Interplast Included in Peter Singer’s “The Life You Can Save: Acting Now to End World Poverty”
Interplast is honored to be included in world-renowned ethicist and Princeton professor Peter Singer’s widely acclaimed book, “The Life You Can Save: Acting Now to End World Poverty.”
The
premise of the book is that if we could easily save the life of a child, we
would--- and that most of us living in affluent countries can and should do
more. It challenges readers “to give a modest
proportion of their income to effective organizations fighting extreme poverty”
in order to solve world poverty.
Interplast
is mentioned as one of those effective organizations, based in part on watch-dog
group Give Well’s favorable evaluation of us. “Interplast doesn’t save lives, but Give Well included it in
[its most effective organizations category] because it transforms them so
dramatically. Interplast corrects
deformities like cleft palates, and helps burn victims so that they can walk or
use their hands again,” writes Singer. “The procedures performed are often relatively simple and
would be routine in rich nations, but for the poor in the developing world,
getting to a surgeon is often impossible…. Life-changing procedures anywhere,
the surgeries are even more so in poor countries, where discrimination against
people with deformities is often much more severe than in rich nations.”
The book also discusses in interesting detail the
psychology of giving and how there needs to be a cultural shift in giving to
end poverty. “Research has shown that people are more likely to give if they
know that others are giving. So we need to be upfront about our giving.”
Interplast
is one of 15 charities recommended for donations on the book’s website. Singer also recently wrote to us, “I just wanted to add my own appreciation of your work at
Interplast. I do hope the book helps you gain further support.” While we do not know if it has yet, we
do know his website endorsement and numerous book interviews have increased
traffic to our website. We thank
Professor Singer for including us in his book and most importantly, for his work
trying to make the world a better place for all.
To learn more, visit "The Life You Can Save”, or numerous interviews and reviews, including The New York Times, The Chrisitan Science Monitor or NPR.
