With the backdrop of World Heart Day on Monday, medical experts said more than 80 percent of people living in French-speaking, central African countries who suffer cardiovascular diseases do not know it. From VOA:
“When somebody comes and he is tired, he cannot make strong movements, he cannot do sports, sometimes he has pain in the neck and sometimes there is paralysis and he could be bed ridden. We have certain medicinal plants that we give,” Eric said.
Among the 10 patients waiting in the healer’s office is Nji Mary, 62, who suffers from hypertension. She told VOA that she believes she has been successfully treated.
Mary said she came to the traditional healer because hospitals did not help her and is happy with her treatment from Eric.
Medical personnel in central Africa said many types of heart disease that were traditionally associated with high-income countries are increasing in Africa.
Dr. Euloge Yangnini of Cameroon’s Heart Foundation said half the population of Africa is at risk.
Yangnini said there are 1 billion people around the world suffering from cardiovascular problems and each year there are 30 million new cases reported.
He said the situation is alarming in Africa because 50 percent of adults have cardiovascular problems.
Dr. Tajou Emmanuel of Cameroon’s Cardiac Society said the increase in heart disease is mainly because of the urbanized and Westernized lifestyles in Sub-Saharan Africa.
“Now what are we doing, we have cars, we don’t practice sports any more, we smoke, we drink,” Emmanuel said. “Stress also contributes a lot. I said we smoke, we drink a lot and those things are contributing factors to the rise of cardiovascular diseases.”
Yangnini said those most at risk are Africans who are poor, lack health insurance and cannot raise the money needed for treatment and open heart surgery and so resort to traditional healers for treatment.
—————————————-
Spotlight on PSI
Jeffrey Sturchio discusses smart ways for the private sector and NGOs to tackle chronic diseases together, like PSI. He writes:
We’ve learned that there are many companies and organizations already doing a lot in this area…Population Services International use their vast technical expertise and global networks to make chronic disease services more accessible to underserved communities…[H]ere are some other ways that the private sector and their partners can and are working to reduce the burden of NCDs:
1. Strengthening the health workforce. An estimated 1 billion people around the world have never seen a health worker. The private sector is bringing its expertise in attracting and retaining talent to bear by supporting governments and NGOs in helping to strengthen human resources for health. A great example of this is a CGI partnership between Medtronic — the world’s fourth-largest medical device company — and NGO Last Mile Health to support the integration of NCD training and diagnosis in Liberia.
2. Making workplaces smoke-free. Employers have both an influence on the health of their employees and a mutual interest in ensuring that they remain healthy. If every major global and national company banned smoking in their workspaces and provided tools to help cigarette smokers quit, we would see drastic reductions in lung cancer rates, particularly in emerging economies such as China, India and Russia. The American Cancer Society, in partnership with Johnson & Johnson and others, has been leading the charge on this front. Along these same lines, the Vitality Institute and its partners are catalyzing enhanced workplace-based prevention efforts and behavior change.
3. Creating healthier product offerings. Working in collaboration with civil society, governments and multilateral agencies, companies can move toward making healthier products more readily available. In Latin America, for example, a number of countries have effectively partnered with the food and beverage industry to reduce the salt content in bread.
4. Reaching underserved populations. Getting products where they are needed most — in cost-effective, timely and reliable ways — is a core capability of many companies. Private sector knowledge about supply chains is invaluable in helping to prevent stockouts, ensure product integrity and reduce waste. Through CGI, the U.S. Pharmacopeial Convention is working with partners in industry, donor agencies and governments to reduce the proliferation of counterfeit drugs.
5. Building healthy cities. With economic development comes urbanization and a subsequent rise in chronic disease rates. Cities and governments can invite various commercial enterprises to help reduce indoor and outdoor pollution, build healthier buildings and create pedestrian-friendly streets.
—————————————-
Global Health and Development Beat
Pakistan is heading for one of its worst years for polio in recent times. According to figures from the Global Polio Eradication Initiative, 166 cases of polio have been verified this year, compared to 28 at the same time last year.
