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14th March 2024
The global effort to eliminate cervical cancer got a huge boost last week after donors pledged nearly $600 million towards fighting the disease. In a joint statement, the World Bank, the Gates Foundation, and UNICEF said that the funding will go towards expanding access to vaccination, screening, and treatment worldwide. Reuters
In one of the first initiatives of its kind in the world, pharmacies in Catalonia, Spain, have begun to provide free products for the region's roughly 2.5 million women, girls, and transgender and nonbinary people who menstruate. They will receive one menstrual cup, one pair of underwear for periods, and two packages of cloth pads at local pharmacies free of charge. AP
Cystic fibrosis once guaranteed an early death: a child born in the early 2000s could expect to live until age 35. Then in 2019, Trikafta—a new drug combination that corrects the misshapen protein that causes cystic fibrosis—came along. Today, those who begin treatment in early adolescence can expect to survive to 82—an essentially normal life span. Atlantic
The world has made incredible progress on rubella elimination in the last decade. Between 2012 and 2022, the number of countries including rubella vaccinations in their immunisation schedule increased from 132 to 175, and the percentage of the world’s infants vaccinated increased from 40% to 68%. By 2022, 98 countries had eliminated the disease altogether, up from 84 in 2019. WHO
Nepal has made amazing progress in maternal and neonatal healthcare, thanks to its pioneering Safe Motherhoood Programme. Maternal mortality has declined from 536 per 100,000 live births in 1996 to 151 per 100,000 live births by 2021, and 70% of women now receive postpartum care within the first two days after giving birth. Nepali Times
The US Environmental Protection Agency just announced $2.6 billion for wastewater and stormwater infrastructure improvements and $3.2 billion for improving drinking water systems across the United States, part of a massive federal effort to ensure safer, more reliable water access and quality. #MAGA. Bloomberg
Launched in 2015, the Takaful and Karama Programme ('Solidarity & Dignity' in Arabic) is Egypt’s national social safety net, providing cash transfers to poor households with children under 18, as well as to the elderly poor, orphans, widows, and persons living with disabilities. As of December 2023, the programme had reached around 17 million citizens, 74% of whom are women. World Bank
Xavier Sala-i-Martin, one of the world's most respected economists on the topic of economic growth, has just co-authored a paper showing that not only have global poverty and inequality been falling since the 1990s, but so has within-country inequality. The paper was released about two weeks ago and still hasn't received a single mention by a news organisation. NBER
Uzbekistan has witnessed substantial economic growth over the past two decades, accompanied by a remarkable decline in poverty rates, from 28% in 2000 to 14% in 2022, lifting millions of people out of poverty. The pandemic caused some big setbacks, but now poverty reduction efforts are back on track. UNDP
The share of women in sub-Saharan Africa who own a financial account has more than doubled in the last decade, driven almost entirely by the adoption of mobile money accounts. Financial access gives women greater personal safety and less exposure to theft, more say over how household resources are spent, and greater ability to receive money from friends and family in the event of an emergency.
The EU Council and the European Parliament have reached a provisional agreement to ban the entry of products made with forced labour into the European single market. The bans would be enforced on goods made outside the EU by forced labour and on products manufactured in the EU with parts made abroad by forced labour. Reuters
America's shoplifting crisis was completely made up. In 17 of the 24 major cities which report data, shoplifting decreased in the last five years, including San Francisco—which saw a 5% decline in shoplifting between mid-2019 and mid-2023. This is the exact opposite of what all major US media outlets (including The New York Times and The Washington Post) have reported. Brookings
One of the world's most effective charities, Evidence Action, just kicked off a programme to provide iron and folic acid supplements to millions of anaemic children in Malawi. More than 250,000 people in Senegal recently gained access to clean drinking water and sanitation. Since the end of its civil war in 2003, Liberia has provided new or improved access to sanitation for 800,000 people in its capital city, Monrovia. It looks like China's dramatic decrease in air pollution in the last decade contributed to reduced suicide rates. This is one of the most impressive lists of results for women's and children's health we've ever seen. The ALS Association recently received $58 million, its largest-ever donation, which will go towards finding improved treatments for Lou Gehrig's disease. World food prices declined for a seventh straight month in February 2024 and are now down to their lowest levels in three years. 'Today, I am so proud to announce that we are taking steps to retire medical debt for up to an estimated 1 million Arizonans. That’s a fresh start, a new chapter and a huge weight taken off the shoulders for every single one of them.'
