PHM-Exch> Donors urged to tackle leading killer of under-fives

[Claudio Schuftan]

EXCERPTS
From: Vern Weitzel <vern.weitzel at gmail.com>
crossposted from: "[health-vn discussion group]" <health-vn at anu.edu.au>,
"[Water and Sanitation WG]" watsan-wg at ngocentre.org.vn

http://www.wateraid.org/documents/plugin_documents/wateraid_fatal_neglect.pdf

"Diarrheal Disease: Solutions to Defeat a Global Killer" may be downloaded
at:
http://www.eddcontrol.org/files/Solutions_to_Defeat_a_Global_Killer.pdf

Donors urged to tackle leading killer of under-fives - reports

REUTERS/Natasha Elkington

Two major aid agency reports published this week say millions of children's
lives are being put at risk because governments and the international aid
community are not responding appropriately to diseases such as diarrhoea.
"Diarrhoea kills more children than HIV/AIDS, malaria and TB combined, yet
compared to these diseases receives little financing and is not prioritised
by
governments in donor and developing country governments alike," said Oliver
Cumming, co-author of a report by Water Aid.

The report shows that between 2004 and 2006 only $1.5 billion was spent
globally
on improving sanitation. In the same period, $10.8 billion was spent on
interventions for HIV/AIDS - responsible for 315,000 child deaths in that
period, and $3.5 billion on interventions for malaria - responsible for
840,000
child deaths.

HEALTHCARE

A health worker in the only government-run clinic in Kibera said diarrhoea
was a
major problem in the slum, which is home to over one million of Kenya's
poor.
It's easy to see why - toilets are holes in the ground and many are
overflowing.

Most clinics in the slum were private and the majority of people could
not afford the fees. The lack of roads, lighting and poor security also made
it
difficult to reach a doctor, particularly if a child fell sick in the middle
of
the night.

BURDEN

Another report "Diarrheal Disease: Solutions to Defeat a Global Killer" by
health advocacy group PATH, speculates that in the 1970s and 1980s
awareness-raising and fund-raising for tackling the problem were so
successful
that the mortality rate fell by almost 50 percent. It says many donors,
governments and aid agencies may have considered the problem solved.

But the issue is far from solved. Water Aid says that when taking into
account
adult deaths, funding for HIV/AIDS is balanced, but when considering child
deaths, the large resources for fighting the disease are disproportionate.
Both reports highlight that relatively cheap fixes can be effective - for
example educating people to wash their hands, using water purifiers and
disinfectants and taking rehydration salts for diarrhoea.

But the aid community is not devoting sufficient funds or attention to the
problem, the reports say.

The Kenyan government is working with aid groups to educate the public on
good
hygiene, improve water chlorination and provide communities with water
purifiers
and disinfectants. But the financial burden is high, says Kenya's Health
Minister Shahnaaz Sharif.


----

http://www.wateraid.org/uk/about_us/newsroom/7655.asp

Second biggest killer of under-fives being ignored

The report argues that a major cause of child mortality is being neglected.
Credit: WaterAid / Layton Thompson

The international health agenda is failing to save the lives of millions of
children by not responding appropriately to causes of child deaths,
according to
a new WaterAid report released today.
Hard-hitting figures published in the report reveal that the aid system is
not
responding rationally to disease burden. Despite diarrhoea being the second
biggest killer of children, critical interventions to prevent these deaths
attract a dismal amount of international aid.

In 2004, diarrhoea killed 1.8 million children, yet between 2004-2006 only
$1.5
billion was spent globally on improved sanitation – vital in the fight to
protect children from diarrhoea.

In the same period, $10.8 billion was spent on interventions for HIV/AIDS
(responsible for 315,000 child deaths), and $3.5 billion on those for
malaria
(responsible for 840,000 child deaths). [see graph below]

The report stresses that the aid system must continue to tackle diseases
such as
malaria and HIV/AIDS but calls for a comparable effort to address diarrhoea.

'Fatal neglect: How health systems are failing to comprehensively address
child
mortality' argues that to reduce under-five deaths by two-thirds and
therefore
meet Millennium Development Goal Four, the aid system must target its
resources
to diseases that are killing the most children – such as diarrhoea – and
focus
on providing cost-effective interventions such as improved sanitation that
can
prevent these diseases.

Fatal Neglect shows that the global imbalance of aid allocations is matched
at
the national level in developing countries. The report calls for national
health
challenges, rather than international campaigns to determine the allocation
of aid:

In Zambia, the Ministry of Health notes that "over 80% of the health
conditions
presented at health institutions are diseases related to poor environmental
sanitation." Yet environmental health receives just one eighth of the
funding
provided for malaria, a disease which kills a similar number of children to
diarrhoea.
In Madagascar, UNAIDS (The Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS) found
the
number of deaths from HIV/AIDS was too small to estimate, whereas diarrhoeal
diseases kill 14,000 children every year. Yet HIV/AIDS received five times
more
aid than sanitation between 2004-6.
Rwanda has a 3% AIDS infection rate, but in 2005 almost 75% of donor
assistance
for health was for HIV/AIDS and only 2% for health care services for
childhood
illnesses.
"Disease burden is not informing aid decisions," said Cumming. "Donors need
to
take a long hard look at their financing and priorities and see if it
actually
matches the reality on the ground."

The report also warns that by neglecting sanitation, the effectiveness of
current health systems is being reduced.


WaterAid Policy Officer, Report co-author Oliver Cumming
WaterAid Executive Director, Barbara Frost
WaterAid Programme Manager, Advocacy and Communications, Zambia, Nancy
Mukumbuta
chloeirvine at wateraid.org

The accuracy of information from media articles posted on this list
cannot be guaranteed and should be verified before use.
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