In study, children with a particular genetic variation were 4 times more likely to develop strong attachment to mother after intervention

A child’s genetic make-up can play a large, hidden role in the success of efforts to maximize his or her development, South African research suggests.

The study, published February 28 in PLoS Medicine and supported by the Government of Canada through Grand Challenges Canada’s Saving Brains program, sheds new light on why some children benefit more than others from interventions and raises complex questions about psychosocial intervention programs in future.

In a study led by Professor Mark Tomlinson of Stellenbosch University, the study followed-up an intervention implemented between 1999 and 2003, in which expectant mothers underwent mentoring to improve attachment with their children — attachment being a measure of a child’s psychological security, and predictive of future wellbeing. In the original study, a control group of roughly equal size was composed of expectant mothers who did not receive mentoring.

The original study concluded that the intervention had a small-to-moderate effect on mother-child attachment, evaluated once the children reached 18 months of age.

The follow-up study, conducted thirteen years after the intervention, re-examined the original attachment results and revealed something surprising: the intervention had in fact worked well for toddlers who had a particular genetic characteristic.

Conducted in collaboration with colleagues from the University of Reading, University College London, and Western University, the study re-enrolled and conducted genetic tests on 279 of the original 449 children.

220 children had both genetic and attachment data, enabling the investigators to test whether the original attachment outcomes were influenced by their genes.

The researchers factored in whether the child had the short or long form of gene SLC6A4 — the serotonin transporter gene, which is involved in nerve signalling, and which other studies have linked to anxiety, depression and other conditions. Serotonin is popularly thought to contribute to feelings of well-being and happiness.

The attachment of children with the short form of the gene, and whose pregnant mothers were mentored, were almost four times more likely to be securely attached to their mothers at 18 months old (84 percent were secure) than children carrying the short form whose mothers did not receive mentoring (58 percent were secure).

Meanwhile, children with the long gene were apparently unaffected by their mother’s training or lack thereof: in both cases, the rate of secure attachment was almost identical (70 and 71 percent).

Subject to further validation, says Professor Tomlinson, the insight has “important implications for scientists designing and evaluating interventions to benefit as many people as possible in South Africa and worldwide.”

“Without taking genetics into account, it is possible that other studies have under-estimated the impact of their interventions, as we originally did.”

Says lead author Dr. Barak Morgan of the University of Cape Town: “The immediate significance of this research is the revelation that in principle, and probably in many cases in practice too, the effectiveness of interventions has been mis-measured — under-estimated for genetically susceptible individuals and over-estimated for those who are genetically less susceptible. But even more worrying is the implication that the negative consequences of not receiving an intervention also differ by genotype.”

“This is an enormously important insight because, in this case, the subgroup with the short form of the SLC6A4 gene is also the one with the most to lose if not helped.”

“Individuals with the long form of the gene, on the other hand, appear less sensitive and derived little benefit from the same intervention, and little detriment from not getting it.”

Adds Professor Tomlinson: “In the original study, we did not see such a big impact from this intervention because only those with the short gene improved, and this improvement was ‘diluted’ by the large number of children with the long gene who did not improve.”

The researchers caution that, among other limitations, this study involved a relatively small sample and only measured one gene and one outcome (attachment).

Dr. Morgan stressed: “We are certainly not saying that only some people should receive the intervention — those who are ‘susceptible’ to improving from it. There is little scientific justification for this. For example, many children with the non-susceptible long genotype of the SLC6A4 gene may carry the susceptible form of another gene which renders them much more likely to benefit from the same intervention but for a different but equally important outcome.

“Going forward, the implications are therefore two-fold. Firstly, measuring genetic differences allows for proper assessment of the effectiveness or lack of effectiveness of an intervention for a particular outcome in different individuals. Secondly, this information can then be used to find out how to intervene effectively for all — to guide what might be done to improve outcomes for a non-responsive gene-intervention interaction while continuing to optimise outcomes for the responsive one.”

Says Dr. Karlee Silver, Vice President Programs of Grand Challenges Canada: “This work is fundamentally about better understanding the impact of interventions which is an important step forward to creating a world where every child can survive and thrive.”

Says Dr. Peter A. Singer, Chief Executive Officer of Grand Challenges Canada: “This is a startling finding that changes the way I think about child development. Why is it important? Because child development is the ladder of social mobility used to climb out of the hole of inequity by millions of children around the world.”

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For more information, visit grandchallenges.ca and look for us on Facebook, Twitter, YouTube and LinkedIn.

About Grand Challenges Canada

Grand Challenges Canada is dedicated to supporting Bold Ideas with Big Impact® in global health. We are funded by the Government of Canada and we support innovators in low- and middle-income countries and Canada. The bold ideas we support integrate science and technology, social and business innovation – we call this Integrated Innovation®. Grand Challenges Canada focuses on innovator-defined challenges through its Stars in Global Health program and on targeted challenges in its Saving Lives at Birth, Saving Brains and Global Mental Health programs. Grand Challenges Canada works closely with Canada’s International Development Research Centre (IDRC), the Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR) and Global Affairs Canada to catalyze scale, sustainability and impact. We have a determined focus on results, and on saving and improving lives. http://www.grandchallenges.ca

About Saving Brains

Saving Brains is a partnership of Grand Challenges Canada, Aga Khan Foundation Canada, the Bernard van Leer Foundation, the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, The ELMA Foundation, Grand Challenges Ethiopia, the Maria Cecilia Souto Vidigal Foundation, the Palix Foundation, UBS Optimus Foundation and World Vision Canada. It seeks and supports bold ideas for products, services and implementation models that protect and nurture early brain development relevant to poor, marginalized populations in low- or middle-income countries.http://www.savingbrainsinnovation.net

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Example coverage:

The Times, South Africa
SA study sheds new light on how babies respond to developmental interventions, (click here)

Africa Science News, Kenya
To maximize a child’s development, genetics provide important insight, study shows, (click here)

Independent Online, South Africa
The long and short of child genetics revealed, (click here)

Herald Live, South Africa
SA study sheds new light on how babies respond to developmental interventions, (click here)

SciDev, UK, (click here)

Agencia EFE, via El Confidencial, Spain, Genética puede explicar reacción en niños de tratamientos psicosociológicos (click here)

Coverage summary, click here

News release in full, click here

Study funded by Saving Brains shows Kangaroo Mother Care kids 20 years later are better behaved, have larger brains, higher paycheques, more protective and nurturing families

Two decades after a group of Colombian parents were shown how to keep their perilously tiny babies warm and nourished through breastfeeding and continuous skin-to-skin contact, a new groundbreaking study finds that as young adults their children continue to benefit from having undergone the technique known as Kangaroo Mother Care.

In young adulthood, they are less prone to aggressive, impulsive and hyperactive behaviour compared to a control group of premature and low birth weight contemporaries who received “traditional” inpatient incubator care. They are more likely to have survived into their 20s. Their families are more cohesive. They have bigger brains.

Supported by the Government of Canada through Grand Challenges Canada’s “Saving Brains” program, as well as Colombia’s Administrative Department of Science, Technology and Innovation (COLCIENCIAS), the study is published today in the journal Pediatrics.

“This study indicates that Kangaroo Mother Care has significant, long-lasting social and behavioural protective effects 20 years after the intervention,” says lead researcher Dr. Nathalie Charpak, of the Kangaroo Foundation in Bogotá.

The technique’s early impact was still present 20 years later for those who started life as the most fragile individuals, she says. Families trained in Kangaroo Mother Care were more likely to remain together and to be more protective and nurturing, reflected in their children’s lower school absenteeism, ability to express feelings, and reduced hyperactivity, aggressiveness and antisocial conduct as young adults.

“A premature infant is born somewhere in the world every two seconds,” says Dr. Peter A. Singer, Chief Executive Officer of Grand Challenges Canada. “This study shows that Kangaroo Mother Care gives premature and low birth weight babies a better chance of thriving. Kangaroo Mother Care saves brains and makes premature and low birth weight babies healthier and wealthier.”

What is Kangaroo Mother Care?

About 15 million premature infants are born each year, according to the World Health Organization. Preterm birth complications are the leading cause of death among children under 5, responsible for nearly 1 million deaths in 2015; many survivors face a lifetime of disability, including learning disabilities and visual and hearing problems.

Premature and low birth weight infants generally require extra care to avoid illness and death from secondary, preventable complications such as hypothermia and infection. This is a particular problem in developing countries, where incubators and similar technologies are often scarce, over-crowded or unreliable, as well as costly.

A trained Kangaroo Mother Care parent or caregiver becomes a child’s incubator and its main source of food and stimulation. The technique involves continuous skin-to-skin contact between caregiver and infant, with the baby nested in a “kangaroo” position on the caregiver’s chest as soon as possible after birth. The technique is accompanied by exclusive breastfeeding.

Kangaroo Mother Care also requires and prepares the mother and child to go home as soon as possible from the hospital, after which there is rigorous monitoring of baby and mother until the infant reaches one year of corrected age (the baby’s age based on due date rather than date of birth). Family solidarity around the frail child is a key element in the success of the Kangaroo Mother Care technique.

Revisiting Kangaroo Mother Care babies 20 years later

The Kangaroo Foundation research compared 18 to 20 year olds who, as premature and low birth weight infants, had been randomized at birth to receive either Kangaroo Mother Care (KMC) or traditional incubator care until they could maintain their own body temperature.

During that initial randomized control trial in 1993-96, researchers documented the short and mid-term benefits of KMC training on the infants’ survival, brain development, breastfeeding and the quality of mother-infant bonding.

In 2012-2014, 264 of the original participants who weighed less than 1800 grams at birth were re-enrolled (61% of infants that qualified).

Looking at mortality, the research found that KMC offered significant protection against early death. The mortality rate in the control group (7.7 percent) was more than double that of the KMC group (3.5 percent).

Among other results of the study:

• School: The KMC group spent about 23 percent more time in preschool and had less than half the rate of school absenteeism compared to the control group.
• Work: As young workers, their average hourly wages were almost 53 percent higher.
• Family: A higher percentage of KMC children (almost 22 percent) grew up living with both parents. The families of KMC children were found to be more stimulating, protective, and dedicated to their children compared to the families in the control group.
• Behaviour: Scores for aggressiveness and hyperactivity were 16 percent lower in the KMC group, particularly among less-educated mothers. Scores for externalization (the ability to express feelings, especially negative feelings), a trait associated with risk of juvenile delinquency, academic failure, and inadequate social adjustment, were 20 percent lower in the KMC group on average. The parents of KMC children also reported that their children exhibited less antisocial behaviour compared to the reports of the parents of the counterparts in the control group.
• Cerebral development: Compared with those in the control group, KMC participants had larger brains – significantly larger volumes of total grey matter, cerebral cortex, and left caudate nucleus, which plays a vital role in how the brain learns, specifically related to the storing and processing of memories.
• Overall IQ: Tests after 20 years show a small but significant (3.6 percent) advantage in overall intelligence (IQ) for the most fragile KMC babies (those with an abnormal or transient neurological exam at 6 months) compared to similar infants in the control group.

The world needs Kangaroo Mother Care

Dr. Charpak notes that as neonatal technology becomes more accessible throughout the world, more premature and low birth weight infants are saved with fewer serious consequences in later years.

“That is why the detection of ‘minor’ consequences becomes important,” she says. “Minor effects like mild cognitive deficits, lack of fine coordination, poor hearing or eyesight and attention deficit can often go undetected but have a profound effect on the lives of families.

“The findings of our 20-year KMC study should inform the modalities of medical, psychological and social postnatal interventions such as Kangaroo Mother Care so that we can continue to reduce the disorders caused by prematurity and low birth weight.”

Dr. Charpak says that this new knowledge must be used to extend KMC coverage to the 18 million premature and low birth weight infants born each year who are candidates for the technique.

“We firmly believe that this is a powerful, efficient, scientifically based health care intervention that can be used in all settings, from those with very restricted to unrestricted access to health care,” she says.

