Posts Tagged ‘developing countries’

When Paying Less Attention To AIDS Is A Good Thing…

Monday, November 9th, 2009

A heated debate is under way over how money should be allocated to fight illnesses that affect young children in developing countries. While much headway has been made in the fight against HIV/AIDS, children continue to perish from simple dehydration.

  • The U.S. is receiving increased scrutiny from UNICEF and other humanitarian organizations about the percentage of foreign aid that goes to fighting childhood AIDS as opposed to other diseases that afflict children in the developing world.
  • President Obama has promised to put more emphasis on child and maternal health but has simultaneously committed to increase money given to fight AIDS.
  • Leaders in the movement to fight AIDS in Africa, such as Jeffrey Sachs, suggest that other Western nations focus on different global health priorities, since the U.S. is spending so much on AIDS specifically.

Facts & Figures

  • Diarrhea kills 1.5 million children a year in developing nations – more than AIDS, malaria, and measles combined.
  • Oral rehydration salts cost literally pennies, but only 4 in 10 children suffering from dehydration in developing countries receive this simple treatment.
  • In Africa’s two most populous nations, Nigeria and Ethiopia, 540,000 children under the age of 5 died of pneumonia and diarrhea in 2007, which is more than twice the total number of people who died of AIDS.

Best Quote:

“AIDS is still underfunded, no question. But maternal, newborn and child mortality is tremendous tragedy and gets peanuts.” – Jeremy Shiffman, Political Scientist at Syracuse University

Development is…

Monday, November 2nd, 2009

Development is the process through which relatively poor countries’ economies become richer, larger, and more complicated. In addition to simple economic growth, development also implies the formation of financial institutions and a diversity of industries and activities. Economies undergoing development are also called developing countries or emerging markets. The development of China in the last 20 or so years from a relatively poor, rural, state-led economy into a vibrant, dynamic, more capitalist power has impressed many journalists and economists alike.