Archive for category: Health

Information and stories on health topics.

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Destigmatization of Breastfeeding in Urban India

Destigmatization of Breastfeeding in Urban India
World Breastfeeding Week is celebrated internationally every year from August 1-7th. Each year, there are various events and activities intended to educate about the benefits and encourage the practice. The theme this year was ‘Women and work – Let’s make it work.’ This year, added emphasis was placed on advocating for widespread maternity leave and other accommodations for working mothers.

Many organizations such as UNICEF, World Health Organization (WHO), and the Breastfeeding Promotion Network of India (BPNI) have worked both independently and jointly with the Indian government to provide information and spread awareness throughout the country. The breastfeeding rates are higher in the rural Northern states than in the urban South.

UNICEF Nutrition Specialist, Gayatri Singh states, “The government of India has laws, policies and programs to protect, promote, and support breastfeeding. UNICEF supports national and state governments in the development and implementation of infant and young child feeding policies and plans for promoting optimal breastfeeding.”

Singh goes on to say, “Communication and advocacy activities on breastfeeding are also a key component of UNICEF’s support. We also support governments to design strategies for social and behavior change communication and in the implementation of the strategies through multiple communication channels.”

In an effort to promote breastfeeding, the Indian government enacted the Infant Milk Substitute (IMS) Amendment Act in 2003 which prohibits any form of advertising claiming newborn formula as an equivalent option.

“In India, between 2006 and 2013, there has been an improvement in the breastfeeding rates. The latest data shows that 44.6% of children are put to breastfeeding within one hour of birth and 64.9% of children under six months of age are exclusively breastfed,” states Singh. He goes on to add that while knowledge of health benefits appear to be even higher, there are societal factors hindering the practice.

Dalvinder Kaur, a public relations specialist, states, “A lot of people, while thinking of breasts, automatically think of sex, as if that’s their primary reason for existence. I feel that it is pretty much the heart of the matter. Women’s breasts are often defined as sex objects–and nothing more. And since sex is basically a taboo in the public realm, breastfeeding ends up being perceived as some sort of indecent, out-of-bounds behavior.”

Dhanya Ranjit, a software engineer and mother speaks on the stigma attached to breastfeeding, “Women find it difficult to breastfeed and more so, to nurse in public because of the lack of support from any quarter. They also don’t see it happening around them. While I was very hesitant to breastfeed my older child in front of others but the encouragement and exposure to information through the Facebook support groups made me realize that it is as natural as an adult eating food in public.”

As is the case with many social movements, the internet can be utilized very effectively to raise awareness and garner support. “Big Latch On” is an international gathering that occurs in many cities during World Breastfeeding Week and event calls for mothers to join together publicly and breastfeed together. Through a social media campaign, a “Big Latch On” event was held this past August 1st in Hyderabad, Telangana, India. The organization started in New Zealand but has spread to many countries around the world.

Recent attempts at normalization in mainstream media have begun to manifest themselves as well. Indian cinema has begun to prominently display breastfeeding such as in the recent blockbuster movie Baahubali. The highly anticipated film cost $40 million and is the most expensive movie in Indian history. Whether purposeful or not, the display of breastfeeding in such a popular film shows marked progress towards shifting attitudes of the viewers.

– The Borgen Project

Sources: India Times, Jantaka Reporter, IBN Live
Photo: Flickr

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Reducing Food Loss, Waste and Meat Consumption Could End World Hunger by 2030


The United Nations has called for the end of world hunger by 2030 in its Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). In Goal 2, of 17, the UN outlines the need for the promotion of sustainable agriculture that will improve food security and nutrition while protecting the ecosystem and fighting climate change. Although a tall order, the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) along with the Austrian think tank, International Institute for Applied Systems Analysis, believes that the goal is attainable.

“I don’t think it’s all that ambitious to eliminate hunger,” said Jomo Sundaram, assistant director-general of the UN’s Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO). He told Reuters he attributes his optimism to rising incomes in much of the world, improvements in the transportation of food, and new technologies that are keeping yields of many key crops on an upward trend.

But in order to achieve the goal of eliminating world hunger, food waste and the inefficiencies of the livestock industry need to be addressed.

Despite the fact that there is currently enough food produced globally to end world hunger, much loss and waste occur postharvest. According to the World Resources Institute (WRI), about 24 percent of all calories currently produced for human consumption are either lost or wasted.

