One in three people is enduring one form or another of water scarcity, according to a new report from the International Water Management Institute (IWMI).
The assessment, carried out by 700 experts from around the world over the last five years, was released at World Water Week in Stockholm, a conference exploring the management of global water resources.
The scarcity figures were higher than previous estimates.
"Worrisome predictions in 2000 had forecast that one third of the world population would be affected by water scarcity by 2025. Our findings from the just-concluded research show the situation to be even worse," says Frank Rijsberman, Director General of the International Water Management Institute (IWMI). "Already in 2005, more than a third of the world population is affected by water scarcity. We will have to change business as usual in order to deal with growing scarcity water crisis we see in some countries like India, China, and the Colorado River basin of USA and Mexico."
The report says that about one-quarter of the world's population lives in areas where water is physically scarce, while about one-sixth of humanity -- over a billion people -- live where water is economically scarce, or places where "water is available in rivers and aquifers, but the infrastructure is lacking to make this water available to people."
The report states that access to reliable, safe and affordable water is key to poverty alleviation efforts and warns that declining groundwater supplies, loss of water rights and access, pollution, flooding and drought could well worsen poverty in many areas. Addressing these issues will be critical to raising the quality of life in poor regions.
"To feed the growing population and reduce malnourishment, the world has three choices," said David Molden who led the Comprehensive Assessment says. "Expand irrigation by diverting more water to agriculture and building more dams, at a major cost to the environment; expand the area under rain-fed agriculture at the expense of natural areas through massive deforestation and other habitat destruction; Or do more with the water we already use. We must grow more crop per drop, more meat and milk per drop, and more fish per drop."
Increasing agricultural yields per unit water used is possible through simple, low-cost measures said the report, citing work done in the Brazilian cerrado, or grassland. The report says that similar methods could be used to boost water productivity in the savannahs of Africa where the bulk of people rely on rain-fed agriculture. Other innovative approaches include the more effective use of waste water and streamlined irrigation systems to reduce water waste.
The report notes that consequences of water scarcity are already evident in some of countries. It says that Egypt imports more than half of its food due to a lack of water to grow, while Australia faces major water scarcity in the Murray-Darling Basin as a result of agricultural diversion.
Agriculture is a significant cause of water scarcity in much of the world since crop production requires up to 70 times more water than is used in drinking and other domestic purposes. The report says that a rule of thumb is that each calorie consumed as food requires about one liter of water to produce.
While the report argues that "many difficult choices entailing tradeoffs between city and agriculture users, between food production and the environment, and between fishers and farmers" it says that "the world is not 'running out' of water" and that there is enough land, water and human capacity to solve the shortages.
"The Assessment shows that while a third of the world population faces water scarcity, it is not because there is not enough water to go round, but because of choices people make," Molden said. "It is possible to reduce water scarcity, feed people and address poverty, but the key trade-off is with the environment. People and their governments will face some tough decisions on how to allocate and manage water. Not all situations are going to be a win-win for the parties involved, and in most cases there are winners and losers. If you don't consciously debate and make tough choices, more people, especially the poor, and the environment will continue to pay the price."
Source : http://news.mongabay.com/2006/0821-water.html
Sunday, March 2, 2008
Sunday, February 24, 2008
Binge Eating Is A Major Public Health Burden In The US :
Binge eating is a growing health problem which needs attention. It is however sad to know that binge eating is not by itself recognized/understood properly by the general population. Such covert conditions should be addressed appropriately so that they do not become a major cause of concern for some of the non-communicable diseases.
US researchers conducting the first national survey of eating disorders have described binge eating disorder as a major public health burden.
The study is published in the current edition of the journal Biological Psychiatry.
The research was led by Dr James Hudson, Director of the Psychiatric Epidemiology Research Program at McLean Hospital in Belmont, Massachusetts, and professor of psychiatry at Harvard Medical School.
Dr Hudson and colleagues found that binge eating disorder is more prevalent than bulimia or anorexia nervosa, and because it is directly linked with severe obesity and other damaging health problems, they describe it as a major burden to public health.
"For the first time, we have nationally representative data on eating disorders. These data clearly show that binge eating disorder is the most common eating disorder," said Dr Hudson in a prepared statement yesterday.
The researchers extracted figures from the 2001-2003 National Comorbidity Survey Replication (NCS-R), which contains information about the mental health status of 9,282 people from across the US.
The NCS-R figures showed that 0.9 per cent of women and 0.3 per cent of men said they had had or were still suffering from anorexia nervosa, while for bulimia nervosa the figures were 1.5 percent of women and 0.5 percent of men.
Moreover, 3.5 per cent of women and 2 per cent of men had had binge eating disorder, or were still suffering from it.
