DISEASES THREATEN DEVELOPMENT: OBESITY, HEART ATTACKS, DIABETES & OTHERS

DISEASES THREATEN DEVELOPMENT: OBESITY, HEART ATTACKS, DIABETES & OTHERS

Erle Frayne D. Argonza

A special report came out of the news rooms of the World Bank very recently that carries the alarming news of diseases threatening development. Necessarily, poor and middle income countries are most hardly hit, or those classified as ‘developing countries’ and ‘emerging markets’.

Obesity, diabetes and heart attacks emblazoned the title of the news report, with other ailments also on the list. The ailments situation complicates matters in the Horn of Africa where drought and famine led to hunger problems of 11 millions of poor Africans.

Below is the very alarming news coming from the World Bank.

[Philippines, 25 September 2011]

Source: http://web.worldbank.org/WBSITE/EXTERNAL/NEWS/0,,contentMDK:23001154~pagePK:64257043~piPK:437376~theSitePK:4607,00.html

Obesity, Diabetes, Heart Attacks, and Other Chronic Diseases Threaten Health and Economies in Poor and Middle-Income Countries – World Bank Report

Press Release No:2012/071/HDN

Africa, Eastern Europe, and Asia face alarming chronic disease levels, way above high-income countries

WASHINGTON, September 15, 2011 – The World Bank warned today that heart disease, cancer, diabetes, chronic respiratory conditions, and other non-communicable diseases (NCDs) increasingly threaten the health and economic security of many lower- and middle-income countries, and that most countries lack the money and health services to be able to ‘treat their way out’ of the NCD crisis. On the eve of a special United Nations summit on NCDs in New York, the Bank said the rise of chronic diseases, especially among young working adults in these countries, was a danger that warranted immediate global attention.

According to the new report−The Growing Danger of Non-Communicable Diseases: Acting Now to Reverse Course−Africa, Eastern Europe, and Asia face alarming chronic disease levels, in excess of those in high-income countries where NCDs have long been the leading cause of death and illness.

Africa, Eastern Europe, and Asia face alarming chronic disease levels, way above high-income countries

WASHINGTON, September 15, 2011 – The World Bank warned today that heart disease, cancer, diabetes, chronic respiratory conditions, and other non-communicable diseases (NCDs) increasingly threaten the health and economic security of many lower- and middle-income countries, and that most countries lack the money and health services to be able to ‘treat their way out’ of the NCD crisis. On the eve of a special United Nations summit on NCDs in New York, the Bank said the rise of chronic diseases, especially among young working adults in these countries, was a danger that warranted immediate global attention.

According to the new report−The Growing Danger of Non-Communicable Diseases: Acting Now to Reverse Course−Africa, Eastern Europe, and Asia face alarming chronic disease levels, in excess of those in high-income countries where NCDs have long been the leading cause of death and illness.

For example, in South Asia, where cardiovascular disease is already a major cause of death and disability, people have their first heart attacks at an average age of 53 compared with 59 in the rest of the world. In the Middle East and North Africa, NCDs are growing among women and adolescents, driven by factors unrelated to age, such as growing rates of obesity and smoking. And ominously, one in four people in Ukraine between the ages of 18 and 65 has a chronic disease with growing numbers of young people being affected, prompting the conclusion that the country could ‘lose the next generation to chronic disease.’

If current trends persist, the new report says that Sub-Saharan Africa will be the region hardest-hit by the NCDs crisis. If left unchecked, chronic diseases will account for 46 percent of all deaths by 2030, up from 28 percent in 2008. South Asia could see the share of deaths from NCDs increase from 51 to 72 percent during the same period. More than 30 percent of these deaths will be premature and preventable. At the same time, these countries will continue to grapple with the widespread prevalence of communicable diseases such as HIV, malaria, tuberculosis, and mother and child conditions, thus facing a “double burden” of disease not experienced by wealthier nations.

“What makes the development impact of chronic diseases so daunting for lower and middle income countries is that they don’t have the money and the health systems to treat their way out of this crisis, and they’re facing it at far earlier stages of economic progress than their better-off OECD neighbors had to,” says Tamar Manuelyan Atinc, the Bank’s Vice President for Human Development.

Prevention is vital to stop and reverse NCDs

The Bank reports says that much of the rise in chronic diseases in developing countries can be traced to individual risk factors such as physical inactivity, malnutrition in the first thousand days of life, unhealthy diet (including excessive salt, fat, and sugar intake), tobacco use, alcohol abuse, and exposure to environmental pollution.

