Global rise in breast cancer due to 'Western lifestyles'...





Of all the exports from our modern world, breast cancer ranks as among the most dubious. Once thought to be a disease of the rich, it is now a global epidemic.


The rise of the cancer in Europe and America – cases have jumped 80 per cent in the UK since the 1970s – is being mirrored across the world. And scientists say increasing prosperity and the "Westernisation" of traditional lifestyles is to blame.

A richer diet, smaller families, delayed childbearing and reduced breast-feeding have driven the increase in the West, together with rising obesity and increased alcohol consumption, specialists say. Now these trends are being seen everywhere – with a growing burden of malignant disease in their wake.

An estimated 1.3 million new cases were diagnosed around the world last year. It is the commonest cancer in the UK and across Europe, even though it affects almost only one gender. In 2006, it outranked lung cancer, which affects both sexes, for the first time.

In Japan, Singapore and Korea – countries once renowned for their low rates – cases have doubled or tripled in the past 40 years.

In China, urban cancer registries have recorded 20 to 30 per cent increases in the past decade. India has seen similar rises and cases have doubled in parts of Africa. There are doubts, especially in Africa, about how far better recording has contributed to the apparent rise. But scientists agree that the disease is rampaging across the globe.

However, they disagree about the best way to curb it. Some claim the best hope lies in developing a preventive drug – a hormonal cocktail that would act like a vaccine and provide lifelong protection – and criticise the world's failure to focus attention on it.

Others demand political action, raising public awareness and galvanising governments to provide screening and early treatment that gives women the best chance of surviving. A third school of thought emphasises the need for a public health strategy to highlight the risks of alcohol, obesity and lack of exercise.

Peggy Porter, of the Fred Hutchinson Research Centre in Seattle, Washington, writing in the current New England Journal of Medicine, says the world must wake up to the growing threat.

"As more countries modernise, more women will enter an increasingly sedentary workforce, delay childbearing, exert control over their reproductive lives, live longer and eat a more Westernised diet. Their breast cancer rates will no doubt increase. It is crucial that women's awareness of their risk and their expectations of their government and the medical community regarding detection and treatment increase at a similar rate."

Professor Porter said the biggest barrier to improved care for women was ignorance. "In a lot of countries, women are still afraid to know. When Betty Ford [wife of US President Gerald Ford] admitted she had breast cancer in 1974, it changed the world. Women who had seen it as a death sentence became willing to talk about it, pushed for more care and more research. Other countries need to follow that lead."

Valerie Beral, head of the Cancer Research UK epidemiology unit at Oxford University, said that to blame Westernisation was to miss the central cause – changes in child-bearing.

"We don't need to seek subtle explanations when we know the main one. China has gone from the six-child family to the one-child family in a couple of generations. Most women in the past had six or seven children – it was fairly standard across the world. Each child was breast fed for two to two-and-a-half years, which meant they stopped ovulating and didn't conceive. The hormonal changes that occur around child-bearing and during breast-feeding are protective for life."

We need to investigate the nature of this hormonal protection and synthesise it, she said. "If we could find out why child-bearing gives life-long protection against breast cancer we might develop a hormonal cocktail that could be given to women at age 18 for a year which would have the same effect. I am frustrated that this is not a research priority."

Peter Boyle, head of the International Agency for Cancer Research in Lyon, which will publish global cancer rates next month, said alcohol was the most worrying driver for younger women. "The rise is a huge problem and one which is growing enormously quickly. There are places which 30 years ago had very low rates where it is growing very rapidly. In every region it is the commonest or second most common cancer.

"My concern is over the rise in drinking, especially among young women. For each single unit of alcohol per day, the risk rises by 7 per cent. It's the ladettes who hit the bars on a Friday night that I worry about."

Why rates have risen

* The rising breast cancer rates around the world are linked to increased exposure to the female hormone oestrogen, because of changes in reproduction and diet.


* Improved nutrition means girls reach puberty earlier and women have the menopause later. A century ago, girls had their first periods at 16 and 17, but today it is morelikely to be 12 to 13.

* Each year that the menopause is delayed increases the risk of contracting breast cancer by 3 per cent.


* Increased numbers of women going out to work has led to later births, smaller families and fewer women breastfeeding. Each year that childbirth is postponed beyond the mid-20s increases the breast cancer risk by 3 per cent.

* The more children a woman has, the lower her risk of breast cancer so the trend towards smaller families has increased many women's exposure.


* Breast cancer rates vary widely around the world. Japan has one fifth of the cases diagnosed in the US. However, Japanese women who move to the US rapidly acquire the same risk as American women.