7th March 2024
France has become the first country to make abortion a constitutional right, after an overwhelming 780-72 vote. The measure has broad support from 80% of the French public and fulfils a promise made by President Macron following the rollback of reproductive rights in America. AP
We're sending a message to all women: your body belongs to you, and no one can decide for you. Today the present must respond to history. To enshrine this right in our constitution is to close the door on the tragedy of the past and its trail of suffering and pain.
Gabriel Attal, Prime Minister, France
Over-the-counter medication is the next battleground for reproductive rights in America. From this month, pharmacies will be allowed to sell mifepristone in a handful of states where abortion is legal, in addition to availability at clinics and hospitals. With more women facing increasing obstacles, the move will facilitate access and make the right to choose easier for more women. BBC
A new paper in Brookings claims that India has eliminated extreme poverty. Based on official consumption expenditure data for 2022-23, the authors say the last decade has seen an unprecedented decline in both urban and rural inequality, and that between 2011-12 and 2022-23, the proportion of people living in extreme poverty fell from 12.2% to 2% in 2022-23
The Indian state of Maharashtra, home to 128 million people, has decreased child mortality rates by 11% in the past four years and infant deaths by 15%. Public health measures, including early pre-natal registration and the establishment of 53 Special Newborn Care Units, have played a significant part in achieving this progress. Times of India
Nigeria has stepped up its cervical cancer prevention. Between October 2023 and January 2024, 44 million girls in 16 states, aged 9 to 14, received their first dose of the HPV vaccine. In five states, 21,851 women underwent visual inspections with acetic acid, a safe and cost-effective alternative to a pap smear. WHO
We commend the government's efforts to introduce the HPV vaccine and set in motion plans to roll out the second phase of immunization to the remaining 21 states.
Dr Walter Kazadi Mulombo, WHO
The Biden administration just announced a $1.7 billion package to fund 141 projects aimed at ending hunger across the United States by 2030. Private and non-profit organisations and local governments have also made pledges, including a $60 million commitment by tech company About Fresh, to develop data for food prescription research. Newsweek
Also, just gonna go and leave this one here.
In 2022, 80.3 million children across Latin America and the Caribbean received school meals. Most of these children were in South America (63.2 million), followed by Central America (13.3 million) and the Caribbean (3.8 million). At least 19 countries in the region have committed to school meals through policy or law. WFP
A new $115 million program will improve healthcare for about 4.6 million people in 63 districts in Mozambique, especially women, children, and adolescent girls. The program will focus on the upgrade of local health centres and nutrition for young children and tackle both infectious and non-communicable diseases, including cervical cancer. World Bank
After a disappointing high court ruling in India, a consolation victory for LGBTQ+ activists with a new policy that will prohibit the disclosure of a trans person’s gender without their consent. It’s hoped the measure will encourage fair treatment and reduce discrimination in workplaces. Washington Blade
Over the past 44 years, breast cancer deaths in the US have dropped by 58%. Nearly half of the reduction is thanks to earlier detection and more effective treatment. Despite the progress, there is still so much work to be done in making sure these reductions are equally distributed. WaPo
Tobacco use has decreased in Southeast Asia by 24.7% since 2000. Over the past thirty years, social safety nets have become more prevalent in our world, providing a lifeline to hundreds of millions of people. New York City is finally sorting out its trash problem. How Finland halved its suicide rates to become one of the ‘happiest countries in the world.’ One million doses of life-saving vaccines have been administered to children living across Ethiopia, Somalia, Sudan, and South Sudan. Cancer deaths in Wales have declined 16% in the last two decades. A South Korean gay couple wins a breakthrough case for healthcare rights. Another landmark case in Kenya affirms the right to respectful maternal healthcare. A $452 million project in India will upgrade roads and bridges to connect 1.8 million people living in rural areas of Assam. The FDA just approved two new drugs: one to treat severe food allergies, including milk, eggs, and nuts; and another to target aggressive skin cancer that cannot be surgically removed. Brazil’s food banks are embracing ugly produce to feed millions of kids.
