Humanitarian

President Bush was justifiably upset. A cyclone four days earlier had destroyed a large portion of Myanmar, and the country’s military junta was still refusing humanitarian aid. “Let the United States come to help you, help the people,” Bush pleaded with the junta. “We’re prepared to move U.S. Navy assets to help find those who’ve lost their lives, to help find the missing, to help stabilize the situation,” said the President, “but in order to do so, the military junta must allow our disaster assessment teams into the country.”

With more than 20,000 dead, possibly 40,000 missing, and close to one million homeless, the junta made it clear that it, not the international community, would provide whatever humanitarian aid was necessary. Read the rest of this entry »

Bangladesh is a densely populated country surrounded by India and the Bay of Bengal. Due to its geographical location it is prone to seasonal cyclones and catastrophic flooding. Most of the population in this country lives in rural areas that have very poor health care facilities. Most villages have high rates of malnutrition, with nearly 2 out of 3 people suffering from nutritional deficiencies. Less than one in ten children has access to proper medical care. Poor sanitation contributes to the spread of diseases in rural regions that are extremely isolated and excluded from basic medical facilities. Many rural areas in Bangladesh continue to experience unplanned and unregulated population growth with ongoing poverty and health complications where children die from preventable and treatable illnesses and adults suffer from unbearable chronic conditions. Read the rest of this entry »