The past few months have got everyone talking about the corona virus disease, COVID-19, caused by SARS-COV2 a novel type of corona virus similar to the ones that caused the SARS and MERS outbreaks in 2002 and 2012 respectively. With over 88,900 recorded cases and 2,900 deaths worldwide as of today, it has been placed as an international public health alert and emergency by the WHO. Although most of the cases started in China, the incidence rate in China has been dropping recently while spread to other countries like Iran, Italy, France and more recently , the US have been on the increase. Despite the relatively lower case mortality ratio when compared to other viral diseases like Ebola and Rabies, COVID-19 is a serious problem to the world because of the lack of vaccine or antiviral agent and more importantly, the ease of spread (which is common to many respiratory illnesses). Certainly, nothing is easier than spread via respiratory droplets whether it’s by coughing, wheezing and sneezing. There may also be other means of spread; however, these routes have not been confirmed. In general, not much is known about this nouvelle virus but more information will be unveiled with time. When infected by the virus, the person may be asymptomatic or present with the following unspecific symptoms:

• Fever
• Tiredness
• Dry cough

Others may develop aches, pain, nasal congestion, runny nose, sore throat and diarrhoea which are mild and begin gradually. Most cases resolve without any intervention but some people run the risk of developing very severe respiratory disease like pneumonia and consequently die. The population most vulnerable and with the highest risk of falling sick include:

• Elderly (those above 65 years)
• Those with co-morbid medical problems like hypertension and diabetes
• People with compromised immunity

It is paramount to follow the following tips to stay safe:

• Regular hand washing with soap and water or alcohol based hand sanitizers
• Avoid touching eyes, nose and mouth with hands
• Maintain at least 6-meter distance from anybody especially people who are sick- coughing and sneezing
• Avoid going to overcrowded areas
• Keep yourself up to date with recent COVID-19 news
• Follow new health tips and avoid unnecessary travel especially international travel if possible

Report to health authority if you notice the above symptoms

The increase in Substandard and falsified medical products is a growing public health concern that is not always in the public’s mind. It is always assumed that all health products affect health positively but that is not always true. Just as there are fake gold necklaces and adulterated fruits, there are also substandard and fake medical products. Drugs are by far the most common medical products implicate as well as vaccines and in-vitro diagnostics. Drugs come in either brand or generic forms; the brand forms are made and sold exclusively by the producer while the generic forms can be produced and sold by any manufacturer. Unlike other products that their generic forms are poor, generic drugs actually do very well when compared with their brand counterparts as they contain the same active substances and ingredients. However, brand drugs are far more expensive due to their strict monopoly and exclusivity. It is due to this price difference that insurance companies continue to advocate for the use of generic drugs to help improve drug coverage not only in low and middle income countries but also in developed countries. Furthermore, this price difference also accounts for the safety of brand drugs and is why the vision of improved drug coverage have been sabotaged by substandard and fake drugs.

Substandard drugs are drugs that fail to meet quality standard or specifications due to poor production practices or storage procedures. There are common thoughts that brand drugs are never substandard and that generic drugs are all substandard but that is actually not true. Some brand drugs, no matter how expensive they are sold, can be substandard. The problem with generic drugs is that the manufacturers (particularly those in China and India) tend to send their higher quality generics to developed nations like Canada and the United States while they sell poor quality drugs to developing nations like Nigeria. The ideal is that generics should be as effective as brand drugs. Sometimes, substandard dugs are released by mistake and then subsequently taken out or recalled voluntarily by the pharmaceutical company unlike fake drugs. Fake drugs are not even drugs in the true sense and its production is a pharmaceutical crime. They are drugs and pharmaceutical products that are deliberately and fraudulently falsified products which do not represent their identity, composition or source and are produced for monetary gains. Whether substandard or fake, these drugs pose significant limitations to the realisation of the SDG 3 which aims to achieve universal health coverage, including access to essential medicines and vaccines. This problem is not only faced by developing, low and middle income countries because of their poor drug regulation and poor access to care, but every country and every one is a potential target due to online marketing.

