In the time that it takes you to read this sentence, at least ten real people will die, some of them helpless children, and some in horrible pain. Every single day, 24,000 people die of starvation; 6,000 children are killed by diarrhea; 2,700 children are killed by measles; and 1,400 women die in childbirth.
In more bad news, the number of cases of the deadliest form of malaria across the world could be twice as high as previously predicted.
A team from the University of Oxford estimated there
were over half a billion cases of
Plasmodium falciparum malaria globally in 2002. This
figure is up to 50% higher than estimates from the
World Health Organization. Two thirds of cases
occurred in Africa, predominantly affecting children
under five years old.
The study suggests that, in total, 2.2 billion people
are at risk from malaria, or about one-third of
the population on Earth.
Thats the world we live in today. But can anything
be done about it?
Well, according to another
new study,
the lives of 3 million newborn babies in poor nations
could be saved annually through simple improvements in
birthing procedures and basic healthcare that would cost
the world $4.1 billion per year.
That would be a wonderful beginning. But many more
could be saved from suffering and death through the
development of
molecular
manufacturing.
One approach would be to deal with living space,
which has a significant effect on quality of life,
especially in less developed areas of the world. The
ability to exclude insects, for instance, would greatly
reduce certain diseases, including malaria. Thermal
insulation can increase comfort and often reduce energy
consumption. Water and sewage piping and fixtures
increase sanitation and decrease disease. These
components could be provided cheaply on-site, using
local resources, once
nanofactory
technology has been achieved.
Of course, housing styles are as varied as cultures,
and living spaces cannot and should not be standardized
worldwide. But building supplies and home systems (e.g.
power, plumbing) require less diversity, and useful
components might be built from pre-designed plans.
In many areas of the world, something as simple as a
water filter or a mosquito net could save many lives.
Such small, simple products would cost almost nothing to
produce with a nanofactory. Living space reform cannot
be approached as a single problem with an easy solution,
but the worst problems can easily be addressed
piecemeal.
This all depends, however, on our
willingness and
ability to make such solutions available. The
potential humanitarian
benefits
of advanced
nanotechnology
are immense, but unless some system of
equitable management
is devised in advance, a
unique opportunity
may be missed, and many more lives unnecessarily lost.
IEET Blog