities with trained personnel. The main reason women do not want to give birth in facilities is the mixed-gender wings. Women feel uncomfortable giving birth where men are present.

Global Funding to Reduce Maternal Mortality

To combat these statistics, the government of Guinea and various non-profit organizations are implementing programs to help improve the health and mortality of infants and mothers. In 2018, the World Bank approved $55 million in funding for the two poorest regions of Guinea, Kindia and Kankan. This money will go to improving reproductive, maternal, newborn and child health.

The grant was distributed to two different associations. The International Development Association will receive $45 million to provide low to zero-interest rates for programs that improve economic growth and reduce poverty. The Global Financing Facility will receive $10 million to prioritize underinvested areas of maternal and infant health.

In 2015, the USAID began the Maternal and Child Survival Program in Guinea, which improves the quality and availability of maternal and infant services. The goal of this program is to empower district-level lawmakers to strengthen local centers through a bottom-up approach. Through this initiative, MCSP has established seven healthcare facilities with 42 healthcare providers and 125 healthcare educators.

Focusing on Maternal Health

In 2015, the IDA approved a grant to implement the Primary Health Services Improvement Plan as part of a five-year plan to improve maternal health, child health and nutrition in Guinea. The grant specifically targets health centers by increasing the number of health centers and the availability of equipment and supplies in these centers.

Due to many centers focusing on fighting Ebola, this plan improves the availability of medicines in health centers, restores drug funds within health facilities, supports training in financial drug fund management and covers any financial gap to produce medicines in subsequent years. Additionally, the grant provides three-year training and continuous mentoring for nurse assistants. Furthermore, it recruits unemployed nurse assistants to work at these health centers.

Improvements Made

Since these initiatives began, there has been a significant improvement in developing maternal health in Guinea. The number of births attended by trained health professionals between 2016 and 2018 improved from approximately 27,000 personnel to 44,000. There were also 8 percent more women who received prenatal care by attending at least four doctor visits before the birth of their babies.

Similarly, the Ebola Response Project, although meant to target people affected by the Ebola breakout, has positively affected maternal health development in Guinea by helping fund a new maternity center in Koba. This center helps women attain the privacy they desperately desire by providing two separate wings for men and women. At this center, specifically, a program was initiated to distribute clothes, mosquito nets and soap to expecting mothers to encourage visiting the center.

Maternal health development in Guinea has been steadily improving through programs and governmental plans; however, there is still much work to be done. Although infant and maternal mortality rates are dropping due to an increase in health centers and personnel, a continued increase in funding and a restructuring of fund management is necessary to continue to improve maternal health in Guinea.

– Hayley Jellison
Photo: Flickr

, , ,

Three Debunked Myths About Overpopulation and Poverty

Overpopulation and Poverty
There has been a longstanding notion that overpopulation and poverty are related. The belief is that overpopulation causes poverty. While it is true that many of the poor nations around the world are overpopulated, research has shown that overpopulation is not the prime reason for poverty.

Experts believe that blaming overpopulation for the financial struggle of a nation could be an oversimplification of the problem. Here are the three main myths when it comes to overpopulation and poverty.

Three Myths About OverPopulation and Poverty

  1. Improving healthcare in poor nations contributes to overpopulation: Couples in poor nations on an average have four children, double the average of their counterparts in a developed nation. It is not a coincidence that the same nations also have the highest infant mortality rate and the worst healthcare facilities in the world. The reason for this is that parents are hoping to make sure that at least two of their children live long enough to take care of them when they are old.When medical facilities are improved, the infant mortality rate drops. As a result, children are less affected by fatal diseases and live longer healthier lives. Gradually, parents start to have smaller families due to a confidence that their existing offspring shall live and thrive and the overall population growth rate starts to drop.Therefore, poor health care conditions are actually what contribute to overpopulation and poverty. Conversely, improving healthcare facilities helps reduce the population.
  2. Foreign aid to poor countries leads to overpopulation: The U.S. contributes less than one percent of its GDP toward foreign aid. The funding reaches the poorest of nations around the world, helping them fulfill the basic needs of their populations like providing grains at subsidized rates, providing clean drinking water and building toilets, among others. This, in turn, reduces the risk of fatal diseases like typhoid and diarrhoea.Foreign aid also supports education, specifically girls’ education. Educating a female child is still considered an unnecessary financial burden or even taboo in many societies. Girls’ education is often discontinued to fund their brothers’ education.Girls’ education is a key factor to resolve overpopulation and poverty. Research and data in the past decades have shown that improving girls’ education has a direct and profound impact on population control. Therefore, foreign aid does not cause overpopulation; rather, it helps uplift nations out of poverty, giving them basic amenities and education.
  3. Overpopulation cannot be solved in this lifetime: Controlling the constantly rising population is a daunting task. Based on the current population growth rate, the world population is projected to swell to 11 billion people in the year 2100. Nevertheless, by reaping the benefits of persistent efforts toward improving global medical facilities, equality in education and birth control awareness overpopulation and poverty can be resolved. More importantly, it is possible in this lifetime.By bringing down the average number of children per couple to 1.5, total world population would decline to about six billion by 2100–less than half the projected rise! Fewer people means more resources, subsequently leading to a greater number of self-sufficient and prosperous nations.