“This study demonstrates that Kangaroo Mother Care can make all the difference in the world for premature and low birth weight infants,” says Dr. Karlee Silver, Vice President Programs at Grand Challenges Canada. “Kangaroo Mother Care is a cost-effective, modern method of care that can and should be applied in every country.”

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About Grand Challenges Canada

Grand Challenges Canada is dedicated to supporting Bold Ideas with Big Impact in global health. We are funded by the Government of Canada and we support innovators in low- and middle-income countries and Canada. The bold ideas we support integrate science and technology, social and business innovation – we call this Integrated Innovation. Grand Challenges Canada focuses on innovator-defined challenges through its Stars in Global Health program and on targeted challenges in its Saving Lives at Birth, Saving Brains and Global Mental Health programs. Grand Challenges Canada works closely with Canada’s International Development Research Centre (IDRC), the Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR) and Global Affairs Canada to catalyze scale, sustainability and impact. We have a determined focus on results, and on saving and improving lives.
http://www.grandchallenges.ca

About Saving Brains

Saving Brains is a partnership of Grand Challenges Canada, Aga Khan Foundation Canada, the Bernard van Leer Foundation, the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, The ELMA Foundation, Grand Challenges Ethiopia, the Maria Cecilia Souto Vidigal Foundation, the Palix Foundation, UBS Optimus Foundation and World Vision Canada. It seeks and supports bold ideas for products, services and implementation models that protect and nurture early brain development relevant to poor, marginalized populations in low- or middle-income countries.
http://www.savingbrainsinnovation.net

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Example coverage:

Newswires / syndicates:

Reuters, UK, Skin-to-skin ‘kangaroo’ baby care tied to better health years later, click here

Agencia EFE, Spain, Los beneficios de método canguro para bebé prematuros duran décadas, dice un estudio, click here

HealthDay, USA, ‘Kangaroo Mother Care’ May Improve Preemies Lives into Adulthood (via US News and World Report), click here

Deutsch Presse Agentur, Germany, Känguru-Methode kann Frühchen lebenslang nützen (Kangaroo method can improve premature life), click here; in Spanish: Los bebés prematuros se benefician del contacto constante con la piel de la madre, según estudio, click here

Anadolu Agency, Turkey, “Kanguru bakımı” çocukların sağlığını ve zekasını olumlu etkiliyor, click here

IndoAsian News Service, India, Kangaroo mother care helps premature babies thrive, click here

Press Trust of India, Kangaroo cuddles can help premature babies thrive: study, click here

ANSA newswire, Italy, Pelle a pelle con mamma e papà, benefici ‘canguro-terapia’ durano decenni, click here

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CBC, Canada, Kangaroo care for preemies shows profound power of touch, click here

BBC World Service (Health Check) 9 minutes long, starts ~16 min mark, click here

The Guardian, UK: ‘Kangaroo care’ makes premature babies healthier and wealthier, study finds, click here

Daily Mail, UK (page 23), How ‘kangaroo cuddles’ can help premature babies: Infants given skin-to-skin contact with mothers develop better than those placed in incubators, click here

The Telegraph, UK, ‘Kangaroo mothering’ helps boost a child’s health and intelligence, study finds, click here

Huffington Post, USA: Incredible Study Shows Cuddling Preemies Helps Them For Decades click here

Forbes, USA, Kangaroo Care Still Benefits Preemies 20 Years Later, click here

NBC News, USA, Cuddling Preemies Kangaroo Style Helps Into Adulthood, click here

LiveScience, USA, Benefits of ‘Kangaroo Mother Care’: Do They Last?, click here

O Globo, Brazil: Método canguru faz prematuros serem adultos mais saudáveis e promissores (Kangaroo method makes premature babies are healthier and more promising adults), click here

Deutsche Welle, Germany, Portuguese: Método canguru beneficia prematuros no longo prazo, click here

Psychology Today, USA, What We Can Learn from Kangaroos, click here

Topsante (via Yahoo News, France), Le peau à peau pour accompagner les bébés prématurés, click here

Die Welt, Germany, Känguru-Methode nützt Frühchen noch Jahre später, click here

Parents .com, USA, Babies Given Kangaroo Care Show Benefits Decades Later, click here

WebMD, USA, Kangaroo mothering ‘helps premature babies’, click here

Spektrum, Germany, Känguru-Methode hilft Frühchen über Jahrzehnte (Kangaroo care helps preemies decades later), click here

Medpage Today, USA, Kangaroo Care Linked to Long-Term Benefits, click here

Epoch Times, China, “袋鼠育儿法”有助于提升早产儿的健康和智力 “Kangaroo Parenting Act” to help improve the health and intelligence of premature children, click here

International Business Times, UK: How ‘kangaroo mothers’ help tiny, premature babies survive and thrive, click here

International Business Times, India: ‘Kangaroo mother care’ turns out to be vital for pre-term babies, click here

Sunday World, UK, ‘Kangaroo mothering’ helps premature babies thrive, click here

ORF Science, Germany, Känguru-Methode schützt Frühchen, click here

Helsingin Sanomat, Finland, Kenguruhoidetuilla keskosilla on aikuisena isommat aivot – ja palkkapussi, click here

Sveriges Radio, Sweden, För tidigt födda verkar gynnas av känguruvård, click here

HealthMag, Greece, Η αγκαλιά “καγκουρό” κάνει πιο υγιή και πιο έξυπνα τα παιδιά (The “kangaroo” hug makes healthier and smarter children), click here

HKN, Korea: 캥거루 케어’ 받은 아이, 똑똑하고 튼튼하다 (‘Kangaroo Care’ receiving child is smart and durable), click here

Klix, Bosnia and Herzegovina: Klokan metoda čini nedonoščad zdravijom i bogatijom (Kangaroo method seems premature babies healthier and richer), click here

Videnskab, Denmark: ‘Kængurupleje’ gavner for tidligt fødte bedre end kuvøse (‘Kangaroo Care’ benefit premature better than incubator), click here

Ethnos, Greece: Τα πρόωρα βρέφη γίνονται πιο υγιή και… πλούσια με τη φροντίδα «καγκουρό» (Premature babies are healthier and … rich with care “kangaroo”), click here

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Full coverage summary, click here

News release in full, click here

18 July 2016

Assembled by UNU-IIGH, six papers underline the value of applying science, technology to reduce disaster-related health risks; productivity in many jobs seen falling by up to 40 percent by 2050 due to heat stress; experts convene at UN forum in Malaysia

The rising price — in both money and health — of extreme weather events amid rapid urbanisation, and the corresponding value of applying science and technology to reduce the risks, is underscored in six new research papers formally launched at a UN event today.

Assembled by UN University’s Malaysia-based International Institute for Global Health (UNU-IIGH), the papers are published in a special issue of the Asia Pacific Journal of Public Health.

And they help inform a special Forum on Advancing Science and Technology in the Implementation of the Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction 2015-2030, hosted in Kuala Lumpur July 19 by UNU-IIGH and the UN Development Programme.

The papers include a warning about large productivity losses due to heat stress, estimating that in South-East Asia alone “as much as 15% to 20% of annual work hours may already be lost in heat-exposed jobs,” a figure that may double by 2050 as the planet continues warming.

According to author Tord Kjellstrom of the Health and Environment International Trust, New Zealand: “Current climate conditions in tropical and subtropical parts of the world are already so hot during the hot seasons that occupational health effects occur and work capacity for many people is affected.”

Dr. Kjellstrom’s paper cites estimated GDP losses due to heat stress for 43 countries: Australia, Bangladesh, Cambodia, China, Costa Rica, Denmark, Democratic Republic of Congo, Ethiopia, Fiji, France, Germany, Ghana, India, Indonesia, Japan, Laos, Malaysia, Maldives, Mexico, Myanmar, Netherlands, New Zealand, Nigeria, Norway, Pakistan, Philippines, Papua New Guinea, Qatar, Russia, Saint Lucia, Samoa, South Africa, South Korea, Spain, Sri Lanka, Sweden, Tanzania, Thailand, Tuvalu, United Kingdom, United States, Vanuatu and Vietnam (see tables at http://bit.ly/29BL0Dn).

The situation in Malaysia is typical of the South-East Asian countries: As work slows or stops to avoid dangerous heat stress, the country’s Gross Domestic Product will decline by an estimated 5.9% (value: US $95 billion) by 2030, more than double the estimated 2.8% GDP lost to heat stress in 2010.

According to latest estimates, the global economic cost of reduced productivity may be more than US $2 trillion by 2030. The most susceptible jobs include the lowest paid — heavy labour and low-skill agricultural and manufacturing.

In 2030, in both India and China, the GDP losses could total $450 billion, although mitigation may be made possible by a major shift in working hours, among other measures employers will need to take to reduce losses.

This problem is already placing major strain on, for example, electricity infrastructure, Dr. Kiellstrom notes. The additional energy needed for a single city the size of Bangkok for each 1°C increase of average ambient temperature can be as much as 2000 MW, roughly the output of a major power plant.

“It is very important to develop and apply adaptation measures now to protect people from the disasters that current climate and slowing changing climate brings,” says Dr. Kjellstrom. “However, adaptation is only half an answer — we must also take decisive action now to mitigate emissions of greenhouse gases. Failure will cause the frequency and intensity of disasters to worsen dramatically beyond 2050, and the situation at the end of this century will be especially alarming for the world’s poorest people.”

Heat stress is one of several direct and growing impacts on human health due to a warming planet, understanding all of which “is critical in planning for mitigation and adaptation plans,” the authors say.

According to the papers:

• Disastrously heavy rains can expand insect breeding sites, drive rodents from their burrows, and contaminate freshwater resources, leading to the spread of disease and compromising safe drinking water supplies.
• Warmer temperatures often promote the spread of mosquito-borne parasitic and viral diseases by shifting the vectors’ geographic range and shortening the pathogen incubation period.
• Climate change can worsen air quality by triggering fires and dust storms and promoting certain chemical reactions causing respiratory illness and other health problems.
• In extreme disasters, harm is often amplified by the destruction of medical facilities and disruption of health services
• Central and south China can anticipate the greatest number of casualties and highest economic losses from extreme weather events in the Asia Pacific region — the world’s most disaster-prone region — and a more integrated, multidisciplinary approach is needed to upgrade the nation’s emergency response system for natural disasters.
• From 1980 to 2012, roughly 2.1 million people worldwide died as a direct result of nearly 21,000 natural catastrophes such as floods, mudslides, extreme heat, drought, high winds or fires. The cost of those disasters exceeded $4 trillion (US) — a loss comparable to the current annual GDP of Germany.
• In Asia Pacific 1.2 billion people have been affected by 1,215 disasters since the millennium. Some 92% of human exposure to floods occurs in Asia Pacific, along with 91% of exposure to cyclones and two-thirds of all exposure to landslides. Between 1970 and 2011, two million people in the region — 75% of the world total — were killed by disasters.
• From 1993 to 2012, the Philippines experienced the highest number of extreme weather events (311), Thailand experienced the greatest financial loss (US$ 5.4 billion) and Myanmar experienced the highest death rate (13.5 deaths per 100,000 people).
• In just 40 years, from 1970 to 2010, the regional population exposed to flooding risk more than doubled from about 30 million to 64 million while those in cyclone-prone areas rose from roughly 72 to 121 million.
• Cities cover 2% of world land cover, generate 60 to 80% of greenhouse gas emissions and half of all waste, and are expanding at a rate of 1 million people per week. In a single generation — from 2000 to 2030 –urban land extents are expected to have tripled.

The authors underline that fast-rising numbers of people are being exposed to the impacts of climate change, with much of the increase occurring in cities in flood-prone coastal areas or on hills susceptible to mudslides or landslides. Especially vulnerable are people living in poverty, including about one billion in slums.

Cities — concentrated sources of energy consumption, heat and pollution, covered in surfaces that absorb warmth — create local heat islands and impair air quality, both threats to health.

