Is farming harming our health?

02/07/2021 0 Comments read Environment & Development, Health & Science

Researchers look at how agriculture is adding to climate change and negatively impacting health outcomes. Photo Credit: ©Neena Bhandari

By Neena Bhandari

Sydney, 01.07.2021 (SciDev.Net): While increased agriculture production has reduced hunger, it is also linked to unhealthy diets and increased emissions that are severely affecting human health, says a study.

Published in Environmental Research Communications, the study focuses on the integrated assessment of global climate, air pollution and health impacts of food production and consumption.

“Changing global food consumption patterns towards healthier diets would see reductions in air pollution and greenhouse gas emissions, and dietary health benefits,” says Chris Malley, lead author of the study and senior research fellow at the Stockholm Environment Institute’s (SEI) office at the University of York in the UK.

As many as 640,000 premature deaths are associated with high red meat consumption in East and South-East Asia, according to the study. An estimated 4.1 million deaths in 2018 were associated with dietary health risks, 6.0 million with overweight or obesity, and 730,000 infant deaths resulted from malnutrition.

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Conure cheer amidst Coronavirus

31/12/2020 3 Comments read Features

Photo Credit: © Neena Bhandari

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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Nations can learn from others on lifting lockdowns

02/10/2020 0 Comments read Health & Science

By Neena Bhandari

Sydney, 02.10.2020 (SciDev.Net): As the second wave of COVID-19 infections sweep many countries, governments are facing the challenge of when and how to ease restrictions and lockdowns while balancing health with socio-economic consequences.

A health policy paper published in The Lancet medical journal on 24 September recommends that governments consider five key factors — knowledge of infection levels, community engagement, public health capacity, health system capacity, and border control measures — while lifting restrictions.

The World Health Organisation (WHO) has warned that a premature lifting of lockdowns could spark a resurgence of infections and cause worse damage to the economy than caused by lockdowns.

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