Latest news with #healthsystem
CBC
4 days ago
- Health
- CBC
Family trying to come up with $85K for daughter's rare surgery in U.S.
The family of a seven-year-old girl with cerebral palsy and hip dysplasia worries that without the surgery, she may never walk again. They're criticizing the Nova Scotia health-care system, saying it's holding her back.
Mail & Guardian
21-07-2025
- Health
- Mail & Guardian
Mozambican children die after US funding cuts: Who bears responsibility?
Sign outside the offices of an organisation in Mozambique that was defunded by USAid. Photos: Jesse Copelyn After the United States Agency for International Development (USAid) abruptly terminated billions of dollars' worth of overseas aid grants, the health system in central Mozambique was left in tatters. Earlier this year, I travelled to two badly hit provinces of the country to describe the toll. In In a In the midst of all this chaos, I was often curious to know from people on the ground who they held accountable for this situation and who they believed needed to solve the problem. My assumption was that they would call for the Mozambican government to help them out. I was surprised to find that in the affected villages I visited, this was far from anyone's expectation. For most, it was simply unthinkable that their government could do anything to save them. 'You mentioned the government,' one community leader said after I asked whether the state should intervene. 'But even these chairs we're sitting on are stamped with USAid logos. So what help can we expect from the government?' Sign on the back of a chair in an organisation in Mozambique. The more I learned about governance in Mozambique, the more understandable this attitude became. Throughout the country, core government functions have been outsourced to a combination of foreign governments, aid agencies, interstate bodies and private companies. For instance, many of the country's essential medicines are procured by a large international financing body, the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria. Until January, the transportation of these medicines to hospitals was overwhelmingly financed by US aid agencies, as were the pay cheques of many health workers. Outside of the healthcare sector, the story is similar. The main highway I travelled on was built and paid for by Chinese corporations and banks. To keep hydrated I relied on bottled water supplied by private companies because the taps either didn't run or produced contaminated water. In many of the impoverished rural settlements, there was virtually no state infrastructure, and people received no financial support from the government. Instead, they primarily depended on aid organisations. The country's national budget has historically been heavily supplemented by foreign bodies, including the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and European Union, though much of this support was suspended in 2016-17. Even national defence has been partially outsourced. When Islamist militants began rampaging through the northern province of Cabo Delgado, the government struggled to contain it and contracted Russian and South African mercenary groups. When that failed, they authorised a military intervention by the Southern African Development Community and invited a parallel mission by the Rwanda Defence Forces. It is thus no surprise that Mozambicans have virtually no expectation that their government will come to the rescue when facing an emergency. Instead, they look outward. As one community leader in a rural village told me, 'Here, we depend on Trump.' Cash-strapped and corrupt Mozambique has The government is deeply cash-strapped. The South African government spends 10 times more per citizen than the Mozambican government does. A large chunk of its spending goes towards paying off debt. Mozambique simply doesn't have the money to build an effective health system, though had it spent its limited budget reserves more effectively over the years it could have developed a health system that was at least a bit more independent of donor support. Instead, the country's budgetary resources have often been wasted on corruption. Mozambique ranks 146th out of 180 in the world on One clear example of this is the As a result of those decisions, the country was swallowed by debt. And when the extent of the corruption was publicised in 2016, the IMF pulled its financial support for Mozambique. A The country's governance crisis is further demonstrated by the An ambulance parked in the grass in the Dondo district of Sofala Province. Even during the brief one-week period I spent in central Mozambique, signs of corruption and mismanagement filtered into my interactions with officials. For instance, before I embarked on a multi-day tour of one province, government officials told me that someone from the provincial health department would need to accompany me on my trip. This was apparently to make formal introductions to district-level officials that I hadn't asked to meet. For this apparently vital service, the man would need to be paid a per diem of roughly R500 a day for two days, they said. The civil servant in question was a very senior person in the provincial health department. Despite facing a collapsing health system in the wake of the US cuts, he was apparently ready to drop everything he had going for the rest of that week to follow me around. When I explained that I wouldn't pay a government official to stalk me, I was told that saying no wasn't an option. This is unfortunately the way things are done around these parts, said a local who helped arrange the tour. Neither GroundUp, Spotlight nor I paid the bribe. US responsibility Against this backdrop, it is no surprise that defenders of the current US government have often resorted to arguments about moral responsibility when justifying the decision to abruptly slash aid. It is reasonable to ask why the American taxpayer should bear any of the brunt of Mozambique's public health system when so many of its problems have been caused by the Mozambican government itself. But it's not so simple. The Moreover, Mozambique didn't develop its high level of dependency in isolation. For more