EU funded project keeps an 'eagle' eye on the developing world Fighting disease and hunger in developing countries is not just the work of humanitarian aid organisations. EAGLES (European Action on Global Life Sciences), an EU funded project, has chosen to tackle the growing problems facing hundreds of millions of people in the world tod... Fighting disease and hunger in developing countries is not just the work of humanitarian aid organisations. EAGLES (European Action on Global Life Sciences), an EU funded project, has chosen to tackle the growing problems facing hundreds of millions of people in the world today by offering a platform for dialogue and collaboration between European life science researchers and researchers from the developing world. The aim is to raise awareness of the scale of humanitarian crises and ensure that the skills and resources of European life sciences are properly used for the benefits of all humankind. 'Europe has a moral role in developing the rest of the world; it's also in its own interest to be part of this development,' Jens Degett, Executive Director of EAGLES, told CORDIS News. 'EAGLES is a kind of a grassroots organisation which started with researchers from the developed world meeting researchers from the developing world. They saw that they had a lot of things in common and a lot of important issues to take up together,' explained Mr Degett. 'Some of the researchers from the developed world, especially Europe, saw they had a moral obligation to do something about the serious problems of the developing world,' he continued. Established in 2003, the project organises a whole host of activities, including symposia on some of the most pressing problems. For example, a recent event highlighted the new livestock revolution taking place in China, and its potentially detrimental impact on the whole world. There, the population is gradually moving from eating vegetables to eating more meat. Experts estimate that this change in the Chinese diet will double the environmental impact of food consumption in the country. 'If they use the plants they grow to feed the pigs and cows, they will have to plant more crops,' said Mr Degett. 'China will also become a huge net importer of agricultural products such as soya and grain: that will of course influence the developing world.' At a more recent symposium, researchers discussed the implications of EU regulations on genetically modified organisms (GMOs) for the developing world. 'EU regulations are discouraging researchers in the developing world from developing GM foods or crops,' said Mr Degett. There are a lot of products produced by researchers in the developing world that are potentially very useful. For instance, drought resistant plants in arid regions could increase agriculture production and help struggling economies. 'But it's difficult to get them approved due to the tough legislation we have here in Europe because the local legislators fear the reaction in Europe. Even in countries that have no exports to Europe, researchers hesitate because they look to Europe,' he explained. Symposia also tackle some important health issues affecting developing countries. At a recent conference in Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso, researchers came together to discuss the lack of coordination between the many HIV/AIDS vaccine programmes in Africa, while another event focused on the emergence of diabetes in poorer regions of the world. The project consortium is also preparing a symposium on malaria to take place later this year in Thailand. 'These symposia are helping to open people's eyes and are underlining the necessity of dealing with these problems,' said Mr Degett. In addition to organising symposia, Mr Degett believes that the project is also 'giving a voice to researchers from the developing world'. This is done by bringing researchers to Europe and asking them to speak and give presentations to the European media and politicians. In October 2006, the project organised a dinner debate between researchers and members of the European Parliament's Industry, Research and Energy Committee (ITRE) to discuss the need for more focus on humanitarian challenges in the Seventh Framework Programme (FP7). 'There's an interest in Europe in humanitarian problems, but it's not something which has been focused on in the architecture of FP7,' explained Mr Degett. 'You will find that there are very few mentions of the Millennium Goals or developing countries in FP7.' EAGLES participants suggested that there should be a mechanism in the new programme for measuring research and research training and collaboration with the developing world. Such an indicator could be important for the decision makers and could be used for putting more focus on developmental issues. Mr Degett says that EAGLES will keep a close eye on developments in FP7, and will raise the issue again prior to the mid-term evaluation of FP7. 'We will act like guard dogs on this issue,' he added. 'We are pretty sure that the focus can come up later in FP7.' EAGLES is also working on collaborative initiatives such as an information node on genomics at the Library of Alexandria in Egypt aimed at encouraging knowledge sharing in this field. Furthermore, the consortium recently set up a news service, which now has some 300 subscriptions from researchers across Europe and in countries such as Ghana, China, South Africa, the Philippines, Brazil, Mexico, Cuba and Egypt.
