Health risks from environmental degradation in the Niger Delta, Nigeria

© The Author(s) 2016. Local communities within oil producing countries in Africa often face formidable environmental challenges that generate conflicts and concerns around exploitation, environmental impact, and health risks. A key feature of these concerns has been the paucity of effective risk communication mechanisms and the impact this has on the public understanding of risk. Risk communication has been identified as a significant factor in explaining why the health consequences of environmental degradation remain unabated in oil producing communities. This paper evaluates health risk communication in the oil rich Niger Delta region of Nigeria. The study is based on 69 interviews conducted in the Niger Delta region. The paper argues that the health of the local population is being impaired by risk incidences relating to oil and gas exploration activities, the effects of which are amplified by inadequate communication of health risks to the public. The study argues for and suggests ways in which health risk communication processes can be improved in the Niger Delta. A multi-dimensional framework for public health risk communication is developed as a means of advancing understanding, practice, and policy

Population policies, programmes and the environment

Human consumption is depleting the Earth's natural resources and impairing the capacity of life-supporting ecosystems. Humans have changed ecosystems more rapidly and extensively over the past 50 years than during any other period, primarily to meet increasing demands for food, fresh water, timber, fibre and fuel. Such consumption, together with world population increasing from 2.6 billion in 1950 to 6.8 billion in 2009, are major contributors to environmental damage. Strengthening family-planning services is crucial to slowing population growth, now 78 million annually, and limiting population size to 9.2 billion by 2050. Otherwise, birth rates could remain unchanged, and world population would grow to 11 billion. Of particular concern are the 80 million annual pregnancies (38% of all pregnancies) that are unintended. More than 200 million women in developing countries prefer to delay their pregnancy, or stop bearing children altogether, but rely on traditional, less-effective methods of contraception or use no method because they lack access or face other barriers to using contraception. Family-planning programmes have a successful track record of reducing unintended pregnancies, thereby slowing population growth. An estimated $15 billion per year is needed for family-planning programmes in developing countries and donors should provide at least$5 billion of the total, however, current donor assistance is less than a quarter of this funding target

Insecticide resistance in the sand fly, Phlebotomus papatasi from Khartoum State, Sudan

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p><it>Phlebotomus papatasi </it>the vector of cutaneous leishmaniasis (CL) is the most widely spread sand fly in Sudan. No data has previously been collected on insecticide susceptibility and/or resistance of this vector, and a first study to establish a baseline data is reported here.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>Sand flies were collected from Surogia village, (Khartoum State), Rahad Game Reserve (eastern Sudan) and White Nile area (Central Sudan) using light traps. Sand flies were reared in the Tropical Medicine Research Institute laboratory. The insecticide susceptibility status of first progeny (F1) of <it>P. papatasi </it>of each population was tested using WHO insecticide kits. Also, <it>P. papatasi </it>specimens from Surogia village and Rahad Game Reserve were assayed for activities of enzyme systems involved in insecticide resistance (acetylcholinesterase (AChE), non-specific carboxylesterases (EST), glutathione-S-transferases (GSTs) and cytochrome p450 monooxygenases (Cyt p450).</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Populations of <it>P. papatasi </it>from White Nile and Rahad Game Reserve were sensitive to dichlorodiphenyltrichloroethane (DDT), permethrin, malathion, and propoxur. However, the <it>P. papatasi </it>population from Surogia village was sensitive to DDT and permethrin but highly resistant to malathion and propoxur. Furthermore, <it>P. papatasi </it>of Surogia village had significantly higher insecticide detoxification enzyme activity than of those of Rahad Game Reserve. The sand fly population in Surogia displayed high AChE activity and only three specimens had elevated levels for EST and GST.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>The study provided evidence for malathion and propoxur resistance in the sand fly population of Surogia village, which probably resulted from anti-malarial control activities carried out in the area during the past 50 years.</p

Stepping Up and Stepping Out of COVID-19: New Challenges for Environmental Sustainability Policies in the Global Airline Industry

The allure for businesses to jettison short-term costly processes, regulatory demands and green business practices (GBPs) in the turbulent times of COVID-19 remains sky high. Although GBPs and eco-friendly policies deliver results in the long term in terms of market competitiveness (MC), in many industries firms have sought to jettison well-rooted practices in the face of the existential threats stemming from COVID-19. In this paper, we examine the new contemporary challenges of adopting and implementing environmental sustainability policies in the global airline industry in the wake of COVID-19. The analysis sheds light on firms’ level sustainability initiatives such as upgrading to environmentally friendly aircraft and offsetting emission footprint, and institutional initiatives such as the European Union Emissions Trading System and the Carbon Offsetting and Reduction Scheme for Aviation. Our analysis demonstrates that some airlines and industrial bodies sought to sidestep environmentally friendly commitments and practices to overcome new challenges such as cost pressures, survival threat and deprioritising environmental sustainability initiatives. We establish and examine the implications of the analysis

Use of a total traffic count metric to investigate the impact of roadways on asthma severity: a case-control study

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>This study had two principal objectives: (i) to investigate the relationship between asthma severity and proximity to major roadways in Perth, Western Australia; (ii) to demonstrate a more accurate method of exposure assessment for traffic pollutants using an innovative GIS-based measure that fully integrates all traffic densities around subject residences.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>We conducted a spatial case-control study, in which 'cases' were defined as individuals aged under 19 years of age with more severe asthma (defined here as two or more emergency department contacts with asthma in a defined 5-year period) versus age- and gender-matched 'controls' with less severe asthma (defined here as one emergency department contact for asthma). Traffic exposures were measured using a GIS-based approach to determine the lengths of the roads falling within a buffer area, and then multiplying them by their respective traffic counts.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>We examined the spatial relationship between emergency department contacts for asthma at three different buffer sizes: 50 metres, 100 metres and 150 metres. No effect was noted for the 50 metre buffer (OR = 1.07; 95% CI: 0.91-1.26), but elevated odds ratios were observed with for crude (unadjusted) estimates OR = 1.21 (95% CI: 1.00-1.46) for 100 metre buffers and OR = 1.25 (95% CI: 1.02-1.54) for 150 metre buffers. For adjusted risk estimates, only the 150 metre buffer yielded a statistically significant finding (OR = 1.24; 95% CI:1.00-1.52).</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>Our study revealed a significant 24% increase in the risk of experiencing multiple emergency department contacts for asthma for every log-unit of traffic exposure. This study provides support for the hypothesis that traffic related air pollution increases the frequency of health service contacts for asthma. This study used advanced GIS techniques to establish traffic-weighted buffer zones around the geocoded residential location of subjects to provide an accurate assessment of exposure to traffic emissions, thereby providing a quantification of the ranges over which pollutants may exert a health effect.</p