The impacts of accidentally using substandard or fake drugs are glaring. Some of the resulting problems include treatment difficulties, non-responsiveness to health care, adverse reactions, dissatisfaction with drugs and death. In countries where these drugs are very common, many patients have died of treatable infections due to poor activity of these drugs since antibiotics are mostly involved. This can be really frustrating for doctors who sometimes question their diagnosis or drug recommendation and may even increase doses to over 10 times what is considered normal with no perceived effect. In addition, the poor activity of these drugs ends up worsening the problem of antimicrobial resistance since not all organisms are wiped out. More so, some of these products can contain substances that can harm an individual; there have many cases of drugs contamination with toxic substances.

The availability and sale of substandard and fake drugs is a life-threatening problem and must be tackled as a priority. This must be taken seriously by all governments and followed with proper legislative actions including clear and hefty punishments on offenders. There should increase in drug surveillance and these bad drugs should not just be seized but traced back to the source and disciplinary action carried out by responsible regulatory agencies. Currently, there are already very efficient means of detecting these drugs such as scanning of codes or product labels but they are mostly in developed countries. Improved and effective communication between clinics, local and national regulatory agencies and pharmaceutical companies would also help increase surveillance. Finally, we must learn to be careful ourselves and know that these medicines are capable of causing severe harm… always remember to:

• Check if the production and expiry dates of the inside and outside packaging match
• Examine the packaging for spelling mistakes and errors
• Make sure the medicine is not disclosed and doesn’t smell unusual
• Report adverse reaction to your doctor
• Report suspicious products to regulatory agency

If you asked a random person the tips to healthy living, you’re probably going to hear things like being physically active, not smoking, having a balanced diet, going for regular health checks and so on… of course, these are what we are constantly fed by the media. Healthy living as it turns out is more complicated than only these lifestyle modifications. It is easy to understand why we often talk about lifestyle modifications- it’s proactive, cost-friendly and the human mind naturally thinks of prevention. Using a sports case example: Why is a certain sports player so good? Probably because he practices a lot- however, there are other circumstances surrounding the individual such as having a good coach. So, just as having a good coach and other important advantages surround such an individual, there are other factors that surround and consequently influence healthy living- some of these are even more important than lifestyle modifications. Health is not just affected by what we do or don’t do; it is also influenced into our environment. For instance, no matter how many times you wash your hands, you are still more likely to suffer from COVID19 infection if you’re living in China because of the prevalence of the infection in that location. This is not to undermine the benefits of proper hand washing, staying physically active or practicing safer sex, but it’s high time we brought the other factors that influence health into limelight and address them:

• Aboriginal status
• Disability
• Early life
• Education
• Employment and working conditions
• Food insecurity
• Health services
• Gender and gender identity
• Housing
• Income and income distribution
• Race
• Sexual orientation
• Social exclusion
• Social safety net
• Unemployment and job security

These factors are worthy to be addressed because of the health inequalities associated with them. Health is a universal human right and should not be treated like luxury or a mere commodity. Research has documented that people with disabilities are likely to be refused  care, blacks have shorter lifespan in countries like America and even Canada despite universal health coverage. These differences in health outcome are clearly due to differences in realities of daily life such as poor employment which leads to low income and poor housing.

Considering the preceding paragraphs, tackling poverty should definitely be a health priority! This is however very difficult because health inequality is rooted in the fundamental problem of different forms of inequality in human life. It is then left for world leaders and governments to determine what should be a right or privilege and what should be bought as a commodity. Given the importance of health, most developed nations are pushing for universal health care. Income is a better predictor of good health than any lifestyle modification; therefore, it makes sense that income redistribution policies would be a bold step in the right direction for any country that has the health of her citizens at heart. Additionally, education should be made accessible and available to all as it correlates with better income and also contributes to knowledge about ways of staying healthy.

Hospitals and health care facilities are generally seen as one stop solutions to most health problems. However, these places have the potential to increase or add to our health problems when we visit them while seeking treatment. There is always a small risk of something going wrong during health visits or interventions and this; unfortunately, happens quite a number of times as patients often suffer one complication or the other when they go to the hospital or healthcare facility.  Examples of such complications include:

• Developing a VVF from an obstetric surgery
• Developing a nosocomial infection
• Losing a child due to injection of a wrong drug
• Overdosing

