Malnutrition in the Third World

The causes of malnutrition are discussed--lack of money for food; and insufficiency of food production. It is stressed that much agricultural land is employed for purposes other than the production of food. Other causes of malnutrition include changes in local food habits and in food technology. Remedies discussed include increasing yields by organic manuring and mixed cropping; devoting more land to staple food production; changes in food habits and in food technology. Until these problems are addressed in Western societies there is little prospect of suitable solutions amongst the peoples of the Third World.     

Pharmaceuticals in the Third World: the local perspective

This introduction is a plea in favour of social field research into the local context of the distribution and use of pharmaceuticals in developing countries. This local perspective is conspicuously absent in studies and policy recommendations concerning drug use in the Third World.     

Poverty crisis in the Third World: the contradictions of World Bank policy

Politicians, the mainstream media, and orthodox social science have all been telling us of a final victory of capitalism over socialism, suggesting that capitalism is the only viable option for solving the world's problems. Yet, the global capitalist system is itself entering the third decade of a profound structural crisis, the costs of which have been borne largely by the exploited and oppressed peoples of the underdeveloped periphery. While the World Bank's latest World Development Report recognizes the current poverty crisis in the third world, its "two-part strategy" for alleviating poverty is based on an inadequate analysis of how peripheral capitalist development marginalizes the basic needs of the third world poor. Hence, the World Bank's assertion that free-market policies are consistent with effective antipoverty programs does not confront the class structures and global capitalist interests bound up with the reproduction of mass poverty in the third world. The World Bank's subordination of the basic needs of the poor to free-market adjustments and reforms in fact suggests that the real purpose of its "two-part strategy" is to ensure continued extraction of surplus from third world countries by maintaining the basic structure of imperialist underdevelopment.     

Drug product selection: the Florida experience revisited.

The comparison of drug product selection rates determined approximately one year and four years after passage of Florida's Drug Product Selection (DPS) Law indicates very little change in the product selection and brand interchange behaviors of Florida pharmacists. Lack of adequate guidelines from the state and the liability concerns of pharmacists appeared to limit an expected increase in the state DPS rate.     

Plundering the poor: the role of the World Bank in the Third World

The World Bank, the most important so-called development assistance agency, annually dispenses billions of dollars to Third World governments, ostensibly to "develop" their economics through a variety of loan projects. But even a superficial analysis reveals that the Bank is the perfect mechanism to help (i.e., subsidize) the large transnational corporations from the industrial countries to expand their industrial, commercial, and financial activities in the Third World, at the expense of the latter and particularly at the expense of the rural and urban proletariat. This article discusses Cheryl Payer's recent book, The World Bank: A Critical Analysis, in which she analyzes the Bank's role in the Third World and sets forth the major reasons why poverty, hunger, and malnutrition, as well as unemployment, and all the adverse social phenomena associated with them, are on the increase.     

Third World children: promise and problems

Children as they are born into the world are a bundle of human potential. This potential must be nurtured and educated if these children are to make a contribution to the world society. Third World children hold the same promise as other children if they are born to healthy mothers. Societies must contribute both physical resources and human resources for this promise to be fulfilled.

Many Third World children need immunizations, better nutrition, oral rehydration therapy, and educational opportunities if they are to survive and reach their potential.

A proposal is made for international development agencies to help fund child care centers which could become a focus of many services for both the children and their families.     

Cancer in the Third World: Bangladesh 1980.

Bangladesh exemplifies all of the problems of Third World countries: poverty, hunger, reduced longevity, and an illiteracy rate hovering at more than 80 per cent. The current status of oncology in Bangladesh was surveyed. Staff physicians, deans, medical students, nurses, and patients at six of the eight medical college hospitals, seven village hospitals, and a large private hospital provided background and clinical material. There are no medical or surgical oncologists in Bangladesh. The eight qualified radiation therapists are able to provide only meager diagnostic potential or radiation therapy with their antiquated equipment. Pathology service was severely handicapped by understaffing and outmoded equipment. With a relatively modest investment, epidemiological studies could be undertaken and an effective cancer control program established since oral and cervical cancers are common.     

