Kaburu Anthony: Observance of International Day for the Eradicatio...

Kaburu Anthony: Observance of International Day for the Eradicatio...: October 17th marks the United Nation’s #InternationalDayfortheEradicationofPoverty. Extraordinary progress has been made in reducing extrem...

Observance of International Day for the Eradication of Poverty

October 17th marks the United Nation’s #InternationalDayfortheEradicationofPoverty. Extraordinary progress has been made in reducing extreme poverty over the course of the past 25 years, with over 1 billion people rising above the threshold that identifies those in deepest need.

 Despite this progress, population growth, economic shocks, food insecurity, and climate change threaten to undermine this momentum. The #WorldBank estimates that 12.7 percent of people in the developing world – or 896 million people – lived at or below $1.90 a day.

The presence of poverty, insecurity and inequalities continues to be a scandal in a world where knowledge and resources exist to ensure healthy and dignified lives for all. While a few consume in an extremely unsustainable manner and accumulate soaring wealth, billions of others have no access to adequate food, safe drinking water, proper sanitation, housing, health, education, security and justice.

Women, children and socially excluded people still comprise the vast majority of people living in poverty and face harsh discrimination – and often violence – on a daily basis. It is also worrying that women lack economic empowerment and social protection and continue to live in a context that places them in a situation of vulnerability to violence patriarchy both in home and in society. 

Poverty eradication is the greatest global challenge facing the world today and an indispensable requirement for sustainable development. Therefore all who are fortunate enough must all commit to freeing humanity from poverty and hunger as a matter of urgency.

We must all raise our voice for the world’s most vulnerable,we can start a movement to ensure every person can live with dignity, global citizens must stand together and encourage leaders to end global poverty once and for all by 2030. We have to come together, as one world, to realize the change that we seek.

The International Day for the Eradication of Poverty is a reminder that we must act together — and when we do, we can make even more progress in building a sustainable future. 

Kaburu Anthony: Celebrating #WorldFoodDay: Our actions are our fut...

Kaburu Anthony: Celebrating #WorldFoodDay: Our actions are our fut...: World Food Day is celebrated each year on 16 October to promote worldwide awareness and action for those who suffer from hunger and for the...

Celebrating #WorldFoodDay: Our actions are our future

World Food Day is celebrated each year on 16 October to promote worldwide awareness and action for those who suffer from hunger and for the need to ensure food security and nutritious diets for all.

World Food Day is celebrated widely with great enthusiasm by several other organizations which are concerned with food security such as the #InternationalFundforAgriculturalDevelopment, the #WorldFoodProgram, and others.

870 million people, one in nine worldwide, live with chronic hunger and 60% of the people around the world who are hungry are women. The vast majority of those gravely affected by hunger are people living in poor countries.

Every year, almost 5 million children aged 5 and below die of causes related to malnutrition and 4 in 10 children coming from severely deprived countries are malnourished, which has damaged their bodies and brains.

Each and every one of us can take part in this event. Not only will we able to contribute to the fight against hunger, we can also apply all the experiences and lessons we gain and learn from WFD in our daily living.

Search for events and activities in your local community, town or country and pick one or more events or activities that you can participate in. You can attend conferences, seminars and exhibitions held by government agencies, charities, schools, universities and other organizations about hunger. You can also take part in fundraising activities for the eradication of hunger.

Additionally, there are some organizations that prepare food packages to be delivered to areas in your town or even in other countries where food is very scarce. Give at least an hour or two of your time to help people prepare these food packages.

Nobody in this world deserves to live a life of hunger. When people do not eat, they become extremely unhealthy. Hungry people have trouble learning things, struggle with making themselves more productive each day, are frequently ill and have low life expectancy.

Hunger is something that must not be neglected and it can happen to virtually anyone, anywhere – even in the richest countries. Bringing an end to hunger not only saves lives, it can help society as a whole.

Every human being on the planet has the right to be free from hunger and the right to have sufficient food on their plates – three times a day – every day.

Getting there is going to be easier with each of us becoming more informed about ways we can contribute towards a solution. Here are a few tiny acts that can have mighty results on reaching that goal. Zero hunger means working together to ensure everyone, everywhere, has access to the safe, healthy and nutritious food they need.

This year’s theme motto: Our actions are our future, creating a zero waste and #zerohunger world by 2030 is no small task but possible with small changes we all can make. To achieve it, we must adopt a more sustainable lifestyle, work with others, share our knowledge and be willing to help change the world – for the better.

