The older consumers get, the more we squint at the tiny type on medicine bottles. What if our problem, though, was not failing eyesight but inability to read?
Sept. 8 is International Literacy Day, an observance established more than four decades ago by UNESCO, an arm of the United Nations. While U.S. citizens may see little need for prompting from an international organization, the impact of illiteracy beyond our borders has global implications that can hit home. Poverty, ignorance and illness help sow seeds of discord.
There’s a relationship between people’s ability to read and their health, according to UNESCO. In the developing world, literacy is a strong tool in the fight against communicable diseases such as HIV, tuberculosis and malaria, which have been identified as some of he world’s most important public health concerns.
Southwest Asia has the lowest regional literacy rate (58.6 percent), followed by sub-Saharan Africa (59.7 percent) and the Arab states (62.7 percent). The per capita income in those places ó in any country with a literacy rate less than 55 percent ó averages about $600, according to ProLiteracy Worldwide. Obviously, problem begets problem. Not only is there a clear connection between illiteracy and poverty, but UNESCO has also found a connection between illiteracy and prejudice against women.
Problems with literacy are not all somewhere else. According to an article from pharmaceutical make Pfizer, a survey of U.S. adults in 1993 found that some 40 to 44 million people could not read instructions on a prescription label, notes from a teacher, or directions on a map.
Hats off to people who help fight this problem by teaching children or becoming literacy tutors through the Rowan County Literacy Council, a United Way agency. Learning to read is not just a matter of education; for many it’s a matter of survival.