Binge eating disorder is where a person has frequent episodes of uncontrolled overeating and does not purge themselves afterwards like someone with bulimia nervosa tends to do.
The researchers also calculated the average lifetime duration of the eating disorders. They found that on average anorexia lasted for 1.7 years. "Contrary to what people may believe, anorexia is not necessarily a chronic illness," said the research team. It tends to run its course, people get better on their own. This suggests that for each severe case of anorexia there may well be a number of milder cases that are not reported or detected.
The average lifetime durations for bulimia and binge eating disorder on the other hand were found to be 8.3 and 8.1 years respectively.
The scientists also said that in contrast to anorexia and bulimia, awareness and understanding of binge eating disorder is poor, and yet it persists for a long time, and can have serious health consequences, including "obesity, diabetes, heart disease, high blood pressure and stroke. It is imperative that health experts take notice of these findings," said Dr Hudson.
The scientists suggest that more research is needed to look at the differences in severity and duration of anorexia cases. If it were possible to find out what helped a person recover more quickly from an eating disorder while another person is practically crippled by it for years then this would help to prevent and treat the chronic illnesses.
Dr Hudson and his team hope that these finding will help to make a case for recognizing binge eating disorder as a psychiatric illness in its own right. For example they suggest that the illness should now be included in the next edition of the DSM manual - the bible for diagnosing mental illness - the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders which is produced by the the American Psychiatric Association.
Source : http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/62222.php
US researchers conducting the first national survey of eating disorders have described binge eating disorder as a major public health burden.
The study is published in the current edition of the journal Biological Psychiatry.
The research was led by Dr James Hudson, Director of the Psychiatric Epidemiology Research Program at McLean Hospital in Belmont, Massachusetts, and professor of psychiatry at Harvard Medical School.
Dr Hudson and colleagues found that binge eating disorder is more prevalent than bulimia or anorexia nervosa, and because it is directly linked with severe obesity and other damaging health problems, they describe it as a major burden to public health.
"For the first time, we have nationally representative data on eating disorders. These data clearly show that binge eating disorder is the most common eating disorder," said Dr Hudson in a prepared statement yesterday.
The researchers extracted figures from the 2001-2003 National Comorbidity Survey Replication (NCS-R), which contains information about the mental health status of 9,282 people from across the US.
The NCS-R figures showed that 0.9 per cent of women and 0.3 per cent of men said they had had or were still suffering from anorexia nervosa, while for bulimia nervosa the figures were 1.5 percent of women and 0.5 percent of men.
Moreover, 3.5 per cent of women and 2 per cent of men had had binge eating disorder, or were still suffering from it.
Binge eating disorder is where a person has frequent episodes of uncontrolled overeating and does not purge themselves afterwards like someone with bulimia nervosa tends to do.
The researchers also calculated the average lifetime duration of the eating disorders. They found that on average anorexia lasted for 1.7 years. "Contrary to what people may believe, anorexia is not necessarily a chronic illness," said the research team. It tends to run its course, people get better on their own. This suggests that for each severe case of anorexia there may well be a number of milder cases that are not reported or detected.
The average lifetime durations for bulimia and binge eating disorder on the other hand were found to be 8.3 and 8.1 years respectively.
The scientists also said that in contrast to anorexia and bulimia, awareness and understanding of binge eating disorder is poor, and yet it persists for a long time, and can have serious health consequences, including "obesity, diabetes, heart disease, high blood pressure and stroke. It is imperative that health experts take notice of these findings," said Dr Hudson.
The scientists suggest that more research is needed to look at the differences in severity and duration of anorexia cases. If it were possible to find out what helped a person recover more quickly from an eating disorder while another person is practically crippled by it for years then this would help to prevent and treat the chronic illnesses.
Dr Hudson and his team hope that these finding will help to make a case for recognizing binge eating disorder as a psychiatric illness in its own right. For example they suggest that the illness should now be included in the next edition of the DSM manual - the bible for diagnosing mental illness - the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders which is produced by the the American Psychiatric Association.
Source : http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/62222.php
Friday, February 22, 2008
Sunday, February 17, 2008
ALARMING FACTS ON NON-COMMUNICABLE DISEASES....
• The World Health Organisation (WHO) estimates that over 35 million people per year die of chronic disease, which is about 60 per cent of all deaths, and double the number dying from all infectious diseases, maternal and perinatal (Five months prior to birth and one month after) conditions, combined.
• Globally and in the Caribbean, the chronic diseases of concern are heart disease, stroke, cancer, diabetes and chronic respiratory diseases. These are caused by biological factors such as high blood pressure, obesity, high blood sugar, and high blood cholesterol.
