Population

Decades of underfunding, blockade have weakened Gaza's health system − the siege has pushed it into abject crisis

Retrieved on: 
Wednesday, October 18, 2023

On Oct. 17, 2023, news broke that at least 500 patients, staff and people seeking shelter from Israeli bombs had been killed in an explosion at a hospital, according to health authorities in the Hamas-run enclave.

Key Points: 
  • On Oct. 17, 2023, news broke that at least 500 patients, staff and people seeking shelter from Israeli bombs had been killed in an explosion at a hospital, according to health authorities in the Hamas-run enclave.
  • It amounts to a devastating loss of life during a campaign of bombing that has not spared the frail or sick.
  • Insufficiently and poorly resourced for decades, doctors and hospitals also had to contend with the devastating effects of a 16-year blockade imposed by Israel, in part with coordination with Egypt.

A system completely overwhelmed

    • Hospitals in Gaza are completely overwhelmed.
    • They are seeing around 1,000 new patients per day, in a health system with only 2,500 hospital beds for a population of over 2 million people.
    • People maimed in the bombing are being treated for horrific injuries without basics such as gauze dressings, antiseptic, IV bags and painkillers.
    • The U.N. estimates this fuel will run out any day due to a complete siege placed on Gaza by Israel.

A century of underfunding

    • But Gaza’s health care system was already under stress before the latest bombardment.
    • In fact, policies that stretch back decades have left it unable to meet even the basic health needs of Gaza’s residents, let alone respond to the ongoing humanitarian catastrophe.
    • What each have had in common is that, from my perspective as a global health expert, they invested little in Palestinian health.
    • For periods of the 20th century, the health priorities of successive governing bodies appeared focused more on reducing the spread of communicable disease to protect foreigners interacting with the native Palestinian population.

Dying before they can leave

    • Since then, chronic underfunding of public hospitals has meant that Palestinians in Gaza have remained reliant on outside money and nongovernmental organizations for essential health services.
    • During the passage of the Oslo Accords in the mid-1990s, the Palestinian Authority was established to administer services in the occupied territories.
    • The Palestinian Authority received a significant influx of humanitarian aid as it took on civil responsibilities, including health.
    • As a result, health indicators for Palestinians, including life expectancy and immunization rates, started to improve in the late 1990s.

Gaza health services after the siege

    • This vulnerable health system is now facing unprecedented challenges, staffed by health professionals who have committed to stay with their patients even under hospital evacuation orders and at risk of death.
    • It is uncertain what the health system of Gaza will look like in the future.
    • Already at least 28 doctors and other health workers have been killed in Gaza, with ambulances and a number of hospitals rendered useless by the bombs.

The smarter the magpie, the better they can handle our noisy cities

Retrieved on: 
Wednesday, October 18, 2023

Then there’s the noise pollution, a serious issue for humans and animals alike, according to the World Health Organization.

Key Points: 
  • Then there’s the noise pollution, a serious issue for humans and animals alike, according to the World Health Organization.
  • Our new research has found the magpies that perform better on an associative learning task are better able to maintain their normal anti-predator behaviours in noise.
  • That is, the smarter the magpie, the better they are likely to do in our cities.

What does noise do to a magpie?

    • To date, most research on the damage done by human-made noise has examined what it means for a species or population.
    • There’s been little work done on how individuals respond differently to noise.
    • What we do know suggests factors such as the sex, age, body condition and prior experience with noise can change how animals cope with noise.
    • Our magpies also spent much more time on alert after an alarm call played alone compared to an alarm call played with human-made noise.
    • This suggests their normal anti-predator response doesn’t work as well against a backdrop of our noise.

Why would intelligence help magpies deal with noise?

    • Other researchers argue cognition is what makes it possible to adapt to and succeed in urban environments.
    • To test this, we gave magpies a learning task to measure their intelligence and cognition.
    • Birds with better associative learning may also be better in other aspects of intelligence too.
    • Our study reveals intelligence matters for individual animals as they grapple with how to adapt to and cope with human-induced stressors.

South Africa's 2022 census: has Johannesburg stopped growing, or are the numbers wrong?

Retrieved on: 
Tuesday, October 17, 2023

The first batch of results produced a mix of anticipated as well as some surprising findings.

