The Economist reported that when eight eminent economists were asked how they would spend $75 billion to most help the world, 5 of their top 10 recommendations involved nutrition including: Vitamins for children Adding zinc and iodine to salt Breeding micronutrients into crops Other recommendations included more girls’ schools and trade liberalization. Of the 40… Continue reading Micronutrients into the food supply
I was introduced recently to VillageReach, an innovative non-profit headquartered in Seattle which is focused on addressing one of the largest issues in healthcare delivery systems in emerging countries … delivery to the local clinic. Most of us in developed countries just assume that the pharmacy/clinic will have the medicine when you need it. You… Continue reading Going the last mile to save lives
Dealing with human waste is still a challenge for many countries. Sulabh International, a NGO based in New Delhi, India has created an ingeniously simple latrine which costs $100 with the following characteristics: it first empties into one pit, and then, when it is full into a second pit it flushes with 2 litres of… Continue reading An affordable toilet
A new survey by the World Health Organization on the impact of widespread distribution of free bed nets combined with anti-malarial medicines notes some very positive results. Here are some excerpts and summaries: In Ethiopia, sovaldi deaths of children from malaria dropped more than 50 percent. In Rwanda, they dropped more than 60 percent in… Continue reading Free malaria bed nets
I previously wrote about how there is growing widespread support for indoor residential (not crop) spraying of [small amounts of] DDT as the most effective (cost and results) way of decreasing malaria in many countries and especially Africa. Dr. Roger Bate, ailment board member of Africa Fighting Malaria, comments that “DDT is probably the single… Continue reading Malaria solution continues to be stalled
Uganda health experts are asking the developed world to allow them to strategically deploy DDT-based products to fight malaria. Here are some stats on malaria: Over 10 million Ugandans are infected each year Up to 100, medical 000 Ugandans die from malaria each year Using an inferior product (more expensive, order lasts shorter duration and… Continue reading DDT works to prevent malaria
We think our healthcare system in the USA is pretty messed up with the 100’s of billions of dollars we’re spending each year with so many people still un-insured. Some are advocating for the USA to pursue a more nationalized healthcare system like Canada and most of western Europe. An interesting experiment was reported on… Continue reading Outsourcing healthcare in developing nations
An article in the Sunday Times of India called Healthcare for a billion by Kiran Mazumdar Shaw reports that rural indebtness caused by illness is far greater than that caused by crop failure. The problem with this kind of indebtness for the poor is that often they have to go to moneylenders charging often 10%… Continue reading Healthcare insurance for the extreme poor
Defeat Poverty 