Country evidence suggests that more than half of the NCD burden could be avoided through effective health promotion and disease prevention programs that tackle such risk factors. Particularly effective at very low costs are measures to curb tobacco, such as taxes, as indicated in the WHO Framework Convention on Tobacco Control, and to reduce salt in processed and semi-processed foods.

In India this has meant, among other things, subsidizing and promoting kitchen stoves that use clean fuels and do not cause respiratory disease. In Bogotá, Colombia, the city government has built cycle paths across the city and has started a community exercise program that takes place every Sunday and now draws the active participation of more than a million pedestrians and cyclists each week.

The report notes that a compelling OECD example comes from New York City, where the mayor brought the health sector and hospitality industries together to reduce smoking and ban the use of trans-fats. The proportion of restaurants using trans-fats fell from 50 percent to less than 2 percent in two years, while the percentage of adult New Yorker smokers fell from 21.5 percent to 15.8 percent during the same period.

“The good news is that with prevention first, the reduction of risk factors such as smoking through the use of tobacco taxes, and the right political and community leadership in place, countries can stem the rise of chronic diseases and cushion their financial and social effects,” says Dr. Cristian Baeza, the Bank’s Director of Health, Nutrition, and Population, whose team produced the new report.

Baeza says it will be vital to prepare health systems in developing countries to deliver cost-effective and fiscally sustainable health NCDs care for poor people, and that comprehensive prevention programs can target a number of risk factors at the same time. For example, a prevention program in Finland’s North Karelia province, which targeted diet, exercise, and smoking, showed that between 1972 and 2006, the province’s yearly deaths from chronic heart disease fell by some 85 percent. An anti-smoking effort in Uruguay, championed by the country’s president, banned smoking in public places and workplaces and reduced air nicotine concentrations in the capital city by 91 percent over five years.

Anti-NCD measures can work quickly

On the eve of the special UN summit on NCDs in New York, the new Bank report says that the best examples of anti-NCD measures show that these can improve health faster than commonly thought—within a few years of eliminating people’s exposure to risk factors. As the report notes in conclusion, “Leaders at the national and local level have the power to save many lives, avoid widespread suffering, and forestall major human and economic cost, all within a short space of time. Now is the time to act.”

In fiscal year 2011, the Bank mobilized $2.96 billion in financing for health, nutrition, and population. The portfolio is at a historic high of $ 10.8 billion, more than half of which goes to the world’s poorest countries.

Washington Press Contacts:

Phil Hay Work (202) 473-1796; Cell (202) 409-2909; phay@worldbank.org

Melanie Mayhew Work (202) 458-7891; Cell (202) 406-0504; mmayhew1@worldbank.org

To read the new report, and see more of the World Bank’s work in non-communicable diseases, and its wider engagement in health, nutrition, and population, please visit: www.worldbank.org/health.

Permanent URL for this page: http://go.worldbank.org/FBHYW092V0

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HEALTHY PEOPLE & ECONOMY VIA ECO-MANAGEMENT: COLOMBIA EXEMPLAR

HEALTHY PEOPLE & ECONOMY VIA ECO-MANAGEMENT: COLOMBIA EXEMPLAR

Erle Frayne D. Argonza

Development initiatives aimed at inducing health for the people while at the same time building a strong economy is a tough job to do. More so if the key strategy for attaining such goals is better environmental management.

Such challenges already faced the development experts and stakeholders in my own country the Philippines when I began my own profession as a development specialist in the early 80s. Environmentalism wasn’t even an in thing in my country, though the cudgels for eco-advocacy was taken by my first employer the Ministry of Human Settlements. The agency operated on a framework of ‘basic needs’ among which were health, livelihood and ecological balance.

Among continents to search for exemplars of successful integration of the key result areas—livelihood, health and environmental management—is South America. Here the humble nation of Colombia shows the positive results of such development initiatives, thus erasing the largely negative image the nation sustained due to drug cartel operations in the past.

Below is a special report from the World Bank about the Colombia experiences.

