Understand motivations to fight fake news – debate

Ahead of the discussions, Saiful Islam, from the emerging infections programme at the international health research institute icddr,b, in Bangladesh, talked about the issues raised in his paper COVID-19–Related Infodemic and Its Impact on Public Health: A Global Social Media Analysis, published in the American Journal of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine. The paper found that rumours and bad information about COVID-19 posed a major public health risk, but so far there have been limited efforts to measure the consequences of the infodemic, including the psychological impacts. News sources Developing literacy around health and news sources among students can be an effective way of ensuring accurate information is shared, says Islam.

Journals opening up to science expertise from South

Peter Green, managing director, AlphaGalileo “Recognition of the expertise of researchers worldwide is important in tackling both global and local problems,” Siân Harris, communications specialist at INASP, a research-focussed international development organisation, tells SciDev.Net. Journals The Lancet, one of the world’s leading medical journal groups, has announced The Lancet Regional Health, a suite of open access titles based on World Health Organization region designations, in planning since 2019. What impact can research have to a local problem if it is written in a language that the healthcare professional or farmer or policymaker cannot understand?” Future Existing journals serving local communities play an important role in communicating research within their countries and beyond, Harris adds: “INASP believes it is vital that Southern research becomes more visible and trusted — and this requires Southern representation and accessibility to international journals.”

Sanitation progress slows to a crawl amid pandemic

Speed read COVID-19 upped demand for water, sanitation and hygiene facilities But progress has been slow, before and since the pandemic began Data collection on WASH access is key to gaining ground, say experts Progress towards universal access to handwashing facilities has slowed in communities from Latin America to Sub-Saharan Africa amid the pandemic, data analysis reveals. According to the UN children’s agency UNICEF, 82 per cent of Brazilians had access to safe water sources in 2015, increasing slightly to 86 per cent in 2020. “The public water companies installed pipe systems and donated tanker trucks to the poorest communities, installed laundries for the street population and negotiated the water billing debt. [...]the increase in water consumption has been detrimental for some communities: in Algeria, water consumption increased with the rise in the number of COVID-19 cases, creating a major water deficit.

Bottled water sales rose globally as pandemic took hold

Speed read Bottled water consumption rose in many poor countries during COVID-19 lockdowns Lack of access to safe drinking water a factor in the shift to bottles But countries reliant on tourism saw a decline in sales Families in some of the poorest parts of the world turned to buying bottled water as the pandemic sent countries into lockdown, with larger chunks of incomes being spent on drinking water, SciDev.Net analysis shows. Bottled water consumption has increased in the past two years as the number of production companies has increased, while outbreaks of the waterborne disease cholera, as well as COVID-19, have driven the need for safe drinking water. The extent to which communities trust their public or private water suppliers is one factor in the rise or fall of bottled water sales, say analysts.

Global South observers ‘blocked from COP26 negotiations’

Speed read Vaccine, visa complications, COVID restrictions hindering COP26 participation Global South observers, civil society groups ‘don’t have seat in negotiations’ Urgent action needed to address participation gap, say advocates A participation revolution is needed to stop the “outrageous” exclusion of civil society and the global South from major international talks, development advocates have said amid accusations that COP26 is the least inclusive climate summit in a decade. See PDF] Sébastien Duyck, a senior attorney at the Center for International Environmental Law, said: “People have come from all regions, despite all of the hurdles – the economic costs of being here in Glasgow, the health risks associated with going back to their communities, to participate in the process.” Duyck called on the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change Secretariat and the UK as hosts to take immediate action to ensure that the voices of communities living with the impacts of climate change are “effectively and meaningfully heard in negotiating rooms”.

Food policy fight over UN summit

Speed read UN summit aims to tackle food insecurity following COVID-19 But one group say ‘top-down’ summit ignores ecological farming approaches Scientists, civic groups boycott summit, hold alternative talks A UN summit which aims to tackle food insecurity has become the scene of controversy and disagreement, with one group of scientists joining a parallel event in protest. The summit will involve UN agencies, governments and non-government organisations, while the advisory committee includes members of major food security and nutrition organisations. “Sustainable intensive agriculture recognises the importance of responding to the social and ecological dimensions of food production but does so as part of an effort to reduce and eliminate intensive agriculture’s harmful effects,” says Fakhri.

Satellites to protect the world, if data is open to all

Speed read Benefits of satellite tech for world’s poorest and the planet could be boundless – if data is open to all Demand for resources to build satellites could put vulnerable communities, indigenous land rights at risk Future challenges remain, such as need for infrastructure, uneven distribution between countries Satellite technologies are a new frontier in global development. Satellites are being used for everything from monitoring illegal fishing to tracking malaria, from supporting early warning systems in flood-prone nations to measuring crop yields and giving farmers advice on fertilisers. Nomadic communities in Africa are using space technology and mobile phone networks to go where the water is and avoid violent conflicts in the Sahel related to climate change and food insecurity.

Q&A: Objective science news needed now more than ever

Speed read Smallholder farmers ‘absolutely critical’ in food security fight Invasive species biggest threat to biodiversity after habitat loss CABI programmes to focus on prediction, prevention The need for objective coverage of science is greater now than ever before, according to Daniel Elger, who took over last month as the chief executive of the Centre for Agriculture and Bioscience International (CABI, the parent organisation of SciDev.Net). If women farmers have access to the same resources as men, among smallholder farmers in particular, that would immediately reduce the number of hungry people worldwide by 150 million or so, which gives you an idea of some of the important social dimensions beyond food production. See PDF] When we think about the science base of the organisation now, we think about both natural sciences and social sciences, because so much of what we are trying to do is to achieve impact not only at the level of farmers being able to grow more crops and improve their productivity, but embedding that in positive broader social change, particularly in some of the really important, cross-cutting themes — climate, gender equity, and other themes that are crucial to our member countries.

The next pandemic is coming — now is the time to unite

Speed read The hunt is on for Disease X COVID-19 has weakened global surveillance One Health approaches critical The COVID-19 pandemic has ushered in a new era of disease risk as global surveillance systems reach breaking point, while rising meat consumption forces animal species together at an unprecedented rate. In the global South, demand for animal protein has more than tripled meat production over the past 50 years, with milk production nearly doubling and egg output rising more than three-fold. Scientists say stronger biosecurity measures in the global food system could help prevent future outbreaks of zoonotic diseases — those that jump from animals to people.

Don’t panic, experts say after COVID-19 animal killings

Speed read Studies in Germany and China find pigs, chickens, ducks not susceptible to SARS-CoV-2 India food safety authority says chicken eggs, meat safe to eat, after poultry culled in China Expert urges people not to be concerned domestic livestock could become COVID-19 source Animal disease specialists are seeking to calm fears that domestic livestock and pets can spread coronavirus, as lockdowns make protein sources scarce in some lower-income countries. Germany’s national institute for animal health, the Friedrich-Löffler-Institut, is testing the susceptibility of animals to SARS-CoV-2, with final results and analysis expected at the beginning of May. India’s Food Safety and Standards Authority has responded to fears that chickens could spread COVID-19, saying current knowledge indicates that eating eggs and meat is safe, providing general hygiene practices outlined by the World Health Organization and World Organisation for Animal Health (OIE) are followed.