than two decades, the US actively took responsibility for core functions of the country's health system. Until January, the US government continued to sign numerous contracts with local organisations, pledging millions of dollars to help run life-saving health programmes for years into the future. The health system was consequently built around these commitments. If the US was going to take that much responsibility for the wellbeing of some of the world's most vulnerable people, then it had a duty to at least provide notice before pulling the plug. Instead, it chose to slash the funds instantly, and in a manner that needlessly maximised damage and confusion. Stop-work orders were issued overnight, which required that people who were doing life-saving work down their tools immediately. Organisations decided to adhere to these instructions rigidly in the hope that their funding would be reinstated. At that point the Trump administration said it was only pausing aid funding pending a review, and no one wanted to give the reviewers a reason to terminate their programmes. The consequence was complete chaos. Orphaned children in extremely rural parts of Mozambique waited for their case workers to bring them their medicines, but often they simply never came. Many of these children had no idea why they had been abandoned. When certain case workers decided to defy the stop-work order and continue their work voluntarily, they had to do so in secret. To add fuel to the fire, the Trump administration routinely provided contradictory information to its former recipients and to the public. The initial executive order signed in January said all foreign development assistance would be suspended for 90 days, pending a review, and might be restored after this time. Then US Secretary of State Marco Rubio issued a waiver stating that the suspension wouldn't apply to life-saving humanitarian services. He told the public that organisations providing these life-saving services could instantly resume their work under this order. Yet the organisations themselves received different instructions from their USAid officers. Rather than immediately continuing their work, they were told to submit revised budgets that only covered life-saving services and to wait for approval. Organisations rushed to submit these budgets by the deadline. But in the end, the green light never came and their funds remained frozen. This was not only the case in Mozambique; In the meantime, Rubio Later on, the organisations received explicit termination notices, ending their programmes. Despite this, US embassies and several large media outlets continued to reference Rubio's order as if it was actually implemented en masse. Even as I write this, the on-again, off-again US aid story is unfinished. This mixed messaging created an enormous amount of confusion for staff of these organisations and the recipients of their work, ultimately for no clear benefit to the American people. There was simply never any reason to act this callously toward health organisations to whom USAid had pledged its support. In contrast to the rampant corruption that has plagued the Mozambican government, these organisations were heavily audited to continue receiving funding. The work they were doing was clearly making a material difference to some of the poorest people on Earth. In the far-flung settlements that I visited, villagers told me about how their lives had been transformed by these organisations. Many were only put on life-saving HIV treatment because of them. Whatever arguments one may want to advance about the importance of self-sufficiency and national responsibility, none of this justifies the US government administering the aid cuts in such a callous and confusing manner. This story was originally published by
News24
18-07-2025
- Health
- News24
Meet Juandré Klopper, the man giving public healthcare a lifeline
Conversations about South Africa's public health system are often defeatist, and the sector is usually painted with a dull brush. Many see the sector's issues as unsolvable, but Juandré Kopper has a different perspective. 'To work on a broken health system, some might say it's futile. It always seems impossible, until it is done,' Klopper told News24. He is the founder of Sponsor Medic, a non-profit organisation that aims to support the health system by raising donations and paying doctors to work in hospitals and clinics where the need is the greatest. Klopper grew up watching his grandfather serve Durban's poorest patients. Helping those who needed it most has become deeply tied to his purpose. 'I remember the story my father and my grandmother told me after his passing. One of his patients had a son who was doing very well in school, and my grandfather actually paid for him to go to university, study medicine and become a doctor himself.' In January 2024, South African healthcare facilities saw deep budget cuts in an attempt to sustain fiscal balance on a national scale. 'I printed my printer dry twice, sending out CVs.' This bittersweet, almost divine intervention allowed Klopper to lean into his side projects. 'Something that comes your way that looks like bad luck is actually a good thing sometimes.' Klopper started raising corporate and non-profit organisations' funds to allocate health workers to medical rooms under severe pressure, elevating emergency rooms and decreasing patient waiting times. So, Sponsor Medic was born for the sole purpose of public health facilities. In the short time Sponsor Medic has been in operation, it has helped more than 1 600 patients. 'I think the beautiful part of our work is that we don't necessarily see the impact we make because we prevent chaos. If we do our work correctly, things should just be going on as normal.' Inspired by Nelson Mandela's courage in the fight against apartheid, Klopper compared the late president to David in a David and Goliath fight. 'He took on a massive challenge, he took it on with a lot of courage, and a lot of humility, and that for me is inspiring, and it's worth remembering that what he did, he did for others, and he gave a lot of himself, so that other may live a better life, I think that is truly inspiring.'
