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Human medicines European public assessment report (EPAR): Flucelvax Tetra, influenza vaccine (surface antigen, inactivated, prepared in cell cultures), Date of authorisation: 12/12/2018, Revision: 15, Status: Authorised

• But there are good reasons to persist in making deliberate choices about what’s on your plate.
• These choices not only impact your own health, they affect the health of the planet too.
• Read more:
  Global food system emissions alone threaten warming beyond 1.5°C – but we can act now to stop it

Healthier diets, cleaner air

• According to the World Health Organization, there were 4 million premature deaths linked to outdoor air pollution in 2019.
• We studied what would happen to air quality if people around the world shifted towards diets that are healthier and better for the environment.

• The health gains from cleaner air add to the benefits obtained from eating a more balanced diet.
• For example, if everyone went vegan, the number of premature deaths from air pollution could fall by more than 200,000.
• Our estimates suggest that cleaner air can have a positive impact on the economy.

Enabling change

• We argue that dietary changes should thus be placed firmly on the policy menu.
• Shifting to healthier and more plant-based diets offers a wide range of benefits beyond clean air.
• Achieving ambitious progress in all these areas at the same time will be challenging if we rely on technological solutions alone.

• The prices charged to customers factored in the impact of food products on soil, water use, health and the climate.
• In this way, overall food expenditure would be kept in check and low-income households would be protected.

Marco Springmann receives funding from the Wellcome Trust and Horizon Europe. Toon Vandyck does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.

The World Health Organization estimates that over 80% of all vision impairment around the world can be prevented and even cured. Reducing the risk of eye diseases involves adopting a combination of lifestyle changes, protective measures, and regular eye care. Here are six ways to look after your eyes in 2024.

1. Have regular eye tests

• Glaucoma, for example, will cause irreversible damage to the eye if not picked up early enough as it damages the peripheral visual field to start with.
• Eye disease linked to diabetes also causes irreversible damage to the eyes without much noticeable vision loss as it damages the small blood vessels in the eye.
• Going for an eye test with a qualified optometrist will enable them to detect eye diseases and refer you to a specialist if needed.

2. Check your eyes at home

• As most of us use both eyes at the same time, it can be difficult to know if one is not seeing so well.
• Try covering each eye every week and look at a number plate in the distance to make sure both eyes are seeing well.

3. Protect your eyes from mechanical and UV damage

• Make sure you wear good quality sunglasses that block 100% of UVA and UVB rays to protect your eyes from harmful ultraviolet radiation.
• In the summer, gardening accidents, such as getting caught in the eye with a twig when pruning are quite frequent and can cause permanent damage.

4. Reduce digital eye strain

• While eyestrain does not normally cause permanent damage or affect your glasses prescription, it can be very uncomfortable.
• Most people forget to blink when they are working on screens, and this leads to dry eyes.
• To reduce this discomfort, try consciously blinking more often during screen time.

5. Have a good diet

• While many of us know that vitamin A from carrots is good for the eyes, our eyes need more than vitamin A to function healthily.
• A healthy diet is also linked to good control of diabetes, and poor control of diabetes will lead to a much higher risk of blindness from diabetic-related eye disease.

6. Quit smoking and be more active

• Smoking is a significant risk factor for most systemic diseases in the body including the eyes.
• Smoking increases the risk of macular degeneration and cataracts.
• Exercise is not only important for the rest of the body but also for the eyes.

[email protected] receives funding from various NHS bodies, Charities and EU.

• The alarming rates at which we are losing species is not just a tragedy of epic proportions – the destruction of biodiversity also robs humanity of one of its strongest defenses against climate change.
• By one estimate, about US$598 billion to $824 billion is needed annually to reverse the loss of species worldwide.

Different ways of posing the problem

• Should we, as I have argued in my research as an expert in environmental economics, try to regulate the rate at which habitat is being converted from natural to human-centered uses?
• An alternative approach concentrates on conserving what biologists call keystone species that play a critical role in holding the ecosystem together.

A solution

• One of the most original and interesting answers to this question was provided by the late Harvard economist Martin Weitzman, who applied economic analysis to address the conservation of endangered species.
• In a pioneering 1998 paper titled The Noah’s Ark Problem, Weitzman viewed the challenge of figuring out which species to conserve with limited resources as a modern-day equivalent of the problem the biblical patriarch Noah faced when trying to determine what to take with him – and hence save – on his ark.

• The first is utility to humans – insects pollinate crops that yield food, and so on.
• There is no serious dispute that biodiversity – the variety of living species on Earth, including plants, animals, bacteria and fungi – benefits humans.
• As the World Health Organization puts it, “Healthy communities rely on well-functioning ecosystems.
• They also limit disease and stabilize the climate.” Yet nearly a third of all monitored species are currently endangered because of human activities.

An example

• To see this, imagine that there are two libraries that have many volumes (or species members), some unique to each library and some overlapping.
• If Library 1 burns to the ground, we lose all of the volumes (species members) with the exception of those that are also housed in Library 2.

What does it mean in practice?

• We may be better off protecting, for example, the Atlantic menhaden, or pogy, a primary food source for bigger fish and birds along the Eastern Seaboard and a vital connection between the bottom and top of the food chain.
• A current lawsuit claims it is subject to overfishing in and around the Chesapeake Bay.

Amitrajeet A. Batabyal does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.