And rising demand for cooling contributes to warming the world. Air conditioners not only pump heat out directly, the electricity required is typically produced by burning fossil fuels, adding to atmospheric greenhouse gases. As well, people acclimatized to air conditioning become less heat tolerant, further increasing demand for cooling.

On the other hand, better urban planning presents “tremendous opportunity” to mitigate the health impacts of more extreme weather events.

Urban planners, the authors say, can help by designing cities “in ways that enhance health, sustainability, and resilience all at once,” incorporating better building design, facilitating a shift to renewable energy, and fostering the protection and expansion of tree cover, wetlands and other carbon sinks, for example.

To mitigate the health impacts of longer, more severe extreme weather events, the authors stress the need to replace piecemeal reactive responses with integrated, multi-disciplinary planning approaches.

Beyond better preparation and warning systems to improve disaster response, recommended steps include enhancing drainage to reduce flood risks and strengthening health care, especially in poor areas.

In an introduction to the six paper collection, UNU-IIGH Research Fellows Jamal Hisham Hashim and José Siri write that humanity faces “substantial health risks from the degradation of the natural life support systems which are critical for human survival. It has become increasingly apparent that actions to mitigate environmental change have powerful co-benefits for health.”

Comments:

“It is not clear yet whether considerations of health and sustainability will overrule the press of economic progress in coming decades, and ethical considerations surrounding the right to development are thorny indeed. What is clear is that tremendous opportunities exist to design cities in ways that enhance health, sustainability, and resilience all at once. Decisions made today will have a profound impact on health around the world for many decades to come. We hope these papers help improve understanding of the complex relationship between global environmental change and health, of the threat climate change poses to hard-won advances in human health worldwide, and of policy options available to mitigate these risks.”

Anthony Capon, Director, UNU-IIGH

“The Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction (SFDRR) underlines the increasing importance of science-based decision-making. Public health and disaster risk reduction needs the concerted approach of scientists, policy makers, civil society, the private sector, media and other stakeholders. It is now time to develop “Words into Action” for implementation of the SFDRR.”

Michelle Gyles-McDonnough, UN Resident Coordinator and UNDP Resident Representative, Malaysia, Singapore and Brunei Darussalam

“Disasters have killed more than 1.3 million people and cost over US$2 trillion during the last two decades. The only way to protect development gains from disasters and to eradicate poverty is to integrate disaster risk reduction into development and to make all development risk-informed. UNDP will continue to provide support for getting DRR on the political agenda as a cross-cutting development priority, and facilitating the translation of DRR policy frameworks into action at the local level for empowered lives and resilient nations.”

Rajib Shaw, Executive Director, Integrated Research on Disaster Risk Programme, China

“This excellent series of peer review papers help to focus attention on the impact of disasters and their health consequences, particularly in South East Asia. The papers summarise the need for emphasis on public health impact measurements as well as stressing the importance of enhanced scientific and technical work on disaster risk reduction. This very welcome series demonstrates that only by documenting the effects of disasters can evidence be provided to support the availability and application of science and technology to inform decision-making during difficult times.”

Virginia Murray, Global Disaster Risk Reduction Expert, Public Health England, and vice-chair, Scientific and Technical Advisory Group, United Nations International Strategy for Disaster Reduction (UNISDR)

“People know intuitively that “react and cure” is a far more expensive strategy than “anticipate and prevent.” The experts behind these insightful papers, by detailing the high price of inaction in terms of both our finances and our health, greatly strengthen the case for taking defensive steps against disaster risks — and the sooner the better.”

Zakri Abdul Hamid, Science Advisor to the Prime Minister, Malaysia

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The six papers, published by the Asia Pacific Journal of Public Health

• Climate Change, Extreme Weather Events, and Human Health Implications in the Asia Pacific Region, by Jamal Hisham Hashim and Zailina Hashim
• Urbanization, Extreme Events, and Health: The Case for Systems Approaches in Mitigation, Management, and Response, by José G. Siri, Barry Newell, Katrina Proust, and Anthony Capon
• Impact of Climate Conditions on Occupational Health and Related Economic Losses: A New Feature of Global and Urban Health in the Context of Climate Change, by Tord Kjellstrom
• Impact of Climate Change on Air Quality and Public Health in Urban Areas, by Noor Artika Hassan, Zailina Hashim, and Jamal Hisham Hashim
• Review of Climate Change and Water-Related Diseases in Cambodia and Findings From Stakeholder Knowledge Assessments, by Lachlan J. McIver, Vibol S. Chan, Kathyrn J. Bowen, Steven N. Iddings, Kol Hero and Piseth P. Raingsey
• Emergency Response to and Preparedness for Extreme Weather Events and Environmental Changes in China, by Li Wang, Yongfeng Liao, Linsheng Yang, Hairong Li, Bixiong Ye, and Wuyi Wang

Background

The Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction 2015-2030 was agreed at the Third UN World Conference on Disaster Risk Reduction in Sendai, Japan in March 2015 and endorsed by the UN General Assembly in June 2015.

The goal of the Sendai Framework is to prevent new and reduce existing disaster risk through the implementation of integrated and inclusive economic, structural, legal, social, health, cultural, educational, environmental, technological, political and institutional measures that prevent and reduce hazard exposure and vulnerability to disaster, increase preparedness for response and recovery, and thus strengthen resilience.

The outcome expected by 2030 is a substantial reduction in disaster risk and losses in lives, livelihoods and health in the economic, physical, social, cultural and environmental aspects of persons, private sector, communities and countries.

A key feature of the Sendai Framework is the shift of focus from managing ‘disasters’ to managing ‘risks’. Such a shift requires a better understanding of risk in all its dimensions of hazards, exposure and vulnerability.

The role of science and technology in providing the evidence and knowledge on risk features heavily in the Sendai Framework.

The UN Office for Disaster Risk Reduction (UNISDR) Science and Technology Conference, held 27-29 January 2016 in Geneva, produced the Science and Technology Roadmap to Support the Implementation of the Sendai Framework.

The UNU and UNDP Joint Public Forum and High Level Roundtable on Advancing Science and Technology in the Implementation of the Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction 2015-2030 has the following goals:

• Raise awareness of the value of science, technology and innovation (STI) for disaster risk reduction
• Engage key stakeholders in options to build STI capacity in this field, and
• Identify strategic next steps.

It takes place in Kuala Lumpur Tuesday, 19 July, 9 a.m. to noon (full details: http://bit.ly/29BK7dW).

About UN University

Established in 1973, United Nations University (UNU) is a global think tank and postgraduate teaching organization headquartered in Japan. The mission of the UN University is to contribute, through collaborative research and education, to efforts to resolve the pressing global problems of human development, welfare and survival that are the concern of the United Nations, its Peoples and Member States.

In carrying out this mission, UN University works with leading universities and research institutes in UN Member States, functioning as a bridge between the international academic community and the United Nations system. Through postgraduate teaching activities, UNU contributes to capacity building, particularly in developing countries.

About UNU-IIGH

The UNU International Institute for Global Health was founded in 2007 with a US$ 40 million endowment from the Malaysian Government. Based in Kuala Lumpur, the mission of UNU-IIGH is to build knowledge and capacity for decision-making by the UN system about global health issues.

As part of the International Council for Science (ICSU), UNU-IIGH is a co-sponsor of a 10-year global interdisciplinary science program on Health and Wellbeing in the Changing Urban Environment – A Systems Analysis Approaches.

UNU-IIGH contributions include capacity building in systems methods for population health research; development and evaluation of metrics for healthy urban development, particularly those relevant to low and middle income countries; and leadership training for city planners, elected officials, public health workers and others.

About UNDP

UNDP partners with people at all levels of society to help build nations that can withstand crisis, and drive and sustain the kind of growth that improves the quality of life for everyone. On the ground in more than 170 countries and territories, we offer global perspective and local insight to help empower lives and build resilient nations.

* * * * *

News release in full, click here

Example coverage:

• Newswires / syndicates

Reuters, UK, Too hot to work: global warming to cost $2 trillion in lost productivity, click here

Washington Post, USA, As the world grows hotter, some workers are becoming less productive, click here

Bloomberg News, USA, Soaring Temperatures Will Make It Too Hot to Work, UN Warns, click here

The Independent, UK, Global warming set to cost the world economy £1.5 trillion by 2030 as it becomes too hot to work, click here

EuropaPress, Spain, Investigadores detallan los riesgos crecientes para salud de los desastres naturales, click here

RAI Novosty, Russia, ООН посчитала, во сколько мировой экономике обойдется глобальное потепление, click here

PAP, Poland, ONZ ostrzega: Wzrost temperatury doprowadzi do skrócenia czasu pracy, click here

• News sites

Le Figaro, France, via Yahoo News, La hausse des températures pourraient coûter 2 trillions de dollars à l’économie d’ici 2030, click here

Les Echos, France, Selon un rapport de l’ONU, la hausse des températures en raison du changement climatique pourrait coûter des points de PIB et des billions de dollars d’ici à 2030, click here

BFM Business, France, L’économie mondiale victime du réchauffement climatique, click here

Sina, China, 全球变暖每年将夺走13万亿元财富, click here

De Morgen, Belgium, Toenemende temperaturen doen wereldeconomie serieus zweten, click here

Business Green, UK, Heat stress is already impacting the bottom line – and it’s only going to get worse, click here

Climate News Network, UK, Climate change’s costs are still escalating, click here

Clean Malaysia, Climate Change will Cost us … a Lot, click here

Free Malaysia Today, Malaysia, Productivity to drop in Asia Pacific due to heat stress, click here

Mic, United States, As Republicans Deny Climate Change, the U.N. Says it Could Cost the World $2 Trillion, click here

RP, Poland, Cena globalnego ocieplenia: 2 biliony dolarów w ciągu najbliższych, click here

Taloussanomat, Finland, Kylmyyttä Pohjolaan, tukalaa Aasiaan – tuoko muutos säissä lisää lepoaikaa?, click here

iDNES, Czech Republic, Kvůli oteplování se bude méně pracovat. Ekonomiky zpomalí, varuje OSN, click here

Экспресс газета, Russia, Глобальное потепление может серьёзно ударить по мировой экономике, click here

Klimaretter, Germany, Weniger Arbeitstage durch Erderwärmung, click here

Rappler, USA, Hotter climate causing lower worker productivity – study, click here

Rinnovabili, Italy, Il riscaldamento globale fa sudare anche l’economia, click here

Privátbankár, Hungary, Olyan hőség lesz, amiben már dolgozni sem lehet – óriási károkat okoz majd, click here

Kommersant, Russia, Мировую экономику ожидает солнечный удар, click here

Okezone, Indonesia, Pemanasan Global Akan Membuat Perekonomian Asia Menderita, click here

XãLuận, Vietnam, GDP, năng suất lao động Việt Nam bị ảnh hưởng nặng bởi nắng nóng, click herehttp://www.xaluan.com/modules.php?name=News&file=article&sid=1539110

iAgua, Spain, ¿Qué impactos tienen los desastres naturales en la salud?, click here

Full coverage summary, click here

(#1 most viewed release (415,000+ page views) of 29,500 news releases hosted by the American Association for the Advancement of Science at its EurekAlert news service in 2016.  Click here for the AAAS news release)

Video: bit.ly/1S3YFjH

Canadian Government-supported researchers use mosquitoes’ own perfume to lure them to lay eggs in trap; Sudbury-based scientist leads project in Guatemala

With Canadian Government funding, a team of innovators from Canada and Mexico have successfully tested a low cost, environmentally-friendly way of destroying the eggs of the mosquito genus that spreads dengue, and likely spreading the Zika virus.

The 10-month study, conducted in a remote, urban area of Guatemala, documents a cheap, easy system to reduce virus-carryingAedesgenus mosquitoes by capturing and destroying its eggs. The results appear today in the F1000Research Zika & Arbovirus Outbreaks channel: bit.ly/1P3chwX *.

