Plastics Engineering - May 2014 - (Page 28)
How Some Clever Engineering Makes Millions
of Lives Better
By American Chemistry Council
a
soft drink delivery crate. a mosquito net. a wheelchair made
with patio furniture. What do
these have in common?
Well, they're made with plastics.
Plus, they're inexpensive. But most
importantly, they're helping save or
improve millions of lives in developing
countries-while contributing to sustainability.
Millions of lives? inexpensive plastic
products contributing to sustainability? really?
according to the World Health
Organization, approximately 1.5 billion years of healthy lives are lost
annually due to disease and injury,
such as preventable infectious diseases. these losses are not only
personally devastating, they also radically affect every aspect of social and
economic life and the environment,
particularly in developing countries.
instead of being productive and investing in the future, families must spend
their resources on medical care and
coping, often leading to poverty and its
accompanying environmental degra-
28
dation, while the afflicted become
unproductive and unable to work.
innovations in health, medical and
safety tools-often made possible with
plastics-help save countless lives,
prevent diseases, and avoid injuries,
from children in sub-saharan africa
to suburban american families. these
advances help improve basic hygiene,
contribute to safety, and enable lifesaving measures, thereby contributing
to sustainability by reducing injuries,
disease and premature deaths and
their associated societal, economic,
and environmental impacts.
While those of us in the developed
world may focus more on cutting-edge
advances-dissolvable plastic heart
stents or prosthetics made with plastics on 3-D printers-in many
developing areas, the focus remains
simpler: survival, preventable diseases,
mobility....
Here's a look at three (relatively)
simple plastic products that together
have positively impacted millions of
lives in less developed regions of the
world.
| Plastics EnginEEring | MaY 2014 | www.4spe.org | www.plasticsengineering.org
Plastic Package Delivers
Lifesaving Medicine
Fifteen percent of deaths in children
under five in sub-saharan africa are
caused by an easily treated condition:
diarrhea. Due to an ineffective distribution system, inexpensive treatment
kits in this region only make it to some
central locations, but not out to the
far-flung villages where kids live... and
die.
Workers for colalife, an independent non-profit UK-based agency that
provides aid to the area, noticed that
one well known product has a network that reaches deep into these
http://www.4spe.org
http://www.plasticsengineering.org
Plastics Engineering - May 2014
Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Plastics Engineering - May 2014
Contents
Plastics Engineering - May 2014 - Cover1
Plastics Engineering - May 2014 - Cover2
Plastics Engineering - May 2014 - Contents
Plastics Engineering - May 2014 - 2
Plastics Engineering - May 2014 - 3
Plastics Engineering - May 2014 - 4
Plastics Engineering - May 2014 - 5
Plastics Engineering - May 2014 - 6
Plastics Engineering - May 2014 - 7
Plastics Engineering - May 2014 - 8
Plastics Engineering - May 2014 - 9
Plastics Engineering - May 2014 - 10
Plastics Engineering - May 2014 - 11
Plastics Engineering - May 2014 - 12
Plastics Engineering - May 2014 - 13
Plastics Engineering - May 2014 - 14
Plastics Engineering - May 2014 - 15
Plastics Engineering - May 2014 - 16
Plastics Engineering - May 2014 - 17
Plastics Engineering - May 2014 - 18
Plastics Engineering - May 2014 - 19
Plastics Engineering - May 2014 - 20
Plastics Engineering - May 2014 - 21
Plastics Engineering - May 2014 - 22
Plastics Engineering - May 2014 - 23
Plastics Engineering - May 2014 - 24
Plastics Engineering - May 2014 - 25
Plastics Engineering - May 2014 - 26
Plastics Engineering - May 2014 - 27
Plastics Engineering - May 2014 - 28
Plastics Engineering - May 2014 - 29
Plastics Engineering - May 2014 - 30
Plastics Engineering - May 2014 - 31
Plastics Engineering - May 2014 - 32
Plastics Engineering - May 2014 - 33
Plastics Engineering - May 2014 - 34
Plastics Engineering - May 2014 - 35
Plastics Engineering - May 2014 - 36
Plastics Engineering - May 2014 - 37
Plastics Engineering - May 2014 - 38
Plastics Engineering - May 2014 - 39
Plastics Engineering - May 2014 - 40
Plastics Engineering - May 2014 - 41
Plastics Engineering - May 2014 - 42
Plastics Engineering - May 2014 - 43
Plastics Engineering - May 2014 - 44
Plastics Engineering - May 2014 - 45
Plastics Engineering - May 2014 - 46
Plastics Engineering - May 2014 - 47
Plastics Engineering - May 2014 - 48
Plastics Engineering - May 2014 - 49
Plastics Engineering - May 2014 - 50
Plastics Engineering - May 2014 - 51
Plastics Engineering - May 2014 - 52
Plastics Engineering - May 2014 - 53
Plastics Engineering - May 2014 - 54
Plastics Engineering - May 2014 - 55
Plastics Engineering - May 2014 - 56
Plastics Engineering - May 2014 - 57
Plastics Engineering - May 2014 - 58
Plastics Engineering - May 2014 - 59
Plastics Engineering - May 2014 - 60
Plastics Engineering - May 2014 - 61
Plastics Engineering - May 2014 - 62
Plastics Engineering - May 2014 - 63
Plastics Engineering - May 2014 - 64
Plastics Engineering - May 2014 - 65
Plastics Engineering - May 2014 - 66
Plastics Engineering - May 2014 - 67
Plastics Engineering - May 2014 - 68
Plastics Engineering - May 2014 - Cover3
Plastics Engineering - May 2014 - Cover4
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/wiley/pe_201405
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/wiley/pe_201404
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/wiley/pe_201403_demo
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/wiley/pe_201403
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/wiley/antec2014_advanceprogram
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/wiley/pe_201402
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/wiley/pe_201401
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/wiley/pe_201312
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/wiley/pe_201310
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/wiley/pe_201309
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/wiley/pe_20130708
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/wiley/pe_201306
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/wiley/pe_201305
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/wiley/pe_201304
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/wiley/pe_201303
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/wiley/pe_201302
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/wiley/pe_201301
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/wiley/pe_20121112
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/wiley/pe_2013mediakit
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/wiley/pe_201210
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/wiley/pe_201209
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/wiley/pe_20120708
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/wiley/pe_201206
https://www.nxtbookmedia.com