KQ5: Can diseases ever be fully eradicated?

Question 1

What is pharmaceutical medicine?

Answer 1

manufactured drugs made by pharmaceutical companies

Question 2

What is traditional medicine?

Answer 2

Using natural substances to promote the bodies own self healing

Question 3

For the following drug: Caffeine
1. What is the plant source?
2. What are the growing conditions like?
3. What is the medical usages?

Answer 3

1. Tea, coffee, cocoa and more
2. Tropical and sub-tropical. High average temperature between 20-27 C and high annual precipitation (1000-2000 mm). Soils being well drained with high organic content
3. Stimulate CNS, heart and used for migraines

Question 4

For the following drug: Nicotine
1. What is the plant source?
2. What are the growing conditions like?
3. What is the medical usages?

Answer 4

1. Tobacco plant
2. Optimal temperatures at 20-30 C, average precipitation at around 600-800mm/ year with at least 20-30 every week in the growing season. Light to medium textured soil with good drainage
3. Used in drugs for wounds as the active ingredient and used for Alzheimers

Question 5

For the following drug: Morphine
1. What is the plant source?
2. What are the growing conditions like?
3. What is the medical usages?

Answer 5

1. Dried latex from seed pods of poppy species
2. Warm and humid conditions, average temperatures at 30-35 C, susceptible to frost and weather. Deep, clay loam soil which is rich in humus. pH is around 6-7.5
3. Pain relief

Question 6

Where is Rosy Periwinkle native to?

Answer 6

Madagascar

Question 7

What are the growing conditions required for Rosy Periwinkle?

Answer 7

Requires warm tropical climate, without frost and where soils are well-drained but moisture retaining and slightly acidic

Question 8

Why did rosy periwinkle gain the attention of scientists?

Answer 8

The plant came to the attention when in the late 1960s analysis revealed that it contained 70 known alkaloids, several with medicinal usage.

Question 9

What were the 2 unknown alkaloids found in rosy periwinkle? and what are these used for?

Answer 9

1. Vincristine- successfully used in chemotherapy of childhood leukaemia and has helped to increase survival rates from around 10% in the 1970s to around 90% today
2. Vinblastine- proven to be highly effective in treating Hodgkins Lymphoma

Question 10

Why are scientists reliant on commercial cultivation for rosy periwinkle?

Answer 10

unable to synthesise these alkaloids so there is reliance on commercial cultivation in India, central Asia and Madagascar

Question 11

Who developed the 2 alkaloids?

Answer 11

Eli Lilly the US pharmaceutical company

Question 12

Explain how biopiracy is being committed in Madagascar? What are the negative consequences>

Answer 12

Biopiracy is leading to exploitation of biological resources. In Madagascar, few of the profits made are channelled back to the country and its indigenous people. In doing do the LIDC, loses out on valuable international trade and exports. As a result this hinders economic growth and tackling poverty

Question 13

Why is there increasing pressure on traditional medicine?

Answer 13

Traditional medicine are most common in the developing world (80% - 5 billion people) rely on traditional medicines so demand is huge. This is putting pressure on species and ecosystems

Question 14

What are the majority of pharmaceutical drugs made from?

Answer 14

Synthesised products

Question 15

Give 2 advantages and 2 disadvantages of wild harvest.

Answer 15

1. Maintains genetic diversity of an area
2. Plants continue to be of interest to local people
   Cons
3. Wild plants mean there is often limited knowledge on the amount of plant so management of doesn’t exist
4. Harvest is often uncontrolled which may lead to the plant being threatened or becoming extinct

Question 16

Give 1 advantage and 2 disadvantages of cultivated harvest

Answer 16

1. Crops can be managed and often greater awareness of quantities so control may be in place
   Cons
2. Cultivated land has less biodiversity
3. Cultivated land may be invasive to an area, may threaten native species and have a negative impact on ecosystem

Question 17

What type of plants are most vulnerable to TCM (traditional Chinese medicine)?

Answer 17

Slow growing plants and those occupying highly specialised niches

Question 18

According to CITES, how many medicinal plants are threatened and of that how many are listed as acutely endangered? Give 2 examples of these

Answer 18

4000 are threatened of which 14 are listed as acutely endangered. These include yew (source of the anti-cancer drug taxol) and goldenseal used in herbal medicine

Question 19

Give 2 reasons for the decline of wild plants?

Answer 19

1. Preference of TCM instead of wild plants rather than cultivates
2. Preference of roots instead of leaves and flowers

Question 20

How much terrestrial plant species does the rainforest hold and of which how many have been screened for medical usage?

Answer 20

Containing around 70% and only 1% screened for potential medicinal properties

Question 21

Why is deforestation such a concern for conservation of medicinal plants?

