Streamlining Storage: IAEA Conducts Training In Radioactive Waste Management In Africa

By Ron Chen, Correspondent ASEAN Region

Emerging and re-emerging diseases transmitted by vectors – most commonly, mosquitoes – pose growing threats to the people and livestock of Sri Lanka. To help control vectors and strengthen Sri Lanka’s defence against the diseases they carry, the IAEA in cooperation with the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) have completed a four-year technical cooperation project to help local authorities establish a national centre, as a first step towards more effective control of vector-borne diseases.

The National Centre for Research, Training and Services in Medical and Molecular Entomology for Vector-Borne Disease Control will facilitate the development and use of the sterile insect technique (SIT) for more efficient suppression of mosquito vector populations.

“Vector-borne diseases, like malaria and lymphatic filariasis, have been eliminated from Sri Lanka, but there is a risk of both diseases re-emerging,” said Professor in Molecular Medicine at the Faculty of Medicine, University of Kelaniya, Sri Lanka, Menaka Hapugoda. “The presence of cases of imported malaria remains a challenge: when mosquitoes bite a returning traveller who is infected, they can carry and spread the disease to people living in areas that used to be malaria-infected.”

What are vector-borne diseases?

Vector-borne diseases are caused by parasites, bacteria or viruses that are transmitted by organisms that act as an intermediary host, such as mosquitoes, ticks and fleas. Over 17 per cent of all infectious diseases are vector-borne, causing more than 700 000 deaths annually, according to the World Health Organization (WHO). The occurrence of these diseases is highest in tropical and subtropical climates, where, in recent years, many countries have experienced outbreaks of dengue, malaria, yellow fever and Zika.

“Some of these diseases can be endemic for a long time in localized areas and suddenly cause epidemics, which places sudden and intense demands on health systems. Morbidity and mortality due to these disease outbreaks can disrupt a country’s economic activity and development,” Hapugoda said.

Prevention and control of vector-borne diseases

In a joint effort to build up the nation’s defences, the IAEA and FAO helped establish the Centre at the University of Kelaniya in 2017. The University provided the space and other facilities, while WHO and Sri Lanka’s National Research Council and National Science Foundation provided funds to conduct research activities. The project involved allocating laboratory equipment and training nine staff members through fellowships and scientific visits. Additionally, the Centre has trained specialists working in vector-borne disease control programmes and partner institutions, with up to 100 trained thus far in national group activities supported by IAEA experts.

“The Centre has demonstrated that it has developed its capacity and expertise to conduct training, research and offer public services,” said Programme Management Officer at the IAEA and in charge of the Agency’s work in Sri Lanka, Mykola Kurylchyk.

One of the main objectives of the Centre is to conduct research on developing, testing and deploying innovative disease prevention techniques, such as SIT, and improving diagnostic testing. “The Centre has initiated over 18 research projects, and findings of these projects will definitely contribute to controlling vector-borne diseases in Sri Lanka and the Asia Pacific region,” Hapugoda said.

In feasibility studies, “researchers have demonstrated the potential of SIT by ionizing radiation as part of area-wide integrated pest management approach to suppress local dengue-vector mosquitoes,” said medical entomologist with the Joint FAO/IAEA Programme of Nuclear Techniques in Food and Agriculture, Wadaka Mamai. Field application of the technique is expected to be conducted in the near future and will also contribute to a regional project to suppress Aedes aegypti and Aedes albopictus mosquito vector populations.

“The successful engagement of the government, disease control programme managers and clinicians from the outset of the project has laid the foundation to sustain and move technology into the clinical setting,” Kurylchyk said. “Early, rapid and definitive diagnosis of vector-borne diseases will facilitate timely management of patients, which will also strengthen the country’s ability to control these diseases.”

The 740-square-metre Centre houses entomology laboratories, insectaries and an arthropod containment laboratory, where vectors of pathogenic agents are reared and maintained for research. By developing research capacity in entomology – the study of insects and their relationship to humans, the environment and other organisms – the Centre has become a focal point in the prevention and control of vector-borne diseases.

Furthermore, the Centre hosts training programmes in molecular biology, medical entomology and molecular entomology for staff within the country’s disease control programmes and government institutions. The Centre plays an active role in national surveillance systems and community-based disease control activities, while also providing public services, such as disease diagnosis and evaluation of vector-control devices.

Equipment at the Idrissa Pouye de Grand Yoff Hospital in Dakar – one of the cancer centres reviewed by the IAEA and its partners as part of an imPACT review in Senegal in December

Equipment at the Idrissa Pouye de Grand Yoff Hospital in Dakar – one of the cancer centres reviewed by the IAEA and its partners as part of an imPACT review in Senegal in December.