[Philippines, 25 September 2011]

Source: http://web.worldbank.org/WBSITE/EXTERNAL/NEWS/0,,contentMDK:22904508~menuPK:64256345~pagePK:34370~piPK:34424~theSitePK:4607,00.html

Colombia: Healthier People, A Stronger Economy Through Better Environmental Management

Overview

With the support of the World Bank, Colombia introduced a number of reforms that reduced air pollution levels in large cities and introduced new instruments for improved environmental management, potentially benefitting both the health of its people and also its economy. The Government increased public participation in environmental decision-making, and prepared critical policies and laws related to sustainable development, air quality, water quality, solid waste management, and environmental licensing.

more information

· Programmatic Development Policy Loan for Sustainable Development - P081397 (2005-2006)

· Second Programmatic Development Policy Loan for Sustainable Development - P095877 (2007-2008)

· Third Programmatic Development Policy Loan for Sustainable Development - P101301 (2008-2009)

Challenge

In 2006 it was estimated that the costs of environmental degradation - such as urban air pollution, and inadequate water, sanitation and hygiene - amounted to 3.7 percent of Colombia's gross domestic product, compromising Colombia's potential for sustainable economic growth. Outdoor air pollution, especially fine particulate matter such as sulfur in transport fuels, was recorded as an important cause of respiratory illness, especially among women and children, contributing to approximately 6,000 deaths in Colombia per year. Costs associated with intestinal morbidity from contaminated water and inadequate hygiene was high, particularly in children. The 2006 Country Environmental Analysis found that priority-setting and institutional coordination to address environmental issues was weak; there was no direct correlation between national priorities, and investments by local environmental authorities.

Approach

The Sustainable Development Policy Loan (DPL) series from the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development (IBRD) was designed to improve the effectiveness and efficiency of Colombia's National Environmental System, and to integrate principles of sustainable development into key sectors, with a particular emphasis on protecting the most vulnerable groups. Prior preparation and additional IBRD support helped the Program to both set and achieve these objectives. The policy reforms undertaken by the Government of Colombia were based on a solid analytical foundation that included a Country Environmental Analysis from 2006, which highlighted priority areas for reform in that sector. The analytical work also persuaded the Government to act as the primary force in reforming the sector, and the program was integrated in its National Development Plan for 2006-2010. Additional support, totaling US$7 million, from the IBRD's Sustainable Development Investment Project has financed targeted actions and investments to support the development and implementation of the DPL program's policy reforms.

Results

Successive IDA financing of US$16 million, US$45 million, and US$20 provided vital flood control structures in the city of Taiz and its surrounding areas. By the closing of the second phase in June 2008, major parts of Taiz city, including downtown Taiz, were transformed into livable and flash flood-secure neighborhoods and the impact of the projects on the lives and livelihoods of the people in these areas is substantial. The structures built under these successive phases include:

• Colombia approved national policies for environmental health (2008), air quality (2008), and water (2010);
• It also passed a law on fuel quality in 2008 that reduced sulfur content in diesel from 1,000 parts per million to 500 ppm in Colombia's largest cities;
• It established an air quality monitoring network for in 21 cities;
• The government created a Water Resources Group in the Ministry of Environment, Housing, and Territorial Development, which is the first centralized group responsible for planning and budgeting activities related to water resources management in Colombia;
• At least 25 municipalities adopted watershed management plans in areas of water scarcity in order to better manage and monitor valuable natural resources;
• Colombia undertook a hygiene and hand-washing campaign to reduce incidence of water-related disease, especially amongst children and the poor;
• It passed an Urban Environmental Policy in 2008 that clarifies the roles and responsibilities of local environmental authorities;
• The government created a system for the regular management reporting of local environmental authorities, with reports made available to the public;
• It also established a monitoring and evaluation system for environmental policies, providing input into environmental management decisions.

Bank Contribution

IBRD provided US$300,000 for the 2006 Country Environmental Analysis that was critical in establishing an analytical framework for the Sustainable Development DPL program, which consisted of a series of three operations between 2005 and 2010. IBRD support for the program totaled US$800 million. In addition, the Sustainable Development Investment Loan for US$7 million, which became effective in 2006, has financed key activities to support implementation of the program. The World Bank is currently working toward the provision of an additional US$10 million to further support this operation.

Partners

Close coordination with other donors was an integral part of preparation of the DPL program. The program is designed to complement the Inter-American Development Bank's Urban Social Housing and National Environmental System projects, which support strengthening of environmental institutions. The Bank also collaborated with officials from the Embassy of the Netherlands in Colombia, who have prepared an environmental program that supports institutional strengthening within Colombia's National Environmental System and the country's wider conservation efforts. The World Bank team worked closely with the Dutch embassy and other partners to ensure that all donor activities in this sector were complementary.

