Archive for category: Disease

Information and news about disease category

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Trash Selfies in Tunisia

The selfie took the world by storm, spreading like a virus across social media platforms. The term often carries a negative connotation in many contexts, reflecting a sense of heightened narcissism brought on by the digital age.

However, even viral trends like the selfie can be turned around and used for productive and positive reasons.

A new selfie phenomenon is catching on in Tunisia for a very unique reason. It involves citizens taking snapshots of themselves with piles of trash in the background with the fitting title, “trash selfie.”

About two months ago, Tunisians began taking the trash selfie and posting it to Facebook and Twitter, using the hashtag #SelfiePoubella (#trashselfie). The photos are aimed at raising awareness of the excessive garbage and pollution currently plaguing the country.

The revolution in Tunisia left much of the country destroyed and many areas have yet to see proper repair and reform. As the political system works to restore order, public services have fallen behind. People are simply throwing their trash on the streets on top of piles that remain untouched.

Many Tunisian neighborhoods are riddled with rubbish, raising several health concerns. Aside from the smell alone, mosquito infestations and unsanitary conditions raise the risk of disease. Pollution-related diseases, such as asthma, are also increasing in the area.

The government has failed to properly respond to the crisis up until now. Tunisians are taking the trash selfie to social media platforms as a way to galvanize government response. As a result, Prime Minister Mehdi Jomaa is currently working up a plan and intends to increase funding to the most problematic areas.

The waste treatment crisis is not limited to Tunisia alone, however. Trash in public areas has become a facet of life in much of the Middle East and North Africa region as the result of the Arab Spring.

The Arab Spring erupted in Tunisia in 2010 as a result of Twitter advocacy. The platform was critical to revolutionary communication throughout the conflict, as the entire world tuned in to a live-tweeted revolution. Social websites and mobile devices served as an effective way to voice the concerns of a people and push for political change.

Countries like Tunisia show the true potential of the Internet for uniting people over a cause they believe in. Middle Easterners have taken up a public voice on social platforms for real and necessary reform, and it seems they will continue to use it this way.

– Edward Heinrich

Sources: Green Prophet, Global Voices Online, PRI
Photo: Global Voices Online

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Poverty in French Guiana

Poverty in French Guiana
French Guiana is a small country with an estimated population of 270,000. It is located in South America, bordering Brazil and Suriname. It is a territory of France and therefore follows the French legal system. This means that it follows the French Constitution and is ruled by the French government. Officially, it is called a French Overseas Department.

Poverty in French Guiana is an interesting topic because so little is reported and few people are interested. It can be easy to focus on the largest populations in poverty in Africa or India, so much so that smaller countries are forgotten. This should not be the case, as all people deserve the right to escape poverty.

The lack of awareness for poverty in French Guiana is highlighted by the mere fact that statistics and data on this subject are hard to find. Since it is a French territory and technically considered part of France, global statistics from the United Nations or the World Bank are not often given for French Guiana individually. This signifies the relative unimportance of French Guiana among the international community. From the little information there is come these poverty facts from French Guiana:

  • In 2010, the unemployment rate was 30.5 percent; it was higher for women, at 36 percent.
  • 26.5 percent of households are below the poverty line.
  • The infant mortality rate in 2008 – 2010 was 11.6 per 1,000 live births.
  • Malaria is endemic, with 3,345 cases in 2009. Yellow fever and Dengue are also endemic.
  • A 2006 study showed that French Guiana has the highest rate of HIV infections in France, with 308 per million inhabitants, as opposed to 150 in the Ile de France region (the wealthiest region in metropolitan France.)
  • Food and living expenses are high because the country imports 90 percent of consumable goods from metropolitan France.
  • Only 7.8 percent of the population held university diplomas in 2010.
  • Only 27.9 percent of households had enough money to be taxed in 2010.

These facts may seem disjointed and random, but that is exactly how information relating to poverty in French Guiana is presented. There is little to no comprehensive data on this tiny French overseas territory, at least in the English language. Most of the raw data was taken from the French National Institute of Statistics and Economic Studies. The data is only available in French, which makes a global discussion of this issue difficult.

