The Issues of Womanhood

In a recent article published by the Huffington Post, one of the biggest issues that women encounter in developing countries is how to to stay clean and access feminine products during their menstrual cycles. For most young women, their first period is a something to celebration. They are passing from childhood into woman hood, but for most of these girls in countries from Africa to South America, it becomes a monthly burden which is difficult to deal with on a monthly basis. If a girl does not have proper access to feminine hygiene products, it can have a number of devastating consequences, from health issues to education. If a girl does not have access to proper sanitation during her monthly menstrual cycle, she becomes more susceptible to various infections, such as but not limited to: urinary tract infections, toxic shock syndrome (a very serious and deadly infection caused by improper physical care), sepsis, and many other harmful issues. It also causes a great strain on their education. If these young, growing girls to not have feminine hygiene products, they are unable to attend school because there is no way to control their menstrual flow and keep it from becoming a messy and embarrassing issue in public during their classes. As a result, each month they are forced to stay home from school. Because of this, they slowly and steadily begin to fall behind their male peers in the class, ultimately completely undermining their education. It is important that they have access to these important and necessary products so they can lead healthy, unburdened lives.



http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/12/02/impoverished-girls-use-rags-for-sanitary-protection_n_1125215.html 

The Issues of Womanhood

In a recent article published by the Huffington Post, one of the biggest issues that women encounter in developing countries is how to to stay clean and access feminine products during their menstrual cycles. For most young women, their first period is a something to celebration. They are passing from childhood into woman hood, but for most of these girls in countries from Africa to South America, it becomes a monthly burden which is difficult to deal with on a monthly basis. If a girl does not have proper access to feminine hygiene products, it can have a number of devastating consequences, from health issues to education. If a girl does not have access to proper sanitation during her monthly menstrual cycle, she becomes more susceptible to various infections, such as but not limited to: urinary tract infections, toxic shock syndrome (a very serious and deadly infection caused by improper physical care), sepsis, and many other harmful issues. It also causes a great strain on their education. If these young, growing girls to not have feminine hygiene products, they are unable to attend school because there is no way to control their menstrual flow and keep it from becoming a messy and embarrassing issue in public during their classes. As a result, each month they are forced to stay home from school. Because of this, they slowly and steadily begin to fall behind their male peers in the class, ultimately completely undermining their education. It is important that they have access to these important and necessary products so they can lead healthy, unburdened lives.



http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/12/02/impoverished-girls-use-rags-for-sanitary-protection_n_1125215.html 

The Issues of Womanhood

In a recent article published by the Huffington Post, one of the biggest issues that women encounter in developing countries is how to to stay clean and access feminine products during their menstrual cycles. For most young women, their first period is a something to celebration. They are passing from childhood into woman hood, but for most of these girls in countries from Africa to South America, it becomes a monthly burden which is difficult to deal with on a monthly basis. If a girl does not have proper access to feminine hygiene products, it can have a number of devastating consequences, from health issues to education. If a girl does not have access to proper sanitation during her monthly menstrual cycle, she becomes more susceptible to various infections, such as but not limited to: urinary tract infections, toxic shock syndrome (a very serious and deadly infection caused by improper physical care), sepsis, and many other harmful issues. It also causes a great strain on their education. If these young, growing girls to not have feminine hygiene products, they are unable to attend school because there is no way to control their menstrual flow and keep it from becoming a messy and embarrassing issue in public during their classes. As a result, each month they are forced to stay home from school. Because of this, they slowly and steadily begin to fall behind their male peers in the class, ultimately completely undermining their education. It is important that they have access to these important and necessary products so they can lead healthy, unburdened lives.



http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/12/02/impoverished-girls-use-rags-for-sanitary-protection_n_1125215.html 

The Poor Man's Meat

In a recent article published by Trust.org's Alertnet, the genome for the Pigeon-pea, or "the poor man's meat" as it is more commonly known, has just been cracked. This is a significant accomplishment for the global fight against world hunger for several reasons. Firstly, with the genetic code now cracked, scientists will be able to genetically altar the genome. This will allow them to create drought and disease resistant hybrids that will be better able to supply the people in developing worlds. If scientists succeed it will bean a step towards supplying starving people of the world with the proper protein needed for growth, healthy development, and stronger immune systems to help these people ward off the waves after waves of disease that people in the developing worlds often encounter. It is important that these kind of leaps forward in nutritional science development are made so that scientists can help better equipped various fruits and vegetables that are able to withstand the extreme, often arid and dry climates or overly flooded climates that people in developing countries often live in. These developments are saving lives, and it is important that we help enable the continual forward progress. The article can be found at http://www.trust.org/alertnet/blogs/climate-conversations/cracking-the-pigeonpea-genetic-code-to-help-poor-farmers/

