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Human rights violations lead to obstetric fistula

admin — Mon, 18 Apr 2011 03:00:44 +0000

Mwendwa P. was 16 when she became pregnant for the first time. When she went into labor, she did not want to go to the hospital near her town in Kenya because, she had heard that nurses abuse girls who got pregnant when they go into delivery. So, she decided to go through a painful labor at home for close to 24 hours before going to the hospital. There, her fears were confirmed because a nurse mistreated her. A few years later, when Mwendwa was in labor with her fourth child, she could not face the mistreatment again and decided to deliver at home with a traditional birth attendant. Unfortunately, she had complications and developed obstetric fistula.
 One of the most severe pregnancy-related complications is obstetric fistula, which strikes when women who need trained medical support for a safe delivery, usually a cesarean section, cannot get it. In the majority of obstetric fistula cases, women will experience physical pain as well as social and emotional distress from living with the inability to control their bowels, foul odor, frequent bladder infections, as well as the loss of the child.. Although, data on obstetric fistula are uncommon, the World Health Organization (WHO) estimates there are more than 2,000,000 women living with fistula and 50,000 to 100,000 new cases each year (govtrack.us).

Unsurprisingly, many Kenyan women who suffer from fistula are either poor, uneducated about obstetric, don’t establish safe sex, are treated badly by medical staff members, or don’t have access to a surgeon, or medical support. The Obstetric Fistula Prevention, Treatment, Hope, and Dignity Restoration Act, empowers the President of the United States to establish universal organizations, and universal and local nongovernmental organizations primarily to uncover health issues that lead to obstetric fistula.. Obstetric fistula is preventable if the United States and surrounding countries take a stand to stop pregnancy-related complications.

Student Researcher: Jessica Capers
Facility Instructor: Elliot Cohen
Indian River State College

Source:
Odhiambo, Agnes . ” AfricaFiles | No more suffering in silence: the human rights dimensions of obstetric fistula .” AfricaFiles | HOME PAGE . N.p., n.d. Web. 5 Apr. 2011. .

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US Agencies Trying to Outlaw GMO Food Labeling

admin — Sat, 09 Apr 2011 22:57:20 +0000

There is growing concern over the health impact of growing and eating genetically modified organisms (GMOs). The World Health Organization has identified allergenicity, antibiotic resistance, gene transfer, outcrossing, GM genes introduced into the wild population, gene stability, susceptibility of non-target organisms (insects), and loss of biodiversity as potential issues of using GM seeds.

Currently, most health studies are done by GM companies who have a natural conflict of interest that can lead to biased research or reporting. Many countries such as Japan, Australia, China, and the European Union recognize the possible risks and require mandatory labeling for products made with GMOs. There is a growing call for more comprehensive, independent research.

However, the official position of the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) is: there is no difference between GMOs and non-GMOs. These agencies have also proposed to the CODEX Alimentarius Committee (UN Food and Agriculture), that no country should be able to require mandatory GMO labeling on food items. The FDA and USDA say that mandatory labeling of GMOs is “false, misleading, and deceptive, implying there is a difference between GMO and non-GMO ingredients. Ultimately, the FDA and USDA want to do away with product labeling standards over-all, trusting corporations to keep necessary health standards.

Sources:
“GMO Alert: U.S. Attempting Global Censorship of GMO Food Labeling”
Mike Adams, Natural News, May 4, 2010
HYPERLINK “http://www.naturalnews.com/z028716_GMOs_food_labels.html” http://www.naturalnews.com/z028716_GMOs_food_labels.html

“US opposes honest labeling of GMO foods”
Ethan A. Huff, Natural News, July 9, 2010
HYPERLINK “http://www.naturalnews.com/z029168_GMO_foods_labeling.html” http://www.naturalnews.com/z029168_GMO_foods_labeling.html

“GE Food”, The Center for Food Safety, March 25, 2011
HYPERLINK “http://truefoodnow.org/campaigns/genetically-engineered-foods” http://truefoodnow.org/campaigns/genetically-engineered-foods

“WHO 20 Questions on Genetically Modified Foods”
World Health Organization, April 1, 2011
HYPERLINK “http://www.who.int/foodsafety/publications/biotech/20questions/en” http://www.who.int/foodsafety/publications/biotech/20questions/en

Student Researcher: Brittney White, San Francisco State University

Faculty Researcher: Kenn Burrows, San Francisco State UniversitySimilar Posts:

Turning Agriculture From Problem to Solution

admin — Wed, 16 Mar 2011 01:46:55 +0000

After thousands of years of agriculture taking place on China’s Loess Plateau, forests were turned into a dry zone and due to the loss of trees fine yellow soil was left vulnerable to erosion. The erosions filled the rivers with silt and all the flooding resulted in major environmental damage.