Who is going to care about this small community? With so little international discussion on poverty in French Guiana, it will be difficult to rally people around the cause. Action needs to be taken by the French government to fix the high rates of unemployment, infectious disease endemics, HIV rates and poverty levels. It is the responsibility of the French people to appease their government to do the right thing and help French Guiana out of poverty.

– Eleni Marino

Sources: United Nations, Phrase Base, Conseil National Du Sida, The Guardian, INSEE

Photo: PIB

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Obesity As Top Global Health Concern

In the 1950s, there were approximately 700 million people living in hunger, while the number of obese people was around 100 million, and a majority of the cases were found in countries with strong economies. Today, however, that is no longer the case.

In 2010, the number of hungry people in the world had slowly risen to 800 million while the number of obese citizens in the world sharply rose to 1.4 billion.

According to a documentary, “Globeisty: Fat’s New Frontier,” there has been not one country with a low or moderate income that has managed to reduce its number of hungry citizens without rapidly jumping to obesity.

However, obesity is not just limited to developed nations. Currently, there are more obese people in developing countries than there are people suffering from hunger in the same countries.

It is predicted that in India, around 100 million people will have diabetes some time in the foreseeable future. Currently, in the U.S. alone, eight obesity-related diseases are the cause for over 75% of healthcare costs. The diseases include, but are not limited to: Type 2 diabetes, non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (or NAFLD), Polycystic ovarian syndrome, Alzheimer’s disease and cancer.

One of the leading causes of this rise in obesity is linked to the increase in the consumption of soft drinks. There has been a direct correlation between the rise in obesity rates in developing countries and the sales of soft drinks. In Mexico, the largest consumer of carbonated soft drinks in the world, 71% of women and 65% of men are overweight.

In 1989, Mexico had a miniscule portion of its adult population overweight and had no overweight children. Over the span of 15 to 16 years, the citizens of Mexico have reached a level of diabetes equal to the level the U.S. had 10 to 20 years ago.

However, another leading cause of obesity is consumption of foods filled with carbohydrates. In the 1950s, most of the food globally consumed was locally grown and fresh. Now, the majority of food consumed in developed and developing nations is highly processed and filled with carbohydrates. When a person eats a carbohydrate-heavy meal and fails to move a sufficient enough amount to turn the carbohydrates into energy, they are turned into sugar and fat.

In “The World is Fat,” an article written in 2007, Barry Popkin stated that the “exponential change in a vast array of courses” have led to people moving less and eating more, resulting in an “unprecedented” rise in obesity.

One final cause of obesity can be linked to accessibility of certain types of food, drink and cooking material.

In the 1970s and 1980s, the citizens of China were readily able to access hydrogenated solid oils like Crisco and liquid oils. Now, a Chinese citizen consumes around 300 to 400 of their daily calories from vegetable oil. There has also been an increase in the consumption of dairy products, fish, poultry, beef and pork. In 1974, the price of 100 kilograms of beef was somewhere around $500 in developing nations. Today, the price has dropped to around one-fifth of that number.

There is a movement, though, to try to halt the rise of obesity. In Mexico, special fitness programs are available to try to encourage people to move more. These programs are offered for free to allow anyone who needs it the chance to prevent obesity. The Mexican Minister of Health also has proposed taxing items and taking more aggressive stands toward working to combat obesity.

– Monica Newell

Sources: Scientific American, Epoch Times, The Independent
Photo: SF Gate

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Global Banana Disease Threatens Production

In the past few weeks we have seen the rapid spread of what could become a devastating threat to the world’s banana population – a fungus known as Panama Disease Tropical Race 4 (TR4).

TR4 is a soil-born fungus that attacks plant roots and is now known to be deadly to the Cavendish banana, which is the world’s most popular and valuable banana crop, making up 95% of banana imports.

The fungal banana disease began its devastating journey in Southeast Asia, decimating tens of thousands of crops in Indonesia, China, Malaysia and the Philippines. TR4 has most recently been discovered in Jordan and Mozambique, indicating its spread beyond Asia to Africa and the Middle East.

The UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) notes that there is already a risk that the fungus has spread to the world’s most important banana-growing areas in Latin America. These countries include Ecuador, Costa Rica and Colombia, where hundreds of thousands of people rely on the banana trade to make a living each day.

Not only is the banana an essential component of more than 400 million people’s diets, it is also an essential component of their monetary livelihood. According to one estimate, TR4 could destroy up to 85% of the world’s banana crop by volume, decimating thousands of plantations across the globe and severely impacting the $8.9 billion banana trade.

One leading banana expert, Professor Rony Swennen claims, “If [TR4] is in Latin America, it is going to be a disaster, whatever the multinationals do. Teams of workers move across different countries. The risk is it is going to spread like a bush fire.”

The FAO has further warned that TR4 represents an “expanded threat to global banana production” and that virtually all export banana plantations will be vulnerable in the coming weeks unless TR4’s spread can be stopped or new resistant strains developed.

The Cavendish banana is not the first to fall prey to such a fungal epidemic. Prior to its cultivation, the Gros Michel banana had been wiped out by a similar strain of the Panama disease.

Current researchers are attempting to discover new banana varieties that are resistant to the fungus or develop disease-resistant GM strains. However, a concerted effort between the industry, research institutions, government and international organizations will be necessary to prevent the spread of the disease.

– Mollie O’Brien

Sources: Bloomberg, The Independent
Photo: Flickr

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Curbing the Spread of Vector-Borne Disease

The theme of this year’s World Health Day, held annually on April 7th, was to promote the awareness of vector-borne diseases. Vector-borne diseases are transmitted through the bites of infected mosquitoes, flies, ticks and water snails, among other disease-carrying pests.

This year the World Health Organization (WHO) promoted the slogan “small bite, big threat,” in the hopes that they would be able to increase awareness on how people across the globe can protect themselves and their families from these pests and the viruses that they may transmit.

Vector-borne diseases have radically increased in the past few decades, aided by an increase in urbanization, international travel and environmental changes.

More than one billion people each year are affected by these diseases, which include malaria, dengue fever, Lyme disease, schistosomiasis and yellow fever.

Efforts to control the spread of these diseases have included the distribution of bed nets and insecticides, the use of body repellents and protective clothing, and the push for clean water and adequate sanitation.

WHO Director-General, Dr. Margaret Chan, noted, “A global health agenda that gives higher priority to vector control could save many lives and avert much suffering. No one in the 21st century should die from the bite of a mosquito, a sand fly, a blackfly or a tick.”

The focus this year is on dengue fever, which is currently the most rapidly spreading vector-borne disease in the world.

Dengue fever, also known as “breakbone fever” due to its symptoms, is a severe flu-like disease marked by vomiting, bleeding, body aches and difficult breathing. There is no known vaccine or cure available.

During the past 50 years, dengue fever has spread rapidly to more than 100 countries. Prior to 1960, dengue had seen some 15,000 cases, whereas now over 380 million cases of dengue fever persist.

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) is currently working on a vaccine for dengue fever in partnership with a company specializing in vaccine development, Inviragen. They have gone through clinical trials in a number of countries including Singapore, Colombia, Thailand and Puerto Rico, and analysis of those findings is still underway.

The International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies is campaigning alongside the WHO to address this growing concern.

Previous programs to curb the spread of vector-borne diseases have proven successful, for example, the United States’ effort to combat malaria.

Malaria is the most deadly of vector-borne diseases, killing 1.2 million people every year. Multiple campaigns have been launched to prevent the spread of this disease, including the President’s Malaria Initiative (PMI) and the Global Fund to Fight HIV/AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria. PMI has distributed more than 120 million bed nets since 2006, as well as delivered more than 135 million doses of combination drug therapy.

These success stories provide hope for current efforts to control other vector-borne diseases such as dengue fever and schistosomiasis.

– Mollie O’Brien

Sources: Mission of the United States, Voice of America

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Polio: A Conspiracy Theory that Kills

Diplomacy saves lives. Not only can good foreign relations prevent the outbreak of war and violence between and within countries, but it also allows for the trust and respect necessary for global development initiatives to work.

