Solutions

Resources - Energy - Communication - Water - Sanitation

Fri, 2015-05-01 20:54 — Kathy Gilbeaux

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Communication

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Solutions

Here we present a list of ideas and resources that might be beneficial for use in disaster response, or for use in areas with inadequate infrastructure . . .

Energy

A Box Full of Light Saves Lives
http://www.haitiresiliencesystem.org/node/234

Voltaic Systems - Solar Chargers
http://resiliencesystem.org/voltaic-systems-solar-chargers

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Liberia Burials Key in Ebola Fight

Thu, 2015-04-30 19:28 — mike kraft

VOICE OF AMERICA by Joe DeCapua April 30, 2015

The World Health Organization is set to declare Liberia Ebola free. It will make that declaration on May 9th if no new cases are reported. In a sign of how the situation has improved, the Liberian Red Cross has handed back responsibility for safe burials to the Ministry of Health.

A man is sprayed with disinfectant after he celebrated the memory of a loved one who died due to the Ebola virus at a newly built grave yard for Ebola virus victims in Monrovia, Liberia, Wednesday, March 11, 2015. Liberians held a church service Wednesday for families who lost members to Ebola to mark the country’s 99th celebration National Decoration Day, a holiday normally set aside for people to clean up and re-decorate the graves of their lost relatives. (AP Photo/Abbas Dulleh)

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Experts call for vigilance, sustained measures against Ebola

Thu, 2015-04-30 10:40 — mike kraft

STARAFRICA.COM April 30, 2015

ABUJA, Nigeria --Governments in West Africa should improve health governance by scaling up investments in health infrastructure and human capital to ensure proactive responses against pandemics such as Ebola, a panel of discussants on Ebola has recommended.

A statement by the ECOWAS Commission on Thursday in Abuja said that the panelists at the debate on “Ebola; one year after,” organized by the Friedrich Ebert Stiftung (FES) in Abuja on Tuesday, explained that such investments would engender effective preventive and preparedness initiatives and also address the weak health systems of countries in the region, which suffered the heaviest burden of the latest Ebola Virus Disease (EVD) outbreak...

In particular, they recommended that public education and sensitization as well as community mobilization, participation and vigilance must be sustained until the disease is totally eliminated. There should also be effective psycho-social support and reintegration programmes for survivors and children orphaned by the disease....

Read complete story.

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As Sierra Leone emerges from Ebola crisis, new innovations are helping poor villages

Wed, 2015-04-29 12:04 — mike kraft

DESERET NEWS by Kimberley Curtis April 29, 2015

Thirteen years after civil war devastated the country, basic infrastructure and services are still lacking in many parts of Sierra Leone. This means transporting food throughout the country is prohibitively expensive and staple foods are out-priced for many of the roughly 60 percent of the population that lives in poverty.

HESE AFFORDABLE GREENHOUSE

In particular, basic vegetables such as carrots and tomatoes are in short supply in the country for most of the year as they are only grown in a few regions with a limited season. You can’t eat your vegetables if you can’t afford to buy them, which is one of the reasons why Sierra Leone has one of the highest rates of malnutrition in the world.

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Nepal - Female Community Health Volunteers (FCHV)

Wed, 2015-04-29 01:23 — Kathy Gilbeaux

mohp.gov.np

The national Female Community Health Volunteer (FCHV) Program was introduced in 1988, under the Public Health Division of the Ministry of Health (MOH), Government of Nepal. By 1995, the program was established in all 75 districts. FCHVs are currently assisting with primary health care activities and acting as a bridge between government health services and the community. They are local community women from various ethnic groups; 42 percent have never attended school.

Since inception of the program, FCHVs have served as frontline local health resource persons who provide community-based health education and services in rural areas, with a special focus on maternal and child health and family planning.

USAID - Nepal - Female Community Health Volunteers (4 page .PDF file)
http://jsi.com/JSIInternet/Inc/Common/_download_pub.cfm?id=12140&lid=3

USAID - Female Community Health Volunteers
http://blog.usaid.gov/2011/07/saving-lives-across-nepal-female-community-health-volunteers/

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Health

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A Force for Good: How Digital Jedis are Responding to the Nepal Earthquake (Updated)

Tue, 2015-04-28 22:00 — Maeryn Obley

A building and statue damaged by the April 25th quake.

