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South American climate change impinges on health
POLICY AND PEOPLE
Targets now set by G8 countries to reduce “diseases of poverty” patients are in the south while most response from global health-care eaders of the world’s most powof the medicines are in the north”, activists. “It is very good that the G8 erful countries agreed at the G8 said French President Jacques have prioritised the fight against Summit during July 22–23 on ambiChirac. infectious diseases, but we are wortious targets to reduce the three “disried this commitment may end up as eases of poverty”: AIDS, malaria, an empty promise like the one made and tuberculosis. At the summit in Rights were not last year on debt relief,” said Okinawa, Japan, the heads of the Samantha Bolton of Médecins Sans group of eight nations promised to go granted to include this Frontières. much further in the fight against image in electronic Others criticised a proposal by the infectious and parasitic diseases, USA to lend $1 billion to subwhich they said, “threaten to reverse media. Please refer to Saharan African countries to buy USdecades of development and to rob the printed journal. made antiretroviral drugs, when it an entire generation of hope for a betwould be cheaper for such countries ter future”. to make their own. “The US should They committed themselves to not be offering to put these countries work with the WHO to deliver three further into debt while subsidising United Nations’ targets on disease The key players its pharmaceutical industry,” said reduction. By 2010, they aim to cut Phil Twyford, Oxfam International The G8 said it would draw up an the number of young people infected advocacy director. action plan to achieve its goals during with HIV/AIDS by 25%, to reduce a conference this autumn in Japan. deaths from tuberculosis by 50% and The communiqué drew a mixed to halve the burden of disease associJonathan Watts ated with malaria. No progress on debt and genetically-modified food Although there were G8 leaders failed to make a breakthrough on the two most contentious issues of debt relief for few specifics on how poor nations and guidelines for genetically modified (GM) food. UK Prime Minister Tony Blair this will be achieved, expressed frustration that the Okinawa summit had not outlined new steps to reduce the burden the G8 pledged to on heavily-indebted poor countries. The leaders merely reaffirmed their commitment to a deal mobilise additional reached at the Cologne G8 summit last year, which is making less progress than expected. Only resources in the fight nine of the 81 heavily indebted poor countries have qualified for debt relief. against disease. The Although the G8 promised more help for less-developed nations in the form of improved trade, UK has doubled its greater access to information technology, and more money for education and health, debt-relief contribution from £50 campaigners said that this missed the point. “This summit offered the chance to go further and million to £100 million. write off all the unpayable debts of the poorest countries—a genuine new start. The world’s The Japanese Prime leaders have blown it”, said Ann Pettifor, director of Jubilee 2000. Minister, Yoshiro Mori, On the issue of GM foods, the G8 remained at loggerheads over the need to address safety and the President of the concerns. Europe, with the exception of the UK, wants to establish a “precautionary principle” EU Commission, that would consider biotech produce unsafe until proven otherwise, but the USA and Canada take Romano Prodi, also the opposite line. “There is the thesis supported by Jean Chretien [the Canadian Prime Minister] said new funds would and Bill Clinton that GM foods aren’t dangerous”, said the French President, Jacques Chirac. be made available. “Then there is the other school, that of Europe and Japan, that considers the potential The G8 also commitconsequences for health and environment require precaution and scientific certitude.” ted itself to addressing Not able to reach compromise, the final communiqué says that the subject of food safety is an the key question of how issue that should be addressed in the future. Agreement was reached on the nearly complete to make pharmaceutimapping of the human genome, which was praised as a “welcome step”. Leaders stressed that cals more cheaply availthe benefits of this scientific breakthrough should be available to all and urged fair intellectual able in less-developed property protection. countries. “We cannot be satisfied with a global health system in Jonathan Watts which the majority of
L
South American climate change impinges on health
U
nusual weather conditions in South America has led to an increase in the number of hospital admissions, as the region experiences the effects of climate change. A temperature of –4·9 °C was recorded in Argentina’s northern province of Santiago del Estero— south of the Tropic of Capricorn on July 19, compared with -4·4 °C at the country’s Marambio scientific base in Antartica, thousands of km
408
to the south. 46 people have died during the past 2 weeks, some from hypothermia. Efforts by poorer households to stay warm using braziers or unserviced gas heaters produced further fatalities from carbon-monoxide intoxication or burns. Mauricio Plager, deputy head of toxicology at the Ricardo Gutierrez paediatric hospital in the capital Buenos Aires, reported 20 carbon-
monoxide fatalities in the previous ten days. Oscar Merbilhaá, plastic surgeon at the capital’s specialist burns hospital (Hospital Municipal de Quemados) said that every available bed was in use after a surge of admissions. This, he said, brings the winter total of emergency admissions to 118—71 of which have been children. Graciela Iglesias-Rogers
THE LANCET • Vol 356 • July 29, 2000
For personal use only. Not to be reproduced without permission of The Lancet.
