Building Equality

All mother's should celebrate Mother's Day!

Indian mother and her baby. Photo Courtesy of Beth Graddon-Hodgson,2012.

Mother’s Day is just around the corner. Many of us have fond memories of our mothers. We remember their smell, their touch, their beauty and their unconditional love. It’s nice to have a day to celebrate mothers for the pivotal role they play in our lives and in keeping families, communities, societies and the world moving. This is also an appropriate time to reflect on the current state of maternal health particularly in the developing world.  Maternal and Child health is so important that the UN‘s Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) 4 and 5 are devoted to addressing this issue. MDG 5 hopes to reduce by three quarters the maternal mortality ratio. The reality is that close to a half a million mothers die each year in childbirth. Most deaths are the result of preventable cause such as hemorrhage, sepsis, high blood pressure, unsafe abortions and obstructed labour.

The death of so many mothers, primarily in the developing world, has a lasting effect on their children’s lives and on their society. Newborns are particularly vulnerable to disease and illness and need their mother’s breast milk to get the best start in life. The presence of an educated mother in a home has a large impact on the future health of her children as well as the likelihood that they will be able to pursue an education for themselves.  Women make up a large percentage of the workforce and providing financially for their families often falls squarely on their shoulders.

Maternal health however is yet another area that is underfunded and underinvested in, particularly within the developing world. Women’s reproductive health is often not a priority for funding and maternal deaths could be avoided by solely preventing unwanted pregnancy and promoting birth spacing. Tertiary level health facilities that can properly and affordably deal with obstetric complications are often few and far between in the developing world.

This is the main reason that the Leprosy Mission of Canada is hoping to start work in maternal health in the near future. Investing in maternal health is not only the right thing to do, but is also economically sound. If we increase maternal survival, we can at the same time ensure mothers receive health education, which will in turn undoubtedly trickle down to their children.  By targeting programs at mothers, we will increase prevention, early detection of disease and care seeking for entire families. Let’s in invest in one of our most precious and valuable resources!

 

Written By Deborah Awere, International Programs, Intern

 

References

UN Millennium Development Goals Factsheet. http://www.un.org/millenniumgoals/bkgd.shtml Accessed May 10,2012

 

Combat Poverty, Eradicate Neglected Tropical Diseases.

 
Neglected Tropical Diseases (NTDs). Neglected, why? Because they are almost absent from the developed world. Tropical Diseases, yes, because the burden is primarily in tropical climates, aka the developing world. There is an estimated 1 billion people currently living with Neglected Tropical Diseases worldwide. This family of disease consists of 13 parasitic and bacterial tropical infections. People affected by NTDs are usually from marginalized communities, where poverty is high and access to water and sanitation is low. Often NTDs are found in nations embroiled with armed conflict and where health systems have collapsed or are unable to meet the healthcare needs of their populations.

In most cases NTDs are treatable, with highly effective drugs. However, because of who they affect, traditionally, combating the big 13 is often not a national, local or even public health priority. The burden of NTDs has recently however, gained more widespread attention with some big players, such as the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation coming on board to change things. In the past ten years efforts have been made to research NTDs more and to develop more informed ways of tackling several NTDs at a time through effective programming. The Gates foundation for example says they are committed to decreasing the burden of NTDs by; providing screening for NTDs and supporting integrative disease initiatives for better efficiency (Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation 2012). Many other organization such as USAID, Centres for Disease Control (CDC), UNICEF and the WHO to name a few, have also been active in trying to eradicate NTDs through various initiatives.

It is definitely a priority to find NTD cases within developing nations and to allow people to access life altering drugs, rehabilitation and training. After all many people affected by NTDs are affected by chronic disability which hinders economic development and for many children, impairs their physical/mental development long-term. Needless to say, NTDs have the potential of perpetually keeping people in the cycle of poverty. This is perhaps one of the most alarming issues related to NTDs. People may be treated for NTDs but if they go back to a community without any training or skills to generate income or to a community without improved access to sanitation and healthcare, the cycle of poverty will just continue.

 The obvious question that comes to mind here is, why do programs designed to target and eradicate NTDs not include more sustainable development components? After all if you improve food security, fewer people will be malnourished and susceptible to disease. If you improve sanitation and promote effective public health interventions, people will not be exposed to infectious disease vectors and agents as frequently as before. If a population is highly educated and NTDs are demystified, it is likely that fewer NTD patients will remain hidden for fear of stigma. A highly educated population is also more likely to demand and access services which promote health and prevent disease. If armed conflict is taken seriously by the international community, there will be fewer displaced populations, living in settings where sanitation is poor, access to clean water is minimal and malnourishment is high.

