By: Jennifer Segal

“An eye for an eye only ends up making the whole world blind.”

That famous quote by Mahatma Gandhi really helps define what today is–The International Day of Nonviolence (IDN) celebrated each year on October 2^nd in memory of Mahatma Gandhi. IDN was established to help educate and spread awareness of nonviolence in order to promote a global environment of peace, tolerance and understanding.  Unfortunately, there is a strong connection between violence and poverty; we often see a trend of high rates of violence in areas with low income and little to no access to health care.

The World Health Organization’s (WHO) summary report on world health and non- violence published in 2002, discusses the implications and priority of violence and its impact on global health. In 1979, the U.S. Surgeon General produced the first of several reports linking violence and health.In the report, the U.S. Surgeon General states that “the consequences of violent behavior could not be ignored in the effort to improve the nation’s health and made tackling the roots of violence a top priority for the health community.” The same goes for other nations too; if we want to make nonviolence a priority, we need to tackle one of its effecting contributors, and that is global health. Solutions to promoting nonviolence are based in education and awareness much like the recommendations for controlling and eliminating neglected tropical diseases (NTDs).

NTDs impact over 1.4 billion people, most of whom live on less than $1.25 per day. NTDs stigmatize, disable, and inhibit individuals from being able to care for themselves or their families—all of which promote poverty. Up to 90% of the total NTD disease burden is found in Africa, Asia and Latin America. The same regions where we find high rates of NTDs is where we find high rates of violence.

There has been a lot of literature on the topic of NTDs and conflict. The biggest reason why violence and NTDs occur in the same settings is due to the fact that most countries spend a majority of their resources on weapons and military support, neglecting the already neglected diseases even further. For example, Dr. Peter Hotez, President of the Sabin Vaccine Institute and noted NTD expert, writes, “India allocates only $0.40 per individual per year for treatment of its population at risk for visceral leishmaniasis.” Yet, in the past nine years India has seen an increase on its military spending from $15 billion to $150 billion according to a 2009 report from the SIPRI Military Database. If only India’s military budget increase was applied to treatment of visceral leishmaniasis, which puts over 200 million people at risk.

The world is impacted not only by violence, but by poverty, literacy, and hunger too. Plans of action are constantly being recommended to solve these issues but NTDs are never part of the plan; if we want to solve these global problems NTD treatment should be recognized as integral.

I’m celebrating and writing about International Day of Nonviolence in hopes of raising awareness toward a world full of nonviolence and peace. If we want to see change as a global movement, we need advocate for all causes of violence, including NTDs.

Check out our Just 50 cents video to learn how you can get involved.