One Best Medicine

Amidst the soaring prices of medical commodities world wide, there constantly remains one best, yet, inexpensive medicine: laughter.

Despite the idea that consumers might have taken for granted the significance of laughing these days, researchers are continuing exploring further on how laughter - combined with an active sense of humor - helps from relieving stress to combating diseases.

Laughter and the brain
An article, published in Wikipedia, states that modern neurophysiology links laughter to the activation of the ventromedial prefrontal cortex and other parts of limbic system. The latter, which is considered to be a primitive part of the brain, is involved in emotions and helping us with basic functions necessary for survival. There are two known structures in the limbic system that involve in producing laughter: amygdale and hippocampus.

Cardiovascular disease
According to the research (May 11, 2007) spearheaded by Michael Miller, M.D., director of the Center for Preventive Cardiology at the University of Maryland School of Medical Center and associate professor of medicine at the University of Maryland School of Medicine, cardiovascular disease - today’s leading cause of death (World Health Organization) - can be prevented by laughter. He admitted that the team does not know yet why laughing protects the heart but stated that mental stress is associated with impairment of endothelium, the protective barrier lining our blood vessels, causing a series of inflammatory reactions that lead to fat and cholesterol build-up in the coronary arteries and ultimately to a heart attack. Hence, the need for a regular hearty good laugh is recommended.

Other areas
Melissa B. Wanzer, EdD, professor of communication studies at Canisius College in Buffalo, NY, looked, in her new research, at how humor helps medical professionals cope with their difficult jobs. She found out that if employees view their managers as humor-oriented, they also view them as more effective. She also added that self-disparaging humor, making fun of oneself, is a very effective form of humor communication especially when it is done appropriately with available props. Humor, she noted, is indeed beneficial in other areas as well.

Laughter as part of its culture
Ranked second by Axa Life Outlook Index (November 28, 2007) as happiest and optimistic people in Asia, it is not that surprising to know that Beethoven del Valle Bunagan, popularly known as Michael V, is featured on Reader’s Digest Asia in commemoration for its 5th Annual Humour Special alongside two other foreign comedians (Readers’ Digest, September 2008).

“Filipinos are able to find even the slimmest silver lining in a tropical thunderstorm. There isn’t one scandal in government which hasn’t been made into a joke. Instead of being horrified, we laughed about Imelda’s shoes. Instead of cringing in shame at Joseph Estrada’s incompetence as President, we made legions of Erap jokes. Hello, Garci? A ringtone was made out of it! (Maricar, 2008)”.

In his article entitled Power of Laughter, Jose Javier Reyes went deeper by explaining this behavior based on socio-cultural and historical aspects. “Caught between a rock and a hard place, Filipinos say "bahala na." Literally, it means "come what may." Figuratively, it means much more. The phrase derives from Bathala, the ancient Filipino's Supreme Being, caretaker of life on earth and beyond, from whom all providence comes. The invocation of "banal na" affirms a trust in divine wisdom. Filipinos know that the natural order of events will take their course, leaving no room for angst nor the predilection to take each event apart and delve for spiritual malaise . . . After all, at earlier times in their past, they have witnessed similar upheavals. And to what end? The Spaniards came and the Spaniards went. So did the Japanese and the Americans. Like the land itself, only the Filipinos, with their passionate Christian belief that suffering is but a stepping stone to a happy ending, endures. Ambition, politics, and men who try to control deserve the reception they get, laughter. Natural forces receive a similar reception. If one listens closely though, it becomes apparent that Filipino humor does not jeer at nature's destructiveness but rather expresses an optimism in its healing powers. Having lived closed to the earth, they know that nature gives and takes in a cycle as eternal as life and death.”

As what Robert R. Province, Ph.D. said, laughter is genetic. It is a mechanism everyone has and is part of universal human vocabulary. There are thousands of languages, hundreds of thousands of dialects, but everyone speaks laughter in pretty much the same way. Thus, everyone can laugh.