The system includes an innovative Canadian-designed trap called an “ovillanta,” created from two 50 cm sections of an old car tire, fashioned into a mouth-like shape, with a fluid release valve at the bottom.

Inside the lower tire cavity, a milk-based, non-toxic solution developed at Sudbury’s Laurentian University lures mosquitoes. Inserted to float in the artificial pond is a wooden or paper strip on which the female insect lays her eggs. The strip is removed twice weekly, analyzed for monitoring purposes, and the eggs destroyed using fire or ethanol.

The solution, which now includes mosquito pheromone (the female insect’s chemical perfume that helps others identify a safe breeding site), is then drained, filtered, and recycled back into the tire. The pheromone concentrates over time, making the ovillanta even more attractive for mosquitoes.

With a grant from Grand Challenges Canada, funded by the Government of Canada, the researchers, led by Gerardo Ulibarri of Laurentian University with collaborators Angel Betanzos and Mireya Betanzos of the National Institute of Public Health of Mexico, conducted the project in collaboration with Guatemala’s Ministry of Health.

They found the rubber ovillanta significantly more effective at attracting the Aedes mosquito than standard traps made from 1-litre buckets.

During the 10-month study, the team collected and destroyed over 18,100 Aedes eggs per month using 84 ovillantas in seven neighbourhoods of the town of Sayaxche (population 15,000), almost seven times the roughly 2,700 eggs collected monthly using 84 standard traps in the same study areas.

A tantalizing but anecdotal observation was that there were no new cases of dengue reported as originating in the ovillanta study test area, a community that would normally anticipate two or three dozen cases in that timeframe.

Targeting mosquito eggs using the ovillanta, Dr. Ulibarri says, is one third as expensive as trying to destroy larvae in natural ponds and only 20% the cost of targeting adult insects with pesticides, which also harm bats, dragonflies and the mosquitoes’ other natural predators.

The ovillanta was modelled after a mosquito trap developed at Laurentian University in response to the outbreak of West Nile virus in northern Ontario, which uses a modified solution to lure the Culex genus of mosquito, the West Nile carrier thought by some to be also the Zika carrier.

“We decided to use recycled tires – partly because tires already represent up to 29% of the breeding sites chosen by the Aedes aegypti mosquitoes, partly because tires are a universally affordable instrument in low-resource settings, and partly because giving old tires a new use creates an opportunity to clean up the local environment,” said Dr. Ulibarri.

Key to the overall system is an online training program to strengthen the mosquito control expertise of local health workers, coupled with a community engagement strategy that involves households in the regular maintenance of their ovillanta.

The community members collect the egg-laden strips of paper or wood from the ovillanta and pass them to the health workers, who conduct the monitoring and destruction using fire or ethanol.

The Aedes genus of mosquito – the principal genus that transmits Zika, dengue, chikungunya, and yellow fever viruses – has proven extremely difficult to control using other strategies, according to the World Health Organization.

A female, with a natural lifespan of up to three months, can start to reproduce in one week. Pesticide-resistance, dwindling resources, and an increase in mosquito-friendly environments have thwarted traditional methods of controlling the insect’s rapid spread.

“Innovation is a key driver underlying the Government of Canada’s approach to international development,” said Canada’s Minister of International Development and La Francophonie, the Honourable Marie-Claude Bibeau. “Innovative solutions that deliver improved global health outcomes – such as for the fight against the Zika virus – are needed.”

“While in its early days, this integrated innovation of a mosquito trap coupled with training local health workers and engaging communities in vector control is a promising example of how Canada’s leadership in development innovation can respond to public health emergencies such as Zika,” said Dr. Peter A. Singer, Chief Executive Officer of Grand Challenges Canada.

High-res still photos: bit.ly/1RxJZ1O

Researchers’ how-to video for creating an ovillanta: bit.ly/1S3YFjH

Video of an ovillanta under construction in Guatemala: bit.ly/25jlxVW

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(* This paper is posted pending peer review, consistent with the open data approach proposed by the World Health Organization for Data Sharing in Public Health Emergencies: bit.ly/1QIEUx7)

For more information, visit grandchallenges.ca and look for us on Facebook, Twitter, YouTube and LinkedIn.

About Grand Challenges Canada

Grand Challenges Canada is dedicated to supporting Bold Ideas with Big Impact in global health. We are funded by the Government of Canada and we support innovators in low- and middle-income countries and Canada. The bold ideas we support integrate science and technology, social and business innovation – we call this Integrated Innovation. Grand Challenges Canada focuses on innovator-defined challenges through its Stars in Global Health program and on targeted challenges in its Saving Lives at Birth, Saving Brains and Global Mental Health programs. Grand Challenges Canada works closely with Canada’s International Development Research Centre (IDRC), the Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR) and Global Affairs Canada to catalyze scale, sustainability and impact. We have a determined focus on results, and on saving and improving lives. http://www.grandchallenges.ca

* * * * *

News release in full, click here

Example coverage by:

Agence France Presse, Cheap tire innovation could boost Zika control, click here; in French, “Zika: un piège à moustiques plus efficace, écologique et bon marché, click here; Portuguese, click here; Japanese, click here

ABC News, USA: Using Old Tires to Fight Zika Virus: Canadian Government Funds DIY Mosquito Trap, click here

The Canadian Press, Old tires a new weapon against spread of Zika, click here

CBC Radio As It Happens, How this Canadian-designed mosquito trap could help fight Zika virus, click here

Toronto Star, A Canadian team is testing a $4 hack to solve the Zika crisis, click here

Globe and Mail, Canada, Canadian researcher’s mosquito trap offers hope in fight against Zika spread, click here

The Huffington Post, Canada, Cheap Tire Trap Could Help Fight Zika Virus, click here

Gizmodo, USA and India, This Low-Tech Trap For Killing Mosquito Eggs Is Brilliant, click here

The Weather Network, Canadian team set to turn tires against Zika virus, click here

TreeHugger, USA, Mosquito traps made from old tires 7 times more effective than standard traps

Agencia EFE, Spain, Un método barato para combatir el mosquito Aedes aegypti podría reducir el zika, click here

Agencia Brasil, Cientistas fazem armadilha mais eficaz contra o a adeusa (Scientists make a more effective trap for Aedes), click here

IRIN News, Iran, Persian: روش عجیب کانادا برای مقابله با بیماری مرگبار زیکا (Canada novel way to deal with the deadly disease Zika), click here

Thanh Niên, Vietnam, Cách chống dịch Zika rẻ tiền bằng vỏ ô tô cũ và sữa, click here

Sciences et Avenir, France, Zika: un piège à moustiques plus efficace, écologique et bon marché (Zika: a more effective mosquito trap, environmentally friendly and cheap), click here

Sudbury Star, Sudbury-designed traps could help stop Zika, click here

Motherboard VICE, How Canadian Scientists Plan to Fight Zika With Old Tires and Milk, click here

Daily Beast, USA, Fighting Zika Mosquitos with Tires, click here

* * * * *

Full coverage summary, click here

11 Jan 2015

Additional Malaysian nanoscience research includes converting greenhouse gases into energy source;

‘Smart farming’ nanosensors; New program aims for macro impact in health, energy, environment, agriculture, electronics

Malaysian scientists are joining forces with Harvard University experts to help revolutionize the treatment of lung diseases — the delivery of nanomedicine deep into places otherwise impossible to reach.

Under a five-year memorandum of understanding between Harvard and the University of Malaya, Malaysian scientists will join a distinguished team seeking a safe, more effective way of tackling lung problems including chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), the progressive, irreversible obstruction of airways causing almost 1 in 10 deaths today.

Treatment of COPD and lung cancer commonly involves chemotherapeutics and corticosteroids misted into a fine spray and inhaled, enabling direct delivery to the lungs and quick medicinal effect. However, because the particles produced by today’s inhalers are large, most of the medicine is deposited in the upper respiratory tract.

The Harvard team, within the university’s T.H. Chan School of Public Health, is working on “smart” nanoparticles that deliver appropriate levels of diagnostic and therapeutic agents to the deepest, tiniest sacs of the lung, a process potentially assisted by the use of magnetic fields.

Malaysia’s role within the international collaboration: help ensure the safety and improve the effectiveness of nanomedicine, assessing how nanomedicine particles behave in the body, what attaches to them to form a coating, where the drug accumulates and how it interacts with target and non-target cells.

Led by Joseph Brain, the Cecil K. and Philip Drinker Professor of Environmental Physiology, the research draws on extensive expertise at Harvard in biokinetics — determining how to administer medicine to achieve the proper dosage to impact target cells and assessing the extent to which drug-loaded nanoparticles pass through biological barriers to different organs.

The studies also build on decades of experience studying the biology of macrophages — large, specialized cells that recognize, engulf and destroy target cells as part of the human immune system.

Manipulating immune cells represents an important strategy for treating lung diseases like COPD and lung cancer, as well as infectious diseases including tuberculosis and listeriosis.

Dr. Brain notes that every day humans breathe 20,000 litres of air loaded with bacteria and viruses, and that the world’s deadliest epidemic — an outbreak of airborne influenza in the 1920s — killed tens of millions.

Inhaled nanomedicine holds the promise of helping doctors prevent and treat such problems in future, reaching the target area more swiftly than if administered orally or even intravenously.

This is particularly true for lung cancer, says Dr. Brain. “Experiments have demonstrated that a drug dose administered directly to the respiratory tract achieves much higher local drug concentrations at the target site.”

COPD meanwhile affects over 235 million people worldwide and is on the rise, with 80% of cases caused by cigarette smoking. Exacerbated by poor air quality, COPD is expected to rise from 5th to 3rd place among humanity’s most lethal health problems by 2030.

“Nanotechnology is making a significant impact on healthcare by delivering improvements in disease diagnosis and monitoring, as well as enabling new approaches to regenerative medicine and drug delivery,” says Prof. Zakri Abdul Hamid, Science Advisor to the Prime Minister of Malaysia.

“Malaysia, through NanoMITe, is proud and excited to join the Harvard team and contribute to the creation of these life-giving innovations.”

Malaysia’s NanoMITe

The research effort with Harvard is one of several underway at the Malaysia Institute for Innovative Nanotechnology, initiated in 2013 through Malaysia’s Global Science & Innovation Advisory Council, led by YAB Prime Minister Dato’ Sri Najib Razak.

Nanotechnology involves manipulation of matter at a molecular scale (up to 100 nanometers, a nanometer being one billionth of a meter), and creating special properties of matter that occur below a given size threshold. Based at the Universiti Teknologi Malaysia in Kuala Lumpur, NanoMITe’s mission to engage in global scientific research collaborations to generate ideas, knowledge and products to benefit society while contributing to the national economy.

Over 100 leading scientific collaborators at world-class academies in Asia, Europe and North America are pooling extensive expertise to make nanotech-enabled advances in health, the environment, energy, food production, and electronics.

Says Idris Jusoh, Malaysia’s Minister of Higher Education, NanoMITe’s foremost financial supporter: “Together, science, technology and innovation constitute the engine that will drive Malaysia’s sustainable economic development and nanotechnology research is on the cutting-edge of our pursuits. It is key to the solution of persistent problems throughout our societies but such breakthroughs can only be achieved through collaborative, international research across a spectrum of scientific fields and converging results. Our ministry is proud to support these efforts.”

Other NanoMITe research efforts include:

Nanotech-enabled generation of renewable energy

The energy-related research all involves nano scale molecular manipulation using novel local materials, catalysts, processes and technologies to create, for example:

• Low temperature solid-oxide fuel cells for the power industry;
• Flexible solar cells for economically viable, clean renewable energy; and
• Converting waste biomass from palm oil trees into jet fuel, which could add an estimated RM 30 billion to the Malaysian economy by 2020, help meet renewable energy targets and reduce greenhouse gas emissions.

Says Prof. Datuk Dr. Halimaton Hamdan of the Universiti Teknologi Malaysia, head of NanoMITe: “A lot of materials in use today are characterized by low effectiveness and high energy consumption. Nanotechnologies are being used to create nanocomposites and catalysts that enable the production of lighter, more durable and stronger materials, more efficient use of resources and reducing energy consumption. Specific nanotechnologies will also create more efficient means of energy generation, storage and transportation.”

