Napo Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (Napo) recently hosted an educational panel to address the impact of the lack of access to clean water and enteric disease on global health, the environment, and human rights. Robert F. Kennedy, Jr., Napo’s Environmental Advisor, discussed the negative consequences of non-sustainable development on indigenous peoples and the environment.
Other speakers included E. Benjamin Skinner, who has written about the connection between the war on diarrhea and modern-day slavery in his book, A Crime So Monstrous; and James Workman, whose book, Heart of Dryness, details the current and future struggles surrounding the scarcity of clean water, as told through the experiences and traditional wisdom of bushmen in southern Africa’s Kalahari region. Dr. Pradip Bardhan of the International Centre for Diarrhoeal Disease Research in Bangladesh (ICDDR,B), a state-of-the-art cholera hospital, shared his experiences with enteric disease, not only at the ICDDR,B, but also with respect to cholera crises around the world, such as the recent outbreak in Zimbabwe.
“This event was an important gathering of world experts to address the various factors affecting the health of global populations,” said Napo CEO Lisa Conte. “The development of crofelemer, Napo’s investigational drug for secretory pediatric infectious diarrhea, is part of an effort by many partners to address the devastating dehydration in pediatric populations, regardless of their geography of social or economic status.”
Napo invites you to view highlights of the discussion at http://vimeo.com/6819224. You may view the entire hour-long event at http://vimeo.com/6819500.