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Watching the World

“Global Urgency”

At the Summit on AIDS held in Paris on the seventh annual World AIDS Day, the UN secretary-​general, Boutros Boutros-​Ghali, asked the heads of state and the health ministers from 42 countries and 5 continents “to declare a state of global urgency” in view of the alarming progression of the AIDS pandemic. Between July 1993 and July 1994, despite worldwide efforts to check the spread of AIDS, the total number of AIDS cases in the world increased by 60 percent, reaching some four million. In a grim report, the World Health Organization warned that at the present rate of growth, the AIDS pandemic is indeed “threatening the future of entire societies,” and it predicted that as early as the year 2000, between 30 million and 40 million persons will have been infected by the deadly AIDS-​causing HIV virus.

“The Worst Drug”

A recent headline in the Brazilian newspaper Jornal do Brasil labeled cigarettes “the worst drug.” According to the director of Brazil’s National Cancer Institute, Dr. Marcos Moraes, the tobacco industry is targeting young people. He explained that the “earlier a youth begins smoking, the longer he will continue to smoke. And the longer he is exposed to smoking, the greater the health risks.” Dr. Moraes notes that among the 30 million smokers in Brazil, “2.4 million are children and adolescents.” He adds that “cigarettes kill more [people] than AIDS, cocaine, heroin, alcohol, fires, car accidents and suicides put together.”

More Violence Against Women

“Assaults on women by their husbands or male partners are the world’s most common form of violence,” says the newspaper The Australian in an article about a UN report. The article explains that “up to a quarter of the women in the world are violently abused.” In some countries, such as Chile, the Republic of Korea, Pakistan, Papua New Guinea, and Thailand, this rate is even higher. In one country, about 80 percent of the female population are abused, stated another newspaper, The Sydney Morning Herald, in discussing the same UN report. Many of the victims also endure ongoing emotional abuse. Domestic violence is very difficult to solve because it almost always occurs in the privacy of the home. Often friends, neighbors, and relatives are reluctant to report it.

Toxic Fumes

Health officials in the United States are concerned over the number of carbon monoxide (CO) poisonings. MMWR (Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report) states that “nationally, approximately 590 deaths occur annually from unintentional CO poisoning.” This does not include the many nonfatal cases of CO poisoning. Because the deadly gas is colorless, odorless, and tasteless, it is difficult to detect. The gas impairs the blood’s ability to carry oxygen to the cells, causing headaches, nausea, anomalies in the nervous system, coma, and death. According to MMWR, the “accumulation of CO may be associated with any combustion process occurring indoors (e.g., home heating, cooking, or a running vehicle or gasoline-​powered tool)​—particularly when ventilation is inadequate.”

Is Four-​Wheel Drive Safer?

Many believe that it is always safer to drive a four-​wheel-​drive vehicle, especially in snow and ice. However, “when it comes to stopping, four-​wheel-​drive vehicles have no advantage over two-​wheel-​drive vehicles,” reports The Wall Street Journal. According to insurance officials, some of the most popular models actually have “worse than average injury and collision insurance claims.” Evidently, many drivers become overconfident and take unnecessary risks when driving vehicles with four-​wheel drive. Marc Schoen, a researcher at the UCLA Medical Center in Los Angeles, noted that “through movies and TV, people have come to associate four-​wheel drives with a sense of independence and freedom.” This sense of power and invincibility can interfere with sound judgment, which is ultimately the best policy for safe driving.

Toys That Inspire Violence

A TV program about teenagers who transform, as by magic, into martial-​arts warriors has become the craze among children in the United States. The TV characters are known as the Mighty Morphin Power Rangers. School authorities are concerned over what seems to be obsessive behavior displayed by small children imitating the violent acts of the Power Rangers. The Wall Street Journal reports that in a recent study, 96 percent “of teachers polled say they have witnessed a Morphin-​inspired act of aggression.” In some cases the children are as young as three years of age. “Small children may suddenly turn into frenzied, brawling boxers,” says the Journal. The popularity of the program is reflected in the expected $300 million to be generated in one year by the sales of Power Ranger toys.

New Device Warns of Heart-​Attack Risk

Scientists in Victoria, Australia, have developed a new device that when placed against the skin over a key artery in the neck predicts the risk of heart disease. Without invasive surgery, it measures blood velocity and variations in blood pressure after each heartbeat. A computer can then be used to calculate “the elasticity of the patient’s entire cardiovascular system,” says the report in the newspaper The Sydney Morning Herald. The tool promises to be more accurate than conventional methods of determining a person’s risk of cardiovascular disease. While high cholesterol levels and high blood pressure are strong indicators of risk, “many people in these categories never have a heart attack,” says the report, adding that “with the use of this test, [they] would be spared from taking expensive cholesterol-​lowering drugs or following strict diets they do not need.”

“Eat Your Fruits and Vegetables”

For decades scientists have recommended the intake of carotenoids as food supplements. Beta-​carotene is a well-​known carotenoid, and it has been associated with the prevention of heart attacks, strokes, and certain cancers. However, new studies question the benefits of beta-​carotene supplements. According to The New York Times, food scientist Dr. Paul LaChance “cautioned against taking supplements of individual carotenoids.” He explained that “in nature we get a mix of carotenoids, and we don’t yet know how important it is to get this mix.” Another researcher, Dr. Regina Ziegler, recommends that “until we identify the protective entities in fruits and vegetables, we can’t encapsulate them into a pill.” The Times notes that “most experts have returned to the advice traditionally given by mothers: ‘Eat your fruits and vegetables.’”

Church Resignations

According to the Catholic newspaper Christ in der Gegenwart, 28 million persons in Germany, or one third of the population, are Catholic. In the years 1992 and 1993, a total of almost 350,000 persons resigned from the Catholic Church. Bishop Karl Lehmann, chairman of the German Bishops Conference, fears that a new federal tax, to be introduced in 1995, will lead to a more rapid increase in resignations, reports the Süddeutsche Zeitung. Church members in Germany are required to pay a church tax. Thus, it is felt that some Catholics will try to avoid the new federal tax simply by pulling out of the church.

Life in the Big City

Although London, England, is Europe’s biggest city, according to the newspaper The Independent, its seven million inhabitants are not altogether happy about living there. Of the Londoners polled, 6 out of 7 believe life in the capital has worsened over the past five years, with pollution and traffic congestion being among their major worries. When asked which people they trusted, 64 percent cited doctors, with the police and teachers inspiring less confidence. A mere 2 percent felt they could trust businessmen working in London’s financial district. About 60 percent believed that this area was “full of people who make themselves rich at other people’s expense without creating real wealth.”