The Health of The Orphans

About the Situation By the Numbers Half of the top 20 causes of death worldwide are infectious diseases, and maternal, neonatal and nutritional causes In high-income countries, 8% of years of life are lost due to the above causes In Africa, 70% of all years of life lost are due to those causes Nearly 800 women die every day due to complications in pregnancy and childbirth (Source: World Health Organization) Preventing illness is often as simple as soap, clean water, hygienic sanitation facilities and perhaps as piece of netting to protect children from malaria-transmitting mosquito bites. When these basic items are provided, the number of illnesses drops drastically. These are still unattainable luxuries in some regions of the world. But preventing illness is not the only challenge. Once an individual becomes ill, access to health care varies widely: Poor populations tend to have less access to health care. In some countries, as few as 10% of births are attended by skilled health workers, according to the World Health Organization. Every two minutes, a woman dies of pregnancy-related complications—over the course of a year, more than a quarter of a million woman die from pregnancy and childbirth complications. And poor children live much shorter lives than children from wealthy families, in part due to inadequate health care. A boy born in 2012 in a high-income country can expect to live 75.8 years—more than 15 years longer than a boy born in a low-income country. For those less fortunate, even small interventions—from improved hygiene to vaccinations—can make a big difference. 
 www.irusa.org/programs/health/