When I first clicked on this YouTube video link, I wasn’t sure what to expect. But once the video started playing, I quickly realized it’s a scripted (but entertaining) demonstration of vaccine cold chains featuring Hans Rosling with a cameo from Bill Gates. The topic of the video is how cold chains function and the challenges in getting vaccines through an uninterrupted cold chain to those who need them. Using juice, containers, and glasses, Rosling answers the question “What percent of 1 year old children receive basic vaccines?” In the spirit of World Immunization Week, which ended yesterday, take a few minutes to watch the video.
After watching, I did a little digging to find out more about Rosling and the Gapminder Foundation, which produced the video. Turns out this video is the first in a series of “Demographic Party Tricks” that are part of the Foundation’s Ignorance Project. The gist of it is they’re on a mission to cure ignorance when it comes to key global development trends and statistics.
I spent a significant amount of time on their website exploring their various data sets, labs, and interactive graphs. Some of my favorites are:
- Africa is Not a Country (a personal pet peeve of mine)
- The Wealth and Health of Nations
- Stop Calling Them Developing Countries
- The River of Myths (sound familiar?)
Click here to take a look around. You may learn a thing or two! And let us know which sections of the site you like most in the comments below.
IH CONNECT 