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December 2, 2008 5:28:50 AM CST

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developing world

developing world news stories

11 Stories

Eggbeater Helps Scientists Whip Disease

Harvard researchers fashion a household item into a diagnostic device

Discover Discover Oct 16, 08 4:30 PM CDT
(Newser) - Centrifuges separate blood from plasma—but at considerable expense, in a bulky package. That leaves them beyond the reach of underfunded medical facilities that could use the help in diagnosing blood-borne ailments, such as hepatitis and other diseases. The solution, Discover reports, could be as close as the nearest kitchen. It's an eggbeater. More »

More about:  health care • medicine • Harvard • developing countries • developing world • diagnosis • infectious diseases • hepatitis B

 The Battle 
 for India's 
 Largest Slum 

Developers see 'brand-new beautiful suburb' near Mumbai; residents beg to differ

Los Angeles Times Los Angeles Times Sep 8, 08 1:15 PM CDT
(Newser) - With the Indian economy booming, developers have their sights on Dharavi, the vast Mumbai slum that sits at the intersection of two popular commuter train lines and conveniently close to the Mumbai airport. Visions of shanty houses and refuse-filled streets replaced by glass high-rise apartments and office parks—"a brand-new beautiful suburb," the plan's architect puts it—have pitted the government against Dharavi's 500,000 residents. More »

More about:  India • Mumbai • developing countries • developing world

OPINION

The Win-Win Economics of Medical Tourism

Growing trend of traveling for health care doesn't have to hurt anyone

Economist Economist Aug 15, 08 2:28 PM CDT
(Newser) - The spread of “medical tourism”—uninsured and underinsured patients seeking cheap health care in Southeast Asia or Latin America—has fueled fears that developing nations will divert resources from state health systems caring for their own citizens. But, the Economist argues, “if governments make the best of the boom, then medical tourism should improve the health of rich and poor alike.” More »

More about:  health care • medicine • globalization • health care costs • outsourcing • developing world • health insurance costs • medical tourism

OPINION

Who Cares Who We Talk to?

The only way to revive US influence is to
stop empowering our foes with oil dollars

New York Times New York Times May 21, 08 1:42 PM CDT
(Newser) - Though politicians and pundits alike are caught up in which foes the US should or shouldn't be reaching out to, Thomas Friedman, in the New York Times , points out that few world leaders of any stripe are sitting by the phone waiting for our call. Waning American influence and the rise of new powers in the developing world and outside the state system worry Friedman much more. More »

More about:  Bush administration • oil • globalization • Thomas Friedman • developing world • energy dependence • foreign oil

Therapy by Any Other Name

Low-cost program
aims to reduce stigma, treat depression
in developing world

New York Times New York Times Mar 12, 08 6:56 PM CDT
(Newser) - A program that treats depression in Indian villages is seeking to transform mental health care throughout the developing world, the New York Times reports. Bypassing expensive doctors, the clinics train laypeople to avoid talk of mental illness—a shameful stigma in many cultures—by screening for "strain" and "tension," and offering patients therapy, yoga, and medication. More »

More about:  India • depression • mental health • developing world • psychotherapy

OPINION

Consumers Beware

Don't worry about overpopulation, prof writes—worry about consumption rates

New York Times New York Times Jan 2, 08 3:53 PM CST
(Newser) - Don’t worry how many people there are in the world—worry how much each is consuming, noted author and professor Jared Diamond argues in today’s New York Times . People in the developed world consume 32 times more than counterparts in the developing world; if the 5.5 billion in the developing world were to catch up, we’d all face a massive resource crisis. More »

More about:  developing world • overpopulation • consumption

Ethiopia Stirs Up Coffee Industry

Fair trade to get a lot more fair if trademark approved

Christian Science Monitor Christian Science Monitor Nov 10, 07 3:33 PM CST
(Newser) - Ethiopia is trademarking its distinctive coffee crop, a move that could bring $88 million a year to the impoverished country, the Christian Science Monitor reports. Coffee connoisseurs happily pay up to $10 per pound for beans from Ethiopia’s Yirgacheffe region, but less than $1 of that goes to farmers growing it. Obtaining the trademark could change all that, much to the chagrin of distributors such as Starbucks. More »

More about:  coffee • Ethiopia • branding • developing world

eBay Launches Microfinance Loan Site

Users can lend money to the world's poor... and earn interest

Fortune Magazine Fortune Magazine Oct 29, 07 6:23 PM CDT
(Newser) - EBay's newly launched MicroPlace lets users make loans through PayPal or a bank account to needy entrepreneurs worldwide. The idea? Even small sums can help poor people build businesses to raise themselves out of poverty. The site's founder remembers one Bangladeshi woman who bought a handloom, thus earning enough to repay the loan and school her children, reports Fortune. More »

More about:  eBay • poverty • investing • developing world • social responsibility • private lenders • microfinance • antipoverty

Tech Wraps Growing Web Around World

Some worry about cultural loss as cell phones, e-mail spread

PC World PC World Oct 8, 07 1:40 PM CDT
(Newser) - Global cellphone and computer usage is up dramatically as inequalities in technology drop. Cellphone ownership has grown 20% in the US, where 80% of the population uses computers, third in the world behind Sweden and South Korea. Computer usage is up in 26 of 35 countries in a new Pew survey, PC World reports, and even 6% of Tanzanians log on. More »

More about:  Russia • environment • cell phones • technology • computer • Nigeria • culture • Tanzania • developing world

Intel, Third World Laptop Initiative Join Forces

Chip giant makes peace with One Laptop Per Child

Associated Press Associated Press Jul 13, 07 5:40 PM CDT
(Newser) - Intel and the One Laptop per Child initiative are making peace and embracing the notion of synergy. The chip maker and the pioneer of the $100 laptop concept will stop competing for deals with governments in the developing world and team up, the AP reports. The partnership is a big step on the road to the elusive $100 goal. More »

More about:  technology • computer • MIT • developing world • One Laptop Per Child

Strife Centers on Laptops for Third World

Intel cranks up competition to provide poor kids with cheap computers

BBC BBC Jun 5, 07 2:00 PM CDT
(Newser) - The race to provide cheap laptops to the developing world is heating up, with Intel working on a second computer priced under $200 and the One Laptop per Child foundation accusing the chipmaker of undermining its efforts. The individual machines aren't expensive, but because governments will buy them in volume and the technology is flexible, the financial stakes are huge. More »

More about:  computer • Intel • developing world • One Laptop Per Child

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