By Sandy Garçon and Priyam Chakraborty, External Relations and Communications, PSI
Halloween is all about paying tribute to the spooky, scary, and downright deadly. At PSI, we’re sharing the types of things we find truly frightening this Halloween – that keep us up at night year round – and ways in which we are countering them.
30% of people living with HIV are unaware of their status. Innovations like HIV self-testing is allowing to reach more people than traditional testing – especially men, boys and key populations – enabling individuals to learn their HIV status when and where they choose, and seek the treatment they need.
25% of girls 15-19 years old in sub-Saharan Africa would like to delay or avoid pregnancy, but are not using contraceptives. Through the Adolescents 360 (A360) project, PSI seeks to revolutionize the way adolescent girls access contraceptives. One of the ways we do this is by turning the traditional model “inside out” and beginning with the girl. We’ve involved girls in conducting research at the beginning of A360, as program designers testing ideas, as mystery clients who identify youth-friendly providers, and as advocates.
Every day, 2,195 children die of diarrhea. That’s like losing nearly 32 school buses full of children each day. Without access to improved water, sanitation and hygiene services, the overall health of a community suffers. Using a market-based approach, PSI, USAID and partners aim to improve supply and demand of affordable and desirable sanitation products and services in countries like Senegal.
In India, nearly one woman dies from cervical cancer every seven minutes. PSI is working to ensure no woman dies from this preventable and treatable disease by putting cancer screening and treatment services in reach for Indian women.
Globally, around 88% of all girls don’t have access to commercial products to manage their periods. Unable to afford or access feminine hygiene products, many resort to common materials like reusable cloth, newspaper, toilet paper, and leaves – often with dire health consequences. By combining human centered design research with an analysis of the market, PSI aims to develop sustainable interventions that increase access to information and products to help girls and women in the developing world more effectively manage their menstrual hygiene.
Approximately 1 in 5 cases of tuberculosis (TB) are now resistant to at least one major anti-TB drug. The rise of multidrug-resistant (MDR) and extensively drug-resistant (XDR) tuberculosis threatens to derail decades of progress in controlling the disease. In India, which is home to more people ill with tuberculosis than any other country, addressing the challenge begins with improving case detection and management of drug susceptible TB through the private sector, where studies show most people first seek care.
Around 60% of the world’s population do not have a household toilet. In West Africa, PSI and partners aim to prevent the spread of disease and improve livelihoods, through the development of affordable, quality sanitation business solutions. By building the capacity of private enterprises and the public sector, and strengthening the linkages between the two, we work to create a sustainable sanitation market, paving the way to increasing access to individual, household toilets.
Banner photo: Nelson Cash (www.makeitstranger.com)
