Today's Headlines - 19 August 2023
WHO holds first traditional medicine summit
GS Paper - 3 (Health and Diseases)
The World Health Organization opened its first summit on traditional medicine with the group saying it was seeking to collect evidence and data to allow for the safe use of such treatments. Traditional medicines are a "first port of call for millions of people worldwide", the UN health agency said.
More about the summit
The two-day WHO Traditional Medicine Global Summit takes place alongside a meeting of G20 health ministers in the Indian city of Gandhinagar.
The first global traditional summit, co-hosted by the World Health Organization (WHO) and the Ministry of Ayush.
This summit is designed to foster political commitment and evidence-based action in the field of traditional medicine.
As a vital healthcare source for millions worldwide, traditional medicine will be closely examined and evaluated as a formidable force in addressing health and well-being needs.
With a wide array of engagement groups, working groups, and meetings, this event aims to represent the interests of the Global South countries within the G20 framework.
The theme of "One Earth, One Family, One Future" embodies India's philosophy of Vasudhaiva Kutumbakam.
More about traditional medicine
The UN health agency defines traditional medicine as the knowledge, skills and practices used over time to maintain health and prevent, diagnose and treat physical and mental illness.
But many traditional treatments have no proven scientific value and conservationists say the industry drives a rampant trade in endangered animals -- including tigers, rhinos and pangolins -- threatening the existence of entire species.
Use of homemade remedies soared during the Covid-19 pandemic, including a green herbal drink based on Artemisia that was promoted by Madagascar's president as a cure.
The plant has a proven efficacy in malaria treatment, but its use to combat Covid was widely scorned by many doctors.
In China, traditional medicine has a distinguished history, but top European medical bodies have previously demanded it be subject to the same regulatory oversight as conventional medical methods.
Flashback
Of the WHO's 194 member states, 170 acknowledged their use of traditional and complementary medicine since 2018, but only 124 reported having laws or regulations for the use of herbal medicines -- while only half had a national policy on such methods and medicines.
About 40 percent of approved pharmaceutical products currently in use derive from a "natural product basis", according to the WHO, which cited "landmark drugs" that derive from traditional medicine, including aspirin, drawing on formulations using willow tree bark.
#upsc #news #headline #WHO #traditional #medicine #health #diseases #data #millions #worldwide #ministry #gandhinagar #global #vasudhaiva #kutumbakam #earth #framework #force #future #philosophy #agency #mental #illness #artemisia #species #pandemic #remedies #herbal #madagascar #european #regulatory #complementary #reported #pharmaceutical #products #natural
WHO holds first traditional medicine summit
GS Paper - 3 (Health and Diseases)
The World Health Organization opened its first summit on traditional medicine with the group saying it was seeking to collect evidence and data to allow for the safe use of such treatments. Traditional medicines are a "first port of call for millions of people worldwide", the UN health agency said.
More about the summit
The two-day WHO Traditional Medicine Global Summit takes place alongside a meeting of G20 health ministers in the Indian city of Gandhinagar.
The first global traditional summit, co-hosted by the World Health Organization (WHO) and the Ministry of Ayush.
This summit is designed to foster political commitment and evidence-based action in the field of traditional medicine.
As a vital healthcare source for millions worldwide, traditional medicine will be closely examined and evaluated as a formidable force in addressing health and well-being needs.
With a wide array of engagement groups, working groups, and meetings, this event aims to represent the interests of the Global South countries within the G20 framework.
The theme of "One Earth, One Family, One Future" embodies India's philosophy of Vasudhaiva Kutumbakam.
More about traditional medicine
The UN health agency defines traditional medicine as the knowledge, skills and practices used over time to maintain health and prevent, diagnose and treat physical and mental illness.
But many traditional treatments have no proven scientific value and conservationists say the industry drives a rampant trade in endangered animals -- including tigers, rhinos and pangolins -- threatening the existence of entire species.
Use of homemade remedies soared during the Covid-19 pandemic, including a green herbal drink based on Artemisia that was promoted by Madagascar's president as a cure.
The plant has a proven efficacy in malaria treatment, but its use to combat Covid was widely scorned by many doctors.
In China, traditional medicine has a distinguished history, but top European medical bodies have previously demanded it be subject to the same regulatory oversight as conventional medical methods.
Flashback
Of the WHO's 194 member states, 170 acknowledged their use of traditional and complementary medicine since 2018, but only 124 reported having laws or regulations for the use of herbal medicines -- while only half had a national policy on such methods and medicines.
About 40 percent of approved pharmaceutical products currently in use derive from a "natural product basis", according to the WHO, which cited "landmark drugs" that derive from traditional medicine, including aspirin, drawing on formulations using willow tree bark.
#upsc #news #headline #WHO #traditional #medicine #health #diseases #data #millions #worldwide #ministry #gandhinagar #global #vasudhaiva #kutumbakam #earth #framework #force #future #philosophy #agency #mental #illness #artemisia #species #pandemic #remedies #herbal #madagascar #european #regulatory #complementary #reported #pharmaceutical #products #natural
Today's Headlines - 22 August 2023
Extreme heat mean for the Mediterranean Sea
GS Paper - 3 (Environment)
Frequent heat waves cause huge damage to underwater ecosystems and researchers expect more of them in the future.
What are the solutions to heat stress?
Extreme heat has plagued the Mediterranean for weeks. Wildfires raged across at least nine countries in the region from Algeria to Greece.
But the soaring temperatures are not only a danger for people and ecosystems on land; they’re also harming marine life.