-Amanah Busran Lao, HAIN

Citations:
•
• Murray, Michelle “Laughter is the "Best Medicine" for Your Heart” May 11, 2007 < http://www.umm.edu/features/laughter.htm>
•
• “Go Ahead and Laugh” January 26, 2008
• Siti Rohani “Three Funny Men” Readers’ Digest, September 2008
• Cheryl Arcibal “Filipinos 2nd happiest people in Asia-study” November 28, 2007 GMANews.TV
• Maricar “Filipino Humor a Hindrance?” February 5, 2008
• Jose Javier Reyes “The Power of Laughter”

Investments and Profits in Mining: Implications on Health

The recent boom in commodity prices has aroused growing investor interest in opportunities for mineral extraction in low-income countries. In last developed and developing countries, most foreign direct investments (FDI) are in extractive industries. Kazakhstan, Mali, Mongolia and Papua New Guinea are among the countries that have emerged as major recipients of FDI in metal mining.

Foreign companies account for varying shares of metallic mineral and diamond production in individual host countries. Based on the value of production at the mining stage, of 33 major mining countries of the world, foreign affiliates were responsible for virtually all production in 2005 in some least developed countries, such as Guinea, Mali, the United Republic of Tanzania and Zambia, as well as in Argentina, Botswana, Gabon, Ghana, Mongolia, Namibia and Papua New Guinea. In another 10 major mining countries – a mix of developed, developing, and transition economies – foreign affiliates accounted for between 50 percent and 86 percent of all production.

Social Implications of Mining
Minerals account for a small share of world production and trade. Nonetheless, their supply is essential for the sustainable development of a modern economy. They are basic, essential and strategic raw materials for the production of a wide range of industrial and consumer goods, military equipment, infrastructure, inputs for improving soil productivity, and also for transportation, energy, communications and countless other services.

As such, mineral exploitation continues to be undertaken mostly by transnational corporations in developed countries and in the developing and underdeveloped countries where policies and regulations tend to be weak. As regulations in these countries tend to be lax, mining corporations tend to be negligent of their social responsibilities to the local communities and even to the mineworkers; as well as adhering to environmental standards.

However, with new investments in mineral exploitation these countries are confronted with challenges the economic concerns, extending to environmental, social (including health) and political dimensions.

Activities in the extractive industries can have health and safety impacts not only on people working in those industries (occupational health and safety of mineworkers), but also on nearby communities, for example, through air and water pollution resulting from those activities.

Health concerns in Mining
Mining in general has been identified as among the most hazardous industries. However, the occupational safety and health implications vary significantly between different mining activities and countries. In the working environment of a surface mine, for example, airborne contaminants (such as rock dust and fumes), excessive noise, vibration and heat stress can create health problems for mineworkers who are subject to a frequent and prolonged exposure to them. They are exposed to various potentially toxic or harmful materials or agents, including, but not limited to, fuels, reagents, solvents, detergents, chemicals, coal dust, silica dust, diesel particulate matter (DPM), asbestos, noise, welding fumes, poisonous plants, trona dust, and metal dust.

The impact of environmental accidents is larger in scope, destroying marine ecosystems, agricultural lands and displacing whole communities from their sources of livelihoods. People living near a mining area also experience long-term health complications which are often debilitating.

Environmental disasters and health issues
One of the major and more controversial issues surrounding mining especially large-scale industrial mining operations is the spate of environmental disasters major mining corporations (and lately, medium and junior mining corporations) are involved in.

Environmental disasters mostly involve the collapse of mine tailings dams containing toxic chemicals from treating mineral ores, that spills into rivers and oceans, agricultural areas and contaminating main water systems and food sources. More often, corporations walk away leaving the local communities and governments to pick up the pieces from the immense devastation wrought by the mining corporation’s gross disregard for environmental standards and safety of the local communities.

