Hope for D.R.C.

So you guys should know by now that I try to talk about events in the news that aren't quite "mainstream." The conflict I want to talk about in this post deals with the ongoing violence that has taken place on the eastern border of the DRC for the past year now. What I am talking about is the M23 rebellion that began in early April 2012 in which army deserters (reportedly funded and backed by Rwanda and Uganda) marched against the DRC. The movement seemed unstoppable for the majority of the year, as it swiftly and decisively took control of Goma (the largest city in Eastern Congo) as UN peacekeepers idly stood by.  The conflict was devastating to the region as it displaced over 800,000 people and killed many more thousands. The rebellion also highlighted the ineffective nature of the UN peacekeeping core as its 18,000 strong force in the DRC only could defend against themselves "once fired upon"-a tactic highly criticized by the international community especially during the Tutsi Genocide of Rwanda.

So, to even think about possibly taking over the M23 "capital" and dispersing over 10,000 rebel soldiers in less than a year would have probably given you crazy looks and odd faces all across the DRC and UN offices around the world. But yet, that is exactly what took places late monday afternoon as UN and government troops ended the shelling of the town and began moving into the the city of Bunagana on the Ugandan border. Wait, UN troops shelling rebels...? Isn't that not allowed? Well what was influential about this conflict was the clamor and raucous that ensued about the current makeup of the UN peacekeeping forces and whether or not they actually were effective. All of this finally culminated in a new UN division within the peacekeepers: the intervention force. The force, backed and funded by the UN, contains the same makeup of peacekeeping soldiers, except they are allowed to actively engage and fight in conflicts. With full international support, the campaign against the rebels was revamped and with International forces, the Congolese army was able to take back much of the territory that was seized earlier in the year.

While I do not see this particular conflict ending in the region (the leader of the movement fled to Uganda, and Uganda and Rwanda have been actively supporting the M23 rebellion) I do see improvements in how the UN and international community operates. Its high time a division like this in the UN was created to fully wage war on those who mistreat and cause chaos. The force has been so effective that it currently is working with AU troops in Somalia in hunting down Al-Shabaab fighters. I do see hope in a once pathetic and useless organization that drew many parallels towards the shambled "League of Nations." Hopefully the UN and the international community can continue making such useful developments.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-24744548

The UN intervention brigade

Congolese and UN Troops moving on Bunagana

M23 rebels taking Goma

Race affects your chances of developing cancer...whaaaat?!

"Young black women in the UK are more likely than their white counterparts to develop "worse" breast cancer with a poorer prognosis, research suggests." No need to go read this sentence out loud or wash your eyeballs, you read correctly... Young black women are said to have a larger, more aggressive tumors with "a higher risk of occurrence." One possible reason for this could be the fact that black women might not be getting the same treatment as white counterparts in the country; however, the study in the British Journal of Cancer noted that both groups had "the same access to care." Because of the nature of their tumors, black women respond less to Tumor removal medications. Biological factors had to be at play for such a trend. "Even when individual differences such as body weight and treatment variations such as availability of chemotherapy were taken into account, black ethnicity remained an independent indicator of poor prognosis."

What is alarming about this trend is that it has been noticed in research in places like the US as well as other countries around the world. While this is quite intriguing, one possible anomaly that could explain such trends could be due to the fact that most black women "are less aware of the symptoms or less 'breast aware'" and thus "their cancer is diagnosed at a later stage which would reduce the chance of successful treatment and recovery." A particular concern officials within the UK healthcare system are having is that if such a trend is proven to not be biological, then foul play within the system, specifically non accessibility, would most likely be responsible. IF this is the reason, striking reform, which has been debated heavily recently in the UK, within the health care system will have to be taken. 

In the meantime, if you're black, or really any ethinicity and live in the UK (or anywhere)...save yourself the trouble and go get checked. The best way to beat cancer is through early detection!

Check out the full story here:http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-24624517

Could the world see a return of Measles?

