6 Health Triumphs We’re Thankful For This Year

It has been a year of unprecedented challenges to global health. But in the face of an ongoing global health emergency, there are still many headlines worth celebrating — like a breakthrough malaria treatment, the eradication of wild polio in Africa, and a new wave of global scientific collaboration.

Thanks to your support, Project HOPE has been on the front lines of the world’s toughest health challenges: answering the call of COVID-19, fighting the spread of HIV/AIDS, helping mothers deliver their babies safely, and equipping the world’s health care workers.

Here are six health trends in global health we’re thankful for this year.

1. Africa is officially free of wild polio.

Africa recently announced its victory in wiping out wild poliovirus — a disease that once paralyzed 75,000 children on the continent every year.

Since 1996, as many as 1.8 million cases of polio-related paralysis have been prevented and around 180,000 lives have been saved. The continent has not reported any cases since 2016.

This momentous achievement is the result of decades of vaccination and surveillance efforts carried out by the international community and health care workers, and is a major step toward ending the virus worldwide. Afghanistan and Pakistan are the only countries still reporting cases.

2. Mental health is starting to get the attention it deserves.

The COVID-19 pandemic has made the magnitude of the global mental health crisis impossible to ignore, shining a light on the need for mental health support across the globe.

The pandemic’s effects on mental health demand action, and the World Health Organization is leading the charge in calling for increased investment in mental health services.

At Project HOPE, we are committed to playing our part in ensuring everyone, everywhere has access to the health care they need to reach their full potential — and that includes quality mental health services. That’s why we’re empowering frontline health workers to protect their own mental health.

3. A new malaria treatment in Africa cut infections in half.

A recent study in sub-Saharan Africa found that giving 15,000 school-age children preventive antimalarials cut the number of malaria cases in half — a breakthrough treatment that could help eliminate the disease across the continent.

This study comes a year after another innovation milestone in the fight against the mosquito-borne disease: the launch of the world’s first malaria vaccine.

Malaria remains one of the world’s leading killers, mostly prevalent in Africa, Central and South America, and Southeast Asia. Around 3.4 billion people worldwide are at risk of contracting the disease, and 400,000 die from it each year — most of them children. Now there’s new hope that preventive treatment combined with a vaccine and mosquito nets could be the answer for eliminating malaria once and for all.

4. We’re making progress to control and prevent cholera.

An affordable oral vaccine is proving to be a game-changer in the fight to end the world’s longest-running pandemic: cholera.

The number of global cholera cases decreased by 60% in 2018, and though there was an increase in cases in 2019, the total number of cholera deaths still declined by over one-third. Africa reported its fewest cholera deaths this century, while the Americas reported its fewest cases and deaths since 2010.

Though access to clean water and sanitation are still essential for preventing this deadly diarrheal disease, the vaccine is saving lives and buying time for communities to build sustainable water and sanitation systems.

With the recent successes brought on by vaccine, The Global Task Force on Cholera Control aims to lower cholera deaths by 90% by 2030, and is shifting its focus from responding to outbreaks to preventing them before they happen.

5. COVID-19 has shown us the necessity of global collaboration.

The challenge of COVID-19 has spurred unprecedented collaboration and cooperation across the global scientific community, bringing together researchers of all different specialties and disciplines working to solve the same mystery.

Traditional silos of science have been knocked down. New research findings are being rapidly and broadly shared. Regulatory processes and testing are being expedited, hopefully leading to what will be one of the most rapidly-developed vaccines in our living history.

The COVID-19 pandemic has highlighted the power of the collective in a time of crisis, and we see a strong case for greater international, interdisciplinary coordination around all public health threats.

6. There was an unprecedented drop in global CO2 emissions.

A groundbreaking study from an international team of researchers shows that carbon dioxide emissions fell by 8.8% in the first half of 2020 — largely due to coronavirus-related restrictions.

This is the biggest drop ever recorded for a first half-year period, equivalent to 1,551 million tons. The ground transportation sector experienced the greatest reduction — 40% less carbon was emitted worldwide. By July, most emission levels rebounded as soon as economic activities resumed, with the exception of transport-related emissions.

But researchers say even if emissions had remained at lower levels, greater action would still need to be taken to protect the planet. The study stresses the need for structural and transformational change in industry and commerce, and suggests fundamental steps to stabilize the global climate in the years to come.

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