Giving Compass' Take:

• Joanne Silberner describes the devastating consequences of improperly treated burns, a global health crisis with little research or funding. 

• How can philanthropy spur research into the extent of the problem and methods of addressing it? 

• Learn about funding scientific research. 

Five years ago, in a village in south-central Nepal, 8-year-old Saraswoti Shrestha stumbled into a pot of oil heating on the open-fire stove in the middle of her family’s one-room home.

For the hidden health crisis of burn injuries, the lack of global data and evidence has contributed to a lack of resources.

She regained consciousness in a local hospital, her life changed forever. Her entire torso and neck were deeply burned. Over the next few months, without proper dressings and splints, burn contractures formed—thick tissue that pulled her head tightly down, and locked her right hand to her forearm.

11 million people were burned severely enough to require medical attention in 2004, according to a recently updated WHO fact sheet. In Nepal, the estimate for 2008 was 56,000—and burn surgeons say only about 1,000 of those got adequate care.

Anderson speculates that burns are not a political priority in part because disabling burns and contractures are rare in high-income countries. In developed countries, you don’t see the crippling contractures like Saraswoti had. They only occur when treatment is not available or is substandard. Compare that to a condition like HIV, whose toll is visible in both poor and rich countries.

Read the full article on burn prevention and care by Joanne Silberner at Global Health NOW.