Answer 21

With deforestation rates in recent decades exceeding 325km^2/day, many plants have become extinct before we have had the chance to study them. The centre for biological diversity estimates that at least 1 major drug is lost every year due to tropical deforestation

Question 22

How have pharmaceutical companies been aiming to conserve plant species? Give example.

Answer 22

One response has been to use medicinal plants as a means of conserving not only habitats but entire ecosystems. Pharmaceutical companies pay the indigenous from drug royalties in exchange for conserving the forests. In the the 1980s scientists found a powerful new drug prostialin, used for HIV, it was extracted from the bark of the mamala tree found in Samoan rainforest, parts of revenue made was send back to Samoa in exchange for protecting the rainforest. Other companies such as Swedish International Development Authority also gave funds to Samoa. Thus local people benefit and this conservation assures steady supply of valuable medicinal plants

Question 23

What is the only infectious disease that has been declared as eradicated?

Answer 23

Small pox in 1980 and the last known natural case was in Somalia 1977

Question 24

What 2 diseases is WHO and other agencies working to eradicate?

Answer 24

Polio and Guinea worm

Question 25

Prior to the development of the polio vaccine in 1952, how many people were killed or paralysed due to polio ever year?

Answer 25

Every year, around 600,000

Question 26

What was done by the developer of the vaccine that helped to reduce polio incidence?

Answer 26

The developer Jonas Salk who chose not to patent his discovery which significantly reduced the cost.

Question 27

What was GPEI and how successful was it?

Answer 27

Global Polio Eradication Initiative supported by WHO plus UNICEF and other agencies began in 1988. It was the largest ever internationally coordinated public health effort with over 20 million volunteers and 3 billion children immunised over 20 years. The mass vaccination programme had wiped out polio in the Americas by 2011. However Polio still remained endemic in 3 countries: Pakistan, Nigeria and Afghanistan

Question 28

Give 5 ways that eradication of polio has been difficult.

Answer 28

1. Political Instability
2. Murder of around 80 health care workers in Pakistan and Nigeria in recent years by militants
3. Since 2013, new outbreaks of Polio have taken place in Syria and Iraq as vaccination and hygiene has broken down
4. Challenging weather and terrain
5. Ban on house to house campaigns in Afghanistan
6. Resistance caused by cultural attitudes and ignorance

Question 29

What is Mauritius an example of?

Answer 29

National level campaigns to mitigate successfuly against malaria

Question 30

When did Malaria become endemic in Mauritius?

Answer 30

In 1867 when an epidemic killed around 1 in 8 of the countries population

Question 31

When was the first government-led malaria campaign launched? What was done and was this successful?

Answer 31

Launched between 1948 to 1951, spraying buildings and mosquitos breeding sites with DDT helped to decreases mortality rate from around 6/1000 in 1948 to 0.6/1000 in 1951. As a result in 1973 WHO declared the Island Malaria free

Question 32

When and how was Malaria reintroduced to the Island for the 2nd time?

Answer 32

In 1975, after Cyclone Gervaise hit the Islands, migrant workers employed in construction reintroduced malarial parasites. Also destruction of infrastructure provided more breeding grounds. As well as that there was increased surface water for malaria to breed.

Question 33

When was the 2nd campaign to eradicate malaria in Mauritius launched?

Answer 33

In 1982, Malaria epidemic forced government to take steps.

Question 34

What was done to eradicate Malaria in the 2nd campaign?

Answer 34

1. Mosquito breeding sites sprayed
2. Mass administration of the anti-malarial drug chloroquine
3. Predatory fish that feeds on mosquito larvae introduced

Question 35

Since 1998 what has the government done to prevent reintroduction of malaria to the island?

Answer 35

1. Rigorous passenger screening of around 175,000 passengers, these people are from malaria endemic countries or those who have a fever
2. People are kept under surveillance for around 4 months, blood samples are taken and analysed
   These methods have been very effective as there has only been 1 known case since 1997

Question 36

Give an example of disease that employs grass roots strategy

Answer 36

Guinea worm, used often when top down may have resistance from certain groups or those that exclude certain demographics

Question 37

Explain the work of Guinea Worm Eradication programme.

Answer 37

Partnered with Ghana Red Cross Women’s Club. They teach women how the disease is transmitted and can be prevented. These women can visit villages and communities to educate local people.

Question 38

Why were women volunteers taught the strategies to eradicate guinea worm?

Answer 38

In the past this was done by male volunteers with limited success. This was because men often worked outside villages and it’s mainly women responsible for sourcing water. Women were able to appreciate more the filtering of water and preventing contamination by infected people

Question 39

Give 2 responsibilities of women volunteers in guinea worm eradication programme

Answer 39

1. Ensuring those infected didn’t contaminate water
2. identifying water sources used by the community and requiring treatment with larvicides

Question 40

Have grass roots strategy for guinea worm been successful in Ghana?

Answer 40

Yes, WHO reported an average of 179,000 cases in 1989 but by 2010 the country reported its last indigenous case of the disease