PULLMAN, Wash. – Preventing arsenic poisoning in Bangladesh will be the problem addressed by teams in the fourth annual Washington State University Global Case Competition, it was announced today (Tuesday, Feb. 18).
For the contest, students from all WSU campuses and across different academic backgrounds form teams and develop solutions to a global problem. Winners have the opportunity to receive scholarship prizes.
In what the World Health Organization has called “the largest mass poisoning in history,” approximately 80 million people in Bangladesh are at risk of arsenic-related diseases. One in five deaths may be attributed to arsenic poisoning.
An international effort in the 1970s to give Bangladesh clean water via wells, rather than dirty surface water, backfired because the country’s rocks, through which the well water filters, are high in arsenic.
The competition at WSU began in spring 2011 to promote collaboration among students to increase awareness of complex global issues and develop strategic solutions. Presentations by five selected WSU teams and announcement of the winner will be April 11.
For more information, see http://ip.wsu.edu/global-learning/gcc/home.html or contact Abbi Delgado, adelgado@wsu.edu, in the Office of International Programs.