Day 9: Living Proof, Part 2

Developmental aid is a key to meeting and relieving poverty around the world.  Bill and Melinda Gates discussed yesterday how this aid is being used, and highlighted Living Proof that poverty, illness, and mortality is diminishing because of the generous aid of wealthy nations.  


Here is good news:
-In the last 50 years, childhood death rates have decreased from 20 million to less than 9 million, even while birth rates were increasing.
-50 million additional children are in primary school than from 10 years ago.
-Because vaccines are more available, infectious diseases (tetanus, diphtheria, measles) are down between 85-93%.
-Population growth is stabilizing/decreasing because families are staying smaller when they know their children will live.
-Polio is close to being eradicated from the earth, with only 4 countries left that have infected patients.  This is saving lives, and money is being saved rather than being spent on medical/hospital costs incurred from the illness.
-Ethiopia has opened 15,000 remote healthcare clinics since 2003, and has trained 35,000 healthcare workers.  Resulting in decreased childhood mortality, and improved prenatal and postnatal care.
-The Global Fund was established 8 years ago.  Now there are 2.8 million people on anti-retroviral medications for HIV/AIDS, 7 million cases of tuberculosis have been diagnosed and treated, and 122 million bed nets have been distributed that along with indoor spraying have resulted in malaria being decreased by more than 50%.


Great gains are being made in this fight.  Lives are being saved, families are being raised out of poverty, education is becoming more accessible, and societies more prosperous.  I look forward to seeing poverty continue to diminish throughout my lifetime, and yours, Miss Isla.