The WRI reports that by reducing postharvest losses there will be more food available to farmers and communities, making food more affordable and accessible to the poor and food insecure. This can be done, the group states, through attainable solutions for developing nations such as pest-resistant packaging and cooling-cellar storage.

Changing dietary habits is another important solution to ending global hunger, particularly shifting from raising cattle as a source of protein to growing fruit, grain, and vegetables. According to the FAO, the amount of human-edible protein that goes into raising livestock is higher than the human-edible protein yielded from livestock. The group estimates that 26 percent of the world’s land that is being used for livestock grazing could produce better and more nutritionally valuable yields if converted to growing plant-based food for human consumption.

In addition to increasing the yield of protein-rich crops, reducing the number of grazing livestock, particularly cows, will also lower annual greenhouse gas emissions. According to the FAO, “Livestock contributes both directly and indirectly to climate change through the emissions of greenhouse gases such as carbon dioxide, methane and nitrous oxide.” The FAO estimates that 18 percent of global greenhouse gas emissions come from livestock.

By implementing better waste prevention systems and simply eating less meat from grazing animals, the fight against global food insecurity could indeed be attainable.

– Claire Colby

Sources: Food and Agriculture Organization 1, Food and Agriculture Organization 2, Huffpost Impact, The Physics Factbook, The World Bank, The World Factbook 1, The World Factbook 2, The World Factbook 3, World Resources Institute
Photo: fao

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Rabies Outbreaks in Poor Rural Areas

Rabies outbreaks in poor rural areas
Rabies occurs in more than 150 countries in the world. The disease is present on all continents with the exception of Antarctica. Each year, tens of thousands of people die from the infection it causes.

Most of the areas that are affected are in Asia and Africa and account for over 95% of human rabies deaths. The disease occurs mainly in remote rural communities. Rabies outbreaks are rampant among impoverished and vulnerable populations.

Rabies is a zoonotic disease. It is caused by a virus that allows the disease to be transmitted to humans from animals. The disease may affect domestic and wild animals, known carriers include foxes, raccoons, skunks, jackals, mongooses and other wild carnivore host species. However, dogs are the primary sources of human rabies deaths. Rabies is spread to people through close contact with an infectious substance such as bites, saliva or scratches. Most people usually become infected after a deep bite or scratch by an infected animal. Upon the onset of the disease developing, the disease is nearly always fatal.

Prevalence in rural areas is due to the lack of vaccinations. There is low vaccination coverage of dogs, and an inability to finance the costs of vaccination for humans. Other factors include poor management of dogs, and in particular the free movement of dogs, which increases their risk of contracting rabies from wildlife.

In terms of policy, rabies is lacking policy formulations to combat rabies throughout developing countries. As a result of the poor level of political commitment and effort to control rabies, there is a lack of understanding of how rabies impacts public health and socioeconomic affairs.

Rabies is a vaccine-preventable viral disease. Each year over 14 million people receive a post-exposure vaccination to prevent the disease. This vaccination prevents hundreds of thousands of rabies deaths. Other strategies to control the disease consist of controlling the dog population, vaccinating domesticated animals and education about prevention to reduce the number of animal bites. After a bite, immediately cleaning the wound, and immunization within a few hours after contact with the animal can prevent the onset of rabies.

The World Health Organization promotes human rabies prevention through the elimination of rabies in dogs. Their target is for the elimination of human and dog rabies in all Latin American countries by 2015, and South-East Asia by 2020.

– Erika Wright

Sources: Iowa State University, International Journal of Infectious Diseases, NIH, WHO
Photo: CNN

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How a New Program Could Reconnect the Supply Chain

When Communication Really is Key; How a New Program Could Reconnect the Supply Chain and Keep Health Care Clinics Stocked
According to the World Health Organization (WHO), out of the close to the 1 million health centers in the developing world 40 percent of them are stocked out of essential supplies or medications.

In some countries, people walk three days to reach the nearest health clinic only to learn that they are out of stock of their medication. At the same time, health workers admit that they have life saving medications gathering dust and expiring on their shelves because their patients do not need them.

Reliefwatch is a platform for heath care organizations in the developing world to track the supplies in clinics and pharmacies. All clinics need to partake in Reliefwatch is a basic cellphone, which most clinic workers already own. The program involves no new hardware or installations and because all it requires is workers to punch in their inventory numbers into the cellphone, the training process is fast and simple.