“We believe that within 20 years, nanotechnology could help reduce the intensity of energy needed to produce a unit of product by 45 percent.”

Converting greenhouse gases into valuable chemicals

Malaysian scientists are also investigating the possibility that, via nanotech, captured greenhouse gases can serve as carbon feedstock for use in chemical production.

Specifically, they’re looking to design catalytic-nanomaterials to convert GHGs — carbon dioxide and methane — into renewable fuels, offering a potential contribution to energy supplies, mitigating climate change and advancing economic development.

“Smart farming” with agricultural nanosensors

Fungus-related problems are estimated to cost the South East Asian economy US$500 million every year. Once infected with a common fungus (G. boninense), young oil palm trees usually die within 1 to 2 years; mature trees may survive slightly longer.

Now scientists at the Universiti Putra Malaysia and Universiti Malaysia Perlis are developing nano-sensors and nano-based systems to create smart, precision farming to help address this expensive problem.

With the aid of wireless communication networks, Geographic Information Systems (GIS) and Satellite Remote Sensing nanosensors embedded in trees, roots and soil can monitor and detect G. boninense disease. Automatic adjustments of pesticide applications, nutrients or irrigation levels would occur once disease, pests or drought are detected.

Such a smart farming system could also help make more efficient use of water, nutrients, fertilizers, pesticides, herbicides and plant growth regulators, improving stability against crop degradation and reducing pollution.

By understanding at nano scale the structure of the agricultural inputs and the soil, carriers can be designed to anchor plant roots to surrounding soil and organic matter.

Prof. Zakri, a leader of the GSIAC, underlined the crucially important role of the Malaysian Ministry of Higher Education to the NanoMITe program:

“Without the Ministry’s financial support and trust, NanoMITe could have never have been realized.”

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Malaysia’s Global Science and Innovation Advisory Council is a unique forum of international and Malaysian experts and leaders created to help guide the nation’s sustainable development.

The Malaysian Industry-Government Group for High Technology is a not-for-profit public-private partnership with more than 100 members, both local and international, from industry, government and academia. MIGHT provides a platform for industry-government consensus building to advance high technology competency in Malaysia.

Example coverage:

Bernama (Malaysia), “UM-Harvard Collaboration To Tackle Lung Diseases,” click here; Malay, “UM-Harvard University Jalin Kerjasama Tangani Penyakit Paru-Paru,” click here

Agencia EFE (Spain), “Universities of Harvard and Malaya team up to develop nano medicines,” click here; Spanish, “Malasia y Harvard se unen para curar los males pulmonares con nanotecnología,” click here

Benessere, Milan, Italy, “Da USA e Malesia una speranza contro le malattie polmonari,” click here

ABC, Madrid, Spain, “El cáncer de pulmón y la EPOC se tratarán en un futuro próximo con nanofármacos,” click here

Medical News Today, UK, “Future of lung treatment: Malaysian scientists join Harvard team creating safe, effective nano drugs,” click here

Medical News, Australia, “Malaysian scientists join forces with Harvard experts to help revolutionize lung disease treatment,” click here

Coverage summary, click here

3 Nov 2015

Safe, systematic collection of human waste in low-resource countries could yield valuable fuels, invaluable health and environmental benefits

Biogas from human waste, safely obtained under controlled circumstances using innovative technologies, is a potential fuel source great enough in theory to generate electricity for up to 138 million households – the number of households in Indonesia, Brazil, and Ethiopia combined.

A report today from UN University’s Canadian-based Institute for Water, Environment and Health estimates that biogas potentially available from human waste worldwide would have a value of up to US$ 9.5 billion in natural gas equivalent.

And the residue, dried and charred, could produce 2 million tonnes of charcoal-equivalent fuel, curbing the destruction of trees.

Finally, experts say, the large energy value would prove small relative to that of the global health and environmental benefits that would accrue from the safe treatment of human waste in low-resource settings.

“Rather than treating our waste as a major liability, with proper controls in place we can use it in several circumstances to build innovative and sustained financing for development while protecting health and improving our environment in the process,” according to the report, “Valuing Human Waste as an Energy Resource.”

The report uses average waste volume statistics, high and low assumptions for the percentage of concentrated combustable solids contained (25 – 45%), its conversion into biogas and charcoal-like fuel and their thermal equivalents (natural gas and charcoal), to calculate the potential energy value of human waste.

Biogas, approximately 60% methane by volume, is generated through the bacterial breakdown of faecal matter, and any other organic matter, in an oxygen free (anaerobic) system.

Dried and charred faecal sludge, meanwhile, has energy content similar to coal and charcoal.

UN figures show that 2.4 billion people lack access to improved sanitation facilities and almost 1 billion people (about 60% of them in India) don’t use toilets at all, defecating instead in the open.

If the waste of only those practicing open defecation was targeted, the financial value of biogas potentially generated exceeds US$ 200 million per year and could reach as high as $376 million. The energy value would equal that of the fuel needed to generate electricity for 10 million to 18 million local households. Processing the residual faecal sludge, meanwhile, would yield the equivalent of 4.8 million to 8.5 million tonnes of charcoal to help power industrial furnaces, for example.

World already reuses the water and nutrients in wastewater

Says lead author Corinne Schuster-Wallace: “Increasingly, water-scarce regions are being driven to separate and reuse the water in wastewater, particularly to expand marginal agricultural lands. There is a technological opportunity, particularly in rural growth areas and small towns, to derive energy as well from this resource.”

UNU-INWEH Senior Research Fellow Chris Metcalfe of Trent University notes that human waste, as with animal waste, is already used to improve food production in many places around the world, governed by guidelines to ensure its safe use.

A study in Sweden established that human urine contains over 300 g of phosphorous, 900 g of potassium and 300 g of sulphur per cubic meter. According to the World Health Organization, an individual’s body excretes an estimated 4.5 kg of nitrogen and 548 g of phosphorus per year.

“We recycle the nutrients in human waste effectively via agriculture in many places, yet the potential energy value of human waste has been given much less attention to date,” says Dr. Metcalfe, a report co-author along with UNU consultant Chris Wild. “Challenges are many but clearly there is a compelling, multi-dimensional financial case to be made for deriving energy from waste.”

Says UNU-INWEH Director Zafar Adeel: “When it comes to creating misery and poverty, human waste mismanagement has few rivals. If we can demonstrate a simple, cost effective new approach in low-resource settings, if we can successfully make a business case and change the economic paradigm of human waste management, we can advance development, protect the environment and help reduce sanitation problems causing one-tenth of all world illnesses.”

“World Toilet Day, upcoming November 19, offers the opportunity to promote new thinking and to continue puncturing the taboos in many places that inhibit discussion and perpetuate the disgrace and tragedy of inadequate human waste management in many developing world areas. This report contributes to that goal.”

Waste to wealth

With initial seed funds from federally-funded Grand Challenges Canada, UNU-INWEH in partnership with the Ugandan Ministry of Water and Environment, its agencies, and other NGO and academic institutions, established the Waste to Wealth national framework.

Waste to Wealth utilises modern anaerobic digestion technologies linked to sanitation systems.

With a focus on rural growth centers and small towns, as well as high population density institutions such as schools and prisons, the biogas and residual material left from energy conversion is a valuable economic resource to provide a return on investment in bioenergy technologies.

The ultimate goal of Waste to Wealth is decentralised (on site) faecal waste management and to help bridge the finance gap for sanitation in Uganda. By identifying value in waste (energy and /or fertilizer), Waste to Wealth provides an incentive to use toilets and a mechanism to finance both upfront capital costs as well as facility operation, maintenance, and expansion. In addition to the economic opportunities, sanitation interventions have known benefits to individual, household and community health and wellbeing.

Video: http://bit.ly/1GH9oRy

Photos: http://bit.ly/1RcC1qr

Website: http://inweh.unu.edu/waste-to-wealth

Phase two of the project involves proof of concept of a series of proposed initiatives, including equipping a Ugandan prison with a $100,000 system requiring approximately $5,000 in annual operating costs, expected to pay for itself through fuel cost savings within 2 years.

Waste to Wealth is one of several pilot projects in Africa to have received seed grants from Grand Challenges Canada for the systematic collection of waste for processing into a variety of energy or agricultural products.

Related projects in Africa include:

Kenya

• Collecting and converting human waste into solid fuel for use by cement plants and other industries
• Franchising toilets; profitably, safely collecting and removing the waste daily, converting it into fuel and fertilizer, and
• Collecting human waste and converting it into high quality, emission free bio-charcoal cooking fuel

Uganda

Production of biogas and organic fertilizer from street waste

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UNU-INWEH

http://bit.ly/1vjfKAS

The United Nations University Institute for Water, Environment and Health is a member of the United Nations University family of organizations. It is the UN Think Tank on Water created by the UNU Governing Council in 1996. The mission of the institute is to help resolve pressing water challenges that are of concern to the United Nations, its Member States, and their people, through knowledge- based synthesis of existing bodies of scientific discovery; through cutting edge targeted research that identifies emerging policy issues; through application of on-the-ground scalable solutions based on credible research; and, through relevant and targeted public outreach. It is hosted by the Government of Canada and McMaster University.

* * * * *

Example coverage:

TIME Magazine, USA, “How Poop Can Be Worth $9.5 Billion,” click here

Washington Post, USA, “Burning humanity’s poop could yield up to $9.5 billion,” click here

Discovery, USA, “Will the Future Be Powered by Feces?,” click here

Science Magazine, USA, “Human feces from the developing world could power millions of homes,” click here

Reuters / Thomson-Reuters Foundation, UK, “Power from human waste could light millions of homes-UN University” click here; Spanish, “Energía de desechos humanos podría iluminar millones de hogares: Universidad ONU” click here

Agence France Presse, France, French: “Les excréments humains, source potentielle importante d’énergie,” click here; Spanish: “Excrementos humanos tienen importante potencial como para producir energía,” click here; Portuguese: “Estudo aponta potencial energético de excremento humano,” click here; Japanese: “人間の排せつ物で発電、途上国の衛生改善も 国連,” click here

The Guardian, UK, “When will the world wake up to the potential of poo power?” click here

Daily Mail, UK, “Now that’s wind power! Gas from human FAECES could generate electricity for up to 138 million households, report claims” click here

BBC World Service Radio, UK (Science in Action), click here

Chicago Sun-Times, and Sun-Times Network (Seattle WA Sun Times, Jacksonville FL Sun Times, Charlotte NC Sun Times, Columbus OH Sun Times): “Study says world’s human poo worth up to $9.5 billion,’ click here

The Atlantic, CityLab, USA, “The Miraculous Energy Source of the Future: Our Poop?” click here

Huffington Post, USA, “Human Waste Could Light Up More Than 138 Million Homes: Study,” click here

Al Jazeera America, USA, “Human waste could provide power for millions in developing world, says UN,” click here

The Australian, $13bn resource squandered as world wastes value of human dung” click here

Politiken, Denmark, “Københavnerne steger i gas lavet af naboens lort og opvaskevand,” click here

Agencia EFE, Spain, “Científicos proponen aprovechar valor energético y económico de excrementos,” click here; English service: “Scientists propose extracting energy and economic worth of human excreta,” click here

RIA Novosti, Russia, “Топливо из высушенных нечистот принесет миру 10 млрд долларов ежегодно” click here

Science et Vie, France, “Energie: Les Excréments Humains Recèlent d’importantes Quantités de Biogaz Inexploitées,” click here 

CNN en Español, United States, “Excremento humano podría ser la próxima gran fuente de energía mundial, según la ONU,” click here, CNN Greece, “Ενέργεια από περιττώματα,” click here

Global News, Canada, “How human poop could generate power for up to 138 million homes,” click here

La Repubblica, Italy, “Dalle deiezioni umane energia per 138 milioni di case,” click here

Green Report, Italy, “Il valore energetico dei rifiuti umani. Dal biogas del Burkina Faso al Franchising toilets in Kenya” click here

Public Radio International (PRI), USA ” click here

Helsingen Sanomat, Finland, “Ihmisen jätöksistä saisi energiaa miljoonille kotitalouksille,” click here

Yonhap News Agency, Korea, “인류 배설물의 에너지 가치…연간 최대 11조원”, click here

Mental Floss, USA, “Poop Could Be the World’s Next Big Energy Resource,” click here

* * * * *

Full summary of coverage in 14 languages from 59 countries, click here

News release in full, click here

25 May 2015

Innovative ‘flocked swab’ improves diagnosis, treatment of deadly childhood diarrheal diseases; results could prompt rethink of how to manage second leading cause of death among children under 5

With Canadian government funding, medical scientists have created and demonstrated a new tool that could dramatically lower the tragic annual toll of 760,000 infants and children killed, and millions more stunted, due to severe diarrhea.

