MENTAL DISORDERS LACK ATTENTION AND FUNDING IN THE DEVELOPING WORLD

By MediaGlobal News Service

20 October 2008 [MEDIAGLOBAL] : The World Health Organization (WHO) reports that 75 percent of people with a mental disorder in developing countries lack care and treatment. For example, 90 percent of people suffering from epilepsy in Africa go untreated and have no access to an inexpensive anticonvulsant drug that costs just $5 a year per person. In response to such staggering statistics, WHO launched a new program that aims to close the treatment gap for a number of mental, neurological and substance use disorders. Several factors contribute to the treatment gap for people who suffer from these disorders. “These could be poverty and economic reasons, low political commitment and lack of prioritization to mental disorders, cultural beliefs and low level of awareness, stigma and discrimination, health system factors such as non-availability of health professionals or medicines and long distance from health care facilities,” Dr. Tarun Dua, Medical Officer for WHO, told MediaGlobal. “The gap is not only there for healthcare, but it leads to poverty and also neglect in other areas such as food and shelter,” Dr. Dua added. With the launch of the Mental Health Action Programme, WHO is calling on governments and donors to increase funding to close the mental healthcare gap. “Governments across the world need to see mental health as a vital component of primary health care. We need to change policy and practice. Only then can we get the essential mental health services to the tens of millions in need,” said Dr. Margaret Chan, Director-General of the WHO. A recent study by WHO indicates that, in low-income countries, scaling up intervention packages for schizophrenia, bipolar disorder and depression can cost as little as 0.20 cents per person annually.

FEMALE GENITAL MUTILATION BANNED IN UGANDAN DISTRICT

17 October 2008 [MEDIAGLOBAL]: The eastern Ugandan district of Kapchorwa banned the practice of Female Genital Mutilation (FGM) this week. The district’s Sabiny people had been the last group in Uganda to continue the practice, but a community council decreed that FGM had outlived its relevance to the community’s women. The district’s council has submitted legislation to parliament for consideration to be enacted as a national law. While in the past, some community traditions held that a woman who married without first undergoing FGM would fall ill, Nelson Chelimo, Chairman of Kapchorwa district, said “those beliefs are really outmoded.” Last year, the United Nations passed a resolution defining FGM as a violation of women’s rights, saying it constituted “irreparable, irreversible abuse”. Amanda Winthrop of UNIFEM told MediaGlobal, “What we are seeing now is more and more communities engaging in open dialogue about these practices and acknowledging the dangers and discrimination inherent in them.” She also noted that FGM significantly increases the risk of HIV transmission, as well as the risk of infant and maternal mortality. According to the United Nations, between 100 million and 140 million women have undergone the practice worldwide.

PUBLIC OPINION SHOWS SUSTAINED COMMITTMENT TO HALVING GLOBAL HUNGER

16 October 2008 [MEDIAGLOBAL]: According to a poll released this week by the Washington-based Program on International Policy Attitudes (PIPA), global levels of commitment to cut hunger and severe poverty in half by 2015 remain strong among the general public. The World Bank has estimated that in order to meet this goal, states belonging to the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) would have to increase their annual aid budget by a total of $39 billion per year. Scaled to each country’s GDP, the highest per-person contribution would need to come from the United States at $56 per year, followed by the United Kingdom at $49 per year. The poll found an overwhelming majority of the general public, asked if they would be willing to contribute this amount if all other countries contributed their part, were willing. “What this tells us is that, when presented the actual, per-person cost of cutting hunger and severe poverty in half, the people of developed countries are willing to spend what is necessary,” said Steven Kull, PIPA Director. PIPA Research Director Clay Ramsay believes that while the amount of media coverage devoted to the financial crisis has diverted attention from pre-existing economic strains, citizens of the developed world remain committed to tangible, achievable goals. “Past results have all shown large majorities of Americans willing to pay specific sums aimed at reaching a specific development outcome, especially in the context of doing it together with other developed countries,” he told MediaGlobal. “These results have varied, but they haven’t been determined by economic conditions.”