Kaburu Anthony: International Day of the Girl Child Observance

Kaburu Anthony: International Day of the Girl Child Observance: There are 1.1 billion girls in the world today, a powerful group for shaping a sustainable world that will be better for everyone. These gi...

International Day of the Girl Child Observance

There are 1.1 billion girls in the world today, a powerful group for shaping a sustainable world that will be better for everyone. These girls are blessed with wonderful talents and creativity, however, their dreams and potential are too often thwarted by discrimination, violence and lack of equal opportunities.

Today October 11th marks the International Day of the Girl Child (IDG). This day is dedicated to raising awareness of the unique challenges girls face around the world, such as:

·         Poverty

·         Inequality

·         Gender based violence

·         Sexual harassment and abuse

·         Forced early marriage

·         Teenage pregnancies

·         And more

As well as promoting girls’ rights to basic education, medical treatment, protection from social and economic exploitation, and more. Most importantly, it is a day to celebrate our girls for their strength, resilience, creativity, beauty and unique expression!

Placed under the 2019 theme of “GirlForce: Unscripted and Unstoppable”, the day aims to highlight and address the needs and challenges girls face, while promoting girls’ empowerment and the fulfillment of their human rights.

The International Day of the Girl Child pays more attention on more opportunity for girls and increases awareness of gender inequality faced by girls worldwide based upon their gender.  Adolescent girls have the right to a safe, educated, and healthy life, not only during these critical formative years, but also as they mature into women.

If effectively supported during the adolescent years, girls have the potential to change the world – both as the empowered girls of today and as tomorrow’s workers, mothers, entrepreneurs, mentors, household heads, and political leaders.

 An investment in realizing the power of adolescent girls upholds their rights today and promises a more equitable and prosperous future, one in which half of humanity is an equal partner in solving the problems of climate change, political conflict, economic growth, disease prevention, and global sustainability.

The celebration of the day also “reflects the successful emergence of girls and young women as a distinct cohort in development policy, programming, campaigning and research. International Day of the Girl Child increases awareness of issues faced by girls around the world #DayofGirlChild #Equality #HumanRights #SDG5 #HappyGirlsDay 

Kaburu Anthony: There is urgent global need to reduce stigma again...

Kaburu Anthony: There is urgent global need to reduce stigma again...: Every year on 10 th October is #WorldMentalHealthDay, a day for global mental health education, awareness and advocacy against social stigm...

There is urgent global need to reduce stigma against people with mental health

Every year on 10^thOctober is #WorldMentalHealthDay, a day for global mental health education, awareness and advocacy against social stigma. It was first celebrated in 1992 at the initiative of the #WorldFederationforMentalHealth, a global mental health organization with members and contacts in more than 150 countries.

World Mental Health Day provides an opportunity to address, as a global community, one of the greatest personal, medical, and economic challenges of our time: the growing need to effectively intervene in and treat mental illnesses, which will afflict one in four people during their lifetimes.

Around 450 million people worldwide have a mental health condition. According to the World Health Organization, one in four of us will experience a mental or neurological disorder during our lifetime.

Mental health issues today have almost become pandemic. Depression and anxiety in particular are increasing rapidly, with much still clinically under- and undiagnosed. This pattern is persistent around the world.

The World Economic Forum estimated that direct and indirect costs of mental health amount to over 4 percent of global GDP, more than the cost of cancer, diabetes, and chronic respiratory disease combined.

Depression is the leading cause of disability around the world. Yet low-income countries generally lack the human resources necessary to provide adequate care for the mentally ill, resulting in an astonishing treatment gap.

The negative impact of stigma

Stigma refers to a cluster of negative beliefs, attitudes and behaviours that motivate people to fear, reject and discriminate against people with mental health problems. Stigma can have far-reaching and devastating consequences for those lives it touches. In many ways, the impact of stigma is remarkably consistent across the world. But there are national and regional variations.

Exclusion by friends and family can lead to increased social isolation, often making mental health problems worse. Negative impacts on employment add to the problem, with higher rates of unemployment, part-time or low-paid work, and worse prospects for promotion.

In some countries in South and South-east Asia, having experience of mental ill health, or even having someone in your immediate family with a mental health condition, can often negatively impact your prospects of marriage. As a result, people hide mental illness under a cloak of secrecy – further reducing the chances of access to treatment and recovery.

