Fighting Disease

Reducing air pollution, improving health in Nepal

One in eight deaths worldwide is caused by air pollution, making it the largest environmental health risk, according to the World Health Organization. Household air pollution alone accounts for 4.3 million deaths a year.

“More than 3 billion people around the world cook on open fires and stoves, burning biomass fuels such as wood, dung, and crop waste,” says Yale Jones, a member of the Rotary Club of Taos-Milagro in New Mexico, USA. Along with causing widespread injuries, Jones says this method also harms the environment.

To combat this epidemic in Nepal, the Taos-Milagro club mobilized clubs in several countries to support the Himalayan Stove Project. Founded by Rotary member George Basch, the organization has installed more than 3,000 clean-burning stoves in Nepal.

Drug wars, financial setbacks no match for Mexico clinic

Since 1980, the Guerrero Clinic in Chihuahua, Mexico, has withstood neighboring drug wars and financial setbacks to treat the poor. The governor of Chihuahua credits the clinic with providing 60 percent of the state’s indigent care.

Rotary clubs in southeast Texas, USA, and northern Mexico help keep the clinic operating through the support of volunteers, contributions, and Rotary grants. As often as six times a year, the clinic offers free health care services such as cataract and cleft palate surgeries, cancer screenings, and pap smears to as many as 1,000 patients a week.

Learn more about Rotary grants or contribute to the fighting disease fund.