Tag Archives: poverty

Blog Action Day: Standing up for the World’s Poor

END7, Global Health

 

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END7 is participating in Blog Action Day on October 16th — a day for thousands of bloggers to come together to talk about inequality. 

Most people living in the United States and other high-income countries have never heard of diseases like elephantiasis, river blindness, snail fever, trachoma, roundworm, whipworm or hookworm. But nearly one in six people globally, including more than half a billion children, have these diseases – known as neglected tropical diseases (NTDs). Without treatment, NTDs can lead to lifelong disabilities and suffering. Because NTDs largely affect the world’s most vulnerable communities, those already affected by extreme poverty, they are notorious for perpetuating inequality.

Yet ending NTDs is an achievable and realistic goal. All it takes is 50 cents per person per year to treat and protect someone from all seven of the most common NTDs. And with regular treatment, NTDs can be controlled and eliminated for good.

NTDs have devastating consequences for the world’s poorest people. They can lead to malnutrition and stunting, blindness, disfiguration, cognitive delays, lost productivity, poor maternal and child health and social stigmatization.

The links between NTDs and inequality are well documented. For example, an article published in PLOS NTDs revealed that Indonesia’s high prevalence of NTDs could perpetuate inequality within the country, despite its surging economy. NTDs make it hard for parents to make a living, and for children to attend school. These diseases drastically weaken a person’s health and cause unnecessary suffering.

When children and parents become infected with one or more NTD, their potential is diminished; was unable to attend school because of intestinal worms – a type of NTD. And , a father in Sierra Leone, could no longer work and provide for his family when he became infected with , a painful NTD that can lead to death.

Countries like Colombia and Ecuador have already eliminated the NTD onchocerciasis. And countless other countries in Africa, Asia and Latin America are well on their way to ending needless suffering caused by NTDs.

By defeating NTDs, we can ensure that the world’s poor have an equal chance. At the basic level, everyone should have adequate nutrition, the opportunity to be educated and the right to prosper and contribute to society. Yet NTDs rob the billion and a half people living in poverty of these basic opportunities and undermine other development efforts. If we wish to end inequality, we must end NTDs. If we wish to address some of the world’s greatest challenges like world hunger, AIDS, poverty and needless suffering, we must end NTDs.

But in order to end NTDs and achieve greater health equity, we must continue to raise awareness and advocate for the control and elimination of these diseases. Ending NTDs must be a priority within the global development agenda and among world leaders. Countries like the United States and the United Kingdom must remain committed, and even increase their commitments, to supporting NTD-endemic countries in their fight against NTDs. Most of all, we cannot remain quiet and take a back seat as more than half a million children continue to suffer from preventable diseases. Stand up against inequality today by pledging to end NTDs.

LwL: A Life Worth Living

Global Development, Global Health, poverty, Neeraj Mistry

 

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This post was originally published on the Aspen Idea Blog.

What makes a life worth living? For many of us, it’s our relationships with our families and loved ones, the ability to follow our passions, excel at work, and improve opportunities for ourselves and future generations.

While tremendous efforts are underway to prevent deaths worldwide, guaranteeing survival is not enough. We must also strive to ensure that every human lives a life of quality.

Nearly half the world’s population is robbed of the minimum requirements that allow them to reach their full potential. Neglected tropical diseases (NTDs), parasitic and infectious diseases affecting 1.4 billion people worldwide, debilitate entire families and communities. They cause anemia and malnutrition, and can lead to blindness, school absenteeism, disfiguration and the loss of livelihoods. NTDs drastically weaken a person’s health and cause unnecessary suffering.

At the basic level, access to adequate nutrition, the opportunity to be educated, the ability to enjoy human interaction, and the right to prosper and contribute to society all make a life worth living. Yet NTDs rob the billion and a half people living in poverty of these basic needs and undermine other development challenges like maternal and child health. In order to flourish, these needs must be met.

Life isn’t just about the number of days we live, but the quality of those days. Every human, no matter where they were born, has the right to a fulfilled life and the right to determine their own future.

By fighting NTDs, we can help protect the health of the world’s poor and vastly improve their quality of life, increasing opportunity and equality. And it’s inexpensive and easy to do so. For less than 50 cents per person per year, we can control and eliminate NTDs altogether within the decade. 

Solving this global health challenge will require collective action. In an e-world where communication is often reduced to three letter acronyms, LwL – Life worth Living is a way of thinking about and raising awareness of the social, psychological and developmental impacts of NTDs. LwL has universal appeal as self-examination for “haves” and “have-nots” in a broader understanding and value of life. As a concerned global community, we can work together to ensure all people have the tools they need to live their life worth living.

