This blog's purpose is to connect in an every widening and deepening manner with others across the globe in support of the United Nation's Millennium Development Goals.
I got two messages from the folks at ONE last week. One was from Sheila Nix, U.S. Executive Director for ONE, personally asking for our help to send a message to the White House which will soon be announcing how much they'll be committing to the Global Fund. The message to President Obama reads:
Please commit $6 billion to the Global Fund over the next 3 years.
The focus is to make sure that no child is born with HIV.
The second message was on the same basic subject, taking a different tack and proving flattery can get you somewhere.
You write some great blogs about the MDGs and the work that is needed in pursuing and supporting them. Today ONE launched the NO CHILD BORN WITH HIV BY 2015. This campaign will be an intense burst for a week channelled through www.one.org, culminating with the UN Millennium Development Goals Summit next Monday (20-22nd September) in NYC. It is a really entertaining way to show some support! Hopefully it will generate some internet buzz as babies get sent around threatening to 'Throw the bottle out of the Pram' or 'Put us on the naughty step' unless we show some support.
We would immensely appreciate your support by signing the online petition and – if you're so inspired – to blog about it or share it with your friends by email or on Twitter. This is a cause that can only be made good with the help of the public. Every name on the petition counts.
This weekend, thousands of people around the world are showing their commitment to ending malaria deaths by 2015 by Sleeping Out, sending nets, throwing fundraisers, and spreading the buzz about malaria prevention. Sunday, April 25, is World Malaria Day – and just in time for this annual day of recognition for the cause, the World Bank has made an astounding commitment of their own : they are pledging $200 million to provide people in sub Saharan Africa with bed nets. This announcement comes just days…
December 31, 2010 was the target date UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-Moon set in place for delivering effective mosquito nets to all regions affected by malaria (his words: "universal coverage"). This is an incredibly lofty goal, but that's what makes it so wonderful. We are making real progress toward the eradication of malaria, and moving rapidly toward the Millennium Development Goals.
Of all the Millennium Development Goals, this one seems to have the most focus by the main stream media and the people it follows.
Celebrities are lining up to support an online campaign to urge people to buy insecticide-treated bed nets to help prevent the spread of malaria in Africa. Former U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell, Microsoft founder Bill Gates and actor Ashton Kutcher will seek to leverage their followings on the social-media site Twitter to drive the campaign.
The UN aims to reduce the deaths from malaria to near zero in Africa by 2015. So far, more than $4 billion has been raised to fight the disease, mostly from the World Bank, government agencies and the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation.
The UN expects to cover 800 million people at risk of malaria with bednets, but it is still short of funding for roughly 50 million of those nets, Chambers said.
There is true significant progress being made, this does not mean that we can rest on our laurels though.
Africa's malaria battle progressing, more help promised
Malaria infections are dropping across Africa in response to the World Health Organization's Roll Back Malaria program, according to Rob Newman, director of the WHO's Global Malaria Programme. U.S. officials announced plans to focus part of that country's Global Health Initiative on reaching 450 million women and children in sub-Saharan Africa with the aim of halving malaria rates among the group.
Reuters (4/22) U.S. effort to fight malaria focuses on women
Maggie Fox, Health and Science Editor WASHINGTON Thu Apr 22, 2010 10:08pm EDT
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S. government announced on Thursday it would focus part of its $63 billion, six-year Global Health Initiative plan to accelerate efforts to fight malaria, mostly in Africa and aimed at women and children
INTERVIEW-Africa making "dramatic" headway against malaria
22 Apr 2010 15:36:33 GMT Source: Reuters * Africa making "dramatic" anti-malaria progress * Killer disease's economic burden likely to ease By Ed Cropley
Infection rates in Zambia, for instance, more than halved from 2001 to 2008 due to widespread distribution of mosquito nets, targeted spraying of insecticides and better and cheaper diagnosis and treatment, said Rob Newman, director of the World Health Organisation's (WHO) Global Malaria Programme.
