It’s time to turn off the snooze button on the alarm clock and wake up!

Incremental achievements in reaching the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) are possible before they “expire” in 2015 if linkages among strategies to achieve various goals are made. MDG 5 demands an improvement in maternal health. MDG 4 calls for an improvement in child health. MDG 7c demands for improved water and sanitation. The links between WASH (water, sanitation and hygiene) and maternal and child health are evident. Accelerated efforts to improve WASH will not only move us toward achieving MDG 7c, but they will also contribute to the achievement of health MDGs 4 and 5.

According to the 2012 Joint Monitoring Programme Report, more than 780 million people, or 11% of the global population, remain without access to an improved source of drinking water. About 2.5 billion people in 2010 lacked improved sanitation. An estimated 1.1 billion people, or 15% of the global population, still practice open defecation. The adoption of better sanitation and hygienic practices require easy access to water sources. In fact, five out of six users of improved sanitation also use improved water sources.

Read more: http://blogs.adb.org/blog/wake-advocate-taps-and-toilets-maternal-and-ch...

In the north Indian state of Uttar Pradesh (UP), the King George’s Medical University (KGMU) has added a new milestone to its 100-year legacy. One of the largest hospital complexes in north India, it has been transformed over the last few years from a hospital that did not have any healthcare waste management system in place to an institution which today embodies sound healthcare waste management practices, generating less than one-fifth of the infectious waste generated three years ago.

Watch the video: http://www.thegef.org/gef/news/health-without-harm-reducing-risk-healthc...

This is not about how to start the Lunar New Year right with proper weight management. Well, not exactly, as this is about thin trade and why thin is not good especially during excessive upswings and downswings of prices for Asia’s main food staple—rice.

The average export–output ratio, a measure of tradability or the extent of exchange of output between and among countries, is the thinnest for rice relative to two other important food staples, maize and wheat. From 1961 to 2009, the average export-to-output ratio of rice was only 5% while wheat was, 19%, and maize, 14%.

Read more: http://blogs.adb.org/blog/feeding-millions-southeast-asia-how-thin-thin

Why should foresters concern themselves with issues of human health? There are at least two important answers to this question. First, and perhaps most fundamental, forestry activities affect human health and human health affects forests. Second, the United Nations Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) (see Box), which the world’s countries have committed to meet by 2015, reflect increasing global concern about human health. Four of the MDGs (1, 4, 5 and 6) address health directly. It can also be argued that improvements in human health (as part of human well-being) are a prerequisite for accomplishing the seventh goal, which is the most pertinent for foresters.

Read more: http://www.fao.org/docrep/009/a0789e/a0789e02.htm

Urban air pollution is set to become the biggest environmental cause of premature death in the coming decades, overtaking even such mass killers as poor sanitation and a lack of clean drinking water, according to a new report.

Both developed and developing countries will be hit, and by 2050, there could be 3.6 million premature deaths a year from exposure to particulate matter, most of them in China and India. But rich countries will suffer worse effects from exposure to ground-level ozone, because of their ageing populations – older people are more susceptible.

Read more: http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2012/mar/15/air-pollution-biggest-...

Several countries in the Sahel region of western Africa need urgent support to prevent a full-blown food and nutrition security crisis and to protect and restore livelihoods of communities dependent on livestock and crops, according to the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO).

Read more: http://accra-mail.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=39786...

One citizen out of five dies from environment-associated diseases in the WHO European Region. The environmental burden of ill health varies significantly across the Region, however, ranging from 14% to 54%. Within countries, the poor can be exposed to environmental risks five times more often than their wealthier peers, a new WHO report concludes.

Read more: http://www.menafn.com/qn_news_story.asp?storyid=%7B67f3db58-e982-4f32-a3...

A chemical spill that has contaminated a river in southern China, threatening the water supply of millions of people, is sparking calls by environmental activists for more corporate and government accountability over industrial waste.

Businesses in China should be required to disclose the amount of chemical waste they produce and where it is discharged, representatives of Greenpeace and the Beijing-based Institute of Public & Environmental Affairs said Tuesday.

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http://online.wsj.com

Experts at the Fifth Shafallah International Forum have said that prejudice against and abuse of people with disabilities is alarmingly frequent in disaster-struck areas, although programmes in some countries have made significant contributions to improving the lives and reducing the impact of disasters for disabled people.

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http://www.gulf-times.com

Fears that wind turbines make people sick are ''not scientifically valid'', and the arguments mounted by anti-wind farm campaigners are unconvincing, according to confidential briefings given to the state government by NSW Health.

Documents obtained under freedom-of-information laws show that health officials repeatedly warned ministers last year that there was no evidence for ''wind turbine syndrome'', a collection of ailments including sleeplessness, headaches and high blood pressure that some people believe are caused by the noise of spinning blades.

But the department's advice contrasts with the view of the Planning Minister, Brad Hazzard, who was responsible for draft guidelines, released in December, that significantly tighten the approvals process.

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http://www.canberratimes.com.au