It’s the end of the month and also the middle of the week. And this means it’s time for a mental pickup.
Midweek Motivation
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Monthly Archives: July 2024
In My Hands Today…
Unruly Places: Lost Spaces, Secret Cities, and Other Inscrutable Geographies – Alastair Bonnett
A tour of the world’s hidden geographies—from disappearing islands to forbidden deserts—and a stunning testament to how mysterious the world remains today
At a time when Google Maps Street View can take you on a virtual tour of Yosemite’s remotest trails and cell phones double as navigational systems, it’s hard to imagine there’s any uncharted ground left on the planet. In Unruly Places, Alastair Bonnett goes to some of the most unexpected, offbeat places in the world to reinspire our geographical imagination.
Bonnett’s remarkable tour includes moving villages, secret cities, no man’s lands, and floating islands. He explores places as disorienting as Sandy Island, an island included on maps until just two years ago despite the fact that it never existed. Or Sealand, an abandoned gun platform off the English coast that a British citizen claimed as his own sovereign nation, issuing passports and crowning his wife as a princess. Or Baarle, a patchwork of Dutch and Flemish enclaves where walking from the grocery store’s produce section to the meat counter can involve crossing national borders.
An intrepid guide down the road much less traveled, Bonnett reveals that the most extraordinary places on earth might be hidden in plain sight, just around the corner from your apartment or underfoot on a wooded path. Perfect for urban explorers, wilderness ramblers, and armchair travelers struck by wanderlust, Unruly Places will change the way you see the places you inhabit.
World Hepatitis Day
Every year on 28 July, the world comes together to commemorate World Hepatitis Day, a global health observance that aims to raise awareness about viral hepatitis and its devastating impact on individuals, communities, and healthcare systems worldwide. This day serves as a powerful reminder of the urgent need to address this silent epidemic and work towards a future free from the burden of hepatitis.
Hepatitis, derived from the Greek words hepar or liver and it is or inflammation, is a term used to describe a group of viral infections that primarily affect the liver. Hepatitis can be caused by viral infections, autoimmune disorders, drugs, alcohol, or other toxins. There are five main hepatitis viruses – hepatitis A, B, C, D, and E – each with its unique mode of transmission, symptoms, and potential for causing chronic liver disease.
Hepatitis A and E are typically spread through contaminated food and water, while hepatitis B, C, and D are transmitted through contact with infected bodily fluids, such as blood, semen, or other body fluids. Hepatitis D virus, HDV is unique in that it can only infect individuals who are already infected with the hepatitis B virus, as HDV requires the HBV to replicate. While some forms of hepatitis, like hepatitis A, are acute and self-limiting, others, like hepatitis B and C, can lead to chronic infections that can progress to life-threatening complications, including liver cirrhosis and liver cancer.
The impact of viral hepatitis on global health is staggering. According to the World Health Organization, WHO, an estimated 354 million people worldwide are living with chronic hepatitis B or C infections. These viral infections are responsible for approximately 1.3 million deaths annually, making them a leading cause of premature mortality worldwide.
A liver silently performs over 500 vital functions every single day to keep us alive. That’s why prioritising liver health is so important. The benefits of a healthy liver include living longer. Viral hepatitis still kills over a million people every year. Combined, hepatitis B and hepatitis C cause 1.1 million deaths and 3 million new infections every year. 350 million people are living with a chronic viral hepatitis infection and 3,000 people die from hepatitis every day. That’s one hepatitis death every thirty seconds. Over 8,000 new hepatitis B and C infections occur each day. That’s over 5 infections every minute. If the current trajectory continues, viral hepatitis will kill more people annually than malaria, tuberculosis and HIV/AIDS combined by 2040.
Every 30 seconds, someone dies from a viral hepatitis-related illness. However, with the existing prevention, testing and treatment services that are available every hepatitis-related death is preventable. Hepatitis can affect anyone, but it has a disproportionate effect on the people and communities most underserved by health systems.
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Hepatitis infection is silent and liver health awareness is low. Most symptoms only appear once the disease is advanced, resulting in a huge volume of undiagnosed people living with hepatitis. Even when hepatitis is diagnosed, the number of people who go on to receive treatment is incredibly low. Most people discover they have hepatitis B or C after many years of silent infection, and only when they develop serious liver disease or cancer. Even after diagnosis, the level of treatment and care for people living with hepatitis is astonishingly poor. Only 10% of people with chronic hepatitis B are diagnosed. Only 22% of those receive treatment – that’s just 2% of the total global health burden. Only 21% of people with hepatitis C are diagnosed. 62% of those diagnosed receive treatment to cure them – just 13% of the total global health burden.
The establishment of World Hepatitis Day can be traced back to 2007 when the World Hepatitis Alliance, a non-profit organisation dedicated to addressing the global hepatitis crisis, launched the first-ever global awareness campaign on hepatitis. The date of 28 July was chosen to commemorate the birthday of Dr. Baruch Blumberg, a Nobel Prize-winning scientist who discovered the hepatitis B virus and developed the first hepatitis B vaccine. In 2010, the World Health Assembly, the decision-making body of the WHO, officially designated 28 July as World Hepatitis Day, recognising the urgent need for a coordinated global response to address the growing burden of viral hepatitis.
