One Health working will improve health and well-being of us all: plant, animal, human and ecosystem!
For One Health Day November 3, 2016, CABI editor Wendie Norris blogs about "One Health beyond early detection and control of zoonoses" an RSTMH 2016 talk by CABI author Esther Schellling (Swiss Tropical Public Health). Describing research projects on nomadic pastoralists in Chad and Rift Valley Fever (RVF) control in Kenya, Esther drew attention to the need for interdisciplinary studies to include an evaluation of One Health working, involvement of social scientists, engagement of key stakeholders. Tellingly she provided a cost-benefit analysis to society of controlling zoonoses when the disease is in its animal host before it infects human beings.
Angry and sad at Xmas: victims of adolescent bullying
There have been far too many stories recently of desperate teenagers committing suicide, and an unknown number of families today will be reeling from the discovery that their teenager is seriously self-harming because of bullying. Mobile phones and social networking sites have exacerbated an age-old problem so that there is nowhere to hide. Poison-pen letter…
Low-level iodine-deficiency produces lower IQ children in UK
IN my March 2013 blog “Eat less salt but make sure it contains iodine!”, I described the problems of addressing iodine–deficiency diseases in Pakistan and the worrying rise in iodine deficiency in the UK, linked to a shift in eating patterns away from dairy and oily fish, our traditional sources of iodine. Whereas, other developed…
Designers help people to see and medicine to hitch a ride with cola
“Designs of the Year” include two to improve the health of people in developing countries. A pair of spectacles has lenses filled with liquid silicon via mini-syringes hidden in the arms. The wearer simply adjusts a dial to fill the lens (so changing its shape) until the world comes into focus. With optometrists in short supply in these countries, these spectacles eliminate expert fitting and 1 billion people could finally see for the first time. Another design enables lifesaving oral rehydration salts to reach children with diarrhea by hitching a lift in a crate of cola!
Dog share?
“Can we have a pet for Christmas?” is something I hear a lot each December. The answer, much to my children’s disappointment, is always no. In addition to the fact that we are often told that Christmas is not the best time to introduce a new animal into a household [e.g. see PetRescue.Com article: No…
Nodding syndrome raises its head
In a previous blog, Mystery disease outbreak in Ethiopia solved, I mentioned in passing Nodding Syndrome (NS), a neglected condition that is epidemiologically associated with onchocerciasis and affects children 5-15 years old. The syndrome causes epileptic seizures where the afflicted suffer from involuntary head nodding, usually triggered by food or cold. They end up severely…
No strings attached: public health messages from puppets!
Image:Loren Javier Father Christmas & wife puppets Happy Christmas! One intriguing way of getting health messages across to communities who are illiterate and whose spoken language may not even have words to describe the medical concept, is to entertain them. Travelling theatre groups in Africa sing or act out AIDs prevention…
August babies lack self-esteem
Image:'popofatticus This week we heard that being born in August in England leads to lack of self-esteem and a lifelong tendency to underachieve (Does when you are born matter?, from Institute of Fiscal Studies (IFS)). This appears to be a follow-up study to one focussed on primary school children in 2007, and it certainly got…
Getting kids to eat healthy- mission impossible?
There’s a challenge! How to do it? Stealth, education, marketing, example. Which do you choose? Should we hide fruit and vegetables in meals so children eat them without realising as suggested in American Journal of Clinical Nutrition recently or use marketing to improve the image of healthy food, employing packaging and advergames? Or in fact…
Epigenetics: epi what?
Pity the poor editor on BBC’s news programme “Breakfast” (11 jan 2011) subtitling, as Professor Robert Winston and others discussed the possibility of gender selection to "complete your family in the way you desire" i.e. to finally achieve that longed for girl or boy. Throughout the discussion the text editor had kept up admirably, coping…