According to a recent article published on Trust.com’s breaking news section, Alertnet, the recent flooding in many provinces of Pakistan, disease is running rampant. It is a big issue in many provinces, but the Sindh province seems to be one of the hardest hit. Because of the recent flooding in the Sindh province of Pakistan, many of their residents have been left without clean drinking water or sanitation. The only water resource these victims are left with is the stagnant water left over from the flood, which is most often contaminated with human waste and other contaminants. Because of this, disease is running rampant through the affected areas of Pakistan. The diseases are hitting everyone in the country, but it seems that the portion of the population being hit the hardest by this wave of rampant disease is the children of Pakistan. According to the American Lung association, Pneumonia kills upwards of 100,000 people annually since 2000, but that rate is far higher in the affected areas of Pakistan; especially for the children. Pneumonia kills more children under the age of five in Pakistan than any other disease. An initiative is needed to help curb the rising number of cases of pneumonia and various other infectious diseases in these various affected provinces, because the mortality rate is climbing at an increasingly high rate. With clean water initiatives, and some sanitation improvements the issue can begin a turn around, to try and save people from dying from a largely preventable and treatable disease.

http://www.trust.org/alertnet/blogs/photo-blog/children-at-risk-as-killer-diseases-increase-in-flooded-pakistan/

Smoky Stoves, The Silent Killer

In a recent article published by alertnet on trust.org, a recent study shows that over two million people a year are killed by the smoke produced by indoor stove fires in developing countries each year. It is thought that the smoke produced from these stove fires kills more people than malaria, which kills nearly a million people each year. With an annual death toll around two million because of these smoky stoves, their effect on the population is currently at detrimental levels, and also requires some further investigation. The death tolls that are seen are not in the populations of developed countries. The smoky stoves are killing only those from the most rural areas of developing countries. These stoves are such an issue in most of these areas of developing countries because of the lack of ventilation seen in the shacks built in these areas. There are often no chimneys in these huts, thus there is no way for the smoke to escape. This is also an issue, which mainly affects women and children, not men. In the social structure of these developing countries, men do not spend all their time in the hut, and are typically not cooking the meals. This lessens their exposure to the harmful smoke produced by these stoves. The women however spend far more of their time in the hut, and typically are the ones cooking the meals. The children are also more often with their mothers as opposed to their fathers so they have almost as high of an exposure rate as the women do. This is an issue that stems back not just to the smoke itself, but the conditions many people are living in, in these developing countries. Before the issue can be fixed, the broader picture must be looked at.                                  ..........................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................http://www.trust.org/alertnet/news/smoky-stoves-kill-2-mln-people-a-year-say-scientists/

The North Korean Food Crisis

In a recent article on radioaustralia.net, the North Korean food crisis is discussed. Because of recent flooding in many areas due to extremely high rainfall, the necessary crops, such as the maize that is the lifeblood of North Korea, there is an extreme food shortage, the children of North Korea are paying the price. The children are so malnourished that there is a chance they may never recover. These children are suffering from various ailments resulting from their malnutrition such as hyponatremia, kwashiorkor, and various other ailments due to their malnutrition. It is unjust that in this time of crisis, the children of North Korea must pay for the unavoidable natural disasters. According to the World Food Organization, women and children are often the ones who suffer when food becomes scares. The men are all too often the last ones to go hungry when famine becomes a problem; this is an unjust issue. Alert Net was allowed into North Korea for a tightly controlled visit with a camera crew and several nutrition experts who work with Doctors Without Borders. Of the 28 children seen by the various nutritionists, twelve of them were so malnourished that the doctors warned that without proper nutrition and proper treatment of their various other conditions, resulting from their malnutrition and other various factors, they could very well die without treatment. This is an unfortunate natural disaster with unavoidable consequences, but the children of North Korea should not be paying such a steep price for Mother Nature’s cruelty.

