Colombia Is Hit Hard by Zika, but Not by Microcephaly

Interventions like annual mass administration of medicines, increasing clean water access and educational efforts are being deployed across several states to help curb the prevalence of neglected tropical diseases (NTDs) like schistosomiasis. These interventions have been active since 1995 and through the help of partnering with other local and international organizations, like the German E-Merck, rates of NTDs like schistosomiasis have dramatically decreased over the years.

The Kenya Medical Research Institute is leading research teams with the ministry of health in an effort to educate people on how to use mosquito nets to reduce the rate of malaria. Through these efforts, malaria cases reduced by 24% six months after the program started.

Pregnancy resource centers like Women’s Life provide support to those dealing with an unexpected pregnancy, including offerings like parenting classes, life coaching, job resources, diapers, and maternity clothes. Some centers also offer medical services like ultrasounds and testing for sexually transmitted diseases and infections.

In response to the Supreme Court striking down Roe v. Wade, a covert international network is emerging that provides abortion pills without a prescription to those without access in anti-abortion states. One such organization, Las Libres, has helped terminate approximately 20,000 pregnancies this year.

Nigeria accounted for 31.8% of all malaria-related deaths globally in 2020. The Block Malaria Africa Initiative employs behavioral change communication to promote positive health outcomes by studying behavior and providing effective messages and materials that address each community’s needs to educate people on what malaria is and how it can be prevented.

When the rise of Ebola in West Africa strict protocols when handling those who were dying or had died from the disease, public health officials began working with anthropologists and other social scientists to increase trust and influence people’s willingness to seek treatment. At the center of the success was the social scientist's recommendations for burial services which addressed concerns about first responders disrespecting the dead. Today, these social scientists are providing similar consult for the Covid-19 pandemic.

In Colombia – where having an abortion can be stigmatizing, in some cases illegal, and now even more difficult due to the coronavirus pandemic – a clinic has set up a national hotline to help women who are up to 10 weeks pregnant aaccess to safe abortions at home. So far, the clinic has connected with 700 women.

When the coronavirus pandemic caused lockdowns in Africa, many community members became hesitant to continue taking part in malaria prevention efforts for fear of contracting COVID-19, so health care workers began visiting people at their own homes to deliver both malaria and coronavirus information. Since the effort started, more people have begun to go back to the hospitals for treatment.

An organization founded in Oakland, CA is bringing non-partisan abortion counseling to those who feel isolated by platforms that are designated as either pro-life or pro-choice. The goal of the organization, which is staffed with trained volunteers from across the country, is to help "people process their experiences around abortion without any preconceived notions about what that should look like."

To contain the coronavirus and reopen the economy, state governments throughout the United States are implementing public health lessons that were learned in West Africa during the Ebola outbreak. Although the two outbreaks differ in many ways, the similarities between how citizens have reacted to the implementation of mass restrictions allow for lessons such as increased information transparency and compassionate contact tracing to be relevant.