December 2013

Refugees anywhere anytime tug at my heart, and lately it’s been difficult to forget those from Syria seeking asylum in Lebanon, Turkey, Iraq, even Bulgaria where they’re been badly treated and anywhere else they can get to. There now number 2.4 million and the UN estimates the number will grow to 4.1 million by the end of 2014. They live in ways no one should live in, brave conditions that would test saints. Many had homes, careers, jobs and were displaced by “33 months of ever increasing savagery” as one article in The Guardian put it. Internally it is very difficult to reach those displaced by war, because if not the government, one of the rebel groups makes it difficult for aid coming from what is seen as the West to reach those in need. In the host countries they are usually not welcomed. They go without food, water, shelter, medical attention, without basic necessities for days on end. They have left everything behind, and can’t go back, they face uncertainty and hardship. Most of us feel safe that such a fate would befall us, but all it takes is one natural disaster and we could join their rank, at least for a while. It’s beyond a question of gratitude, it’s a question of showing our solidarity to these and every other group of refugees in every way that we can.

The World Health Organization projects that there will be 19.3 million cases of cancer by 2025 as the world’s population both ages and grows. In 2012 the global toll of cancer deaths rose to 8.2 million, with breast cancer accounting for 522,000 deaths. Breast cancer is also a leading cause of cancer death in the developing world, partly because of a shift in lifestyle and partly because the clinical advances fighting the disease are not reaching women living in those countries. The most commonly diagnosed cancers worldwide were lung, breast and colorectal, but the most common cause of cancer deaths were lung, liver and stomach cancers. Death rates are much higher in the developing countries, usually because disease is not diagnosed and treated early enough due to the lack of screening and access to treatment. We know there is a difference between the health care of developed countries and that of those in the developing world. We know that without proper health care, some die. And when the world’s inequities are seen in terms of life and death, that’s really pause for thought.

It is estimated that around the world 230 million children under five have not been registered—that means their birth is not recorded anywhere, they cannot obtain a birth certificate and more importantly they will not be able to have access to any number of services. UNICEF which conducted the studies said that last year only 60% of all babies born were registered. Failure to register children excludes them from education, health care and social security kind of benefits. In short it curtails their opportunities. The barriers to registration are wide ranging from parents who are unaware of the importance, to cultural barriers and fears of the misuse of personal information or of such things as reporting births out of wedlock. The ten countries with the lowest birth registration are Congo where 28 % are registered, Pakistan (27%), Guinea-Bissau (24%), Yemen (17%), Chad and Tanzania (16%), Zambia (14%), Ethiopia (7%), Liberia (4%) and Somalia (3%). Legally these children may not exist, but registered or not they are human lives with real suffering, real hunger and real needs. It may seem ironic in an era of mega data collection from several sources and several countries, but the irony underlines that registering 230 million lives ought to be achievable.