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Road development will bring many new diseases to these Ecuadoran children and their families. |
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"Only 5 to 10 percent of worldwide health funding goes to investigate diseases that affect 90 percent of the global population."
The World Heath Organization calls it "The 10/90 Gap."
Only 5 to 10 percent of worldwide health funding goes to investigate
diseases that affect 90 percent of the global population.
San Francisco's Sustainable Sciences Institute (SSI) is addressing
that research gap.
SSI matches Bay Area researchers with their counterparts
in developing countries.
For example, Dr. Mauricio Espinel of Ecuador works with Dr.
Deborah Dean of the Children's Hospital Oakland Research Institute
and Dr. Joe Eisenberg of the University of California-Berkeley's
School of Public Health. Dr. Espinel is researching the spread
of sexually transmitted diseases (STDs) in Ecuador.
Children's Hospital's Dr. Dean is training Dr. Victor Hugo
Espin, a
member of Dr. Espinel's team, to use PCR (polymerase chain
reaction) techniques to diagnose individual strains of STDs.
Dr. Espinel, in turn, will train other local doctors to use
PCR to diagnose and analyze the spread of such diseases as
chlamydia and gonorrhea.
Dr. Espinel is breaking new ground in Ecuador, where there
are currently no regional baseline statistics for STDs. The
use of PCR will allow doctors to quickly and accurately track
the spread of the disease - known to dramatically increase
as people travel along roadways.
"This information will be of the utmost importance in
terms of evaluating the impact of [new] roads and for planning
public health programs in the area," said Dr. Espinel.
"The final aim is to force a discussion on the need for
requiring Health Impact Assessments on any major development
projects, programs, or policies."
Dr. Eisenberg of UC-Berkeley shares Dr. Espinel's interest in
investigating the impact that human intervention in the environment
has on the spread of infectious diseases. Dr. Eisenberg and
a graduate student traveled to Ecuador in the summer of 2000.
They worked with Dr. Espinel's team to identify potential risk
factors for waterborne disease transmission.
Background:
Of the annual 56 billion dollars allocated to health
research, only 5-10% goes to researching the diseases
that affect 90% of the world's population, who live
in developing countries.
more...
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Dr. Eisenberg recognizes that, "To do effective international
public health research, one needs a solid understanding of
what's happening at the grassroots level. Collaboration with
local partners allows us to gain valuable skills and insights
that we do not have as outsiders. In return for this, we can
provide much needed training and resources."
For more information, contact Tina Knight at tmknight@ssilink.org,
or 415-431-2410.
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