Global Economic Crisis Will Cost Africa Billions By the end of 2009, Africa’s economy stands to lose up to $49 billion due to the global economic crisis, according to research from ActionAid. Almost half of the amount –$27 billion – is due to a drop in foreign aid, earnings from exports and money from richer nations who are struggling through recession, reports the BBC. “Although developing countries didn’t make this crisis, it has become all too clear that they are in the firing line when it comes to suffering its worst effects,” said an ActionAid official. Countries that were making progress in recent years could start to backslide. “There is a real risk that development will start to go backwards in many countries as the money dries up and that the recession will lead to worsening poverty and terrible consequences for the men, women and children caught in its grip.” The country set to suffer the most is South Africa, the report says, because of the drop in foreign income.

U.S. AIDS Program Did Wonders in Guyana Guyana’s AIDS prevention program, sponsored by the United States, has helped cut the nation’s HIV rate by almost 2 percent, according to the government. The Caribbean nation’s infection rate dropped down from almost 3 percent to about 1 percent, reports the BBC. The government has been able to monitor the program’s success by testing almost half of the nation. The numbers prompted one of the nation’s health officials to call the program, which started five years ago and is headed up by the U.S. Agency for International Development, a “huge success story.” The program, which cost $20 million, focused on both awareness and prevention.

Sale of gangsta rap label is held up in legal

The recent purchase of Death Row Records has been canceled after a lawsuit by former CEO Suge Knight’s estate and the label’s trustees was filed. Global Music Group failed to consummate the purchase by July 23 or by an extension until July 29, according to the action. The suit states that “since July 29, GMG (Global Music Group) has continued to fail to forward the purchase money, instead making a number of requests for extension, none of which has been granted by the Trustees.” The deal was called off with a termination letter earlier this month. Trustees are asking the court to let them negotiate with new potential buyers for the sale of the bankrupt company that made superstars of Dr. Dre, Snoop Dogg and Tupac in the 1990s.

Black doctors and cancer group join forces to attack disparities. The American Cancer Society and the National Medical Association have joined forces in a three-year effort to improve cancer prevention and early detection practices and treatment among ethnic minority and underserved groups. The effort is aimed at eliminating the difference in cancer care and access to treatment between racial groups by working to improve access to information, screenings, quality care and treatment and end-of life support. “Promoting increased awareness and understanding of cancer prevention, early detection and treatment to help reduce health disparities is a nationwide priority for the American Cancer Society,” said Otis W. Brawley, M.D., chief medical officer, American Cancer Society. “Collaborations with pre-eminent organizations such as the National Medical Association are central to the Society’s strategy to reach racial and ethnic minorities with appropriate health information.” Racial and ethnic minorities can often face numerous obstacles to receiving equal access to quality cancer prevention, early detection and treatment services, the groups say. Many lack health insurance, live in rural or inner-city communities, have low incomes, and experience language barriers, racial bias and stereotyping, recent studies show. “Strategic partnerships with organizations like the American Cancer Society amplify the National Medical Association’s ability to touch and impact lives through community action and healthcare provider education,” said Nelson L. Adams, III, M.D., president, National Medical Association. The groups will start the effort by developing and giving out more culturally sensitive materials that focus on prevention, early detection and treatment of breast, prostate and colorectal cancer, as well as proper nutrition and physical activity

Global warming affects African Americans more. House Majority Whip Jim Clyburn (D-S.C.) announced an initiative in Wednesday, calling attention to the impact global warming has on Black Americans. “African Americans are disproportionately impacted by the effects of climate change – economically, socially, and through our health and well-being,” Clyburn said. The commission Clyburn helped launch contends that Hurricane Katrina’s impact on New Orleans was a preview of how global warming will affect African Americans. “While individual storms cannot be linked specifically to climate change, scientists warn that warmer waters may foster more intense storms,” according to the background paper on the commission’s efforts, authored by Michael Gelobter, Carla Peterman and Azebuilke Akaba. “The flooding of New Orleans still highlights the vulnerability of the African-American community to types of extreme weather events expected with global climate change.”

Men are being warned against eating soy. Men who eat just half a serving a day of foods made with soy could be risking their fertility, a new report says. That small amount is enough to lower sperm concentrations, according to a new and controversial report from the Harvard School of Public Health. Data were collected on 99 men who visited a fertility clinic for an evaluation. They were asked specifically how much of 15 soy-based foods they had consumed in the previous three months, including tofu, tempeh, tofu or soy sausages, bacon, burgers, soy milk, cheese, yogurt, ice cream and other soy products, like roasted nuts and energy bars. The men who ate the most soy had 41 million fewer sperm per milliliter of semen, compared with men who did not eat soy foods. Normal sperm counts range between 80 million and 120 million per milliliter. The link was especially true for overweight and obese men, who produce more estrogen than thinner men. Lead researcher Dr. Jorge Chavarro, a research fellow in the department of nutrition at the Harvard School of Public Health, says the reason isn’t conclusive, but he suspects soy increases estrogen activity, which may have a negative effect on sperm production and also interfere with other hormonal signals, reports HealthDay News. He added that previous research in animals has shown that isoflavones and estrogen can have a potentially negative effect on reproduction, including decreased fertility. However, there has been very little evidence of how these animal findings applied to humans. Although Chavarro considers the results preliminary and inconclusive, he says they lend support to the results of the animal studies.

