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Burma, China, Global Health
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May 20, 2008
The devastation and rising death toll gripping Burma and China, as a result of natural disasters, are a world away from British Columbia. But the horror unfolding in both countries will generate a lot of discussion at an upcoming international conference at the SFU Burnaby campus. How natural disasters fuel political, social and economic problems in developing countries and can ultimately undermine global health will be a recurring theme at the 6th Annual Western Regional Global Health Conference. The May 23-25 event will draw hundreds of health-related researchers, policy makers, relief agency representatives and professionals from all over the world to SFU’s new Blusson Hall. The following experts are either making presentations at the conference or helping to organize it. They are available to comment on how Burma’s and China’s latest collision with Mother Nature relates to the conference’s agenda.
Tim Takaro (New Westminster resident) will explore how climate change is deepening global disparities in vulnerability to natural disasters and is fostering a new industry called disaster capitalism. Takaro is a physician-scientist and an SFU Faculty of Health Sciences associate professor.
Contact: Tim Takaro, 778.782.7186, ttakaro@sfu.ca
Hasanat Alamgir (Burnaby resident) will present research that reveals how the beaching of spent freighters in developing countries with poor environmental regulations is undermining the health of impoverished workers tasked with dismantling the ships. Such global garbage dumping exposes workers to asbestos, cyanide, pesticides and other toxic materials. Alamgir, an SFU Global Health Program researcher, notes that cyclones, such as the recent one in Burma, frequently hit Southeast Asia, and that ship destroyers are among their most vulnerable victims.
Contact: Hasanat Alamgir, 778.328.8013 (w), 604.616.7018 (cell), hasanat@ohsah.bc.ca
Jocelyn Tomkinson, the conference’s lead organizer and an SFU global health masters student, researches the impact of political strife and human rights abuse on human health. Tomkinson has been studying the impact of poverty and repression on the health of Burmese residents for five years. The impact of the recent cyclone prompted her to start a blog, http://www.blog4burma.blogspot.com/, to discuss Burma’s strife.
Contact: Jocelyn Tomkinson, 778.895.8777 (cell), jocelynlt@gmail.com
Michael Seear, a pediatrician and pediatric respirologist at BC Children’s Hospital, can talk about his experience treating injured children in the wake of major disasters such as the ones in China and Burma. He helped treat children injured by the Indian Ocean tsunami in 2004. At the conference, Seear will talk about the mental health of populations displaced by natural disasters.
Contact: Michael Seear, 604.875.2119, mseear@cw.bc.ca
Tim Takaro (New Westminster resident) will explore how climate change is deepening global disparities in vulnerability to natural disasters and is fostering a new industry called disaster capitalism. Takaro is a physician-scientist and an SFU Faculty of Health Sciences associate professor.
Contact: Tim Takaro, 778.782.7186, ttakaro@sfu.ca
Hasanat Alamgir (Burnaby resident) will present research that reveals how the beaching of spent freighters in developing countries with poor environmental regulations is undermining the health of impoverished workers tasked with dismantling the ships. Such global garbage dumping exposes workers to asbestos, cyanide, pesticides and other toxic materials. Alamgir, an SFU Global Health Program researcher, notes that cyclones, such as the recent one in Burma, frequently hit Southeast Asia, and that ship destroyers are among their most vulnerable victims.
Contact: Hasanat Alamgir, 778.328.8013 (w), 604.616.7018 (cell), hasanat@ohsah.bc.ca
Jocelyn Tomkinson, the conference’s lead organizer and an SFU global health masters student, researches the impact of political strife and human rights abuse on human health. Tomkinson has been studying the impact of poverty and repression on the health of Burmese residents for five years. The impact of the recent cyclone prompted her to start a blog, http://www.blog4burma.blogspot.com/, to discuss Burma’s strife.
Contact: Jocelyn Tomkinson, 778.895.8777 (cell), jocelynlt@gmail.com
Michael Seear, a pediatrician and pediatric respirologist at BC Children’s Hospital, can talk about his experience treating injured children in the wake of major disasters such as the ones in China and Burma. He helped treat children injured by the Indian Ocean tsunami in 2004. At the conference, Seear will talk about the mental health of populations displaced by natural disasters.
Contact: Michael Seear, 604.875.2119, mseear@cw.bc.ca