World Bank Issues Regional Health Reports

Hassana Ousmane rests her head against the bed where her 21-month-old daughter, Zeinab, suffering from malaria, rests at the Princess Marie Louise Children's Hospital in Accra, Ghana, April 25, 2012.

The World Bank has released new reports outlining the health challenges facing six major regions. Those challenges include not only many types of disease, but road accidents as well. The bank says the reports will help policymakers develop evidence-based health programs after the Millennium Development Goals expire. The World Bank has released the reports in conjunction with the Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation. Timothy Evans is the bank’s director of Health, Nutrition and Population. “What we see when we look beyond the global picture is that there’s a lot of regional specificity to trends in the burden of disease. And so the regional focus just allows us more detail and attention to what’s happening in different regions of the world.” He said the world is too diverse to have a one-size-fits-all health plan. “That doesn’t work anywhere,” he said, “That doesn’t work globally. It doesn’t work regionally. It doesn’t even work within a country. So the more understanding you have of context and need the better able the system is to respond appropriately.” Evans outlined the ongoing health challenges for sub-Saharan Africa. “The big one remains communicable diseases. That relates to HIV and malaria, but also the childhood killers – diarrhea and pneumonia – being two of the biggest. And of all the regions in the world, sub-Saharan Africa is the only region where there are more deaths and life years lost from communicable diseases than other types of illness or injury,” he said. Dramatic progress has been made against malaria through insecticide treated bed nets and indoor spraying. As for HIV/AIDS, greater access to antiretroviral drugs has saved many lives. Nevertheless, the World Bank regional report says these two diseases remain major health problems. Road accidents are also a top killer, not only in sub-Saharan Africa, but in most of the regions studied. Evans said, “What we’re seeing is a dramatic surge in mortality and injury from road traffic accidents. And this is a reflection of many, many, many more vehicles on the road – great increases in vehicle ownership -- and very inadequate investments in the infrastructure related to road traffic safety.” The World Bank official said that the road accident fatality rates in Africa are a hundred times greater than those in the United States. In North Africa and the Middle East, the MENA region, the health concerns are a bit different than those in sub-Saharan Africa. “The large majority of the burden of disease is tied up in what we call the non-communicable diseases – the chronic illnesses -- diseases of aging and lifestyle. And so problems with high blood pressure, diabetes, obesity, stroke. These are the lion’s share of the burden of disease in the MENA region,” he said. Much of North Africa and the Middle East has experienced and is experiencing violence and conflict. Evans says that has a direct effect on the health of populations in those countries – Syria, Libya and Egypt, for example. Evans said, “Health does well in conditions of security. Health is really threatened in conditions of insecurity and it relates to some of the terrible violence that you see, which is often associated with situations where the normal rule of law has been lost and there’s armed violence and other sorts of problems. But the second is that the uncertainty often leads to mass movements of people across borders [and] into territories where they’re not necessarily welcome.” What’s more, violence and conflict cause many skilled professionals to leave causing a brain drain. The World Bank has also issued health reports for other four other regions. In South Asia, much progress has been made regarding communicable diseases and maternal health. However, the region is hard hit by chronic illnesses, such as diabetes and cardiovascular disease. Child undernutrition also remains a big problem. East Asia and the Pacific have some of the world’s highest rates of diabetes and a high fatality rate from road accidents. In Eastern Europe and Central Asia, the World Bank says alcohol related illnesses are a major problem, along with communicable diseases, such as HIV. And the Latin America and the Caribbean region is seeing an increase in ischemic heart disease or reduced blood flow to the heart, as well as big increases in depression and low back pain. The World Bank provides two forms of support for the regions: loans and information to help formulate health plans. The information is expected to be used to evaluate the success of the expiring Millennium Development Goals and in deciding what, if anything, will replace them after 2015.

Russia warns of 'catastrophe' if N.Korea restarts reactor

Russia warns of 'catastrophe' if N.Korea restarts reactor

Russia on Thursday warned of a potential "man-made catastrophe" if North Korea restarts an ageing plutonium reactor to boost its stockpile of nuclear weapons, after US experts spotted steam rising from the Yongbyon facility. The reactor, which was completed in 1986, is outdated and North Korea could suffer a major disaster if it is restarted, a Russian diplomatic source told the Interfax news agency. The warning came after researchers at the US-Korea Institute said Wednesday that satellite images taken on August 31 showed plumes of white steam rising from a building next to the reactor. "Our main concern is linked to a very likely man-made disaster as a consequence. The reactor is in a nightmarish state, it is a design dating back to the 1950s," the Russian source said. "For the Korean peninsula this could entail terrible consequences, if not a man-made catastrophe." The US envoy on North Korea meanwhile said the reported restart of the reactor would be "a misstep on the part of North Korea".