NEW DISEASE HITS AFRICA, BUT REQUIRES FURTHER INVESTIGATION

15 October 2008 [MEDIAGLOBAL] : Scientists found preliminary evidence that a new disease that has thus far killed three people from Zambia and South Africa is caused by a virus in the Arenaviridae family, which includes the virus that causes Lassa fever. Tests were conducted at the Special Pathogens Unit, National Institute for Communicable Diseases (NICD) of the National Health Laboratory Service in Johannesburg, South Africa, and at the Special Pathogens and Infectious Disease Pathology branches of the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) in Atlanta, United States. The first death from the disease occurred on 14 September, and since then two others who were involved in caring for the first patient have also died. A fourth case, a nurse who had close contact with an earlier victim, also died. The World Health Organization (WHO) Communications Adviser Gregory Anton Hartl told MediaGlobal, “We do not yet have a full picture of the disease. We believe, for the moment, that the disease is spread via close contact with blood or other bodily fluids of an infected person.” So far, the WHO reports there is no need to restrict travel to or from Zambia or South Africa, but Hartl advised, “The virus, at this point, apparently is most likely to spread in hospitals or other healthcare settings and it is therefore important that healthcare workers take proper protective measures when caring for a suspect case.” Presently, at least 144 known contacts of the deceased are being followed-up in South Africa and Zambia.

WASHING HANDS SHOWN TO REDUCE CHILD MORTALITY RATES

15 October 2008 [MEDIAGLOBAL]: On the first ever Global National Handwashing Day, the United Nations Children’s Programme (UNICEF) reports that handwashing with soap is one of the most effective ways to prevent diarrhea and pneumonia, which together lead to approximately 3.5 million child deaths per year. Children are highly susceptible to diseases caused by poor hygiene as their bodies have yet to build up the necessary defense mechanisms. UNICEF reports that over 5000 children under the age of 5 die every day to diarrheal diseases, and that by simply washing hands with soap, communities and families can help reduce this mortality rate by 50 percent. UNICEF is working to raise awareness of handwashing by visiting schools and educating children on good hygiene practices. “Children can take responsibility. They are incredible agents of change and can take the message home,” UNICEF Senior Advisor for Sanitation and Hygiene Therese Dooley told MediaGlobal. Though, one of the biggest challenges facing this campaign may be the ordinariness of the message. “Handwashing is often seen as so simple and doesn’t get recognized as something to promote. People pay attention to higher level interventions,” said Dooley, who added that behavioral changes do not happen overnight. However, Dooley is confident in the capability children possess to spread the message and notes that if the campaign is successful, simply washing hands can help with the achievement of the UN’s Millennium Development Goals (MDGs).

DEADLY DISEASE ELEPHANTIASIS COULD BE ELIMINATED BY 2020

14 October 2008 [MEDIAGLOBAL]: By the year 2020, the deadly disease elephantiasis could be totally eliminated. According to the Global Programme to Eliminate Lymphatic Filariasis (LF), 120 million are infected with the disease while more than 1 billion people are at risk of contracting it. Parasitic worms cause LF, more commonly known as elephantiasis, which triggers incapacitation or disfigurement because of the swelling of the limbs, breasts, or genitals. “It is most endemic in Africa and Asia,” Joan Fahy, Executive Group Coordinator at the Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine, told MediaGlobal. But staggering success has been made since the Global Programme to Eliminate LF, sponsored by the World Health Organization (WHO), began its campaign in 2000. In a recent paper published by the Public Library of Science Neglected Tropical Diseases journal, authors summarized that “in its first eight operational years, the program has scaled-up to provide more than 1.9 billion treatments through annual, single-dose mass drug administration (MDA) to 570 million individuals living in 48 LF-endemic countries.” Treatment involves the usage of a combination of two drugs. “GlaxoSmithKline and Merck and Co. have been providing free drugs,” Fahy said. If the program succeeds, it can be a shining example to other health care programs. As Dr. Mwele Malecala, Chairperson of the Programme, noted about the circumstance of eliminating LF by 2020: “This program will be a leading case study on how to scale up disease elimination programs globally.”

