{"317871":{"#nid":"317871","#data":{"type":"news","title":"How to Help Humanitarian Aid","body":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EThe humanitarian tragedies unfolding around the world have left many wondering what they can do to help. The\u0026nbsp;\u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/humanitarian.scl.gatech.edu\/home\u0022\u003EGeorgia Tech Health \u0026amp; Humanitarian Logistics Center\u003C\/a\u003E\u0026nbsp;uses science to improve areas of humanitarian need.\u0026nbsp;\u003Cstrong\u003EJulie Swann\u003C\/strong\u003E, co-director of the center and associate professor in the H. Milton Stewart School of Industrial \u0026amp; Systems Engineering, offers advice to those who want to help struggling areas.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cblockquote\u003E\u003Cp\u003EIt is heartbreaking to watch those battling Ebola in Africa, and people struggling in conflict areas including Iraq and Ukraine. For those of you driven to help, there is one important issue to keep in mind: SWEDOW.\u0026nbsp;It stands for Stuff We Don\u0027t Want.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EOur first instincts may be to look around the house for things to donate or set up community collection efforts.\u0026nbsp;While well meaning, items not requested by individuals or organizations on the ground can clog up the already limited supply chain and cause more harm than good.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EEven items such as vaccines and medical supplies, which can be extremely helpful, can result in negative impact if they are not sent when they are needed and to those who need them.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EIt is important to understand why the disease of Ebola has been particularly devastating in this epidemic. One great contributor is the existing infrastructure in the countries where the disease outbreak began. They are among the countries with the lowest gross domestic product worldwide, and with the lowest spending on healthcare globally.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EFor most of us, it would be ineffectual to try to respond to this rapidly spreading outbreak.\u0026nbsp;However, we can commit to continued investment in lifting individuals and nations out of poverty, and ensuring that sufficient resources are available to provide basic services to populations.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EIf countries had a sufficient number of health care personnel and a sufficient number of medical supplies such as gloves, then this outbreak could have been stopped far earlier.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EFind an organization that has boots on the ground in any of the locales related to the crises, and direct your resources to that organization.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EAsk yourself not only how you can help in this crisis, but also how you can help prevent future crises of this nature.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThis article first appeared in the\u0026nbsp;\u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/amplifier.gatech.edu\/articles\/2014\/08\/how-help-humanitarian-aid\u0022\u003EGT Amplifier\u003C\/a\u003E.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003C\/blockquote\u003E","summary":null,"format":"limited_html"}],"field_subtitle":"","field_summary":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EThe humanitarian tragedies unfolding around the world have left many wondering what they can do to help. The\u0026nbsp;\u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/humanitarian.scl.gatech.edu\/home\u0022\u003EGeorgia Tech Health \u0026amp; Humanitarian Logistics Center\u003C\/a\u003E\u0026nbsp;uses science to improve areas of humanitarian need.\u0026nbsp;\u003Cstrong\u003EJulie Swann\u003C\/strong\u003E, co-director of the center and associate professor in the H. Milton Stewart School of Industrial \u0026amp; Systems Engineering, offers advice to those who want to help struggling areas.\u003C\/p\u003E","format":"limited_html"}],"field_summary_sentence":[{"value":"Julie Swann, co-director of the center and associate professor in the H. Milton Stewart School of Industrial \u0026 Systems Engineering, offers advice to those who want to help struggling areas."}],"uid":"27868","created_gmt":"2014-08-21 13:40:50","changed_gmt":"2016-10-08 03:16:56","author":"Lizzie Millman","boilerplate_text":"","field_publication":"","field_article_url":"","dateline":{"date":"2014-08-21T00:00:00-04:00","iso_date":"2014-08-21T00:00:00-04:00","tz":"America\/New_York"},"extras":[],"hg_media":{"59923":{"id":"59923","type":"image","title":"Julie Swann","body":null,"created":"1449176239","gmt_created":"2015-12-03 20:57:19","changed":"1475894520","gmt_changed":"2016-10-08 02:42:00","alt":"Julie Swann","file":{"fid":"191033","name":"Swann_Julie_-_Bust.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/Swann_Julie_-_Bust_1.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/Swann_Julie_-_Bust_1.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":1755966,"path_740":"http:\/\/hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/Swann_Julie_-_Bust_1.jpg?itok=zcp4hzUo"}}},"media_ids":["59923"],"groups":[{"id":"1242","name":"School of Industrial and Systems Engineering (ISYE)"}],"categories":[{"id":"134","name":"Student and Faculty"}],"keywords":[{"id":"8884","name":"Center for Health and Humanitarian Logistics"},{"id":"1237","name":"Julie Swann"}],"core_research_areas":[],"news_room_topics":[],"event_categories":[],"invited_audience":[],"affiliations":[],"classification":[],"areas_of_expertise":[],"news_and_recent_appearances":[],"phone":[],"contact":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EGeorgia Tech Media Relations\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003ELaura Diamond\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Ca href=\u0022mailto:laura.diamond@comm.gatech.edu\u0022\u003Elaura.diamond@comm.gatech.edu\u003C\/a\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E404-894-6016\u003Cbr \/\u003EJason Maderer\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Ca href=\u0022mailto:maderer@gatech.edu\u0022\u003Emaderer@gatech.edu\u003C\/a\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E404-660-2926\u003C\/p\u003E","format":"limited_html"}],"email":["matt.nagel@comm.gatech.edu"],"slides":[],"orientation":[],"userdata":""}}}