Reliefwatch’s method is simple. An automatic call is sent to participating clinics whose staff enter their supply and medication inventories when prompted (Reliefwatch uses multilingual support systems). All the collected data is stored in their cloud system making it available in real-time anywhere in the world.

The information collected through Reliefwatch allows suppliers and NGOs to more accurately distribute medical supplies and medications. So instead of blindly shipping out supplies to clinics every three weeks, suppliers can effectively re-stock clinics based on their needs.

Daniel Yu, the founder of Reliefwatch, says his nonprofit has reduced stock-outs to 10 percent of current levels. Suppliers are more aware of which clinics need which drugs and facilities that have excess items can give them to clinics in need of them.

Reconnecting the supply-chain has a powerful effect. Suppliers can feel confident that their provisions are reaching places that need them, clinics and health care workers can adequately serve their patients and patients can depend on their medication being available when they need it.

– Brittney Dimond

 

Sources: Next City, Relief Watch
Photo: Flickr

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The Benefits of the Egypt Recycling Program

New Wheels in Cairo: The Benefits of Egypt's Scrapping and Recycling
At 7 a.m. every Friday and Saturday, members of the Cairo Runners Club wake up and prepare to hit the soon-to-be crowded streets of Egypt’s capital. Yet these intrepid urban runners are not trying to exercise before work—the weekend actually has already begun (an Egyptian weekend lasts from Friday to Saturday).

Their early waking is rather a matter of health and safety than of discipline. By rising with the sun, they can avoid the noxious air pollution and congested streets that perpetually plague Egypt’s capital.

In fact, according to environmental data from the World Health Organization (WHO), Cairo is more polluted than even Beijing, Bangkok and Mexico City. It has a level of fine particulate that is seven times the WHO standards. These extreme levels of pollution often can lead to heart disease and cancer.

In order to curb air pollution, the Egyptian government has turned to a variety of strategies, including banning the burning of waste and spending more on public transportation. One program that is showing promising results is an initiative supported by the World Bank, which aims to replace old and inefficient mass-transit vehicles in the city.

The program, named Egypt Vehicle Scrapping and Recycling Program, provides cash incentives of up to 5,000 Egyptian Pounds, roughly 640 U.S. dollars, to taxi owners to relinquish and recycle their aging vehicles.

The Egypt recycling program also uses operating licenses to leverage compliance. Mass transit vehicles older than 20 years can no longer receive new operating licenses. Before the program, the age of the average taxi in Cairo was a whopping 32 years. Vehicles this old suffer from poor safety ratings, bad reliability and lack the catalytic converters that filter out pollutants from an engine’s exhaust.

Although the program is reinvigorating the transit fleet in Cairo, its effectiveness does not necessarily extend beyond the metropolitan area. In fact, since the program does not prescribe the method for disposing of these aging vehicles, owners can sell parts to private parties where the law is not in effect.

The Egyptian Environmental Affairs Agency also outlined a variety of challenges this program must face in order to succeed. First of all the program requires the complete motivation and organization of the vehicle owners, traffic department and the Ministry of the Interior.

The first project of its kind worldwide, the program also was entering uncharted waters and therefore only a small number could provide the required services. The complexities of Egyptian bureaucracy were also noted as hindrances to the program and would require attentiveness in order to coordinate affairs.

Nonetheless, since the program has been initiated in 2010, the World Bank has reported noticeable improvements. It estimates that during 2013 and in 2014, the program prevented over 130,000 tons of carbon dioxide emissions. The program also has exchanged an impressive total of 40,689 old taxis with new taxis in Cairo alone.

Many of the old taxis were in excess of 50 years old, well above the already high average of 32 years. As Cairo replaces more of its aging taxis it can expect cleaner skies and perhaps even more runners.

– Andrew Logan

Sources: The World Bank 1, The World Bank 2, United Nations Environment Program, Egyptian Environmental Affairs Agency, USA Today
Photo: Flickr

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6 Reasons Breadfruit Can Solve World Hunger

Breadfruit Could Solve World Hunger
What is breadfruit? Although it sounds fictitious, it is actually a real food with the potential to contribute to the eradication of world hunger.

Breadfruit is shaped like a football and has a prickly texture. The fruit grows on trees and is highly nutritious. It is not well known because many people find it bland and tasteless.

However, there are 6 reasons why food critics should stop turning up their noses at this fruit and they all pertain to helping starving people.