Star-studded line-up in Africa runs short on stars

Music and fashion celebrities including local performers, Naomi Campbell and Tyson Beckford, were slated to appear at last week’s “ThisDay Music and Fashion Festival” to help bring attention to Nigeria’s tourism industry. But only Rihanna, Jay-Z and Usher performed at the first night of the event, despite fans having paid as much as $508 per ticket for a star-studded line-up. Mary J. Blige, Chris Brown and rapper Fat Joe appeared before the event’s conclusion.

Laurence Fishburne could join the cast of “CSI: Crime Scene Investigation”

The man who played such popular film characters as The Matrix’s Morpheus and Boyz N the Hood’s Furious Styles could soon become a TV crime investigator. Laurence Fishburne is a front-runner, along with John Malkovich, for a role on “CSI: Crime Scene Investigation.” Fishburne could replace William Petersen, who’s set to leave the show this season.

Coolio helps youth understand the environment
Grammy-winning rapper Coolio has joined the Environmental Justice and Climate Change organization, helping to raise awareness of global warming among HBCU students. Teaming up with jazz saxophonist Jarez, the West Coast performer will be a part of a sustained campaign to increase stewardship in the Black community. The campaign’s focus is on recruiting a “diverse group of African American youth in the fight for climate justice,” a spokesman says.

As children become teens, they become less active.

Children are getting fatter by the decade, federal health numbers show. It’s no wonder, because one of the largest studies of its kind found that while 90 percent of 9-year-olds get a couple of hours of exercise most days, fewer than 3 percent of 15-year-olds do. In fact, the study found that less than a third of teens that age get even the minimum recommended by the government — an hour of moderate-to-vigorous exercise, like cycling, brisk walking, swimming or jogging. “What shocked me was the sharp decline in activity,” said Dr. Philip Nader, a former pediatrics professor at the University of California-San Diego, who conducted the comprehensive study, which followed more than 1,000 children for six years. “While we all knew children and youth were moving less, the magnitude of the rate of decline calls for renewed action to increase activity levels in the population,” Nader said. The study monitored the habits of the same children from different parts of the country, with different family incomes and different races. At 9 years old, the kids got on average about three hours of moderate to vigorous physical activity a day from activities like bike riding, tag or basketball. But, by the time they turned 15, their activity had dropped down to about 49 minutes a day. On the weekends, it was even worse – kids got about 35 minutes a day. Boys were more active than girls at every age. But by age 15, even boys’ average activity levels fell short of recommendations, particularly on weekends. The sharp drop raises concerns about inactivity continuing into adulthood, which could endanger kids’ health throughout their lives, the study authors said. “People don’t recognize this as the crisis that it is,” Nader said. Inactivity is linked with greater risks for many health problems, including heart disease, obesity, high blood pressure and diabetes. It is also seen as the major cause of the increase in childhood obesity, the researchers said. “Program and policy action are needed immediately at the family, community, school, health care and governmental levels to find ways to encourage children to remain active as they get older,” said co-author Renate Houts, Ph.D., research statistician and psychologist at RTI International. “Unless parents, elected officials, and volunteer and philanthropic organizations begin creating new opportunities for children’s activities, childhood obesity rates will likely continue to rise.” The findings are revealed in the Journal of the American Medical Association that comes out Wednesday. For simple ways to get teens moving, go to Vital Signs.

Global warming linked to rise in kidney stones
Rising temperatures and increased dehydration linked to global warming will boost kidney stone rates in the United States and around the world, new research suggests. In the United States in particular, hotter weather will lead to a dramatic rise in kidney stone disease among residents of southern states – the so-called “kidney-stone belt,” HealthDay.com reports. This will result in an increase of 1.6 million to 2.2 million additional kidney stone cases by 2050, according to the study. “This is an example of how global warming will affect people directly,” said study author Tom Brikowski, an associate professor with a specialty in hydrology in the department of geosciences at the University of Texas at Dallas. The study authors stressed that the exact degree of the increased risk remains unclear. But, Brikowski added, “We are certain that warming will increase, and that the rate of kidney stone disease will go up. So as a nation, we will have to pay more attention to this problem.” According to the U.S. National Kidney and Urologic Diseases Information Clearinghouse, about 5 percent of Americans develop kidney stones at some point, with the risk rising as men and women enter their 40s and 50s, respectively. Typically composed of calcium and other minerals found in urine, a kidney stone is a hard, crystallized mass that passes – often painfully – through the urinary tract. Drinking too little fluid and/or dehydration can lead to development of a stone, as can a metabolic predisposition for kidney stone disease, known as nephrolithiasis. Brikowski and his colleagues said the “kidney-stone belt” includes Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Louisiana, Mississippi, North Carolina, South Carolina and Tennessee. But with global warming, the risk of kidney stone disease could ultimately touch a much wider swath of states, stretching from Kentucky all the way to northern California, the researchers said. The findings are reported in this week’s issue of the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.