CTV News
14-07-2025
- Health
- CTV News
Specialist backlog grows
Montreal Watch Quebec's waitlist to see a medical specialist has nearly doubled in five years.
ABC News
14-07-2025
- Politics
- ABC News
How Trump's ex-wife Marla Maples helped birth the wellness movement reshaping America
The call came unexpectedly. Marla Maples was on a cruise ship off the coast of Alaska when she got word her former husband, Donald Trump, had narrowly survived an assassination attempt. Not long after, the phone rang again. It was Robert F Kennedy Jr. "I need to get a message to the president." To most political observers, it was a surprising move. Even though Maples and Kennedy — whom she affectionately calls "Bobby" — had been close friends for years, Kennedy was running against Trump as an independent candidate in the 2024 presidential race. There was no love lost between the two men. Trump had publicly called Kennedy "the dumbest member" of the famous Kennedy clan. Kennedy, in turn, had labelled Trump "unhinged" and "a terrible human being". But that one phone call to Marla Maples would help trigger a political realignment few saw coming, and the birth of a movement that is now reshaping America's health system. A Georgia native who still speaks with a soft Southern lilt, Marla Maples met Donald Trump in New York in the 1980s where she was working as a model and actor. They had their daughter, Tiffany, in 1993, and were married two months later in a lavish ceremony at the Plaza Hotel. The marriage ended in 1999. Since then, Maples has carved out a career as an actress, TV host and model. But in recent years, she has become deeply embedded in the world of wellness, and it's there that she strengthened her friendship with Kennedy. "I met him probably 20 years ago and he was doing a lot with keeping the rivers and the water clean, and I thought that was one of the most important things we could do," she told Foreign Correspondent. "I just loved the commitment to making sure that we have a healthy environment." The two have a close friendship, bonded by a shared love of nature and a belief in the healing power of clean water, fresh air and holistic living. When Kennedy launched his independent presidential run he drew strong backing from the wellness world; a community of influencers, health crusaders and mothers passionate about clean eating, "vaccine freedom" and alternative healing. Many self-identify as "crunchy", favouring natural living and holistic remedies over conventional medicine. Trump, on the other hand, has never been mistaken for a wellness icon. The 79-year-old is arguably McDonalds' most famous customer. During his first presidential campaign, his go-to order was reported to be two Big Macs, two Filet-O-Fishes and a chocolate shake. But despite Trump and Kennedy's differences - in politics and in diet - Maples saw something others didn't. That vision would finally materialise in the days after the assassination attempt. When Kennedy asked her to pass a message to Trump, Maples agreed without hesitation - and for good reason. Kennedy was just nine when his uncle, President John F Kennedy, was assassinated in broad daylight. Five years later, his own father was gunned down while running for president. So, when he watched his political opponent narrowly escape a similar fate, it hit close to home. "That was a very powerful moment," Maples said. "These things are triggers." According to Maples, Kennedy was speaking with Trump the next day. "Bobby has so many people that follow him who didn't necessarily support Donald," she said. "So it was a tricky situation. You have to help people understand what's at risk, what's at stake and what the bigger goal is." After weeks of behind-the-scenes talks, Kennedy suspended his campaign and endorsed Trump. That unlikely alliance sparked a new slogan and a new mission: Make America Healthy Again (MAHA). When Kennedy and Trump teamed up, the MAHA movement quickly became a political force. It helped Kennedy to bring countless devoted followers into the Republican fold. At its core, the MAHA ideology sells itself on the idea of a cleaner, more "natural" way of life. Its followers reject chemical additives, seed oils and artificial dyes. Instead, they promote organic food, regenerative farming and what they call "health freedom". Much of the movement exists online, shaped by influencers who felt alienated during the pandemic and found each other in the comment sections of Instagram and TikTok. One of them is Erika Nolan. A homesteader and horticulturalist in Georgia's picturesque Blue Ridge Mountains, Nolan is a proud "MAHA mom". Homesteaders like Nolan aim to live off the land, growing their own food, raising animals, and embracing a self-sufficient lifestyle. Like many in the movement, she wasn't always political, or particularly health conscious. Growing up, Nolan ate what she now calls "junk": Kraft Mac and Cheese, Froot Loops and Burger King were staples in her diet. That changed during COVID. "I felt like I was already waking up to a corrupt food system prior to COVID but it was COVID that really fast-tracked me," she said. "I was reading the ingredient labels on everything I consumed, including medicine." Nolan started speaking out online, questioning lockdowns and vaccine mandates. She lost old friends, but she gained a new community online. "People started coming together from out of the woodwork from different areas where all of a sudden it was this feeling of like, I'm not alone," she said. To many in the health world, Kennedy was a hero. "He was aware that things like food dyes and seed oils were toxic," said Erika. "[It] taps into the conversations