The progress made in the struggle to eradicate malaria has been on many fronts. Government organizations through the United Nations and in developed industrial countries, non-government organizations such as the World Bank and World Health Organization, philanthropic organizations such as the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation. The most important factor to my mind was capturing the imagination of the public that this was a terrible challenge that ruined the lives of millions, but that it was a challenge that could be successfully met. We need to do as good as a job as that with the other 7 Millennium Development Goals this September at the UN Millennium Summit.
Children are especially susceptible to malaria because of their fledgling immune systems. But scientists are developing a vaccine that could save millions around the world.
The vaccine reproduces the natural immunity against malaria that usually takes years to develop -- so it is especially beneficial to young children. It was extremely successful in tests in Mali, and studies are set to expand.
It is the beginning of a new year and a new decade, making it a good opportunity to look over the past year or so that this blog has been in existence. This continues to be a personal experiment in how to use Web 2.0 for positive affect both personally and globally. This is not where I expected to end up when I started.
My first post was on 24 July 2008 End Poverty 2015 - Millennium Development Goals. This effort grew from what I was doing with My Pathways to New Paradigms blog. Initially, I was only thinking of ways to organize websites solely for my personal use (I had no idea about del.icio.us or diigo). The power of collaborative endeavors made possible by the the Internet not only applied to Web 2.0 but also to the efforts of change-agent (a term borrowed from Seth Godin, an important source of my looking at new paradigms) organizations doing their part to change the world for the better. Back on December 30, 2007, I was posting on a Los Angeles Times article on the Gates Foundation's Best Intentions Unintended Consequences (it was also the post that provided the inspiration to create this blog, due to a comment form Aditi). A couple of months later another post announced that Now, LA Times Recognizes That Africa's Anti-malaria Campaign Is Showing Results.
Trained to tend to pregnant mothers, who otherwise would rely on traditional attendants unable to stop internal bleeding or resuscitate newborns, Tsion helped take the terror and fear of death out of childbirth for hundreds of women.
Bill and Melinda Gates are self-declared "Impatient Optimists" and their message was to celebrate successes in global health and especially when it comes to U.S.-funded global health initiatives through their online presentation titled "Living Proof: Why we are Impatient Optimists."
Thanks to 30,000 trained health extension workers like Tsion, access to health care in rural areas is rapidly expanding. And the health of Ethiopian children and women is improving.
That's why, when it comes to global health, Bill and I are optimists—but we're impatient optimists. We need to build on this success now, by expanding it to even more women in Ethiopia and helping families in other countries benefit from what Ethiopia has learned.
Sharing success stories is one of the most important things we can do to motivate and inspire others in the fight against global poverty and disease.
That is what this blog is all about. While the intent was to create something that sought to be transformative in promoting the Millennium Development Goals, its greatest impact has undoubtedly been on myself.
My last post was on World Aids Day supporting the BloggersUnite event in support of day. Truth be told it was a last minute post thrown together during my real life/day job lunch hour but I wanted to get something up. Despite the last minute effort, I got a comment from somebody who has been touched by the destruction of this disease, so I thought it worthwhile to pass it along.
HIV/AIDS has touched the soft spot of people globally. In almost all countries over the world, there are many associations, charitable organizations, religious missions and several other bodies have setup funds, donations and other aid to help the unfortunate AIDS victims. I have personally seen innocent children of tender age affected by aids which was no fault of theirs. AIDS today has definitely become a global problem. Much has been said of this dreaded disease, but sad to say, the statistics adds on daily. When is the world going to say that we have conquered AIDS? Do we just talk about it only? What promise and comfort has the future for these poor victims?
What is inspiring is that this is a cause that brings out the best in people. People can get involved at that global level and at the local level, whether they are the rich and famous or just every day folks.
