At the request of two drug companies, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has announced that it will withdraw approvals for three of four arsenic-based drugs currently approved for use in food animal production. A fourth arsenic-based drug used to make turkeys and chickens grow faster, among other purposes, will remain on the market.
WHO and Health Care Without Harm have joined forces to launch a new initiative to get mercury removed from all medical measuring devices by 2020 by ending the manufacture, import and export of these devices and by supporting the deployment of accurate, affordable, and safer non-mercury alternatives.
The Minamata Convention on Mercury, a global, legally binding treaty was agreed to by Governments in January and formally adopted as international law and was opened for signature on the 10th of October 2013. The Convention was adopted by 139 Governments and signed by 87 Governments by that date.
Climate change is already affecting the spread of infectious diseases--and human health and biodiversity worldwide--according to disease ecologists reporting research results in the August 2, 2013 issue of the journal Science. Modeling disease outcomes from host and parasite responses to climate variables, they say, could help public health officials and environmental managers address the challenges posed by the changing landscape of infectious disease.
The Hôpital Universitaire de Mirebalais, a solar-powered hospital situated on the Central Plateau of Haiti, shines as a beacon of hope in this country devastated by years of poverty and malnutrition, ravaged for decades by AIDS, demolished by an earthquake and suffering from cholera.
The Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) announced the approval of a US$35.5 million grant for a program to expand and improve drinking water services in Port-au-Prince, the capital of Haiti.
How the built environment, the way we build our cities and towns, directly affects our environment and public health is considered in a comprehensive U.S. Environmental Protection Agency report released on June 17, 2013. The report and associated resources offer advice on how to reduce environmental and human health impacts of development.
SARS, coronavirus, antibiotic resistant bacteria, Lyme disease, West Nile Virus, lead poisoning, pesticides, disease reservoirs, and environmental conditions are just a few of the concerns and factors addressed in the transdisciplinary “One Health” approaches to enhance prevention and therapeutic care for humans and animals discussed in the book, Human-Animal Medicine: Clinical Approaches to Zoonoses, Toxicants and Other Shared Health Risks. This timely, valuable book by Doctors Peter M. Rabinowitz and Lisa A. Conti, along with many other authors, provides insights and guidance while calling for greater cooperation among human health and veterinary care providers.
Netafim, a leading provider of drip irrigation worldwide, was named winner of the 2013 Stockholm Industry Water Award. Currently, more than ten million hectares of farmland are irrigated with drip irrigation, a technology pioneered by Netafim that dramatically improves water, energy and labour productivity.
Over the past four decades, Dr. Morgan has invented and advanced low-cost practical solutions to provide access to safe sanitation and clean water for millions of people worldwide. By combining a scientific mind with practical skills and a knack for elegant simplicity, Dr. Morgans designs and ideas provides hope for the more than 780 million people without access to safe water and 2.5 billion people who lack access to adequate sanitation.