* Breast cancer in the UK has risen by 84 per cent since the 1970s. In 2005, 38,212 women were diagnosed with the disease.


* Breast cancer is the commonest cancer in the UK even though it mostly affects one sex (there are a few hundred cases in men). Lung cancer, the next most common, which affects both sexes, was diagnosed in 30,997 men and women in 2005.

Acknowledgements: The Independent - Health and Families: 24 Jan 2008

Planting Trees, Growing Children - the Serafin Ramirez story

Bolivia, 2009


Bolivia is one of the poorest and least developed countries in Latin America, especially in the isolated mountain villages like Jatun Pampa. There, life is sustainable when good weather grows crops to feed families, but when the weather is disastrous, families are destitute.

Serafin Ramirez is a 47-year-old Bolivian with a wife and eight children. He is a skilled, gifted leader and tenacious about seeking solutions - solutions not only for himself and his community of Jatun Pampa, but for his children as well.

He knew something had to change. Once, the rain and sun provided good growth of crops and residents maintained their families on crop income. But lately, they were besieged with drought, and then flooding. They had little rain, new growth dried up, there was ice in the summer, and strong winds blew where trees once stood. It was the result of natural disasters, the need for firewood and climate change.

Making the Connection
Residents agreed it was a problem, but felt alone or resigned to their struggle. So Serafin traveled to Wayrapata, Bolivia, where Outreach International was working with another group. Serafin was persistent in requesting a facilitator come to his community and soon after, Outreach International was in Jatun Pampa.

“Trees neutralize the strong winds,” Serafin explained to Marcelina, the facilitator. “They hold the ground from erosion. We call the trees the lungs of the earth because they restore and replenish it. And when the ground is not eroded, we can also plant gardens.”

Through the process of authentic participation, a community group was organized of 16 families. They researched available services and resources, and acquired small trees from DESEC, a Bolivian forestry organization. But the trees were delivered to the valley and had to be transported by donkeys because the mountain road was not maintained. It was difficult work, and after planting the tiny saplings, many were eaten by animals.

So the community group petitioned the government for a better road and, once built, 9000 pine trees were delivered to the top of the mountain and 18 acres of the Jatun Pampa village were reforested with new trees.

Families then sought seeds for vegetables and apple trees for their gardens.

Now, after only a year, the trees have stopped erosion down the mountain, helping even the vegetable gardens to succeed. There is a surplus beyond feeding families, and vegetables are sold in nearby communities.

The greatest growth
But the greatest outcome of planting the trees has been on the children.

“I planted a pine tree with my children,” one mother says. “And I believe they will continue planting trees when they are older.”

“My children take the initiative to care for our trees. They are the first ones motivated to give new ideas, too,” another says.

“When I was a child, we didn’t have gardens and I didn’t know how to plant,” a proud mother says, “But my son Rodrigo is eating fresh vegetables and already knows how to plant. It is a good thing.”

And Serafin, who helped to initiate the transformation in his village? He just smiles and watches his own children watering the trees.

Outreach International upholds environmental sustainability along with the sustainability of communities and families. Jatun Pampa is just one of many communities in Bolivia, and one of thousands throughout the world where nurturing the environment is growing hand-in-hand with nurturing communities.

The Serafin Ramirez Story

New Zealand could patrol its home waters with "drone" spy planes...



Robotic "drone" spy planes flying by remote control could be used to patrol New Zealand's waters.

The Defence Force is keeping a "watching brief" over the unmanned planes, some of which have the range to conduct surveillance in the Southern Ocean around Antarctica, and in the Pacific Islands.

Drones are best known for their use to fire missiles against militants in Iraq and Afghanistan.

But their ability to spend up to 32 hours in the air and send back video images means they could take up the Air Force's role of monitoring New Zealand's exclusive economic zone and neighbouring waters for illegal fishing boats, and even search for lost vessels.

The New Zealand Army has developed its own hand-launched drone, the Kahu, which is almost ready for soldiers to use for "over the hill" observation in battlegrounds such as Afghanistan.

The head of the Army's capability staff, Colonel Phil Collett, said the Defence Force was assessing drones "to find out what questions we should be asking to become an informed customer".

The force "certainly thinks there is a place for this kind of technology", he said.

It was examining how drones could be used by the Navy, Army and Air Force.

Colonel Collett said drones ranged from "global roaming aircraft that can stay in the air for days at a time, to the type of things soldiers might use to look over the hill in front of them".

