Category Archives: environment

myMADRE » Sounding the Drum for Women’s Rights

We were right in front of the beautiful home of Rose Cunningham, the Director of MADRE’s sister organization Wangki Tangni.

Within moments, Rose smiled down on us from her balcony and greeted us with a shout: “You made it!” Stepping inside, we found a place buzzing with activity, as the Wangki Tangni organizers worked hard, using her home as a staging ground to put everything in place. It was a big task — no wonder with over 1,000 Indigenous women from across the region converging in Waspam. Some of them had even traveled for days to arrive, some by foot, some on boats along the nearby river, the Rio Coco.

(A few days later, we even met one woman who traveled for two days in a canoe with her one-month old baby daughter strapped to her chest – just so that she could be part of this Forum. Pause for a moment to think about what that must have been like.)

via myMADRE » Sounding the Drum for Women’s Rights.

Studies show more TB cases worldwide than earlier estimates | Vaccine News Daily

Old diseases, not as interesting? Or if not perceived as a threat to US or EU – so no worries like for Ebola?

New studies show that there are approximately 500,000 more cases of tuberculosis than was previously estimated.

The World Health Organization’s (WHO) “Global Tuberculosis Report 2014″ details how 9 million people developed TB last year and 1.5 million died, including approximately 360,000 individuals who were HIV positive.

“Following a concerted effort by countries, by WHO and by multiple partners, investment in national surveys and routine surveillance efforts has substantially increased,” WHO Director of the Global TB Program Dr. Mario Raviglione said. “This is providing us with much more and better data, bringing us closer and closer to understanding the true burden of tuberculosis.”

The report states that the death rate from TB is still falling and has actually dropped by 45 percent since 1990. The number of people developing TB is declining by approximately 1.5 percent a year, while 37 million people have survived TB through thorough diagnosis and treatment over the past 14 years.

Another aspect of the report shows that while an astounding number of lives are being lost to curable diseases, TB is the second biggest killer from one infectious agent. Approximately three million people stricken with TB are still misdiagnosed, or diagnosed but not reported.

A lack of funding is hindering worldwide efforts to fight the TB epidemic. An estimated $8 billion is needed each year, but there is currently a $2 billion shortfall.

via Studies show more TB cases worldwide than earlier estimates | Vaccine News Daily.

AKA: No profit/no life! Without Lucrative Market, Potential Ebola Vaccine Was Shelved for Years – NYTimes.com

Almost a decade ago, scientists from Canada and the United States reported that they had created a vaccine that was 100 percent effective in protecting monkeys against the Ebola virus. The results were published in a respected journal, and health officials called them exciting. The researchers said tests in people might start within two years, and a product could potentially be ready for licensing by 2010 or 2011.

It never happened. The vaccine sat on a shelf. Only now, with nearly 5,000 people dead from Ebola and an epidemic raging out of control in West Africa, is the vaccine undergoing the most basic safety tests in humans.

Its development stalled in part because Ebola was rare, and until now outbreaks had infected only a few hundred people at a time. But experts also acknowledge that the lack of follow-up on such a promising candidate reflects a broader failure to produce medicines and vaccines for diseases that afflict poor countries. Most drug companies have resisted spending the enormous sums needed to to develop products useful mostly to poor countries with little ability to pay for them.

via Without Lucrative Market, Potential Ebola Vaccine Was Shelved for Years – NYTimes.com.

WHO: TB one of world′s deadliest infectious diseases | News | DW.DE | 22.10.2014

WHO: TB one of world′s deadliest infectious diseases | News | DW.DE | 22.10.2014.

1.5 million deaths a year – yet we follow the media lead and run for cover from ebola hype. Ebola and and should be stopped but taking years to stop new types of TB is insane!