However, sixteen years ago, the Chinese government created a project in which the local population constructed silt dams and the planting of fruit trees and grass on slopes to steep for other crops. In addition, locals were paid for their hard work and granted cheap long-term leases on land as it was recovering its viability.

Experts in agriculture are claiming that the farmer delivering a “triple win” with the removal of carbon in soil, to gaining greater resilience to drought and higher temperatures, to the improvement of food security.

In Africa, scientists, researchers, and policy makers should hasten their pace in finding adaption measures because unless action is taken, the impacts of climate change could derail sub-Saharan Africa’s revitalized efforts to change the agricultural sector.

On the much-smaller Humbo Plateau in Ethiopia, smallholders have succeeded in regenerating forest and restoring productivity. Farmers there have adopted new rules for sustainable use of wooded areas – helped by energy-efficient stoves that reduce the demand for fuel wood and charcoal. Alongside nurturing the regrowth of badly degraded woodland, training has allowed locals to diversify into raising livestock and poultry as well as non-farm activities.

The Humbo project is one of the few African Clean Development Mechanism projects, receiving its first $34,000 cheque for carbon stored in its 2,700 hectares of forest in October 2010.

Farmers in Malawi, Kenya, Burkina Faso, Niger and Zambia are also involved in agro-forestry, integrating trees into food crop and livestock systems.

Title: Turning Agriculture From Problem to Solution

Source: IPS, 12/5/10 http://ipsnews.net/news.asp?idnews=53777

Author: Mantoe Phakathi

Student Researcher: Cassie Petersen, Sonoma State University

Evaluator: Jim Bertoli, 4-H State Climatology Medalist

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Salmon Are Losing Distinct Genetic Characteristics

admin — Fri, 19 Nov 2010 02:25:26 +0000

The distinct genetic characteristics of salmon populations in Spain are being lost as a result of climate change and human interference. Losing distinct genetic characteristics means potentially losing salmon altogether in areas like Spain. One major hypothesis describing why this is occurring is humans have caused straying fish (foreign fish invading areas where salmon naturally reside). In 1992, there were an abundance of “foreign” fish being introduced to the river systems. Despite the practice being stopped, there continued to be a high number of “straying fish.” This was the beginning of a major loss of distinct genetic characteristics of Atlantic salmon in Spain.

Another impact that is also causing disruption is increased water temperature, which has been recently linked to an increase in fish straying between rivers. The influence of changes to water temperature has become increasingly important, as the loss of salmon will affect the health of bodies of water tremendously.

Title: Salmon ‘losing distinct genetic characteristics’

Author: Mark Kinver

Publication Source: BBC News

Date: October 14, 2010

URL: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-11525087

Student Researcher: Katherine Ross, Sonoma State University

Faculty Evaluator: Professor Caroline Christian, Sonoma State UniversitySimilar Posts:

Illegal Arms Trade Experts in Air France Crash

admin — Wed, 27 Jan 2010 00:34:48 +0000

Amid the media frenzy and speculation over the disappearance of Air France flight 447, the loss of two of the world’s most prominent figures in the war on the illegal arms trade has been virtually overlooked. Pablo Dreyfus, who was traveling with is wife aboard the flight from Rio de Janerio to Paris, had worked with the Brazilian authorities for years to stop the flow of weapons and ammunition that have fueled drug wars in Rio. Also traveling with Dreyfus was his friend and colleague Ronald Dreyer, a Swiss diplomat and coordinator of the Geneva Declaration on Armed Violence. Dreyfus and Dreyer were on their way to Geneva to present the latest edition of the Small Arms Survey handbook, of which Dreyfus was a joint editor. It was to have been an important step in their relentless fight towards a less profitably violent future.

Title: Key Figures in global battle against illegal arms trade lost in Air France crash

Author: Andrew McLeod,

Source: Sunday Herald (Scotland Independent0, June 7, 2009

http://www.heraldscotland.com/key-figures-in-global-battle-against-illegal-arms-trade-lost-in-air-france-crash-1.829372

Student Researcher: Travis Hann

Faculty Evaluator: Rick Luttmann

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