These myths about overpopulation and poverty have persisted for years and still continue to stand in the way of poverty eradication. If the world is to move toward a brighter, healthier, more equal future for all, these myths must be eradicated as well.

– Himja Sethi
Photo: Flickr

, ,

Why Is Andorra Poor? A Resolved Issue or Still at Risk?

Why Is Andorra Poor? A Resolved Issue or Still at Risk?

Although Andorra is a part of Europe, this small chunk of land skirts above the poverty line. Andorrans narrowly avoid poverty through trade alone, meaning one decision or mistake could lead people to ask: why is Andorra poor?

Andorra‘s independence has successfully lasted about 150 years, yet only five percent of their land is arable. Andorrans rely on Spain for 63.6% of consumer goods, food, fuel and electricity, while France provides them with 15.8% and Germany 3.1% of their resources. Andorra imports a total of 82.5% of these resources that are necessary for survival.

Without trade, Andorra would fall drastically below the poverty line because the land cannot support the population. Furthermore, Andorra does not contain an airport, thus they can only rely on neighboring countries for imported goods. If Andorra built an airport and made trade connections with multiple countries, it would not be as vulnerable.

Luckily, Andorra has made other improvements to help it remain above the poverty line, such as a recent decline in their unemployment rate from 4.1% in 2015 to 3.7% in 2016. The infant mortality rate has also fallen from seven per 1,000 in 1990 to three per 1,000 in 2012.

Andorra’s basic education remains free for residents and they provide three different school systems to address the various language barriers. They have an Andorran, French and Spanish school system. The diversity in education allows greater access for children to become educated, leading to economic success.

It is not as if Andorrans have not considered the disadvantages of their trade-reliant society. In 2006, “the Andorran government began sweeping economic reforms,” hoping for economic growth. The government also passed foreign investment laws in both 2008 and 2012.

Andorrans live prosperously, while also hoping they will never be asked: why is Andorra poor?

– Brianna White

Photo: Flickr

,

Healthcare System in Cuba: Winning the Battle Against TB

Healthcare System in Cuba
On March 24, World TB Day, health organizations around the world united to raise public awareness for tuberculosis. Each year, successes are acknowledged and pitfalls addressed in the united goal towards the disease’s eradication.

This year, Cuba was honored as a global frontrunner, with 6.2 cases per 100,000 people per year, a record low in the developing world. The World Health Organization (WHO) plan presented the following Saturday, stating that Cuba’s low rate of incidence and high-quality preventative measures put it within reach of completely eliminating tuberculosis by 2035.

The plan, which was outlined by Margaret Chan, Director-General of WHO, lays out a pre-elimination phase for the next two decades. According to national health officials, a goal of zero-TB is possible for the Caribbean island if health the country focuses on vulnerable and elderly groups and addresses the speed of diagnosis.

Cuba’s success compared to its Latin American counterparts (the regional average of tuberculosis cases per year is 25 per 100,000) earmarks an impressive paradox: although infamous for being one of the region’s poorest countries, the healthcare system in Cuba has become one of the best in the world.

In her 2014 visit to Havana, Chan lauded Cuba’s exemplary healthcare as a “model for the world.” In a statement made to the Prensa Latina she noted, “Cuba is the only country that has a health care system closely linked to research and development. This is the way to go, because human health can only improve through innovation.”

With an infant mortality rate (IMR) of 4.63 in 2015—lower than the U.S. rate of 5.87—and an average life expectancy of 78 years, according to the World Factbook, it is no surprise that Cuban medical professionals are highly sought after, both domestically and internationally.

The country has been sending health professionals out into the developing world since 1963. There are currently over 30,000 Cuban health workers on missions in over 60 countries.

In 2015, for example, the country sent volunteers across Africa in a quick response to the worsening Ebola crisis. According to Jorge Delgado Bustillo, a Cuban epidemiologist who works with healthcare workers overseas, 12,000 Cuban medical experts volunteered during the Ebola outbreak, a number significantly higher than that of any other country in the world.

Cuba’s mandatory house-call check ups have proved effective in minimizing TB outbreak, while also maintaining basic health standards, preventing obesity and increasing average life expectancy.

Although one of the world’s poorest countries, the success of the healthcare system in Cuba demonstrates the effectiveness of prevention and personalized treatment, even while lacking ample resources and upgraded technology. Its accomplishments in the near eradication of one of the world’s deadliest diseases confirm its place as “healthcare model of the world.”

– Nora Harless