The report presents a mixed picture. Over the past 25 years, there have been notable improvements in child well-being in the group of countries examined in this report: steady decline in child mortality, overall reduction in adolescent suicide and increase in school completion rates. But the last five years have …
Students of the Pirang Lower Basic School in Gambia have started a campaign to rid their neighbourhood of used batteries. After being taught about the health and environmental hazards posed by these batteries, the children have started collecting them on weekends. Till now, over 20,000 used batteries have been collected …
a recent set of experiments has proved that exposure to excessive airborne ozone, one of the more noxious constituents of smog, can cause asthma. The experiments were carried out on young rhesus monkeys. One group of monkeys had ozone added to their air supply, while a second group breathed air …
chronic bronchitis caused by air pollution affects 24,000 adults and 2.2 lakh children each year, reveals a study by the Nagpur-based National Environment Engineering Research Institute (neeri). The neeri study states that Mumbai suffers from an annual loss of 20 million workdays because of pollution, which is equivalent to nine …
it takes two giant leaps to have an effective law. One leap to legislate. Another to enforce. In the case of regulating recycling of lead acid batteries, India has taken the first step. The government, on May 25, 2000, notified the draft of the Battery (Management and Handling) Rules under …
The UK government has asked school authorities to restrict the use of mobile phones for children below 16 years of age. The move comes after a government-commissioned study concluded that children face potential health risks when they use mobile phones. William Stewart, the former government chief scientist who chaired the …
The environmental pressure group Greenpeace has announced that on an average, 1,342 Greeks die every year due to air pollution, more than half of them in the capital Athens. "Up to 80 per cent of the air pollution in Greece comes from cars," says Stelios Psomas of Greenpeace. "We have …
A large number of children in Chittagong, Bangladesh, are suffering from asthma due to increasing air pollution in the city. According to Moynul Islam, a doctor air pollution and the increasing use of chemicals by industries and in agriculture are the main causes for asthma.
CONSUMERS have decided to stop using products containing chlorpyrifos till more information about it is available. Even store managers are going to lay off these products for the time being. The chemical poses a threat to children due to its effect on the nervous system and brain development and has …
a yet undisclosed research sponsored by the West Bengal Pollution Control Board (wbpcb) has found that Calcutta's schoolchildren have serious pulmonary symptoms, very much like those of "adult smokers.' And the culprit is Calcutta's heavily polluted air. According to the results of the study, conducted by scientists from the National …
the effects of climatic phenomenon on human health may be more widespread that previously considered. Recent research, led by the Johns Hopkins School of Public Health, Baltimore, has now linked El Ni
diarrhoea is one of the major killer diseases among children in poorer countries. Over three million kids die every year due to diarrhoeal diseases, many of whom can be saved. One of the simple and most effective means of preventing these deaths in children has been the oral dehydration therapy …
single mothers have been stereotyped, politicised and vilified. Some people blame them for a host of ills we find around us. In a society that is rapidly transforming with the steady growth of single parents, such impressions can play havoc with the upbringing of children as also the societal image …
ALMOST 90 per cent of dry cleaners in the us use a chemical solvent called perchloroethylene or perc for dry cleaning. Perc is a primary solvent. However, the health and environmental effects have been found to be quite disastrous and depend on the length of time and amount of exposure. …
till date, the exact cause for leukaemia or cancer of the blood-forming cells is not known. Some researchers have maintained that a microbe - a bacterium or a virus - could well be the cause of the disease and research is being conducted to identify it. Now, a study brings …
Children exposed to their parents' smoking may soon begin suing them. A recently-released report by Eugene Arocca, a partner at the Australia-based Maurice Blackburn Cashman, says that the focus in tobacco litigation in Australia will soon shift from exposure in the workplace to family law and the hospitality industry. He …
Those born in July and August are at a higher risk of developing insulin-dependent (type 1) diabetes later in childhood than those born in autumn. And boys are at a greater risk than girls, according to a study by Ulf Samuelsson and colleagues from the Linkoping University in Sweden. The …
green vegetables are good for the health. How many times did our parents tell us this? But in days to come, the fresh leafy green vegetables may lose their place on the table, if we believe the latest findings. Recent studies have showed that at many places in India, vegetables …
A handful of infectious diseases are responsible for 90 per cent of the deaths throughout the world, a study of the World Health Organisation (who) said recently. No more than six deadly infectious diseases