29th February 2024
The WHO's South-East Asia region, home to two billion people, has a new report out, highlighting an extraordinary list of accomplishments from the last decade. Between 2014 and 2023, the region eliminated neonatal tetanus and saw the highest reduction in maternal mortality in the world, as well as the fastest decline in tobacco use. Two countries eliminated malaria, two eliminated trachoma, three eliminated rubella and measles, four eliminated lymphatic filariasis, four achieved hepatitis B control, and the Maldives and Bangladesh became the first countries in the world to eliminate leprosy and visceral leishmaniasis, respectively.
Greece has become the first Christian Orthodox-majority country to legalise same-sex marriage. Same-sex couples will now also be legally allowed to adopt children, after Parliament voted 176-76 in favour on the 15th of February. 'The reform makes the lives of our fellow citizens better, without taking away anything from the lives of the many.' BBC
In 2005, Burundi embarked on a mission to ensure that all children, especially girls, had access to quality education. The results have been remarkable: primary school enrolment has increased by 58%, high school enrolment has surged from 32% in 2010 to 40.6% today, and the average number of years of schooling has increased from 6.4 to 7.6 years. World Bank
Mozambique's 2023 Demographic and Health Survey report contains some good news: child mortality is down from 97 to 60 per 1,000 live births since 2011, neonatal mortality has decreased from 30 to 24 per 1,000 live births in the same period, and maternal mortality has improved from 532 deaths per 100,000 live births in 2000 to 127 in 2020. WHO
The Biden Administration just announced $5.8 billion in funding that will go out to every state and territory to help fix water infrastructure. The funding will be used to clean drinking water, improve wastewater and sanitation, remove contaminants like forever chemicals, and replace lead pipes. CNN
In a vast wasteland in Inner Mongolia, Chinese scientists have found a way to turn huge swathes of saline-alkaline land into fertile fields. Their simple technique reduces soil salt content by 36% and increases crop yields by 30.5%. Farmers in the Netherlands are also taking on soil salinity, with some amazing results.
Germany has become the ninth country to legalise recreational use of cannabis. Many more countries allow its medical use as a painkiller. The law in Germany now allows for the cultivating of up to three plants for private consumption and owning up to 25 grams of cannabis. It remains illegal for minors, as does consuming it near schools and playgrounds. Reuters
Maybe the reason everyone is confused about the US economy is that very few people alive have experienced one that reverses inequality. Real wages are growing, women's wages are growing faster than men's, young people's wages are growing faster than old people's, and low-income wages are growing faster than high-income wages. Derek Thompson
Remember how US national media provided wall-to-wall coverage of San Francisco's 'doom loop'? Amazingly, none of those same outlets is reporting that property crime is down 31%, and violent crime is down 11%, from January last year. Compared to January 2018-2020, property crime and violent crime are now down by 40% and 24%, respectively. SF.gov
Numerous cities around the world, from the US and Canada to China, France, Belgium, and Australia, are removing unnecessary stretches of concrete and asphalt, allowing nature to take hold in their place. The idea of depaving (also known as desealing) is a simple one—replace as much concrete, asphalt, and other forms of hard landscaping as possible with plants and soil. BBC
What you're actually supposed to do with a billion dollars. It looks like Dublin is going to be the next place to ban cars from its city centre. Italy, home of the mafia, is now one of Europe's safest countries. Nepal just passed a law restricting trans fats, following the leads of Thailand, India, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh. The Biden administration has now cancelled student debt for nearly 3.9 million people. Connecticut will cancel medical debt for 250,000 residents this year, the first state to provide this type of relief. How Mexico's feminists won their fight for reproductive rights. In a major step forward for the labour movement, Michigan just repealed its anti-union 'right to work' law, the first US state to overturn the law in nearly 60 years. Slovenia has seen cases of cervical cancer drop by almost half over the last 20 years. The hottest trend in American cities? Changing zoning rules to allow more housing. Notre Dame’s new spire unveiled, complete with golden rooster.