• In Latin America and the Caribbean (LAC), chronic diseases are now the leading cause of premature mortality, accounting for nearly half of deaths of persons under 70 years, and for two out of three deaths overall.
• The Caribbean is the Region of the Americas worst affected by the epidemic of chronic disease. The human and economic cost burden of these conditions is not sustainable and could undermine the development of these small, fragile countries.
• The chronic diseases of greatest importance in the Americas Region are: cardiovascular disease (including hypertension, ischaemic heart disease and stroke), cancer, chronic respiratory diseases and diabetes.
• Chronic diseases contributed to almost 50 per cent of disability-adjusted life years lost in the Region.
• In the first decade of the 21st century, cardiovascular diseases are expected to claim 20.7 million lives in the Americas . Predictions for the next 20 years include a tripling of heart disease and stroke mortality in Latin America.
• Hypertension is one of the most important risk factors for heart disease and affects 8-30 per cent of the population.
• Cancer accounts for 20 per cent of chronic disease mortality and in 2002, there were an estimated 459,000 deaths due to cancer , a 33 per cent increase since 1990, with major increases projected to 2020. 35 million people in the Region are currently affected by diabetes, and the WHO forecasts an increase to 64 million by 2025 .
• Heart diseases, stroke, cancer, diabetes are the main causes of death in the Caribbean
• Diabetes and hypertension contribute significantly to heart disease and stroke
• Diabetes is a major cause of admissions to hospital, kidney failure, blindness and limb amputations
• Risk factors include obesity, smoking, unhealthy diet, physical inactivity and alcohol abuse
• Over one billion people are overweight or obese in the world today.
• Tobacco consumption is the single leading risk for avoidable death in the Americas, causing over one million deaths each year. Approximately one-third of all deaths from heart disease and cancer can be attributed to tobacco
• The societal costs of diabetes in Latin America and the Caribbean were estimated at $US65 billion in 2000.
SOURCE : http://www.caricom.org/jsp/community/chronic_non_communicable_diseases/alarming_facts.jsp
• Globally and in the Caribbean, the chronic diseases of concern are heart disease, stroke, cancer, diabetes and chronic respiratory diseases. These are caused by biological factors such as high blood pressure, obesity, high blood sugar, and high blood cholesterol.
• In Latin America and the Caribbean (LAC), chronic diseases are now the leading cause of premature mortality, accounting for nearly half of deaths of persons under 70 years, and for two out of three deaths overall.
• The Caribbean is the Region of the Americas worst affected by the epidemic of chronic disease. The human and economic cost burden of these conditions is not sustainable and could undermine the development of these small, fragile countries.
• The chronic diseases of greatest importance in the Americas Region are: cardiovascular disease (including hypertension, ischaemic heart disease and stroke), cancer, chronic respiratory diseases and diabetes.
• Chronic diseases contributed to almost 50 per cent of disability-adjusted life years lost in the Region.
• In the first decade of the 21st century, cardiovascular diseases are expected to claim 20.7 million lives in the Americas . Predictions for the next 20 years include a tripling of heart disease and stroke mortality in Latin America.
• Hypertension is one of the most important risk factors for heart disease and affects 8-30 per cent of the population.
• Cancer accounts for 20 per cent of chronic disease mortality and in 2002, there were an estimated 459,000 deaths due to cancer , a 33 per cent increase since 1990, with major increases projected to 2020. 35 million people in the Region are currently affected by diabetes, and the WHO forecasts an increase to 64 million by 2025 .
• Heart diseases, stroke, cancer, diabetes are the main causes of death in the Caribbean
• Diabetes and hypertension contribute significantly to heart disease and stroke
• Diabetes is a major cause of admissions to hospital, kidney failure, blindness and limb amputations
• Risk factors include obesity, smoking, unhealthy diet, physical inactivity and alcohol abuse
• Over one billion people are overweight or obese in the world today.
• Tobacco consumption is the single leading risk for avoidable death in the Americas, causing over one million deaths each year. Approximately one-third of all deaths from heart disease and cancer can be attributed to tobacco
• The societal costs of diabetes in Latin America and the Caribbean were estimated at $US65 billion in 2000.