Patient safety is a serious and common situation- The World health Organization reports that 4 in 10 patients (40%) are harmed in primary and ambulatory care settings. This is of course worse in low and middle income countries which have substandard health care facilities with 134 million adverse events (over 2/3 of the world burden) occurring annually. A patient in the United States has a 1 in 4 chance of experiencing injury, harm or death when admitted to the hospital, and this situation is quite similar in Canada as well as many developed countries. This bothersome statistics begs the question: Are health facilities doing more harm than good? I mean, should we decline doctors’ appointments and develop cold feet towards hospitals visits- the very place we need to go to get help? Well, the answer remains YES. However, we need to recognize the importance of patient safety and endeavour to make it a top priority. WHO defines Patient safety as the absence of preventable harm to a patient during the process of health care, and reduction of unnecessary harm associated with health care to an acceptable minimum. This harm can come in form of infections, injuries, errors and poor care.

Hospital infections, also known as nosocomial infections are caused mostly by antibiotic resistant bacteria which can affect any part of the body like the skin, lungs and can lead to sepsis and can quickly progress to organ damage and ultimately, death. Invasive procedures like surgeries have increased risk of complications and contaminations due to additional problems with anaesthesia while higher risk procedures like pancreatic surgeries are even worse. This risk is further increased by poor training and expertise. Errors in drug prescriptions also account for many hospital problems which errors cost about 42 billion dollars annually and can easily result in death especially in children. Poor patient management cause problems like bed sores and thromboembolism due to prolonged hospital stay. Patient safety is a serious issue, a matter of life and death actually. Health providers must endeavour to do no harm consciously and unconsciously because it violates the ethics of healthcare. Furthermore, lawsuits to health workers for making a mistake may be cultivating unsafe blame culture which focuses on the ‘WHO’ (who made the mistake), instead of the ‘WHY’ (why the mistake was made in the first place). Focussing on the person that made the error also prevents identification of errors within the system itself.

Errors arise as a result of poor system organisation and usually result from workers being extremely tired, probably experiencing fatigue or burnout. Since human errors are inevitable, a good system- which develops only when there is good safety culture of transparency and no blame games should sufficiently reduce errors. For example, if a nurse gives propranolol to a patient with heart failure that is coincidentally asthmatic (this would sadly cause an asthmatic attack), a good safety culture should seek to find out how the error moved past the entire system, and not just focus on the nurse. Additionally, effective communication, which involves active listening, showing empathy and patient involvement in care, is important and necessary to reduce errors. It would help for patients to be more involved in their care and clarified if need be as this emphasizes the importance of individual care as well as the gradual shift from patient to client. Patients who have questions about their care or feel uncomfortable about a procedure should be able to:

• Talk to someone immediately- preferably someone involved in their care
• Discuss the issue in a polite way and let the person know they want feedback if the issue warrants investigation  OR
• Report to the hospital through the customer service, suggestion box, hotline, patient advocacy or patient and family relations department.

Finally, it is important to have a national hospital rating system like the leapfrog hospital grade system in the US for the public to make choices about which hospital to visit depending on the safety and quality of care; this should also help foster better safety culture for health facilities.

Everyone continues to talk about under-nutrition, starvation, malnutrition and lack of food supplies in developing nations and regions in conflict. However, there is little or no conversation around the exponential increase in the number of obese children. This is not much of a surprise as overweight is the other face of the nutrition problem common in developing nations like Canada and the US particularly in minority groups. Just to give you an insight into the depth of this problem; the number of overweight and obese children has quadrupled since the 90s in Canada and little has been done about it as the situation is even worse in the US with 1 in 4 children currently overweight. As if this is not enough, many of these children continue into adulthood remaining overweight and obese worsening the obesity epidemic. As we know, obesity whether in childhood or adulthood is not a disease in itself however, it predisposes a child to a whole lot of problems including NCDs like:

• Hypertension and cardiovascular diseases
• Diabetes mellitus and it’s complications
• COPD, obstructive sleep panda and other respiratory issues
• Arthritis and other musculoskeletal problems

In addition to the above health risks, there are social implications of childhood obesity. Most times, these children tend to be mocked, bullied and teased a lot leading to psychosocial problems such as depression, poor self-esteem and anxiety disorders. And of course, those with poor coping mechanisms and weak support systems can engage in violence, drug addiction and even more overfeeding detrimental to themselves and the society. The natural question that follows is: What can be done to address this problem? Well, there’s a lot but we have to first understand the factors that are responsible. It is not difficult to see why diet is an important factor; the more you eat, the more likely you are to grow fatter though this is rather too simplistic as some diets like high energy, carbohydrate and trans fat diet are more likely to make one fat than fruits and vegetables. The increase in snacks, sweet and sugary products partly account for the increasing rate of obesity in children. However, that is not full piece of the puzzle; the increasing sedentary lifestyle due to technological advancements is another important factor. Children spend most of their time on TV, video games or with their mobile phones or laptops surfing the internet, they don’t burn off their extra calories which leads to weight gain. These two factors, diet and physical inactivity remain the major focus of most interventions in childhood overweight and obesity.

