China Get Ahead in the Business of Fresh Water

This article is talk about China has been spending a lot of time and government money on creating sources of clean water.  Water was a necessary demand supply for people to stay alive. In China, the Beijing Power and Desalination Plant that has recently been built desalinate sea water into 180 million gallons of drinkable water each day.  While this process does cost quite a bit of government money, the Chinese government sees it as a necessity to keep its population healthy and productive economically.  The in fact plan on building 6 more in different locations and possibly using grants and such to encourage private sector to get in on the action.  Outside of desalinating water, they also have put money into processes that allow for recycling water.  All of this is due to some severe water shortages in northern China and the government expecting the population to grow rapidly in the coming years.  The government also hopes to make these processes more efficient to allow for even more clean water production.  The problem lies in that this industry may be used as an export to other countries because of greedy businessmen and government agents.  If put to good use, this can solve many problems of water shortages in the developing world, but this is asking a lot since these projects cost a lot of money.  Most developing countries do not have the technology for projects like this and therefore would need foreign aid or an NGO to assist them.  If put to the correct use, China can use these plants to meet their populations water need even in poor areas that are currently undergoing shortages.  Without water, many of these people stand no chance in becoming healthy and leading successful lives. Again, China has the right idea with the water plants.   

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/10/26/world/asia/china-takes-loss-to-get-ahead-in-desalination-industry.html?pagewanted=1&_r=1&ref=world 

Low-cost innovations that can save thousands of lives

The article talks about the World Health Organization (WHO) have been sending safe birth kits to developing nations. These kits are equipped with a razor blade to cut the umbilical cord, a plastic sheet, a blanket, soap, gloves and a step by step pictorial pamphlet of how to deliver a baby. This kit makes it easy enough for anyone to deliver a baby safely and correctly. Since the dispersal of the kits there has been a clear impact on the rate of infant mortality rates, they have gone down. So far the kits have not been dispersed in mass quantities and thus has not had a big effect on the rate of infant mortality, once these kits are circulated to all developing nations it will be key in protecting new born babies. So far these kits have been given out in India, Yemen and some African countries; the only problem with these kits is that they are given out for free and thus funding is a problem. This program is a wonderful initiative but funding is almost always a problem when it comes to giving out items. The UN could help but not effectively since they are stretched for funds themselves. The best way to keep this program running is to find a wealthy private sector or a NGO. Besides the funding issue, the kits seem to be live saving. They have the bare essentials to deliver a baby and make sure that the baby can survive the first minutes of life. More often than not a pregnant woman is unable to go to a clinic or hospital to deliver her child and usually she does not have the resources to deliver the baby either, this result in the high mortality rate. These kits make it possible for a woman to deliver her baby in her own home in a safer fashion than before. Again, these kits seem like a great idea. With financial help, they can make a great impact on the infant mortality rate.

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/09/27/health/27birth.html?_r=2

Baby deaths in China fall with improved healthcare

From the article of Baby deaths in China seen a sharp decline in recent years of infant mortality. This cause due to the fact that in recent years the Chinese government has pushed for women to give birth in hospitals as opposed to at home. Though this is an improvement in the aggregate data, the decompressed data show is showing a different story. Though the overall infant mortality rate has dropped, the mortality rate is still alarmingly high for infant girls. These steps that the Chinese government has made are indeed progress, but there are still far larger issues at hand that the Chinese government is not addressing. It is true that in China the boys’ infant mortality has seen a sharp decline in recent years. However, there is some downside of it, such as mortality rate between infant boys and girls are different. This issue might have occurred because China’s male favoritism still exist. In order to truly improve China’s infamously high mortality rate, it is necessary that the issue of male favoritism in Chinese society be addressed, because the rate at which infant girls are dying in China, despite this recent improvement is still alarming. China’s population is already extremely lacking in women, and unless the government takes some major steps to try and turn this trend around, they will have a serious issue on their hands in the next twenty years or so. Regardless, to move forward, education is very important, educating women as much as men, and educating men on the importance of women.

http://www.trust.org/alertnet/news/china-newborn-baby-deaths-fall-with-improved-healthcare/