The Catholic Medical Mission Board reminds us for the reason for World Aids Day and provides both reasons to celebrate and reasons to continue the work.
World AIDS Day; a day that reminds us that HIV has not gone away. The scope of the problem seems overwhelming; 33 million people infected, 15 million children orphaned.
60 second video Our efforts to fight HIV/AIDS have already made an impact on countless lives. In the last year, with your help, we have:
reached 69,786 women with counseling and testing,
reached 53,184 men, women and children with life-saving antiretroviral treatment,
provided short course antiretrovirals for HIV prevention in pregnancy to 1,940 women,
shipped to 39 countries, donated medicines and medical supplies valued at 265 million dollars,
sent more than 500 healthcare volunteers to 27 countries.
"The people we are helping are living proof of the strength and depth of the human personality."
-John F. Galbraith, President and CEO
Sam Davidson of 5 MINUTES OF CARING shares the idea of glocal which readily applies to this issue and the efforts being undertaken today.
The term "glocal" is used to draw attention to an idea that has both "global" and "local" implications. AIDS certainly fits the bill. Worldwide, over 33 million peopleare living with HIV, and over two million of those are children. Sub-Sarahan Africa is hit the worst with it, and no part of the world is immune to AIDS. So today, learn more about AIDS and then take action on a global level. Whether you support an NGO doing work on the ground, or just pass along this article to a friend, spend five minutes looking at the big picture.
For World AIDS Day, Ashley Greene, ONE Member joined some friends from TV and film to make a video sharing our commitment to defeating extreme poverty and preventable disease. This blog is a small voice but it can also help spread the word.
The more people talk, the more we can accomplish. Just sharing your commitment to fighting global poverty with your friends can inspire them to make the same commitment, and start up a buzz that will build into a roar of collective action.
Throughout history we've seen how committed people, together, can change laws, break barriers and decide elections. And together, we can defeat extreme poverty and eradicate preventable, treatable diseases including HIV/AIDS, malaria and tuberculosis.
But it takes all of us working together across borders, time zones, cultures...through advocacy, action, and awareness-raising.
Back in March of this year I did a post on Looking for the next Pandemic, a game online, life and death offline. The post focused on an article in Global Health - Change.org: What Will Be the Next Global Pandemic? Let's Find Out. and an online game found by two of my nieces, Pandemic II. Though I had doubts as to the veracity of the game, what I thought that what would be even better is if somebody came up with a WHO versus Pandemic game where one could learn the challenges facing global health delivery. Well somebody did, the folks at the Erasmus MC of the Netherlands (site has limited English). They have made a game called The Great Flu. The Rachel Maddow show said that the World Health Organization did not have time to play the game to give its opinion on it. So I still cannot say anything about the scientific accuracy of the game, but I have to believe that it is, and at least it is a step in the right direction. More at Swine flu inspires new video game by By MARIA CHENG AP Medical Writer at Wtop.com.
This is the sixth of the United Nations Millennium Campaign 8 video special on the Millennium Development goals. This captivating video focuses on the personal stories and struggles around achieving Goal 6 - Combat HIV/AIDS.
Some articles of interest from the New York Times, this time on innovation. I was originally going to post this at the other blog. If we are to create a sustainable economy under a free enterprise system that is to be of benefit to the world as a whole and not to a privileged few, we will have to depend greatly upon innovation. A concern for some is that the United States is losing its innovative edge. A greater concern is that we do not apply our innovation to the betterment of mankind.
The U.S. ranks sixth among 40 countries and regions for innovation, a nonpartisan group noted in a report.
The report by the Information Technology and Innovation Foundation found that the United States ranked sixth among 40 countries and regions, based on 16 indicators of innovation and competitiveness. They included venture capital investment, scientific researchers, spending on research and educational achievement.