Since its inception, World Hepatitis Day has served as a platform for governments, healthcare organisations, patient advocacy groups, and individuals to raise awareness, promote prevention, and advocate for improved access to testing, treatment, and care for those affected by viral hepatitis. To eliminate hepatitis and achieve the WHO’s ambitious targets by 2030, simplified primary care services for viral hepatitis should ensure that all pregnant women living with chronic hepatitis B have access to treatment and their infants have access to hepatitis B birth vaccines to prevent infection. 90% of people living with hepatitis B and/or hepatitis C are diagnosed, and 80% of diagnosed people are cured or treated according to newer expanded eligibility criteria. Hepatitis C can be prevented by adequately screening all donated blood and ensuring safe injection practices in health care settings, at home and especially among people who inject drugs.
Key priorities for the future include strengthening immunisation programmes by ensuring universal access to hepatitis B vaccination, particularly the birth dose, which is crucial for preventing mother-to-child transmission and protecting future generations from chronic hepatitis B infection. Scaling up access to affordable and reliable hepatitis testing and treatment services, particularly in resource-limited settings, is essential for reducing the burden of viral hepatitis and preventing its long-term complications. Combating the stigma and discrimination associated with viral hepatitis is critical to encouraging individuals to seek testing and treatment, and promoting their overall well-being and social inclusion. Implementing evidence-based harm reduction strategies, such as needle and syringe exchange programs, is vital for preventing the transmission of hepatitis B and C among people who inject drugs. Achieving a hepatitis-free future requires a coordinated and collaborative effort involving governments, healthcare providers, civil society organisations, and communities, working together to address the multifaceted challenges posed by viral hepatitis. Continued investment in research and innovation is essential for developing new diagnostic tools, more effective treatments, and ultimately, a cure for viral hepatitis.
As we commemorate World Hepatitis Day each year, let us renew our commitment to addressing this global health crisis and work towards a future where no one suffers from the devastating consequences of viral hepatitis. Through collective action, sustained advocacy, and an unwavering dedication to public health, we can turn the dream of a hepatitis-free future into a reality.
2024 Week 30 Update
This quote from Harper Lee, author of the Pulitzer Prize-winning novel, “To Kill a Mockingbird,” emphasises the importance of empathy and understanding in human relationships. The quote highlights that true understanding of another person comes from seeing things from their perspective. This involves deep empathy, where one tries to fully grasp another person’s experiences, feelings, and viewpoints. It suggests that surface judgments are insufficient for truly knowing someone. Understanding requires a deeper connection and effort to relate to their inner experiences and challenges. The metaphor of “climbing inside of his skin and walking around in it” conveys a profound level of empathy, urging us to imaginatively and emotionally put ourselves in someone else’s place to understand their actions and motivations.
This week was a good one for me. I finally restarted my walking earlier this month and this week, I have been hitting my goals out of the park. I even managed to sleep well and this translated into waking up earlier than I usually do. My job search is going nowhere and I am seriously thinking of pivoting to something else if nothing comes up by the end of the year. But this is a decision I can push back to a few more months.
GG’s holidays are coming to an end and she needs to start putting on her student hat once again. BB is busy with his work in camp and seems to like doing what he is doing. The weather in Singapore is so hot these days that I crave for the air conditioning daily, but restrict myself to using it only for a couple of hours when it is the hottest part of the day. And wonder how those whose livelihood depends on them being in the sun manage? Those times I am very grateful that I can afford to switch on the airconditioning multiple times in a day and also have access to multiple fans with which I can cool myself.
And on that note of gratitude, have a fantastic week, folks. Keep smiling and always thank the higher energy for what we have!
In My Hands Today…
Slow Death by Rubber Duck: How the Toxic Chemistry of Everyday Life Affects Our Health – Rick Smith, Bruce Lourie
Pollution is no longer just about belching smokestacks and ugly sewer pipes – now, it’s personal.
The most dangerous pollution has always come from commonplace items in our homes and workplaces. Smith and Lourie ingested and inhaled a host of things that surround all of us all the time. This book exposes the extent to which we are poisoned every day of our lives. For this book, over the period of a week – the kind of week that would be familiar to most people – the authors use their own bodies as the reference point and tell the story of pollution in our modern world, the miscreant corporate giants who manufacture the toxins, the weak-kneed government officials who let it happen, and the effects on people and families across the globe. Parents and concerned citizens will have to read this book.
Key concerns raised in Slow Death by Rubber Duck include flame-retardant chemicals from electronics and household dust polluting our blood; toxins in our urine caused by leaching from plastics and run-of-the-mill shampoos, toothpastes and deodorant; mercury in our blood from eating tuna; and the chemicals that build up in our body when carpets and upholstery off-gas.
Ultimately hopeful, the book empowers readers with some simple ideas for protecting themselves and their families, and changing things for the better.
Memories and Such 