Include assistive aids in universal health care: UN report

18/05/2022 0 Comments read Disability, Health & Science

Almah Kuambu and a prospective assistive technology user during a National Orthotic and Prosthetic Services outreach programme in Popondetta in southern Papua New Guinea. Copyright: National Orthotic and Prosthetic Services (PNG).

By Neena Bhandari

Sydney, 17.05.2022 (SciDev.Net): Almost one billion children and adults with disabilities, and older people, are unable to access the assistive technology they need, according to a UN report, which calls for more investment in these life-changing products.

Access to assistive technologies such as glasses, hearing aids, mobility or communication devices is as low as three per cent in some low-and middle-income countries, according to the report by the World Health Organization (WHO) and United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF), launched on 16 May.

It says more than 3.5 billion people will need one or more assistive products by 2050 due to population ageing and the increase in incidence of non-communicable diseases. At present, the figure is 2.5 billion.

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Nanotech tool may help detect diseases using a smartphone

13/05/2022 0 Comments read Health & Science

A 3D model of the nanostructure fabricated by the scientists at the University of Melbourne. Shown is a less than 200nm thick array of so called ‘nanorods’ that allows the device to visualize transparent objects like biological cells. Photo Credit: University of Melbourne & ARC Centre of Excellence for Transformative Meta-Optical Systems.

By Neena Bhandari

Sydney, 12.05.2022 (SciDev.Net): A nanotech imaging device, tiny enough to fit on a smartphone camera lens, has the potential to make the diagnosis of certain diseases accessible and affordable for people in rural and remote regions, say Australian scientists who developed it.

The COVID-19 pandemic has brought diagnostics into sharp focus and the World Health Organization has called on countries to prioritise investments in quality diagnostics as the first step in control, treatment and prevention of disease.

The scientists from the University of Melbourne and the Australian Research Council Centre of Excellence for Transformative Meta-Optical Systems (TMOS) published details of the device in the journal ACS Photonics.

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Climate change a major threat to global health: WHO

11/04/2022 0 Comments read Environment & Development, Health & Science

By Neena Bhandari

Sydney, 11.04.2022 (SciDev.Net): Climate change poses a serious threat to human health that calls for urgent action and global collaboration on scales seen in the COVID-19 response, says the World Health Organization (WHO).

“If we don’t take action today on planet health, we are putting our future health at risk. And when health is at risk, everything is at risk. That’s what we have learned from COVID-19,” Takeshi Kasai, WHO regional director for the Western Pacific Region said addressing a virtual press conference from Manila on 7 April, World Health Day

“Climate crisis is also a health crisis since climate change affects health in many different ways,” Kasai said, emphasising the need to build sustainable, climate-resilient health systems.

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