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Hi everyone, welcome to the first of our bi-weekly editions! We're starting with what we're calling the people edition, focusing on public health, economic development, human rights and science and technology. Later in the week you'll get the planet edition - all things conservation and clean energy. We hope you enjoy the new format, let us know what you think.
Global inequality is falling between and within countries
It's generally accepted that while inequality between countries has fallen in the last few decades, inequality within countries has risen. New research by economists from Columbia University and the Federal Reserve Bank Of New York now suggests that the situation is even better - that if you combine tax data from rich countries, and unadjusted household surveys from poorer ones, within-country inequality has been falling for the better part of a decade, if not more. CEPR
Our message is an optimistic one. Not only has inequality fallen dramatically across countries, as has been recognised now for decades, but it has also stopped rising and started declining on average within countries as well. Both within- and between-country inequality are helping global inequality decline. World poverty is also declining rapidly for a large set of reasonable poverty lines and faster than estimated by the World Bank.
Guinea officially eliminates maternal and neonatal tetanus
It's the 49th out of 59 priority countries to achieve this milestone. International partners such as UNICEF have supported the government in making vaccines available on a large scale. Community awareness campaigns have also been crucial in encouraging women of childbearing age to get vaccinated regularly. UNICEF
Teen girls’ mental health improving in the United States
The CDC’s biannual Youth Risk Behavior Survey has found that the percentage of girls reporting extreme depressive symptoms dropped from a high of 57% in 2021 to 53% in 2023. Researchers say these improvements can be partly attributed to an increased focus on getting teenagers earlier access to mental health services. NYT
Behold a world of plenty: abundant harvests, lower food prices
Global crop supplies are surging, driving prices much lower than in 2022-2023. The Bloomberg Commodity sub-index for grains and oilseeds has dropped to a four-year low, down 50% from its 2022 peak after Russia invaded Ukraine. Compared to a decade ago, 2024-25 is projected to see global harvests up 10% for wheat, 15% for corn, 30% for soybeans, and 10% for rice. Bloomberg
Scott Irwin, a veteran agricultural economist at the University of Illinois in Champaign, about two hours drive south of Chicago, put the statistics into a very graphic description of the overgrowth: “jungle-like.”
China recognises that a child can have two mothers for the first time
A court in Beijing has ruled that a mother named Didi should be allowed monthly visits with the child she gave birth to in 2017. Didi has been in a prolonged battle to gain shared custody of her daughter, who currently lives with Didi’s estranged wife. LGBTQ+ campaigners have hailed the visitation agreement as a milestone, as it sets a precedent of two mothers sharing parental custody. Guardian
Contraception allows African women more reproductive autonomy
The number of women in sub-Saharan Africa using modern contraception has nearly doubled over the past decade to 66 million. Social media has enhanced reproductive knowledge, even in remote areas, and lower-cost—and, importantly, discreet—contraceptives like implants and injections are more readily available. NYT
Medicare negotiates prescription drug prices in US for first time
The White House has secured new, lower Medicare prices for ten of the most costly drugs, potentially saving billions of dollars a year for taxpayers and beneficiaries. The reductions, which range from 38% for the blood cancer drug Imbruvica to 79% for the diabetes drug Januvia, take effect in 2026. 'No one should be forced to choose between filling their prescriptions or filling their grocery carts.' NPR
Kenya has transformed its health service delivery system
According to the 2023 Health Labour Market Analysis, the country has doubled its health workforce in the last ten years to almost 190,000 active health workers, including nurses, midwives, doctors, surgeons, and other specialists. The country currently produces approximately 8,200 healthcare workers annually. By 2031, the total is projected to climb to over 270,000. WHO AFRO
Uzbekistan sets ambitious poverty targets
Since 2020, the national poverty rate has decreased from 17% to 11%. The government intends to reduce it to 7% in the next three years through systematic measures, including boosting entrepreneurship to create jobs and allocating significant annual funding to poverty-stricken areas, along with increased public oversight of individual support programs. Times of Central Asia
Thailand has halved teenage pregnancies
The public health ministry reported that teen births among 15- to 19-year-olds have dropped from 53.4 per 1,000 in 2012 to 21 per 1,000 in 2023. The new goal is to reduce this to less than 15 per 1,000 by 2027. The ministry also plans to expand campaigns on condom use and STD prevention among teenagers. The Nation
Poland takes step towards easing abortion rules
In 2020, the former far-right Law and Justice (PiS) party imposed near-total abortion restrictions. However, in December 2023 a new coalition government formed by former opposition parties took office. A parliamentary commission has now suggested decriminalising abortion within the first 12 weeks of pregnancy. This proposal will be considered by parliament later this year. Politico
Sorry Fox News: violent crime levels in America continue to fall
A new report from the Major Cities Chiefs Association shows that violent crime levels and violent homicides have dropped by 6% and 17%, respectively, in 69 cities in the first half of 2024, compared to the same period last year. Columbus, Ohio, witnessed the biggest drop, at 41%. Experts suggest that reductions in stress and a return to normality after COVID-19 are part of the explanation. Vox
More good news you didn't hear about
The CDC estimates that childhood vaccines in the United States have saved $540 billion in healthcare costs over the last three decades, on top of the 1.1 million deaths they’ve prevented. Pro-choice advocates in Colorado have collected enough signatures to put an abortion-rights measure on the November ballot, joining Arizona, Missouri, Florida, Maryland, Nevada, New York, and South Dakota. Opioid deaths in the US have finally started to fall. Boeing dramas aside, global aviation safety continues to improve, with the fatality rate falling to 1 out of every 13.7 million passengers boarding globally in the 2018-2022 period. Last year, 11 of the Philippines’ 18 regions recorded a significant decrease in poverty. In India, state-run free bicycle distribution schemes have sparked a quiet revolution for schoolgirls. Ukraine has legalised cannabis for medical, industrial, scientific, and scientific-technical purposes. In the WHO's Pan American region, coverage of the HepB-BD vaccine increased from 23% to 65% between 2000 and 2024. Ethiopia has achieved a sixfold reduction in its tuberculosis death rate—huge for a country that had the world's highest TB rate in the 1980s. Pakistan has announced a nationwide hepatitis C eradication programme. HPV vaccination rates among Malawi’s schoolgirls are finally rebounding post-pandemic. Here are five ways scientists are giving humans the edge in the antibiotic resistance arms race. Islamabad has launched a bus ride scheme to give women and girls safe, reliable, and free travel options.
Hope Is A Verb, Season 3, Episode 2
We always knew that if we wanted to make a podcast with the word hope in its title, we would eventually have to go to Gaza. The war is now over 300 days old, and yet how many of us have actually listened to someone who's there, on the ground?
We recently spoke to two amazing women, one in Bethlehem, the other in Jerusalem, who despite being on opposite sides of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, are working together to create a shared and peaceful future for their families. Their sister organisations, Women Wage Peace and Women of the Sun, have received a joint Nobel Peace Prize nomination this year.