Moving Forward

The Government has requested several pieces of analytical work that build on the foundations of the DPL Program, and which will examine a range of other key issues, including: incentives to achieve reductions in emissions from mobile sources; biodiversity management; an estimation of environmental and health costs from illegal mining; an analysis of the impacts of urban air pollution; and mechanisms to incorporate environmental management into key sectors. The Government has also requested the expansion of the Sustainable Development Investment Project through an additional financing of US$10 million, currently under preparation, which will continue to provide support to the objectives of the original DPL program.

Beneficiaries

The Sustainable Development DPL program aimed to benefit not only individual communities, or even cities, but the entire Colombian population. By making improvements across the entire environmental sector, ranging from reduced air and water pollution to improved transparency and governance in environmental management, the DPL was able to benefit people across social and economic strata and has successfully improved the quality of life for hundreds of thousands of people.

Permanent URL for this page: http://go.worldbank.org/C5CGR5B100

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HERDING CAN IMPROVE ECOLOGY & LIVELIHOOD: SHOWCASING HINTERLAND CHINA

HERDING CAN IMPROVE ECOLOGY & LIVELIHOOD: SHOWCASING HINTERLAND CHINA

Erle Frayne D. Argonza

Gracious day from the Pearl of the Orient!

Herding, the hallmark of pastoral economies, can considerably damage the natural ecology of pastoral lands. Several regions across Asia has already been noted for the pattern of over-grazing, the damages of which can deteriorate into desertification in the long run.

Herding engagements, however, can also be conceived as contributing to sustainable pastoralism. Such being the case, herding can contribute to ecological balance and food security in the short run. It need not be over-stressed that herding done sustainably can empower the pockets of the herders or pastors.

Below is a special report on interventions done to help herders and conserve natural habitats at the same.

[Philippines, 24 September 2011]

Source: http://www.worldbank.org/en/news/2011/08/02/Restoring-grasslands-and-improving-herders-livelihood

Project Profile: Restoring Grasslands and Improving Herders' Livelihood

August 2, 2011

STORY HIGHLIGHTS

• China takes third place after Australia and Russia in grassland area. However, the grassland degradation in western China is very serious.
• Xinjiang and Gansu's population make up 15 percent of China's total poor. Widespread poverty inhibits livestock development as well as the capacity of the region to seize new economic opportunities.
• A Bank-financed project restored grasslands in Xinjiang and Gansu and increased herders' income from 2,806 yuan to 7,328 yuan in six years.

VIDEO

China: Restoring Grasslands and Improving Herders' Livelihood

Overview

The Gansu and Xinjiang Pastoral Development Project, launched in 2004 and completed in June 2010, assisted in the government’s efforts to improve the capacity of pastoral areas to support biodiversity and livestock and raise the living standards of the population living in those areas.

About 35,000 households or 140,000 people in Gansu and Xinjiang were primary beneficiaries of the project. And a total of about 120,000 households or 600,000 benefited from improved public sector services such as improved breeding stock, artificial insemination, veterinary and extension services. Many of the beneficiaries are ethnic minorities and women. The project was successful in halting and reversing degradation of pastures and in improving the productivity and quality of livestock in the areas covered.

As a result of the project, per capita net income of the beneficiaries increased significantly from 2806 yuan in 2003, before the project, to 7,328 yuan in 2009.

Challenges

China takes third place after Australia and Russia in grassland area. However, the grassland degradation in western China is very serious. Over the period from 1989 to 1998, the total area of degraded grassland almost doubled. Reasons for this degradation include increasing conversion of grassland to cultivation, overstocking and overgrazing, as well as high levels of poverty, poor management, and natural factors such as rodent and insect infestation.

Gansu and Xinjiang are major regions of grassland and livestock. They account for one quarter of the territory of China and 30 percent of the country’s wool production. They are also critical environmental areas, both listed as priority areas in the Biodiversity Review of China, because they contain many grassland endangered species.

Xinjiang and Gansu also has a concentration of the poor, together making up almost 15 percent of China's total poor. Widespread poverty inhibits livestock development as well as the capacity of the region to seize new economic opportunities.

Approach

The project was designed to support grassland resource management through establishing improved livestock production and marketing systems that would increase the income of herders and farmers in the project areas. By empowering farmer and herder households to better manage their grassland resources and improve forage and feed production on arable lands, the project aimed to help them increase their incomes through more efficient and quality focused livestock production – which should be sufficient to generate marketable surplus to improve living standards.

As women traditionally play a significant role in livestock production activities, they naturally constituted the majority of beneficiaries of the project. Women were encouraged to participate in the implementation of project activities, and specific training and capacity building activities were organized for them.

