Stopping cancer: don’t tell people to quit smoking, ban it
Efforts to prevent chronic diseases such as cancer, diabetes and asthma and heart disease are increasingly turning to the developing world, where 80% of the non-communicable diseases (NCDs) burden lies.
The issue is no longer whether the problem exists – it undeniably does, with health, economic, and development consequences – but instead what strategies are advocated to prevent the 35 million lives lost each year to NCDs, and the $47 trillion in costs projected by 2030.
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The president of the World Bank says that Ebola-effected countries in West Africa need at least 5,000 more health workers to effectively fight the epidemic.
Jim Yong Kim said Tuesday that he is worried about where those health care workers can be found given the widespread fear of Ebola. The World Bank president spoke alongside U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon and African Union Chairwoman Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma.
Ban said the transmission of the virus continues to outpace the international community’s response. He appealed to African Union’s 54...
5,000 Ebola health workers needed in West Africa
The president of the World Bank says that Ebola-effected countries in West Africa need at least 5,000 more health workers to effectively fight the epidemic.
Jim Yong Kim said Tuesday that he is worried about where those health care workers can be found given the widespread fear of Ebola. The World Bank president spoke alongside U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon and African Union Chairwoman Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma.
Ban said the transmission of the virus continues to outpace the international community’s response. He appealed to African Union’s 54...
Complications during pregnancy in rural Bangladesh
A new study led by researchers at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health shows that over one-quarter of women in rural Bangladesh experience complications during pregnancy, with hemorrhage and sepsis as the most commonly reported complications. The majority of childbirths in rural Bangladesh are at home with no trained health professional in attendance. The study was published in the October 4 edition of Biomed Central Pregnancy and Childbirth.
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Survey fills data gap in region where 75% of births are at home
The complications reported by women highlight the need for greater access to health care in rural settings.Bangladesh’s life-threatening chemical hazards
For more than 10 years, Sharif Hossain has worked barefoot and barehanded in the chemical warehouses that sprawl across Old Dhaka. The work has taken its toll — today, he looks pale and exhausted; far older than his 35 years.
Six days a week, Hossain handles liquid and solid chemicals like sulfuric acid, sodium, dye, and soda, without any kind of protective gear.
For this, he makes about 6,000 taka (US$77) a month. The pay is nearly twice what he earned as a day laborer, but the job has already taken a disastrous toll on him.
Methods to reverse arsenic danger in Bangladesh water supply
Arsenic poisoning is widespread in Bangladesh, where ground water is contaminated by runoff from the Himalayas. Now researchers have developed two simple and cheap methods that well drillers can use to tap arsenic-safe drinking water.
The secret to finding safe water lies in the colour of sediment obtained from well boring, says Prosun Bhattacharya, Professor of Groundwater Chemistry at Stockholm’s KTH Royal Institute of Technology and coordinator of the KTH International Groundwater Arsenic Research Group.
Led by Bhattacharya, an inte...
The secret to finding safe water lies in the colour of sediment obtained from well boring, says Prosun Bhattacharya, Professor of Groundwater Chemistry at Stockholm’s KTH Royal Institute of Technology and coordinator of the KTH International Groundwater Arsenic Research Group.
Led by Bhattacharya, an inte...