In 1988 UNICEF and the Rotary Club International joined forces to eradicate polio across the globe. The project was shockingly successful and, as a result, the number of estimated polio cases decreased from 400,000 to 7,000 between 1980 and 1999. The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation contributed to the cause and helped immunize 2.5 billion young people in 200 countries with the help of almost 200 million volunteers. By 2003 only 784 cases of polio remained on the planet.

Yet as promising as these numbers appear, the goal stated in 1988 was to eliminate polio by the year 2000. This did not happen. In 2003, the number of polio cases dwindling, a conspiracy theory transpired. In a primarily Muslim region of Nigeria, a few imams surmised that the polio vaccine contained sterilizing agents that would make their daughters infertile. The life-saving vaccination was conclusively dubbed to be a CIA plot. As this rumor spread to Afghanistan and Pakistan, groups such as the Taliban spoke out against the previously well-received shot. The number of polio cases in children grew to 2,020 by 2006. In 2008 only Afghanistan, India, Nigeria and Pakistan still had polio circulating through water supplies and infected children.

In 2013 polio cases of the same strain found in Pakistan were discovered in Somalia and Syria. Both countries trained their military’s in Pakistan. Iraq reported its first polio case in 14 years this March 2014, and the United Nations has branded Syria’s climb to 38 reported cases of polio “the most challenging outbreak in the history of polio eradication.” Fears are skyrocketing that the dreadful disease is spreading throughout the Middle East.

Many claim that violence and displacement are primary causes of the setback in Iraq. Polio, an incurable disease, spreads quickly in overcrowded regions prone to poverty and malnourishment. It is preventable, though, and it’s a shame that less than favorable political and ideological relations contributed to its present resurgence.

– Jaclyn Stutz

Sources: Foreign Policy, The Guardian, IRIN
Photo: CNN

Anthropologists Aid in the Ebola Epidemic

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The current Ebola epidemic in Guinea has drawn doctors, nurses, and epidemiologists from across the globe to help prevent the further transmission of the virus. Not surprisingly, it has also drawn anthropologists.

Many international healthcare workers don’t understand the importance of anthropologists in a disease-outbreak setting, but they are critical in communicating with locals about the body and disease.

An anthropologist’s job is to understand local customs and fears, in this case regarding disease. They work to get communities to cooperate with healthcare workers, which is often very difficult in a foreign setting where the local people have a different understanding of health and disease.

Barry Hewlett, a medical anthropologist at Washington State University, states that today efforts to contain outbreaks such as Ebola must be “culturally sensitive and appropriate…otherwise people are running away from actual care that is intended to help them.”

Hewlett was invited to join a World Health Organization Ebola team during the 2000 outbreak in Uganda. His experiences there prove the vital role that anthropologists play in disease outbreak efforts.

In a report on his experiences in Uganda, Hewlett noted that healthcare workers in the field were having a difficult time convincing the local people to bring their sick family members to clinics and isolation wards. They feared the healthcare workers and thought that once their family member went into the isolation ward they would never come out. Not only that, but the deceased were often disposed of quickly to prevent transmission and relatives were often uninformed about the death of their family member.

“The anger and bad feelings about not being informed were directed toward health care workers in the isolation unit. This fear could have been averted by allowing family members to see the body in the bag and allowing family members to escort the body to the burial ground,” says Hewlett.

The other job of anthropologists is to help doctors understand how the local people perceive the disease.

For example, in the case of Uganda, the locals saw Ebola as a “gemo”, or a bad spirit, which killed people who didn’t honor the gods. Doctors used this traditional belief to show that the gemo could catch you if you stood too close to a sick person.

The current outbreak in Guinea has attracted hundreds of field workers, including anthropologists, to curb the spread of the disease. It is the Zaire strain of Ebola, which is the most dangerous, killing 9 out of 10 of its victims.

Healthcare workers in Guinea have their work cut out for them and anthropologists will be key in communicating with the local people.

