Third world countries

The sulfa dmgs are stiH important as antimicrobials, although they have been replaced in many systemic infections by the natural and semisynthetic antibiotics. They are of great value in third world countries where problems of storage and lack of medical personnel make appropriate use of antibiotics difficult. They are especially useful in urinary tract infections, particularly the combination of sulfamethoxazole with trimethoprim. Their effectiveness has been enhanced by co-adniinistration with dihydrofolate reductase inhibitors, and the combination of sulfamethoxazole with trimethoprim is of value in treatment of a number of specific microbial infections. The introduction of this combination (cotrimoxazole) in the late 1960s (1973 in the United States) resulted in increased use of sulfonamides. 

Pulp production and per capita consumption of paper and board for 1992 is shown in Table 8. The United States, Canada, Sweden, Finland, and Norway make up the North American and Scandinavian (NORSCAN) countries and produced about 63% (22.8 million tons) of the world output. Market share is growing for producers in Latin and South America, Western Europe, Asia, and Africa. These areas provide low cost pulp from state-of-the-art mills. Mills in the third world countries often enjoy the benefits of plentiful, fast-growing tree species, such as eucalyptus and tropical pines, and lower operating and labor costs (3). 

Triorganotin compounds have also been used experimentally in controUed-release formulations to control the infective snail vector in the debiHtating tropical disease schistosomiasis (biHiarzia) and to control mosquitoes in stagnant ponds (103). As yet, the large-scale use of such methods has Htfle support in the host third world countries where these problems are most severe. Tributyltin chloride has been used to confer rodent-repeUent properties on wine and cable coatings (104). 

The earhest commercial process to 1-butanol, still practiced extensively in many Third World countries, employs fermentation of molasses or corn products with Clostridium acetobutylicum (11—13). Acetone and ethanol are obtained as coproducts. 

Chromium. Worldwide consumption for functional uses of chromium is estimated at 13,600 metric tons. From 3630—4080 t of this is used in the United States Europe is estimated to use about 3600 t and the remainder is divided among Far Eastern and Third World countries. For functional appHcations, chromium is used for its hardness and wear properties. 

With these developments, it would appear that many of the more obvious environmental problems relating to particular compounds or groups of compounds have now disappeared. At least, this seems to be so in the developed world where there are now strict controls of environmental pollution that are reasonably well enforced. However, this does not necessarily apply to third-world countries where there is not such strict control. One consequence of this trend in developed countries has been... 

Chlorine dioxide has also periodically been encountered in these applications in third world countries, but the effectiveness of this biocide would be short lived. 

The collaboration between mental health services and members of families of people with mental illness and their other carers is of essential importance in developing a useful and successful mental health service. Collaboration with carers is not in existence in many of the Third World countries, and in places where it exists it is at present often restricted to a one-way communication of instruction of what the carers should do to assist in the realization of the treatment plan established by the medical practitioners. Advice from carers and information about the effects of treatment can both be of great value in the treatment of individual patients and in deciding the best use of medications and other treatments in health services in general. 

Allelopathy is newly emerging multidisciplinary field of agricultural research. A lot of allelopathy research work has been done in various fields of agriculture and plant sciences. However, standard methods are not being used by workers due to lack of a compendium on the techniques, and hence the results obtained are not easily comparable with each other. This causes problems to researchers working in underdeveloped / third world countries in small towns, where library and research facilities are not available. Therefore, to make available the standard methods for conducting allelopathy research work, this multi-volume book has been planned, with one volume each for each discipline. In all the conferences held since 1990 s a need has always been felt for a manual on allelopathy research methods. This book series aims to provide basic information about various methods to research workers, so that they can conduct research independently without the requirement of sophisticated equipments. The methods have been described in a simple way just like a DO IT YOURSELF book. 

The term allelopathy was coined by Prof. Hans Molisch, a German plant physiologist in 1937. It is a new field of science and, till now there is no Book on Methodology of Allelopathy Research. Thus causing a lot of problems to researchers working in underdeveloped/Third World countries, in small... 

Most vaccines require two or three primary immunizations, followed by a booster for optimum immune response. If one injection of the immunization schedule is missed, it leads to manifold loss of effective antibody titers. According to WHO statistics, more than 30% of the patients do not return for the next injection at each period of the immunization schedule. The effect of noncompliance is most severe in third world countries, where more than a million children die each year from vaccine-preventable diseases. 