15th February 2024
Heart disease is the top cause of death in the United States, but progress is being made, and millions of lives are being saved. The American Heart Association just released its new report showing that the country has cut heart disease death rates by 70% since 1950 and stroke death rates by nearly a third since 1998.
A ton of good news on malaria this week. Cameroon and Burkina Faso have begun their rollouts of the RTS vaccine (nearly 10,000 children have already been vaccinated), Benin just took delivery of 215,900 doses, Cambodia has announced that it's on track for malaria elimination by 2025, and another trial of the R21 vaccine in four African countries has shown that it's safe and extremely effective.
After several months of intense negotiations, the EU has reached a historic agreement on a new law that addresses gender-based violence, female genital mutilation, forced marriages, and online harassment across all member states. 'Today, we take the first step towards making Europe the first continent in the world to eradicate violence against women.' Nadja
On Monday, for the first time on Polish TV, and after eight years of a far-right government, LGBT+ activists appeared on a live broadcast in which the interviewer began by apologising after years of bigotry. Please watch this. In the 1980s, Poland led the world out of its totalitarian Soviet nightmare, and in the 2020s, it might just show us the way again.
France’s lower house of parliament has overwhelmingly approved a measure to enshrine abortion as a 'guaranteed freedom' in the constitution. 'Tonight, the assembly didn’t miss its rendezvous with the history of women and with history in general.' Guardian
Cambodia has spent $1.4 billion to help more than 1.43 million families and 360,000 pregnant women since 2019. It's made a big difference—the UNDP says the poverty rate declined to 16.6% in 2022 from 36.7% in 2014, and the number of poor people was halved from 5.6 million to 2.8 million. Khmer Times
The next time someone uses 'globalists' as a slur, you might want to show them this list of WHO projects: malaria elimination in Cabo Verde, community health in Panama, dengue control in Paraguay, Guinea worm eradication in Angola, HIV care in Cameroon, success against hepatitis B in Maldives and Sri Lanka, and fighting back against cholera outbreaks in Zambia and Zimbabwe.
The Asian Development Bank has approved a $419.6 million loan to expand access to sanitation in the cities of Mataram, Pontianak, and Semarang. The project will strengthen sanitation systems for approximately 2.5 million people, based on an inclusive sanitation principle which aims to ensure access citywide.
Last year, Ghana doubled cash benefits for its poorest households and is set to do so again in 2024, increasing coverage to 12% of household consumption. The recent budget also includes a big boost for school meal programs, as well as a 40% increase for the National Health Insurance Authority to cover medical claims, essential medicines, and vaccines for the most vulnerable. IMF
In 2019, India launched a national program to combat air pollution in 131 cities. Since then around half of the cities for which data are available have seen improvements. This includes Delhi, which saw a 5.9% decline in PM2.5 levels from 2019 to 2023, Bengaluru (2%), Hyderabad (7%), Kolkata (16.9%), Patna (25.2%), Chennai (33.4%), and Lucknow (41.2%). New India Express
Be nice to Boomers, people, they've got it tough. At age 36-40, Millennials had a real median household income that was 18% higher than that of the previous generation at the same age... holding work hours constant, they experienced a greater intergenerational increase in real market income than Baby Boomers. US Federal Reserve
The first endometriosis drug in four decades is now on the horizon. It looks like a safe and effective dengue vaccine is imminent too. Despite a national spike in homelessness, some regions in the United States are finding solutions. By the time this newsletter goes to press, there's a good chance Greece might have legalized same-sex marriage. Zimbabwe has abolished the death penalty, a practice introduced by British colonial administrators. A sex education bus has reached over 5,000 teens in Honduras, and it's just getting started. 95,000 people just got access to clean drinking water in Mauritania. The adult literacy rate in Tanzania has risen to 83% from 78.1% in the past decade. Poverty is plummeting in Bangladesh, thanks to a much better social safety net. Ecuador's highest court has decriminalised euthanasia. The United States reduced its backlog of immigration cases last year, after processing an unprecedented 10 million cases. Last year the FDA approved 55 novel therapeutics, the second-highest total in 30 years. Young people in the United Kingdom are drinking way less. In the 1980s, the average lifespan of a person with Down syndrome was 25 years. Today it's over 60. For people with disabilities in Kansas, a big win.