  1. Breadfruit is native to the Pacific Islands and grows best in sunny and humid climates. About 80 percent of the world’s hungry live in tropical and subtropical regions. Because these regions are best for these trees, the fruit has the potential to feed thousands of hungry people.
  2. Breadfruit trees grow easily and begin to bear fruit within three to five years. They are not high maintenance and continue to produce fruit for decades. On average, larger trees can produce between 400-600 fruits while smaller trees can produce approximately 100 fruits.
  3. Breadfruit is nutritious. It is high in fiber, carbohydrates, calcium, copper, iron, magnesium, potassium, thiamine, and niacin.
  4. Breadfruit can be prepared in a variety of ways including fried, frozen, fermented, pickled, boiled, baked, and roasted. It can also be ground into flour.
  5. Currently, there are pilot projects working to distribute the fruit to places in need such as Honduras and the Caribbean. The Breadfruit Institute in Hawaii is a member of the Alliance to End Hunger. With their hard work and the work of other organizations such as Trees That Feed Foundation, breadfruit has fed people in Jamaica, Kenya, and Haiti.
  6. There are many fans advocating for the fruit. Olelo pa’a Faith Ogawa, a private chef says, “I feel it’s the food of the future. If I were to speak to the breadfruit spirit, it would tell me: ‘Grow me! Eat me! It can feed villages!’”

– Kelsey Parrotte

Sources: Business Insider, National Tropical Botanical Garden, Wall Street Journal, Huffington Post

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Experts to Create a Global Health Risk Framework

What is the Commission on Global Health Risk Framework
In response to recent outbreaks of infectious diseases such as Ebola, Middle East respiratory syndrome (MERS), severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) and H1N1, the National Academy of Medicine is coordinating a new Commission on Global Health Risk Framework. The framework will address the need for better local and global health infrastructure to stem the spread of diseases on a global scale.

The Commission is a multinational, independent board made up of 18 members from 11 countries. The National Academy of Medicine serves as the secretariat. Those serving on the board are members of their countries’ health ministries and funds while others work in universities and the insurance industry.

To create the framework, the Commission will convene four workshops, each lasting up to three days. Topics include governance for global health, financial responses to pandemic threats, resilient health systems, and research and development of medical products.

A wide range of experts will address the layout of related global initiatives, challenges and lessons learned from past health threats, and the reactions of governments, communities, and the private sector during threats.

The first public meeting was held in Washington D.C. on July 29, 2015. At the conclusion of the four workshops, the commission will publish a consensus report on how to address the issues raised and will provide detailed recommendations for fixing  problem areas. The report is scheduled for release by the end of 2015.

– Katherine Hewitt

Sources: NAM 1, NAM 2, News Medical
Photo: Flickr

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Eva Longoria and LG Raise Money For No Kid Hungry

eva_longoria
Last week, Eva Longoria hosted an LG Electronics USA product launch in Hollywood for the company’s new ranges with ProBake Convection technology to benefit the No Kid Hungry Campaign.

A-list celebrities and VIP guests like actress Kaley Cuoco-Sweeting, chef Angel Estrada and actor Jesse Metcalfe, gathered for a family oriented event sponsored by LG. The occasion featured cooking activities and games, as well as interactive culinary demonstrations highlighting the new cooking technology.

The fun-filled afternoon also served to raise awareness and support for the No Kid Hungry campaign that is sponsored by Share Our Strength, an organization that helps to provide food for children and families in need. Fittingly, the charity also empowers families to cook healthy meals together.

The Desperate Housewives star said that she really values the importance of family and passing down recipes to loved ones.

“I come from a tight-knit family where we value the importance of gathering for meals and celebrations, and I’m thrilled to join LG to encourage families to do the same, all while benefitting such a fantastic cause,” Longoria said.

Longoria supports a worthy cause — malnutrition is a continuing problem. According to Action Against Hunger, 3.5 million children die each year from malnutrition.

To help eradicate this problem, the No Kid Hungry campaign asks for donations for hungry children and lists ways for people to improve the lives of the impoverished. The campaign’s website focuses on using food as a tool to create a better value of life, stating that “another kid falls behind and never catches up” without proper nourishment.

The campaign also seeks to provide parents the tools to create and offer nutritious meals to their children. Supporting No Kid Hungry, LG encouraged the community to start their own “PostBake sales” in their neighborhoods using kits gifted by the event to all attendees.