Disruptive Innovation seems to me to be the Twenty-first Century update to Creative-Destruction, and of far greater utilization to entrepreneurs, social or private. The fact that it is currently being applied to the medical field also means it is applicable to global health issues being faced by Millennium Development Goal 6. Combat HIV/AIDS and other diseases. In truth, those who have been involved in facing health challenges in developing countries have been using disruptive technologies out of necessity. The New York Times article below provides a basic look at the issues and the MIT video following provides greater insight from the author of the concept Clayton M. Christensen.
Using innovation management models previously applied to other industries, Clayton M. Christensen, a Harvard Business School professor, argues in “The Innovator’s Prescription” that the concepts behind “disruptive innovation” can reinvent health care. The term “disruptive innovation,” which he introduced in 2003, refers to an unexpected new offering that through price or quality improvements turns a market on its head.
Christensen distills several books' worth of research describing how business leaders sometimes metamorphose into losers when confronted with market-rocking innovations. He also reveals how we may harness his insights in such socially significant and complex industries as healthcare.
The final question is what does one need to strive in such an environment. The answer below is taken from the private sector, but I believe, as I so often do, that there are important lessons to be taken from the private sector in creating a sustainable, efficient and effective system for delivering public services and social goods.
Q. Do you find yourself looking for certain qualities in a candidate more than you did several years ago?
A. Adaptability and flexibility. One of the things that is mind-boggling right now is how much we have to change all the time. For anybody who’s into comfort and structure, it gets harder and harder to feel satisfied in the company. It’s almost like you have to embrace a lot of ambiguity and be adaptable and not get into the rigidness or expectation-setting that I think there used to be 10 years ago, when you could kind of plot it out and define where you were going to go.
This Saturday was World Malaria Day. I did not do a post on the day of the event. While it may have some promotional benefits in regards to raising awareness having single awareness days for causes has some limitations. More importantly, I know that this post will potentially reach more through the long tail of search engines than it will through my small but appreciated cadre of subscribers. This issue is of concern to this blog as it is within Millennium Development Goal 6. Combat HIV/AIDS and other diseases. Below are some links from various sources dealing with this issue. First are some basic facts from Scientific American explaining both where we are and where we hope to go. I actually do subscribe to the magazine. There do seem to be glimmers of hope with the new vaccines, but at the very far end of the tunnel, more sustained globally-coordinated action is needed now.
The international community has just two years to meet the United Nations' 2010 goal of providing protection and treatment to every person threatened by malaria. Can it be done?
Money for cheaper herb-based malaria meds A subsidy program intended to drive down the cost of lifesaving malaria drugs called artemisinin-based combination therapies -- now considered the most effective treatment against the parasitic disease -- is unveiled
The second is from CoolPeopleCare written by Sam Davidson who urges
Let's put an end to malaria.
Sam reminds us of the nearly three million children in Sub-Saharan Africa who are in danger despite on needing something simple as a simple bed net that could be purchased through organizations like Sweet Sleep. He also provides the opportunities to join the commitment to ensure that everyone in malaria-affected regions has access to essential prevention and treatment services by 2010 or by sending a postcard to help raise awareness. As Sam says, Malaria, like poverty, can be stopped, and we can be the generation to stop it.
Finally, Care2 offers additional means of helping. You can get to those means from here.
"I pledge to give up buying cookies for 2 weeks..." "I pledge to ride my bike to work instead of driving this week..." "I pledge to cook at home one night instead of eating out..."
Sometimes, it doesn't take much to save a life. It can be an action as small and simple as forgoing one movie ticket. Just $10 can buy a lifesaving bed net, send it to Africa and show a family how to properly hang it.
