Micro-State Of The World Report: Medicine, Women, And Poverty In Early 21st Century Sub-Saharan Africa And Asia

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... "Obstructed labor can kill the mother, too, or crush her bladder, uterus and vagina between her pelvic bones and the baby’s skull. The injured tissue dies, leaving a fistula: a hole that lets urine stream out constantly through the vagina. In some cases, the rectum is damaged and stool leaks out. Some women also have nerve damage in the legs. …

Fistulas are a scourge of the poor, affecting two million women and girls, mostly in sub-Saharan Africa and Asia — those who cannot get a Caesarean section or other medical help in time. Long neglected, fistulas have gained increasing attention in recent years, and nonprofit groups, hospitals and governments have created programs, like the one in Dodoma, to provide the surgery." ...

Denise Grady "After a Devastating Birth Injury, Hope" New York Times February 24, 2009

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"The spreading global economic crisis is trapping up to 53 million more people in poverty in developing countries and, with child mortality rates set to soar, poses a serious threat to achieving internationally agreed targets to overcome poverty, the World Bank Group said.

New estimates for 2009 suggest that lower economic growth rates will trap 46 million more people on less than $1.25 a day than was expected prior to the crisis. An extra 53 million will stay trapped on less than $2 a day. This is on top of the 130-155 million people pushed into poverty in 2008 because of soaring food and fuel prices." ...

The World Bank "Crisis Hitting Poor Hard in Developing World" February 12, 2009

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Photo and image credits: U.S. Agency for International Development and the International Monetary Fund; both Washington, D.C.