Human innovation is a remarkable phenomenon – one that has transformed every area of our lives to a point that would seem unrecognisable just a few centuries ago. Still, we are not exempt from the rules of nature, and much of our lives is still influenced negatively by health threats that have yet to be eradicated.
Fortunately, the wheels of innovation never stop turning, and there is plenty more hope on the horizon. Read more below.
1-Malaria
As of March this year, El Salvador received official confirmation from the World Health Organisation (WHO) that they were the first Central American region to eliminate malaria, a disease that is still claiming the lives of people across the world, with more than 400,000 individuals being claimed by the disease as recently as 2019.
The nature of Malaria transmission – a disease that is spread primarily via the bite of the female mosquito – has meant not only that preventing its spread is incredibly difficult, but that those living in poverty within affected countries and regions are, unfortunately, the most vulnerable to infection.
El Salvador’s ability to eliminate malaria is testament to the propensity of diminishing this virus’ hold on humanity, and to ensuring that other countries can hope to follow suit, and liberate themselves from it in the coming decades.
2-Corneal Blindness
Corneal disease is one of the most common causes of blindness – and one for which the impact is felt most strongly in poorer countries, where access to preventative treatments – not to mention reliable cures – is far more difficult. Unfortunately, it is in these areas where blindness poses the strongest challenge; without the ability to work, and with no reliable support, the impact can be devastating.
Hope lies in the fact that corneal blindness is, in many cases, a curable condition – provided the right medical aid is made available to those who are most in need of it. In recent years, increasing attention and investment has been made into the effort to cure corneal blindness among some of the poorest communities on earth, and to ensure that this devastating condition is minimised in the near future.
3-Unsanitary Drinking Water
It is one of the most distressing facts of our time that so many people around the world continue to face a daily struggle to access clean, safe drinking water. Despite so many efforts to ensure that wells and pumps are able to bring sufficient drinking water to communities most in need, ensuring that this supply is never interrupted or broken has proven a monumental task.
Unquantifiable hours of work, development and thought have been lent to this issue – a fact which has given rise to an incredibly wide array new methodologies and technologies that exemplify the human capacity to adapt. One tremendous example comes from Magik Water Solutions, which utilises an air-to-water system that, just a few short years ago, would have seemed the stuff of legend, rather than reality.
With this, and other technologies like it, we can envisage a future in which access to clean drinking water is a reality, rather than an unattainable ideal.