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Key Documents archive results 1-20 of 53 in South Asia
Disaster management
Written by former director of India's National Remote Sensing Agency, D. P. Rao, this article reviews the role of space technology in disaster mitigation. Rao offers examples of how remote sensing can feed into prevention, preparedness and relief strategies for a number of disasters. He...
KEY DOCUMENT | EN
Refractory periods and climate forcing in cholera dynamics
A population's immunity to disease can greatly affect outbreaks of vector-borne disease, and isolating the influence of climate variability has proven difficult. This research study sets out to evaluate the effect of climate by accounting for population immunity. The authors collated data on...
KEY DOCUMENT | Publication date: August 2005 | EN
Nanotechnology, water and development
This report, written for the Meridian Institute by a team of scientists from South Africa and Sri Lanka, describes the general issues facing projects aimed at improving access to clean water in the developing world, as well as the specific challenges facing nano-based projects. The authors...
KEY DOCUMENT | Publication date: 2006 | EN
Nanoscience and nanotechnology: Ethical, legal, social and environmental issues
This paper by scientists at the University of Hyderabad examines the nanoscience debate in India. Nanoscience's revolutionary potential and economic benefits are assessed against ethical, legal, social and environmental (ELSE) issues. The authors present commercial applications, investment, risks...
KEY DOCUMENT | Publication date: March 2009 | EN
Atmospheric brown clouds: Regional assessment report with focus on Asia
This report, written by a team of international scientists and published by the UN Environment Programme (UNEP), explores the effects of 'atmospheric brown clouds'(ABCs) on regional climate, agriculture and human health. ABCs are large plumes of pollutant gases that result from burning fossil...
KEY DOCUMENT | EN
Sea level changes along the Indian coast: Observations and projections
The authors of this article analysed simulation results from a regional climate model for the northern Indian Ocean to predict likely changes in the strength and frequency of tropical cyclones in the Bay of Bengal from 2041-2060. They find that rising concentrations of greenhouse gases will lead...
KEY DOCUMENT | Publication date: February 2006 | EN
Climate change risk: An adaptation and mitigation agenda for Indian cities
This paper, prepared for the Global Urban Summit, proposes a framework for building climate change adaptation and mitigation measures into India's urban renewal programmes. This involves multiple government stakeholders at national, state and city levels. The author begins with a description of...
KEY DOCUMENT | Publication date: July 2007 | EN
ORCHID: Piloting Climate Risk Screening in DFID Bangladesh, Summary Research Report
This report by the Institute for Development Studies details the results of a pilot project in Bangladesh aimed at developing a screening process for the UK Department for International Development (DFID) to identify and manage climate change impacts on development investments. The authors...
KEY DOCUMENT | Publication date: 2007 | EN
Expanding priorities — confronting chronic disease in countries with low income
Cardiovascular disease accounts for 30% of deaths worldwide and 10% of all years of healthy life lost to disease, and the figures are nearly as high in developing countries -- 27 per cent and 9 per cent respectively. This compares with 10% of lives lost worldwide from HIV/AIDS, TB and malaria put...
KEY DOCUMENT | Publication date: January, 2007 | EN
Therapeutic vaccination for chronic diseases: a new class of drugs in sight
Vaccination for infectious diseases is a vital method of prophylaxis, and has transformed modern medicine. By contrast, research into vaccines against chronic diseases has been less successful, in part because of the increased complexity involved. In this opinion piece, the authors outline the...
KEY DOCUMENT | Publication date: January, 2004 | EN
Achieving the millennium development goals: does mental health play a role?
The Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) practically define health efforts in the 21st century, but they virtually ignore non-communicable diseases such as mental health, say these authors. This is despite evidence that mental health disorders are among the most important cause of sickness and...
KEY DOCUMENT | Publication date: September 2007 | EN
What is the best approach to treating schizophrenia in developing countries?
Schizophrenia is relatively rare -- affecting 1% of the world's population -- but is arguably one of the most severe mental illnesses. Diagnosing and treating it can be hard enough in developed countries; the challenges are magnified in developing nations with inadequate health systems; few trained...
KEY DOCUMENT | Publication date: June 2007 | EN
Cancer control: knowledge into action
In 2005, the World Health Assembly called on WHO member states to tackle their growing rates of cancer by developing rigorous cancer control programmes. To help guide the process, the WHO developed a series of six modules that provide practical advice for programme managers and policy-makers on how...
KEY DOCUMENT | EN
The challenge of cancer control in Africa
Worldwide, cancer kills more people than HIV/AIDS, malaria and TB put together. In developing countries where chronic diseases are now growing alongside infectious diseases, new strategies need to be developed. This article outlines how to develop an effective cancer strategy in African...
KEY DOCUMENT | EN
Grand challenges in chronic non-communicable diseases
In 2003, the Gates foundation infused new vigour into global health efforts by declaring that the 21st century's "grand challenges" included developing new vaccines and overcoming drug resistance. This new grand challenges initiative, launched by a collaboration of top global chronic disease...
KEY DOCUMENT | Publication date: November 2007 | EN
Obesity and diabetes in the developing world — a growing challenge
Global health experts have watched with increasing alarm as the waistlines of people in developing countries have started to widen with the adoption of a "Western" lifestyle. Obesity is of such concern because of its heightened risks for other diseases, such as heart disease, cancer, and diabetes. ...
KEY DOCUMENT | Publication date: January 2007 | EN
World Health Statistics 2008 report
This report is the WHO's official record of data produced by its technical programmes and regional offices in close consultation with countries and in collaboration with researchers and development agencies. The WHO produces the statistics to provide an evidence base for strategies to improve...
KEY DOCUMENT | Publication date: May 2008 | EN
Research capacity for mental health in low- and middle-income countries: Results of a mapping project
This joint publication between the World Health Organization and the Global Forum for Health Research reveals mental health research capacity in 114 low-income and middle-income countries in Africa, Asia, and Latin America and the Caribbean. The extensive review identified over 10,000 articles,...
KEY DOCUMENT | Publication date: 2007 | EN
The SuRF Reports
These consist of two reports: SuRF1(Surveillance of risk factors related to non-communicable diseases: current status of global data) and SuRF2 (Surveillance of chronic disease risk factors: country-level data and comparable estimates). These reports are the result of a large WHO project to set...
KEY DOCUMENT | Publication date: 2003 & 2005 | EN
Lancet chronic disease series
This series of five articles outlines new challenges and unsolved problems since the journal's last series in 2005. The first articlehttp://www.scidev.net/uploads/File/pdffiles/Lancet_series1.pdf ([189kB]) predicts the disease burden and economic losses that developing countries would face from...
KEY DOCUMENT | Publication date: December 2007 | EN
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