The effects of stigma and discrimination also lead to poorer access to physical health care, increasing an already elevated risk of a premature death. Due to low investment in mental health treatment and care worldwide, treatment rates are low – about 25% of people with mental ill health are treated in richer countries and only about 5% in poorer countries.

Overcoming the silence that comes with mental health is a growing issue globally. Despite the overwhelming need, political leaders frequently overlook the importance of mental health. In Africa, the “treatment gap” — the proportion of people with mental illness who don’t get treatment — ranges from 75 percent in Africa to more than 90 percent.

In a positive point, it is great to see our organizations globally working together and taking action on mental health, we have benefited greatly already from this collaboration which has seen us come together as a stronger, more influential advocate for those living with mental ill health. 

By finding effective ways to reduce stigma and discrimination against people with mental ill health in low- and middle-income countries, more people gain access to mental healthcare and achieve greater levels of social inclusion in their community.

Kaburu Anthony: Our planet, our responsibility

Kaburu Anthony: Our planet, our responsibility: Earth is a beautiful living planet in the Universe and the common habitat of more than 7 billion human population and millions of species o...

Our planet, our responsibility

Earth is a beautiful living planet in the Universe and the common habitat of more than 7 billion human population and millions of species of biodiversity. Our Earth provides us with food, shelter and most of our requirements.

Despite unavoidable free services provided by the earth to humans, we are not able to pay off her kindness to us. Rather we humans are being cruel to our Earth with our selfish activities. Mahatma Gandhi said, “Earth provides enough to satisfy every man’s needs, but not every man’s greed.”

Every day we produce tons of degradable and non-degradable waste, and throw it anywhere recklessly. Smoke and harmful gases from our homes, vehicles and industries are suffocating her. We are disposing of dirty sewage, drainage and even chemicals recklessly, although we know that more than 7 billion humans, along with all plants and animals in this world, rely on water for their lives. If we aren’t concentrating on saving those water resources, then in near future water may be as expensive as PETROL or one-day people may die due to thirst.

Despite huge noise by our jumbo population itself, we use loudspeakers for our entertainment & industries, airplanes or other noisy vehicles for our luxury. We destroy forests for agriculture & settlement. We build huge buildings, roads & factories beyond her carrying capacity. The establishment of nuclear reactors vastly affects the environment & human lives.

Harmful gases emitted by ACs, refrigerators, industries & vehicles are depleting ozone layer & increasing our exposure to very harmful UV rays of sun leading us towards various skin diseases, eye cataract & even cancer. Wastes like plastics & other non-degradable wastes like insecticides, pesticides, chemical fertilizers etc. highly degrade soil quality & decrease agricultural products & kills soil microorganisms & decomposers. Water pollution increases the risk of water-borne diseases like cholera, dysentery etc. and lead & arsenic highly degrade our mental ability & causes the extinction of many aquatic animals.

Air pollution causes airborne diseases like asthma in humans & animals and disturbs whole metabolism process in plants. Noise pollution causes insomnia & heart diseases in humans. Deforestation is leading to natural calamities like floods, soil erosion etc, temperature increase and changed rainfall distribution, drought, loss of valuable biodiversity, decreased oxygen density etc. The burning issues in the world at present are “Climate Change & Greenhouse Effect”.

Solutions to environmental problems are not impossible for superior creatures like humans, if they are committed. As global citizens, we have the responsibilities to our mother earth.

Our first role in nature is to reduce our own carbon footprint via eco-friendly activities, raise awareness in our peer circle, neighbourhood & the community about environment sanitation by changing degradable wastes into compost manure & by 3R principle (reduce, reuse & recycle) of non-degradable wastes.

We can create workshops with local people that air pollution can be controlled by replacing household energy sources like coal, firewood etc. by biogas, electricity or solar energy & we can negotiate with factory owners & vehicle owners to use dust & smoke purification systems in industries & vehicles & we can encourage them to use solar-energy based industries & vehicles.

We can organize environment sanitation programs & afforestation programs in barren lands. We youths can appeal the government to bring eco-friendly development policies & proper planning of cities.

We can organize orientation programs about climate change, its causes, and effects & mitigation measures in schools & colleges to induce other youths towards conservation of nature.  

Thus, for the sustainability of our planet, we must all promise to fulfil our responsibilities towards Mother Nature so as to protect our living planet from deterioration & to handover clean & green planet to our future generations.

Maybe our single efforts may seem small but if thousands of youths can unite together towards nature conservation then one day our efforts will be a drastic step to protect our motherland Earth from destruction.

