Can Israel's 10-hour pause bring relief to Gaza's children facing hunger and trauma?
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Ottawa Citizen
a day ago
- Ottawa Citizen
Carleton researcher probes health effects of wildfire smoke
Article content The 'Great Smog of London' in December 1952 killed an estimated 4,000 people that month. Researchers have tallied an additional 8,000 deaths in the following two months — although there has been debate about how many of these 'excess' deaths were attributable to influenza. Article content 'We've spent decades assessing the health effects of air pollution, including sources like traffic,' said Villeneuve. Article content Over time, researchers have found that there are important health effects from short day-to-day increases in pollution levels as well as health effects from living in areas of high pollution for years, he said. Article content However, wildfire smoke pollution is different from air pollution caused by cars or industry because it's more organic. Exposure to wildfire smoke has been linked to a number of conditions that can prompt a visit to an emergency room or a hospital admission, ranging from anxiety and depression to low-birthweight babies. Article content Article content A 2024 UNICEF report found that fine particulate matter from wildfire smoke is up to 10 times more harmful to children's respiratory health compared to particulate matter of the same size from other sources, particularly for children under five. Prenatal exposure to wildfire smoke is associated with low birthweight, premature birth and increased risk of stillbirth, said the report. Article content 'We would love to expand the study to include younger people and children. Young children, for example, are more susceptible to wildfire smoke because their lungs are still developing,' said Villeneuve. Article content Technically, every person in Ontario and B.C. will be captured in the study. But people over 65 are more likely to have at least one chronic condition, and both provinces collect data on provincial drug benefits, which indicates types of chronic conditions. Article content Article content According to a study published 2024 by the Canadian Institute for Health Information, more than 80 per cent of older adults reported having at least one chronic condition, and 33 per cent reported having three or more chronic conditions. Article content Statistics Canada reported that 45.1 per cent of Canadians had at least one chronic condition in 2021, and 8.3 per cent had three or more conditions ranging from arthritis, high blood pressure, diabetes, stroke, mood disorders and anxiety. The category also included anyone who had ever been diagnosed with cancer or heart disease.
CTV News
4 days ago
- CTV News
Gazan woman evacuated to Italy in a ‘state of severe physical deterioration' dies in hospital
Palestinian children and their families evacuated from Gaza arrive at Rome's Ciampino military airport, Thursday, Aug. 14, 2025. (AP Photo/Gregorio Borgia) MADRID — A 20-year old Palestinian woman described as being in a 'state of severe physical deterioration' has died after being transferred to Italy for treatment, the hospital said Saturday. The patient was admitted to Pisa University Hospital late Wednesday and died on Friday. She was removed from the Gaza Strip as part of a humanitarian mission and arrived with a 'with a very complex, compromised clinical picture,' according to the hospital. She died after entering a respiratory crisis and subsequently going into cardiac arrest, it said in a statement. Hospital staff had performed tests and started supportive therapy before she died, the statement said. The woman, named by Italian media as Marah Abu Zuhri, had arrived in Italy with her mother. Italian Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani said almost 120 Gazans — 31 patients and their families — had been flown to Rome, Milan and Pisa on three planes. In a post on X, Tajani said that it was the 14th medical evacuation of Palestinians that Italy had conducted since January 2024, and the largest. The hospital did not specify whether the woman had suffered from malnutrition, but said that she had arrived in a 'state of severe physical deterioration.' Eugenio Giani, leader of the Tuscan region, expressed his condolences Saturday for the woman's death. Earlier in the week, United Nations spokesman Stephane Dujarric said that starvation and malnutrition in Gaza were at their highest levels since the Israel-Hamas war began. The UN says nearly 12,000 children under 5 were found to have acute malnutrition in July — including more than 2,500 with severe malnutrition, the most dangerous level. The World Health Organization says the numbers are likely an undercount. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said last month no one in Gaza is starving. 'There is no policy of starvation in Gaza, and there is no starvation in Gaza,' he said. U.S. President Donald Trump responded to Netanyahu's claim by noting the images emerging of emaciated people. 'I don't know,' Trump said when asked if he agreed with the Israeli leader's comment. 'I mean, based on television, I would say not particularly because those children look very hungry.' Over the past two weeks, Israel has allowed around triple the amount of food into Gaza than what had been entering since late May. That was after 2.5 months when Israel barred all food, medicine and other supplies, saying it was to pressure Hamas to release hostages taken during its October 2023 attack that launched the war. The Associated Press