Often, the lifesaving solution is simple: refugees in Uganda, Sudan and Tanzania need bed nets. With your help, families in these refugee camps can get bed nets before the rainy season arrives in eastern Africa. What are you willing to give up for a few days in order to save a life?Please make a difference and help save the life of a refugee in Africa today »
One source of information is the Scientific American Newsletter. They had a special issue on the uphill efforts to eradicate Tuberculosis. I am providing the links to the main article and some of the related articles. These fit directly with the focus of this blog and the Millennium Goal No. 6. Combat HIV/AIDS and other diseases. It has also been a topic of interest in My Pathways to New Paradigms. I wrote in that blog of having a great deal of confidence in addressing many of the problems we face today through technology and science. These are concrete examples of why. This is also the area in which I believe that business models can be the most value added. We are constantly looking for more economically efficient healthcare delivery systems in this country and it is a critical issue, but it takes on a far greater epidemic life and death perspective in developing countries. There is the additional challenge of taking on far more desperate circumstances with a greater deficit of resources.
New Tactics in the Fight against Tuberculosis The pandemic is growing in many places, and strains resistant to all existing drugs are emerging. To fight back, biologists are applying a host of cutting-edge drug development strategies
Tuberculosis has never stopped being one of the world's most lethal infections
Ancient Bones Hold TB Clues A team of Israeli, Palestinian and German scientists is analyzing DNA from human remains that date back to the ancient city of Jericho to try to understand more about the origins of tuberculosis
Today there are about 33 million people living with AIDS worldwide. This virus affects both the more developed countries and those in developing countries. This virus affects both the more developed countries and those in developing countries. In the latter, however, are not available in any way, the expensive treatments and therapies used in richer countries. In the latter, however, are not available in any way, the expensive treatments and therapies used in richer countries. This is why the mortality rate is not only very high but, in fact, increases every year that passes. This is why the mortality rate is not only very high but, in fact, increases every year that passes. AIDS is now considered a real pandemic in Africa, India and South-East Asia. AIDS is now considered a real pandemic in Africa, India and South-East Asia.[translated from Italian by Google Translator]
All posts on this blog are explorations in learning, there isn't any claim to expertise or knowledge. These posts will explore current trends in this area using the resources made available by this blogsite. TED is one resource for inspiration, sometimes through poetry, sometimes through shock, sometimes both. Leftorium correctly describes the problem in one sense, but Kristen Asburn in the TED video does so in a far more poignant sense giving us a sense of what we trying to overcome.
In this moving talk from TED, documentary photographer Kristen Ashburn shares unforgettable images of the human impact of AIDS in Africa. (Recorded February 2003 in Monterey, California. Duration: 4:36.)
It is important to remember that for much of the developing world, AIDS is only one threat and often, such as AIDS and tuberculosis, they can strike together. So what is being done about on a global basis? Not enough according to EurActiv.com on 11/14/08, which reported on the story EU urged to fund research on 'terrible triangle' of disease. According to the story, the European Commission is failing to pay its "fair share" in funding research into the main poverty-related killers HIV/AIDS, malaria and tuberculosis, according to health NGOs.
Speaking at a conference on poverty-related diseases on 13 November, EU Research Commissioner Janez Potočnik acknowledged that "sitting in our comfortable European homes, with well-developed healthcare systems, it is all too easy to forget about the pernicious impact that infectious disease has across the world".
This is one area where one needs to credit the United States and George Bush for actually having made some improvement, while still remembering that America has not met its Millennium Devleopment Goal promises yet.
The problem doesn't stop with governments not doing enough. Pharmaceutical companies are also not stepping up in many cases as this Oxfam report and video below demonstrate.
Oxfam, an international NGO, deplored that "after years of scientific progress, still less than 10% of all medical research is being dedicated to diseases afflicting more than 90% of the world's population". "R&D that focuses on the developing world's urgent needs is still highly dependent and driven by intellectual property, even though this system is demonstrably failing the poor," noted Oxfam's policy advisor Rohit Malpani.
Another reality of undeveloped and developing countries not found to anywhere near the same extent in developed countries is that AIDS substantially impacts children.
