Half Baked

Filariasis , a Disease's Hidden Agony - New York Times

This New York Times article gives a vivid description of one of the many diseases that have disappeared from the developed world, but remain a horrible fact of life in countries like Haiti. The article mentions, but doesn't link to, the Global Alliance to Eliminate Lymphatic Filariasis - an organization with strong ties to the pharmaceutical industry.

 

"...one great tragedy of lymphatic filariasis (pronounced lim-FAT-tick fill-ahr-EYE-us-sis) is that it is not curable.

Still, it is one of a handful of diseases world health experts hope to eliminate within a generation, because its spread can be prevented with deworming drugs that can even be distributed in household salt, an approach that wiped out the disease in China.

But the task is daunting, not merely because 120 million people in 80 countries have the worms, but also because of the stigma and secret shame that the affliction causes, particularly in men, turning filariasis into a disease the world hardly knows. Even where it is endemic — 40 million people suffer its symptoms in the world's most downtrodden places — it is cloaked in ignorance and misunderstanding. "

Link to Beyond Swollen Limbs, a Disease's Hidden Agony - New York Times

Bob who?

On Tuesday, Chinese foreign ministry spokesperson Liu Jianchao said he'd never heard of anti-poverty campaigner and Live 8 organiser Geldof.

Asking "Who?" several times, Liu finally shook his head and said "I am sorry" after a reporter asked for comment on the 51-year-old Irish rocker's claims that China was protecting the Sudanese government because it provides six percent of China's oil.

Link to IOL: Geldof's scolding lands on deaf Chinese ears

 

OK, this is a pretty amusing (despite the serious subject) response to the Bob Geldof comment about China and Darfur.

China Accused of Prolonging Sudan Bloodshed Because of Oil

"The reason why it has not been resolved is because of China," the Associated Press quoted Geldof as saying in Athens on Monday.

"The Chinese protect the Khartoum government, who are killers, and they will not allow a vote in the [U.N.] Security Council," he said, attributing Beijing's stance to its oil ties with Sudan. Link to China Accused of Prolonging Sudan Bloodshed Because of Oil -- 04/11/2006

 

At least something is not the fault of the US.

BBC NEWS | Africa | Head-to-head: Africa's food crisis

 

An official from the UN's World Food Programme (WFP), Nicholas Crawford, and Tajudeen Abdul-Raheem, a pan-Africanist and Director of Justice Africa, debate what is causing Africa's deepening food crisis and what the solutions might be.

Link to BBC NEWS | Africa | Head-to-head: Africa's food crisis

 

This is an interesting debate that shows how someone who approaches relief from a political mindset and someone who approaches it from a humanitarian mindset can differ greatly in their views how to deal with extreme poverty in Africa. A lot of it boils down to whether war causes poverty or poverty causes war and discussions of the motives of westerners sending aid. In the end, I found myself getting really upset by Mr Abdul-Rahim's comments, but I'm glad to know this viewpoint.

I doubt that a victim of a famine is willing to wait for pan African unity to get the food they need to survive. 

 

Also, I thought this map was cool...

MAPPING THE CRISIS

A country by country guide to the worst affected states

 

 

UK Opinions on using tax dollars for poverty eradication in Africa

"Should we be proud that Britain is leading the world in the drive to improve the lives of the most disadvantaged?

Or do you think that the money could be better spent on domestic problems? "

Link to Telegraph | News | World poverty or NHS - what should come first?

 

The comment stream that follows this UK editorial are remarkably consistent in their criticism of this (or it seems any) effort to help eradicate extreme poverty. It's a pretty depressing read.