$260 MILLION NEEDED TO SAVE ETHIOPIA FROM HUNGER CRISIS

14 October 2008 [MEDIAGLOBAL]: Disaster in Ethiopia can be avoided with the support of more aid, Oxfam says. “More can and must be done now to save lives and avert disaster,” Oxfam’s Country Director Waleed Rauf urged. Indeed, if enough aid comes through, the current Ethiopian hunger crisis – caused by drought – can diminish in size. So far, it has been rapidly growing. According to statistics from the United Nations and the Ethiopian Government, the number of Ethiopians needing emergency assistance has leapt by 40 percent in a mere three months – in June, it was 4.6 million and now, the figure is 6.4 million. This emergency assistance does not include the 7.2 million Ethiopians that are, according to Oxfam: “so chronically poor that they receive cash or food aid from the government every year.” While the desperate situation calls for immediate attention, food distribution has been reduced due to lack of adequate donations. “In July the World Food Programme (WFP) had to reduce monthly cereal rations from 15kgs a person to 10kgs. The WFP has received only one third of the funds it needs and has an immediate shortfall of 229,587 tons of food for the next six months,” Oxfam says. The consequences of this, according to the WFP, can be summed up in two words: increased malnutrition. The UN says that the aid effort is under-funded by $260 million. However, more pledges are coming through. “Some pledges have come in over the past few days and weeks, so probably the shortfall of $260 million has decreased by a bit as we speak,” Rebecca Wynn, Press Officer at Oxfam United Kingdom, told MediaGlobal. Completely closing the aid gap will need strong political will. As Rauf said: “with the right kind of political will and ambition, action is possible in the face of urgent needs.”

MALAWI TACKLE MALNUTRITION WITH EFFICIENT PROGRAMMES

13 October 2008 [MEDIAGLOBAL]: Malawi launched a study Monday to help the government evaluate malnutrition in the country and create more efficient programs to tackle the issue. One out of every four children in Malawi dies before their fifth birthday, and according to United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) representative Aida Girma, 156,000 children will die due to the lack of vitamin A between 2006 and 2015. UNICEF Malawi Chief of Communications, Victor Chinyama told MediaGlobal that the survey will assess levels of vitamin A deficiency, iron deficiency, and iodine deficiency amongst preschool children 6 to 59-months-old, school children 6 to 12-years-old, women 15 to 49-years-old and men 20 to 55-years-old. “The findings of this survey will be used to create a baseline for planning future micronutrient control interventions, such as sugar fortification with vitamin A and continued support for existing programs like Vitamin A supplementation for children aged 6 to 59 months, iron folate supplementation for pregnant women, school health and nutrition programs, promotion of consumption of iodized salt and promotion of dietary diversification,” said Chinyama. The Malawi government, UNICEF and the Irish Aid agency will fund the project.

UNFPA PROGRAMME PROVIDES INCREASED SUPPORT TO END WOMEN SUFFERING FROM OBSTETRIC FISTULA

13 October 2008 [MEDIAGLOBAL]: Obstetric fistula, a condition caused by extended labor with little to no medical intervention which leaves women with a hole in their birth canal, affects the lives of 75,000 new women in Africa, Asia and Arab countries every year. Women living with obstetric fistula suffer from incontinence and become social outcasts. “Women reported being physically isolated from their families in West Darfur and mistreated by in-laws in Burkina Faso,” Christina Vrachnos of the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) told MediaGlobal. “Women live on the margins of society due to their own self-imposed isolation because of embarrassment and fear of ostracism from the community.” However, the condition can be rectified successfully around 90 per cent of the time with a simple surgical procedure costing only $300. In 2003, UNFPA launched a campaign to end obstetric fistula, which has since treated over 7,800 women in 12 countries. “In many locations, the cost of care is subsidized or covered in full [during UNFPA treatment campaigns],” Vrachnos added. Due to the success of the campaign since 2003, UNFPA has expanded to now reach women in 45 countries. UNFPA’s programme not only covers treatment options for women, but also raises funds and educates thousands of individuals every year with the goal of eradicating obstetric fistula by 2015.