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Footsteps 2

MEDICINES & CHEMICALS

In this issue of Footsteps we are looking at ways in which we think about medicines and agricultural chemicals.

The big pharmaceutical companies advertise their products in ways which encourage us to believe that all our problems can be solved with their products. Many families spend money they usually cannot afford on buying tonics and couch medicines for their children, believing this will help them grow strong and healthy.

Please find below articles from Footsteps issue 2.

Action in emergencies By Dr William Hart. Modern agricultural pesticides (chemicals used for killing insects, weeds or diseases) may bring great benefits through saving labour and increasing production. But they can also bring danger to people livestock and wildlife. Th... More >>

Bible study Caring for God's creation By Rev Tim Oakley, Taita, Kenya. Read Genesis 1:1-28. In the first chapter of Genesis, God teaches us something about the purpose of creation. In particular we learn about the purpose of man within creation. Everything cr... More >>

Case Studies - taking good advice By Dr Heather-Louise Williamson. These two case studies illustrate how difficult it can be for doctors and health workers to put Dr Lankester’s advice into practice, when patients will not accept the advice they are given. Use these stories to help ... More >>

Editorial In this issue of Footsteps we are looking at ways in which we think about medicines and agricultural chemicals. The big pharmaceutical companies advertise their products in ways which encourage us to believe that all our problems can be solved wi... More >>

Letters Encouraged. I want to tell you how much I enjoy your paper and the help it’s giving me and the small rural community I am trying to help. I work to help lift their standard of living both materially and spiritually. Through your articles people her... More >>

Local knowledge and alternative poisons Roger W Sharland. In Southern Sudan agrochemicals were both expensive and difficult to get. Most farmers were subsistence farmers but there was still a desire for the almost magic qualities seen to be possessed by chemicals or “dawa”, without a gre... More >>

News New hope for malaria vaccine. For many years scientists have been working to try to find a vaccine for malaria without success. Malaria is becoming more difficult to control, as the parasites, which cause malaria, are developing resistance to many o... More >>

The dental health message By Alison Thornley. Dental disease is a big problem in many countries today, but it does not require specialist knowledge to help prevent this problem. For community health workers, nurses, clinical officers and anyone else who is interested, the fo... More >>

Treatment of poisoning A helpful table giving details of how to treat accidental poisoning from insecticides, fungicides and herbicides. Chemical group Examples Symptoms Treatment INSECTICIDES ORGANOCHLORINES Absorbed through the skin. V... More >>

Using agricultural chemicals safely By Dr William Hart and Isabel Carter. 1. Read the manufacturers instructions carefully before buying. Get help if you cannot understand them. Only use chemicals when recommended, and when you are sure they are needed. 2. Never buy cheap p... More >>

Warning! Medicines can seriously damage your health Dr Ted Lankester, now Director of Interhealth which is based at Mildmay Mission Hospital, worked as a doctor in India for a number of years. Though this article is written for health workers and doctors, we can all learn from what he writes. All of u... More >>

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