Results

Between 2004 and mid-2010, the results achieved by the project include the following:

• 35,000 families or 140,000 people in the two project provinces directly benefited from the project. 39 percent of them were ethnic minorities.
• An additional 85,000 households or 460,000 people benefited from improved breeding stock, artificial insemination, veterinary and extension services. The total number of beneficiaries in the two provinces reached about 120,000 households of 600,000 people.
• Annual per capita income of farmers and herders in the project areas increased from 2806 yuan in 2003 to 7,328 yuan in 2009.
• 200,000 hectares of grassland were brought under integrated grassland management. Of this total area, 120,000 hectares were fenced and reseeded.
• Demonstration sites of deferred rotational grazing showed that it could increase ground cover by about 5 percent and biomass by 10 percent, thus encouraging herders to participate in grassland management.
• Surveys conducted in the two provinces resulted in a grassland management database, survey reports and grassland resource maps, providing policymakers with up-to-date information on the status of the grassland resources.
• 76,000 hectares of forage crops were planted. This, together with provision of forage processing equipment, construction of silage pits and feeding in pens, reduced farmer and herder’s reliance on natural pastures. Improved nutrition from the planted forage and better pasture also resulted in higher reproductive rates.
• 27 new wool shearing stations helped upgrade wool packaging, baling and grading system and improved wool production efficiency.
• 36 new or renovated livestock markets increased incomes of farmers and herders and contributed to orderly development of the livestock sector through expanded access to markets, better market information and higher market efficiency.
• The introduction and extension of new technologies increased the efficiency of management of natural grasslands, artificial production of forage, breeding and raising of livestock, and production of high quality livestock products.
• The project provided training to over 600,000 farmers, herders and technicians, and supported public information campaigns on grassland conservation in schools and communities.

Bank Contribution

The Bank supported the project with a loan of US$66.27 million. In addition, the Bank contributed to the continuation of China's reform process towards a liberalized rural economy with strong, supportive market institutions. The research and policy studies analyzed the incentives and disincentives that influence how farmers and herders make management decisions regarding grassland use, which provided input for the policy and institutional reform in sustainable grassland resource management. The project piloted new, participatory approaches that seek to manage livestock in a manner that conserves biodiversity in the production landscape. Policy and institutional reform implementation support at county and township levels enabled biodiversity conservation by encouraging collaborative approaches across sectors, leading to the development of an integrated approach to grassland management by local institutions.

Partners

The central and local governments provided 340 million yuan in counterpart funding.

The Global Environment Facility (GEF) provided a grant of US$10.5 million in technical assistance to implement community-based grassland management, mitigate grassland degradation and conserve globally important biodiversity.

The Canadian International Development Agency (CIDA) provided support to the training activities of the project.

Moving Forward

The household livestock operations have proven to be sustainable as they are financially attractive to individual farmers and herders, economically beneficial to society as whole and also environmentally sound.

For the veterinary, artificial insemination and breeding improvement services, both the central and local governments have committed substantial public resources to ensure their efficient operations and good maintenance.

Furthermore, the governments at various levels continue to support and promote the successful experiences of livestock production developed under the project. Both Gansu Province and Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region are currently formulating various domestic projects to upscale the good practices.

Beneficiaries

The primary beneficiaries were herders and farmers whose average annual income was substantially below the country’s average per capita income. 39 percent of the beneficiaries were ethnic minorities. Women constituted the majority of beneficiaries of the project.

“In the last few years we have improved sheep breeding, changed to electric shearing, and adopted wool grading, sorting and packaging systems. The quality of wool has improved a lot, and the yield of clean wool has increased by five to eight percent. Now we can earn eight to ten yuan more from each sheep,” said An Xuelong and An Jinlin, herders in Gansu’s Sunan County.

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ANTI-NANOTECH BOMBERS BLAST MEXICO!

ANTI-NANOTECH BOMBERS BLAST MEXICO!

Erle Frayne D. Argonza

Ecofascist anarchy is on the rise across the planet. Its advocates are largely obscurantists who most likely suffer from sociopathy, and who are in search of ideological castings that can give them the drug fix of sorts to satiate their sadistic bloodlusts.

A case in point of ecofascist attack was the one that targeted nanotech scientists in Mexico. The anarchic group claims that nanotech will render the Earth into a ‘grey goo’ (whatever that means). Their bombing campaign injured two professors at the Monterrey Institute of Technology and Higher Education or ITESM.