There are three groups of interventions:  government, population and community based interventions. Government interventions can include dedicated investment in health promotion by using food policies like import tariffs and taxes on unhealthy foods and subsidies on healthy foods. Additionally, policies to incorporate teaching the importance of good diet and physical activity on health are effective. Population wide policies include traffic light labelling of products, restriction in television advertising of snacks, drinks rich in sugar and trans-fat as exemplified by Denmark, increased provision of fruits and vegetables to school canteens, provision of school playgrounds and incorporating exercise in daily school schedule. These interventions should involve key stakeholders in the community and tailored to fit into the culture and organisation of the community to ensure high level of participation and success.

Finally, there’s actually so much parents can do for their overweight or obese children, although it still revolves around better diet and physical activity. Parents may have to restrict their child’s intake of sugary or high carb foods. It is also important to start at an early age to always make fruits and vegetables available as well as keep snacks away from the house since feeding habits are formed at an early age. Also you may want to go for a walk on evenings or on weekends if you’re busy which not only increases physical activity but also gives you enough bonding time. Children should be encouraged to engage in other forms of leisure aside from watching TV and playing video games. Outdoor sports like football, running and some time out with friends are great ways to pass time and would help in better social development for your child.

When you say the word addiction, people tend to think alcohol, marijuana, crack, opioids and the like; of course, they’ve caused a lot of deaths; opioids alone account for over 40,000 deaths (50% of all overdose deaths).However, to think that drug addiction is the only form of addiction is nothing further from the truth. The fact is that there are a lot of things one can get addicted to… thinking of it scientifically, one actually gets addicted to the reward system in the brain not the substance or action itself. These substances cause addiction because they cause a potent rise in the dopamine level in the brain; hence, the likelihood of a substance to cause addiction depends on the level of dopamine rise in the brain. This is why we don’t get addicted to other things like washing clothes or cooking. What this means in essence is that if something gives you as much or even greater dopamine rush as marijuana, it would probably lead to an addiction. Such is the case with internet addiction, the 21st century wave of behavioural addiction gradually eating into the lives of our youth particularly the adolescents and teenagers.

It is really difficult to comprehend the effects of internet addiction since it has not been recognised by the DSM or ICD as a distinct condition; however it is quite easy to see its impacts on the society. Why is internet addiction becoming an increasing problem? possibly the dramatic shift in social life of recent times in addition to the anonymity, affordability and accessibility of internet makes it very available and consequently, addicting. There are various forms of internet addiction including:

• Online pornography: It is very easy to see why pornography can be very addictive knowing that sex is a primitive human drive. Individuals easily browse through videos of inappropriate sexual content eventually leading sexual problems like premature ejaculation and erectile dysfunction
• Online video gaming: A long recognised problem particularly in Asian countries- here, individuals immerse themselves in virtual reality where they connect with multiple players anywhere in the world. With well-known recorded deaths of people playing games days without food, some countries like China are already placing restrictions to use and including it as a psychiatric condition
• Social media: Here, individuals connect to friends via social media platforms like Facebook, Whatsapp, Twitter etc. However, due to the changing social system, individuals are relying more on social media even when there is room for tangible conversation; it is relatively common these days to see a group of individuals sit close to each other busy chatting online without exchanging a single word. There is compulsive and insatiable need to acquire more friends for their sense of ego and identity; mostly due to weak psychosocial support around the individual.

