Indecent Exposure
In early April, a scrap dealer in Delhi was admitted in
Apollo Indraprastha Hospital with the bizarre complaints of progressive
hyperpigmentation, hair loss, nausea and vomiting. His blood counts were
very low. Several other men working for him also developed unexplained
skin burns and similar complaints. Very quickly a diagnosis of radiation
injury was made. The Atomic Energy Regulatory Board (AERB) was informed
and investigations zeroed down on a radioactive cell containing Cobalt 60
at the Mayapuri scrap market. It was apparently bought from Atomic Energy
Department, Canada by the Chemistry Department of Delhi University and had
been lying unused since 1985. The University auctioned it and the scrap
dealer bought it in February 2010. One month later he was seriously ill.
So far six people have fallen ill and one has died due to the radiation
exposure. An enquiry is underway and new guidelines for the procurement,
transport, storage and disposal of all hazardous material, including
chemicals and radioactive substances is being formulated. The problem of
orphan radioactive sources is a global issue. The incident is a clarion
call to us to streamline our waste disposal systems. (The Telegraph 27
April, 2010, www.nature.com 8 May 2010).
The Healthy City
The World Health Day theme this year is Urbanization
and Health. Fifty percent of the world lives in cities and by 2050 it will
reach 70%. In India, the number that currently lives in cities is 28% and
it is predicted to rise to 41% by 2020. One third of these urban dwellers
live in slums. That your physical and social environment shapes your
health is a worn out cliché, but like most clichés, unfortunately true. In
the long haul, civil engineers may impact health more than all the doctors
doling out pills. The WHO, with the Ministry for Urban Development, has
also brought out a guide atlas for the multi-level planning of a healthy
city (www.whoindia.org).
How Malaria is Disappearing in Some Countries
Just like India, Sri Lanka had once got its malaria
cases down from 2.8 million cases in 1947 to a paltry 17 in 1963.
Subsequently, case numbers shot up due to a faulty end game strategy.
However, unlike India, Sri Lanka has once more tightened the noose by
bringing down cases from 200,000 in year 2000 to 670 cases in 2008 and
amazingly, no malaria deaths in the last 2 years. Philippines has made 22
of 81 provinces malaria free. Eight of 20 malaria endemic countries in the
Pacific and Western Asia region have documented more than 50% decline in
annual malaria case rates. Ten countries including Bhutan, China, North
Korea, Indonesia, Malaysia, Philippines, Solomon Islands, South Korea, Sri
Lanka, and Vanuatu are gathering in Australia for the 2nd
Annual Asia Pacific Malaria Elimination Network meeting. From India, Goa
state is also being represented for its work in malaria elimination. Most
countries aim to eliminate malaria in the next 5-10 years. These
achievements have gone generally unrecognized and unsung in an era when
malaria control has nearly become an oxymoron. (Lancet, 2010; 375, 1586
- 1587).