ODA has its limited uses
Tuesday, October 6, 2009 at 12:45AM ARTICLE: Child Mortality Rate Declines Globally, By CELIA W. DUGGER, New York Times, September 9, 2009
Globalization saves babies--throughout the Gap!
The child mortality rate has declined by more than a quarter in the last two decades -- to 65 per 1,000 live births last year from 90 in 1990 -- in large part because of the widening distribution of relatively inexpensive technologies, like measles vaccines and anti-malaria mosquito nets.
Other simple practices have helped, public health experts say, including a rise in breast-feeding alone for the first six months of life, which protects children from diarrhea caused by dirty water.
Wealthy nations, international agencies and philanthropists like Bill and Melinda Gates have committed billions of dollars to the effort. Schoolchildren and church groups have also pitched in, paying for mosquito nets and feeding programs.
Official developmental aid, while I often knock it, is an essential transmission mechanism of globalization's benefits: it disseminates technology. But note that ODA is just a part of the picture. Big philanthropists like Gates--globalization personified--play a big role, as do religious organizations, who, historically, are the drivers of progressive phases like no other non-state actor.
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