Director of the Idrissa Pouye de Grand Yoff Hospital in Dakar, Saliou Tall holds his camera up to an MRI scanner, takes a picture, and presses send. Halfway across the world, the phone of an international cancer control expert pings. This photo is one of hundreds she and other experts used, alongside videos and meetings with more than 50 Senegalese stakeholders, to assess the country’s cancer control capacities and needs during a recent imPACT Review mission.

“In these uncertain and challenging times, determination and flexibility are needed to ensure that the entire Senegalese population has access to basic services, including access to health care. Senegal is committed to the fight against cancer, and we now have a compass to better chart our path towards cancer care for all,” said Representative of the General Director of Public Health, Siga Diop.

The review was conducted from July to December 2020 in a virtual format by the IAEA and its partners, the World Health Organization (WHO) and the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC), due to coronavirus-related travel restrictions. Results from the review demonstrate Senegal’s potential to become a country with one of the most advanced cancer control systems in West Africa, said Head of the Cancer Control Review and Planning Section at the IAEA, Geraldine Arias de Goebl.

Expert recommendations focused on interventions that reached across all areas of cancer control, such as increasing training and recruitment of medical and para-medical staff, including specialists in paediatric oncology and palliative care. To reduce the high number of late-stage cancers and diagnose and prevent more cases earlier when the chances for cure are higher, experts recommended the extension of the HPV vaccination programme and better maintenance of diagnostic equipment. Furthermore, regional hospitals would need more support in oncological services, the reviewers have concluded.

The review was conducted under the leadership of the Ministry of Health and relied on inputs from civil society organizations and ten public and private health facilities throughout the country. All areas across the cancer control continuum were reviewed to include planning, surveillance, prevention, early detection, diagnosis, treatment and palliative care. Radiation safety and security considerations also featured in the discussions. Recommendations specific to particular cancers such as paediatric and cervical were provided through this review.

8000 deaths each year

According to IARC’s 2020 estimates, more than 11 000 people develop cancer in Senegal each year and almost 8 000 die from the disease. Cervical cancer is the primary cause of cancer mortality in the country and is among the five leading causes of death overall. These figures are predicted to increase substantially in Senegal by 2030, resulting in over 16 000 new cases and almost 11 000 deaths annually.

IARC composes its estimates based on a variety of data, including that from cancer registries, which are designed for the collection, storage and management of data on cancer patients. “It will be essential for our Ministry to reactivate the Senegalese Cancer Registry to collect and process reliable data from the main facilities in the country in order to understand and fill the gap in cancer control,” said Director for Disease Control at the Ministry of Health and Social Action in Senegal, Babacar Gueye.

The review provides a reference and framework for strategic partners to work with the Government of Senegal to strengthen awareness, planning, coordination, and resource mobilization, said the UN Resident Coordinator in Senegal, Siaka Coulibaly. Next steps for the Government include the updating and costing of a national cancer control plan. “The imPACT Review provides a country with a significant baseline and with valuable work streams, but it is only the starting point,” said Public Health Leader Coordinator for Non-communicable Disease Management at the WHO Regional Office for Africa, Jean-Marie Dangou. “The hard work is still to come. Leadership from the Ministry of Health is vital as is support and guidance from IAEA, WHO and IARC to help the government fight cancer.”

Recommendations from the imPACT Review can also help guide programmatic planning for the country with IAEA, WHO, IARC and other organizations. Through its technical cooperation programme, the IAEA currently supports Senegal in strengthening nuclear medicine and improving radiotherapy in cancer treatment.

This imPACT Review mission was the first conducted using a partially virtual format adapted in the face of global travel restrictions. An in-country mission will take place when travel allows for high-level dialogue and the verification of certain virtual findings.

CO2 Emissions Increase Ocean Acidity

The 8th of January (08.01) was chosen to be the Ocean Acidification Day of Action because 8.1 is the current pH of the ocean. Global ocean acidification is a clear illustration of one of the profound effects of sustained climate change. This phenomenon is changing the chemistry of our oceans and affecting the health of many marine animals, some of which people rely on for their livelihood and for food.

The International Atomic Energy Agency’s Ocean Acidification International Coordination Centre (OA-ICC) is using nuclear and nuclear-derived technologies to better understand and address this important issue. According to Peter Swarzenski from the IAEA in Monaco: “With our international partners, this project plays a key role bringing together global leaders in ocean acidification science and policy. Together, we enable Member States to positively engage in ocean change issues as part of the UN Ocean Decade and the Sustainable Development Goals.”