8th February 2024
Europe is slowly winning the war on cancer. New research shows a decline in cancer mortality rates of 6.5% among men and 4.3% among women between 2018 and 2024 (estimated). An estimated 6.2 million cancer deaths have now been avoided in the EU and 1.3 million in the United Kingdom since 1988. Annals of Oncology
Zambia’s parliament has passed landmark legislation setting the marriageable age at 18, without exception, for all marriages, including customary marriages, representing a significant step in the nation’s commitment to eradicating child marriage. This is a big deal for a country that is home to a staggering 1.7 million child brides, 400,000 of whom were married before age 15. Equality Now
Zimbabwe has raised the age of consent from 16 to 18 years, with violators now liable to spend up to ten years in jail. Data suggest that over a third of girls experience sexual violence before the age of 18.'This will contribute to a reduction of sexual abuse of children, which continues to be a concern in Zimbabwe.' Herald
Senegal just installed a new water pipeline that will bring clean drinking water to 100,000 households on the outskirts of Mbacké, the country's most populous city, and in Mozambique, aid agencies just provided funding for an expansion of water and sanitation services to at least 325,000 people, as well as 90 schools and clinics.
Mexico is getting a handle on crime after some of the most violent years in its history. Homicides dropped by 4.18% in 2023, marking the third consecutive year of decline; rates of femicide have dropped by 38.6% under the current government; and the last 12 months have also seen declines in human trafficking (39.3%), financial crimes (25.9%), and organized crime (16.8%). La Prensa Latina
In India, the number of women enrolling in higher education increased by 32% between 2015 and 2022, from 15.7 million to over 20 million. There has also been a notable increase in enrolment across all levels of education for female students from scheduled castes, increasing from 21 million in 2015 to 31 million in 2022. Economic Times
Parisians voted in a referendum last Sunday in favour of subjecting large SUVs to a threefold increase in parking charges as the French capital presses on with long-term plans to become a fully bikeable city. The new measure will triple parking fees for cars of 1.6 tonnes and more to 18 euros an hour in order to discourage 'bulky, polluting' cars. Reuters
Parking reform is only partly about parking. Over the past decade, US cities like Minneapolis, San Francisco, and Austin have eliminated parking space mandates in order to reduce car dependency, create public and green spaces, and lower housing costs. Reducing cars delivers big benefits for cities—parking occupies a double-digit share of land in most metro areas. Yale360
Older Americans are now significantly less lonely than they were three years ago; a recent peer-reviewed study reports that middle-aged Americans describe themselves as less lonely than 20 years ago, and while loneliness is more pervasive among younger Americans, there too, the rates have also plummeted since 2020.
In a landmark ruling that could significantly impact reproductive rights in Pennsylvania, the state's Supreme Court has declared the 1982 Abortion Control Act, which barred Medicaid from covering most abortions, as unconstitutional. The court’s decision, issued last week, underscores the fundamental right to reproductive autonomy and serves as a victory for advocates of abortion rights.
Poland's new ruling coalition is looking to undo the restrictive measures on the morning-after pill that the previous government introduced in 2017; in El Salvador, a victory for women who were jailed under the country’s draconian anti-abortion laws, the result of the tireless work of Salvadoran feminist movements.
New research has shown that the FDA's approval of over-the-counter emergency contraception had an unintended but positive side effect for America’s hospitals. Emergency rooms saw 96% fewer visits from women seeking emergency contraception after the morning-after pill became easily available to adults in 2006. JAMA
Gun violence experienced the largest decline on record in the United States last year (why is this not a bigger story?). Starting this month, 45 companies in Germany are testing a four-day workweek. Madagascar is starting to take serious steps towards controlling a parasitic disease called porcine cysticercosis. Lebanon's parliament has agreed to consider a landmark law to prevent child marriage. New York is buying up millions of dollars of medical debt in an effort to help as many as half a million people. Austin gave poor families a basic income for a year and it changed their lives. Cambodia just completed its largest-ever government-led mass dog vaccination campaign. All major sectors of the US economy have now seen employment fully recover from the pandemic. Cameroon used to have 12 students for every textbook in 2016; it had three textbooks for every two students in 2023. The South American nation of Guyana is getting close to eliminating filaria, leprosy, and other 'neglected diseases.' The number of teens in America who have tried smoking has decreased fourfold since the 1990s (rebellion just ain't what it used to be).