CTV News
5 days ago
- CTV News
Bad diets, too many meds, no exercise: A look inside the latest ‘Make America Healthy Again' report
Savannah Knott hangs up her backpack for the day on the first day in her second grade classroom at Mary Carrico Catholic School, Tuesday, Aug. 12, 2025, in Knottsville, Ky. (Greg Eans/The Messenger-Inquirer via AP) WASHINGTON — A report that U.S. Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has promised will improve the health of America's children does not call on the government to make significant changes to its food or farming policies, according to a draft document obtained by The Associated Press. The 'Make America Healthy Again' strategy report is supposed to be one of Kennedy's signature achievements as the nation's health secretary, giving the government a roadmap to help its citizens lose weight, reduce chronic diseases and exercise more. Before coming to Washington, Kennedy had spent much of his career decrying the harms of chemicals sprayed on crops, prescription drugs, ultraprocessed foods, and vaccines. His coalition, then, has expected him to take bold action as the nation's top health leader. But a draft of the so-called 'MAHA' report, first reported by The New York Times Thursday night, mostly calls on the government to further study chronic diseases, bad air quality, Americans' diets and prescription drug use. The report lays out four problem areas – poor diet, chemical exposure, lack of physical activity and overuse of medications -- that are to blame for chronic diseases in the U.S. The White House has held off on publicly releasing the report, which was submitted to U.S. President Donald Trump on Tuesday. The latest report is the policy companion to a 'MAHA' report released in May, which was found to have several errors in it. White House spokesman Kush Desai refused to confirm whether the copy obtained by the Associated Press was a final version, though HHS officials have insisted the report has been finalized since Tuesday. 'President Trump pledged to Make America Healthy Again, and the Administration is committed to delivering on that pledge with Gold Standard Science,' Desai said. 'Until officially released by the White House and MAHA Commission, however, any documents purporting to be the second MAHA Report should be considered as nothing more than speculative literature.' Some in the agricultural industry had warily anticipated the report, fearing it would call for bans or investigations into the use of pesticides and herbicides that farmers in the U.S. regularly spray on crops to control weeds and enhance yields. Other farmers were concerned about how the report may target the use of corn syrup, a common sweetener, in American foods. Both products have been a central talking point in Kennedy's 'MAHA' movement, which has attracted a diverse coalition of suburban and rural moms, Trump supporters and liberals concerned about the nation's food supply. Instead, the report calls for an 'awareness' campaign to raise confidence in pesticides. Concerns from the agricultural industry waned as the report hit the president's desk, with one of Kennedy's closest advisers, Calley Means, calling for MAHA supporters to work with major farm companies on Tuesday. Means also acknowledged that the 'pace of political change' can be frustrating. 'We need to build bridges,' Means said, adding that: 'We are not going to win if the soybean farmers and the corn growers are our enemy.' Means did not respond to a request for comment on Friday. A spokesman for Kennedy also declined to comment. The report urges the National Institutes of Health – which is facing a 40 per cent cut to its budget under the Trump administration – to undertake several studies on Americans' health, including research on vaccine injury, autism, air quality, water quality, prescription drugs, and nutrition. The report also calls for changes to the foods served in schools and hospitals, something that will be hard to deliver with the Trump administration's funding cuts, said Kari Hamerschlag, the deputy director of the food and agriculture at the nonprofit Friends of the Earth. Earlier this year, the Republican-led administration wiped out US$1 billion set aside that helped food banks and schools procure food directly from local farmers. 'This is not going to transform our food and farming system,' Hamerschlag said. 'This is not going to make people healthier. They need to put resources behind their recommendations.' ___ Amanda Seitz, The Associated Press
