Posts tagged World Health Organisation

Legal Identity for all a must

0 Comments read Environment & Development, Health & Science

By Neena Bhandari

Sydney, 24.11.2021 (SciDev.Net): A strong, universal, responsive civil registration and vital statistics (CRVS) system is critical for Asia Pacific countries to recover from the COVID-19 pandemic and ensure that the most vulnerable have access to healthcare, immunisation and social welfare services.

This was highlighted in the Ministerial Declaration issued at the conclusion in Bangkok of the Second Ministerial Conference on CRVS (16—19 November) in Asia and the Pacific, organised by the United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (ESCAP).

Nearly 40 per cent of global deaths in 2020 were unregistered, according to a WHO report. And preliminary WHO estimates suggest that the total global excess mortality directly or indirectly attributable to COVID-19 amounts to 1.2 million more than the reported deaths in 2020.

Continue reading →

Nanosensors embedded in living plants detect arsenic

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 26th November 2020.

Continue Reading on SciDev.Net

© Copyright Neena Bhandari. All rights reserved. Republication, copying or using information from neenabhandari.com content is expressly prohibited without the permission of the writer and the media outlet syndicating or publishing the article.

Samoa measles death toll rises amid vaccine scare

0 Comments read Health & Science

By Neena Bhandari

Sydney, 03.12.2019 (SciDev.Net): Fifty-three people, including 48 children under the age of four years, have died of measles in the small Pacific island nation of Samoa, which is facing the worst outbreak of this highly contagious disease driven by low vaccination levels.

Samoa’s Prime Minister Tuilaepa Lupesoliai Neioti Aiono Sailele Malielegaoi announced on Monday (2 December) that all branches of government, except water and electricity departments, will be closed on Thursday and Friday this week and civil servants will be redeployed to help in the mass immunisation drive to vaccinate everybody up to the age of 60 years.

The World Health Organization (WHO) estimates Samoa’s total population immunity to be as low as 31 per cent. To prevent measles outbreaks, it is recommended that countries should aim to achieve and sustain at least 95 per cent immunisation coverage.

Continue reading on SciDev.Net Asia & Pacific Edition.

© Copyright Neena Bhandari. All rights reserved. Republication, copying or using information from neenabhandari.com content is expressly prohibited without the permission of the writer and the media outlet syndicating or publishing the article.