Key Points: 
  • The first batch of results produced a mix of anticipated as well as some surprising findings.
  • This was particularly true for Gauteng province, the country’s economic engine, and its main city, Johannesburg.
  • If its numbers are to be believed, Census 2022 and preliminary analysis shows astonishingly low population growth figures for Gauteng, and especially for Johannesburg.
  • In this piece we discuss the dual concerns we have: the implications if indeed the growth of Johannesburg has slowed down significantly, and the veracity of the data.

Is Johannesburg stagnating?

    • As the world’s largest producer of gold for over a century, Johannesburg has attracted economic opportunity seekers throughout its history.
    • But it is reportedly growing at double Johannesburg’s rate, which means that it will already have overtaken Johannesburg as South Africa’s largest city.
    • The census suggests that the white population of Johannesburg reduced by some 211,000 between 2011 and 2022, the Indian population by 49,000 and the coloured population by 18,000.
    • Spatial tax data indicates that Johannesburg still offers more jobs than, say, Cape Town.

The veracity of the data

    • This figure is worryingly double that for the last census.
    • The undercount in many countries, both developed and developing, is often less than 5% so the results are arguably much more trustworthy.
    • There are many anecdotes of people trying, but failing, to submit their census returns via StatsSA’s new online facility.
    • In theory these problems should have been resolved through post enumeration sampling and adjustment.

What next

    • It is still early days for analysis as we still await the intra-municipal data from Census 2022.
    • Nevertheless, we have identified intriguing, and sometimes worrying, indications of shifting spatial patterns.
    • And while reduced growth may seem to some as a positive trend, it could reflect a deep crisis in South Africa’s premier city.

People with intellectual disability are often diagnosed with cancer when it is already well advanced

Retrieved on: 
Tuesday, October 17, 2023

Many people with intellectual disability are diagnosed with cancer when it has already spread (metastasized) and the odds of survival are lower.

Key Points: 
  • Many people with intellectual disability are diagnosed with cancer when it has already spread (metastasized) and the odds of survival are lower.
  • Cancer has been reported as the cause of death about 1.5 times more often among people with intellectual disability than people without it.
  • In a recent study, my colleagues and I found that cancer is the second leading cause of death in Ireland for people with intellectual disability who live in residential care homes.
  • Making reasonable adjustments
    In England, recent research found that over 40% of adults with intellectual disability who died from bowel cancer died before they reached the age for cancer screening.

Gaza conflict: how children’s lives are affected on every level

Retrieved on: 
Tuesday, October 17, 2023

It’s been 18 years since the then Israeli prime minister, Ariel Sharon, moved all Israel’s settlers and military personnel out of the Gaza Strip.

Key Points: 
  • It’s been 18 years since the then Israeli prime minister, Ariel Sharon, moved all Israel’s settlers and military personnel out of the Gaza Strip.
  • The country’s official narrative then became that they were no longer an occupying force.
  • But two years later, following the election of Hamas, the Israeli government imposed a blockade on the entire Gaza Strip.
  • So today’s 18-year-olds have suffered in a state of privation for pretty much their whole lives.

The toll of war

    • Within the densely populated Gaza Strip, the health needs of children have grown exponentially due to the conditions of the Israeli blockade.
    • In the aftermath of each war, Israel has tightened access to Gaza via the main commercial crossing for construction materials, generators and water.
    • A report conducted by the UN Environment Programme following the 2008-9 war highlighted the serious health issues due to the debris that would particularly affect children.

Crumbling infrastructure

    • Blockade has also made it impossible to develop vitally needed infrastructure.
    • The provision of clean water and adequate sewage and waste disposal requires massive investment to meet the needs of the population.
    • Meanwhile, the electricity shortages and shortage of sanitation structures mean that the sea in Gaza is highly contaminated by sewage and poorly treated wastewater.
    • With very few safe public play spaces for children, the beach is one place that many have turned to for relief.

How animal traits have shaped the journey of species across the globe

Retrieved on: 
Tuesday, October 17, 2023

One year later, and half a world away, debris began washing ashore on the west coast of North America.

Key Points: 
  • One year later, and half a world away, debris began washing ashore on the west coast of North America.
  • More than 280 Japanese coastal species such as mussels, barnacles and even some species of fish, had hitched a ride on the debris and made an incredible journey across the ocean.
  • These species were still alive and had the potential to establish new populations.