Whether its compulsive use of the internet for pornography or inappropriate sexual content, gaming, chatting etc, these behavioural addictions may actually develop as a form of escape from an uncomfortable reality, for example poor interpersonal relationships and psychosocial support system, the individual is confronted with. And of course, it makes to address this problem by building better support system in communities, in schools, religious gatherings and creating awareness of these problems to encourage parents to help their children build positive interpersonal relationships and avoid social exclusion. For individuals struggling with these addictions, there are also treatment options similar to other forms of addiction though they are not standardised as internet addiction is not yet recognised as a distinct disorder. There should be stronger advocacy to include this as a separate entity.

The human body has a remarkable ability to adapt to variable cold weather conditions because as the environmental temperature reduces, the body adjusts by increasing heat gain through shivering, reduced sweating and increased physical activity. However, if there is as little as more than 2° drop in the body temperature due to exposure to extreme cold weather conditions, the body may lose its ability to maintain the core body temperature around normal range which can cause a number of deaths that are preventable when proper measures are taken. Just as hot weather and heat related problems are not limited to hotter parts of the world like middle east and Africa, cold weather exposure and cold related problems are also not limited to very cold parts of the world .Thus, the unique and paradoxical nature of the climate change problem- everywhere is getting hotter and colder!!!Although this is a general public health concern, Canada and other colder parts of the world like Russia and Iceland face more cold related health problems.

These problems can range from lifestyle limitations to predisposition to some health conditions and injuries. If you’ve lived in Canada, for example, you would have probably woken up to find your door covered in ice, plus the weather can be so cold that the streets will be covered in snow- these can really affect movement leading to physical inactivity. Moreover, some people tend to smoke more to keep warm; this negative lifestyle modification can adversely affect health since smoking is a risk factor for many chronic health conditions. In addition to the hindrance to movement and lifestyle changes, people may feel a numbing sensation on their fingertips… something medically referred to as raynaud phenomenon, particularly common in very cold temperatures. For asthmatic or allergic people, there may be significant increase and more frequent puffs of their inhaler. There are also more common upper respiratory tract infections, mostly viral-like common cold which tend to resolve on their own. Finally, there are cold related injuries which mostly affect people that work outside. These include

• Chilblains: redness, itching, swelling due to repeated exposure to temperatures above 0° but less than 16°
• Trench foot and immersion foot: pain, swelling, tingling on the legs or rarely the hands due to prolonged exposure to wet and cold conditions
• Frost nip and frost bites: these are freezing cold injuries that result in pain, stinging skin sensation, paleness and waxy skin. It usually starts on the extremities such as skin of the toes, fingers, ear lobes, nose and cheeks but in more serious cases can involve more body parts.

These injuries can be prevented by staying indoors and going out only when necessary. Also, dressing warm before going out and keeping up with daily weather advice are essential to protecting oneself from extreme cold. Unfortunately, if you’re ever affected or happen to be around an individual affected by these cold injuries, carefully follow the following first aid tips by CCOHS:

• Never ignore numbness. If you feel numb or tingly, take steps to warm the area immediately. (e.g., put your hands under your armpits, or pull your arms into the inside of your jacket for more direct contact with the body)
• If possible, move the victim to a warm area.
• Remove wet clothing, and gently loosen or remove constricting clothing or jewellery that may restrict circulation.
• Warm the person by wrapping them in blankets or by putting them on dry clothing. Cover the head and neck. Warm the person slowly. Avoid direct heat which can burn the skin.
• Loosely cover the affected area with a sterile dressing. Place some gauze between fingers and toes to absorb moisture and prevent them from sticking together.
• If the person is alert, give them liquids to drink.
• Check for signs of hypothermia and seek medical attention. If necessary quickly transport the victim to an emergency care facility
• Treat the person gently and monitor breathing
• DO NOT attempt to rewarm any affected frostbite area
• DO NOT thaw the area if it could freeze again
• DO NOT rub area or apply snow
• DO NOT permit victim to drink alcohol or smoke

Conclusively, prolonged exposure to cold with complete loss of the body’s thermoregulatory system can result in hypothermia-the most serious condition of cold exposure and a medical emergency. Hence, if a victim progresses from vigorous shivering, complaining of cold, impaired judgement and lack of coordination to unresponsiveness, reduced or no shivering and no pulse, quickly separate the victim from cold when you recognize the symptoms, do a CPR and seek medical help immediately.

