Rayne Today

Rayne Today
Searching for dharma, in spite of the weather... Proud member of the Reality-Based Community

Thursday, October 17, 2002

This excerpt from a BusinessWeek article is the bright spot in my week (this entire BW article is great, catch it):

“El Salvador, which used to lavish funds on its military as it neglected the poor, now spends most of its budget on things like education and has emerged as one of Latin America's economic bright spots.”

It doesn’t matter if it’s tax revenues or foreign aid or overseas capital investments; money spent on education is an investment in the future. Money used for microloans helps people become self-sufficient. El Salvador is becoming an example of success in efficient application of money for long-term development.

In the case of foreign aid, funds should go towards basic hygiene issues – health, education and safety. Finding opportunities to assist the affected with solving their unique problems through directed aid is more effective than just throwing aid money at people. Money without a specific intent or purpose and few controls is corrupting, going into the pockets of those who least need it. Money towards arms will do no better.

The on-going challenge of iodine deficiency in India is an example of a problem for which continued directed aid may do wonders. India is one of many countries whose people suffer terribly from shortages of micronutrients. Iodine deficiency is the leading cause of developmental disorders in India; more 50 million suffer from goiter, another 7 million are neurologically impaired, not to speak of other birth defects caused. (For you pro-lifers: this same deficiency results in roughly 90,000 stillbirths and neonatal deaths a year. Just this one deficiency, by itself, in one country. Think about it. We’d never tolerate any single cause to generate this much tragedy in the U.S., when it comes to our most defenseless.)

We in the U.S. take for granted that we get enough iodine since much of our table salt is iodized. In India, small businesses mine salt by gathering it from the sea – sea salt is not naturally iodized. Potassium iodate must be used to add the trace amount of iodine humans require. India’s government implemented programs to encourage the addition of iodine, in part because of foreign aid. The challenge is on-going: while iodine is increasingly added to sea salt, the levels of iodine are not consistent and must be monitored constantly. Continued funding will help maintain and increase monitoring. Eventually, with sufficient education and an improving economic base, it’s expected that Indians will demand that salt vendors provide iodized salt, reinforcing iodization into the business process.

The Indian government has made tremendous strides against this problem, but aid from the U.S. and other countries, through funding of organizations like WHO (World Health Organization) could go a long ways towards permanently resolving the problem and institutionalizing iodine into the Indian diet. Financial aid may not be the best solution, either; it could be that helping hands, consulting energy, is far more beneficial over the long run. Iron and Vitamin A deficiencies also take a terrible toll in developing countries; both of these deficiencies could be solved through supplements, but supplements cost money and force populations away from self-reliance. Providing more and better agricultural assistance and nutritional information for a food-based solution would be more constructive, since both iron and Vitamin A deficiencies could be remedied by better farming and nutritional practices. (A typical diet might consist primarily of rice and beans, with little other greens, vegetables or fruit; additionally, rice is frequently polished, stripping away nutrients like thiamine and riboflavin. Teaching families about local or native crops that are better balanced in nutrition, encouraging growth of the same and improved nutritional practices would go far to improve health and self-sufficiency. Providing seeds for these kinds of crops is a bargain compared to vitamin supplementation.)

A tragic excerpt from this same BusinessWeek article:

“AIDS now infects 65 million in sub-Saharan Africa, including nearly half of the young males in some countries. "There is no sense talking about market reforms in Africa if you have an AIDS pandemic raging," says Sachs, a U.N. adviser on poverty. "If you can't control disease, you can't have economic development."”

What will the ultimate impact be of an entire continent losing more than half its population in less than a decade? Can we think that big? What will it take to remedy this situation, and do we have the will to do what it takes to prevent a catastrophic tragedy?

I find this sadly ironic: while I’m typing this, I’m watching lightning storms over South Africa on video feed from the Space Shuttle; people from around the globe will be able to read this blog entry as soon as I post it.

And yet we cannot solve the problems of starvation and ending common nutritional diseases, let alone tackle coming pandemics for the poor of the world.