'Superbugs' a far greater risk than Covid in Pacific, scientist warns
Antimicrobial resistance ‘biggest human health threat, bar none’, says Australian research director ahead of three-year study in FijiThe emergence ofantimicrobial resistance (AMR), including drug-resistant bacteria, or “superbugs”, pose far greater risks to human health than Covid-19, threatening to put modern medicine “back into the dark ages”,an Australian scientist has warned, ahead of a three-year study into drug-resistant bacteria in Fiji.“If you thought Covid was bad, you don’t want anti-microbial resistance,” Dr Paul De Barro, biosecurity research director at Australia’s national science agency, ...
Source: Guardian Unlimited Science - September 10, 2020 Category: Science Authors: Sheldon Chanel in Suva and Ben Doherty Pacific editor Tags: World news Coronavirus outbreak Infectious diseases Science Medical research Microbiology Fiji Pacific islands Asia Pacific Source Type: news
A minority group's response to a severe climatic event: a case study of rural Indo-Fijians after 2016 Tropical Cyclone Winston - Nakamura N, Kanemasu Y.
This paper investigates the impacts of 2016 Tropical Cyclone Winston (TCW) on rural Indo-Fijians and their response. In Pacific Island countries, studies have previously examined how rural communities respond to severe climatic events, arguing that traditi... (Source: SafetyLit)
Source: SafetyLit - August 20, 2020 Category: International Medicine & Public Health Tags: Disaster Preparedness Source Type: news
Remote islands: Stepping stones to understanding evolution
(Okinawa Institute of Science and Technology (OIST) Graduate University) In a new study published in Evolution, researchers from the Okinawa Institute of Science and Technology Graduate University (OIST) and collaborators from the University of the Ryukyus investigated evolutionary and ecological changes in ants in the South Pacific archipelago of Fiji to examine a controversial theory for how evolution occurs on islands. (Source: EurekAlert! - Biology)
Source: EurekAlert! - Biology - July 30, 2020 Category: Biology Source Type: news
Sustainable Tourism and Fisheries Key to Growth in Post-COVID Pacific
A boat rests on the shores of Fiji. Credit: Unsplash / Nicolas WeldinghBy Armida Salsiah AlisjahbanaBANGKOK, Thailand, Jun 30 2020 (IPS) Developing countries of Asia and the Pacific are experiencing unbalanced tolls of the COVID-19 pandemic. Grim milestones in infections and deaths have left countless devastated. Yet, we must look at the economic and social impacts in small island developing States (SIDS), where setbacks are likely to undo years of development gains and push many people back into poverty.
Compared to other developing countries, SIDS in the Asia-Pacific region have done well in containing the spread of the...
Source: IPS Inter Press Service - Health - June 30, 2020 Category: International Medicine & Public Health Authors: Armida Salsiah Alisjahbana Tags: Asia-Pacific Development & Aid Economy & Trade Headlines Health Humanitarian Emergencies Poverty & SDGs TerraViva United Nations Source Type: news
Development and usability of a mobile tool for identification of depression and suicide risk in Fiji - Iyengar MS, Chang O, Florez-Arango JF, Taria M, Patel VL.
BACKGROUND: In Fiji and other South Pacific island countries, depression and suicide are of great concern. There is a pressing need to rapidly identify those at risk and provide treatment as soon as possible.
OBJECTIVE: Design, develop and test a mobil... (Source: SafetyLit)
Source: SafetyLit - June 20, 2020 Category: International Medicine & Public Health Tags: Research Methods, Surveillance and Codes, Models Source Type: news
We Need to Slow down and Reconnect with Our Ocean for the Future of the Planet
By Stuart MinchinJun 8 2020 (IPS) COVID19 has brought the world to a halt. The devastating impact of the global pandemic on people’s lives and the world’s economy is a jarring and historic turning point for all of us but it is also an opportunity to re-think many of our practices.
As we mark World Oceans Day, the current global slowdown may be the reset our Ocean needs and the Pacific region is asking the world to reflect on our past to inform innovation for our future.
COVID has disrupted the global transport sector massively, and the increasing reliance on global shipping as flights are grounded presents both challe...
Source: IPS Inter Press Service - Health - June 8, 2020 Category: International Medicine & Public Health Authors: Stuart Minchin Tags: Asia-Pacific Climate Change Economy & Trade Environment Featured Food Security and Nutrition Food Sustainability Global Green Economy Headlines Health Multimedia Video Source Type: news
Post-COVID recovery should lock in ocean sustainability, says Commonwealth Secretary-General
PRESS RELEASE
By External SourceJun 8 2020 (IPS-Partners) The Commonwealth Secretary-General is urging governments to ensure their countries’ post-COVID economic recoveries are environmentally sustainable and safe for the ocean.
Forty-seven of the Commonwealth’s 54 member countries have a coastline while 25 are either small island developing states or ‘big ocean states’ relying heavily on the ocean for food and income.
On World Oceans Day (8 June), Secretary-General Patricia Scotland calls on countries to reform development strategies in a way that supports vibrant and sustainable blue and green economies.
...
Source: IPS Inter Press Service - Health - June 8, 2020 Category: International Medicine & Public Health Authors: External Source Tags: Economy & Trade Environment Green Economy Health Source Type: news
Hidden Cause of Cancer?