Pesticides are considered a necessary evil however, it has been estimated that without their use food expenditure for western families would more than double (Zilberman et al. 1991) and, much worse, food shortage would be more acute in many third world countries about 40% crop production would be lost, according to FAO. Pest and pesticide control is probably the sector where a really integrated view of farm management is most required certainly, pest treatments by calendar as largely in use till a few years ago and still in use today here and there are unsustainable. The principles of targeting interventions according to real need as advocated... 

The single most important issue in developed countries is the safety of a vaccine, a single death in a million vaccinations for a new vaccine would be unacceptable (except possibly if it were an effective AIDS vaccine). While this is obviously important in a Third World country, other issues such as cost and how to deliver the vaccine are of paramount importance. 

What is, perhaps, most disturbing is the assertion by Coulter and Fisher in 1985 that the ADRs from DPT should not have happened. They document that Japan switched to an acellular form of the DPT virus in 1981, which was just as effective in preventing the diseases but had fewer ADRs. Shoemaker reports that In Japan, the Ministry of Health, instead of trying to cover up problems with the vaccines, chose to find a solution." According to Shoemaker, it took almost 20 years for the United States to stop using the whole-cell version of the vaccine, and manufacturers are still distributing the whole-cell version in third-world countries "undoubtedly because it is cheaper to make." ... 

Chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs) come in many forms, including those used as propellants for spray cans and for refrigeration (freon). They were banned as being potentially harmful to the ozone layer of the atmosphere. In 1987 an international agreement was signed by about 90 nations to reduce the use of CFCs by 50% by the year 2000. This did not seem adequate, so in 1990 a new treaty called for the elimination of the use of all CFCs by industrial nations. Some third world countries (e.g., China, India, Russia, and Mexico) still make and sell CFCs, some of which are smuggled into the United States. 

Chlorinated hydrocarbons One example, DDT, is an insecticide. It was extensively used in World War II to delouse personnel and to prevent the spread of plague and other insect-borne diseases. Today, its use is restricted because of its toxicity and its very long life. Even though DDT is extremely effective, it is difficult to eliminate in nature. Its restricted use in some third-world countries has resulted in large increases in deaths due to malaria and other insect-borne diseases. 

Uricosurics like probenecid, sulfinpyrasone and benzbromaron increase urate clearance and fractional excretion of filtered urate. They are used in underexcretors of urate. Uricosurics benefit patients with hyperuricemia, intact renal function and no history of nephrolithiasis. In tropical and subtropical climates where most of the Third World countries are situated, the prevalence of urolithiasis is >40%. The use of uricosurics is contraindicated in patients with a history of urolithiasis as the number and size of stones will be increased. Without an history of urolithiasis, uricosurics still should be applied with caution where the risk for dehydration is high. 

Sandia Laboratories (Albuquerque) has recently completed a study on closed-cycle hydride engines based on the hydride chemical compression cycle (13) A practical demonstration unit was constructed to operate a water pump (lU). The down-hole bladder pump is capable of pumping against large hydrostatic heads. Coupled with a solar collection, this concept should find applications in arid third world countries. 

More recently, Glaxo SmithKline patented an efficient fermentation rente for the biosynthetic prodnetion of thymidine (thymine-2-desoxyriboside). Key to the invention is a recombinant strain that efficiently produces high titers of thymidine by blocking some enzymes in the thymidine regulating pathway. This microbial process has now replaced the chemical route and has enabled gsk to supply the anti-AIDS drug AZT (zidovudine) to third-world countries at low cost. 

According to the consultancy firm Brychem, there is a domestic API-for-generics market of approximately. 30 billion in third-world countries (See Ref. 6.)... 

This result is of special importance if one takes into account the wide spread rotaviral infection of newborns in third world countries. 

The technology exists to solve the majority of these problems, but the solutions require skills unavailable in the Thiid World community. Building the capital systems common in developed countries is beyond the resources of Third World countries. Provision of effective technologies that use some of the techniques discussed in this book could be useful in this regard. Our laboratory, in part, is dedicated to this pursuit. 

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