Without a doubt global climate change is the main reason for the heat waves in the sea. It’s causing the ocean to warm.
Why are high sea temperatures a problem?
In a warming world, marine creatures are in danger of suffocating. Gases like oxygen and carbon dioxide dissolve better at colder temperatures, so that means the warmer the water; the less oxygen is available to breathe.
Conversely, higher temperatures also cause an increase in metabolism, which in turn means animals have to breathe even more than usual). That combination also heightens the risk of death by starvation for marine life.
The rise in temperature accelerates metabolism, and the organisms need more food to maintain this metabolic rate.
Algal blooms are more common in hotter waters too. Such blooms can further deplete oxygen levels and produce toxins harmful for fish, marine mammals and birds, for instance.
What species and ecosystems are worst hit by marine heat waves?
High water temperatures are most harmful for animals living at the bottom of oceans, lakes or rivers.
These benthic species include corals, mussels, sponges, starfish and plants like sea grasses, and are often attached to rock or solid ground. They can’t migrate when it gets too hot.
Scientists observed mass deaths of benthic species along thousands of kilometers of Mediterranean coastline between 2015 and 2019.
Many benthic species are crucial to the marine ecosystem. They filter the water and keep seas, rivers and lakes clean by eating dead organisms.
Some species are an important food source for other creatures or are harvested by humans. Benthics like soft corals, seaweed and seagrasses provide some of the main ocean habitats.
Heat is particularly harmful for Posidonia oceanica or Neptune grass. And the large, slow-growing seagrass is found only in the Mediterranean. Previous heat waves have decimated the species, which is bad news for the climate.
What does extreme heat in the Mediterranean mean for people?
Warming seas are already affecting fishing activities in the area. Fishermen are catching fewer familiar species and instead are finding more invasive fish which they have difficulty selling.
Rabbitfish and lionfish are edible, but other invasive fish aren’t. Some are even poisonous, like the puffer fish.
Habitat loss could also lead to an overall decline in fish populations, while disappearing seagrass means coasts will be more exposed to future storms.
This could also have a knock-on effect for tourism because divers will be less likely to visit an impoverished underwater landscape.
#upsc #news #headline #extreme #mediterranean #sea #enviroment #heat #ecosystem #future #undrwater #wildfires #algeria #greece #global #climate #temperature #ocean #metabolism #algalblooms #birds #marine #oxygen #levels #lakes #rivers #soildground #benthic #mediterranean #coastline #foodsource #organisms #soft #corals #seaweed #rabbitfish #stroms #populations #lionfish #activities #neptunegrass #posidoniaoceanica #toxins #breathe
Extreme heat mean for the Mediterranean Sea
GS Paper - 3 (Environment)
Frequent heat waves cause huge damage to underwater ecosystems and researchers expect more of them in the future.
What are the solutions to heat stress?
Extreme heat has plagued the Mediterranean for weeks. Wildfires raged across at least nine countries in the region from Algeria to Greece.
But the soaring temperatures are not only a danger for people and ecosystems on land; they’re also harming marine life.
Without a doubt global climate change is the main reason for the heat waves in the sea. It’s causing the ocean to warm.
Why are high sea temperatures a problem?
In a warming world, marine creatures are in danger of suffocating. Gases like oxygen and carbon dioxide dissolve better at colder temperatures, so that means the warmer the water; the less oxygen is available to breathe.
Conversely, higher temperatures also cause an increase in metabolism, which in turn means animals have to breathe even more than usual). That combination also heightens the risk of death by starvation for marine life.
The rise in temperature accelerates metabolism, and the organisms need more food to maintain this metabolic rate.
Algal blooms are more common in hotter waters too. Such blooms can further deplete oxygen levels and produce toxins harmful for fish, marine mammals and birds, for instance.
What species and ecosystems are worst hit by marine heat waves?
High water temperatures are most harmful for animals living at the bottom of oceans, lakes or rivers.
These benthic species include corals, mussels, sponges, starfish and plants like sea grasses, and are often attached to rock or solid ground. They can’t migrate when it gets too hot.
Scientists observed mass deaths of benthic species along thousands of kilometers of Mediterranean coastline between 2015 and 2019.
Many benthic species are crucial to the marine ecosystem. They filter the water and keep seas, rivers and lakes clean by eating dead organisms.
Some species are an important food source for other creatures or are harvested by humans. Benthics like soft corals, seaweed and seagrasses provide some of the main ocean habitats.
Heat is particularly harmful for Posidonia oceanica or Neptune grass. And the large, slow-growing seagrass is found only in the Mediterranean. Previous heat waves have decimated the species, which is bad news for the climate.
What does extreme heat in the Mediterranean mean for people?
Warming seas are already affecting fishing activities in the area. Fishermen are catching fewer familiar species and instead are finding more invasive fish which they have difficulty selling.
Rabbitfish and lionfish are edible, but other invasive fish aren’t. Some are even poisonous, like the puffer fish.
Habitat loss could also lead to an overall decline in fish populations, while disappearing seagrass means coasts will be more exposed to future storms.
This could also have a knock-on effect for tourism because divers will be less likely to visit an impoverished underwater landscape.
#upsc #news #headline #extreme #mediterranean #sea #enviroment #heat #ecosystem #future #undrwater #wildfires #algeria #greece #global #climate #temperature #ocean #metabolism #algalblooms #birds #marine #oxygen #levels #lakes #rivers #soildground #benthic #mediterranean #coastline #foodsource #organisms #soft #corals #seaweed #rabbitfish #stroms #populations #lionfish #activities #neptunegrass #posidoniaoceanica #toxins #breathe