The group calls itself Individuals Tending Towards Savagery, and published a blog statement where they claimed responsibility for the attack. The summary report about the bombing incident is shown below.

[Philippines, 24 September 2011]

Source: http://www.scidev.net/en/new-technologies/nanotechnology/news/anti-nanotech-group-behind-mexican-scientist-bombings.html

Anti-nanotech group behind Mexican scientist bombings

Lucina Melesio Friedman

24 August 2011 | EN

[MEXICO CITY] Recent bomb attacks targeting Mexican scientists have been orchestrated by a radical group that opposes nanotechnology and may be planning further attacks against individual scientists, according to its manifesto.

Two professors were injured while opening a package containing a home-made bomb at one of the Monterrey Institute of Technology and Higher Education (ITESM) campuses in Mexico earlier this month (8 August).

According to local authorities, the attack came from the group called 'Individuals Tending Towards Savagery', which took responsibility through a blog post detailing bomb construction that matched the evidence found by the police.

The group has published a 5,400 word manifesto, which claims that nanotechnology research will cause "the Earth [to] become a grey goo in which intelligent nano-machines will rule".

"Many might say technology has improved medicine, and might label us as inhumane … but this is just a trap of the system," the manifesto says, denouncing nanotechnology as global domination propaganda.

The declaration states that it targets individuals, rather than institutions, and it names five other nanotechnology scientists. The group has also claimed responsibility for two previous bomb attacks, in April and May, against Oscar Camacho, a researcher at Mexico's National Polytechnic Institute.

ITESM has taken security measures such as installing metal detectors, using police dogs, and conducting vehicle and package inspections, but other research institutions are uncertain about how to react.

"The government's response was slow, especially on stating a clearer and stronger message condemning these acts," Manuel Torres, director of the Institute of Physics at Mexico's National Autonomous University, told SciDev.Net.

But Torres added that the institute has received advice from the government on security measures, such as dealing with incoming mail and possible phone threats.

Silvia Ribeiro, Latin America director for the ETC Group, which opposes unregulated nanotechnology products, told SciDev.Net: "We absolutely condemn these [bombing] acts".

Ribeiro added that they instead promote open and informed debates involving scientists and society.

Arturo Barba, science journalist and director of the news agency Sapiens, told SciDev.Net that poor government support for research may be more harmful in the long run than such attacks.

"The Mexican government has already beaten these 'savages' to it by destroying Latin America's most important nanotech lab," he said, referring to the dismantling of a prestigious nanotechnology research group due to disagreements with the administration.

Barba said that factors such as insufficient media coverage of science; scientists with little interest in communicating their work; authorities that do not rely on scientific advice; and poor public education add up to "an ideal breeding ground for episodes like this".

But he added that it is strange for such a group to strike in Mexico, because Mexico is not one of the best countries in nanotechnology; and even stranger to attack ITESM, as there are many more research centres that are more advanced in the subject.

Torres said: "I don't believe we should change the way this kind of research is conducted — and even less consider giving up nanotechnology development. But, inevitably, we will have to think about how we communicate these topics".

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INSECTICIDE RESISTANCE RESURGES MALARIA, GO BIOTECH!

INSECTICIDE RESISTANCE RESURGES MALARIA, GO BIOTECH!

Erle Frayne D. Argonza

The use of good old chemistry to annihilate malarial and related mosquitoes seems to be running its course down by the day. Reason: after decades of insecticide-based health campaigns, malaria keeps on re-surging back with a vengeance.

Let me add the case of dengue, where the aedes aegpyti mosquito kept on resurging back year after year amid the fogging by insecticide. Akin to the use of insecticide-immersed bednets in Africa, bednets are now being widely disseminated purportedly to stem the attacks of the aedes mosquito. But to no avail! Dengue is back, and it had killed hundreds of patients as of this writing, with tens of thousands of patients recorded.

I am of the opinion that biotech holds the greater salvation value for eradicating malaria, dengue and related mosquitoes that serve as vessels to disease-inducing parasites. Malaysia has already shown the way to breeding genetically modified mosquitoes that can catalyze the sterilization and death of breeder mosquitoes in the field, so it’s really just a matter of emulating the biotech way of Malaysia across nations.

Below is an update report about the insecticide resistance in Africa.

[Philippines, 23 September 2011]

Source: http://www.scidev.net/en/health/malaria/news/insecticide-resistance-linked-to-malaria-resurgence.html

Insecticide resistance linked to malaria resurgence

Emeka Johnkingsley

24 August 2011

[ABUJA] Scientists have linked growing insecticide resistance with a resurgence of malaria in Senegal.