Image: A building and statue damaged by the April 25th quake.

irevolution.net - April 27th 2015

Digital Humanitarians are responding in full force to the devastating earthquake that struck Nepal. Information sharing and coordination is taking place online via CrisisMappers and on multiple dedicated Skype chats. The Standby Task Force (SBTF), Humanitarian OpenStreetMap (HOT) and others from the Digital Humanitarian Network (DHN) have also deployed in response to the tragedy.

(VIEW COMPLETE ARTICLE)

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Nine Ways We Are Beating the Ebola Epidemic in West Africa

Mon, 2015-04-27 14:31 — mike kraft

THE HUFFINGTON POST by Nathalie MacDermott April 26, 2015
.. Addressing an Ebola epidemic of this scale has taken the international community on a journey never before walked. Previously tried and tested methods have been used as well as novel strategies, but the scale that has been required is unprecedented.

Rapid response medical team outside a mobile treatment facility
Nathalie MacDermott/Samaritan's Purse International Relief

It is also apparent that no 'one size fits all' approach can work - the approach must be multifactorial, addressing the problem at it's roots within the communities where the outbreaks occur, but also on a national level to provide large scale isolation of cases and interrupt transmission of the virus.

Below are nine ways in which we are beating the Ebola epidemic in West Africa:

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Empowering local media can make the difference: 5 lessons from the Ebola crisis

Fri, 2015-04-24 17:23 — mike kraft

DEVEX byAlison Campbell April 23, 2015

The Ebola crisis in West Africa was quickly recognized as being driven as much by misinformation and rumors as by weaknesses in the health care system. Mohamed Komah interviews an Ebola survivor at the Donka Ebola treatment center in Conakry, Guinea. Photo by: Internews

International response agencies invested significant resources in rolling out the Social Mobilization and Community Engagement drive, a wide-scale intensive social behavior change communication campaign. The result was a massive and rather poorly coordinated blast of messaging shared on billboards, in print, on radio and TV, through health outreach workers and community organizations, via SMS and call-in hotlines.

A preliminary assessment done by Internews in November found more than 300 types of social mobilization and messaging systems in the three worst-affected countries: Liberia, Guinea and Sierra Leone. This chaotic information landscape consisted mainly of information “out,” with little opportunity for community dialogue....

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Disaster Risk Reduction

Disease

Health

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Ebola survivors donate plasma to tackle outbreak

Wed, 2015-04-22 21:58 — mike kraft

EUREKALERT April 22, 2015
UNIVERSITY OF LIVERPOOL --
The first donations of plasma, from survivors of the Ebola epidemic in Sierra Leone, have been received by an international research team working to help tackle current and future disease outbreaks in West Africa.

The team, led by scientists at the University of Liverpool and colleagues at the College of Medicine and Allied Health Services, Ministry of Health, Sierra Leone, is investigating how plasma from Ebola survivors could help treat patients with the disease at the Ebola Treatment Unit, run by the 34th Regiment Military Hospital group in Freetown.

Dr Calum Semple, from the University's Institute of Child Health, and his collaborators developed a convalescent plasma protocol in readiness for an outbreak, such as Ebola, as part of the outbreak preparatory work of the International Severe Acute Respiratory and Emerging Infection Consortium.

The study is one of several being supported by the Wellcome Trust's platform for evaluating experimental Ebola therapeutics in West Africa.

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http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2015-04/uol-esd042215.php

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Looking Into the Mirror of EBOLA: A Reminder of the Importance of Nutrition As We Age

Tue, 2015-04-21 18:04 — mike kraft

HUFFINGTON POST by Dr. Simin Nikbin Meydan April 21, 2015
When the world was devastated by the deadly outbreak of Ebola in West Africa last year, we were given a warning call on many levels. While I was mulling over the whys and hows of the epidemic, my mind automatically went to the role that nutrition can play in helping to stem the spread, and mortality rates, of diseases and perhaps deter future outbreaks.

The next step my mind took, (admittedly, I research nutrition, immunology and infection in older adults), was to the role nutrition plays in maintaining a robust immune response and fighting against infections particularly in older adults. Remember the SARS outbreak in 2003? SARS (Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome) is a viral respiratory disease caused by the SARS coronavirus. The outbreak began in southern China and caused an eventual 8,096 cases with 774 deaths reported in multiple countries. The overall mortality rate in aged populations exceeded 50%. Age matters in fighting infections. As we age, our immune systems gray and we need to factor this into our response to outbreaks.

It is telling that infectious epidemics usually originate in areas of the world that suffer from poor nutrition.

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Disaster Risk Reduction