– Mollie O’Brien

Sources: MSF, NPR
Photo: RT

Ebola Resurfaces in Africa

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As one of the most fatal, incurable diseases in human history, Ebola functions as a deadly virus that induces the severe hemorrhaging of internal organs, causing death in an estimated 90 percent of cases. A popular theory concerning the origins of the virus is that Ebola was first introduced to humans through contact that an individual may have had with the blood or other bodily fluids of an infected animal. The individual subsequently succumbed to the deadly virus, not before spreading the disease to other people, creating an epidemic. Early signs of infection are a sore throat, red eyes, rash, fever, muscle aches, headaches, and bleeding from bodily orifices, such as the eyes or nose.

An estimated duration of survival after initial infection and after the incubation period ranges, on average, from 2-21 days. Initially identified in 1976 after surfacing in the Democratic Republic of Congo and Sudan, the Ebola virus has made a reappearance in the West African country of Guinea. The virus spreads through the direct transmission infected blood, mucus, and other bodily fluids. Burial ceremonies in which individuals are exposed to direct contact with the infected body also contribute to the transmission of the virus, and as such it has infiltrated the neighboring country of Liberia.

Although outbreaks of Ebola have surfaced in the past, following the initial identification of the virus in 1976, Doctors Without Borders alleges that this particular outbreak may be the most severe yet. A salient factor unique to this outbreak is its geography – this is the first time that Ebola has surfaced in Guinea. Although the virus typically appears in rural areas especially near rainforests, the virus has not been localized in specific areas of the country. For instance, cases miles apart have surfaced throughout Guinea. Therefore, this instance of the outbreak is much harder to contain than previous incidences.

Furthermore, according to health experts, although the disease is most often fatal, infection requires extremely close contact with the infected individual or engagement in avoidable activities such drugs. Additionally, during the incubation period, which can last up to 21 days, the individual is unable to transfer the disease to others. Once symptoms arise and transmission is viable, surrounding individuals are likely to stay away from the victim since their symptoms are generally severe and obvious. Therefore, it is unlikely that a widespread, global epidemic will occur. As is the case with most disease outbreaks, individuals in affected regions are strongly urged to take proper precautions while individuals residing in unaffected areas are advised on to not create undue panic.

However, other nations are already taking precautions of their own. For instance, Morocco has increased its border control,  Senegal has shut down its borders with Guinea and France has instructed its medical workers to watch out for signs of the virus in the local population. Despite fears that the virus may spread through airplane flights, the World Health Organization has not issued any restrictions on flights, since individuals who show signs of the virus are typically too ill to travel, and therefore risks of airplanes transmitting the virus are not a significant cause of concern. Although no viable treatments against Ebola currently exist, experimental drug treatments are undergoing examination and testing.

– Phoebe Pradhan

Sources: USA Today, Time, WHO
Photo: New Vision 

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Dust and Meningitis in the Sahel


Recent research carried out in Niger by Columbia University’s International Research Institute for Climate and Society (IRI) will hopefully allow scientists to be able to forecast meningitis outbreaks in sub-Saharan Africa, and thus prevent potential casualties of the disease.

The research was done by IRI in partnership with the NASA Goddard Institute for Space Studies. They found that environmental and climatic factors such as wind and dust conditions have an incredibly strong correlation with meningitis outbreaks in what is called the “meningitis belt,” stretching across the Sahel from Senegal to Ethiopia.

Bacterial meningitis occurs throughout the world but rates of meningitis in the Sahel and the rest of the belt are much higher. The African Meningococcal Carriage Consortium (MenAfriCar) reports that death rates of the disease are between five and 10 percent. However, long-term effects often ensue, including blindness, hearing loss and brain damage.

The outbreaks occur in the dry season and taper off with the first rains, and researchers have often believed that the mineral dust irritates the epithelial cells lining the nose and throat, allowing for easy passage of the bacteria into the bloodstream.

In the initial phases of the study, researchers collected a number of dust samples from Ghana, Niger and Senegal, examining the dust’s characteristics in order to see which properties might be influencing the spread of the disease.

Along with this information, the researchers also looked into environmental factors such as temperature and humidity and social factors such as reduced ventilation. A number of variables are being taken into account to understand how dust is affecting people’s vulnerability to meningitis.

The hopes of the study are that these climatic factors will help public health researchers to forecast meningitis outbreaks and develop vaccination strategies earlier in advance.