Using an inexpensive innovation in specimen collection, the Canadian-led team diagnosed previously unrecognized pathogens that had caused the severe diarrhea of over one-third of children in a group of southern Africa hospitals.

With a grant from federally-funded Grand Challenges Canada, McMaster University researchers designed and tested in Botswana a specially-designed “flocked swab” for collecting samples from children admitted to hospitals with severe diarrheal disease — the second-leading cause of death of children under five in developing countries.

The flocked rectal swab eliminates the wait and biohazard involved in obtaining and transporting a bulk stool (feces) sample from an infant or child. This efficiency enabled implementation of a randomized clinical trial evaluating same-day diagnosis and treatment for a broad number of pathogens — the first study of its kind anywhere.

Published by the Journal of the Pediatric Infectious Disease Society, the study documented that over one-third of 671 babies hospitalized with severe diarrhea – including 17 of 26 (65%) who ultimately died – were infected with a treatable pathogen, infections that had gone unrecognized at the hospital and therefore generally went untreated.

Because so many of these severely ill children had treatable conditions, the researchers clinically tested whether same-day rapid diagnosis followed by timely, appropriate therapy would lead to improved outcomes.

Children randomly chosen for rapid testing using the flocked swab and appropriate treatment were 55% less likely to have diarrhoea recur, compared with children not chosen, and they had a clinically significant height gain after 60 days. This measure of growth is an important indicator of children’s ability to reach their full developmental potential.

Led by David Goldfarb, MD (formerly of McMaster University, now at the University of British Columbia), along with Jeff Pernica, MD (McMaster) and collaborators Isaac Quaye, PhD (University of Namibia) and Margaret Mokomane (University of Botswana), the researchers witnessed dramatic health changes as a result of the rapid test-and-treat strategy.

And the ‘treatment gap’ revealed in their Botswana research uncovers a major opportunity to make a big long-term impact in child health worldwide, they say.

“The simple fact is: Diagnostics save lives,” says Dr. Peter A. Singer, CEO of Grand Challenges Canada. “If health workers can quickly and accurately pinpoint the cause of a child’s illness, timely help can be administered, preventing many deaths and improving many lives.”

“The flocked swab offers a shining example of the sort of ‘Bold Idea with Big Impact’ in global health to which Grand Challenges Canada has been devoted since 2010. These are early days and results from an innovation are fully seen only in the long term but we believe the global health potential of this innovation could be very large over time.”

* 1.7 billion cases of diarrhoeal disease worldwide each year; 760,000 child deaths *

According to the WHO, nearly 1.7 billion cases of diarrhoeal disease occur worldwide every year, illnesses that kill about 760,000 children under five years old. Other profound health consequences for children include physical and cognitive stunting and severe malnutrition.

Says Dr. Pernica: “For many of the leading causes of severe diarrhea in children, there are effective low-cost treatments available. The issue, however, is that up until recently it was not possible to determine the specific pathogen causing illness in a timely manner.”

“For this reason, the standard of care for child diarrhea across the developing world has been to ignore what might be the specific pathogen and only provide antibiotics if blood is present in the stool. This may well be contributing to the high mortality observed in African children with severe diarrhea; in Botswana, 4% of such children died in hospital, and in other sub-Saharan countries, the death rate is over 7%. Furthermore, most of those who survive will experience some degree of growth faltering and the possibility of cognitive developmental delay.”

Phase two of the work in Africa involves quantifying more precisely the difference this diagnostic breakthrough achieves.

Says Dr. Goldfarb: “Further demonstrating significant improvements in outcomes would necessitate an entire rethinking of how this very common condition is managed around the world.”

* Data inspires Botswana to fast-track Rotavirus vaccination programme *

Thanks to the group’s research, valuable information acquired at a national level about the specific germs causing child diarrheal disease facilitated Botswana’s fast-tracking an immunization programme and the development of rapid antibiotic treatment protocols.

Botswana’s anti-Rotavirus programme, addressing the leading cause of severe diarrhoea among infants and young children, has vaccinated over 100,000 children and is credited with an overall 55% decrease in the mortality rate among infants at four hospitals during the first Rotavirus season after the vaccine roll-out.

Further analysis two years after the vaccine introduction shows a 32% decrease in all-cause infant diarrhea mortality, and a 26% decrease in all-cause infant diarrhea hospitalizations.

* Simple new device helps save kids *

Resembling an oversized Q-tip® but with a furry 3.2-cm (1.25-inch) tip of nylon fibers attached perpendicularly to the end of a plastic stem, the flocked swab designed in Canada for this new diagnostic purpose and manufactured by Copan Italia, began with a proof-of-concept grant in 2011 from Grand Challenges Canada. (Download photo at http://bit.ly/1KcKAB5; credit: David Goldfarb, Jeff Pernica; video (2011): http://bit.ly/1Ag6KPn)

Unlike cotton swabs common in many homes, the flocked swab is like a soft brush with no absorbent core so the entire biological sample stays close to the surface, facilitating diagnostic tests. (Download photo at: http://bit.ly/1bWwIMt, credit: Copan Italia)

Produced at scale, a swab costs as little as 25 cents.

In a study, published in November in the Journal of Clinical Microbiology, the innovators showed that a specimen obtained using the specially-designed flocked swab was 16% more likely than matched stool samples to reveal two leading, treatable bacterial pathogens causing diarrhea – Shigella and Campylobacter.

The flocked swab, the researchers add, will benefit health care systems worldwide but especially in low-resource settings where incorrectly and ineffectively treated diarrheal disease wastes precious medical resources.

The device will be used in Canada for the first time in the Gastroenteritis Surveillance Project in Nunavut, where acute gastrointestinal infections are at least two to four times higher than other Canadian regions.

Says Dr. Pernica: “Stool collection and transport generally would be unfeasible in such a setting. Flocked swabs, therefore, will be crucial to enabling this surveillance. Enrolment has begun in five communities and is planned for seven remote communities in all across the territory.”

* Celebration: Grand Challenges Canada turns five *

The Flocked Swab is one of 20 innovations being showcased at a Grand Challenges Canada 5th anniversary event: “Celebrating Legacy, Celebrating Partnerships & Results, Celebrating the Future,” (Royal York Hotel, Toronto, Thursday 28 May, 6 – 9 pm).

The May 28 event will feature presentations by innovators in mental health, early childhood development, maternal, newborn and child health and many other areas.

GCC is funded by the Canadian government, which has designated maternal newborn and child health as the nation’s top international development priority.

Says Dr. Singer: “Thanks to the Government of Canada’s support, we have grown to an organization that has supported this and roughly 700 other innovations in 70 countries, all helping to reinforce Canada’s leadership in the area of global health.”

###

For more information, visit grandchallenges.ca and look for us on Facebook, Twitter, YouTube and LinkedIn.

About Grand Challenges Canada

Grand Challenges Canada is dedicated to supporting Bold Ideas with Big Impact® in global health. We are funded by the Government of Canada and we support innovators in low- and middle-income countries and Canada. The bold ideas we support integrate science and technology, social and business innovation to find sustainable solutions to health challenges – we call this Integrated Innovation®. Grand Challenges Canada focuses on innovator-defined challenges through its Stars in Global Health program and on targeted challenges in its Saving Lives at Birth, Saving Brains and Global Mental Health programs. Grand Challenges Canada works closely with Canada’s International Development Research Centre (IDRC), the Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR) and the Department of Foreign Affairs, Trade and Development Canada (DFATD) to catalyze scale, sustainability and impact. We have a determined focus on results, and on saving and improving lives.

http://www.grandchallenges.ca

Example coverage by:

Toronto Star, New swab could curb deadly diarrhea problem, click here

United Press International, USA,  New swab reveals treatable infection in one third of babies, click here

Agencia EFE, Spain, Bastoncillo médico reducirá mortalidad infantil por diarrea, click here

Hamilton Spectator, Canada  Mac researchers develop diarrhea diagnostic technique; Taking samples with ‘flocked swab’ could save kids’ lives, click here

EuropaPress newswire, Spain, Un tercio de bebés con diarrea severa tiene una infección tratable sin diagnosticar, click here

Africa Science News Service, Kenya, New medical tool to save infants, children, click here

Xinhua, China, Diagnostic tool unveiled to boost war against cholera in Africa, click here

BBC World Service to Africa

South Africa Broadcasting Corp., Channel Africa

Coverage summary in full, click here

News release in full: click here

United Nations University, Bonn

19 April 2015

End-of-life electronic, electrical equipment totals 41.8 million metric tonnes in 2014 

E-waste last year contained $52 billion in resources, large volumes of toxic material; most is not collected for recovery or treatment

New report details e-waste generation by region

Bonn — In 2014, people worldwide discarded all but a small fraction of an estimated 41.8 million metric tonnes (Mt) of electrical and electronic products – mostly end-of-life kitchen, laundry and bathroom equipment like microwave ovens, washing machines and dishwashers.

And the volume of e-waste is expected to rise by 21% to 50 million Mt in 2018.

The new figures were released today in the Global E-Waste Monitor 2014, compiled by  the United Nations University (UNU), the UN’s think tank.  The report offers in unprecedented detail a wealth of insights into the location and composition of the world’s fast-growing e-waste problem. 

Just 7% of e-waste last year was made up of mobile phones, calculators, personal computers, printers, and small information technology equipment.  

Almost 60% was a mix of large and small equipment used in homes and businesses, consisting of:

• 12.8 Mt of small equipment (vacuum cleaners, microwaves, toasters, electric shavers, video cameras, etc.)
• 11.8 Mt of large equipment (washing machines, clothes dryers, dishwashers, electric stoves, photovoltaic panels, etc.)
• 7.0 Mt of cooling and freezing equipment (temperature exchange equipment).
• 6.3 Mt of screens
• 3.0 Mt of small IT (mobile phones, pocket calculators, personal computers, printers, etc.)
• 1.0 Mt of lamps

The 41.8 million Mt weight of last year’s e-waste is comparable to that of 1.15 million 40-ton 18-wheel trucks, enough to form a line of trucks 23,000 kilometres long, or the distance from New York to Tokyo and back.

Less than one-sixth of last year’s e-waste is thought to have been diverted to proper recycling, reuse and treatment.

The e-waste generated in 2014 contained an estimated 16,500 kilotons of iron, 1,900 kilotons of copper, 300 tonnes of gold (equal to 11% of the world’s total 2013 gold production), as well as silver, aluminum, palladium plastic and other resources with a combined estimated value of US $52 billion (48 billion Euro).  

Toxins in that e-waste, meanwhile, include 2.2 Mt of lead glass-more than six times the weight of the Empire State Building -0.3 Mt of batteries, as well as mercury, cadmium, chromium and 4,400 tonnes of ozone-depleting substances (CFCs).   Health problems associated with such toxins include impaired mental development, cancer, and damage to livers and kidneys.

And while the USA and China produce the most e-waste overall (32% of the world’s total), the top per capita producers by far are the wealthy nations of northern and western Europe, the top five being Norway, Switzerland, Iceland, Denmark, and the UK.

