16 October 2009 [MEDIAGLOBAL]: Obesity is becoming a nutritional problem in the developing world, as a sedentary lifestyle and unhealthy foods characterize urban living and begin to take a toll on city-dwelling populations. “I would say the growth of obesity has become a concern in the last ten years,” Dr. Helene Delisle, the University of Montreal nutritionist told MediaGlobal. Delisle was part of a team that addressed delegates about the problems of hunger and obesity, at the International Conference on Nutrition (ICN) held from the 4-6 October in Bangkok, Thailand. Following the model of industrialized nations, the burden of obesity is increasingly being shifted to the poor in Africa and Asia. Previously, “obesity was common amongst the affluent, and it was a status symbol,” said Delisle. But with increased access to cheap, calorie-laden (but nutritionally deficient) foods as a result of urbanization and globalization this is no longer the case. Instead, certain nations in Africa and Asia now experience increased incidence of diabetes, high blood pressure, and hypertension. The problem is particularly acute in sub-Saharan Africa, where 32 percent of the world’s hungry live. Obesity is the urban manifestation of food insecurity: the poor cannot afford access to fresh, nutritious foods. Delisle stresses that maternal and child health are key to remedying inadequate nutrition. “Making sure that women have an adequate nutritional status prior to and during pregnancy and that infants’ development is normalized before two years if needed, but not after that age, is important,” she said. Delisle also suggests regulation and taxation of junk food as a possible solution. She added, “Advocacy and social marketing are needed so that healthy body weights, traditional foods, and physical activity are perceived as desirable.” Zanele Mji

Somali refugees relocated successfully in Kenya

14 October 2009 [MEDIAGLOBAL]: The International Office of Migration (IOM) aided the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) in the emergency relocation of roughly 13,000 Somali refugees from overcrowded camps in Dadaab, Kenya, to camps in the country’s northwestern Kakuma town. The northeastern region of Dadaab had been congested with 280,000 refugees, over three times the number of persons it was designed to hold. In mid-August, UNHCR began the move the refugees to Kakuma with the help of IOM, the Kenyan Department of Refugee Affairs and civil society partners. Asha Maalim of IOM’s public information unit in Nairobi told MediaGlobal, “Once UNHCR provides a preliminary manifest of individuals that have been cleared for relocation, IOM’s role in the relocation comes into effect. The cleared individuals are moved by IOM from their locations (with their belongings and family members) to a transit site where they will stay the day before departure. Pre-embarkation medical examination is then carried out to ensure that all individuals traveling by road are fit to make the journey. Identified vulnerable refugees are airlifted to Kakuma.” The 746-mile distance takes three days to complete. During the journey, the refugees receive “meals and shelter in pre-established transit centers,” according to Maalim. “Twenty-two overland convoys were organized for refugees who could manage the movement by road, while 227 identified vulnerable refugees were airlifted to Kakuma through four chartered flights… Upon arrival in Kakuma, the refugees were handed over to UNHCR.” The relocated refugees are now with better shelter and services than they had before. Unfortunately, due to the continued fleeing of Somalis, the Dadaab camps remain overwhelmed and are still in need of aid. Alison Walkley

Increased donor support critical in achieving MDGs by 2015

14 October 2009 [MEDIAGLOBAL]: The Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) set nine years ago to halve extreme poverty by 2015 and improve conditions related to gender equity, the environment, education, and health are facing shortcomings. Much of the donor assistance that was promised has fallen short, and political hurdles, bureaucracy, and the current global financial crisis continue to frustrate progress. To help address these and other deficiencies, a concerned Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon has continuously called for the scaling-up of the MDGs and last month established an MDG Review Summit to take place in September 2010. Observers remain mixed about the prospects of achieving the MDGs by their 2015 deadline, especially in light of past conferences that have pledged to increase aid but have yet to do so. Ethiopian delegate to the UN, Esayes Gota is hopeful about the inclusive nature of the MDGs compared to previous efforts. Gota told MediaGlobal, “The MDGs stand in contrast to the Washington Consensus, which was imposed on our countries and did not deliver the goods… The MDGs demand a universal consensus.” Columbia University’s Jeffrey Sachs, who was an advisor on the MDGs to former Secretary-General Kofi Annan, explains that though some global partnerships have been achieved—especially since the “disgraceful” era of erroneously believing that the market was the best way to increase food availability—vital investments have not come through. Sachs has been critical of donors, citing that there is still no concrete plan to raise aid to its promised levels while “bonuses on Wall Street outstrip aid to Africa by five times.” Sachs has also argued that only a holistic approach will be effective in donor participation, saying that the MDGs are “synergistic” and their targets must be achieved together to be effective. Thus without the necessary financing, valuable MDG initiatives such as the Earth Institute’s Millennium Villages or Mali’s Initiative 166 will fail to properly materialize, though they are continuously praised by experts for being based on scientifically-proven and cost-effective successes. Henoch Derbew

Trafficking of organs, tissues, cells requires international resolution

13 October 2009 [MEDIAGLOBAL]: Though human trafficking—for sexual, labor, or other purposes—is gaining more traction in international discussions, trafficking of human organs, tissues, or cells remains obscure, un-chartered territory, lacking in-depth data and public visibility. The Council of Europe, along with the United Nations and non-governmental organizations, sought to shed light on this phenomenon on Tuesday, 13 October, with the launch of a new study on this topic. It’s unknown how many humans are trafficked for the purpose of extracting and selling their organs, tissues, or cells. Low-income people are especially vulnerable to this market, which largely caters to people of the developing world, in need of a quick and affordable transplant. No international convention, including agreed-upon definitions of this kind of trafficking, presently exists, and these bodies are now pushing the General Assembly to address this issue, and pass measures to combat the trend. “Many nations do not supply many organs for local use, and there are disparities in access to transplant services. People travel across boundaries to get organs, or people are moved to where transplant facilities are,” explained Arthur Caplan, Chair of the Department of Medical Ethics of the University of Pennsylvania, at the United Nations press conference last week. “These are obvious problems that require international and national efforts.” The represented organizations did not reference specific nations in which this kind of trafficking occurs, with officials noting that countries are taking steps to combat the trend. “Some embassies of certain countries are now wanting to know by the visas where patients are undergoing transplants, and if the visa would be taking them to a country in which a foreign transplant were to be occurring immediately, then the visa might not be permitted,” Franco told MediaGlobal. “Let it be shown that the Council of Europe, the United Nations, the Transplant Society (National Organization of Transplants), and many other institutions are working on getting this data together and trying to cooperate with governments around the world,” Beatriz Dominguez-Gil Gonzalez, of the National Organization of Transplants, a subset of Spain’s Ministry of Sanitation and Consumption, told MediaGlobal. “In reality what we have materialized today is this global audience.” Amy Lieberman

Editor: Nosh Nalavala

Assistant Editor: Christina L. Madden

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