Health care is a human right.

New York Times columnist Bob Herbert wrote a graphic article, published today, bluntly titled "Zimbabwe Is Dying." Not having much background on the subject of health care or the history and current situation in Zimbabwe, I can't offer much analysis, but the article is too important not to post. Herbert writes that Zimbabwe's life expectancy for men is now 37; for women it is 34--the lowest in the world for both men and women. There is an epidemic of cholera and people have contracted anthrax after eating meat from animals who have died of it. Pointing to the political and economic turmoil in Zimbabwe and Mugabe's brutality, Herbert writes that the health care system is basically falling apart.

The decline in health services over the past year has been staggering. An international team of doctors that conducted an “emergency assessment” of the state of medical care last month seemed stunned by the catastrophe they witnessed. The team was sponsored by Physicians for Human Rights. In their report, released this week, the doctors said:

“The collapse of Zimbabwe’s health system in 2008 is unprecedented in scale and scope. Public-sector hospitals have been shuttered since November 2008. The basic infrastructure for the maintenance of public health, particularly water and sanitation services, have abruptly deteriorated in the worsening political and economic climate.”

(Emphasis mine).

The deterioration of the health care system seems to be both a result of the economic/political crisis in Zimbabwe but with a collapsed infrastructure, the situation won't improve quickly or easily.

Organizations working on this issue include Physicians for Human Rights, Doctors Without Borders, and UNICEF.

Obama shining a spotlight on human rights

I'm going to deviate from our anti-genocide theme for a post and write about another human rights issue that I've been involved with for about three years: Guantanamo Bay. The prison has been in the news a lot lately, as President-elect Barack Obama's transition team tries to figure out a way to close it. According to the New York Times, Obama will announce a plan for closing the prison on January 21, his first full day in office. This announcement raises a host of other questions, many discussed on the NYTs' blog "Room for Debate," including what to do with the prisoners and how to define/redefine detention laws. I'm really skeptical about what he's going to be able to do on his first day in office. Does announcing a plan of action necessarily mean action? If he's too hasty, it might end up being more of an empty, merely symbolic gesture rather than an actual solution to the problem and redefinition of US detention laws.

Despite my skepticism as to Obama's timeline, I don't doubt that he will close the prison and ban torture. I think it is important that his transition team is discussing closing the prison as one of the first acts of his presidency because it signifies that human rights, be it in the form of anti-torture laws or anti-genocide laws, will be central to his policies.

Visit Amnesty International to help ensure that Obama makes closing Guantanamo a priority during his first 100 days in office. In these last five days of darkness, let's all work to keep shining that light on human rights!

Vote or [people in Darfur] die

Please take 30 seconds to vote to make the people of Darfur a priority for the new Obama administration:

VOTE FOR CHANGE!

Making human rights a priority in Obama's cabinet

I just got an e-mail from Amnesty International directing me to call my senator to ask him to bring up specific questions in Hillary Rodham Clinton's Secretary of State confirmation hearing. Check if your senator's name is on the list and to find her or his contact information.

Resources for your Blog

Check out the site linked to by the image below. You can watch President-elect Obama's speech on his position on Darfur and get resources for your own blog.

Be a voice for Darfur

President-elect Barack Obama will begin his term in the oval office in less than 15 days. Although we are seeing much less about Darfur in the news these days, the genocide is still going on and it is our responsibility to ensure that our new president makes good on his promise to end the violence. As senator from Illinois, Obama had an excellent record on anti-genocide legislation and if saving Darfur remains a priority, he'll be able to make a difference. He also spoke a great deal about Darfur during his presidential campaign, which you can read about here.

Be a voice for Darfur by filling out an online postcard that will be sent to the President-elect reminding him of his commitment to ending genocide in 2009.

A Parting Shot at Darfur from the Bush Administration

For all its failings, the Bush Administration has pursued some notable humanitarian causes, including the President's Emergency Fund for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR). The Administration's recent announcement that it will airlift vehicles and equipment to bolster the fledgling United Nations-African Union peacekeeping mission in Darfur may well be its final such act. As reported by The New York Times, President Bush ordered the emergency military action ahead of a meeting with Sudan's First Vice President.

The airlift is of course too little too late. A large-scale airlift of supplies early on could have both reduced humanitarian suffering and bolstered the peacekeeping force from the start, rather than attempting to rescue it now, would have been vastly preferable. But having said that, the airlift is a welcome sign of commitment from an Administration heading into its final hours, and a good example for its successor.

President-elect Obama has signaled that he wants to do more in Darfur, and providing sustained US logistical support for the peacekeeping force is a good way to start. US communications, intelligence, and logistics capabilities far outstrip what is available to the force in Darfur, hobbling its effectiveness. If America's new president earnestly wants to do more in Darfur, he could begin by making Bush's 11th-hour airlift a regular endeavor, perhaps complemented by American advisers. Humanity should include among its New Year's resolutions a pledge not to forget the long-suffering people of Darfur.