The Marcopper Mine Tailings disaster in Marinduque in 1996 is one of the biggest industrial mining disaster in recorded history. On 24 March 1996, toxic mine tailings at the rate of 5-10 cubic meters per second were disgorged into the Makulapnit and Boac rivers. It was estimated that the total amount of mine sludge spilled into the rivers was 1.5 million cubic meters. On top of the economic and environmental devastations it caused, it also affected the people’s health. Years after the disaster, heavy metal poisoning, respiratory problems, and skin lesions were the top health concerns in the affected communities.

United front
As conditions and experiences of mineworkers and communities in developing and underdeveloped countries across the globe are identical, peoples in these countries have the option to organize, unite, mobilize and assert for their sovereign rights as a people over their mineral resources. United, they have the power to lobby for development policies and projects that responds to their development needs.

References:
[1] UNCTAD. “World Investment Report 2007”
[2] Scott, Douglas F. and Grayson, Larry R. “Selected Health Issues in Mining”. (Spokane Research Laboratory, National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health, Spokane, WA and University of Missouri, Rolla – undated)
[3] Corpuz, Victoria T. “The Marcopper Toxic Mine Disaster -Philippines’ Biggest Industrial Accident” (Third World Network - http://www.twnside.org.sg/title/toxic-ch.htm)
[4] Patterson, Kelly. “Oxfam International report highlights continuing problems at Marinduque.” (April 14, 2005, http://www.minesandcommunities.org/article.php?a=1272)

Author: Jennifer Haygood-Guste, Issue 12, Health Alert Asia Pacific
For request of copies of Health Alert Asia Pacific, you may write to hain@hain.org

Hazards of Climate Change

The United Nations Environment Program (UNEP) pronounced that climate change is one of today’s most critical global challenges. Its effects have far-reaching and terrifying consequences that could lead to sickness and death. The World Health Organization (WHO) expressed its deep concern, particularly on climate change’s effects on human health. The WHO said climate change has caused the recent increase in many infectious diseases, such as the HIV and AIDS, hantavirus, hepatitis C, SARS, among others.

“The total current estimated burden is small relative to other major risk factors. However, in contrast to many other risk factors, climate change and its associated risks are increasing rather than decreasing over time,” the WHO said. For instance, projections from the health institution showed that by 2030, some regions experiencing climate change will likely see a 10 percent increase in diarrhea incidences.

Getting Sick
“Vectors, pathogens and hosts each survive and reproduce within a range of optimal climatic conditions: temperature and precipitation are the most important, while sea level elevation, wind, and daylight duration are also important,” it said.

Further, climate change also increases changes in various vector-borne infectious diseases, particularly for malaria in regions bordering current endemic zones. The organization even singled out malaria as a disease of great public health concern. The WHO considered this as the disease that is most sensitive to long-term climate change. In its recent study, the WHO found that in the last century, malaria epidemics were periodically experienced in the Punjab region of India brought about by excessive monsoon, rainfall, and high humidity.

In fact, reports said that malaria has already reached Bhutan and new areas in Papua New Guinea for the first time. In the past, mosquitoes that spread the disease were unable to breed in the cooler climates there, but warmer temperatures have helped vector-borne diseases to flourish.

Singapore, on the other hand, has seen a correlation between rising temperatures and the number of dengue fever cases. Degue fever cases increased ten-fold in areas in Singapore with a mean annual temperature of up to 26.9 Celsius in 1978 to 28.4 Celsius 20 years later.

This year, the Philippines’ Department of Health (DOH) projected that there will be around 40,000 dengue cases during the rainy season or from June to October.
The DOH already reported 10,497 dengue cases from January to April or a 36.4 percent increase from last year’s 7,697 cases.

The agency said the regions with the most reported cases are the National Capital Region with 2,750, Central Luzon with 1,736, and Central Visayas with 1,384. Deaths from the disease also increased from 88 to 116 during this period, mostly in Central Visayas.

Other Dangers to Health
Malaria and other vector-borne diseases are not the only risks to health posed by climate change. There are other risks that bring even more unquantifiable health impacts.

These include health impacts caused by changes in air pollution; the altered transmission of other infectious diseases; insufficient food production due to the effect of climate change on plant pests and diseases; drought and famine; population displacement due to natural disasters, crop failure, water shortages; destruction of health infrastructure; conflicts over natural resources; and direct impacts of heat and cold.

