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Delivering the Goods

While the international community has the technology and the experience to ensure that many lives could be saved with fairly low-cost means, getting the solutions to those suffering from preventable diseases is not as simple as it might seem.

According to a January 2006 article called “The New World of Global Health” published in Science magazine, “Many countries...face cumbersome procurement policies that make it difficult to translate dollars into drugs. Shortages of trained health-care workers mean that those drugs that are available may not be used properly. Corruption has bedeviled a few large grants, whereas many other aid recipients have found themselves drowning in the required paperwork.” The article also points to the problems created by a proliferation of actors working in global health without the guidance of an overall strategic framework.

One of the main problems lies in the limited financial resources that are committed to health. With many developing country governments devoting a very small percentage of their national budgets to health, substantial needs are only partially met by external assistance agencies, international foundations, and coalitions (see “Taking the Global Pulse: Threats and Solutions”). Plus, the World Health Organization says there is a shortage of almost 4.3 million doctors, midwives, nurses, and support workers worldwide, with the shortage most severe in poor countries.

Where human resources are concerned, some communities have drawn on local village health workers and volunteers. The story of Nepal’s mobilization to distribute Vitamin A capsules is one such example raised by the “Rx for Survival” series. Or, take the Bangladesh Rural Advancement Committee—an NGO that has trained thousands of women in basic health science and family planning. With nearly 40,000 community health volunteers to monitor patients, they have reached millions and have helped to cut child mortality rates in half in Bangladesh.

Neighborhood health promoters in El Alto, Bolivia (known as manzaneras) visit residents door-to-door. Although volunteers, some of the manzaneras are elected by neighborhood councils and bring needed care to those who were not taking advantage of standard health services.

Ashoka's Changemakers program has also identified social entrepreneurs globally who

Discover worthy campaigns to improve global health

are bringing healthcare to low-income communities in creative ways, including offering free health services to rural populations in India and using microenterprise to improve access to safe drinking water in Kenya, among others.

These are just a few of the efforts that have proven that innovative solutions can be found for the world’s seemingly insurmountable public health problems.

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