Supply of materials for birth control and instruction in their use seem called for. The author has pointed out one of the problems associated with uncontrolled population increase. The root (pun intended) problem is uncontrolled population increase itself.

Thankyou for reminding us of some the the real problems the world faces, Ben.

I agree with you that sanitation (including clean drinking water) is the place to start in bringing these people's living standards up and mortality rate down. Public toilets are the way to start - most affordable and containers of night waste can be taken to them.

Of course the program you suggest involves a lot of 'grass roots' education, and should include contraception too. As peoples' education and living standard rise, so birth rates fall.

Thanks Ben, for a practical and realistic summary of a major problem.

We are so fortunate in developed countries to have water and sewerage infrastructure that we take for granted - it's good to be reminded of these things.

We are so fortunate in developed countries to have water and sewerage infrastructure
Rhian,
I suppose it does end up more effective to get off one's butt & built things than going into buildings & sticking one's butt in the air five times a day.
Westerners have learnt from their mistakes of thrashing everything, others still have to learn to build things so they can be thrashed. It's all just a matter of mentality & learning to learn.

individual

it took decades to develop the infrastructure we enjoy, plus a whole range of things - like money and effective government - to put them in place. The focus of this article is child mortality. It's a bit tough on the under-5s of Nairobi to expect them to just get out and build stuff.

Some material on one of the Kenyan slums (Kibera) at http://www.ask.com/wiki/Kibera?o=2802&qsrc=999

Thanks for the article. There are a lot of things about many cultures that I can see hold the people in those cultures back (including some in our own). In the case of many third world countries it's hard to see how those at the bottom of the pile economically and educationally have much opportunity to transform their own lives without some sort of help.

Clean water and sanitation are good places to start.

R0bert

Rhian,
Yes it is tough on the children so why do we allow their parents to be the way they are ? Or do you just want to keep giving them our money until our own children suffer the same tragic fate ?
If someone suggests sterilisation as a form of help it gets shouted down, if someone suggests going in & removing the moron warlords it gets shouted down as illegal invasion, if it's suggested to bring them to better countries it gets shouted down, in fact anything that people suggest gets shouted down. Population control is the most secure way of preventing poverty & the suffering because of it. It gets shouted down also. I feel terribly for those children but I'm not permitted to go & help them. My Government nor the children's Government would permit me to go in & build infrastructure for them so what do you suggest can be done ? More million dollar studies ? Or more Malcolm Frasers flying around in Learjets & telling us to give more money ? I have responsibilities also. Why not ask those stinking rich Oil billionaires who have private A380 jets to fork out & help their close neighbours ? Or what about those faggots who pamper the poodles at 25,000 a night, why not ask them to throw some money into the hat instead of just throwing it at pets ? We could actually start by making sure that no australian child shall live in poverty by 1990 er, 2020, you there Mr Hawke ?