About two years ago around this time, crowds of protest movements were enveloping the Middle East and North Africa. Protestors were coming together to work towards better representation of people that had the capacity to serve the larger population, rather than the upper elite. In Egypt, particularly about two years ago around this time, the former President of Egypt of 30 years, Hosni Mubarak, was forced to step down.
The Middle East region includes about 20 countries, with almost 400 million people living within its span. Of this population, about 65 million people live on less than $2 US dollars a day. Egypt has the largest number of people living in poverty in the Middle East, with 18 percent out of 80.4 million living on less than US$2 per day. Loose labor laws, a lack of strong physical infrastructure and a weakened sense of social justice amounted to an overwhelming amount of unsatisfied civilians that took to Tahrir Square in 2011 and have since been fighting for their just representation by government officials.
Economic burdens and restraints, like those that have affected a large portion of Egypt’s population, not only lead to inequality of employment, resources and infrastructure, but they can also eventually lead to the regression of physical health. When you have such a large population living in under-privileged circumstances, people walk a very thin line of safety when it comes to health services. It may not have stood out as a single issue that raised headlines during the protests, but the lack of policy that suppressed the spread of diseases is also a result of government neglect.
» Read more: The Neglected Egyptian Protest
Give me a sample, wash your hands, and take this pill.
March 25th, 2011By: Valerie Fitton-Kane
When you go to the doctor for a check-up, do you go just to get your blood pressure checked? Probably not. More than likely, your doctor checks your blood pressure, listens to your heart, takes a blood sample, and asks you lots of questions about your physical and mental symptoms. You talk to him or her about that funny rash you had last week, and you ask for a refill on your birth control or allergy medication. This is integrated healthcare. Our doctors never just test for or treat one disease when they see you. They test you for anything and everything … and they cover off contraception and other preventative care while they’re at it.
Meanwhile, our public health experts and government officials are providing all sorts of services that, while we don’t often think of them in terms of health, they do help to keep us healthy. For example, they ensure clean, uncontaminated water comes out of your kitchen faucet every morning. And they’re helping to drill it into your head that you need to wash your hands when you finish in the bathroom … and darn it, you better wash them correctly.
In developing countries, there aren’t always doctors and nurses, public health experts, or strong governments to provide all of these services. Quite often, there are non-governmental organizations (NGOs) that specialize in delivering a few key services such as the treatment of eye diseases or the building of wells to provide clean water. Some organizations, such as CARE or Save the Children, have expanded to provide a range of different services, but quite often it takes many government and non-government groups with various specialties to deliver all the services that you and I are used to. And even then, service delivery is often pretty uneven because most of the organizations that deliver these services have to ask for donations from people like us in order to pay for the work they do.
» Read more: Give me a sample, wash your hands, and take this pill.
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Posted in Commentary, healthcare, NGOs, NTDs
Tags: education Global Health Lymphatic Filariasis NTDs