For Greece, Crushing Debt Leads to Outbreak of Dreaded Malaria

[longknife]

From For Greece, Crushing Debt Leads to Outbreak of Dreaded Malaria some disturbing news about what happens when governments go broke. An excerpt:

According to the Wall St. Journal, Greece’s fragile economic status has led to shortages of many common medical supplies and medications, including cancer drugs and syringes. With doctors and nurses also not receiving reimbursements for services, leading to less consistent monitoring of contagious illness, Greece is seeing outbreaks of infectious diseases such as malaria, respiratory-tract infections, skin conditions, tuberculosis, and HIV. Since up to a third of Greek citizens no longer can afford the medications and tests prescribed by doctors, infectious disease is more likely to go unchecked. In essence, the health care system is buckling under the weight of the country’s debt and government dysfunction.

 

[Politico]

Hmm. Mosquitos cause malaria. Not treasury loans.

 

[waltky]

Granny says give `em some malaria medicine but don't give `em no money - dey just gonna embezzle it...

Greece seen as most corrupt European nation, survey says
December 6, 2012 - Transparency International ranks Greece, along with other European countries racked by the financial crisis, poorly in its 2012 Corruption Perceptions Index.

The countries worst hit by the European financial crisis are also perceived as being among the most corrupt in Western Europe, and those perceptions appear to be getting increasingly negative, an international watchdog said in a report released Wednesday. Transparency International's annual Corruption Perceptions Index shows Spain, Portugal, Italy, and Greece with the lowest scores in Western Europe. On a scale newly introduced for this year's report, where 0 is "highly corrupt" and 100 is "very clean," Spain was ranked highest of the four in place 30 with a score of 65. Portugal followed in place 33 with a score of 63, followed by Italy in place 72 with a score of 42 and Greece in 94th place with a score of 36.

The index measures the perception of corruption in the public sector and not the financial sector, but Transparency's Europe director Anne Koch told The Associated Press the results clearly indicate that people in countries worst hit by the crisis perceive corruption to be widespread. "It seems to me to be quite blatantly obvious that the lack of transparency in public finances in these four countries has been reflected in the figures," she said.

Two-thirds of the 176 countries ranked scored below 50, which Transparency said indicates a widespread need for more openness in public institutions and more accountability for officials. "Governments need to integrate anti-corruption actions into all public decision-making," Transparency International head Huguette Labelle said. "Priorities include better rules on lobbying and political financing, making public spending and contracting more transparent and making public bodies more accountable to people."

In other significant findings, Egypt fell from 112th last year to 118th place this year with a score of 32 – indicating concerns about the new government are even stronger about two years after the end of Hosni Mubarak's rule. "This week's events in Cairo amply demonstrate that the endemic political issues that drove people to the streets in Egypt are still valid," Transparency's Middle East and North Africa Director Christophe Wilcke said. "Egypt's score is another reminder to the country's leaders that despite the revolution, they have to fight corruption if they are to win the people's trust and succeed in transitioning to democracy."

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[waltky]

Ultrasound mosquito repellants don't work...

Ultrasound mosquito repellents: Zapping the myth
10 December 2012 - One of the world's top advertising awards went this year to a campaign in which a radio station broadcast ultrasound along with its programmes to repel mosquitoes. But does it work? Definitely not, say scientists.

It was a beautifully simple idea. No more need for smelly lotions, chemical gases, smoke or rolled-up newspapers, listeners to Brazilian station Band FM were told - all you need to do to beat mosquitoes is to stick close to the radio. The station broadcast a high-frequency 15kHz tone under its music in April this year. Inaudible to most adults, the tone was supposed to repel mosquitoes, allowing listeners to relax in the open air without fear of getting bitten. The broadcasts were sponsored by the magazine GoOutside, as part of a radio marketing campaign which went on to win the Grand Prix in the radio category at the Cannes Lions in June - perhaps the most prestigious awards in advertising.

There's just one problem. Scientists say it's nonsense. Bart Knols, an entomologist who chairs the advisory board of the Dutch Malaria Foundation and edits the website Malaria World, claims that there is "no scientific evidence whatsoever" that ultrasound repels mosquitoes. A 2010 review article examined 10 field studies, in which ultrasonic repellent devices had been put to the test, and concluded that they "have no effect on preventing mosquito bites" and "should not be recommended or used".