“The death toll from this disease is unacceptably high,” the report read. “A staggering number of lives are being lost to a curable disease.”
Last year, there were 9 million new reported cases of tuberculosis, with 1.5 million of those being fatal.
The number of cases, however, continues to decrease: “TB is slowly declining each year and it is estimated that 37 million lives were saved between 2000 and 2013 through effective diagnosis and treatment.”
The trend indicated that one of the Millennium Development Goals – established by a UN panel in 2000 – to reverse TB infection rates could be achieved by the deadline.
“The 2015 Millennium Development Goal of halting and reversing TB incidence has been achieved globally, in all six WHO regions and in most of the 22 high TB-burden countries,” the report stated.
Multidrug-resistant TB alarming
Multidrug-resistant TB remains alarming – high cost prevented many people from getting proper diagnoses and treatment.
“There are severe epidemics in some regions, particularly in Eastern Europe and Central Asia,” the report read, adding that for people infected with this strain, rates for successful treatment were “surprisingly low.”
Grania Brigden, a TB expert with the charity Medecins Sans Frontieres, said, as reported by the Reuters news agency, that the “alarming spread of drug-resistant TB from person to person in the former Soviet Union is of critical concern, along with the growth in MDR-TB and XDR-TB cases,” she said, referring to multidrug-resistant (MDR) and extensively drug-resistant (XDR) strains of the disease.
“Access to proper treatment is drastically low: Only 1 in 5 people with multidrug-resistant TB receives treatment; the rest are left to die, increasing the risk to their families and communities and fueling the epidemic,” she said in a statement.

 

allAfrica.com: Nigeria: Poor Sanitation – 150,000 Children Die Annually in Nigeria – -Unicef

And world media and conspiracy nuts going on and on about controllable Ebola as if the end of world was coming!

UNICEF Water, Sanitation and Hygiene Chief in Nigeria, Mr. Kanaan Nadar, disclosed this on the occasion of the 2014 global hand washing day celebration in Abuja.

UNICEF Water, Sanitation and Hygiene Chief in Nigeria, Mr. Kanaan Nadar, disclosed this on the occasion of the 2014 global hand washing day celebration in Abuja.

UNICEF Water, Sanitation and Hygiene Chief in Nigeria, Mr. Kanaan Nadar, disclosed this on the occasion of the 2014 global hand washing day celebration in Abuja.

Nadar called on parents to make their children see the need to always wash their hands and maintain safe hygiene at all times as this would reduce deaths caused by diarrhea by almost 50 per cent.

Nadar, said: “In Nigeria every year, we have about 150,000 children that die largely due to diarrhea mostly associated with unsafe water sanitation and hygiene.

via allAfrica.com: Nigeria: Poor Sanitation – 150,000 Children Die Annually in Nigeria – -Unicef.

We are in panic mode but in Liberia: Less Than 400 Ebola Cases Nationwide As Ebola Declines, Says Dorbor Jallah

According to Mr. Jallah, coordinated information reaching his office from the various Ebola Treatment Units, (ETUs), indicates that across the country, “there are less than 400 people who are in treatment.”

“Therefore,” Jallah said, “there are more than 300 ETUs that are empty, which means they are without people who are being treated for the virus.” The latest report has also made it clear that decisions and recommendations approved by President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf and implemented by the Liberian government have worked to reduce increased infection from the insidious disease, Mr. Jallah said.

“All of us should continue with the measures outlined in this fight,” he said, “because the less than 400 people being treated in the various ETUs is still a high number,” he noted.

With particular reference to the six hardest hit counties of Montserrado, Bomi, Bong, Lofa, Nimba and Margibi, Jallah said, “Lofa County, particularly Foya and Barkedu, have registered less than ten persons in treatment in the last couple of weeks.”

via allAfrica.com: Liberia: Less Than 400 Ebola Cases Nationwide As Ebola Declines, Says Dorbor Jallah.

Sierra Leone now but where next? Law in a time of Ebola — New Internationalist

Just this week, a woman was arrested for failure to wash her hands. There are chlorinated hand-washing buckets across Freetown these days and it is common to have to wash your hands several times a day before you enter any premises. This woman refused to wash her hands as she said she had just done so and was afraid of the effect of the chlorine. Not everyone is aware of how much chlorine to add to the water; some hand-washing points can make your hands burn or smell of chlorine all day. The woman said she was afraid of developing cancer from all the chlorine – a common fear. Our paralegal was able to advise her at the police station and contacted the woman’s family, who assisted with paying her fine.

