(C) Daily Kos
This story was originally published by Daily Kos and is unaltered.
. . . . . . . . . .



Disease and Dependency, the Crisis Behind Technology [1]

['This Content Is Not Subject To Review Daily Kos Staff Prior To Publication.']

Date: 2025-07-29

This article has been published in support of the Alliance 4 American Leadership (A4AL), a nonprofit advocacy coalition that supports U.S. backed foreign aid initiatives around the world. Disease prevention and humanitarian aid are focal points of our mission. The views expressed here are independent and do not necessarily represent those of A4AL.

In recent decades, digital technology has become the foundation from which humanity can cooperatively advance. What was once a world of division is now a global, interconnected one through just the click of a button. Modern innovative technology can manage and assist our lives in an unprecedented manner yet we are one disease outbreak from major economic collapse and mass mortality, especially in vulnerable regions.

The Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) is the second largest country in Africa that faces significant challenges due to large health risks associated with resource extraction. Decades of exploitation have left a lasting impact on the nation’s political environment. Meanwhile, public infrastructure has been neglected, particularly childhood education. This has forced children to be exploited, working grueling hours alongside their parents to survive. Matters are made worse when the largest known reserves of cobalt in the world are found in the less inhabited eastern region, causing serious accessibility challenges for available machinery and regional healthcare.

Cobalt powers phones, laptops, electric vehicles, and other advanced technology that we rely on daily. The critical nature of these materials for economic development and general use has led to large scale extraction being fast tracked often without regard for safety of workers. In particular unsanitary conditions have further increased the likelihood of countless diseases, such as malaria, the sleeping sickness, and HIV/AIDS. Babies and children are especially vulnerable due to underdeveloped immune systems. Since the demographics of Subsaharan Africa skew much younger, due to high birth rates, a widespread crisis is becoming increasingly likely to unfold in the near future.

The U.S. government provides over $1 billion in humanitarian and bilateral assistance to the DRC per year, with the past 10 years seeing over $6 billion delivered. This aid is allocated to many different issues, one of which being disease control and prevention. Aid officially reaches 25 of the 26 provinces, proving a large initiative backed by U.S. agencies and programs to prevent large-scale consequences. Humanitarian aid has been sent to remote areas including the eastern DRC, aimed at providing water, sanitation, and hygienic support to communities that eliminate preemptive risks before they spread too far. This support is vital for the livelihood of many million people, requiring our support to remain operating.

The Alliance 4 American Leadership continues to advocate for American-backed foreign aid initiatives by supporting agencies and programs like PEPFAR, USAID, and the CDC. Cancelling or reducing aid will have major consequences on 20.5 million people across 55 countries that rely on this aid to live. Due to a loss of funding in early 2025 we have seen an estimated 86,147 deaths, and counting.

Despite the massive scale of this human suffering, by using the very technology built from these regions to support foreign aid, lives can be saved and future crises can be prevented. Through spreading awareness or supporting organizations like the Alliance 4 American Leadership, we can create meaningful change. Furthermore, any donations that go towards supporting this mission are greatly appreciated!

https://givebutter.com/A4AL/nolanlenart

All funds raised go towards foreign aid and humanitarian advocacy efforts.

Your support can help turn awareness into action.

Sources:

Alliance 4 American Leadership (2025) End the AIDS epidemic. https://a4al.org/policy-priority-4

PEPFAR Impact Counter (2025) Impact of Partial PEPFAR Funding Freeze and Discontinuation: Estimated Deaths. https://pepfar.impactcounter.com/?source=embed

Think Global Health (2025) Protecting Miners' Health in Democratic Republic of Congo. https://www.thinkglobalhealth.org/article/protecting-miners-health-democratic-republic-congo#:~:text=in%20mining%20communities.-,Miners%20are%20not%20able%20to%20access%20needed%20medications%20for%20the,ensure%20their%20highest%20attainable%20health

U.S. Embassy in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (2025) U.S. Engagement in the DRC. https://cd.usembassy.gov/us-engagement-in-the-drc/

[END]
---
[1] Url: https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2025/7/29/2335805/-Disease-and-Dependency-the-Crisis-Behind-Technology?pm_campaign=front_page&pm_source=more_community&pm_medium=web

Published and (C) by Daily Kos
Content appears here under this condition or license: Site content may be used for any purpose without permission unless otherwise specified.

via Magical.Fish Gopher News Feeds:
gopher://magical.fish/1/feeds/news/dailykos/

You are viewing proxied material from magical.fish. The copyright of proxied material belongs to its original authors. Any comments or complaints in relation to proxied material should be directed to the original authors of the content concerned. Please see the disclaimer for more details.