Tuesday, 14 February 2012
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Are We Doing Enough For The World's Children?
I read a very interesting article titled: "Is India Doing Enough For Its Children?". The first article paints a very sad picture to the reader, stating that a 17 year old mother was taken to a wooden shack moments after giving birth to her premature son. Since she belonged to a poor community, which believes a woman to be impure moments after giving birth, neither the poor woman, nor her son received any medical treatment, causing the newborn to die just two month after birth.
Even though India has improved economically over the years, the article points out that they hold a shocking 20% of the world’s mortality in children.
Even more shockingly, the article points out, half of these deaths occur within the first month of birth. Since both, the mothers and children lack nutrition, this is one of the main reasons for such high mortality rates.
Surprisingly, the malnutrition problem in India is three times more severe than that of Ethiopia, nevertheless, Ethiopia has lower mortality rates of its children as compared to India, therefore there has to be another leading factor that contributes to such great losses.
Over the years the mortality of children under the age of 5 decreased, but as the article states, the numbers are still far from India’s goal for 2015. The same trend is seen in other countries that have large populations as well as increased poverty as compared to the rest of the world. Poverty and lack of education for the mothers seems to be among the highest contributors to India’s high mortality rates between children. More well of places in India do not suffer from these horrendous losses.
As many as 80% of the Indian population were not aware of such a pressing issue going on in their country. Key contributors to such high mortality rates in India seem to be the cultural aspect, deeming birth as unclean, hence allowing it to happen in unclean facilities without proper training; as well as, lacking of nutrition. It is told in the article that the young mother was escorted to give birth in a cow's shed, aligned with cows dung, which many Indians believe purifies childbirth.
The article concludes, that in India it is normal for a woman to loose a few babies before finally having one child reach adulthood. As noted in the article, many poor communities suffer similar consequences. Lack of education derails people’s ability to understand such delicate procedures as childbirth, deeming it unclean and exposing both new mother and newborn to harsh bacteria and diseases by not providing clean, trained facilities.
The world needs to move forward in educating these societies and providing training, as well as, clean facilities to ensure health and safety of both the mother, and the child. Although there are many extremist societies, which believe in “nature taking its course”, the world should not be turning its shoulder on the countries in high need of proper education, training and equipment.
What do you think? Is there anything we can do to help out?
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- From: pinkdiffusion@xanga
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Comments (22)
Birth control prevents infant mortality better than anything.
Maybe this is wrong for me to say, but I truly feel it. If you won't take care of your own neighborhood children who also need it - why are you reaching out or feeling bad for children halfway across the world?
The need is real in every city, every country. Do what you can locally first.
@sarahsmurfette@xanga - 80% of children born in india are born in cow sheds surrounded by animal dung, USA doesn't have that problem. 20% mortality rate in the first year of birth. Again USA doesn't have that. My neighborhood is heaven compared to that of 80% of Indian children. Why help those that have it good if you can help those that don't. Thats just how I feel.
@pinkdiffusion@xanga - My sister works for the department of children and family services. There are just as many horrendous stories locally - in any location. I recommend, if you really have a heart to help kids who need it, that you contact your local DCF and ask if there is any way you can volunteer your help.
@sarahsmurfette@xanga - i completely agree.. and thats why my husband and I are fosterparents.
India can't be that bad off. Over half the doctors we dealt with for our daughter's medical needs have been Indian. I agree with the people saying take care of your own country. People need to remember that America is no longer the financial powerhouse we used to be under Clinton and before him. We're now getting close to hitting third world status. We really shouldn't be going out and helping other people in other countries until we can help ourselves. Although, Americans don't understand that and that's why we're in so deep now.
This is going to sound harsh, but there is already a problem with overpopulation. If all babies lived, this world would be doomed.
There is nothing "We" ( Americans, or any other non Indian Country) can do to help those in India, because in reality they need to help themselves. you are not just battling against "ignorance" its not that they just don't have the understanding, the science, the information. Because technically their government has the same access to the information that we do, especially since India is some respects is probably becoming more westernized due to American outsourcing. The issue is with their cultural views,their social/religious Caste system, etc. That is, in part, where a lot of their social/economic issues come from. Especially in dealing rural areas. There is more to this issue than "us" doing more for the worlds children. Also they have a A LOT of sanitary issues, especially in slums, the majority of the people don't have have toilets.
I'm not gonna get into that here though. I agree with many of the other comments,we should make sure our country is taken care of before we hand out to others. NOT just out of SELF preservation; but if we are well off HERE then we are in BETTER shape to "help" ( not take care of) others.
really sad.