SOURCE : http://www.caricom.org/jsp/community/chronic_non_communicable_diseases/alarming_facts.jsp
OBESITY
According to CDC, overweight and physical activity account for >300,000 premature deaths annually. In addition to this, among the various ethnic groups; African-American, American-Indian and Hispanic-American women have the highest risk of becoming overweight whereas Asian-Americans have a lower rate of obesity compared to the general population. Genes are not the only ones solely responsible for obesity…lifestyle choices also play a very major role in making a person obese. We are progressing into a technologically advanced world, where there is a short cut to do even the most simplest job. However, our progress and success is sometimes acting as a hindrance to other aspects of our life. We are subconsciously becoming more and more sedentary to such an extent that it would take a real effort on behalf of everyone to fight the battle of obesity. As we discussed in the class, culture does have a major role in determining obesity. In such instances it would be appropriate to get to the roots of the issue and be culturally sensitive rather than just addressing it in a generalized manner. In my opinion it is not just enough to have physical education classes in schools but to carry forward that trend in adult life as well. Every work place must have frequent nutrition counseling and physical activity classes atleast thrice per week. Since nowadays people are very competitive in every field, they must be given incentives which would make them addicted to stay healthy rather than considering it as a mandatory act. Ideas and efforts from people who really want to look at a changed world will definitely reduce the burden of obesity in this world.
Sunday, February 3, 2008
Globalization
Globalization is good(video).....
http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=5633239795464137680&q=globalization&hl=en
Globalization has impacted the world in a whole lot of ways. In the past 50 years around 3 billion people have been lifted out of poverty. Since the embracing of globalization, poverty rates in Taipei and Vietnam have been cut by 50%. In Kenya the situation has however been different, >50% of the population works on lands and the Kenyan government is hesitant to give them property rights. Kenya has closed its doors to globalization and therefore poverty is prevalent due to lack of growth and reform. Personally I feel that globalization is good, since it leads to economic freedom and democracy. As said in the video, “Globalization leads to economic freedom on which the rocks of democracy are founded.”
http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=5633239795464137680&q=globalization&hl=en
Globalization has impacted the world in a whole lot of ways. In the past 50 years around 3 billion people have been lifted out of poverty. Since the embracing of globalization, poverty rates in Taipei and Vietnam have been cut by 50%. In Kenya the situation has however been different, >50% of the population works on lands and the Kenyan government is hesitant to give them property rights. Kenya has closed its doors to globalization and therefore poverty is prevalent due to lack of growth and reform. Personally I feel that globalization is good, since it leads to economic freedom and democracy. As said in the video, “Globalization leads to economic freedom on which the rocks of democracy are founded.”
Tuesday, January 22, 2008
Grameen Bank....
Grameen Bank......
We had a wonderful beginning for PM565(Emerging Trends in Global Health). I always used to wonder what it would take to eliminate poverty from this world. Random thoughts used to cross my mind about the various routes to follow in the process. It was not until Dr. Gurinder Shahi mentioned in class about the Grameen Bank Foundation, that my eyes were wide opened. Unlike the usual rules which the Banks in general follow, Grameen Bank lends money to its borrowers( the needy) not based on collateral security but based on mutual trust, accountability and participation. It is these kind of true life incidents which make us wonder the power of leaders and their role in the community. Recent data shows that the bank has 7.4 million borrowers in Bangladesh and has a repay rate of 98%. This great inspirational microcredit organization was started by Muhammad Yunus who won the Noble Peace Prize in 2006 for his work. It is noteworthy that this began with an amount as little as US$27 in the year 1976. It is individuals like him, who envision changing the lives of millions of people around the world, and see to it that they achieve their goals fighting against all odds. Each one of us wants to make a difference in the lives of the people around us…..we may encounter many obstacles….but we should motivate ourselves and strive to achieve our goals. It is important to remember that a leader may be a source of motivation to the people around him, but the leader himself has to self motivate himself when he/she is at the top since at that point he will be leading others who entrust their faith in him.
We had a wonderful beginning for PM565(Emerging Trends in Global Health). I always used to wonder what it would take to eliminate poverty from this world. Random thoughts used to cross my mind about the various routes to follow in the process. It was not until Dr. Gurinder Shahi mentioned in class about the Grameen Bank Foundation, that my eyes were wide opened. Unlike the usual rules which the Banks in general follow, Grameen Bank lends money to its borrowers( the needy) not based on collateral security but based on mutual trust, accountability and participation. It is these kind of true life incidents which make us wonder the power of leaders and their role in the community. Recent data shows that the bank has 7.4 million borrowers in Bangladesh and has a repay rate of 98%. This great inspirational microcredit organization was started by Muhammad Yunus who won the Noble Peace Prize in 2006 for his work. It is noteworthy that this began with an amount as little as US$27 in the year 1976. It is individuals like him, who envision changing the lives of millions of people around the world, and see to it that they achieve their goals fighting against all odds. Each one of us wants to make a difference in the lives of the people around us…..we may encounter many obstacles….but we should motivate ourselves and strive to achieve our goals. It is important to remember that a leader may be a source of motivation to the people around him, but the leader himself has to self motivate himself when he/she is at the top since at that point he will be leading others who entrust their faith in him.
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