Newsletter 02 - Life Sciences and Urbanization Track

What will be discussed at BioVision 2009?

Brief descriptions of two sessions planned for BioVision 2009 are given below.
Other sessions will be presented in the next newsletter.

Life Sciences and Urbanization Track

Managing Urban Epidemics – Monday March 9 – 9:00am to 12:30pm

CityReminder! A pre-conference on “Cities and Public Health Crises” will be organized jointly by Lyonbiopole and WHO on October 29 and 30 in Lyon, France.

Unlike the big cities of the South, most megacities from the developed world have succeeded in providing health facilities to their inhabitants. However these big cities still face onerous health risks with the return of infectious diseases (e.g., tuberculosis) and the emergence of new ones – AIDS, SARS, and perhaps one day Influenza A (H5N1).

In the developing world, a number of social and economic factors contribute to the high rates of infectious diseases. Overcrowded and poor living conditions make those living in poverty especially vulnerable to communicable diseases such as tuberculosis and cholera.

The absence or shortage of potable water and proper sanitation, combined with a poor general environmental status are the main causes of the spread of cholera and diarrhoeal diseases. Typical at-risk areas include peri-urban slums, with no basic infrastructure is not available.

Limited access to health care and drugs means that otherwise treatable diseases such as malaria, and tuberculosis can be fatal for the poor.

Poor nutrition and weak immune systems are also key risk factors for major fatal conditions such as lower respiratory infections, tuberculosis and measles. Indoor air pollution from household use of biomass fuels is linked with acute respiratory infections in young children.

The BioVision 2009 session will address the plans to combat infection in both contexts.

Feeding the City – Monday March 9 – 2:00 to 5:00pm

During BioVision 2007, experts acknowledged that ensuring adequate food supply is a great challenge due to population growth and limited water and land resources that are available. They agreed that there is a crucial need to increase global food production.

In 2009, the “Food for All” session will deal with the specific aspects of food supply in large urban areas: if we do succeed in producing enough food to feed the world, will we be able to bring this food production to everybody’s plate?
Increasing local food production could be part of the solution, but how do we promote big enough food production areas close to large urban settings?

The issue of transportation is also of key importance. Storage and food conservation raise many problems. Can we find alternatives to the cold chain that cannot be properly carried out in some
countries?

Another aspect of the problem is that, in many southern countries, the urban lifestyle causes a significant change of habits. The time previously dedicated to the preparation of meals is dramatically reducing. What new packaging and culinary preparations can be offered to customers?

Can Life Sciences provide any solutions to these problems?