The resurgence of Malaria in India 1965–76

Summary and Tentative Conclusion The eradication campaign faltered, for historical reasons some of which are tentatively suggested above and which would be worthy of fuller study as an important part of recent medical history; it is one of those historical topics so intertwined with political and social history that an interdisciplinary approach would be fruitful — if the necessary documents could be made accessible, in India and perhaps in international organisations and subscribing government archives too.Once the campaign faltered malaria seems to have diffused from the four foci suggested, the Kutch saltmarsh area and the hill-forest tracts of Madhya, Orissa and Assam. The role of wet years in areas normally arid, semi-arid or only moderately humid seems crucial in the diffusion process, and if the gaps in the rainfall anomaly maps can be filled we shall try to provide a more rigorous analysis of this relationship. Some humid and perhumid areas of high agricultural development, and dense or very dense rural populations, and one or two areas of considerable industrial and urban development like Greater Calcutta and nearby towns, seem so far to be happily little affected by the diffusion of malaria, even though as late as 1948 some including much of West Bengal were hyperendemic areas. It remains to be established by detailed studies if these areas are better prepared in some way — natural immunity must have faded especially in the considerable proportion of young people who have been born since malaria eradication was almost within grasp; or are they so far comparatively fortunate through some chances of the diffusion pattern?Urban malaria, and one might say Anopheles stephensi malaria, is probably more widespread and more significant as an important public health problem than in former times. Once more the need for detailed local studies is clear.It is important to re-read the introductory paragraph of this paper. The fiftyfold increase from 100000 to 5 million cases represents a sharp resurgence but the 5 million cases of 1975 and 1976, and few scores of recorded deaths, still represent a remarkable achievement as compared with the 75 million cases and 800,000 deaths a year at the time of Independence. From over 5 million in 1976 to 10 million in the first nine months of 1977, however, is a quite disquieting increase. If complacence did indeed play a part in the crucial years of resurgence in the late 1960s, it is unlikely to continue today in medical circles. One can only hope that politicians will take the issue seriously. Studies of the economic, educational and demographic impact of the resurgence may help them to do so.     

Environment and disease in the land use and settlement of Apurimac Department, Peru

Narrow intermontane valleys of the Apurímac River system in south central Peru have a macrothermal climate that sharply contrasts with that of the adjacent uplands. The Spaniards, with their feudally-organized hacienda system, recognized the agronomic possibilities of these ribbons of warmth for sugar cane cultivation and of the market for sugar products above the canyon rims. Inadvertently they also introduced malaria and enhanced its endemicity by creating more breeding sites for mosquitoes through irrigation of the valley floors. Malaria had a devastating effect on the Indian population and certain human adjustments were made to cope with the insalubrity of the bottomlands: establishment of independent villages above and outside the malaria zone; seasonal migration of Indian laborers to reduce exposure; abandonment of the cane-growing areas that had the most serious occurrence of malignant malaria, and replacement of Indians by Negroes. Disease eradication has now blurred these adjustments concomitant with fundamental changes in the economic and social structure of the warm valleys.     

Global climate change and human health

Predicted changes in temperature during the next century and the possibility of substantial depletion of stratospheric ozone would represent an unprecedently rapid change in the global environment with enormous effects including important impacts on human health. These are likely to be most obvious in the Third World where some areas can expect an intencification of existing major health hazards: an increased frequency of floods and storms; changes to the availability of food and good quality domestic water supplies and climate-related changes in the ecology of insect vectors for diseases such as malaria. In developed countries significant impacts can be also be anticipated. More frequent episodes of hot weather could be associated with more food poisoning and with increases in deaths from circulatory diseases. These might be offset by lower mortality rates in warmer winters. Exposure to photochemical atmospheric pollution is likely to increase. Stratospheric ozone depletion together with more exposure to sun in warmer weather could accelerate the existing rise in the incidence of skin cancer and increase the risk of cataracts.     

Global climate change and human health

Predicted changes in temperature during the next century and the possibility of substantial depletion of stratospheric ozone would represent an unprecedently rapid change in the global environment with enormous effects including important impacts on human health. These are likely to be most obvious in the Third World where some areas can expect an intensification of existing major health hazards: an increased frequency of floods and storms; changes to the availability of food and good quality domestic water supplies and climate-related changes in the ecology of insect vectors for diseases such as malaria. In developed countries significant impacts can also be anticipated. More frequent episodes of hot weather could be associated with more food poisoning and with increases in deaths from circulatory diseases. These might be offset by lower mortality rates in warmer winters. Exposure to photochemical atmospheric pollution is likely to increase. Stratospheric ozone depletion together with more exposure to sun in warmer weather could accelerate the existing rise in the incidence of skin cancer and increase the risk of cataracts.     

Technical and biological recultivation and development of exhausted open cast mines in the German Democratic Republic

The production of lignite required for the GDR's national economy calls for the shifting of more than a thousand million cubic metres of overburden and the raising of about 1.5 thousand million m³ of ground-water. The ecological and infrastructural consequences are drastic, particularly in the Bezirke of Cottbus, Leipzig and Halle, where most lignite mines are situated. Planned reclamation of exhausted mining areas has so far permitted more than 50,000 ha in the GDR to be returned to agricultural and forestry use. Several attractive recreational areas have been developed by making use of exhausted workings that have been flooded. An outline is given of the legislation governing the responsibilities of the mining enterprises for the reclamation of devastated regions. The work to be done by the agricultural, forestry and water management enterprises to which the reclaimed areas are handed over for final recultivation is described, and the landscape management by which such former open cast mines can be converted into valuable amenities and economically viable regions are discussed in some detail.     

