The Drum Beat 208 - Base Line...Part 2

This Drum Beat is the second in a 2-part series which reviews some of the interesting and often disconcerting facts and trends from the past 6 months of our Base Line section. This edition considers just some of the international and regional issues of health, environment, technology and security. The first issue [see Base Line...Part1] considered issues of gender, children, poverty and rights. Please access the source links listed below for further information.

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HEALTH

1. State of the World's Vaccines & Immunisation

• During the 1990's global immunisation coverage of over 70% was maintained.
• But this was very uneven between and within countries and rates in East and Central Europe declined after the end of the Soviet Union and plummeted in sub-Saharan Africa.
• By 2000 approximately 37 million children world wide did not receive routine immunisation during their first year of life.
• Inequalities exist between the poor and wealthy and the children of the poorest 20% account for 50% of all childhood deaths from pertussis, polio, diphtheria, measles and tetanus, and for 45% of all deaths from perinatal conditions...

2. Tobacco: Advertising, Taxing & Banning

• Countries with total or near-total bans on tobacco promotion (advertising, promotion and sponsorships) have experienced, on average, declines in per capita tobacco consumption 8 times greater than countries with weak or no promotional restrictions.
• For every 10% increase in the real price of tobacco products, per capita consumption declines by 8% in middle- and low-income countries...

3. Population Projection for 2050 Lowered Due to AIDS & Birth Rates

• The past 50 years have seen fertility levels in the developing world fall from 6 to 3 children per woman.
• Over the current decade the number of excess deaths due to AIDS among the 53 most effected countries is estimated at 46 million.
• This figure is expected to climb to 278 million by 2050.
• The combination of these 2 factors has led to a downward projection for the population in 2050 from 9.3 billion to 8.9 billion...

ENVIRONMENT

4. The Decline of Birds

• Bird populations around the world are falling and human factors are at the centre of the decline.
• At least 103 species have vanished since 1800.
• 1,200 of the world's 9,800 bird species may face extinction within the century.
• Deforestation jeopardises 85% of the most threatened species.
• Exotic species introduced through global trade and travel such as snakes, rats, cats, plants and insects now endanger 25% of threatened species.
• Chemical threats such as oil spills and pesticides kill millions of birds on sea and land.
• Longline fishing claims 1000's of seabirds - 23 species now face extinction.
• Evidence suggests climate change is causing early migration and nesting and could alter bird habitats pushing some species to extinction...

5. Great Fish Going Way of the Dinosaur

• 90% of all large fish in the world's oceans are gone.
• It takes 10 to 15 years for industrial fisheries to reduce a new fish community by 90%.
• Since 1950 (the onset of industrialised fisheries) the resource base has been reduced to less than 10% for entire species of large fish species from the tropics to the poles.
• Longline fishing used to catch 10 fish per 100 hooks; today the catch is 1 per 100.
• The average size of large fish today is between 20 to 50% smaller than it used to be...

6. Wind Power: World's Leading Energy Source?

• Wind energy is widely distributed, its cost is falling, and it is renewable and abundant.
• The world's wind-generating potential - assuming 10% of the earth's land area for development - is double the projected world electricity demand in 2020.
• The cost of wind-generated electricity has dropped from US$ .38 a kilowatt-hour in the early 1980s to US$ .04 today on prime wind sites.
• It is predicted this will further drop to US$ .01 or .02 if turbines are mass produced.

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NEW Pulse Poll!

The most important development communication question is "Why"?

If you agree, please elaborate. If you disagree, please indicate what you think is the most important development communication question and for what reason.

VOTE

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TECHNOLOGY

7. Phone Rates Effecting Net Users in India

• 1000's of Indians are logging off the Internet because of high telephone rates.
• Internet connections by individuals and companies have fallen to 3.8 million from over 4 million in Dec 2002.
• Fewer than 2% of India's more than 1 billion people have regular access to a phone line and fewer than 1% have a personal computer.
• Almost 95% of Internet connections in India are through phone lines.
• Dialing up for 1 hour can cost more than 24 rupees (50 cents), a day's wages for an average Indian housemaid...

8. Internet Radio: Growing Off the Beaten Path

• More than 100 million listeners have tried Web radio.
• The number of regular monthly listeners has tripled over the last 3 years.
• Much of the growth has been with stations offering non-mainstream programming.
• The top rated Web radio network offers 1000's of stations (many created by individual DJ's) to users who listened to 7.6 million hours of programming in March this year...

9. Languages & the Internet

• 2,261 languages have writing systems.
• Only 260 are represented by on-line dictionaries...

SECURITY

10. Migrants and Refugees

• People who flee their home countries from fear of persecution join a larger stream of migrants who leave for other reasons such as work, education, or reunification with family.
• At the end of the 20th century approximately 150 million people were living outside the country of their birth.
• Of these, over 15 million, or 10%, are refugees...

11. Threats and Security

These figures compare the scale of recent and ongoing causes of death in the USA and in other countries.

• In the USA:
  Cigarette smoking 430,700 per year.
  Obesity 300,000 per year.
  Alcohol abuse 110,000 per year.
  Motor Vehicle Accidents 43,200 per year.
  Guns (other than in war) 34,000 per year.
  The '9-11' attacks approximately 3,000.
• In other countries
  Sudan: 2,000,000 killed so far in the ongoing civil war.
  Cambodia: 1,700,000 killed by Khmer Rouge massacres in 1975-78.
  Japan: 103,000 killed in atomic bombing.
  India: 20,000 killed by the Bhopal chemical spill...

12. Iraqi Women Urged to Raise their Voice during Reconstruction
Iraq’s secular regime gave women high levels of education and Iraq was one of the first Middle Eastern countries to have a woman judge and government minister. 2 open letters issued by the Afghan Women’s Network (AWN) and the Kosovo Women’s Network (KWN) have urged Iraqi women not to lose these gains during reconstruction...

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This issue compiled by Chris Morry cmorry@comminit.com

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