Targets now set by G8 countries to reduce “diseases of poverty” patients are in the south while most response from global health-care eaders of the world’s most powof the medicines are in the north”, activists. “It is very good that the G8 erful countries agreed at the G8 said French President Jacques have prioritised the fight against Summit during July 22–23 on ambiChirac. infectious diseases, but we are wortious targets to reduce the three “disried this commitment may end up as eases of poverty”: AIDS, malaria, an empty promise like the one made and tuberculosis. At the summit in Rights were not last year on debt relief,” said Okinawa, Japan, the heads of the Samantha Bolton of Médecins Sans group of eight nations promised to go granted to include this Frontières. much further in the fight against image in electronic Others criticised a proposal by the infectious and parasitic diseases, USA to lend $1 billion to subwhich they said, “threaten to reverse media. Please refer to Saharan African countries to buy USdecades of development and to rob the printed journal. made antiretroviral drugs, when it an entire generation of hope for a betwould be cheaper for such countries ter future”. to make their own. “The US should They committed themselves to not be offering to put these countries work with the WHO to deliver three further into debt while subsidising United Nations’ targets on disease The key players its pharmaceutical industry,” said reduction. By 2010, they aim to cut Phil Twyford, Oxfam International The G8 said it would draw up an the number of young people infected advocacy director. action plan to achieve its goals during with HIV/AIDS by 25%, to reduce a conference this autumn in Japan. deaths from tuberculosis by 50% and The communiqué drew a mixed to halve the burden of disease associJonathan Watts ated with malaria. No progress on debt and genetically-modified food Although there were G8 leaders failed to make a breakthrough on the two most contentious issues of debt relief for few specifics on how poor nations and guidelines for genetically modified (GM) food. UK Prime Minister Tony Blair this will be achieved, expressed frustration that the Okinawa summit had not outlined new steps to reduce the burden the G8 pledged to on heavily-indebted poor countries. The leaders merely reaffirmed their commitment to a deal mobilise additional reached at the Cologne G8 summit last year, which is making less progress than expected. Only resources in the fight nine of the 81 heavily indebted poor countries have qualified for debt relief. against disease. The Although the G8 promised more help for less-developed nations in the form of improved trade, UK has doubled its greater access to information technology, and more money for education and health, debt-relief contribution from £50 campaigners said that this missed the point. “This summit offered the chance to go further and million to £100 million. write off all the unpayable debts of the poorest countries—a genuine new start. The world’s The Japanese Prime leaders have blown it”, said Ann Pettifor, director of Jubilee 2000. Minister, Yoshiro Mori, On the issue of GM foods, the G8 remained at loggerheads over the need to address safety and the President of the concerns. Europe, with the exception of the UK, wants to establish a “precautionary principle” EU Commission, that would consider biotech produce unsafe until proven otherwise, but the USA and Canada take Romano Prodi, also the opposite line. “There is the thesis supported by Jean Chretien [the Canadian Prime Minister] said new funds would and Bill Clinton that GM foods aren’t dangerous”, said the French President, Jacques Chirac. be made available. “Then there is the other school, that of Europe and Japan, that considers the potential The G8 also commitconsequences for health and environment require precaution and scientific certitude.” ted itself to addressing Not able to reach compromise, the final communiqué says that the subject of food safety is an the key question of how issue that should be addressed in the future. Agreement was reached on the nearly complete to make pharmaceutimapping of the human genome, which was praised as a “welcome step”. Leaders stressed that cals more cheaply availthe benefits of this scientific breakthrough should be available to all and urged fair intellectual able in less-developed property protection. countries. “We cannot be satisfied with a global health system in Jonathan Watts which the majority of
L
South American climate change impinges on health
U
nusual weather conditions in South America has led to an increase in the number of hospital admissions, as the region experiences the effects of climate change. A temperature of –4·9 °C was recorded in Argentina’s northern province of Santiago del Estero— south of the Tropic of Capricorn on July 19, compared with -4·4 °C at the country’s Marambio scientific base in Antartica, thousands of km
408
to the south. 46 people have died during the past 2 weeks, some from hypothermia. Efforts by poorer households to stay warm using braziers or unserviced gas heaters produced further fatalities from carbon-monoxide intoxication or burns. Mauricio Plager, deputy head of toxicology at the Ricardo Gutierrez paediatric hospital in the capital Buenos Aires, reported 20 carbon-
monoxide fatalities in the previous ten days. Oscar Merbilhaá, plastic surgeon at the capital’s specialist burns hospital (Hospital Municipal de Quemados) said that every available bed was in use after a surge of admissions. This, he said, brings the winter total of emergency admissions to 118—71 of which have been children. Graciela Iglesias-Rogers
THE LANCET • Vol 356 • July 29, 2000
For personal use only. Not to be reproduced without permission of The Lancet.