http://www.radioaustralia.net.au/asiapac/stories/201110/s3335128.htm

The Issue of Statelessness

In a recent article published by www.trust.org, the topic of statelessness is addressed. The article discusses the issue that is statelessness poses when countries have not very delicately defined their specific territories. The definition of a stateless person is someone who is not recognized as a national by any country. Because of their lack of a country, these people are most often denied the most basic of human rights. This is a problem that goes largely unnoticed by the international community. According to the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), in 2009 there were around 12 million people around the world with no national status. This sets these people below even the most impoverished people of countries around the world, for those people at least these people have a national identity. Only very recently has anything been done to address the issue of statelessness. This December the UNHCR will be holding a meeting where countries of the UN will proposition various countries to join the 1961 convention and “make pledges to address specific concerns on their territory.” Until countries in various parts of the world sit down and discuss their various territorial issues, statelessness will still remain a large problem that we will continue to face. If it has not begun to be resolved in the coming years, this will give rise to territorial issues, which could lead to far bigger problems in the world. The countries of the UN need to insure that is addressed with haste so that much larger international problems can be avoided.

http://www.trust.org/alertnet/news/feature-invisible-millions-pay-price-of-statelessness/

Issues With The Recent Infant Mortality Rate In China

In a recent article on www.trust.org it is said that in China, overall infant mortality has seen a sharp decline in recent years. This is due to the fact that in recent years the Chinese government has pushed for women to give birth in hospitals as opposed to at home. Though this is an improvement in the aggregate data, the decompressed data show is showing a different story. Though the overall infant mortality rate has dropped, the mortality rate is still alarmingly high for infant girls. These steps that the Chinese government has made are indeed an improvement, but there are still far greater issues at hand that the Chinese government is not addressing. In order to truly improve China’s infamously high mortality rate, it is necessary that the issue of male favoritism in Chinese society be addressed, because the rate at which infant girls are dying in China, despite this recent improvement is still alarming. China’s population is already extremely lacking in women, and unless the government takes some major steps to try and turn this trend around, they will have a serious issue on their hands in the next twenty years or so.

http://www.trust.org/alertnet/news/china-newborn-baby-deaths-fall-with-improved-healthcare/

The TRAP Approach

In a recent article published on guardian.co.uk it is discussed that the international community has put AIDS and HIV prevention on the forefront of international health concerns. The international health community has put focus on a program called TRAP (Treatment As Prevention) to help curb the spread of the virus. This new approach to AIDS and HIV prevention has shown to be very effective for heterosexual couples, showing almost 100% effectiveness. With aggregate data showing a decline in HIV/AIDS over the past 15 years, but the decompressed data showing a different story in developing countries, TRAP will, in all likelihood, curb the uneven distribution of HIV/AIDS infections rates, so that both the aggregate and decompressed data show a decline in infection. This new prevention method, with the increased funding by developed countries around the world will be attempting to get more than 9 million people on the TRAP treatment by 2015, which will bring the number of people receiving some form of treatment for HIV/AIDS all the way to 15 million. This is a bold new step in trying to irradiate the devastating HIV/AIDS virus that has claimed more than 25 million lives since it was first identified.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/global-development/poverty-matters/2011/aug/05/aids-treatment-funding

Livestock Taking Lives

Today, while browsing Mother Jones's website, I stumbled upon an article discussing a discovery made by researchers from New Zealand, which in many areas is deeply impoverished, showing that in an overwhelming amount of cases, kids raised on livestock farms, in particular farms that raise chicken, unfortunately end up with various blood cancers such as leukemia and lymphoma at some time during their lives at a far higher rate that people who were not in the same living situations. And since in the overwhelming amount of these cases, these children come from impoverished families with living conditions that often leave them in situations that result in these children consistently commingling with the animals exposing them to their waste and other viruses that livestock can cary. It causes me to dispair about how many different ways impoverished children are unavoidably exposed to so many harmful situations. It seems that in developing countries, there is no way to escape the unavoidable fate of poor health, unless someone can step in, and in some way, help pull them out of these conditions to give at least some of these children a fighting chance.






http://motherjones.com/blue-marble/2011/07/chickens-cancer