Over twenty-five years into the acquired immune deficiency syndrome (AIDS) epidemic, the children in its path remain at grave risk. In 2007, it was estimated that 2.1 million children under 15 years old were living with the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), and 290,000 children died of AIDS and 420,000 children were newly infected. Over 15 million children under 18 have lost one or both parents to AIDS, and millions more have been made vulnerable. Children affected by HIV and AIDS may experience poverty, homelessness, school drop-out, discrimination, loss of life opportunity, and early death.
This is only one pathway one could take to learn of the suffering caused by AIDS and the problems of facing the challenge. Hundreds of others will be taken by others on Bloggers Unite.
This blog holds the belief that it will be impossible for governments or with entities substantially dependent upon governments to succeed alone in meeting any of the Millennium Development Goals. It also holds the belief that implementing global health care systems to address challenges such as HIV/AIDS will require sound business practices. Those business practices in turn require global reach into some of the poorest countries and that can be provided through United Nation resources, many of which are highlight within these posts. It is going to require a partnership, it is going to required thousands of partnerships.
One of the resources of this website is the Business & Human Rights Resource Centre, found under Global News Sources, which reports on both the good and bad acts of businesses around the world. The articles below are a sampling taken from their site.
The role of businesses in addressing AIDS is not limited to large American companies. While we may think of AIDS in Africa being an affliction of the absolutely destitute, business enterprises in Ethiopia are also exploring means of addressing the challenge by translating intent into action in Ethiopia 11/27/08.
A landmark step in the fight against HIV/AIDS in Tanzania's media industry is to be marked today when 18 media houses launch their workplace policies on HIV/AIDS…The policies…[will address] prevention, treatment, care, support and reduction of stigma and discrimination within the media houses.
Speaking at a Qatar Petroleum HIV/Aids workshop, HARPAS UNDP Regional HIV/Aids [of the UNAIDS Joint United Nations Program on AIDS] programme co-ordinator for Arab states Dr Khadija Moalla said it is high time for the private sector to get 'smart' and make interventions on HIV in order to halt the spread of the disease among young adults social and health planning adviser at Dr Laila Ishrair the General Secretariat for Development Planning hinted that a draft law on human rights of people living with HIV will be sent[to] the Minister of Health, the law include[s] rights to work, to housing, to treatment as well as protection against discrimination.
Again, these are only some of the examples that can be found on the web. Other avenues of inquiry could include what is the economic impact of fighting against AIDS in a developing country. Jeffrey Sachs chaired a World Health Organization commission looking at the links between epidemic disease and economic stagnation, and to play a part in the setting up of the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, TB and Malaria. Here are other HIV/AIDS articles from the Business & Human Rights Resource Centre.
This final post in the series looks at global resources available to help overcome this challenge. The resources cited below were found at SciDev.Net of Science and Development Network, which "is a not-for-profit organisation dedicated to providing reliable and authoritative information about science and technology for the developing world."
AEGiS, a non-profit organization that is a web-based reference for HIV/AIDS information. AEGiS is a virtual HIV/AIDS library containing reference materials and late-breaking information from HIV/AIDS-specific publications and news sources from around the world. [I must admit to having seen an article on SciDev which raised some ethical concerns, but I can't find it now]
IAVI’s mission is to ensure the development of safe, effective, accessible, preventive HIV vaccines for use throughout the world. IAVI is a global not-for-profit, public-private partnership working to accelerate the development of a vaccine to prevent HIV infection and AIDS. Founded in 1996, IAVI researches and develops vaccine candidates, conducts policy analyses, and serves as an advocate for the field with offices in Africa, India, and Europe.
26 November 2008 | GENEVA -- Universal and annual voluntary testing followed by immediate antiretroviral therapy treatment (irrespective of clinical stage or CD4 count) can reduce new HIV cases by 95% within 10 years, according to new findings based on a mathematical model developed by a group of HIV specialists in WHO. The findings were published in The Lancet1 today to stimulate discussion, debate and further research.