that I was already having." When Kennedy joined forces with Trump, Erika said, the reaction online was ecstatic. "I was so pumped up. I was so excited. I couldn't believe it," she said. "Everyone in the health and wellness niche were totally swayed by RFK moving in that direction. RFK had a huge following and obviously Trump knew that." After winning the presidency, Trump swiftly appointed Kennedy as his health secretary. In turn, Kennedy wasted no time bringing the ideas once promoted by the wellness fringe into the mainstream. States like Utah and Florida have followed his lead, removing fluoride from their public drinking water. And in Texas and Louisiana, certain processed foods must now carry warning labels if they contain certain banned substances. To supporters of the MAHA movement, these changes represent a long-overdue reckoning. But for dietitian and nutrition scientist, Jessica Knurick, the picture is more complicated. "Their approach really has been to focus on very specific things, very easy-to-understand, specific things that play into a real conspiratorial message," she said. "So, food additives and food dies and toxic seed oils and things like that that kind of play into this distrust that Americans have in health institutions, in science and scientists. And it's a real distraction from the systemic issues in America." Those systemic issues, Knurick said, are far more urgent and difficult to solve. "Our food environment right now is, if you look at the data, it's about 70 per cent ultra processed food," she said. "And we have a food environment where a lot of people live in what we term food deserts, where it's very difficult to have access to fresh produce, fresh fruits and vegetables." And for many people, she said, the issues the MAHA movement is focused on just don't match their everyday reality. "The MAHA movement is very much a movement that seems to be for middle to upper class white people in this country, which is also one of my issues with it," she said. "So, it sells a lot of solutions. It talks a lot about supplements, it talks a lot about personal health. If you live in a food desert, is the fact that they use Red Dye 40 in Skittles instead of beet juice really the biggest issue for you?" While MAHA's clean food policies have dominated headlines, another force is quietly powering the movement: vaccine resistance. The anti-vaccine movement, long simmering at the edges of American wellness culture, has become one of MAHA's most controversial elements. It's a message that resonates deeply with a base already sceptical of government science - and now, with RFK Jr inside the Health Department, that scepticism is rapidly becoming policy. Kennedy is a longtime vaccine critic. He's the founder and former chairman of Children's Health Defense, a prominent anti-vaccine group. Last month, he sacked all members of a key federal immunisation advisory panel and appointed several vocal vaccine sceptics in their place. During the recent measles outbreak - the worst in the US in more than 30 years - the virus spread from Texas to nearly 40 states. Measles was declared eliminated in the US in 2000, but falling childhood immunisation rates since the pandemic have left many communities vulnerable. There are now more than 1,260 confirmed cases. It took more than two months and the deaths of two unvaccinated children before Kennedy said on social media that the most effective way to prevent measles is to get the MMR vaccine. Paediatrician Dr Annie Andrews said she was disappointed by Kennedy's response to the outbreak. "He has the biggest platform of all of us and he had an incredible opportunity to damper distrust in vaccines in the face of this measles outbreak, which is a true public health crisis," she said. "[Instead] he's played word salad and said some things around that. He has not said it unequivocally." Kennedy's concerns with childhood vaccinations run deep. He has previously linked them with autism, despite there being no scientific evidence to prove it. In April, he announced that he would determine the cause of autism by September this year. Dr Andrews, who is running in the 2026 midterm elections as a Democrat, is worried that Kennedy's quest to find the cure for autism will result in him blaming vaccines. "That is just diverting resources. That's diverting focus," said Dr Andrews. "What he is doing in my view is laundering the anti-vax movement under this umbrella agenda of making America healthy again. And ironically, not vaccinating is going to make our communities and Americans a lot less healthy." The movement has had a popular start, galvanised online, championed by influencers and now embedded inside America's highest offices. But the real test is the next four years. In the coming weeks, the MAHA Commission, a government appointed group created to deliver the movement's goals and headed up by Kennedy, is expected to release its first national road map, focused on improving the health of America's children. Behind the scenes, wellness warriors like Marla Maples have helped push the agenda forward. Now, they say, the moment has arrived. "It's a time of unveiling," Maples said. "I think a lot was hidden from us for many, many years and now people are asking the questions." For Maples, this isn't just political. It's deeply personal - a vision for a healthier, freer future. "We can breathe clean air. We can have our kids running free through the grass, [they] learn how to eat right. They learn how to live with the joy. That's what I want. "We say make yourself healthy again." Watch Trump's Wellness Warriors tonight on Foreign Correspondent at 8pm on ABC TV and iview.
