Category: Health Care in Developing Nations

It is a great achievement that China has one of the highest life expectancy rates (72.6) of any country in the developing world. However, the CIA World Factbook reports that “One demographic consequence of the ‘one child’ policy is that China is now one of the most rapidly aging countries in the world.” The Demography…

Nata, in Botswana, is a village of 5000 people located on the edge of the Makgadikgadi Pans. Unfortunately, HIV/AIDS is having a devastating effect on the people of this small village. Botswana has the second highest HIV infection rate in Africa. The current rate of infection is 37% nationally and Nata’s rate of infection is…

Iqbal Quadir is not your typical investment banker. Inspired by the non-profit Grameen Bank‘s success in his native country of Bangladesh, Quadir has created a variety of initiatives which allow the private sector to be the driving force for development in the Third World. CNN and The Economist (“Power to the People“) both report of…

Interested in the medical field but not a doctor?  Looking to help those in developing countries who are live without access to a physician?  A great resource to use is Where there is no doctor, a classic text published by Hesperian Books.  I recently bought a copy in Spanish (Donde no hay doctor) while I…

In El Salvador, one finds two parallel health care system.  The first uses state-of-the-art technology, qualified doctors, and physician spend ample time with patients.  The second employs third world technology, treats severe illnesses superficially, and doctors are overworked.  Which of these systems is run by the government?  Which of these systems serves the poor? As…

Plastic bottles strewn on the street, trash fires burning in front of homes, and primitive latrines…El Salvador is pretty much the antithesis of a stereotypically pristine European city. While in the US, we take trash collection for granted–we put our waste into the trash/toilet and it is taken away–in El Salvador waste disposal does not…

“What are the most significant problems facing El Salvador today?” I asked ‘Chungo’, the nickname of a fifty one year old representative of Ciudad Romero? His response was: 1) clean water, 2) electricity and 3) paved roads. When visiting a clinic in the village of Isla de Mendez, I asked the resident doctor what single…

This week, I will be doing a five part report on what I have learned from my eight-day community service trip to El Salvador. The trip was organized by the non-profit AJWS and was led by employees of the Salvadoran non-profits La Coordinadora del Bajo Lempa and the Foundation for Self Sufficiency in Central America…