Kaburu Anthony: Health Care Challenges for Developing Countries wi...

Kaburu Anthony: Health Care Challenges for Developing Countries wi...: Populations in developing countries will be aging rapidly in the coming decades: Nearly a billion people living today are 60 or older, and ...

Health Care Challenges for Developing Countries with Aging Populations

Populations in developing countries will be aging rapidly in the coming decades: Nearly a billion people living today are 60 or older, and by 2050, there will be more than 2 billion older adults in the world. And because the elderly are at high risk for disease and disability, this population aging will place urgent demands on developing-country health care systems, most of which are ill-prepared for such demands.

Chronic disease now makes up almost one-half of the world’s burden of disease, creating a double burden of disease when coupled with those infectious diseases that are still the major cause of ill health in developing countries.

The challenge for developing countries is to reorient health sectors toward managing chronic diseases and the special needs of the elderly. Policymakers must take two steps: Shift health-sector priorities to include a chronic-disease prevention approach; and invest in formal systems of old-age support.

More specifically, these countries should institute prevention planning and programming to delay the onset of chronic diseases, enhance care for the chronic diseases that plague elderly populations, and improve the functioning and daily life for the expanding elderly population.

THE SHIFT TO PREVENTION

Population aging has been accompanied by an epidemiological shift in the leading causes of death from infectious and acute conditions associated with childhood to chronic conditions. A confluence of factors has spawned this epidemiological transition: modernization and urbanization (especially improvements in standards of living and education); and better nutrition, sanitation, health practices, and medical care.

Projections suggest that deaths from chronic diseases—such as cancer, hypertension, cardiovascular diseases, and diabetes—will increase to almost 58 million. But few developing countries have implemented primary prevention programs to encourage those healthy lifestyle choices that would mitigate chronic diseases or delay their onset. Rarely do developing countries have the appropriate medicines or adequate clinical care necessary to treat these diseases.

To encourage a prevention approach, WHO launched in 2002 its Innovative Care for Chronic Conditions Framework (ICCC), aimed at policymakers in the health sector. This framework takes the approach that non adherence to long-term treatment regimens is fundamentally the failure of health systems to provide appropriate information, support, and ongoing surveillance to reduce the burden of chronic disease.

The framework also advises that a prevention approach can mitigate these problems and contribute to healthier lifestyles. Delaying the onset of disability through prevention approaches can both alleviate the growing demand for health care and, more important, improve the quality of life for the elderly.

Primary Prevention. A prevention approach can be undertaken even where there are resource constraints and age discrimination. Unfortunately, a “negative aging paradigm” found in both developed and developing countries assumes that older people’s health needs require high-cost, long-term treatments.

Critics of this paradigm point out that, while the elderly are indeed more likely than younger groups to suffer from chronic diseases, there is still considerable scope to improve their health and quality of life through relatively low-cost interventions.

Some chronic conditions—such as heart disease, diabetes, and many cancers—have well-known risk factors that can be affected by lifestyle and behavioral changes that include quitting smoking, improving diet, and increasing physical activity.

Secondary Prevention. Whereas primary prevention programs target populations before a disease develops, secondary prevention involves identifying (through screening) and treating those who are at high risk or already have a disease.

Secondary prevention is also necessary to prevent recurrence of the disease. For example, all developing-country health sectors should use aspirin, beta blockers, and statins as mechanisms for secondary prevention of chronic diseases. Incorporating such secondary prevention measures also means providing the technical skills to diagnose and care for patients as well as providing the appropriate medication.

Many countries may not be able to afford these drugs alone, but through the WHO Essential Medicines program, countries can receive guidance on the formularies that meet the standards for a particular drug. In China, blood pressure has been shown to decline in individuals involved with community-based hypertension control programs, where activities include weight control, modification of dietary salt and alcohol intake, and increased physical activity.

Tertiary Care. Once a chronic disease has been diagnosed, tertiary care involves treatment of the disease and attempts to restore the individual to her or his highest functioning. However, WHO reports that adherence to long-term therapy for chronic illnesses is only 50 percent in developed countries, and is likely even lower in developing countries.Such poor treatment compliance could be bolstered by cultivating better health awareness through education and outreach programs.

DISABILITY AND QUALITY CAREGIVING

Disability significantly affects quality of life in old age. Types of disability frequently considered among the elderly include limitations in general functioning (such as walking or climbing stairs); managing a home; and personal care. In addition to being consequences of the normal aging process, disabilities are also often caused by chronic diseases.