What will help these people is a shift in attitudes and caste systems. They have to orchestrate those changes. "We" as in Americans do not have the responsibility to take care of the problem for them, but there's nothing wrong with donating or volunteering in some way if it's a cause you believe in.
@blonde_apocalypse@xanga - True that.
@dream_guru5@xanga - You are dealing with Indian emigrants; the people (usually from urban areas) that were able to get a great technical education, find a job overseas, move themselves and their family here (which takes a fair bit of financial capital), and finally make it as a doctor. The Indian population we see in the US is not representative of India as a country. There is a great divide between the quality of life, education, and attitudes of city-dwellers and the rural poor in India. I won't claim firsthand knowledge; but I watched a documentary on education that was eye-opening. Every Indian family I knew here in the US heavily emphasized education for all their children (girls and boys), but apparently there is a widespread traditional view in the rural areas of the country that is very patriarchal and discourages girls from education, career, outspokenness, etc. It is quite sad.
However, I have to agree with other commenters; it's not a problem that can really be solved from outside. However, given the direction of the upper classes, I think it's fair to say that the country is moving toward more widespread education and equality, although it'll take several generations to filter out to all the classes.
The only way to possibly speed this process would be to expedite the education by volunteering or working in that sphere. However, while it's admirable to take a volunteer trip to one of these
countries to partake in the education effort, it's not within everyone's
means. Donations of money to an appropriate organization can help hire someone else/someone better suited to this work for most of us who are unable or ill-suited to make this happen. But finding the appropriate organization can be tricky.
Ultimately, I've decided this is something better thought about once my education is complete and loans are paid off; you can't help others until you're on solid ground yourself...
If you want to read an interesting book that entails fourth world countries' children, Aids victims, lack of knowledge of condom use, female genital mutilation, etc., pick up Ashley Judd's autobiography. It's riveting.
Just help children whenever you can. Your own children or others. They are still children no matter where in the world they are. They are counting on all of us. :)
@dream_guru5@xanga - wait, what? It's shocking that people from India come over to America to receive medical training? It's even MORE shocking that they STAY HERE INSTEAD OF GOING BACK??
@DontTurnAway@xanga - It is now the way America is becoming. People used to run here as a way to escape from their countries but I don't understand why they still do. I just thought India was one of the more well off countries.
I'm sponsoring a child in Asia ala Sally Struthers. I can't pronounce her name, but I give her $10 a month.
@crazygrampastuey@xanga - That is very nice of you.
@sarahsmurfette@xanga - Exactly, we need to start helping our own. Not only with things such as poverty but also schooling, healthcare, etc. 20% of US children are in poverty (1 out of 5 children) and 8% of those are in DEEP poverty. 1 out of 10 women in the US get delayed prenatal healthcare or none at all.
The United States if one of the TWO countries who has not ratified the Convention of the Rights of the Child (here's a link for a summary of what this is http://www.unicef.org/crc/files/Rights_overview.pdf)The only other country that has not ratified it? Somalia. If anyone knows that current state of Somalia, you could probably guess why they haven't ratified this.
In short, the United States needs to start looking out for its own children, not the children of other countries. That may sound selfish, but think of it this way: Your a child living basically on the streets in the US. You are hungry and frequently sick. The government has done the minimal to help you, but you here they are sending food, shelter and medical services over to other countries. It sounds really messed up.
not to nitpick, but this paragraph doesn't make any sense:
"Surprisingly, the malnutrition problem in India is three times more
severe than that of Ethiopia, nevertheless, Ethiopia has lower mortality
rates of its children as compared to India, therefore there has to be
another leading factor that contributes to such great losses."
if the malnutrition problem in india is three times more severe than that of ethiopia, it's not a "nevertheless" that ethiopia has lower child mortality rates...that's what we would expect, so the "therefore there has to be another leading factor..." part doesn't necessarily have to be true. so which part of this was a typo?
@sarahsmurfette@xanga - I agree. In America, we need to take care of our own problems and stop spending so much time and money on every other country.
@Face_Of_Innocence@xanga
I want to address a very common misconception. There isn't a "population" problem, but rather, a "distribution" problem. There are more than enough food resources in the word to feed the current (and projected) population. The problem is that food is often misused, wasted, or unfairly distributed to some countries (chiefly, the US). If you're interested in this, I highly recommend "World Hunger: 12 Myths" by Frances Moore Lappe and Joseph Collins.
If you want to turn your words into action and truly help children, go to WorldVision.org and sponsor a child for $35 a month. It not only helps them but their family and community as well.