Roche has announced a major Global Access Program to sharply lower the price of HIV viral load tests in low- and middle-income countries. This new initiative creates a ceiling price of US$9.40 per test, and will reduce Roche’s average price by more than 40% in low- and middle-income countries. When fully implemented, the Global Access Program is projected to save more than US$150 million in costs over the next five years.
Six months after the Ebola outbreak emerged for the first time in an unprepared West Africa and eventually became the worst-ever outbreak, the gap between what is needed and what has been sent by other countries and private groups is huge and threatens to become insurmountable. Doctors are in short supply, as are hospital beds for patients.
Australia on Monday ruled out sending doctors to West Africa to help fight the Ebola outbreak there because of logistical problems in repatriating any Australian who became infected with the deadly virus.
MAMA, a public-private partnership in South Africa led by Johnson & Johnson and USAID, aims to inform pregnant women and new mothers via text messages. Despite its good intentions, the program is still proving itself, finds GlobalPost.
ExxonMobil is part of a public-private partnership to fight malaria in Cameroon with a complicated balance sheet, reports GlobalPost.
—————————————-
Buzzing in the Blogs
A Devex survey found that about two-thirds of senior managers believe the global aid industry will undergo a fundamental transformation in the next decade. An excerpt from the accompanying report:
According to survey respondents who foresee an industry transformation, broad changes like fluctuating power structures, rising development actors and new technology will contribute to an overhaul of the development arena.
Our recent survey revealed that among the executives who think the industry will transform, 26 percent picked the growth of developing countries as the top reason for change. As their economic influence and political clout increase, nations from the “global south” are increasingly challenging the dominance of Western donor governments, most notably by imposing different development paradigms.
“[There is] a movement away from an exclusive ‘north-funds-south’ model to creating more opportunities for south-to-south development cooperation as well as new types of partnerships and fundraising from emerging middle classes in the developing world,” Helene Gayle, CARE USA’s president and CEO noted.
With three-quarters of the world’s poorest now living in middle-income countries, the rise of these emerging economies has changed patterns of inequality and put pressure on the established aid system to rethink how it works.
A quick look at the resources of emerging markets further illustrates their potential to be key agents of change. According to the U.N. Development Program’s 2013 Human Development Report, developing countries now hold two-thirds of the world’s $10.2 trillion in foreign exchange reserves — a minor share of which could have a significant impact on development finance.
“Even if aid budgets in the West were to go up, [which is] doubtful, they’ll be an ever smaller part of budgets in the developing world simply because gross domestic product is increasing so much faster in the developing than the developed world,” Charles Kenny, former World Bank economist and senior fellow at the Center for Global Development, told Devex.
—————————————-
Capital Events
Tuesday
9:00 AM – China’s Quest for Safe + Secure Food: Boon for US Business – Wilson Center
12:30 PM – Global Early Childhood Movement from Child Survival to Child Development – Georgetown University
3:00 PM – Innovative Training of Birth Attendants – Wilson Center
Wednesday
9:00 AM – Bangladesh in Focus – Atlantic Council
2:00 PM – Urban Resilience and Institutions: How Local Governments in African Cities can Plan and Respond Better to Climate Change – AU School of International Service
Thursday
12:00 PM – India’s Achilles Heel: Failure to Deliver Public Services – CGD
Friday
12:00 PM – Harnessing the Power of Markets to Tackle Global Poverty: A Conversation with Jacqueline Novogratz – AEI
3:00 PM – From Copenhagen to Paris: Emerging Economies and the Challenges of Climate Change Diplomacy – Georgetown University
Wednesday – 8 October
10:00 AM – Turning the Tide for Girls and Young Women: How to Achieve an AIDS-Free Future – Kaiser Family Foundation and Population Council
Friday – 17 October
8:30 AM – Ensuring Equity for NCDs in Women’s Health Throughout the Life Course – FHI 360
—————————————-
By Mark Leon Goldberg and Tom Murphy
Subscribe to receive the Daily Impact in your inbox each morning!
Have a news or story tip? Email us at [email protected].
Disclaimer: Opinions presented in this email do not necessarily reflect the views of PSI.