1st February 2024
In 2008, India recorded over 33,000 cases of a brutal disease called visceral leishmaniasis (black fever). Left untreated, 95% of cases are fatal. In 2023, provisional government data showed just 520 cases nationwide, putting India on the verge of becoming the second country to eliminate this disease. DW
France’s top court has struck down large parts of a divisive new immigration law that was passed in parliament with the backing of the far right, ruling that the measures go against the Constitution. The top court also threw out a deeply divisive measure that made it harder for immigrants to bring their families to France. France24
Women in Türkiye can now use their own surnames after marriage, following a decision by the Constitutional Court to abolish a restrictive provision in the Turkish Civil Code. 'Saying that a married woman must take her husband’s surname, and the child take their father’s surname is lending official support to the patriarchy.' duvaR
In the United States, 21.3 million people have signed up for an Obamacare plan during the enrolment period this year, including more than five million people—about a fourth—who did so for the first time. Four in five of all customers were able to find health care insurance for $10 or less per month after subsidies. CMS
José Andrés and World Central Kitchen always seem to find a way. They just announced they've served over 22 million meals in Gaza. They've been able to dispatch over 800 trucks to the area and set up 27 kitchens and over 750 clean cooking stoves.
Between 2000 and 2020, the Lao maternal mortality rate fell by over 250%, one of the largest reductions in the world. It's primarily thanks to the work of midwives, who provide critical sexual and reproductive health services and support their patients through labour and delivery, family planning decision making, and the pursuit of rights and choices. UNFPA
'It’s rare to see such fast, decisive action on a major health problem—and impressive to see it immediately rewarded with such a dramatic improvement in blood lead levels and health outcomes. It’s a reminder that things can change, and can change very quickly, as long as people care, and as long as they act': how Bangladesh removed lead from turmeric and saved lives. Vox
In 2023, Colombia trialled a new model for improving maternal healthcare in 16 territories. An analysis of those territories showed a 16% reduction in the maternal mortality rate during the first six months of the year, so the Ministry of Health has now adopted the strategy nationwide. Think Global Health
Zimbabwe has launched a massive house-to-house vaccination campaign to curb the spread of cholera. The target is to vaccinate 2.3 million people in the most affected districts. Each vaccination team is composed of three people, expected to vaccinate an average of 150 persons per day. UNICEF
A working-class victory is on the horizon in Colombia, after a labour reform law advanced to a second round of legislative debates. The bill will not only restore labour rights that were rescinded two decades ago by a far-right government, it will go a step further and expand these rights, increasing overtime pay, expanding social security for delivery workers, and strengthening workplace rights.
The Seychelles has the best education system in Africa. At least 9% of the country's budget is allocated to education, and it has met all six of UNESCO's goals, achieving a 50% improvement in adult literacy, ensuring universal access to primary education, and achieving gender equality in education. Fair Planet
Kenya has a major project underway to improve wastewater management and water supplies across the country, and it's working. This month, President Ruto has inaugurated two major clean water schemes—one serving 200,000 people in Trans-Nzoia county and another in Busia County serving 173,624 people. Afrik21
Last year, Türkiye suffered its worst earthquakes in nearly a century, exacting a devastating economic, physical, and human toll. A year on, reconstruction and recovery work is in full swing. Damaged or collapsed infrastructure is being rebuilt, tens of thousands of classrooms constructed, and record investments are pouring in.
24th January 2024
The world's first mass vaccination campaign for children against malaria was launched in Cameroon on Monday. It will distribute 25 million doses to combat the disease, which causes over 600,000 deaths globally per year. 'We are not just witnessing, but actively participating in a transformative chapter in African public health history.' Guardian
Despite persistent efforts by the tobacco industry, humanity is steadily breaking one of its worst habits. A new report from the WHO indicates that 150 countries are reducing tobacco use, around 1 in 5 adults worldwide now consume tobacco compared to 1 in 3 in 2000, and there are 19 million fewer smokers than there were just two years ago.