Climate change alters weather patterns, resulting in increased precipitation and more severe storms and hurricanes. The death toll of such natural disasters is quite staggering: in Myanmar alone, an estimated 20,000 died from a cyclone that ripped through the country.

The warmer climate also poses a threat to global food security.

Due to these, the WHO warned that the world may see more malnutrition cases in the near future and estimated that by 2030, a significant increase will be seen in Southeast Asia, posing greater health risks for a significant part of the world’s population. A preview of things to come happened early this year when southeast Asia experienced a rice shortage due to downfall in productions.

Reports even stated that Asia-Pacific is already experiencing the effects of global warming. Estimates say that climate change was directly or indirectly linked to some 77,000 deaths each year in the region. The WHO said that this accounted for about half the global total of deaths blamed on climate change.

This figure, however, does not include deaths linked to urban air pollution, which kills more than 400,000 people in China every year.

Further, heat-related deaths in Shanghai, China, jumped three times above the norm in 1998 when a massive summer heat wave drove temperatures to about 40 degrees Celsius.

“Overall, although the estimates of changes in risk are somewhat unstable because of regional variation in rainfall, they refer to a major existing disease burden entailing large numbers of people,” the WHO said.

Because of the frightening consequences of changing weather patterns, the UN has appealed to various governments all over the world to seriously find ways to address climate change.

Whether or not this appeal will be considered remains to be seen. But while the UN waits for a concerted effort from major economies such as the United States to address climate change, global weather conditions continue to deteriorate and cause untold misery to billions of people.

Article by Jennifer Ng for Health Alert Asia Pacific newsletter, Issue 12, 2008

To request of copies of Health Alert Asia Pacific, you may write to hain@hain.org

What Price Development?

The Industrial Revolution was the main engine that brought unprecedented economic wealth to the global community in a relatively short period. Such wealth, however, came with a steep cost: environmental degradation.

The revolution was aided, to a large extent, by the abundance of natural resources available back then. Industrialists wasted no time in plumbing the deep earth for oil to fuel its machineries. Trees were felled down and mountains were blasted to extract precious metals and minerals hidden in its bowel. As mankind marched towards a progressive civilization, it left in its wake a plundered environment.

Pollution
Water and air pollution have grave health consequences, such as high incidences of cholera and respiratory diseases. Developed countries have been quick to address the persistent problem of pollution by imposing stringent measures.

In contrast, least developed and developing countries continue to reel from the health costs of pollution. In the “World’s Worst Polluted Places,” released by Blacksmith Institute, poor countries dominate the list; two cities/provinces each in India (Sukinda and Vapi) and China (Linfen and Tianying) made it to the top ten. The cities/provinces are either located in mining areas or industrial estates. Because of the extractive nature of these industries, water, soil, and air in the mentioned regions are severely contaminated with toxic chemicals. In Tianying, lead in soil and air is ten times the national average, while in Vapi, its groundwater is contaminated with mercury.

In these areas, researchers found that there are higher incidences of cancer, skin and respiratory diseases, and birth defects.

Denuded forests
Data from the Food and Agricultural Organization (FAO) show that 13 million hectares of forests are lost every year due to deforestation. Although the rate of forest loss is going downward, the slow progress is still not enough to cover what has already been lost. According to FAO, for the 2000 – 2005 period, 37 countries lost at least one percent of their forest cover every year. In contrast, only 20 countries managed to expand their forest covers by at least one percent.

Deforestation skews ecological equilibrium, often with disastrous consequences. Forests are home to a variety of species, all of which rely on each other for survival. The loss of a specie’s habitat could spell extinction for that particular specie, which could trigger a domino effect in the food chain.

With a diminishing forest cover, a community is more prone to flashfloods and landslides since there are no more trees to hold the soil together. The people of Aurora, a Philippine province, know this all too well. When a typhoon hit the province in 2004, it triggered a flashflood – blamed on rampant illegal logging in the province - which claimed the lives of thousands of people. In the aftermath, thousands of illegally cut logs were seen floating – along with the bodies of victims who drown in the flood.