One of the lead researchers in the study, Carlos Perez Garcia-Pando, stated, “We’ve known that the disease is associated to climate and environmental issues for a long time, because it’s very seasonal. The idea was to try to use models and observations from satellites and all kinds of data on potential (climate-related) parameters that might be affecting the disease, and try to use that information to provide advance warning.”

Currently in the Sahel, a new vaccine has been distributed which has decreased the outbreak of meningitis. However, vaccination drives are still delivered in districts that are already suffering outbreaks, and they often come too late.

This study has shown that environmental factors can greatly impact the effectiveness of vaccination programs, and this has great implications for the future of meningitis control strategies across the globe.

– Mollie O’Brien

Sources: Irin News, The Guardian
Photo: National Geographic

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HIV-Hunger Trap

Referred to as the “wasting disease,” HIV demands a far greater energy and nutrient intake to fight infection. The virus threatens the immune system, leaving its host emaciated.

With the double burden of malnutrition and HIV/AIDS, those in developing countries must decide between food or antiretroviral medications. According to the nutritionists at the World Food Programme (WFP,) many live in this “HIV-Hunger Trap.”

The WFP reports a prioritization of food over treatment.

Yet, those living with HIV/AIDS continue eat less than their healthy counterparts. Symptoms such as nausea, vomiting and sore mouth may affect appetite. The illness–as well as the medication for it–may “modify the taste of food and prevent the body from absorbing it.” The Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) of the United Nations also cites exhaustion, depression and isolation symptoms.

These may limit energy to prepare and eat regular meals. And, in general, populations with high rates of HIV/AIDS lack sufficient access to food.

African nations affected the most depend on “labor-intensive farming systems.” Agriculture accounts for more than a third of these countries’ gross national product, reports the U.N. Yet from 1985 to 2011, AIDS led to death of seven million agricultural workers in 25 African countries. By 2020, the U.N. predicts HIV/AIDS could reduce the agricultural workforce by 25%.

This loss of the most productive age group (15 years old to 49 years old) results in greater food insecurity. Many households offer food and shelter to sick relatives or orphans, further limiting nutrient intake for each member.

HIV/AIDS also inhibits the ability to absorb food. Digestion breaks food into nutrients, and these nutrients subsequently provide energy and defense against infection. HIV and other infections, though, damage the gut wall. Consequently, food cannot pass through and be absorbed. Coupled with reduced food intake, this damage leads to severe weight loss and malnutrition.

The Elizabeth Glaser Pediatric AIDS Foundation (EGPAF) engineered a solution to the “HIV-Hunger Trap” in Lesotho. The country faces one of the highest prevalence rates, with 23.6% living with the virus. An estimated 28,000 children live with the dual threat of a weakened immune system and food insecurity.

The EGPAF aims to integrate nutrition education and support at local hospitals and health centers. At its “Nutrition Corners,” mothers and caregivers observe cooking demonstrations “using locally available fare such as sorghum porridge, beans, peas, vegetables and fruits.” This program also helps provide early treatment to HIV-positive children below the age of 2 years old.

Malnutrition serves as a gateway to infection for HIV-positive children.

At these hospitals and clinics, EGPAF monitors children to ensure proper weight for age and weight for height. If children fail to improve nutritionally for three visits, the foundation provides one-on-one counseling. Families who did improve participate in a group discussion. EGPAF also acts preemptively, providing caregivers and children of unknown status counseling. Testing services also offer an early diagnosis and access to treatment.

The HIV virus demands both medication and sufficient food intake. The World Health Organization recommends increasing energy intake by 50% to 100% for HIV-positive children experiencing weight loss. The Elizabeth Glaser Pediatric AIDS Foundation understands how impoverished regions fall into the “HIV-Hunger Trap.”

AIDS claims the lives of agricultural workers and those living with the virus subsequently face growing food insecurity. To meet the demands of this virus, the public health and agricultural fields can converge to protect vulnerable populations.

– Ellery Spahr

Sources: Elizabeth Glaser Pediatric Aids Foundation, Food and Agricultural Organization of the United Nations, United Nations
Photo: Joe McKay