The Kahu - Maori for hawk - was a "home-grown" drone developed with private interests. It recently had a night flight.

Defence Minister Wayne Mapp said that as well as the "watching brief", drones would probably be considered in the upcoming Defence White Paper, which will shape the future function and resources of the armed forces.

Dr Mapp said the US Coastguard and Australian Government were looking at using drones for sea patrols.

The US Coastguard wants an unmanned helicopter that can be launched from ships, and Australia has tested several drones, including the long-range Global Hawk.

The Australian Government this month rushed through a multi-million-dollar deal to lease two mid-range Heron drones for use in Afghanistan, where its troops are already using the hand-launched version.

Its Air Force has said it aims to have another drone for maritime surveillance by next year.

Dr Mapp said the use of drones had been raised several times at public consultation meetings being held for the White Paper.

They were "clearly one of the things we have to think about", Dr Mapp said, but he did not want the White Paper "turning into a shopping list".

He said being unmanned did not make the drones cheap, as they still required a pilot and support crew on the ground.

He said a top-end version with satellite links would be needed to monitor New Zealand's exclusive economic zone which extends 370km from the shore and is one of the biggest in the world.

It becomes even bigger when international obligations in the Southern Ocean and Pacific are factored in.

Dr Mapp said two manned planes could do a similar job, "with the added advantage that you can change mission and throw a liferaft out".

Drone technology is advancing rapidly, and the US Air Force is now training more drone operators than fighter and bomber pilots in what is seen as a fundamental shift.

Dr Mapp said New Zealand needed military resources with flexibility, and the advances being made in that particular technology.

Such a role could prove to be part of New Zealand's role in future ANZAC combined military operations. New Zealand does not have, and probably could never afford in the future, combat aircraft. In such a military alliance, New Zealand's Orion patrol aircraft could be better utilised as well.

Acknowledgements: Patrick Gower, MSN.

Sir Howard Morrison - A great entertainer, a great leader of his people and a great New Zealander has died.


Sir Howard Morrison passed away after a heart attack at his home in Rotorua. He was 74.

For more than 50 years he provided a unique Maori voice, becoming perhaps the greatest ambassador to New Zealand music the country has seen.

He was born in Rotorua in 1935 to a family he described as poor and has described his life as "beautiful, simple, but meaningful".

Morrison always loved music and once said he "fell in love with the way I sounded".

He left school to become a freezing worker, but by the mid-1950s he started putting together groups for gigs at local rugby club socials.

But it was the Howard Morrison Quartet that catapulted him into the spotlight and turned them into one of the country's original pop groups - and the first fully professional entertainers. The quartet was originally named the Ohinemutu Quartet and included Gerry Merito, Morrison's brother Laurie and his cousin John.

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Their debut record, My Old Man's An All Black, topped the charts in 1960, selling 80,000 copies. By 1965 the quartet disbanded and Howard Morrison launched his solo career.

He married his wife Kuia at age 22.

In 1966 he made it onto the big screen, topping the bill in the musical comedy Don't Let It Get You. The role helped him win entertainer of the year and other awards would follow, including being named the 1982 television entertainer of the year.

Sir Howard was the uncle of movie actor Temuera Morrison.

Kenya: Innovative Cash Transfers Restore Hope, Dignity.
Cash-based program empowers communities displaced by conflict in Nakuru, Kenya



There is no “one size fits all” strategy for helping families and communities rebuild after a devastating crisis. Action Against Hunger’s Food Security & Livelihoods Programs uphold this principle when working to restore self-sufficiency by respecting a community’s economic and cultural character. Each community has its own unique assets, and it’s our job to work with local leaders to identify these assets and integrate them into a project’s overall design. While this painstaking commitment to community participation is essential, contexts are different, requiring new models and novel approaches.


The political instability that unfolded in Kenya in January of 2008 presented Action Against Hunger with one such set of unique challenges. Nakuru, the regional capital of Kenya’s Rift Valley Province, had been particularly affected by the post-election violence that tore through Kenya last year. With populations displaced along ethnic lines, livelihoods disrupted, and homes destroyed, communities were left adrift to fend for themselves in makeshift camps.

While most humanitarian assistance centered on the needs in the camps, a significant number of the displaced had gone undetected, having sought shelter with friends and relatives in Nakuru instead of the camps. After establishing a presence in the camps, Action Against Hunger discovered that there were unmet needs in town, where residents struggled to rebuild their homes and support their families without any access to income. Action Against Hunger saw a clear opportunity to introduce a cash-based program to meet these overlooked needs.

Read more here