The escalating global e-waste problem is driven by the rising sales and shortening life cycles of electrical and electronic equipment (EEE -essentially, any device with a battery or an electric cord).

“Worldwide, e-waste constitutes a valuable ‘urban mine’ – a large potential reservoir of recyclable materials.  At the same time, the hazardous content of e-waste constitutes a ‘toxic mine’ that must be managed with extreme care,” says UN Under-Secretary-General David Malone, Rector of UNU. 

“The monitor provides a baseline for national policymakers, producers and the recycling industry, to plan take-back systems. It can also facilitate cooperation around controlling illegal trade, supporting necessary technology development and transfer, and assisting international organizations, governments and research institutes in their efforts as they develop appropriate countermeasures. This will eventually lead to improved resource efficiency while reducing the environmental and health impacts of e-waste.”

Says co-author Kees Baldé  of United Nations University Institute for the Advanced Study of Sustainability (UNU-IAS) SCYCLE in Bonn (Germany): “This report, based on empirical data, provides an unprecedented level of detail and a more accurate overview of the magnitude of the e-waste problem in world different regions than has ever been reported previously.”

Selected highlights:

• In 2014, approximately 4 billion people were covered by national e-waste legislation (though not all laws cover the full range of e-waste and are not all enforced). 
• Around 6.5 Mt of e-waste was reported as formally treated by national take-back systems
• Most world e-waste in 2014 was generated in Asia: 16 Mt (3.7 kg per inhabitant)
• The highest per inhabitant e-waste quantity (15.6 kg/inh.) was generated in Europe; the region (including Russia) generated 11.6 Mt
• The lowest quantity of e-waste was generated in Oceania (0.6 Mt), however, per inhabitant the e-waste generated was nearly as high as Europe’s (15.2 kg/inh.)
• The lowest amount of e-waste per inhabitant was generated in Africa (1.7 kg/inh). The continent generated 1.9 Mt of e-waste in total.
• The Americas generated 11.7 Mt of e-waste (7.9 Mt in North America, 1.1 Mt in Central America, 2.7 Mt in South America), or an average of 12.2 kg/inh
• Growth of e-waste by volume since 2010, with projections to 2018

Top 40 e-waste producing nations, per capita (kg per individual)

Top 40 e-waste producing nations, by volume (kilotonnes)

(please see annex 1, page 62: http://bit.ly/1an7E08) 

* * * * *

United Nations University

UNU is an autonomous organ of the UN General Assembly dedicated to generating and transferring knowledge and strengthening capacities relevant to global issues of human security, development, and welfare. The University operates through a worldwide network of research and training centres and programmes, coordinated by UNU Centre in Tokyo.

UNU’s Institute for the Advanced Study of Sustainability (UNU-IAS) is a leading research and teaching institute based in Tokyo. Its mission is to advance efforts towards a more sustainable future, through policy-oriented research and capacity development focused on sustainability and its social, economic and environmental dimensions. UNU-IAS serves the international community, making valuable and innovative contributions to high-level policymaking and debates within the UN system.

Sustainable Cycles (SCYCLE) is an operating unit of UNU-IAS based in Bonn, Germany. Its activities are focused on the development of sustainable production, consumption and disposal patterns for electrical and electronic equipment, as well as other ubiquitous goods. SCYCLE leads the global e-waste discussion and advances sustainable e-waste management strategies based on life-cycle thinking.   SCYCLE fosters a solutions-oriented dialogue, cooperation and consensus through e.g. hosting the Solving the E-Waste Problem (StEP) Initiative, a global network of more than 65 member organizations committed to developing applicable, holistic, science-based recommendations concerning the growing e-waste problem.

* * * * *

Example coverage by

Agence France Presse, “Mountain of electrical waste reaches new peak,”click here; French, “Record de déchets électriques et électroniques dans le monde en 2014,” click here; Spanish, “Récord de residuos eléctricos y electrónicos en el mundo en 2014,” click here; German, “Weltweit produzierter Elektroschrott erreicht Rekordmenge,” click here; Chinese, “回收還不夠 全球電子垃圾量創新高,” click here

Reuters, UK, “U.S., China top dumping of electronic waste; little recycled,” click here; Czech, “Nejvíc elektroodpadu na obyvatele má Norsko Zdroj” click here; Croatian,  “SAD i Kina vodeći proizvođači elektroničkog otpada” click here; Indonesian, “AS, China paling banyak buang sampah elektronik,” click here

BBC Online, UK, “Microwaves and dishwashers dominate e-waste mountain,” click here; Spanish, “¿Cuáles son los países de América Latina que más basura electrónica producen?,” click here; Turkish, “Elektronik çöp dağları geri dönüştürülemiyor,” click here

CBS News, USA, “United States, China are biggest producers of e-waste,” click here

Forbes, USA, “Which Country Is On Top Of The World’s Electronic Waste Mountain? [Infographic],” click here

The Weather Network, USA, “Report names U.S. and China as worst e-waste culprits,” click here

Gizmodo, USA, “Humans Threw Out 92 Billion Pounds of Electronics Last Year,” click here

Salon, USA. “The planet’s e-waste problem is out of control — and getting worse,” click here

Voice of America, USA “UN: Record Amount of E-Waste Generated,” click here; Indonesian, “PBB: Limbah Elektronik Tahun 2014 Memecahkan Rekor,” click here; Chinese: “聯合國：全球電子垃圾量去年創紀錄,” click here; Vietnamese, “LHQ: Rác thải điện tử tăng cao kỷ lục,” click here

United Press International, USA, “Worldwide electronic waste worth $52 billion; 60 percent household appliances,” click here

UK Press Association, “Warning as ‘e-waste’ levels rise,” click here

The Independent, UK, “Electronic waste worth £34bn piling up in ‘toxic mine’, warns UN report,” click here

Agencia EFE, Spain, “La basura electrónica aumentó en todo el mundo a 41,8 millones de toneladas,” click here

Sing Tao, “美中去年製造最多電子垃圾” click here

China Daily, China, “印度已成世界第五大电子垃圾生产国,” click here

Sina Daily, China, “去年电子垃圾再创新高 美、中最多,” click here

Yonhap news, Korea, “‘금·은·철’ 포함 전자폐기물 16%만 재활용,” click here

Press Trust of India (PTI), “India 5th biggest generator of e-waste in 2014: UN report,” click here; Hindi: “भारत ई-कचरा पैदा करने वाला 5वां सबसे बड़ा देश: संयुक्त राष्ट्र,” click here

O Globo, Brazil, “Maior parte das 41,8 milhões de toneladas de e-lixo produzidas em 2014 é de eletrodomésticos,” click here

Norsk Telegrambyrå (NTB), Norway, “Nordmenn kaster mest elektronisk avfall i verden,” click here

Finska Notisbyrån (FNB), Finland, “FN: Det elektroniska sopberget växer,” click here

Algemeen Nederlands Persbureau (ANP), Netherlands, “Huishoudelijke apparaten vormen enorme afvalberg, meer recyclen is nodig,” click here

Corriere Della Sera, Italy, “Nuovo record per i rifiuti elettronici: toccano i 42 milioni di tonnellate,” click here

Repubblica, Italy, “42 milioni di tonnellate di rifiuti elettronici,” click here

Informazione, Italy, “Nel 2014 record mondiale di rifiuti elettrici ed elettronici,” click here

Morgunblaðið, Iceland, “Íslend­ing­ar henda mikið af raf­tækj­um,” click here

Namasthe Telangana Daily, Telugu language, India, “ఈ-వ్యర్థాల ఉత్పత్తిలో భారత్ ఐదో స్థానం,” click here

Thế Giới Tiếp Thị, Vietnam, “Rác điện tử chủ yếu từ nhà bếp,” click here

Bultan News, Persian, Iran, “تولید 42 میلیون تن زباله الکترونیکی در سال 2014,” click here

CBC, Canada, “Discarded metal UN calls ‘toxic mine’ worth some $52 billion US,” click here

Lenta, Russian, Russia, “В мире за год выбросили 300 тонн золота,” click here

STYK News, Ukrainian, Ukraine, “У світі за рік викинули 300 тонн золота,” click here

La Tribune, France, “Le poids des déchets électroniques à un niveau record en 2014,” click here

20 Minutes, France, “2014, année du record de déchets électriques et électroniques dans le monde,” click here

France TV Info, France, “Plus de 40 millions de tonnes de déchets électriques et électroniques jetés dans le monde en 2014,” click here

The Local, Denmark, “Denmark among top producers of e-waste,” click here

* * * * *

News release in full, click here

Global E-waste Monitor in full, click here

Coverage summary, with links to coverage in 29 languages, 75 countries, click here

23-DEC-2014

Large Parts Of Europe, South America Face Rising Vulnerability

The first-ever maps of global vulnerability to dengue, a mosquito-borne tropical virus that produces a painful condition of body joints sometimes referred to as “breakbone fever,” were published today by UN University’s Canadian-based Institute for Water, Environment and Health.

The maps colourfully illustrate the dynamic expansion and contraction of dengue vulnerability worldwide through the year, revealing hotspots in January, April, July and October (available online for download: http://bit.ly/1wCq0mi). While not all vulnerable regions identified currently experience endemic dengue, these maps demonstrate where the virus could become a danger.

The work illustrates the consistent exposure to the virus in equatorial regions with greater seasonal trends in sub-tropical latitudes.

As the planet warms, according to the paper, conditions in West and Central Africa are particularly favourable for expansion of dengue illness and both regions are urged to plan for this anticipated health challenge.

As well, people living in large parts of Europe and mountainous regions of South America – too cold today to sustain mosquito populations year-round – face a “serious threat” of potential dengue virus exposure, the paper warns.

Vulnerability is a function of both exposure and susceptibility, the latter determined by such factors as access to healthcare, to clean water, housing quality, dengue control measures and government policies.

In typical northern conditions, eggs of the dengue-carrying Aedes mosquitoes die below -2°C. Should minimum temperatures rise 2°C and 4°C due to climate change, however, the eggs could survive, putting large populations worldwide at risk of exposure for the first time, the paper says.

While the paper notes that a rise in temperatures could make the environment too hot for mosquito populations in some places and shrink exposure to dengue, in general the authors expect the dengue virus to expand both north and south of its current range due to climate change.

Led by Senior Research Fellow Dr. Corinne J. Schuster-Wallace, the UNU-INWEH’s team of authors included Laura M. Fullerton, now a Research Associate, University Health Network, Toronto, and Sarah K. Dicken, a McMaster University and Water Without Borders PhD candidate.

The paper says dengue is endemic in more than 100 countries and the world’s fastest growing vector-borne disease.

Close to 400 million people today are infected by the virus, causing 250,000- 500,000 severe cases annually leading to hundreds of thousands of hospitalizations, approximately 20,000 deaths and enormous economic impacts due to lost productivity and healthcare costs. In Southeast Asia, dengue creates annual direct healthcare costs estimated at US $950 million.

UN estimates of the number of people at risk today: 2.5 billion people, rising to 5 or 6 billion people by 2085 (assuming climate change and population growth). The increase due to climate change alone would more than double the number at those at risk to an estimated 3.5 billion.

The Top 10 Dengue Endemic Countries: 

• Brazil
• Indonesia
• Vietnam
• Mexico
• Venezuela
• Thailand
• Philippines
• Colombia
• Malaysia
• Honduras

Between 2004 and 2010, Brazil reported by far the largest number of dengue cases  – about 450,000. Overall, however, the people of South Asia and Southeast Asia are deemed to have highest levels of vulnerability to dengue (for a map comparing global exposure to dengue in January and July, download at http://bit.ly/1IYEJgz).

Countries located close the equator tend to maintain some level of vulnerability to dengue throughout the year because they experience moderate to high susceptibility and consistently favourable exposure conditions (e.g., Colombia, Sierra Leone, Nigeria, Southern India, Indonesia).

