Bangladesh – IH CONNECT

Occupational Health – The Need to Go Global

November 17, 2011August 13, 2015 by ihsection, posted in Environmental and Occupational Health, Guest Blog

Guest blogger: Dr. Isobel Hoskins

I never come away from the APHA meeting without being inspired.

This year, the inspiring speech for me came right at the end. I attended the closing session almost by chance when I realised I had a little time. The theme was occupational health so as someone keen on global health I didn’t think it would be all that relevant. When the second speaker took the stand I realised how wrong I was.

Leo Gerard from the United Steelworkers Union showed how health and safety is a global issue and exactly why we need to address occupational health worldwide to match the globalisation of trade. Have you ever thought about who made the clothing you wear, the conditions they work under and the impact that has on their health?

He showed a short video about the Triangle fire – a fire that happened in 1911 in New York at a garment factory. Fire broke out in the factory and panicked workers rushed to the two exits only to find them blocked by fire or locked. The workers couldn’t get out and in desperation some even threw themselves from the upper floors to escape the fire. 146 of them died. This event was one of the drivers of health and safety regulation in theUSA. Those workers were low paid and not allowed to unionise and so negotiate their conditions.

Fast forward to 2010. Gerard described a fire at a garment factory in Bangladesh and guess what? The exits were locked. 29 people died trying to get out, some threw themselves from the upper floors. No regulations prevented this accident in Bangladesh and there was no union to help protect the low paid workers.

Nothing has changed except the geography.

In the rush of globalization, developed country companies are getting round regulation at home by exploiting places where there is none. What does this mean for regulation at home? It means it is under pressure. We could lose all that has been gained since the Triangle fire. In the race to the bottom and the lowest prices, people’s health is being put on the line.

Trade regulations preventing import into the US of goods made in sweatshops or by children, for example, could be a way of forcing global companies to adopt safe working conditions, said Gerard. Having stronger more global unions is another way. Leo’s union the United Steelworkers Union has just gone global – forging partnerships and mergers with other unions worldwide.

Individually I think we can make a difference as well- reading the label and knowing the reputation of companies you buy from could help prevent exploitation. Consumers have power….

Triangle fire: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Triangle_Shirtwaist_Factory_fire
Bangladesh fire: http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2010/dec/14/bangladesh-clothes-factory-workers-jump-to-death

Dr Isobel Hoskins manages the Global Health database at CABI.

Global Health News Last Week

May 26, 2011August 13, 2015 by ihsection, posted in News

May 18 was HIV Vaccine Awareness Day.

POLITICS AND POLICY

Hundreds of Kenyan AIDS activists held a protest on 18 May in the capital, Nairobi to demand that the government meet its commitment to increase annual health and HIV funding.
In response to the mutual expulsion of diplomats, the UK’s DFID announced that it has frozen new aid to Malawi.
DDT has made a controversial re-appearance in Uganda.

PROGRAMS

A global health development partnership — Clinton Health Access initiative, UITAID and DFID — has secured price reductions on key AIDS drugs for HIV-positive patients in poorer countries.

RESEARCH

The World Health Organization has just launched a new web-based information resource tool that should be of interest to many in global health and development community, the Global Health Observatory.
According to the World Health Organization, the worldwide prevalence of obesity has more than doubled between 1980 and 2008.
New research has found that a variant in one gene can lead to a 30 percent lower risk of developing cerebral malaria.
A new study from Bangladesh concludes that most of the world’s pregnant women don’t need vitamin A supplements.
American scientists have tested a treatment regimen for tuberculosis which will reduce the amount of time it takes to complete the full treatment as compared to current plans.
A new report from the Guttmacher Institute finds that that 7 in 10 women in Sub Saharan Africa, south central Asia and south east Asia who want to avoid pregnancy, but are not using modern methods give reasons for non-use which suggest available methods do not fulfill their needs.
Average life expectancy across much of the world — except Iraq and South Africa — is steadily climbing and infant deaths dropped across the world during the first decade of the 21st century, according to figures released by the World Health Organization.
The Clinton Health Access Initiative and Gates Foundation have teamed up to support research into developing a cheaper version of the drug Tenofovir.

