Time for another Good News Dump.
What is this? I do this every two weeks or so, A long thread with the Good News you might not have heard of.
Again, if you wish to say in the horror of the doom-scroll, please mute this hashtag for a day.
Ok here we go:
There's been substantial progress in South America in eliminating river blindness, a severe, disfiguring parasitic skin disease. A program launched in the 1990s has eliminated it completely in Colombia, Ecuador, Mexico and Guatemala, and reduced the number of people at risk from over half a million to just 35,518, scattered across the Brazil-Venezuela border.
https://apps.who.int/iris/bitstream/handle/10665/363330/WER9739-eng-fre.pdf
In the past three years, the number of cancer survivors in the US has increased by a million, reaching over 18 million as of 2022. This is mostly due to progress against lung, colorectal, and breast cancer, whose age-adjusted death rates have decreased by 44%, 42%, and 53% respectively since the 1970s.
https://cancerprogressreport.aacr.org/progress/cpr22-contents/cpr22-cancer-in-2022/
The American Cancer Society says breast cancer death rates in the United States dropped by 43% between 1989 and 2020. As a result, 460,000 breast cancer deaths were averted in US women during this period. The average five year survival rate is now over 90% - up from around 70% back in the early 1980s.
Malawi has eliminated trachoma as a public health problem, the first country in southern Africa to do so, and the fourth country in Africa after Ghana, Gambia and Togo. In 2015, there were 7.6 million people at risk of infection. In just seven years, that number has fallen to zero.
https://www.who.int/news/item/21-09-2022-malawi-eliminates-trachoma-as-a-public-health-problem
Vanuata has also eliminated trachoma, the first Pacific nation to reach this milestone. Eight years ago, 12% of children were infected, prompting the launch of a national programme. Trachoma is the second non-tropical disease to be eliminated from the 83 island nation, after lymphatic filariasis in 2016.
The Serum Institute of India, the world's biggest vaccine maker, has developed a cervical cancer vaccine that costs less than $5, and is aiming for 200 million doses by 2024. Big news. Cervical cancer is the fourth most common cancer among women globally, causing an estimated 342,000 deaths a year, almost all in low and middle income countries.
Nigeria has recorded a significant decrease in child marriage, with the proportion of girls married before their 18th birthday falling from 44% in 2016 to 30% in 2021. There has also been considerable progress in child mortality, which has decreased from one in eight children dying before their fifth birthday in 2016, to one in ten in 2021.
https://www.unicef.org/nigeria/media/6316/file/2021%20MICS%20full%20report%20.pdf
This is going to sound crazy, but did you know that global economic inequality has actually decreased since 2011? The size of the global middle class increased by around 68%, while the proportion of people earning less than $10K a year fell substantially. This reflects the growing prosperity of emerging economies in the last decade, a story most of us hardly ever hear about.
Family planning is an unsung hero in the story of human progress. The number of women and girls using modern contraception in low and lower-middle income countries now stands at 357 million. In the last year alone, their use has averted 135 million unintended pregnancies, 28 million unsafe abortions, and 140,000 maternal deaths.
https://www.fp2030.org/sites/default/files/Data-Hub/FP2030_DataReport_v5_0.pdf
India is on track to meet its SDG targets on child mortality. New figures released by the country's Registrar General show that between 2019 and 2020 there was a 8.6% decline in under five mortality, a 6.7% decline in infant mortality, and a 9.1% decline in neonatal mortality.
Hawaii has reached the milestone of having no girls in its only youth correctional facility — a first in state history. Here's a great story from NBC on how they pulled that off, and how it could be a model for other states to follow.
https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/politics-news/hawaii-brought-population-girls-prison-zero-rcna41532
Violent crime continues to fall in the United States. Between 2012 and 2021, the rate of violent victimization (sexual assault, robbery, aggravated assault, and simple assault) declined from 26.1 to 16.5 incidents per 1,000 people. Wouldn't it be nice if this data from Department of Justice appeared in any news outlet other than here?
Five years after #MeToo went viral, seven in ten adults in the United States say that people who commit sexual harassment in the workplace are now more likely to be held responsible for their actions, and about six in ten say that those who report harassment or assault at work are more likely to be believed.
India's Supreme Court has upheld the right of a woman to an abortion up to 24 weeks into pregnancy regardless of marital status, a decision widely hailed by women's rights activists. This overturns a law dating from 1971, which limited the procedure to married women, divorcees, widows, minors, 'disabled and mentally ill women' and survivors of sexual assault or rape.
https://www.reuters.com/world/india/indias-top-court-gives-all-women-right-abortion-2022-09-29/
The world's biggest trial of a four day work week, involving 70 firms giving 3,300 employees full pay for 80% of their normal hours, just reached its halfway point. 46% of firms say overall productivity has actually improved, and more than eight in ten say it's working so well they're going to keep on going once the trial ends.
https://gizmodo.com/four-day-work-week-work-from-home-return-to-office-1849562791
Cubans have overwhelmingly approved gay marriage and adoption in a government-backed referendum that also boosts rights for women. 66.9% of voters said yes to a new family code that legalizes same-sex marriage and civil unions, allows same-sex couples to adopt children, and promotes equal sharing of domestic rights and responsibilities between men and women.
Poland has welcomed over two million Ukrainian refugees with open arms. Private citizens have spent $2.1 billion on aid, the government has spent $3.4 billion, and 1.2 million Ukrainians have been granted access to health care, education, and social benefits. Attitudes are changing too. 80% of the population now supports taking in refugees fleeing violence and war, up from 49% in 2018.
The Dominican Republic has passed legislation enshrining the rights of domestic workers. They will now have access to minimum wage, defined working hours, insurance coverage, workplace injury protection, survival and disability benefits and inclusion in state pension programs.
https://latinarepublic.com/2022/09/08/dominican-republic-formalizes-domestic-work/
We're amazed at the bravery of the protestors in Iran at the moment. Have you heard Baraye yet? It's the anthem of the movement, a song that reached 40 million views in two days before being taken down by the authorities. Do yourself a favor and listen to the music and lyrics.