The role of animal characteristics in dispersal

    • For example, an invasive species can arrive in a new area and compete with native species for resources.
    • They hypothesised there could be more general patterns in the animals that reach their destination successfully, related to certain characteristics.
    • But despite a vigorous theoretical debate, the options to test these hypotheses were limited because such dispersal events are rare.
    • These models allow us to estimate the movements of species’ ancestors while also considering their characteristics.

What we found

    • This means that body size and life history are closely linked to how successful a species is at moving to and establishing itself in a new location.
    • Animals with large bodies and fast life histories (breeding early and often, like water voles) generally dispersed more successfully, as expected.
    • This means the combination of small body size and slow life history is very unlikely to be an advantage for dispersal across major barriers such as oceans.

It’s not just chance

    • It is amazing to think that rare dispersal events, which can lead to the rise of many new species, are not completely random.
    • Instead, the intrinsic characteristics of species can shape the histories of entire groups of animals, even though chance still may play an important role.

Only 1% of chemical compounds have been discovered – here's how we search for others that could change the world

Retrieved on: 
Tuesday, October 17, 2023

Scientists believe undiscovered chemical compounds could help remove greenhouse gases, or trigger a medical breakthrough much like penicillin did.

Key Points: 
  • Scientists believe undiscovered chemical compounds could help remove greenhouse gases, or trigger a medical breakthrough much like penicillin did.
  • We needed nuclear fusion (firing atoms at each other at the speed of light) to make the last handful of elements.
  • But to understand the full scale of the chemical universe, you need to understand chemical compounds too.
  • So, how many chemical compounds can we make with the 118 different sorts of element Lego blocks we currently know?

Big numbers

    • There are lots of these: N2 (nitrogen) and O2 (oxygen) together make up 99% of our air.
    • It would probably take a chemist about a year to make one compound and there are 6,903 two-atom compounds in theory.
    • So that’s a village of chemists working a year just to make every possible two-atom compound.
    • And to make all these chemical compounds, we’d also need to recycle all the materials in the universe several times over.

Surely not all those compounds are possible?

    • It’s true there are rules – but they are kind of bendy, which creates more possibilities for chemical compounds.
    • Even the solitary “noble gases” (including neon, argon and xenon and helium), which tend to not bind with anything, sometimes form compounds.
    • So, if you include extreme environments in your calculations, the number of possible compounds increases.

How scientists search for new compounds

    • Often the answer is to search for compounds that are related to ones that are already known.
    • The X-ray technique that Crowfoot Hodgkin invented on her way to identifying penicillin’s structure is still used worldwide to study compounds.
    • And the same MRI technique that hospitals use to diagnose disease can also be used on chemical compounds to work out their structure.
    • For many useful compounds, like penicillin, it’s easier and cheaper to “grow” and extract them from moulds, plants or insects.
    • Thus the scientists searching for new chemistry still often look for inspiration in the tiniest corners of the world around us.

NZ election 2023: Labour out, National in – either way, neoliberalism wins again

Retrieved on: 
Tuesday, October 17, 2023

Regardless of the election result, a form of austerity was always going to win.

Key Points: 
  • Regardless of the election result, a form of austerity was always going to win.
  • While National and Labour both offered targeted support for those struggling to get by, such as tax cuts (National) or the removal of GST from fruit and vegetables (Labour), such mitigation seems paltry by comparison.

Radical incrementalism?

    • Many contend Labour has abandoned the free-market fundamentalism associated with “Rogernomics” that it adopted in the 1980s.
    • Under the Labour governments led by Jacinda Ardern and then Chris Hipkins, there was an attempt to ameliorate the worst excesses of market capitalism.
    • Hipkins, for instance, insisted Labour’s policies were not simply about “tinkering around the edges of the neoliberal model”.

The ‘third way’

    • A rough scholarly consensus has emerged that neoliberalism has shown a remarkable ability to evolve.
    • Labour – and to some extent National – have rejected the harsh “vanguard neoliberalism” of the 1980s and ‘90s.
    • For example, the Labour government’s COVID business support and wage subsidy scheme was supposedly undertaken to protect workers from unemployment.
    • Read more:
      With ACT and NZ First promising to overhaul Pharmac, what’s in store for publicly funded medicines?