Researchers working in the village of Dielmo warned that new approaches may be needed to fight the malaria scourge on the continent.

They found that in the two years (August 2008–2010) following the distribution of bednets treated with deltamethrin, a long-lasting insecticide recommended by the WHO, malaria cases significantly decreased.

But, in the following four months, cases increased to higher levels than those before the bednets were introduced. This increase in morbidity was therefore likely to be due to increased resistance by malaria-carrying mosquitoes to pyrethroid insecticides, said the authors, whose findings were published online in The Lancet Infectious Diseases last week (18 August).

Thirty-seven per cent of Anopheles gambiae mosquitoes were resistant to deltamethrin in 2010, and the proportion of mosquitoes with the kdr mutation that confers resistance to pyrethroids insecticides in general increased from 8 per cent in 2007 to 48 per cent in 2010.

The authors said that the scale-up of bednet distribution programmes and indoor spraying campaigns has "led to a very rapid spread of pyrethroid resistance in the major malaria vectors".

The study found that malaria resurged, in particular, in older children and adults, who are increasingly susceptible to the disease.

This susceptibility cannot be explained by increasing pyrethroid resistance, the authors said. They suggest that "either a recent increase in exposure to malaria vectors in older age groups or a decrease in protective immunity" could be responsible.

Pierre Druilhe, an author of the research and a researcher at the Malaria Vaccine Development Laboratory at the Pasteur Institute in France, said that the resurgence in malaria morbidity had been foreseen for a long time and goes beyond the problem of insecticide resistance.

He said that in areas that have a high incidence of the disease, exposure to malaria-carrying mosquitoes induces a strong immune response that protects individuals. While insecticide bednets do cut the number of bites from vectors, this in turn reduces acquired immunity — leading to a new equilibrium where the chance of an infectious bite causing malaria increases.

In an accompanying commentary, Joseph Keating and Thomas Eisele warned of the danger of generalising the research to the rest of the continent, particularly because of the short period of the study.

But Druilhe said: "This type of situation [pyrethroid resistance] can happen in all high transmission areas, which corresponds to the vast majority of malaria endemic areas in Africa".

Link to full paper in The Lancet Infectious Diseases

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CHINA SCALES UP WOMEN SCIENTISTS

CHINA SCALES UP WOMEN SCIENTISTS

Erle Frayne D. Argonza

Too late an act!

Such would be an acerbic commentary about China boosting the numbers of women in the scientific R&D fields.

When the Communist Party took on the cudgels for modernizing China, part of the modernization was the empowerment of the female gender in all fields. I still recall the diverse articles of the late Chairman Mao Zedong that drumbeat the empowerment of the social sectors, even as I was aware of the huge numbers of women in the Communist Party.

But that modernizing idea of women empowerment wasn’t sufficient a force to break the Old Order culture that saw women in subordinated status. The same fact is veritable enough in the scientific disciplines, where the number of men dwarf those of women in general. There must be more pro-active enabling policies and capacity-building efforts to address the problematic skewness of scientists towards the male polarity.

Below is a summary report of the initiatives currently undertaken to address that imbalanced development.

[Philippines, 23 September 2011]

Source: http://www.scidev.net/en/science-and-innovation-policy/gender/news/china-aims-to-boost-number-of-women-scientists.html

China aims to boost number of women scientists

Li Jiao

23 August 2011

[BEIJING] The number of female scientists in China could rise as part of a ten-year plan by the Chinese government to develop the potential of the country's women.

The 'Outline for the Development of Chinese Women 2011–2020', issued by the State Council earlier this month (8 August), aims to increase the proportion of women in the professions, including science and technology, to 35 per cent.

According to the outline, which replaces the previous ten-year plan, China will develop female technological talent primarily at the country's national laboratories, which will run research projects to train women in professional skills.

Women already play important roles in China's economic and social development, Song Xiuyan, deputy chair of the State Council's National Working Committee on Children and Women, said at a news conference following the launch of the outline.

But she added: "We need to make great efforts to enhance social gender consciousness and realise the legal equality of men and women".

Increasing the number of practising female scientists in the country will not be an easy task, according to Li Zhenzhen, a researcher at the Institute of Policy and Management at the Chinese Academy of Sciences.

Although women students have almost the same opportunities as men to study for a PhD in science, they find it difficult to find jobs as researchers because of discrimination, Li said.