LwL is a symbol that reminds us to be mindful as we go about our daily lives and reflect on what constitutes a life worth living – not only for us in the healthy or developed world, but for those suffering from poor health and poverty as well. If we as a community can reflect on LwL, we can help ensure a healthier and happier life for all.

Changing the Poverty Narration, Starting with NTDs: An Opinion Piece

NTDs, poverty, Ashley Schmidt

 

Photo by Mo Scarpelli

Photo by Mo Scarpelli

Think Africa Press wrote a pertinent last week highlighting the perplexities around the commonly accepted, social notion that “poverty will always be with us”.  As a public health practitioner and global health “anti-poverty” advocate, I agree this notion needs to be challenged.  Thinking about poverty as an undifferentiated group of people without intrinsic strength to rise above circumstance is not an adequate response to fighting the war on poverty or a helpful logic to frame the debate around how to address poverty and the mire of complexities the term poverty evokes.  In order to address poverty more effectively in our society today, the commonly accepted social notion that “poverty will always be with us” needs to become a more proactive, community-enabling and mobilizing conviction-“we may not be able to end poverty indefinitely, but we can certainly end pieces of it”.

A “piece” of poverty we can see the end of in our life-times today involves neglected tropical diseases (NTDs).  These are a group of seventeen diseases that plague the poorest communities in our world today.  Over a billion people are infected with one or more NTDs and the majority of these people live on less than $2 per day.  Not only are NTDs found in what I like to call “poverty pockets” in our society, but these diseases keep people trapped in poverty by prohibiting productivity of those infected.  NTDs can result in child deaths, severe anemia affecting pregnant women and young children, nutritional deficiencies, cognitive development challenges and ultimately loss of productivity. These diseases have major implications for working families and children trying to attend school on a regular basis. NTDs are linked to poverty and scaling up treatment and control programs for these diseases will not only lift populations out of poverty, but will help achieve the Millennium Development Goals to help meet the needs of those in poverty (explained more in depth by Development Progress here).

Treating and controlling NTD is known as a “best-buy” in public health – offering low cost interventions and yielding high returns for populations. Yet NTDs still thrive in our world today for many complex and often interconnected reasons.  For example, some countries lack the political commitment to prioritize health and NTD control within their countries. In other countries, populations face infrastructure challenge and leadership is missing. With lack of infrastructure, lack of access to clean water and sanitation system allow NTDs to thrive. In order to address NTDs, we need strong political champions and integrated approaches to controlling and treating these diseases.

There is so much to learn about NTDs and why they are allowed to persist in are world today.  But one message is clear and also was re-iterated recently by the United Nations secretary general Ban Ki Moon: “Poverty reduction and the elimination of NTDs go hand-in-hand.”  And in the words of Bill Gates in his recent Annual Letter, “The belief that the world can’t solve extreme poverty and disease isn’t just mistaken. It is harmful. “ If the international community wants to address poverty, NTDs is a piece of this conversation and a piece of poverty we can work to end.

Follow and for more on the conversation about poverty, health and NTDs.

An Evening of Charity

poverty, Student Advocacy, , ,

In his previous blogpost, Sean Donegan introduced the charity dinner he and his peers are putting on to fundraise for Share Our Strength. In the blogpost below, Sean goes into detail about the logistics of organizing such an event so that other like-minded college students who wish to do the same will have an idea of where to begin:
By: Sean Donegan

It’s the night of the event so I will be discreetly ducking out of class early to set my Fraternity House up for the Share Our Strength Charity Dinner. We expect to have over three hundred students at the event along with our corporate sponsors setting up their booths. Our chefs are all busy cooking a huge buffet of chicken and salmon with various side orders that meet the dietary needs of all the individuals who generously donate their time and money to support Share Our Strength. The House’s sound system is also being adjusted for the event’s DJ, Greg Monte.

Each Greek House has taken over the responsibility of one seventh of the ticket sales. This entails allowing their Brothers and Sisters to sign up for the event and then billing them at the end of the semester when they are paying for their room and board. With a group of experienced and dedicated Philanthropy Chairs working with me, I am proud to announce we were able to sell out in only two weeks. I was surprised to learn that many people had bought tickets to support their Fraternity/Sorority and the cause even though they may not be able to attend. Currently we have sold 345 tickets with an estimated 303 attending the actual event which has seating for only 300. If we go over, extra chairs are on reserve to be set up. Continue reading →