In a recent study performed by analysts working for the BBC, vaccination rates and trends were measured for three deadly diseases-Measles, Hib3, and DTP3.  In the article, each disease was mapped in accordance to the availability of vaccines in each country. In addition, trend graphs were created to depict the level at which denizens were given vaccination for each disease. While some of the results seemed normal, others were definitely frightening. The first of which is Measles. Measles used to be one of the deadliest diseases to possess a few decades ago. The disease "is a highly infectious viral disease whose symptoms include a high fever and rash. Complications of measles can include blindness, brain swelling and pneumonia."  A vaccine for the disease was created in the 1960's and as a result "the number of deaths from the disease plummeted from 2.6 million in 1980 to 156,000 last year."  While immunization continues for Measles, particularly in the Western and newly developed worlds, there is concern that global immunization rates have leveled off in recent years. It has been found that children are the ones who are recently not being vaccinated. According to the W.H.O., it is "estimated that 1.5 million deaths children under five die each year  are from diseases that could have been prevented by routine immunization, such as Measles." Most of this is happening in places like Southeast Asia and regions in Africa. While major health initiatives led by global organizations have led to higher rates of vaccination in places like Africa (especially with Hib3), places like Southeast Asia still lag far behind. If you take a look at the graphs on the webpage, you can see that Africa and Southeast asia consistently fall below the global average in terms of vaccination rates, whereas Europe remains far above the average bar. While there already is much being done, global vaccination could still be much more efficient and wide-spread. As noted, there ARE vaccines for each of these diseases that have been proven to eradicate them from populations. In most cases, these vaccines can be fairly cheap and can be implemented efficiently when working in conjunction with aid organizations. Personally I believe that there needs to be better health initiatives implemented within regions that falter with vaccinations. As seen with Hib3 in Africa, adopting such initiatives greatly increased the level of vaccination of Hib3 and in turn led to fewer deaths ever recorded in such regions afflicted with the disease. 

I highly encourage you to check out this study and look through the data/graphs. Maybe you could formulate an innovative solution!

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-24519949

Finally...a plausible Malaria Vaccine!

Malaria has been one of the most deadliest parasitic linked diseases in the history of man. According to recent statistics, a child will die of Malaria every thirty seconds and over 800,000 are killed each year from the disease. In recent decades, much has been done to prevent the spread of Malaria. UN, NGO, and other organizations have made strong impacts in Sub-Saharan Africa (where over 90% of Malaria cases exist today) through the mass implementation of bed-nets and education of how to prevent mosquito breeding. However, for the billions of dollars spent each year aimed at preventing the spread of Malaria, vaccines and other preventative medication have still not been produced, until today that is!

According to a recent BBC article, the British drug maker, GlaxoSmithKline, is currently waiting regulatory approval for the worlds potential first Malaria vaccine. The drug, tested extensively among children in Africa, showed in its clinical trial great prospect for declining the rates of Malaria. The vaccine known as RTS,S "was found to have almost halved the number of malaria cases in young children in the trial and to have reduced by about 25% the number of malaria cases in infants." The trial itself was very credible and notable as it was as "Africa's largest-ever clinical trial involving almost 15,500 children in seven countries." If the vaccine passes through regulatory boards, it will potentially be adopted by the World Health Organization (W.H.O.) and could possibly be implemented "as early as 2015."

News of a Malaria vaccine is essentially a watershed moment for epidemiologists world wide. I actually sat in on a Malaria focused epidemiologist's lecture (Dr. Steve Meshnick) in which he described how such a vaccine would be groundbreaking for the entire field of public health. The burden Malaria puts on its victims and health systems across the world is truly devastating; therefore, finding ways to eradicate such a disease would prove to be beneficial to all parties all over the world. This is definitely something I will continue to follow throughout the news.

The Benefits of a Good Workout

By now I am 99.999% sure that you realize how important it is to be physically active (and if you're part of the .001% I don't even know..). Exercising regularly clearly has its benefits. Whether that’s reducing the risk of developing certain types of diseases that arise from higher body weights (i.e. diabetes) or improving oxygen flow to the rest of your body, you really cant go wrong with a quick workout. But with all its benefits, could exercising actually be as helpful to the body as actual medication? According to the British Medical Journal, "exercise can be as good a medicine as pills for those with conditions such as heart disease." The study consisted of scientists based at the London School of Economics, Harvard Pilgrim Health Care Institute at Harvard Medical School and Stanford University School of Medicine in which the researchers searched "to find any research that compared exercise with pills as a therapy." Once these trials had been identified, the researchers "studied the data as a whole" in which "they found exercise and drugs were comparable in terms of death rates." 

So does that mean if you are someone who suffers from conditions such as heart disease you should go running through the streets throwing you're medication at confused onlookers? Well...no, not really. Although that would probably be one of the single greatest things to witness, I think legally I am supposed to tell you the downsides to the study...

Amy Thompson, senior cardiac nurse at the British Heart Foundation, said "although an active lifestyle brings many health benefits, there is not enough evidence to draw any firm conclusions about the merit of exercise above and beyond drugs." In short, a tandem of the two should be the best-prescribed regiment for anyone suffering from such conditions.

So c’mon, get on your tightest yoga pants (or shortest retro shorts) and your stereotypical Nike trainers and hit the gym! A little exercise killed no one, right?