Fertility trends in the Third World

The substantial fertility decline that occurred in the 3rd world during the 1970s has spread in the 1980s and is well established in a much greater proportion of developing countries, including some of the larger developing nations. With only a few exceptions, countries in Latin America and the Caribbean have seen some decline. In several instances the decline is substantial. Birthrates in the Latin American region are below 30/1000 for many countries, and just above 30/1000 for several more, compared with traditional rates which ranged between the low 40s to about 50/1000. Even in Mexico and Brazil, the 2 largest countries, recent and relatively rapid declines have occurred, but in a few cases (Bolivia, Nicaragua, and Honduras, for example) fertility trends are uncertain owing to lack of data, but most likely no decline has taken place. 2 regions which have had little or no decline are sub-Saharan Africa and the Indian subcontinent. These regions include some of the world's largest populations, i.e., India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, and Nigeria. India has seen a small fertility decline, but it was much slower than hoped for and it has leveled off recently. The situation varies greatly within India. Some states have had substantial fertility declines; others have remained at the traditional high level. Available evidence suggests that fertility south of the Sahara may actually increase slightly before any decline occurs. On the basis of the experience of the developed world, it is well established that economic development is an important cause of fertility decline. Couples will only choose to have fewer children when they feel confident that most children will survive. The debate on which the politics of fertility regulation hinges is whether economic and sociocultural development are the only means of changing motivations concerning family size, or whether the provision and publicizing of family planning and advice can cause changes independently, in addition to the effects of other social change. The consensus of the research conducted thus far is that socioeconomic factors account for the greater part of fertility decline and that availability of family planning services has a much smaller, though independent, additional role in explaining decline. The use of contraception is one of the most important means through which socioeconomic development influences fertility: easy and cheap availability of family planning services from public sources helps and may accelerate the process of fertility decline.     

Lessons for the developed--from the Third World

In Indonesia a country comprised of 13,677 islands with a 1984 population of 160 million where 1/2 are less than 20 years old, there are about 300 ethnic groups. A program, called the Family Welfare Movement was implemented to improve family welfare and health care. The Movement had only lay woman members as field representatives who were trained in health nutrition, home projects, and agriculture with a large emphasis on community service and identity. The Movement was used in this study as a platform for a potential health program in the US for people who had cultural difficulties incorporating themselves into US welfare programs. Exploratory data was gained using 88 interviews of Movement members over a 6 week period using different settings, participant observation, and examinations of documents and newspapers. Both passive and active participation in the Movement by the authors were used with the aforementioned data, which was then analyzed in chosen interconnecting categories (i.e. showing initiative, encouraging teamwork, effective leadership, and community participation). After data classification, analysis was undertaken to identify different characteristics which led to similar results, or 1 characteristic that caused different results. Recurrent themes were those identified as societal organization, role of women, cooperation and community self-help, leadership of the Family Welfare Movement, village health workers, and motivational factors in the Movement. Culture bound findings were not used in the application of the Movement to describe how one can create a similar program in the US. The conclusions were: Motivation of sharing and enjoying group activities to bring about communal togetherness could be tried on families living in isolation; volunteerism could be implemented in appropriate US areas; a hierarchical structure with role expectations could be tried on ethnic groups comfortable with hierarchical structuring; and a program concerned with all aspects of individual and family life, from agricultural to health and hygiene should be implemented.     

Managing ecological upheavals: a Third World perspective

This paper seeks to examine the genesis of ecological upheavals which are reflecting the smouldering ecological crisis in the world. The natural as well as man-made mass disasters have more propensity to affect the developing countries of the Third World. The data presented in tabular form in the paper reveals their increasing 'killer potential'. The present inquiry shows that the non-sustainable development patterns and practices by the Third World countries have brought them on to the brink of irreversible environmental consequences. The study underlines that due to lack of adequate disaster identification, prevention and management capabilities these countries suffer the worst. It suggests that a regional level cooperation, on the lines of the SAARC, is suitable to streamline joint efforts to combat mass disasters. The study also highlights the possible legal responses and role of lawyers in this respect. Some of the emerging international eco-standards provide a basis for resolving disputes concerning transboundary effects of disasters. A comprehensive global convention on mass disasters, encompassing sharing of data and transfer of disaster management technology to developing countries is now 'need of the hour'.