It is a difficult time for Sierra Leone. These laws are put in place to try to halt this tragic epidemic as quickly as possible. We recognize and value this, but also want to make sure that we play a role in monitoring the current State of Emergency and ensuring that it is enforced in a proportionate way that respects people’s rights. It is easy for law-enforcement officers to assume that rights are done away with and that anything can be done just because we are under a State of Emergency.

The Ebola epidemic has impacted all areas of life in Sierra Leone and has had a significant impact on the justice system. The courts have scaled down the number of hearings per day and adjournments can be lengthy. Many magistrates and lawyers have left the country. Others cannot return from abroad due to flight cancellations caused by the epidemic. Still others cannot attend court because of the quarantines. So women may spend much longer in pre-trial detention than usual, which negatively impacts on their families: women are the main caregivers and often the main income-earners. Many women have young children in prison with them. So we try very hard to ensure our clients get bail.

via Law in a time of Ebola — New Internationalist.

Check for any corn ingredients and then choose something else to eat – EPA Approves Popular Weed Killer For Genetically Modified Crops

The Environmental Protection Agency has approved a new version of a popular weed killer to be used on genetically modified corn and soybeans.

The EPA said Wednesday that it will allow the use of a 2,4-D weed killer called Enlist Duo, a new version of the popular herbicide used since the 1940s. It is designed to be used on corn and soybeans grown with engineered seeds approved by the Agriculture Department last month. When used together, farmers can spray the fields after the plants emerge, killing the weeds but leaving crops unharmed.

The agriculture industry has anxiously awaited the approvals, as many weeds have become resistant to glyphosate, an herbicide commonly used on genetically modified corn and soybeans now. Enlist includes a combination of both 2,4-D and glyphosate.

Critics say they’re concerned the increased use of 2,4-D could endanger public health and more study on the chemical is needed. The USDA has said that if both the seeds and herbicide are approved, the use of 2,4-D could increase by an estimated 200 percent to 600 percent by the year 2020.

via EPA Approves Popular Weed Killer For Genetically Modified Crops.

Eurosurveillance – CONCURRENT OUTBREAKS OF DENGUE, CHIKUNGUNYA AND ZIKA VIRUS INFECTIONS

CONCURRENT OUTBREAKS OF DENGUE, CHIKUNGUNYA AND ZIKA VIRUS INFECTIONS – AN UNPRECEDENTED EPIDEMIC WAVE OF MOSQUITO-BORNE VIRUSES IN THE PACIFIC 2012–2014

A Roth ()1, A Mercier1, C Lepers1, D Hoy1, S Duituturaga1, E Benyon1, L Guillaumot2, Y Souarès1

Secretariat of the Pacific Community, New Caledonia

Institut Pasteur de Nouvelle-Caledonie, Noumea, New Caledonia

Citation style for this article: Roth A, Mercier A, Lepers C, Hoy D, Duituturaga S, Benyon E, Guillaumot L, Souarès Y. Concurrent outbreaks of dengue, chikungunya and Zika virus infections – an unprecedented epidemic wave of mosquito-borne viruses in the Pacific 2012–2014. Euro Surveill. 2014;19(41):pii=20929. Available online: http://www.eurosurveillance.org/ViewArticle.aspx?ArticleId=20929

Date of submission: 26 September 2014

Since January 2012, the Pacific Region has experienced 28 new documented outbreaks and circulation of dengue, chikungunya and Zika virus. These mosquito-borne disease epidemics seem to become more frequent and diverse, and it is likely that this is only the early stages of a wave that will continue for several years. Improved surveillance and response measures are needed to mitigate the already heavy burden on island health systems and limit further spread to other parts of the world.

via Eurosurveillance – View Article.

Climate Change & Ebola: “We’re Running Out of Time,” says World Bank President – myEARTH360 (the blog)

“Ebola and climate change have a few things in common,” he said. “Most importantly, we are running out of time to find solutions to both. Also, until very recently, the plans to fight them were either nonexistent or inadequate. And inaction is literally killing people–one because of the rapid spread of a deadly virus, the other from the poisoning of the atmosphere and the oceans. And finally, perhaps most critically from our point of view, resolving these problems is essential to development, whether from the perspective of human suffering, economic growth or public health.”

via Climate Change & Ebola: “We’re Running Out of Time,” says World Bank President – myEARTH360 (the blog).