The American Cancer Society just released its annual report showing that fewer Americans are dying of cancer, part of a decades-long trend that began in the 1990s. Cancer mortality is down 33% in the past three decades, saving an estimated 4.1 million lives, and as many as two-thirds of all cancers can now be treated as chronic conditions or cured outright.
We've said it before, and we'll say it again and again—the HPV vaccine is a bloody miracle. In case anyone needed reminding, a new analysis from Scotland shows that there hasn't been a single case of cervical cancer in women who were vaccinated at 12 or 13 years of age. Exactly what was expected, but nevertheless fantastic news. JNCI
School lunches are Brazil's secret weapon against hunger. At all public schools, children are provided meals for free under a government-run program that feeds more than 40 million students from daycare through high school across 5,570 municipalities, ensuring all children stay nourished and engaged in their education. NPR
The share of India’s population living in multidimensional poverty has fallen to 11.28% in 2022-23 from 29.17% in 2013-14, according to NITI Aayog, the country's apex public policy think tank. Researchers estimate that a total of 248 million people have escaped multidimensional poverty in the last nine years. How is this not front page news around the world?
The world's biggest cities are getting cleaner. Deutsche Welle analysed data on PM2.5 levels for megacities with populations over 10 million. Of the 25 with available data, 21 improved their air pollution levels between 2017 and 2022. 'This is something that's resonating across all regions of the world right now, and it's really exciting.'
In the last few years sub-Saharan Africa has made substantial strides toward digital transformation, with over 160 million people gaining broadband internet access between 2019 and 2022. There's still a long, long way to go—but this is encouraging progress. World Bank
Germany's government just injected some good sense into its immigration debate. On January 18th and 19th it passed two immigration bills. The first, pleasing to conservatives, will make it easier to expel asylum-seekers with dubious cases; the second, more significant, law will make it easier for legitimate immigrants to gain German nationality. Economist
During 2023, violent crime plummeted to its lowest level in the United States since the 1960s, and by the end of the year inflation had been tamed and unemployment was at historic lows. In surveys, most Americans still say crime is rising and the economy is struggling, but they’re wrong. Call it the Great Normalization: the twin crises evaporated, and no one is totally sure why. Atlantic
South Africa may have finally turned the corner on HIV as prevalence among pregnant women has dropped to its lowest in two decades. Over the last ten years, the six countries of the Greater Mekong have made remarkable progress towards malaria elimination. In the US, 21 states have abolished the practice of court fines for juveniles. Iran's literacy rate reached 97% in 2023, up from less than 50% in the 1970s. Thai lawmakers have taken a big step forward towards improving air quality. Egypt just amended its laws to include more chances to appeal in criminal cases, a 'victory for human rights.' The US government is forgiving another $4.9 billion in student debt for 73,600 borrowers. The Maldives and Sri Lanka have achieved hepatitis B control, meaning consistent vaccination rates over 90%. No, the maternal mortality rate in the United States is not rising; it's actually on par with those of Canada and France. Since 2014, over 5,000 schools in Ethiopia have been equipped with water, sanitation, and hygiene facilities. In Kenya, 200,000 people just gained access to clean drinking water. California has enacted a law that makes it easier for out-of-state doctors to get experience in reproductive medicine. How Utah is solving the problem of literacy for third graders.
18th January 2024
Cape Verde, an island nation off the coast of West Africa, has become the first sub-Saharan African country to be declared malaria-free in 50 years. The WHO confirmed there have been no cases of local transmission in three years, thanks to a decades-long effort to strengthen its health systems and increase access to diagnosis and treatment. BBC
Eastern and Southern Africa have achieved gender parity in primary education, with 25 million more girls enrolled in primary school in the region today than in the early 2000s. There's still a long way to go: not as many girls complete high school as boys (although the gap is narrowing), and labour force participation is still dramatically unequal, but progress is happening. World Bank
The Canadian Cancer Society has a new report on progress in the fight against cancer, the country's number-one cause of death. Age-standardised mortality rates have decreased by 39% in males and 26% in females since their peak in 1988, and the rate of decline has accelerated since 2016, particularly for lung, bladder, and colorectal cancer, as well as Hodgkin's lymphoma.
