One of the things that first surprised me was the fact that we give billions of pounds away every year in aid to the third world and yet despite all this we still have not rid these people of some of the most basic diseases.
Now of course I know it is incompetence and corruption that cause this and that is going to be very difficult to overcome.
This breakthrough however won’t fix the main problem but will go along way in curing some of these diseases. Vaccines that don’t have to be kept refrigerated 24/7. This means that they can be transported easier and in greater quantity so they can reach the parts that other vaccines would be unable to. Read here.
Of course by making these people live longer without increasing their capability of getting food and water will create a different type of issue. One I think we should resolve by giving them all AK47s so they can ‘fix’ their governments. Otherwise instead of dying of diptheria they simply starve to death and take more with them.
This technique is a tool that can be used to bring light into the dark but it cannot be used alone. It needs several things together to improve the lot of these people. It can be done. It just isn’t being done and millions die because of PC issues, government inefficiency and corruption.
Lord T,
There are other parts of the world than Africa that need vaccines – although I admit Africa gets more press than all the other countries combined.
One of the first things, or organizations, that need radical reform is the WHO.
Malaria is the worlds largest killer – I know because it killed my 16 year old daughter – yet the one thing that was reducing its dominance – DDT on the stagnant water pools – was banned and the parasite bounced back. There are drug resistant strains caused because it has adapted to the normal cheep drugs that were used and those that are effective, at the moment, cost too much for the native populations to afford.
I don’t know how to get round the government corruption and stupidity in all countries – donor and recipient – short of removing them in totality. There is also the need for the removal of NGOs, again because they get in the way and seem to have the brief of ‘keeping the natives as they are’ for some reason and not one of advancement for the good of all mankind. This later is, I think, caused by fear that if the people advance they, the NGOs, will become redundant and so loose their soft. high pay, jobs.
Years ago, when the first famine in Ethiopia was looming, my company was contacted by the Australian government to see if we would organize shipment of high protein food there. On investigation it became apparent that only about a quarter on each shipment would get to the people that needed it – the other three quarters would ‘disappear’. We reported this and told the government department that we would not ship the aid under those conditions. Shortly after that it became world news. Was I right to refuse – I still don’t know for sure but I believe so and think it tipped the balance to the world knowing.
Any aid to people – unless it is because of dire need – without teaching and advancement is useless and only serves to make the donor feel good.
Your idea of the AK47 and enough ammunition to ‘fix’ the governments might be the only way forward in some cases, just as removing the green Luddite ideas about the ‘splendid savage’ and GM crops is applicable in others.
Sorry about the length of this.
Very interesting comment Ivan. Sorry to hear about your daughter. Devastating.
With the population as it is, I think we are fast approaching the day when the world can’t sustain all it’s people and countries we never dreamed of will reach third world status.
In terms of third world countries, to give them just enough sustanence to stave off death[or vaccines] without being able to cure disease and faminine outright is a form of torture,similar to waterboarding,which only brings the person to the brink only to pull them back to repeat the cycle. It’s inhumane.
When you think of the obesity issues in the western world through overeating, it’s ironic that the number one cause for death is either too muchnot enough food depending on where one lives. This is a serious case for House Swap!
One of the things that first surprised me was the fact that we give billions of pounds away every year in aid to the third world and yet despite all this we still have not rid these people of some of the most basic diseases.
And there are very cogent political reasons related to Them for this. Where do I start on this documentation? Thatcher’s son was a key player.
Ivan,
Don’t apologise for the length. You said what was needed.
I’m sorry to hear that about your daughter. It must have been hard.
You are right but all in all Africa is the basket case of the world. Our PC philosophy stops us fixing anything there and until we get over that nothing will ever be done.
I think that each makes their own decisions based on what they see the end result to be. On one side 25% is better than nothing. On the other side 75% waste is unsustainable. This is one area where a real UN would be effective, take the good directly to those that need it and kill any that get in the way, sadly we don’t have one. Another useless government body.
Personally I don’t think we should send aid into any country that takes 75% as ‘costs’ We should link all loans, aid etc. to freedom for aid workers and protection.
James,
Your article would be a post in its own right. There are so many issues with aid.
Uber,
That is one of the articles I wrote previously when Billy Boy Gates gave a billion, or something, to get everyone vaccinated in Africa. Now he has saved them from disease only for them to starve to death. What that delibrate knowing that the West would step in with food or just someone else that doesn’t have the sense to think through actions in areas outside their expertese.
Lord T, Uber,
Thank you for condolences over my daughter – it happened nearly 40 years ago and when I got back to the UK a couple of years later I heard from a friend that had been doing research into a cure for malaria that he had been made redundant because the funding had been drastically cut. That was when I became really angry.
Governments are a dead loss as is the UN. They all need disbanding and we need a benevolent dictator to take over and remove the political class from the world.
It is useful to try everything in practice anyway and I like that here it’s always possible to find something new.