Nature strikes back
As nature struggles to regain its equilibrium, mankind is now facing a new threat: global warming. As the earth’s temperature rises, it brings about a myriad of interrelated problems.

With global warming, glaciers and sea ices are melting at a faster rate. The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change warns that by 2080, sea level could rise by a low of nine centimeters to a high of 69 centimeters.

Island-nations dotting the Pacific and Indian Oceans, as well as coastal communities, are at risk of being totally engulfed by a rising sea level. The World Wildlife Foundation reported that many villagers in Saoluafata in Samoa have already moved further inland because of the receding coastline. Tuvalu and Kiribati, on the other hand, face the possibility of a potable water shortage because saltwater has already penetrated some of its groundwater sources.

In a press release, the United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific warned that the Asia-Pacific region is more vulnerable to the threat due to the double burden of higher population density and lower natural resource endowment per capita.

“Asia and the Pacific has a population density that is 1.5 times the global average, the lowest freshwater availability per capita of all global regions, a biologically productive area per capita that is less than 60 per cent of the global average and arable and permanent crop land per capita that is less than 80 per cent of the global average,” it says.


Equitable and sustainable use of resourcesEnvironmental degradation has political and economic dimensions, and it is not a mere coincidence that poor countries are often the ones bearing the brunt of environmental plunder. Least developed and developing countries are rich in natural resources, but through international trade instrumentalities and government corruptions, these resources are mined and extracted by transnational corporations. The communities affected are left holding an empty bag, as they struggle to deal with the health consequences of environmental degradation.

Equitable use of resources should also be prioritized - along with sustainability - in the development of an earth-friendly agenda. Talks of environmental sustainability would be rendered meaningless unless the issue of equitability is addressed.

Article by Ross Mayor for Health Alert Asia Pacific newsletter, Issue 12, 2008

Sources:
FAO Forest Resources Assessment 2005.
http://www.fao.org/forestry/28813/en/
World Wildlife Foundation.
http://www.panda.org/about_wwf/what_we_do/climate_change/problems/impacts/sea_levels/index.cfm

Other useful sources of information:
Blacksmith Institute. www.blacksmithinstitute.org
Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. www.ipcc.ch
United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific. www.unescap.org

For request of copies of Health Alert Asia Pacific, you may write to hain@hain.org

Endangered Environment, Endangered Health

Global warming and the attendant climate change that comes with it have been acknowledged as new threats to global health security. This year’s World Health Day theme - World Health Day 2008: protecting health from climate change - further underscores the urgency of dealing with global warming.

In a statement released to the media, World Health Organization Director General Dr. Margaret Chan warned that the rising global temperature “can affect some of the most fundamental determinants of health: air, water, food, shelter and freedom from disease." "The core concern is succinctly stated: climate change endangers human health," she added.

The tolls from climate change-induced deaths are already staggering. In a summary report of the World Health Day 2008: protecting health from climate change, the following annual death tolls were released:

• 800,000 from pollution-related diseases
• 1.8 million from diarrheal diseases caused by lack of potable water and unsanitary conditions
• 3.5 million from malnutrition
• 60,000 from natural disaster.

This 12th issue of Health Alert discusses key issues surrounding global warming. The editorial, “What price development?” shows how the race for economic progress practically leaves the environment in ruins. “Hazards of climate change,” meanwhile, discusses in details how climate change poses a challenge in global health security.

“Investments and profits in mining: implications on health” shows how the mining industry affects the environment and the people’s health. The author maintains that current mining practices employed by transnational corporations leave the community more vulnerable to diseases and disasters.

Climate change also alters the weather pattern, resulting in more severe disasters. The last two articles, “Tsunami postscript: rebuilding a nation after a disaster” and “Towards achieving disaster-resilient community,” offers valuable tips on how to deal with disasters.


For request of copies of Health Alert Asia Pacific, you may write to hain@hain.org