Intervention for the market

    • In this sense, the various palliative reforms made by the Ardern-Hipkins governments do not represent a fundamental swing away from neoliberalism.
    • She said Labour accepted the need for government intervention in the market.
    • Rather, at its core, it is about imposing a global and state framework that favours business and private property.

The underlying consensus

    • National is more business-friendly and seems poised to make deeper cuts to public services.
    • To differing degrees, National and its probable coalition partner ACT reject the “progressive” aspects of what feminist scholar Nancy Fraser called “progressive neoliberalism”.
    • But beneath those apparent ideological differences there remains an underlying neoliberal consensus.
    • This is especially so with the election success of parties promising to reduce government spending.

Fly season: what to know about Australia's most common flies and how to keep them away

Retrieved on: 
Tuesday, October 17, 2023

This year is off to a bumper start, with bush flies swarming beach-goers, March flies on the march, and mosquitoes taking to the skies en masse.

Key Points: 
  • This year is off to a bumper start, with bush flies swarming beach-goers, March flies on the march, and mosquitoes taking to the skies en masse.
  • Despite their sheer diversity, we’re likely to encounter only a select few flies daily.

Familiar faces

    • They slake their thirst on the sweat and tears of mammals and so linger around our heads, shoulders and faces in search of a refreshing drink.
    • These small explorers are otherwise harmless, and pose no serious threat to health or home beyond being a mild nuisance.
    • They are also, however, excellent pollinators, with some orchids relying on their hard work and specialised mouthparts for survival.
    • Malaria is among the farthest-reaching, while Ross River Virus, chikungunya, zika and dengue all circulate with help from mosquitoes.

Shoo fly?


    For the minority of flies that prove a recurring annoyance, the primary goal is to deter rather than kill them. In this case, the remedies are simple:
    • Read more:
      The battle against bugs: it's time to end chemical warfare

      Avoid reaching for the bug-bombs and sprays, which have devastating impacts on beneficial insects.

    • Similarly, those noise-emitting, electrified or smelly gadgets that promise a fly-free existence are best avoided, as most are either ineffective, or harm far more than their intended targets.

From pesky to paramount

    • Flies are among the most diverse animals on the planet, and are utterly crucial for the healthy function of our ecosystems.
    • On the other side of the circle of life are outstanding decomposers, such as black soldier flies.
    • Moreover, flies have proven invaluable in forensics, medicine and scientific research, and environmental monitoring, underscoring how deeply our lives intertwine with theirs.

Fly on

    • The natural world – us included – would not be the same without them.
    • He is also affiliated with the conservation charity Invertebrates Australia.

A reflexive act of military revenge burdened the US − and may do the same for Israel

Retrieved on: 
Tuesday, October 17, 2023

In the wake of the shocking invasion of southern Israel by Hamas militants on Oct. 7, 2023, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu vowed to destroy Hamas.

Key Points: 
  • In the wake of the shocking invasion of southern Israel by Hamas militants on Oct. 7, 2023, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu vowed to destroy Hamas.
  • On that same day, Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant went further, stating, “We will wipe this thing called Hamas, ISIS-Gaza, off the face of the earth.
  • The immediate goals were to force the Taliban from power and destroy al-Qaida.
  • Very little thought or resources were put into what happened after those goals were attained.
  • That’s what happened in Afghanistan, and that is what could happen in Gaza.

A war of weak results

    • The U.S. invasion toppled the Taliban from power by the end of 2001, but the war did not end.
    • Nongovernmental and international relief organizations began to deliver humanitarian aid and reconstruction support, but their efforts were uncoordinated.
    • U.S. trainers began creating a new Afghan National Army, but lack of funding, insufficient volunteers and inadequate facilities hampered the effort.
    • The Taliban entry into Kabul in August 2021 merely put an exclamation point on a campaign the United States had lost many years before.

A goal that’s hard to achieve

    • An Israeli invasion of Gaza could well lead to an indecisive quagmire if the political goal is not considered ahead of time.
    • Israel has invaded Gaza twice, in 2009 and 2014, but quickly withdrew its ground forces once Israeli leaders calculated they had reestablished deterrence.
    • The newly declared goal of destroying Hamas as a military force is far more difficult than that.
    • Israel has the capacity to level Gaza and round up segments of the population, but that may not be wise.