DISEASES AND DISASTERS

China has reduced its AIDS mortality by two-thirds since it began distributing free antiretroviral drugs in 2002; however, the improvements were seen largely in patients who acquired HIV through blood transfusion, rather than through sex or drug use. On a darker note, Chinese authorities ordered an AIDS activists’ web site shut down after it had published an open letter from a retired senior official concerning news restrictions placed on a 20th-century public health scandal.
Dr. Orin Levine looks at a disturbing global trend: Infectious killers that had been beaten back by aggressive immunization efforts are making a comeback in places long thought to be safe havens.

WORLD HEALTH ASSEMBLY

The assembly voted to postpone the decision to destroy official stockpiles of the the smallpox virus for another three years.
The WHO announced extensive reforms to “reinvent itself” as a health knowledge hub. Also, it apparently angered Taiwan by referring to it as a province of China.
Sixteen countries announced new commitments to dramatically reduce maternal, newborn and child mortality, as part of the Global Strategy for Women’s and Children’s Health.
OneWorldUK’s Chelsea Ricker asks, Where are the women in women’s and children’s health?
A number of civil society and non-profit organizations voiced their opinions during the Assembly, claiming that the World Health Organization is overly influenced by commercial and corporate interests.
WaterAid urged leaders at the Assembly to support the countries affected by dracunculiasis, caused by guinea worm, to improve access to safe drinking water and reach their most vulnerable populations to ensure the disease is eradicated.
Bill Gates addressed World Health Assembly where he called for global leaders to increase support for vaccinations.
The world is not ready to deal with a lengthy public health emergency, according to a panel of international experts, which based its conclusions on the 2009 H1N1, or swine flu, outbreak.

The IH Blog was featured in the “Buzzing in the Blogs” section of the Healthy Dose this week! Thanks to Tom Murphy for reading and tweeting us!

Global Health News Last Week (plus interest in a new working group!)

March 9, 2011August 13, 2015 by ihsection, posted in News

Attention IH Section Members: Dr. Kaja Abbas, MPH student at the University of Rochester, is gauging interest in forming a working group focused on using system science to improve global health, similar to the intitiaves being promoted by NIH. Her interests are in conducting system science research on global health policy by modeling population and disease dynamics and economic evaluation of public health interventions and systems, with a focus on HIV and TB. Dr. Malcolm Bryant, our section chair, has encouraged the expansion of our section’s activities in areas of technical expertise, and Dr. Abbas is enthusiastic about a working group within the section that promotes system science methodologies for global health solutions. She welcomes your thoughts and suggestions at kaja [dot] abbas [at] gmail [dot] com.

Global Health Delivery online’s HIV prevention community is hosting a “virtual expert panel” March 7-11 to continue the dialogue around PrEP as a novel approach to prevention. Panelists from Uganda, South Africa and the United States will lead the online discussion, highlighting various barriers and opportunities to implementing PrEP in clinical settings; how to encourage long-term adherence; and what additional research questions need to be answered. Panelists include (1) Douglas Krakower, MD, a fellow in Infectious Diseases at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center/Harvard Medical School, (2)Andrew Mujugira, MBChB, MSc, the East Africa regional medical director for the Partners PrEP study, and (3) Vivek Naranbhai, PhD, who was involved in CAPRISA microbicide gel study. All GHDonline members can participate in this online discussion. You can sign up here if you are not currently a member.

POLICY

Paramount Chief Mpezeni of the Ngoni people in the Eastern Province of Zambia has urged his subjects to get circumcised in order to reduce the chances of spreading HIV/AIDS and other communicable diseases in his land.
Britain is threatening to pull out of the Food and Agriculture Organization due to “patchy” performance.
Due to uncertainty in past estimates, the Indian government has formed a 16-member expert group to determine the annual death rate caused by malaria in the country each year.
The breakdown of the air conditioning in the plenary hall of the Philippines’ House of Representatives stalled the heated debate of a controversial reproductive health bill. The bill is vehemently opposed by the Catholic Church and pro-life groups and has caused a stir in the largely Catholic country.
A massive demonstration rally was held in New Delhi to protest a free trade agreement between India and Europe, which many fear may threaten the production of low-cost generic drugs, particularly HIV medicines.