Yes, everything in America is awful, apart from the fact that 21 million kids will get free lunches this summer; 22 states just increased their minimum wage, which will benefit 9.9 million workers; inflation is well and truly over (seriously); more than 40% of the population now lives in states that are dedicated to 100% clean energy; Obamacare enrolments are surging in southern states; blue collar jobs are booming and all other major sectors of the economy except for leisure and hospitality have seen job numbers fully recover from COVID; the IRS has collected half a billion dollars in back taxes from delinquent millionaires since 2022; soda taxes in five cities are working better than expected; millions of people just got access to cheaper insulin; the proportion of Texans living in poverty is declining; California has a new law allowing parents who experience miscarriage and stillbirth to take leave from work; trans people are finding refuge in upstate New York; a new FDA rule allowing gay and bisexual men to give blood is making donations more inclusive; Minneapolis has figured out the right way to help people experiencing homelessness; Illinois recently implemented a raft of progressive laws, including a ban on dozens of rifles and handguns; and the federal government just issued a pardon to every American who has ever used marijuana.
Vietnam made big reductions in poverty last year. Its National Office for Poverty Reduction reported a multidimensional poverty rate of 2.93% at the end of 2023, a 1.1 percentage point decrease from 2022. The poverty rate declined by over 5.6 percentage points in impoverished districts to approximately 33%, and in ethnic-minority areas, it dropped to nearly 18%. Vietnam+
Sanitation is coming to Tanzania. Between October 2018 and April 2023, over 4.7 million people gained access to improved water supplies, 6.6 million people gained access to improved sanitation facilities, 594 villages achieved community-wide sanitation status, and 1,904 healthcare facilities and 1,095 primary schools installed improved sanitation and hand-washing facilities. World Bank
Greek PM Kyriakos Mitsotakis’s plan to legalise same-sex marriage and allow adoption for LGBTQ+ couples obtained crucial backing from the opposition last week. Legislation is now set to be approved by Parliament, despite backlash from the Orthodox Church. 'We are going to legislate equality in marriage, which means elimination of discrimination based on sexual orientation.' Euro News
Road traffic kills way more people than war, and is the leading cause of death for young people aged 5 to 29 years. However, humanity is making progress. There were an estimated 1.19 million road traffic deaths in 2021, a 5% drop from 1.25 million deaths in 2010. This happened despite the global motor vehicle fleet more than doubling, and the global population rising by a billion in the same period.
Quite literally proving the adage that 'the news doesn't report the planes that land,' did you know that in 2023 there were no major fatal accidents involving large turbofan-powered commercial aircraft? That makes it the safest year in aviation history. Gotta be worth a headline somewhere, right? Wrong. Simple Flying
A road construction project linking Ivory Coast and Liberia is set to provide an economic lifeline for over 900,000 farmers; a wastewater management project in Vietnam is set to improve water quality and wastewater treatment for half a million people in the province of Binh Duong; and a sanitation project in Tamil Nadu in India will improve water and sewerage for over 2 million people.
Relief may be in sight for consumers. The FAO's food price index, which tracks prices of cereals, vegetable oils, sugar, meats, and dairy, fell 10% last year, the biggest annual decline since 2015, and there are signs that lower wholesale food prices are starting to feed through to supermarket shelves around the world. Bloomberg 🎁
Joe Stiglitz on inflation: time for a victory lap? US-China relations are stabilising, but that's not nearly as newsworthy as when they're shaky. The Global Vaccine Alliance just authorised $1.8 billion for vaccine manufacturing in Africa, for catching up missed vaccinations, and for future pandemic preparedness. The WHO has added the R21 malaria vaccine to its list of prequalified vaccines, opening up further avenues for support and distribution. A law extending marriage and adoption rights to same-sex couples in Estonia just took effect, and Israel's Supreme Court has ruled that LGBTQ couples can adopt. Free bus passes are transforming the lives of millions of women in India. In a major shift, more women than men were employed as associates at US law firms in 2023. Zimbabwe is on the cusp of becoming the next African country to eliminate the death penalty. Not all heroes wear capes: check out these amazing kids in Yemen.