Baby Deaths Good News.

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Hafiz
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Baby Deaths Good News.

Post by Hafiz »

Baby Deaths Good News.

The story is a good one and contrasts with how Egypt deals/fails on similar human services issues.

Bangladesh is one of the poorest places on earth. It has serious internal insurgency, was bombed to death when it got its independence from the execrable Pakistani’s, faces ruin with global warming, has 1 million refugees, but, unlike a place I can think of it has made the best of its problems and not gone begging or prostituting itself.

It has democracy, 2 female PM’s, rule of law, an army subject to the government (unlike Egypt where it is the other way), rapid recent economic growth, avoidance of high priority/small personal assets ‘heroic’ projects and lots besides. it’s a remarkable place of 180 million and it tries really hard.

It has tried hard with childhood deaths from fecal related diseases and has been remarkably successful in a way that Egypt would never think of. The Bangladesh approach has been cheap and effective and avoided the heroic/big project/big dollars/big private parts approach that plagues insecure Egypt. Aspects of it show judgment, insight and innovation which is entirely absent from places that are into dogma, group think, worship of ‘authority’ and the punishment of human creativity and insight.

The simple story is that child deaths have reduced by more than 75% in 20 years. They were hugely above above the world average and are now well under. They have done this with clever local strategies, not Egyptian ‘mine is bigger than yours’/Egyptian Army Engineering Corps, and focused on human behaviors to change the problem. Its to their credit that they have done it themselves and avoided the $US10,000 a day imbecilic WHO consultants.

Its gone from 150 to less than 50 of child deaths in a couple of decades:

Image

The point is that the country has little infrastructure, few doctors, few toilets, low cleanliness standards, bad climate and not a lot of money. Its handled it all.

They also have their family planning under control with a program that is about individual engagement rather than a 'truck' of universal Presidential imperatives from Cairo.

The Egyptian stats are not negative on this issue but deliberately avoid the truth. The truth, as for most other social measures, is that Cairo is good and everything else is bad or worse – with the stats (never published and protected by National Security) for Upper Egypt appalling. As with everything else its all planned to make life for junta supporters and the rest can cope with what they are thrown – if anything.

One point about Bangladesh is that they focus on personal responsibility shared with some state initiatives – rather that the state solving all your problems with a universal and perfect single solution by building a new capital/reclaimed desert zones/new free trading zones for foreigners/new worlds largest desalination plant/new desert cities.

In Egypt its about the leader, command and control and inflexible central planning. local views, even expert views are trashed as the machine of state in all its inflexible majesty moves inexorably towards its next disaster/waste of money. Individual, regional, religious and class based differences are worse than ignored. If you/your community don't fit the standard you don't exist.

Typical military planning - only one rule and no consultation.

At the end of the day its about individuals – except if you are a one party/authoritarian/infallible/military/heroic set of badly educated and not very skilled or intelligent jokers. There are a few of them around with small brains.
https://www.economist.com/news/leaders/ ... p-children

The Economist might be business oriented, it might loath current arrangements in Egypt but at over 210 years of age it is one of the very, very few sane voices left in the world. (I don’t think it right wing I think it libertarian, rational with a strong moral compass. It loathes Putin and all that goes with him because he is a danger to all – including Russians and they worked that out a long time ago)
Last edited by Hafiz on Wed Mar 28, 2018 2:45 pm, edited 1 time in total.


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