RESEARCH

US researchers believe that half of men in the general population may be infected with human papillomavirus or HPV, the human wart virus that causes cervical and other cancers, strengthening the case for vaccinating boys against HPV.
A recent study published in the WHO bulletin argues for the need to implement gender-specific tobacco control activites to curb the growing tobacco epidemic.
The World Economic Forum in Geneva, Switzerland, announced the launch of the Global Health Data Charter, a project designed to improve global health by leveraging the collection and management of data.
A new study by the Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation found that the poorest in Thailand have significantly more difficulty accessing diabetes care than the general population.
A research trial found that a microbicide gel with the ARV tenofovir, initially designed for vaginal use, may also be effective in stopping HIV transmission during anal sex.
A report released by UNICEF, “The State of the World’s Children 2011,” highlighted India’s poor child and maternal health conditions.

PROGRAMS

Dr. Bruce Aylward, head of the WHO’s Global Polio Eradication Initiative, discusses why it is so difficult to eradicate polio. Meanwhile, former US President Jimmy Carter is leading his own campaign to make guinea worm the second disease (after smallpox) to be eradicated.
Amanda Glassman writes about Bangladesh’s success story in drastically lowering its maternal mortality rate.
The International HIV/AIDS Alliance is expanding its project (which is funded by the UK’s Department for International Development) to reduce HIV-related maternal mortality in South Sudan.
Prompted by Burma’s (Myanmar’s) transition to “civilian rule” after last November’s elections, the Global Fund has returned and is providing grants for HIV/AIDS, malaria, and TB programs.

DISEASES

The WHO has declared Nepal polio-free after no infections were reported during a six-month period, while a new outbreak is spiking in the DRC.
The massive flow of refugees fleeing violence in Libya has created a humanitarian crisis, as organizations struggle to provide for the basic needs of nearly 175,000 people who have crossed the border into Tunisia, Egypt, and Niger.
After losing 4,500 lives to the cholera epidemic that raged through Haiti after the January 2009 earthquake, doctors in Port-au-Prince say they are bringing the disease under control. Unfortunately, health experts fear that the rainy season will cause a fresh outbreak in Nigeria.

Global Health News Last Week

February 22, 2011August 13, 2015 by ihsection, posted in News

The IH Newsletter is up! The Winter 2011 edition features several articles written by section members on various topics, a social media corner, fellowships and internships, and member publications. Check it out, and please consider contributing to the Spring edition!

On Tuesday, USAID administrator Dr. Rajiv Shah gave the 2011 David E. Barmes Global Health Lecture at NIH. His speech, titled “Addressing Grand Challenges:The Role of Science in Global Health Development,” can be viewed here. The transcript can also be downloaded, or you can read it on USAID’s website here. Also, you can check out commentary by Amanda Glassman, Sarah Arnquist, and K4Health.

Cholera, as usual, remains in the news: experts say the outbreak in Haiti has plateaued, while the one in Papua New Guinea rages on, and it is just getting started in Ghana. Meanwhile, health officials in Bangladesh prepare to launch the world’s largest cholera vaccine trial near Dhaka, the capital.

Scientists from Edinburgh University claim that the malarial parasite is particularly deadly because it competes with other strains of the infection by focusing on producing quickly-replicating cells, thus “duking it out” in the bloodstream. On a more positive note, Kenyan scientists believe that a spider that is attracted to the smell of human sweat may aid in the fight against the disease.

UN experts maintain that the laws in many Asian countries obstruct access to HIV/AIDS care and services. Nineteen countries in the region outlaw same-sex relations, and 29 criminalize prostitution. The remarks were made just before the Global Commission of HIV and the Law took place in Bangkok, where experts from around the world gathered to discuss HIV-related legal and human rights issues. Also, China has declared its intention to bring the spread of AIDS under control by 2020.

According to the WHO, Moldova has emerged as the world leader in per-capita alcohol consumption.

Experts have been sounding the alarm about rising food prices, and many analysts have linked the crisis to the recent riots in north Africa and the Middle East.

Obama and the Republicans continue to battle over the budget, as the president requests a modest increase in global health funds while Congressional Republicans try to slash spending.

Share this:

Like this:

Share this:

Like this:

Share this:

Like this:

Share this:

Like this: