Tag Archives: policymaker

New Study Finds Consumption Measures Poverty Better than Income

The U.S. Census Bureau should reconsider income-based poverty measures in favor of a consumption-based method, according to a new study that strives to more accurately identify the neediest Americans.

The report found that the official poverty rate and the Census Bureau’s new Supplemental Poverty Measure—both of which are income-based—do not gauge the extent of poverty as well as a method based on real purchasing ability. Bruce D. Meyer, the McCormick Foundation Professor at the University of Chicago’s Harris School of Public Policy, co-authored the study with James X. Sullivan of the University of Notre Dame. (more…)

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Global Health: Students Build Wiki of Medical Devices Designed for Low-Income Countries

ANN ARBOR, Mich.— In parts of the world without reliable electricity, a pedal-powered nebulizer could provide life-saving asthma treatments. Small wax-filled sleeping bags could keep premature infants warm. A salad spinner centrifuge for blood samples could help clinicians diagnose anemia.

University of Michigan researchers have cataloged more than 100 such technologies in a new wiki of medical devices designed for resource-limited settings. The Global Health Medical Device Compendium, an open-source inventory, is hosted by the popular appropriate technology wiki Appropedia. It is expected to serve as an important communication vehicle for end users, non-governmental organizations, researchers and others to help advance such technologies. (more…)

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