Lead Exposure, Libyan Health Care, and U.S. Global Health Activism
November 10, 2023
Editor's Note
Lead is a dangerous neurotoxin and can have nasty and permanent effects on children who are exposed in utero or early childhood. A recent analysis by the Center for Global Development (CGD) found that lead exposure explains more than 20 percent of the learning gap between wealthy and poor nations.
This week, Rachel Silverman Bonnifield, an author of that CGD analysis, writes on how Bangladesh identified the mysterious source of its high lead exposure rates—adulterated turmeric—and why the government's actions are a model for other countries seeking to end childhood lead poisoning by 2040.
Next, Mary Fitzgerald, a scholar at the Middle East Institute, revisits Libya two months after the devastating floods in Derna to see how the country's health-care system weathered that storm and over a decade of civil conflict. Her findings are sobering.
David P. Fidler wraps up the week with a response to U.S. National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan's recent Foreign Affairs article on the sources of American power, including leadership on development, health, and food security. Fidler argues that a U.S.-led world order is over and that U.S. global health activism should do more to offer a competitive value proposition to rivals' economic and security support.
As always, thank you for reading.—Thomas J. Bollyky, Editor
Worldwide, an estimated one in three children have blood lead levels above five micrograms per deciliter, which is the level at which the World Health Organization recommends clinical intervention