It goes on: "Given these findings from 10 carefully conducted studies, it would not be worthwhile to conduct further research on EMRs [electronic mosquito repellents] in preventing mosquitoes biting or in trying to prevent the acquisition of malaria." A video advert for the prize-winning "repellent radio" campaign makes the claim that "studies have shown that this frequency imitates the sound of a dragonfly, the mosquito's natural predator, thus keeping them away". In fact dragonflies have a wing beat frequency of between 20 and 170Hz - a much lower frequency than 15kHz. But Bart Knols says this lower frequency is equally useless at driving mosquitoes away or stopping them biting.

Following the awards, one of the Cannes judges, Bob Moore, was quoted in Advertising Age as saying: "We did our due diligence and, as far as we know, it worked. It's a fantastic idea." The radio jury president, Rob McLennan, was reported as saying that the members of the jury had voted with their "gut", and were keen to take the idea to countries where malaria and other mosquito-spread diseases were rampant. Neither responded to the BBC's requests for an interview.

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[waltky]

The WHO said if netting provisions fell, malaria could "bounce back"...

Malaria progress threatened by funding, says WHO
17 December 2012 - Recent gains in the fight against malaria could be reversed because funding has stalled, the World Health Organization (WHO) has said.

Its latest World Malaria Report says 1.1 million lives were saved in the past decade but that the expansion in funding from 2004-09 halted in 2010-12. Less than half of the $5.1bn (£3.1bn) needed was spent last year. The WHO's latest figures - for 2010 - show some 219 million people were infected, with 660,000 people dying.

'Precarious situation'

The WHO said in a statement that the plateau in funds meant "that millions of people living in highly endemic areas continue to lack access to effective malaria prevention, diagnostic testing, and treatment". Its report said the supply of "life-saving commodities" - such as long-lasting insecticidal nets and indoor spraying programmes - had slowed.

The report said 50 countries were on track to meet targets for cutting malaria cases but that these countries only represented 3% of malaria cases. Fourteen nations account for an estimated 80% of malaria deaths and Robert Newman, director of the WHO Global Malaria Programme in Geneva, said these high-burden countries were "in a precarious situation and most of them need urgent financial assistance".

Lead report author Richard Cibulskis said: "We need to make sure that we continue the investments in the control measures that we have. "If we don't do that, malaria will bounce back. As soon as you take bed nets away, malaria will come back. If you stop indoor residual spraying, it will come back, and with a vengeance."

Source

 

[CrusaderFrank]

Give Obama 6 more months

 

[Meathead]

If you actually read the article, it says that immigrants from Africa and other places are infected and mosquitoes are spreading it. Malaria is a manageable problem even though the Greek health services were a bit slow to respond. The underlying problem is a huge influx of unmonitered illegals flooding the country. It has given rise to Golden Dawn, a neo-Nazi party of thugs whom I dislike but understand.

Greece has never been a country of immigrants and the flood of people who cannot be assimilated is wrecking havoc in an already shell-shocked country. This will not help.

 

[longknife]

If you actually read the article, it says that immigrants from Africa and other places are infected and mosquitoes are spreading it. Malaria is a manageable problem even though the Greek health services were a bit slow to respond. The underlying problem is a huge influx of unmonitered illegals flooding the country. It has given rise to Golden Dawn, a neo-Nazi party of thugs whom I dislike but understand.

Greece has never been a country of immigrants and the flood of people who cannot be assimilated is wrecking havoc in an already shell-shocked country. This will not help.

Ship 'em all back to Africa!

 

[Meathead]

If you actually read the article, it says that immigrants from Africa and other places are infected and mosquitoes are spreading it. Malaria is a manageable problem even though the Greek health services were a bit slow to respond. The underlying problem is a huge influx of unmonitered illegals flooding the country. It has given rise to Golden Dawn, a neo-Nazi party of thugs whom I dislike but understand.

Greece has never been a country of immigrants and the flood of people who cannot be assimilated is wrecking havoc in an already shell-shocked country. This will not help.

Ship 'em all back to Africa!

Yeah..., well, European Union law prohibits that.

 

[waltky]

WHO scales back it's anti-malaria program...

WHO says UN efforts to battle malaria off-track
Wed, Dec 14, 2016 - FATALITIES: The UN health agency failed to meet its goal of cutting malaria cases to ‘near zero’ by last year and is now aiming to cut deaths by at least 90% by 2030

Malaria remains a nagging problem in Africa and efforts to curb the killer disease are “off-track,” the WHO said in a new report issued yesterday. Despite the billions of US dollars spent on malaria programs, the WHO said too many people are missing out on available resources like medicines and bed nets that protect against mosquitoes that spread the disease. The UN health agency had set a goal of cutting malaria cases to “near zero” by the end of last year. It fell far short, and now is aiming to reduce malaria cases and deaths by at least 90 percent by 2030. “We’re far from having completed the job,” the WHO’s malaria department director Pedro Alonso said. “The hardest is yet to come.” He said gains could be hurt by a lack of funding, which has stagnated in the past six years.