Longoria hosted her own bake sale at the LG event. The award-winning cookbook author and co-restaurateur shared her cooking expertise during her live demonstrations. Her culinary creations were all recipes from her New York Times bestselling cookbook, “Eva’s Kitchen: Cooking with Love for Family and Friends.”

In addition, she helped organize pizza and flatbread baking, cake and cookie decorating, a themed photo booth and more.

Since the event, LG and Longoria have helped connect struggling kids with more than 345 million meals. The benefit also helped to launch school breakfast programs, recruit summer meals sites, and helped to provide grants to the most effective hunger-fighting organizations to help end child hunger in their communities, according to the No Kid Hungry website.

Not only is the campaign feeding kids, but it is also making their dreams come true.
Straight-A students and sisters, Jeane and Jahnique love to run, dance and cheerlead, and with the help of No Kid Hungry, they are able to do these activities with more energy.

“When I eat, it makes me run faster,” one sister said.

No Kid Hungry has helped many more kids in different areas. The operation’s website shows several more stories like this one. To read these stories and to learn how to support these kids, visit the No Kid Hungry website.

– Fallon Lineberger

Sources: Action Against Hunger, Look to the Stars, No Kid Hungry 1, No Kid Hungry 2, Vimeo
Photo: Homemade Mimi

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UNLV’s New Research on HIV

UNLV’s New Research on HIVResearchers from the University of Nevada Las Vegas have begun working on new research on HIV, human immunodeficiency virus, by finding ways to stop the virus from infecting human cells.

UNLV has already earned several financial grants for the research, including one from the National Institutes of Health.

The researchers are looking at genetic codes called minimotifs that direct cellular function. Their goal is to understand how the codes can help cells fight off HIV by blocking the virus from interacting with the cells.

“We chose HIV as our model system because we know viruses depend solely on cells to live,” said Kiran Mathew, a researcher at UNLV, in an interview with the Las Vegas Review Journal. “It’s a great model system we can use to test out the effects of (the codes) in the cell.”

According to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, about 1.2 million Americans were infected with HIV as of 2012, with roughly 50,000 new cases each year.

By the end of 2014, close to 37 million people were living with HIV/AIDS worldwide and about 15 million people living with HIV were receiving antiretroviral therapy. The World Health Organization cites sub-Saharan Africa as the most affected region by HIV/AIDS globally with 26 million people infected in 2014. The region also accounts for almost 70 percent of the global total of new HIV infections.

There is currently no cure for HIV. The Food and Drug Administration has approved more than 25 antiretroviral drugs to help fight infections and improve quality of life for patients. With successful treatment, HIV infection can become a chronic, manageable disease. But therapy must be life long and there are limitations to diagnosis, treatment and care in geographical areas that are most heavily affected.

The promising new research coming out of UNLV might help develop new HIV drugs, code for other diseases and make personalized drugs specific for a patient’s genetic makeup. But first the findings must be published and patented before pharmaceutical companies could begin the process of bringing it to market where patients can benefit.

– Megan Ivy

Sources: Review Journal, CDC, WHO
Photo: Flickr

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Improving Global Surgery Addresses Development Needs


According to the World Health Organization, 5.8 million people die each year as a result of injuries. This is 32 percent more than the number of fatalities that result from malaria, tuberculosis and HIV/AIDs combined.

The most common life-threatening issues include road traffic, homicide and suicide. The World Health Organization also states that “injuries are a leading killer of youth.” Unfortunately, less attention has been directed toward surgical services in the developing world. A study in the Lancet Global Health Journal analyzed the factors that have contributed to this unmet need.

Key factors include:

  • Lack of leadership in the global surgery community
  • Disagreement on how to address the problem
  • Lack of effective efforts to take advantage of political actions
  • Minimal data on effects of surgical diseases

Despite these difficulties, there are networks committed to advancing the priority of global surgery. One promising solution is to link these efforts with other global health goals.

Basic surgical care could avert 1.5 million deaths per year. A few surgical diseases include blindness, fractures and appendicitis. While we may place less of an emphasis on these health issues, in comparison to HIV/AIDS for example, they still place significant burdens on the quality and productivity of life in developing communities.

It is important for the above factors to be addressed with existing organizations that have the structure and ability to bring attention to this goal. With adequate healthcare, communities in developing countries are more likely to develop in a sustainable and equitable manner.

– Iliana Lang

Sources: World Health Organization, The Lancet
Photo: Unsplash