View gallery." North Korea's Yongbyon nuclear facility North Korea's Yongbyon nuclear facility. Russia has warned of a potential "man-made catastrophe" if … "If it turns out that these reports are true that North Korea has restarted the five-megawatt plutonium reactor, this would be a very serious matter," Glyn Davies told reporters after meeting Japanese foreign ministry officials in Tokyo. Such a move would "seriously violate the United Nations Security Council resolutions" and North Korea's commitments under a 2005 joint statement after six-party talks, Davies said. The Russian diplomat speaking to Interfax said he did not know for sure whether North Korea had relaunched the facility mothballed in 2007. "It is obvious that some works are being conducted, and for a long time at that. According to some signs, steps were indeed being taken to relaunch it," the diplomat said. "We do not have any information that the reactor has been relaunched." The image examined by researchers at the US-Korea Institute shows that North Korea "appears to have put the reactor into operation", researchers Nick Hansen and Jeffrey Lewis wrote on the institute's blog, 38 North. View gallery." This August 6, 2012 satellite image shows the Yongbyon … This August 6, 2012 satellite image provide by GeoEye on August 22, 2012 shows the Yongbyon Nuclear … But the white steam "could simply be testing of the generator", the Russian diplomatic source cited by Interfax cautioned. The Vienna-based International Atomic Energy Agency said it was unable to verify the claim since North Korea has barred its inspectors since 2009. "We are aware of the media report," said spokeswoman Gill Tudor. "The agency continues its monitoring of the DPRK's nuclear activities by available means, such as satellite imagery analysis." North Korea declared in April that it would restart all facilities at Yongbyon to "bolster the nuclear armed force both in quality and quantity". The pledge came at a period of high international tension after North Korea defiantly carried out a third nuclear test in February and threatened to attack the United States over its reaction. View gallery." South Korean officials inspect North Korea's Yongbyon … South Korean officials inspect North Korea's Yongbyon nuclear complex, on January 16, 2009. (AFP Pho … Yet Pyongyang has more recently embarked on something of a charm offensive, agreeing to reopen a joint industrial zone with South Korea and to resume reunions of families separated by the Korean War. The Soviet Union played a key role in helping build the first nuclear complex at Yongbyon in the 1950s and 1960s, although North Korea itself built the plutonium reactor, which became operational in 1986. In 2007, North Korea shut down the Yongbyon reactor under a six-nation aid-for-disarmament deal and publicly knocked down its cooling tower. The reactor was the totalitarian state's sole way of producing plutonium, which it used to conduct its first two nuclear tests in 2006 and 2009. Pyongyang is currently believed to have enough plutonium for about six bombs. The Yongbyon reactor is capable of producing six kilogrammes (13 pounds) of plutonium a year -- enough for one nuclear bomb. In recent weeks, North Korea has indicated its willingness to resume six-party talks on its nuclear programme, involving the United States, Russia, China, Japan and South Korea. The US point man on North Korea said Thursday that Washington hopes for "meaningful, authentic and credible six-party talks". But he also added: "There is an issue right now what are six-party talks to be about," insisting that Pyongyang could not set any agenda beyond scrapping its nuclear programme.

Kerry rejects Assad's 30-day timetable

TTHEW LEE 14 minutes ago

GENEVA (AP) — U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry is rejecting Syrian President Bashar Assad's suggestion Thursday that he begin submitting data on his chemical weapons arsenal one month after signing an international chemical weapons ban.

Speaking at a news conference with Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov, Kerry noted that Assad said a 30-day lead time would be standard. "There is nothing standard about this process," Kerry said, because Assad has used his chemical weapons. "The words of the Syrian regime in our judgment are simply not enough." Kerry cautioned that a U.S. military strike could occur if Assad doesn't agree to dismantle his chemical arsenal properly. He said, "There ought to be consequences if it doesn't take place." Lavrov said the dismantling "will make unnecessary any strike against the Syrian Arab Republic."

Meet the blobfish: The newly crowned 'ugliest animal in the world'

(NORFANZ Founding Parties)

This is the blobfish, a squishy and endangered deep sea creature that floats in the waters off the coast of Australia. It has recently been given the illustrious distinction as "the world's ugliest animal" by the Ugly Animal Preservation Society, a collaborative effort between the British Science Association and the National Science + Engineering Competition, which is dedicated to "raising the profile of some of Mother Nature's more aesthetically challenged children." SEE ALSO: The strange symbolism of the $1 bill The blobfish's gelatinous flesh is a nifty adaption that helps the 12-inch fish stay afloat just above the sea floor without having to move or expend energy, "sort of like when you float in the water wearing a lifejacket," as the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration describes it. Unfortunately, the blobfish's low kinetic output, coupled with overfishing (it's not edible), have caused the blobfish's numbers to dwindle. "We've needed an ugly face for endangered animals for a long time and I've been amazed by the public's reaction," says Simon Watt of the Ugly Animal Preservation Society. "For too long the cute and fluffy animals have taken the limelight but now the blobfish will be a voice for the mingers who always get forgotten."