The Kingdom of Tonga in the Pacific Ocean may be small in population, but it is kicking big goals in public health. The World Health Organisation (WHO) has validated that the country has eliminated lymphatic filariasis – also known as elephantiasis – as a public health problem. Lymphatic filariasis is a mosquito-borne disease that damages the lymphatic system, leading to ...

Applying big data analysis to mineralogy offers a way to predict minerals missing from those known to science, as well as where to find new deposits, according to a groundbreaking study. In a paper published by American Mineralogist, scientists report the first application to mineralogy of network theory (best known for analysis of, for example, the spread of disease, terrorist ...

Experts have identified a number of key pathways to transform African cities towards a low emission and sustainable urban future. At the African Carbon Forum held recently in Cotonou, Benin Republic, they stressed that unplanned and rapid urbanisation can lead to increased greenhouse gas emissions, urban poverty, and inequality. Consequently, participants focused discussions on innovative solutions such as integrated urban ...

No country in the world fully meets recommended standards for breastfeeding, according to a new report by United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) and World Health Organisation (WHO) in collaboration with the Global Breastfeeding Collective, a new initiative to increase global breastfeeding rates. The “Global Breastfeeding Scorecard”, which evaluated 194 nations, found that only 40 per cent of children younger than six ...

In recent times, residents of Lagos State have witnessed torrential rainfall which, in most parts, altered the way of life of the people largely due to heavy flooding, a recurring aftermath of such heavy downpours. Lagos, which is bordered by the Atlantic Ocean, has the indicators for the amount of flooding and other environmental harsh conditions being experienced. This mainly ...

The Federal Government has said it relies heavily on the Dangote refinery to fulfill its promise to Nigerians to end fuel importation by December 2019. To this end, the Minister of State for Petroleum Resources, Mr. Ibe Kachikwu, who visited the Dangote oil refinery site at Lekki Free Trade Zone in Lagos on Monday, July 31, 2017, said the government ...

The Republic of Haiti on Monday, July 31, 2017 deposited its instrument of ratification of the Paris Agreement on Climate Change. The French-speaking Caribbean nation thus becomes the 157th country to endorse the global treaty, after the Netherlands, which ratified the climate accord on Friday, July 28, 2017. According to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), Haiti’s ratification of the ...