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Lancet examines dengue fever in Mexico

Lancet World Report examines the factors contributing to a steady uptick in the number of dengue fever cases in Mexico over the past decade. Compared to the year 2000, when "there were 1,781 reported cases … Last year, the number totalled 33,000, according to Mexico's Public Health Department. And confirmed cases this year have already surpassed 2008 figures by 15%," according to the journal.

24 Aug 2009

Study shows young musk oxen are not vulnerable to cold weather conditions

A new study finds that young muskoxen conserve heat almost as well as adults, a finding that runs contrary to a longstanding assumption among scientists that young animals should be more vulnerable in extreme cold. The study, by biologist Adam Munn from the University of Sydney, Australia, will be published in the forthcoming issue of Physiological and Biochemical Zoology.

21 Aug 2009

New report by NSF & Trucost studies GHG emissions and carbon footprints of chemical sector companies and others.

NSF International, a public health and safety organization, and Trucost Plc, a global provider of environmental data and analysis, today announced the availability of a new report entitled, Carbon Emissions – Measuring the Risks.

20 Aug 2009

Opinion: Chronic disease in Africa; education can help combat disease; climate change and health; TB vaccine

"An epidemic of chronic, non-communicable diseases such as heart disease, mental illness, cancer, diabetes, and obesity is growing in Africa, a continent still struggling with infectious and nutritional diseases," according to a Boston Globe opinion piece by Michelle Holmes and Shona Dalal.

18 Aug 2009

Asia's food and feed demand is expected to double by 2050 bringing shortages

A comprehensive new study of irrigation in Asia warns that, without major reforms and innovations in the way water is used for agriculture, many developing nations face the politically risky prospect of having to import more than a quarter of the rice, wheat and maize they will need by 2050.

17 Aug 2009

Obama to discuss combating H1N1 at North American Leaders Summit

President Obama arrived in Guadalajara, Mexico, Sunday for a two-day North American Leaders Summit with Mexican President Felipe Calderon and Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper, the Wall Street Journal reports. The leaders "are discussing efforts to stem the spread of the H1N1 flu virus, economic competitiveness, national security, and global climate change," according to White House officials (Williamson, 8/9).

11 Aug 2009

Boosting agricultural research in the developing world key to food security

Boosting agricultural research in the developing world is the key to ensuring food security for the world's poorest, says Adel el-Beltagy, Chair of the Global Form on Agricultural Research (GFAR), writing in the latest issue of the TWAS Newsletter, published last week.

4 Aug 2009

Daytime temperature fluctuations may alter malaria patterns

Daytime temperature fluctuations greatly alter the incubation period of malaria parasites in mosquitoes and alter transmission rates of the disease. Consideration of these fluctuations reveals a more accurate picture of climate change's impact on malaria.

3 Aug 2009

Walk, don't drive! community promotion of physical activity has two-fold benefit

About half of the car trips in the U.S. are less than five miles - a distance easily navigated by walking or cycling. Reducing short-distance car trips has many benefits - it decreases car accidents, has positive benefits for the environment and increases physical health and activity, says communication professor Edward Maibach of George Mason University. An expert in climate change communication research, Maibach says that community leaders should make promotion of physical activity a priority.

3 Aug 2009

Legislation to overhaul U.S. foreign aid introduced

Senator John Kerry (D-Mass.), chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, and ranking member, Senator Richard Lugar (R-Ind.), on Tuesday "introduced a bill to overhaul the U.S. system for providing global development aid," the Boston Globe reports (Smith, 7/29). The legislation was also introduced by Senators Robert Menendez (D-NJ) and Bob Corker (R-Tenn.), according to a release from Menendez's office (7/28).

29 Jul 2009

IRIN examines 'dramatic plunge' in family planning international donor dunding

IRIN examines how a "dramatic plunge" in international donor funding for family planning could undermine other health- and humanitarian-related goals, including fighting poverty and hunger. About 200 million women do not have access to contraception, which could cause a surge in the world's population leading to a reversal of humanitarian gains, according to some experts.

13 Jul 2009

G8 addresses developing nation economic assistance, reforming African aid, establishing farming investment, food security, climate change

Leaders of the world's five biggest developing economies (G5) - Brazil, China, India, Mexico and South Africa - joined the G8 summit on Thursday in an effort to get international financial institutions to use their "multi-billion dollar government bailouts to help developing countries emerge from the economic crisis," AFP/Google.com reports.

9 Jul 2009

WSJ examines project aimed at delivering drinking water to populations in India, China

The Wall Street Journal examines how a "rainwater harvesting project," called Aakash Ganga is delivering water to India's northern state of Rajasthan - one of the driest states in India - and expanding into China's Guiyang Municipality. The original project, supported by the World Bank, is set to expand from six villages in Rajasthan to "70 villages, to provide water security to 200,000 people," the newspaper writes.

8 Jul 2009

Climate change, hunger, economy G8 Summit top priorities; France's First Lady calls on G8 to expand on global health 'achievements'

President Barack Obama joined world leaders in Italy on Wednesday for "three days of intense talks on threats to global security and stability" at a G8 summit "where climate change, the continuing global economy crisis and world hunger got top billing," AP/Google.com reports (Babington, 7/8).

8 Jul 2009

Developed countries must address global warming to prevent disease, hunger in developing world

Pollution from the world's wealthiest countries is spreading disease and hunger in developing countries, according to a new Oxfam International report, which calls on developed countries to address global warming when G8 leaders meet in Italy, the Globe and Mail reports.

7 Jul 2009

World poverty gains reduced, countries unlikely to achieve most MDGs, U.N. report says

The global economic downturn has "reversed a 20-year decline in world poverty" and could "add up to 90 million to the ranks of the hungry in 2009, an increase of six percent over current totals," according to a U.N. report on the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), which U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon launched in Geneva on Monday, Reuters reports (Evans, 7/6).

7 Jul 2009

Researchers develop new method for better diagnostic of diarrhea causing bacteria

Researchers from Helmholtz Centre for Infection Research, Germany, develop new method for better diagnostic of diarrhea causing bacteria.

30 Jun 2009

Health reform questions continue to loom

Reuters reports that "President Barack Obama's drive to overhaul the U.S. healthcare system may be back on track thanks to Senate efforts to cut the price tag to $1 trillion, but a bipartisan deal on the sweeping proposal still is far from certain ... Senate Finance Committee Chairman Max Baucus was upbeat last week after announcing that panel members had found ways to bring the price tag to about $1 trillion over 10 years, down from an earlier estimate of a staggering $1.6 trillion ... Instead, the core group of negotiators -- three Democrats and four Republicans -- issued a tepid statement on Thursday merely affirming their commitment to continue negotiations."

30 Jun 2009

USAID commits $1 million to help several African nations deal with natural disasters, disease spread

USAID announced on Thursday a $1 million commitment to a Red Cross project aimed at helping those "living along southern Africa's Zambezi River cope with worsening natural disasters because of climate change," the AP/Washington Post reports.

29 Jun 2009

U.N. calls for increased commitment to help vulnerable countries prepare for natural disaster

Instead of responding to natural disasters after they happen, aid should be dedicated to helping countries prepare for future disasters, John Holmes, the U.N.'s emergency relief coordinator, said Friday, Reuters reports.

22 Jun 2009