Amartya Sen put it succinctly when he commented on the report; ‘this WHO Commission has concentrated on the badly neglected causal linkages that have to be adequately understood and remedied’.
Global health debates too often focus on biomedical aspects of health and those working in this area rarely have space, place, opportunity or desire to link up with those working on the social science aspects.
During his campaign, for example, Obama pledged to increase spending on child and maternal health, and not at the expense of related important areas like HIV and AIDS. These policies are reinforced by a focus on health infrastructure (see the policy for Global Health Infrastructure by 2020), which will be vital to ensure equitable and context-specific service delivery. Another area in which the Obama administration is singing in tune with the Commission’s report is the focus on improving health-care systems to prevent the ‘brain drain’ of health human resources i.e. health professionals leaving the South for better pay in richer countries.
"The partnership with DHL is a good example of the private sector taking the initiative to champion developmental concerns in rural India complementing the Government's commitment to 'inclusive growth'," said Mr.Vijay Satbir Singh, Secretary of Women & Child Development in Maharashtra, at the partnership ceremony launch.
"Community involvement is the key to sustainable development. If we are serious about improving child survival and reducing maternal mortality, we must give youth and their families the tools that will enable them to survive and lead healthy lives," said Karin Hulshof, UNICEF Representative in India.
Bloggers Unite is taking on another issue affecting millions.
On December 1st, 2008, BlogCatalog members will be joining with the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA) and the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Office of HIV/AIDS Policy's AIDS.gov for Bloggers Unite For World AIDS Day.
Their basic approach:
We Need Your Help!
As this campaign is directly related to the Millennium Goal No. 6. Combat HIV/AIDS and other diseases, this blog will be taking a global perspective on this issue.
There are an estimated 33 million people with AIDS worldwide. It affects every country, city, and town in the world. And, the most frightening thing about it is that is going largely unchecked. In fact, that is one of the reason that worldaidscampaign.org is continuing its "leadership" theme, which it developed after learning that many leaders who promised to support AIDS were not keeping their promises.
Unlike most campaigns where we hope awareness led to action, this is one campaign where awareness is action! If even just 10 percent of our members get involved, we can reach an estimated 4 million blog readers. And if half of our members participate, we can reach 20 million. And if all bloggers participate, we can reach the entire world.
The next event of major importance to the United States, and arguably to the world, is the American Presidential Election. My political leanings put me squarely in the Barack Obama camp and have from the beginning of the primaries. The question for us in the States is how will President Obama govern? Here is one possible paradigm.
The question for this blog is how does that relate to the Millennium Development Goals? The answer is significantly. The inquiry though goes beyond specific political choices to understanding how this affects our world and our ability to make beneficial changes in it. One important pathway for change has been science and one favorite source has been Scientific American. They recently had a special issue on the American Election. I am providing links that they sent me below.
According to Avaaz,this election will change the globe -- it's as simple as that!It will determine if we see a timed end to the war in Iraq, whether America joins the global community in tackling climate change,how much the nation invests in renewable energy and whether America redoubles its commitment to fighting global poverty.
Fellow Diigo user Joshua Sherk shared this link on 10-14-2008 about Howard Weinstein's goal to build a company that could produce affordable hearing aids for Africans.
A significant problem with hearing aids in Africa is how to keep them in working order. Batteries wear out quickly, and cost about $1 each to replace. That's too expensive for most people in countries where the average wage is about $1 a day.
This is an innovative solution that addresses the challenge of a global health issue.
The World Health Organization estimates there are about 250 million hearing impaired people globally, with about two-thirds of them living in developing countries, yet only six million hearing aids are manufactured each year.
It also finds an environmentally sustainable means of doing so.
"You have these great organizations like the Rotary and Kiwanis and World Vision, and they give out tens of thousands of hearing aids each year," he says. "And after a week, the hearing aid is put in a drawer because the battery dies. That's the weakest link.
"We started with the battery and worked backward. The common factor in most developing countries is sun. So let's use that energy to make something."