According to yesterday’s report, there were 212 million new cases of malaria and 429,000 deaths last year, a slight drop from the previous year. However, the figures were based largely on patchy data and modeling; the report said surveillance systems catch fewer than 20 percent of cases. The vast majority cases are in Africa. About 70 percent of deaths were children under five. The WHO said children and pregnant women in Africa now have better access to malaria tests and drugs. However, more than 40 percent of people still do not sleep under an insecticide-treated bed net or have their homes sprayed with insecticides, the main strategies to protect against malaria.

Meghu Tanti, left, a health assistant, collects blood samples from an female worker suspected to have malaria on the outskirts of Gauhati, India​

Chris Drakeley, director of the malaria center at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, said that even the incremental drop in malaria cases was significant. He said that new approaches to fighting malaria — like giving out medicines to children during high season to prevent infections— were proving effective. Other experts said the WHO should rethink its priorities when it comes to malaria spending. “They’re looking at innovative ideas and investing in new tools like vaccines, but they’re missing the basics,” said Sophie Harman, a public health expert at Queen Mary University in London.

She said more money should be put into bed nets and health services instead. “Even if you have a new vaccine, how will you even deliver it if there’s no infrastructure?” Harman questioned whether the WHO’s latest 2030 goal was realistic. “It has symbolic meaning that WHO is still committed to this,” she said. “But probably nobody in public health thinks this is really achievable.”

WHO says UN efforts to battle malaria off-track - Taipei Times

 

[waltky]

Malaria mosquitoes becoming insecticide-resistant...

Malaria-carrying Mosquitoes Becoming Resistant to Bed Nets in Southern Africa
February 02, 2017 | WASHINGTON — Malaria-carrying mosquitoes are becoming resistant to the insecticide used in bed nets to prevent the disease. Researchers say it is important to stay ahead of the resistance to avoid what they are calling a public health catastrophe.

Bed nets treated with inexpensive pyrethroid insecticides are the main defense against biting, malaria-carrying mosquitoes, and they have significantly cut down on the number of cases. The World Health Organization reports malaria infected an estimated 212 million people in 2015, killing some 429,000 of them. That reflects a 21 percent drop in the incidence of between 2010 and 2015.

But a new study, published in the journal PLoS Genetics, found that the primary mosquito that harbors the parasite in southern Africa, Anopheles funestus, is rapidly becoming resistant to the insecticide. In at least one country, Mozambique, researchers discovered that 100 percent of A. funestus remained alive after direct exposure to the chemical. Charles Wondji, a mosquito geneticist at the School of Tropical Medicine in Liverpool, England, notes that resistance to pyrethroid insecticides occurred rapidly, in about eight years.

Resistant gene identified

Wondji said scientists were able to identify the resistance gene in the mosquito. Speaking with VOA from Cameroon, he said that will give scientists an important tool to monitor the spread of insect resistance throughout the continent. “That form of the gene is now very prevalent in southern Africa with the risk that if we do nothing there's a chance that those control measures won't work against those type of mosquitoes,” he said.

An Afghan girl sleeps beneath a mosquito net at her home in Kabul, Afghanistan​

By having identified the responsible gene, Wondji said it will be possible to stay ahead of what he calls the “resistance curve” in places where insecticides are starting to fail to kill the mosquitoes. He added other more expensive insecticides can then be deployed to treat the bed nets. He mentioned a compound called PDO that targets the gene, killing the mosquitoes. Wondji said control efforts, such as eliminating mosquito larvae that inhabit standing pools of water, can also be redoubled. Wondji noted other species of malaria-carrying mosquitoes, like Anopheles gambiae, are starting to become resistant to pyrethriods, although that is occurring through a different biological mechanism.

More studies needed

Therefore, Wondji, said it's important to study all species of malaria-carrying mosquitoes in order to implement appropriate and successful malaria management strategies. In another just-released study in the journal The Lancet Infectious Diseases, scientists in Thailand have found widespread malaria parasite resistance to artemisinin and combination therapies using artemisinin, considered the gold standard treatment. They say the development threatens global malaria control and eradication efforts.

Malaria-carrying Mosquitoes Becoming Resistant to Bed Nets in Southern Africa