Millions Saved

Over the past fifteen years, people in low- and middle-income countries have experienced a health revolution—one that has created new opportunities and brought new challenges. It is a revolution that keeps mothers and babies alive, helps children grow, and enables adults to thrive. Millions Saved: New Cases of Proven Success in Global Health chronicles the global health revolution from the ground up, showcasing twenty-two local, national, and regional health programs that have been part of this global change. The book profiles eighteen remarkable cases in which large-scale efforts to improve health in low- and middle-income countries succeeded, and four examples of promising interventions that fell short of their health targets when scaled-up in real world conditions. Each case demonstrates how much effort—and sometimes luck—is required to fight illness and sustain good health. The cases are grouped into four main categories, reflecting the diversity of strategies to improve population health in low-and middle-income countries: rolling out medicines and technologies; expanding access to health services; targeting cash transfers to improve health; and promoting population-wide behavior change to decrease risk. The programs covered also come from various regions around the world: seven from sub-Saharan Africa, six from Latin America and the Caribbean, five from East and Southeast Asia, and four from South Asia.

One of the greatest human accomplishments has been the spectacular improvement in health since 1950, particularly in developing countries. With death rates falling steadily, more progress was made in the health of populations in the past half-century than in many earlier millennia. A careful look at that success can yield important lessons about how to tackle the challenges of HIV/AIDS, child health, and global health inequities in the future. This series of twenty case studies illustrates real-life proven, large-scale success stories in global public health. Drawing from a rich evidence base, the accessible case write-ups highlight experiences in scale-up of health technologies, strengthening of health systems, and the use of health education and policy change to achieve impressive reductions in disease and disability, even in the poorest countries. An overview chapter draws attention to factors that contributed to the successes. Discussion questions help to bring out the main points and provide a point of departure for independent student research.

The book book features 17 success stories. These cases describe some large-scale efforts to improve health in developing countries that have succeeded - saving millions of lives and preserving the livelihoods and social fabric of entire communities. [Ed.] Résumé en anglais : http://www.cgdev.org/files/2840_file_CGD_brief_MilSved.pdf

For more than 50 years, low-cost antimalarial drugs silently saved millions of lives and cured billions of debilitating infections. Today, however, these drugs no longer work against the deadliest form of malaria that exists throughout the world. Malaria deaths in sub-Saharan Africaâ€"currently just over one million per yearâ€"are rising because of increased resistance to the old, inexpensive drugs. Although effective new drugs called "artemisinins" are available, they are unaffordable for the majority of the affected population, even at a cost of one dollar per course. Saving Lives, Buying Time: Economics of Malaria Drugs in an Age of Resistance examines the history of malaria treatments, provides an overview of the current drug crisis, and offers recommendations on maximizing access to and effectiveness of antimalarial drugs. The book finds that most people in endemic countries will not have access to currently effective combination treatments, which should include an artemisinin, without financing from the global community. Without funding for effective treatment, malaria mortality could double over the next 10 to 20 years and transmission will intensify.

Argues that for the first time in history we're in a position to end extreme poverty throughout the world, both because of our unprecedented wealth and advances in technology, therefore we can no longer consider ourselves good people unless we give more to the poor. Reprint.

A thought-provoking analysis of the bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki—and what might have happened if conventional weapons were used instead. It has always been a difficult concept to stomach—that the atomic bombs dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki in 1945, causing such horrific suffering and destruction, also brought about peace. Attitudes toward the event have changed through the years, from grateful relief that World War II was ended to widespread condemnation of the United States. Atomic Salvation investigates the full situation—examining documents from both Japanese and Allied sources, but also using in-depth analysis to extend beyond the mere recounting of statistics. It charts the full extent of the possible casualties on both sides had a conventional assault akin to D-Day gone ahead against Japan. The work is not concerned solely with the military necessity to use the bombs; it also investigates why that necessity has been increasingly challenged over the successive decades. Controversially, the book demonstrates that Japan would have suffered far greater casualties—likely around 28 million—if the nation had been attacked in the manner by which Germany was defeated: by amphibious assault, artillery and air attacks preceding infantry insertion, and finally by subduing the last of the defenders of the enemy capital. It also investigates the enormous political pressure placed on America as a result of their military situation. The Truman administration had little choice but to use the new weapon given the more than a million deaths that Allied forces would undoubtedly have suffered through conventional assault. By chartingreaction to the bombings over time, Atomic Salvation shows that there has been relentless pressure on the world to condemn what at the time was seen as the best, and only, military solution to end the conflict. Never has such an exhaustive analysis been made of the necessity behind bringing World War II to a halt.

INNOVATOR AT HEART is the remarkable story of a young doctor at Johns Hopkins in Baltimore who invented the medical version of the common paper clip: the "in-motion" cardiac stress test, widely trusted and routinely performed around the world. In the last 50 years, it has saved millions of lives. What isn't well known is the fascinating and surprising story of how the test was invented. Innovator at Heart tells the surprising behind-the-scenes story of the young Johns Hopkins doctor, Ivan Likar, who revolutionized the world of medicine. This book is not only the history of a remarkable invention, but an inspiring story of an immigrant from Yugoslavia who defied the odds and personal defeats to rise to the pinnacle of his field.

After learning about the millions of birds dying for their feathers, Harriet starts the Massachusetts Audubon Society, dedicated to the conservation and protection of birds. Includes instructions on birdwatching and how to make pretend binoculars.