Extreme temperatures are temperatures that fluctuate plus or minus 10 degrees or more above or below the average high and low temperatures for a particular region at a particular season, and last for several weeks. In terms of extreme heat exposure, our bodies have a remarkable ability to adapt to variable hot weather conditions. This is because the body temperature increases when net heat gain from the environment and the body itself is more than heat loss. Practically, the body needs to maintain its temperature which is about 37.4° around relatively higher temperatures without more than 3°rise in its core temperature. This is necessary for survival.

Extreme hot weather conditions are seen predominantly in African countries but also exist in some European countries, some parts of the US, UK and others during a heat wave. A heat wave is 5 or more consecutive days of prolonged heat in which the daily maximum temperature is higher than the average maximum temperature by 5 °C or more as defined by the World Meteorological Association, however, this definition may differ by country. High temperatures have become an increasing public health concern not only because they cause a number of preventable deaths particularly in children, elderly and pregnant women but they are also worsening due to global warming. People that have experienced these hot conditions can attest to their negative health impacts such as an overall decrease in work performance or a gradual decline in health and wellness. These are due to the indirect psychological stress that heat can put on the human brain. Other direct health problems that can result with extreme heat and increasing temperature include;

• Heat rash: rashes that develop due to heat
• Heat cramps: severe painful muscle cramps mostly in intense exertion due to strenuous exercise
• Heat syncope: fainting spells that occur due to fluid and electrolyte loss during profuse sweating
• Heat exhaustion: loss in the body’s ability to regulate heat leading to marked derangement in most body systems.
• Heat stroke: the most extreme case known as hyperthermia where there is severe dehydration and impaired neurological functions (loss of consciousness, seizures and possibly death)

In addition to its effects on the body, extreme heat can put pressure on electricity and power distribution due to increased air conditioner use. Heat waves can also cause other problems like damage to roads and railway. Finally, it has largely contributed to the increased frequency and severity of wildfires such as the amazon fires. The outlook would continue to worsen if we fold our arms because global warming would keep increasing the temperature of our environment. Therefore, there has to be more serious commitment to our global action on climate change if we are serious at all about these public health problems. For individual problems, some of these tips may help:

• Stay hydrated with water not alcohol or caffeine as most health effects are due to fluid and electrolyte loss
• Reduce exposure by removing clothing to create room for heat loss
• Stop or reduce exercise or physical activity because they work the muscles and increase core body temperature
• Take cold baths and rest on a light bed linen not cushion
• Wear loose fitting clothes, wide hats and sunglasses to protect oneself when going out
• Reduce heat load in the house by turning off as much electrical appliances as possible
• Hang wet towels in airy places and close the windows directly facing the sun during the day
• Spend the most time in the coolest parts of the house
• Avoid going out in very hot periods and use shades when out
• Check on family especially children and elderly
• Do not stay or leave people in confined areas like cars, particularly children
• Contact a health professional if you experience any problems

The recent anti vaccination campaigns, conspiracy theories and possible links to conditions like autism have caused us to rethink the use of mass vaccination. The questions on everyone minds are: should we continue mass vaccination? Is vaccination a safe public health measure? These questions, in recent times, have become socio political, medical, religious and even ethical. The socio political basis of the argument is due to the fact that some political groups like the liberalists are against forced vaccination due to liberality. Also, there are some conspiracy theories about their use in regional subjugation through the spread of infectious agents. The medical argument of course comes from the potential adverse effects and concerns over potentially harmful agents like thimerosal (a mercury containing compound)that have been phased out in many countries including Canada.

The concerns about the public health safety of vaccination exist because of the potential harm that vaccines can cause. Let us briefly discuss vaccines to understand why this potential harm exists. Vaccination is the administration of vaccines (which contain a microorganisms in a weakened or killed state, or proteins or toxins from the organism) in order to stimulate the immune system to defend against an infectious agent. Generally, the closer the organism or virus resembles the original organism, the more the immune response that would be generated but the more likely it would reverse to the original organism, that is, the more the potency the less safe it is. This risk of reversion is why vaccines are contraindicated in high risk groups such as:

• Children
• Elderly
• Pregnant women
• Immune-compromised individuals e.g. AIDS patients
• Individuals under immunosuppressive therapy

Despite these risks, vaccination is recommended for some group of people because they are more likely to be exposed to an infectious agent. These groups include:

• Health workers and Vetenarians
• Travellers moving to areas of high endemicity
• Explorers and researchers moving to wild regions
• Children going to public schools

