Pacific Island Countries to develop Advanced Warning System for tuna migration

19/04/2023 0 Comments read Climate Change, Environment & Development, Health & Science

By Neena Bhandari

Sydney, 19.04.2023 (IPS): Climate change and warming ocean waters are causing tuna fisheries to migrate to international waters, away from a country’s jurisdiction, thereby putting the food and economic security of many Pacific Island countries and territories at risk. Now a Pacific Community (SPC) led regional initiative will help ensure that these countries are equipped to cope with climate change-induced tuna migration.

“All the climate change projections indicate that there will be a redistribution of tuna from the western and central Pacific to the more eastern and towards the polar regions, that is not Antarctica or the Arctic, but to regions outside of the equatorial zones where they primarily occur at the moment,” says SPC’s Principal Fisheries Scientist, Dr Simon Nicol.

“This has really important implications for the Pacific Island countries. Our projections suggest that about one-fifth or about USD 100 million of the income derived from the tuna industry directly is likely to be lost by 2050 by these countries,” Nicol tells IPS.

Continue reading →

Why polio survivors may benefit from a lung function test

14/03/2023 0 Comments read Disability, Health & Science, Poliomyelitis

By Neena Bhandari

Sydney, 14.03.2023 (Allergy and Respiratory Republic): Basic lung function tests could go a long way in preventing complications in polio survivors as they age. These patients often require specific respiratory assessment and recommendations for physiotherapy, orthotics and assistive technology to manage their condition, experts say.

“It is only in the last 20 to 30 years that there has been a better recognition of respiratory compromise in polio survivors,” Dr Stephen de Graaff, director of Pain Services and senior rehabilitation physician at Epworth Healthcare in Melbourne, tells ARR. “Respiratory physicians have a better knowledge and understanding of Late Effects of Polio and Post Polio Syndrome than previously, but we are still learning. Even within the universities and the medical fraternity, teaching emphasises the acute poliomyelitis condition rather than the Late Effects of Poliomyelitis or PPS.”

“The commonest cause of respiratory compromise in polio survivors relates to restrictive lung disease (a decrease in the total volume of air that the lungs are able to hold), but this is often confused with having obstructive lung disease as in asthma, chronic bronchitis or emphysema. However, it doesn’t exclude them from having obstructive lung disease”, says Dr de Graaff.

Continue reading →

No ‘human-to-human infection’ of bird flu in Cambodia

02/03/2023 0 Comments read Health & Science

By Neena Bhandari

Sydney, 02.03.2023 (SciDev.Net): Cambodian health authorities have confirmed that the two avian flu cases last week in Prey Veng province were “infected from birds in their village” and that “no transmission between father and daughter has been found”.

“As of today [1 March], there is no evidence of human-to-human transmission in Cambodia and the response is still ongoing,” Ailan Li, WHO Representative to Cambodia, told SciDev.Net following the death of an 11-year-old girl from the virus. “While there have been a few infections in humans globally, so far, the virus is not known to spread from person to person easily.”

The infection, which largely affects birds and animals, has a 50 per cent mortality rate in humans. Globally, 873 human cases of H5N1 and 458 deaths have been reported in 21 countries since 2003, according to the UN health agency.

Continue reading →