"Women have more family duties than men, which affects women in all fields of work."

Li said that China should establish special policies for women scientists.

The National Natural Science Foundation of China (NSFC) is looking to develop such a policy, having said in 2010 that women science researchers applying for funding should be prioritised.

Feng Jing, a female assistant researcher at the Institute of Plant Protection, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, said that she is excited about the NSFC's position on women.

So far she has had to continue studying because of the difficulties in finding suitable work. "This is very unfair on women, but it is still part of Chinese culture," she said.

Song added that China must monitor progress towards the new goals. All relevant departments should collect and analyse indicators in a timely fashion, she said.

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GM BACTERIA’S POTENTIAL BENEFIT: MOP MERCURY!

GM BACTERIA’S POTENTIAL BENEFIT: MOP MERCURY!

Erle Frayne D. Argonza

Genetically modified (GM) bacteria could be the community’s savior when it comes to cleaning up sewers, drainage canals and the likes. A new GM bacteria can withstand very high concentrations of mercury, and so this could just be the salvation for public hygiene.

Stinking sewers surely suck, and I being so sinus-sensitive tend to catch allergic rhinitis so quickly just by smelling the foul odors of badly cleaned sewer pipes and toilet flash bowls. The home remedy I knew all along was to pour a spoonful of baking soda straight on the opening of the bathroom lavabo’s sewer. It works for a while, but the aweful smell is back barely after 48 hours of application.

The news of GM bacteria as a solution to the hygiene problem comes as a great relief for me. The use of baking soda is good old chemistry, while that of GM is new high-tech promises of biotechnology.

Below is the gladdening news about the GM bacteria.

[Philippines, 22 September 2011]

Source: http://www.scidev.net/en/agriculture-and-environment/news/gm-bacteria-may-mop-up-mercury-more-efficiently.html

GM bacteria may mop up mercury more efficiently

María Elena Hurtado

22 August 2011

[SANTIAGO] Using genetically modified (GM) bacteria may be a cheaper and easier way to clean up waterways contaminated with one of the most toxic heavy metals, mercury, according to a study.

Mercury emissions are rising globally, largely from coal-fired power stations, waste incinerators, and the mining of gold and silver in developing countries — where millions are affected directly through mining or contaminated food. Exposure to the most toxic form, methyl mercury, found in seafood, can result in permanent brain damage. The UN is working on setting up a legally binding instrument on mercury emissions.

Biological clean-up methods, such as bacterial leaching, are commonly used for less toxic metals such as copper, but they do not work for mercury because there are no naturally occurring bacteria that accumulate mercury.

Now, researchers from the Inter American University of Puerto Rico, United States, have developed two GM bacteria containing genes that withstand very high concentrations of mercury. Their work was published online in BMC Biotechnology this month (12 August).

"Our bacteria are not only very resistant to mercury but also accumulate mercury to high concentrations within the bacterial cell. Unlike other transgenic bacteria, ours do not release mercury into the environment," lead researcher Oscar Ruiz told SciDev.Net.

The more efficient of the two — which carries a mouse gene for a protein called metallothionein — survived in a liquid solution containing 24 times more mercury than the amount that would kill non-resistant bacteria. In five days these bacteria mopped up 80 per cent of the mercury in the solution.

The protein is a natural 'heavy-metal scavenger', helping the bacterial cells accumulate mercury and protect themselves from its effects. The bacteria form clumps that can be easily removed from the solution.

The accumulated metal can then be recovered and recycled for industrial application, said the researchers.

According to Ruiz, their method would be cheaper and easier to use than existing processes, which rely on removing and transporting large bodies of polluted water to chemical treatment facilities, which is environmentally disruptive because the water might not be returned to the site.

"The approach we envision consists of pumping the water in situ into columns containing the engineered bacteria. The clean water can then be returned to the site," he said, adding that they are looking for investors to develop a commercial product.

José Guerrero, an expert on the use of biological clean up in mining and a professor at the César Vallejo University, Peru, told SciDev.Net that the research is novel and interesting but added that the procedure needs to be assessed on site.

"Mercury-polluted bodies of water, for which the process is intended, are very scattered so they may require the construction of reservoirs of contaminated water in order to treat it," he said, adding that this may make the process expensive and difficult to implement.

Another issue is the approval required for the release of genetically engineered bacteria into the environment, as most countries — except those in the European Union and the United States — only have regulations for introducing GM plants.

Link to full paper in BMC Biotechnology

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