In Africa, we must do the most good with each pound spent on Aids-HIV

Between 2000 and 2015 the world made great progress on the Millennium Development Goals, which aimed to hit important targets in education, income growth, fighting disease and so on. In 2015, world leaders followed up that success by establishing the Sustainable Development Goals, a hodge-podge of 169 priorities. We’re now halfway to the target date of 2030 and, not surprisingly, progress has been minimal. In part, COVID setbacks are to blame but the crucial problem is lack of focus.

Across the world, countries have imposed social distancing regulations to avoid overwhelming the health care capacity during the corona pandemic — the so-called “flatten the curve.” Such a policy can be sensible.

The first peer-reviewed cost-benefit analysis of the US shows just that. It looks at moderate social distancing, an approach similar to Sweden’s. Here, social interaction is reduced about 40 percent, allowing schools and work to stay open but dramatically reducing contacts in all other public areas.

Haiti’s Ministry of Public Health and Population, in collaboration with local and international organizations, has made great strides in reducing the infant mortality rate, leading to a decrease from 80 deaths per thousand live births in 2000 to 59 deaths per thousand.

However, Haiti still has the highest infant mortality rate in the Caribbean.

Fewer than half of all children receive every immunization dose. Around two child deaths in ten are caused by diseases that could be prevented by vaccines. These include diphtheria and pertussis.