Many developing countries are importing industrial processes that make use of toxic chemicals. By the same token, pesticides, which are toxic by design, are also used increasingly in agriculture and in public health programs to control pests and vector-borne diseases. Recent estimates suggest that pesticides account for more than 20,000 fatalities yearly, and that most of these will have occurred in developing countries. This may actually be a gross underreporting. Although organophosphate and carbamate insecticides are still responsible for many of those poisoning cases, herbicides such as paraquat are also increasingly being implicated in fatal poisoning cases. Newer pesticides such as the synthetic derivatives of pyrethrin, which were believed to be relatively safe to humans, now appear to be implicated in some serious cases of intoxication. Community-based pest control using locally available botanical pesticides could have severe consequences unless the toxicity of these compounds is carefully assessed relative to nontarget organisms. A high proportion of pesticide intoxications appear to be due to lack of knowledge, unsafe attitudes, and dangerous practices. The technology available to small farmers for pesticide application is often inappropriate: faulty sprayers, lack of protective equipment adapted to tropical conditions, nonexistent first-aid provisions. Agricultural extension is often not oriented to the transfer of information relative to the dangers inherent in the use of pesticides. The lack of information at all levels may be one of the most important causative factors of chemical intoxication in developing countries. Research should at this time concentrate on behaviors leading to chemical intoxication. This should be done concurrently with proper prospective and retrospective surveys of poisonings in developing country communities. More information should be sought relative to the decision processes of import, legislation, and licensing. Research and development efforts in appropriate technology and safety devices are also critically needed.
Safe drinking water is essential for human health and sustainable development. In the last ( ) 30 years, the International Development Research Centre IDRC has funded over 200 applied research projects on tools and strategies for improving water and sanitation conditions in poor populations around the world. Realizing that the safety of drinking water is just as dependent on being toxicant free as on being pathogen free, the IDRC initiated WaterTox, a novel international research network with scientific institutions from Argentina, Canada, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, India, Mexico, and the Ukraine. The objectives of WaterTox were to develop and validate a battery of simple, inexpensive and practical bioassays for toxicity testing of water samples, to identify and validate appropriate sample concentration alternatives that would allow the battery of bioassays to assess the potential toxicity of waters used for human consumption, and to design, in collaboration with network partners, a strategy to promote the adoption of this battery for toxicity testing at the international level. The bioassays selected for WaterTox were based on the premise that they should be able to be performed in-country without the need for expensive imported supplies. A description of the procedures to establish the WaterTox project, the laboratories involved, the problems encountered, and results obtained are presented in this overview report.
Le rôle du père à l’égard du développement, de la santé et du bien-être de l’enfant et la place qu’on lui accorde dans les services sont une préoccupation croissante des communautés scientifique et politique. Des milieux de pratiques se sont aussi intéressés au rôle du père dans un contexte où de nombreux changements sont survenus au sein des familles. Les attentes sociales envers les pères sont teintées par des archétypes qui balisent les rôles des parents de même que les services que l’on prévoit à leur endroit. Ces archétypes voient toujours l’apport particulier des mères au développement de l’enfant et relèguent le père au rôle de pourvoyeur. Interroger les intervenants sur la place des pères dans leurs interventions les amène à revoir leurs perceptions sur la contribution de ces derniers au développement de l’enfant, de même que leurs attitudes et leurs approches auprès d’eux. Le transfert des connaissances issu des travaux de l’équipe ProsPère, associée au Groupe de recherche sur la victimisation des enfants, s’est fait de différentes façons. Pour rejoindre les intervenants, des membres de l’équipe ont élaboré, validé et déployé au Québec, au Canada et en France une formation. Une réflexion à partir de notre expérience en tant que chercheur et formateur servira à illustrer certains principes qui favorisent une meilleure prise en compte des besoins des pères dans les services de même que certaines barrières à ce sujet. Cette réflexion servira aussi à proposer des balises pour construire de nouvelles pratiques favorisant l’engagement paternel
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