Malaria and related environmental issues in India: a case study of Aligarh city

Malaria is one of the most widespread diseases in the world. Endemic malaria no longer occurs in many temperate zones as a result of social and economic improvement. At present malaria is the Third World's most dreaded killer. It kills over 1 million people and causes 300–500 million episodes of illness. In India, malaria-reported deaths have shown an upward trend. In 1955, a drive to eradicate malaria was launched in India. But after initial success it failed and malaria made a comeback. Malarial mosquitoes generally prefer unpolluted natural breeding sites but now they have adapted to the changed urban environment. In this paper, an attempt has been made to examine the occurrence of malaria and related environmental issues in a small town of India. Aligarh city, lying in the shadow of the country's capital New Delhi, was selected as a case study. Data were collected mainly from household surveys with the help of questionnaire interviews. About 2,185 households belonging to different income groups were sampled. The differences in the occurrence of malaria in the different income households (in 87% low, 69% lower-middle, 65% middle, 14% upper-middle, and 5% upper) suggest that most of these differences are related to the environmental conditions existing inside and outside their homes, such as poor drainage system, poor sullage disposal, open blocked drains, waterlogging and indoor water storage in open containers. Commitment both by the Government and local residents is needed to improve the environmental conditions and eradicate malaria.     

State visions, landscape, and disease: Discovering malaria in Argentina, 1890-1920

Recently, geographers and other scholars have reappraised the state’s spatial properties, roles, and strategies. According to these interpretations, modern states seek to control their subjects and coordinate economic development through various “rational” and “scientific” strategies that involve the standardization, transformation, and bureaucratization of space, territory, and landscape. Through this process social relations are increasingly configured through state discourses and institutions. The role of public health institutions in the development of state spatialities has been relatively underappreciated. This paper explores the establishment and early action of a malaria control campaign in Northwest Argentina, in the early twentieth century. I make three arguments: first, in creating a malaria control program, the Argentine state did not merely respond to a given “social fact” but rather was the key participant in constructing the “malaria problem”. Second, in response to this problem the Argentine state created a new technical-administrative territory, “the malarious zone”, which encompassed several provinces and defined the federal government’s jurisdiction for public health action. Finally, state actors came to understand the malaria problem, and potential solutions to it, through specific “rational” practices of the modern state: surveying, mapping, measurement, and statistical compilation. In its early years, the malaria campaign did not so much control the disease itself, as much as establish control over the “malaria question”, making it indisputably a state project.     

Sedimentary Environments of the Cangfanggou Groupin Junggar Basin, Xinjiang, in Response toClimate and Tectonic Regime

Detailed studies of petrology, palaeocurrent direction, paiaeogeomorphology and palaeohydrody-namics have been conducted for the Permian-Triassic Cangfanggou Group in the foredeep of the Bogda Mountains in the southeastern Junggar Basin, Xinjiang. Sedimentary environments and fades of alluvial fans and pebbly braided rivers, sandy braided rivers, meandering rivers, low-sinuosity rivers, swamps and fresh-water lakes are recognized in the group. Climate and tectonics of source areas strongly controlled the evolution of the sedimentary environments and facies in the foredeep. The block faulting in the Bogda Mountains increased the ground slope, which led to a drastic increase in the grain size of the sediments. Humid climate, being beneficial to plant growth, would provide protection of channel banks and at the same time weaken chemical weathering in the source area, thus large amounts of clay materials are available for the formation of clay plugs. As a result, stable banks and meandering river belts are     

Kuwaiti national assembly — 1992 a study in electoral geography

The study of electoral geography in Kuwait has proven to be an interesting field for its reflection of a regional and national democratic approach in governing the state. The first consultative council was established in 1920, to be followed by the first legislative council in 1938 formed by means of elections. These two councils gave way to the first formation of a state parliament in 1963. Its history was faltered a number of times firstly in 1976 and secondly in 1986.Following the liberation, Kuwait restored its parliamentary life and elections took place on October, 5th 1992. Elections results were different to those of the previous ones where tribalism and sectarianism (Sunnis vis-a-vis Shiites) had little effect on the final results of the votes. Nevertheless, religious fundamentalist movements succeeded in winning more seats than in the past.Kuwaitis in general have become convinced that democracy is the right path for ruling the country, therefore Kuwaitis are very eager to see the success of their parliamentary experience not just for them but for the sake of the entire Gulf region.     

Trace elements indicating humid climatic events in the Ordovician–early Silurian

The chemical composition of the clay fraction separated from the carbonate rock of the north-eastern Baltoscandian Basin was analysed and interpreted. Increased contents of Rb, Zr, Nb, Ti and their Al₂O₃-normalised ratios were detected at several stratigraphical levels in the geological sections of the Middle Ordovician–Upper Llandovery. In the weathering areas, Rb, Zr, Nb, Ti and Al are sensitive to moist conditions in the clay-forming process. In the sedimentary basin, the contents of these elements in clay are preserved and allow to infer past climates. Humid events occurred in the Dapingian, Sandbian, early Katian and Hirnantian (Ordovician) and in the Middle and Late Llandovery (Silurian). Juxtaposition with the sea-level curve shows correlation of five humid climate intervals with eustatic transgressions, suggesting global causes for these climatic changes. The warm and humid events, lasting one to two million years, occurred as climaxes between ice ages. An exceptional humid event within the Hirnantian glacial time occurs during mid-Hirnantian transgression, i.e. at a time of relative warming, as well.