The world's biggest challenges no longer belong to a small set of voices; today Internet based Social Media tools ensured that it is a global conversation.
Today's discussions were centered around the prevention of TB, mainly lack of access to adequate drugs and stigmas that exist with regards to TB. And while HIV/AIDS and Malaria were considered dangeous, we fail to notice that most HIV+ people die by contacting TB. Reichman noted that TB is an "un-sexy" disease, and Craig David pointed out that the stigma attached to TB made it more difficult to increase community awareness and the effective implementation of programs when people are unwilling to identify themselves as having TB. While the discussions were mainly about TB in Africa, it must be noted that Asia has huge number of people who are suffering from drug - resistant strain of TB; indiscriminate dispensing of antibiotics is partly responsible for this. As rightly noted by Craig David, if you do not take the full course of antibiotics for the throat infection, you could end up with a strain of drug-resistant TB.
The next sesion focused on ICTs - Use of ICTs for Social good; trying to bring those technologies that work and are sustainable is the real challenge. The high proliferation of cell phones in India is a shining example.Cell phones have enpowered people - the service is so affordable that the poor can afford it, it helps then in their businesses - from the vegetable vendor to the plumber, or even a mason, young women who work as house maids - all have cell phones. Communication technology has changed the face of the country..
Read more about today's events at http://mashable.com/un-week/digital-media-lounge/
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