And population aging also increases the prevalence of mental health problems—especially dementia, which results in disability by limiting the ability to live independently. WHO projects that Africa, Asia, and Latin America will have more than 55 million people with senile dementia in 2020.

Caring for the elderly in a way that addresses disability and maintains good quality of life has become a global challenge. Informal care—often provided by spouses, adult children, and other family members—account for most of the care the elderly currently receive in developing countries.

Care provided at home is often considered the preference of the elderly and, from a policy standpoint, is essential for managing the cost of long-term care. However, despite the increasing demand for home-based care due to population aging, decreasing fertility rates means that future cohorts of elderly will have smaller networks of potential family caregivers.

The need for public policies to address the demand for caregivers is one of the priority issues for long-term care and a guiding principle for WHO’s 2000 publication Towards an International Consensus on Policy for Long-Term Care of the Ageing.

In it, WHO urges developing countries to urgently train more professional caregivers to focus on elder care in order to meet current and future demand. According to WHO, future caregiving for the elderly will also require models of both formal and informal care and systems for supporting caregivers.

 Although formal long-term care programs are vastly underdeveloped in poor countries, they will be essential for complementing the informal support system and sustaining the major role that family caregivers currently play.

Examples of formal long-term care programs that assist informal caregivers include training, respite care, visiting nurse services, and financial assistance to cover care-related expenses. For instance, many East Asian and Southeast Asian countries are providing adult day care and counseling services to help family caregivers.

Singapore is providing home help, nursing care at home, and priority in housing assignments to family members who were willing to live next door to their older relatives, and Malaysia is offering tax benefits to adult children who live with their parents.

POTENTIAL TO REDUCE THE IMPACT OF AGING EXISTS

Policies and health promotion programs that prevent chronic diseases and lessen the degree of disability among the elderly have the potential to reduce the impact of population aging on health care costs. Research shows increasing health care costs are attributable not just to population aging but also to inefficiencies in health care systems such as excessively long hospital stays, the number of medical interventions, and the use of high cost technologies.

Appropriate policies to address health care challenges for aging populations are crucial for developing countries if they are to simultaneously meet the health care needs of their elderly populations and continue their economic development.

Kaburu Anthony: Celebrating International Day of Older Persons, “p...

Kaburu Anthony: Celebrating International Day of Older Persons, “p...: Today, on the International Day of Older Persons, communities around the world join to pause and reflect upon the contributions of older pe...

Celebrating International Day of Older Persons, “preventing future old age inequality”

Today, on the International Day of Older Persons, communities around the world join to pause and reflect upon the contributions of older people globally and also to encourage all nations to thoughtfully consider and address the challenges faced by older people.

The holiday is celebrated by raising awareness about issues affecting the elderly, such as senescence and elder abuse. It is also a day to appreciate the contributions that older people make to society.

This day has been recognized annually since 1990, when the United Nations first designated October 1st as the International Day of Older Persons. In the intervening 28 years, the world’s population demographics have changed dramatically.

The share of the world’s population that is 60 years or older has grown dramatically, and continues to do so. Nearly a billion people living today are 60 or older, and by 2050, there will be more than 2 billion older adults in the world.

Despite their growing ranks, older adults are far too frequently victims of discrimination, exploitation, abuse, and neglect. Older adults commonly face discrimination in work settings, healthcare environments, and settings of law and justice. 

Discrimination against older persons is unique, because when you discriminate against an older person, you are simply discriminating against your future self. We all aim to reach a healthy old age, and yet we allow ageist discrimination to persist.

The theme of the 2019 edition is aligned with the Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 10 and will focus on pathways of coping with existing and preventing future old age inequality. 

This day is an important time to remind governments about their pledges to work towards the #SustainableDevelopmentGoals of helping, among other things, to end hunger and poverty for older persons and people of all ages.

SDG 10 sets to reduce inequality within and among countries and aims to “ensure equal opportunity and reduce inequalities of outcome,” including through measures to eliminate discrimination, and to “empower and promote the social, economic and political inclusion of all, irrespective of age, sex, disability, race, ethnicity, origin, religion or economic or other status.”

We must all work together: in our communities, across nations, and in partnership with other countries, to promote policies that recognize and make use of the experience and capabilities of this growing population. This is particularly true as people are living longer and staying healthier for more of those years 

On this year’s International Day of Older Persons, and every day going forward, let’s make a committed effort to ensure that every person has the opportunity fully to participate in their communities, throughout their lives.