Photo Courtesy of Rahul Manekari, March 12,2012.

So, want to eradicate and treat NTDs? Tackle poverty, armed conflict, poor infrastructure and low literacy rates. Promote sustainable development, co-operatives, environmental stewardship and agricultural practices and laws that benefit developing nations. Fight for good governance, anti-corruption, fair-trade and representation of developing countries in policy and law-making that effects them the most. If you make progress towards these goals, you won’t just eradicate NTDs but you will decrease economic disparity between developed and developing countries, and move much closer to the ultimate goal of health and well-being for all.

 

Written By Deborah Awere, International Program, Intern

 

References

Our Approach: Neglected Diseases. http://www.gatesfoundation.org/topics/Pages/neglected-diseases.aspx   Accessed May 1, 2012.

First Photo courtesy of Vanessa Vick via NYTimes, 2009.

The politics of development- common ground?

The sixth Summit of the Americas.Photo Courtesy of the Washington Post, April 15,2012.

In the news today was a story about Cuba, the tiny isolated island in the Caribbean. The article reported that Canadian and American head of states' had recommended that Cuba be excluded from any subsequent Summit of the Americas', until it becomes a "democratic" nation. Stephen Harper and Barak Obama made these statements at the most recent Summit, which was held this past week in Cartagena, Columbia. In case you are wondering, The Summit of the Americas are; " institutionalized gatherings of the heads of state and government of the Western Hemisphere where leaders discuss common policy issues, affirm shared values and commit to concerted actions at the national and regional level to address continuing and new challenges faced in the Americas"(Summit of The Americas Secretariat, 2012).

The goals outlined in this statement seem constructive and beneficial when taken at face value. Great nations coming together and pooling resources to develop policy and address issues facing the region ultimately should improve the lives of people of Latin America. But the idea that Cuba should be excluded from these gatherings because it has a "communist" label attached to it, seems to me to be directly in opposition of the goals of the Summit itself, which is to promote good policy in the region. In another twist, America still has an embargo on Cuba in effect because of its political system but paradoxically has its notorious Guantanamo Bay on Cuban soil. Interesting to say the least and perhaps some would argue, in need of a label? I am NOT however, writing this to promote Communism and attack Democracy or vice versa. That topic is for another day, faithful readers!

I think what we need to remember in light of this story, is that the Cuban people are just that, people. They are citizens of this earth, who want improvement in their society just like we do. The fact that when Cuba was mentioned at this recent summit, the only reference made was to a lack of democracy and not the issues faced by the Cuban people was disturbing to me. It made me think of people around the world who are affected daily by disease and disability who constantly have to fight stigma and isolation. Often their concerns and issues are put on a back burner based on the political agenda of their nation and the external forces that affect their community or society. They are often excluded from discussions about services, programs and laws that affect them on a daily basis. Many are pushed to the periphery and not able to be the valued, contributing stakeholders they should be. After all, who wants to talk about disease and disability, its much easier not to address it, if we don’t have to see it. It’s much easier to ignore it when it doesn’t fit into the plans we have for promoting our own agendas. It’s much easier to tell people what they need and what they should be doing without encouraging them to engage in a dialogue about issues affecting them.

I hope as people concerned with the promotion of social justice, development, health and well being, that we will not exclude anyone from valuable resources that can help them in some way. I hope that labels become less important to us all, and we would rather earnestly seek the voice and opinions of the people we are trying to help. It is not effective nor morally sound to exclude and therefore punish people because of their leadership or their disease or disability. We have to develop inventive and creative solutions to regional and world issues and continue to promote good governance by getting people to the table and not by asking them to leave. I hope that we stop using exclusive language and rather practice inclusion to make a healthier, brighter, more unified world.

 

 

 

 

References

Harper, Obama split with Latin American Leaders on Cuba. http://www.ctv.ca/CTVNews/Canada/20120415/harper-latam-cuba-summit-120415/ Accessed April 16,2102.

The Summit of the Americas Secretariat.http://www.summit-americas.org/default_en.htm Accessed April 16,2012

 

Written By Deborah Awere, International Programs, Intern.