Conure cheer amidst Coronavirus

31/12/2020 3 Comments read Features

By Neena Bhandari

Turbulent, terrible, torturous is probably how many would describe Year 2020. It exposed and widened the social, economic and political frailties and fault lines, relegating important environment, development and other health issues to the backburner, and stalled progress made in the key Sustainable Development Goals of education and gender. While timely lockdowns did help in slowing the transmission and spread of the virulent virus, confined isolation made the plight of the vulnerable worse.

2020 began with my annual trip to meet family and friends in India, which included a memorable visit to Amritsar and the Wagah Border. I returned to Sydney via Singapore, a week before the World Health Organisation declared the coronavirus outbreak a pandemic on March 11^th. On the flight I wore a mask, which I had hurriedly purchased before departing Delhi on a cold, hazy February night.

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Nanosensors embedded in living plants detect arsenic

11/12/2020 0 Comments read Environment & Development, Health & Science

Arsenic contaminated water used for drinking, food preparation and irrigation of food crops poses the greatest threat to public health in many countries. Photo Credit: © Neena Bhandari

By Neena Bhandari

Sydney, 11.12.20 (SciDev.Net): Researchers have developed a living plant-based sensor that can in real-time detect and monitor levels of arsenic, a highly toxic heavy metal, in the soil. Arsenic pollution is a major threat to humans and ecosystems in many Asia Pacific countries.

Arsenic contaminated water used for drinking, food preparation and irrigation of food crops poses the greatest threat to public health because the toxic chemical is naturally present at high levels in the groundwater of a number of countries, according to the World Health Organisation (WHO).

“Detecting arsenic level in the soil is important to ensure minimal contamination of our food chain. If we can have a convenient way to measure arsenic concentration in the soil in real time, we would be able to take preventive measures to keep arsenic level at the minimum, strengthening our food safety”, says Tedrick Thomas Salim Lew, a recent graduate student of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) and co-lead author of the research published in Advanced Materials on 26^th November 2020.

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Asia needs to improve equity in health

18/11/2020 0 Comments read Health & Science

A floating village in Ha Long Bay, in the Gulf of Tonkin, where most residents are part of Vietnam's majority ethnic group, the Kinh people. Photo Credit: © Neena Bhandari

By Neena Bhandari

Sydney, 18.11.2020 (SciDev.Net): Access to health care is a challenge for the most marginalised communities within Asian countries, but over the past decade there has been a growing commitment to identify and address health inequalities to make progress towards universal health coverage, a seminar heard.

A satellite session (8—12 November) of the Sixth Global Symposium on Health Systems Research, organised by Health Systems Global (HSG), focused on creative ways people working in health policy and research across Asia are increasing health equity, including for ethnic minorities and non-citizens.

Evidence suggests that certain socially disadvantaged groups tend to use health services less, although these groups may need health services more. This is partly because disadvantaged groups typically face multiple barriers, such as financial, geographical and cultural, in accessing services, according to Health at a Glance: Asia/Pacific 2018.

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