What was particularly inspiring was Weinstein's attitude.
Weinstein is particularly proud of the 10 deaf employees he hired to run Godisa. "We had three come to Canada and take an aviation soldering course in Montreal, given in sign language. Then they went to work in industry as part of the course. And industry wanted to keep them, they are so good. Yet they decided to go back to Botswana and train other deaf people."
As for his role, Weinstein insists it's no big deal.
"Any social entrepreneur will tell you, you have to be stubborn and stupid. It's just as simple as that." Jokes aside, he believes perseverance pays off when intellect alone can't get the job done.
Barack Obama Statement at the TED Conference on Commitment to Fighting TB October 3, 2008
Today, I congratulate the TED Conference and James Nachtwey on their efforts to highlight the importance of preventing the spread of tuberculosis. TB claims 1.7 million lives each year, and eliminating it will be a global challenge - but it's a challenge we must take on. When I am President, I will strengthen the health care infrastructure crucial to reducing the spread of tuberculosis and increase U.S. funding for the Global Fund - a partnership that's already saved millions of lives from HIV/AIDS, malaria and TB. We'll meet the Millennium Development Goals, which include halving the number of tuberculosis deaths. And we will live up to our commitment to the President's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR). The annual TED conference brings together great minds and leaders in a mission to advance the American idea. It's time you had a Washington that did its part. As President, I will live up to our commitment to fighting this epidemic, and together, we will make it clear that America is ready to lead again.
Cliff Kincaid of Accuracy In Media wrote back on February 12, 2008 that Obama’s Global Tax Proposal [was] Up for Senate Vote. This article seems to be mostly referenced by conservative blogs or websites with a few exceptions. Despite that I found it informative and found little ("the U.N. plan to force the U.S. to pay 0.7 percent of GNP") to complain about. The only difference that, unlike most of Mr. Kincaid's readers, I support the bill.
It is good news that Obama and Biden support funding the Millennium Development Goals. Bad news they want a tax to do it, which means it might never happen in today's economic environment. Seems that my worry is justified, moderator Gwen Ifill asked each candidate what priorities and campaign promises his or her ticket would have to abandon due to the $700 billion rescue package. Palin did not answer the question directly, but Biden did. And, to be honest, his answer was somewhat disappointing. Biden (echoing what Obama told Bob Schieffer on Face the Nation last week) said that the Obama plan to double the amount of American foreign development aid (it is currently at $25 billion) would likely have to proceed slower than expected.
Sphere: Related Content
I have a strong bias towards MIT's Mens et Manus approach and enjoy their MITWorld offerings. This is one of the latest found under Learning More About the IssuesMITWorld Global Health found at the right hand column.
Sastry endorses David Kolb’s “learning loop” model: concrete experience, observation and reflection, forming abstract concepts, then further implementing and analyzing. She ponders if this cycle can transcend classroom learning to engender change in the world. Her own research and consulting in health care delivery are based on such a stepped method. She stresses that an integrated, holistic perspective is also required. For instance, a malnourished patient will be unable to absorb drugs administered for AIDS; medicine is insufficient without food. As to the larger picture, she says “obviously we’ve got to tackle global warming and carbon emissions, but we also need to tackle poverty.”
It is a basic premise of this blog that getting the funding from the world governments is at best only a first step and perhaps not the most important step. It was a quote by Sastry from the video that brought home its connection with the Millennium Development Goals and global health.
In the arena of global health, we know that we have the methods to improve healthcare for everybody on this planet. We know that we could reduce the death rate and substantial improve health care with the tools and medicines that we already have. Yet it's not happening. And don't say that there is not enough money. Maybe we need more but there is a boatload of money going into global health.
Action on climate change is cheaper than inaction
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Many are afraid that tackling climate change is going to be too costly. But
increasingly, studies are showing action will not just be cheaper than
inacti...
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Thank you for helping,