Amidst the debate, the answer to the question “should we continue mass vaccination?” remains a RESOUNDING YES! Why? Let us look at these facts

• Immunization currently prevents 2-3 million deaths every year
• Over 1.5 million children die annually from diseases that can be prevented by vaccination
• Since 2000, 2.5 billion children have been vaccinated and the number of polio cases has fallen by more than 99%, dropping to just 22 cases in 2017
• Measles vaccinations averted an estimated 21.1 million deaths between 2000 and 2017

And regarding vaccine safety? Vaccination is safe. Even with the ethical argument about one person in a million being at risk of serious adverse reaction or toxicity, this is not surprising as no procedure is 100% safe. Consider this…

• The risk for colonoscopy complications, a routine screening procedure is about 0.35%
• In Canada, the risk of severe pregnancy complications is about 1.5% and 1.6%(700 to 900 deaths) each year in the US
• For venepuncture, serious complications are seen in 3.4% of these procedures

Food Safety is a public health issue that involves the handling, preparation and storage of foods in ways that prevent or reduce the risk of contamination from external sources. Consumption of contaminated foods results in individuals becoming sick from the food, referred to as food borne illnesses. Food safety is a global and public health concern that encompasses a variety of different areas of everyday life. Food contamination is a part of food safety; there is a lot more to food safety than handling, preparing and storing foods properly decrease the chances of contamination. The choice of what and how to eat is perhaps the most important aspect of food safety. We all have to choose between healthy diets (diets high in fibre, low in saturated and trans-fat) and unhealthy diets (diets high in saturated and trans-fat but low in fibre). Unhealthy diet is associated with chronic diseases like cancers particularly colorectal cancer, diabetes and heart disease. Beyond these health benefits/risks, it is also important to stay away from unsafe sea foods such as the puffer fish delicacy. These types of foods are very common in Asia and cause quite a number of deaths; first timers and people not used to these foods should make sure they are properly cooked. Not every food must be eaten!! I mean, you don’t just pick any mushroom in Scandinavia and eat because you want to eat mushroom. You must check if it has white gills like most poisonous ones or you run the risk of eating the death cap.

On a daily basis, avoiding spoilt foods, unlabelled or improperly labelled foods and disfigured canned foods are good food choices. Due to the nature of the 21st century society, people are switching more to produced and processed food which are often stored in containers like cans, sachets etc. This has led to addition of substances to food which act as preservatives, flavours, sweeteners, stabilizers. These food additives, even though they are added for beneficial reasons, some of them like nitrates used in meat preservation are dangerous to health in this case with a known risk of colon cancer. This is why they are tested and guaranteed by the Joint FAO/WHO Expert Committee on Food Additives (JECFA); then clearly written on the food label. This helps people to make better choices if they want to limit the intake of any substance for any reason.

The case is quite different for food adulteration which involves addition of inferior and harmful substances that mimic the desired substance but with reduced quality. It is important to note that food adulteration is a criminal offence as individuals have the right to expect a certain quality of food they purchase; and food adulteration tramples on this right with impunity. It is mostly due to profit drive but can also be due to increased demand and lack of strong regulatory food laws. Some adulterants and food involved with ways to detect the adulterant are

• Mustard oil(adulterant is argemone oil): Shake and heat mustard oil with drops of nitric acid for 2 minutes, argemone oil is present if it turns red
• Salt/sugar (chalk powder): Stir in a spoonful of the salt in a glass of water. If the solution turns white and a residue settles at the bottom, it indicates the presence of chalk.
• Turmeric powder (adulterant-metanil yellow, chalk powder, lead chromate): Add a teaspoon of turmeric to a glass of warm water. Do not stir it and leave it still for a while. Check after about 20 minutes. If the powder settles down at the bottom of the glass with clear water above, the turmeric is pure.
• Chilli powder(brick powder): Adulterant settles on addition of water

These imitations pose serious health risk to consumers and must be taken seriously. As many persons are ignorant of them and the fact that people will not usually carry out these tests, it left for the government to enact strong regulatory laws and policies along with strong surveillance systems to stop this menace. Finally, the fuss about genetically modified foods (or bioengineered foods if you like)  deserves mention. Whether GMOs have future harmful effects is unproven but the general consensus is that they are at least safe for now.