The disease is often misdiagnosed. In addition to fever, symptoms include headache, muscle and joint pains, and a measles-like rash. A small share of cases develop into life-threatening dengue hemorrhagic fever, resulting in bleeding, low levels of blood platelets and blood plasma leakage, or dengue shock syndrome, characterized by dangerously low blood pressure.

Since there is no vaccine, the usual approach to curbing dengue is insecticidal fogging of sites where the Aedes mosquito breed.

Mapping Global Vulnerability: Background

The paper, “Mapping Global Vulnerability to Dengue,” assesses several factors – including social, cultural and economic conditions – that determine the exposure and susceptibility of people to the disease to arrive at the global vulnerability maps.

Developed by UNU-INWEH, the Water-Associated Disease Index (WADI) used in the research incorporates and aggregates such factors behind the disease as climatic conditions, land cover, population educational status and water use practices. WADI helps visualize the vulnerability of communities and regions to infectious water-related diseases in the face of global changes such as increasing urbanization, land use intensification and climate change.

Says Dr. Schuster-Wallace: “WADI was developed to assess vulnerability by integrating disease-specific measures of environmental exposure (i.e., temperature, precipitation, land cover etc.) with disease-specific measures of social susceptibility (i.e., life expectancy, educational attainment, access to healthcare etc.) to provide a holistic picture of vulnerability to disease.”

Employing freely available global datasets, the global vulnerability data created using the WADI approach provides valuable information to decision-makers for improved planning and resource allocation for the prevention of disease (the same approach can be applied to many other illnesses).

High population density increases exposure by providing human virus reservoirs that allow rapid dengue transmission. For instance, in Asian countries where population density is high, such as India, Bangladesh, China, and Indonesia, vulnerability to dengue is also high. Similar trends are observed in Central America and Western Africa where regions with high population density also have a high vulnerability to dengue.

In Central and West African regions, susceptibility to dengue is very high due to the lack of access to clean water resources, sanitation facilities and health care services. With very high susceptibility to dengue, vulnerability in this region was higher than other regions with similar exposure levels but lower levels of susceptibility to dengue.

Download The Report: Click here

Example coverage by

Reuters, UK, Risk of dengue increases due to climate change, city growth: research, click here; Spanish: Riesgo de dengue aumenta por cambio climático y urbanización, click here; Portuguese: Risco de dengue cresce por mudança climática e urbanização, diz estudo, click here

Agencia EFE, Spain, Spanish: Investigadores de la ONU crean un mapa global de la vulnerabilidad al dengue, click here; English: UN Researchers Say Dengue Fever Could Spread to Europe click here,

Salon, USA, Dengue’s deadly future: How climate change will put billions more at risk, click here

The Star, Malaysia, Climate change raises dengue risk, click here

Ekonomicheskie Izvestija, Ukraine, Russian, Европе угрожает лихорадка Денге, — ООН, click here

News release in full, click here

Coverage summary, click here

19-Dec-2014

Canada Funds 23 Bold New Ideas for Global Health

Ultra high-speed gaming laptops and a sensor that lets computer gamers battle foes in the virtual world proved early stepping stones on the path to a quick, inexpensive way to create fittings for artificial legs needed by child amputees in the developing world.

And, with a new grant from Grand Challenges Canada, funded by the Government of Canada, scientists will field test their innovation at a children’s hospital in Uganda early next year.

The $112,000 CAD grant to Christian Blind Mission (cbm Canada) of Stouffville, near Toronto, Ontario, is one of 23 announced today under the Grand Challenges Canada Stars in Global Health program, which supports unique, transformative ideas for addressing health challenges in developing regions.

In all, almost $2.6 million CAD in funding will support projects based in 10 countries and implemented in 17 countries. Each of the innovators will receive a grant of $112,000 CAD to develop their innovations. If their ideas prove effective, the innovators will be eligible for additional Grand Challenges Canada scale-up funding of $1 million CAD.

Building on extensive research and development led by Dr. Matt Ratto at the University of Toronto, the cbm Canada project uses a 3D printer to make a precision-fitted plastic socket to connect a child’s residual limb and a standard artificial leg provided by aid agencies.

Step one requires a precise digital image of a child’s limb: early efforts involved a $200 Xbox scanner accessory used in computer gaming, which follows a player’s physical movements to put him or her in the action. Now, a next-generation “Sense” scanner, rotated in an arc around the leg stump for 45 seconds, is used that, in tandem with inexpensive Skanect software, recreates the residual limb virtually.

The next breakthrough was enabled when Dr. Ryan Schmidt of Autodesk Research enhanced a software program he created (while he was a University of Toronto student) called Meshmixer. His adaptation enabled project leaders to create the socket virtually and quickly, using the powerful graphics card in a high-end portable gaming laptop. A 3D printer then produces the custom-fitted socket using about $3 of cornstarch-based PLA plastic.

Since the entire process requires under six hours, the prosthetic sockets can be replaced easily and cheaply as a child amputee quickly grows. By comparison, producing a socket in Uganda today currently involves five to six labour-intensive days and the use of plaster of Paris molds dried in the sun, often resulting in ill-fitting sockets, the discomfort of which discourages their use.

Under the management of Mitch Wilkie, Director of International Programs, and Emily Kere, Senior International Programs Officer, both at cbm Canada, the project team will experiment with both plastic materials and techniques for 3D printing the wall of the socket to provide the greatest strength and durability with the least weight and material.

They will also evaluate the potential use of Canadian custom-made 3D printers that may be better purposed for this application in the developing world. Most importantly, the team will incorporate good development principles by ensuring disability inclusion, gender equity and environmental sustainability within the project’s scope.

$200 hand prostheses for amputees in Guatemala

Meanwhile, another $112,000 CAD grant to the University of Victoria in British Columbia will also exploit the potential of 3D printing, producing fully functional artificial hand prostheses for amputees in Guatemala for just $200 each, including material and fabrication costs.

The project is based on a prosthesis design developed 15 years ago by innovator Nikolai Dechev, which recently became financially viable with the advent of high-quality, inexpensive 3D printers.

Presently, state-of-the-art, functional artificial hands cost $12,000 (for basic models) to $70,000 (for the most technically advanced models). In this work, body-powered (cable-driven) prostheses of similar functionality can now be 3D printed in plastic in 20 hours.

Tests will be conducted next summer at a clinic in Guatemala with a small number of existing artificial hand users before being expanded by the end of 2015 to a larger group of amputees inexperienced with the appliance.

“I thank the Government of Canada for its commitment to innovation and development in global health,” said Dr. Peter A. Singer, Chief Executive Officer of Grand Challenges Canada. “With this support, Grand Challenges Canada is able to identify and nurture bold ideas from talented innovators, making the developing world a healthier and safer place.”

The full list of grantees includes:

• University of Saskatchewan, Saskatoon, Canada: Selenium Fortified Table Salt to Treat Arsenic Poisoning in Bangladesh (http://bit.ly/1ukQOlm)
• University of Saskatchewan, Saskatoon, Canada: Modular Biomaterial Technology for Water Security and Health in Developing Nations (http://bit.ly/1yPUHFh)
• Ryerson University, Toronto, Canada: Adaptive Design International: constructing a global social network for creating low-cost custom adaptations for children with disabilities (http://bit.ly/1wy0JLK)
• University of Waterloo, Waterloo, Canada: Delivering Clean Potable Water Using Smart Nano Materials Derived from Sustainable Resources (http://bit.ly/12tM46L)
• University of Victoria, Victoria, Canada: 3D Printing and Deployment of Upper-Limb Prostheses in Developing Countries (http://bit.ly/12tM46K)
• University of Toronto, Toronto, Canada: A safe, affordable and re-usable women’s personal hygiene kit that empowers women to be the decision-makers regarding menstrual hygiene management, reproduction and the prevention of HIV in low-resource settings (Kenya) (http://bit.ly/1yPUK3V)
• The University of Western Ontario, London, Canada: Community REcovery Achieved Through Entrepreneurism (CREATE): A new paradigm for recovery from serious mental illness in low-resource settings (Kenya) (http://bit.ly/1vOPZH5)
• PathCore Inc., Toronto, Canada: Training and Diagnostic Tools for Reducing the Cancer Burden in Nigeria (http://bit.ly/12tM6LH)
• Christian Blind Mission International, Toronto, Canada: 3D PrintAbility: Leveraging 3D Printing Technology for Prosthetics Production in Developing Countries (Uganda) (http://bit.ly/1wy0LDu)
• ChipCare Corporation, Canada: Combining a unique diagnostic platform for decentralized blood testing with a two-way communications network for data capture, and the training and supervision of community-level health workers (Kenya) (http://bit.ly/1ukQLGk)
• International Centre for Diarrhoeal Disease Research, Bangladesh:Evaluation of electronic nose as the point of care test for tuberculosis diagnosis among slum dwellers of Dhaka City, Bangladesh (http://bit.ly/1vOQ25R)
• Vía Cocina – Food Train, Colombia: Behaviour change solutions to non-communicable disease challenges: empowering low-income Colombians to commercialize and consume healthy products via social enterprise micro franchising (http://bit.ly/1yPUHFg)
• Egerton University, Kenya: Mycotoxins Under Arrest: Healthy Synergy of Drying and Storage Devices (http://bit.ly/1yPUK3W)
• Impact Capital Advisors Limited, Kenya: Building a scalable franchise of affordable, safe and stimulating daycares serving vulnerable pre-school children and mothers in Nairobi’s slums (http://bit.ly/1yPUK3X)
• Moi University, Kenya: Development of a Community-Embedded Family Therapy Intervention in Kenya: A faith- and village-based approach (http://bit.ly/1ukQLGl)
• Edon Consultants International Limited, Kenya: Happy Smiles-Healthy Bones: tackling bone deformation due to high-fluoride water (http://bit.ly/1wy0LDt)
• Dignitas International, Malawi: Disrupting Vertical Health Systems: Moving to integrated care for HIV and non-communicable diseases (http://bit.ly/1ukQOlp)
• Eco Med LLC, Mongolia: Immunotherapy of atherosclerosis (http://bit.ly/1vOPZH7)
• African Centre for Innovation and Leadership Development, Nigeria: E-vouchers for veggies: reducing nutrition-related non-communicable diseases (NCDs) through video games and storytelling to promote behaviour change (http://bit.ly/1wy0JLL)
• The University of Agriculture, Pakistan: Rhizosphere engineering through biostimulation of Quorum quenching bacteria for controlling bacterial diseases in vegetables (http://bit.ly/1vOPZH6)
• The Education Enrichment Foundation, Pakistan: Mobile Payment-Enabled Health Insurance (http://bit.ly/1yPUK3T)
• Ifakara Health Institute, Tanzania: Fighting insect-borne diseases and enriching urban agricultural land by using molasses: a common by-product from sugar factories (http://bit.ly/1ukQOln)
• National Science and Technology Development Agency, Thailand: Ultrathin, Light-Weight and Disposable Nanofibrous Filters for Tuberculosis Prevention (http://bit.ly/1wy0Jvx).

For more information, visit grandchallenges.ca and look for us on Facebook, Twitter, YouTube and LinkedIn.

About Grand Challenges Canada
Grand Challenges Canada is dedicated to supporting Bold Ideas with Big Impact® in global health. We are funded by the Government of Canada; we support innovators in low- and middle-income countries and Canada. The bold ideas we support integrate science and technology, social and business innovation to find sustainable solutions to health challenges — we call this Integrated Innovation^®. Grand Challenges Canada focuses on innovator-defined challenges through its Stars in Global Health program and on targeted challenges through its Saving Lives at Birth, Saving Brains and Global Mental Health programs. Grand Challenges Canada works closely with Canada’s International Development Research Centre (IDRC), the Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR) and the Department of Foreign Affairs, Trade and Development Canada (DFATD) to catalyze scale, sustainability and impact. We have a determined focus on results, and on saving and improving lives.
www.grandchallenges.ca

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Entorno Inteligente, Venezuela, click here

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