When you’re tearing off a sheet of aluminum foil to cook with — or wrap your leftovers before you put them in the fridge — you probably never consider aluminum is a dangerous toxin.
Truth is, aluminum is a heavy metal… just like lead, mercury and arsenic.
It’s in our food… our cookware… even in the water we drink.
Exposure to aluminum is a risk factor for cancer, Alzheimer’s, Parkinson’s, and bone disease, just to name a few.
Our lungs, liver, and kidneys are able to eliminate a majority of the small amounts of aluminum we ingest through eating, drinking or breathing.1
But alumi...
Source: Al Sears, MD Natural Remedies - May 29, 2020 Category: Complementary Medicine Authors: Dr.A.Sears Tags: Health Source Type: news
COVID19 and Its Impact on Pacific Island States
Regional efforts to control the spread of COVID-19 have so far proven successful. Image Credit: Pacific CommunityBy William W. EllisTORONTO, May 29 2020 (IPS) By now, the impact of COVID19 on our daily lives has been well documented, especially in advanced economies. Anxiety about the future continues to grow everywhere. Much of the corporate news coverage we consume has focused on the toll this pandemic will take on mainland countries. Often neglected, however, is the unique position Pacific Island States find themselves in.
Globally, there are close to 6 million confirmed cases of COVID19. According to the Pacific Commu...
Source: IPS Inter Press Service - Health - May 29, 2020 Category: International Medicine & Public Health Authors: William W. Ellis Tags: Climate Change Economy & Trade Featured Financial Crisis Global Headlines Health Humanitarian Emergencies Labour Multimedia Podcast TerraViva United Nations Secretariat of the Pacific Community (SPC) Source Type: news
COVID-19 Pandemic and the Pacific Islands
In conclusion, the impact of the twin health and economic crises has been manifold all over the world and the Pacific Islands are no exceptions to this rule. However, there are some particular characteristics of the Pacific Islands that make these impacts even more challenging. These relate to the dependence of these islands on external resources and the logistical and infrastructural challenges of managing so many widely dispersed islands that are subject to a high incidence of natural disasters even in the best of times. The burdens of coping with the crises and the resultant adjustment are also likely to fall asymmetric...
Source: IPS Inter Press Service - Health - May 21, 2020 Category: International Medicine & Public Health Authors: Raghbendra Jha Tags: Aid Asia-Pacific Economy & Trade Headlines Health Humanitarian Emergencies Labour TerraViva United Nations Source Type: news
Risk factors for carrying pneumonia-causing bacteria revealed
(Murdoch Childrens Research Institute) New research has uncovered the risk factors for Fijians carrying a pneumonia-causing bacteria. (Source: EurekAlert! - Medicine and Health)
Source: EurekAlert! - Medicine and Health - April 8, 2020 Category: International Medicine & Public Health Source Type: news
Religious believers think God values lives of out-group members more than they do
(Society for Personality and Social Psychology) In a new paper, which will appear in print in an upcoming special issue of Social Psychological and Personality Science, Michael Pasek, Jeremy Ginges, and colleagues find that, across religious groups in Fiji and Israel, religious believers see God as encouraging people to treat others in a more universal, or equal, manner. (Source: EurekAlert! - Social and Behavioral Science)
Source: EurekAlert! - Social and Behavioral Science - April 6, 2020 Category: International Medicine & Public Health Source Type: news
The virtues of strangers? Policing gender violence in Pacific Island countries - Bull M, George N, Curth-Bibb J.
This article considers the gap between reformist policy and practice in the policing of gender violence in Pacific Island Countries (PICs) with a key focus on Solomon Islands, Fiji and Kiribati. In doing so, we critically engage with two pervasive argument... (Source: SafetyLit)
Source: SafetyLit - December 14, 2019 Category: International Medicine & Public Health Tags: Social Etiologies and Disparities Source Type: news
Fiji to postpone sports contests as it battles measles outbreak
Fiji has asked its sports federations to postpone all competitions until January, in a bid to rein in the spread of a measles outbreak that has killed dozens in the neighboring Pacific nation of Samoa. (Source: Reuters: Health)
Source: Reuters: Health - December 4, 2019 Category: Consumer Health News Tags: healthNews Source Type: news
World Youth Call to Governments to Ban All Hindrances to LGBTQI Communities
MARTIN KARADZHOV, Global Youth Commitee speaking at ICPD25. Credit: Mantoe Phakathi / IPSBy Mantoe PhakathiNAIROBI, Kenya, Nov 13 2019 (IPS) Governments across the world must ban all state-implemented harmful practices against the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, Queer and Intersex (LGBTQI) community delegates at the ICPD25 tells IPS.
Adding his voice in bridging the gap of Sexual Reproductive Health Rights (SRHR) among the youth, Martin Karadzhov, chair for Global Youth Steering Committee, told delegates at a youth event themed “our bodies, our lives, our world”, at the 25thInternational Conference on Population ...
Source: IPS Inter Press Service - Health - November 13, 2019 Category: International Medicine & Public Health Authors: Mantoe Phakathi Tags: Africa Conferences Crime & Justice Development & Aid Economy & Trade Education Featured Gender Gender Violence Global Headlines Health Human Rights LGBTQ TerraViva United Nations ICPD25 Source Type: news
