EDITOR TRICIA LO Few Chinese Cws 2 THE DAILY VOICE, FRIDAY, APRIL 4, 2014 DIANE SAWCHUCK photo Peter von Dadelszen (far left) discusses the pre-eclampsia project with community health workers in Bangladesh. High blood, high money Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation adds $1.5 million to UBC research project for maternal health in Mozambique By ERIN BOE e Bill & Melinda Gates Founda- tion recently added $1.5 million to their now nearly $26-million investment in a UBC initiative that trains healthcare workers in re- mote areas to identify and treat women at risk of pre-eclampsia. Pre-eclampsia is high blood pressure during pregnancy and is one of the leading causes of maternal death worldwide. It kills 76,000 mothers and 500,000 infants annually. This newest contribution by the Gates Foundation will help expand the project to Mozambique. It’s underway in Nigeria, Pakistan and India. Peter von Dadelszen, a UBC profes- sor of obstetrics, leads the project with the hopes of improving diagnosis and care for pregnant women. “The fatal complications of pre-ec- lampsia are usually preventable,” says Von Dadelszen. “Too many deaths in Asia and Africa are because women are arriv- ing at hospital hav- ing already — suf- fered strokes or lost their baby. Ae aren “We can prevent this with training, UBC professor of community edues. obstetrics tion and technolo- UBC researchers recently collabo- rated on the project to develop a mobile phone app that detects pre-eclampsia symptoms. The app collects data that helps health professionals make decisions about treatment and medication. It can also help caregivers arrange for emer- gency transportation to a hospital. The app is more than 85 per cent ac- curate at identifying women who are at an increased risk of developing a fatal complication of pre-eclampsia, accord- ing to findings published in January. The app uses the Phone Oximeter, a device that attaches to a patient’s fin- gertip to measure the amount of oxy- gen in the patient’s blood. Afterward, the oximeter relays that data to a mobile phone, tablet or laptop to be used in making a diagnosis. Dadelszen believes these initiatives can improve treatment of other chronic and acute respiratory diseases, which affect 2.7 million people worldwide. “The findings of this trial may be as pertinent in rural and remote Canada as they will be throughout less devel- oped countries,” said von Dadelszen. “This is great recognition by the Gates Foundation of this vital global partnership. Its legacy . . . will be counted in the thousands of women’s and infants’ lives saved.” engage with city Report says Chinese are less politically involved than other immigrant groups By EDRICK DUDANG Vancouver with a high Chinese population are less politically en- gaged than other ethnic groups, ac- cording to the city’s Engaged City Task Force report. The task force began working in De- cember 2012 to study how to encourage public discourse between citizens and local government and bump up voter turnout. They presented city council with their final report on April 2. The report did not explain the high level of Chinese disengagement, but the city has made it a priority to en- gage the Chinese immigrant communi- ty, for example by hosting events that cater to the Chinese community and by reaching out to Chinese media, such as Fairchild Radio. Langara Chinese language instruc- tor Huimin Lin said the language bar- rier can discourage engagement. Lin said many Chinese people move to areas with high concentrations of Chinese residents in order to avoid learning a new language and feeling “awkward” in their new home. “Learn- ing English is quite a difficult thing to do. It would take years and years for them to be able to have a simple con- versation.” The city’s task force was created in part because of the abysmally low vot- er turnout of 35 per cent in the 2011 mu- nicipal elections. According to the re- port, the task force hopes to raise that number to 55 per cent for the municipal elections in November. Lin said Chinese voter turnout could be increased by providing translations of political candidates’ profiles and platforms, since many Chinese resi- dents do not know who they are voting for and are therefore not inclined to vote. “They don’t know what to do. It’l] be their first experience to vote in Can- ada,” Lin said. She added that translators should be present at voting stations to answer questions and help immigrant voters feel more comfortable. “Chinese people do not like to get in- volved in public affairs, not only here in Canada but also in China. They care about their family and friends. But fora bigger society, they don’t care as much.” Cin: residents living in areas in CITY'S priorities HE Develop specific strategies for en- gaging under-repre- sented groups HE Promote the 3-1-1 city-services hotline, with a focus on non- English-speaking communities HE invest more in public engagement resources HM Expand and im- prove the distribu- tion of notification mailouts HM Develop an evalu- ation criteria for online tools HE Support Com- munity and Cultural Spaces HE Pilot a neighbour- hood liaison posi- tion to assist neigh- bourhoods with a high proportion of newcomers and new immigrants HH increase the number of “positive cues” to encourage voting HE Target voter regis- tration Hi Community bulletin boards HM investigate extend- ing voting rights to permanent residents Source: Vancouver Mayor's Engaged City Task Force Final Report What is TransLink going to do with a $49-million suplus? 66 Service banks more than 5 times its 2012 surplus this year surplus in 2013 reflects a much- needed belt-tightening for the The surplus was reported Thursday “TransLink has been historically . By KARLY BLATS TransLink has been ransLink’s reported $48 million histori- I cally one “wasteful organization,” a taxpayers’ advocacy group said. of the more wasteful in TransLink’s year-end performance F report. It is more than five times the organt- 2012 surplus of $9.4 million and nearly zations 1,000 times the 2011 surplus of $52,472. fi unded by one of the more wasteful organizations taxpayers funded by taxpayers,” said Jordan JORDAN BATEMAN SPOKESPERSON FOR CANADIAN TAXPAYERS FEDERATION Bateman of the Canadian Taxpayers Federation. Bateman said millions of taxpayer dollars are wasted on unnecessary ser- vices such as the transit police force. Cathy McLay, TransLink’s chief fi- nancial officer, said TransLink is proud to have reached such a large surplus while maintaining a customer service level of 7.6 out of 10, which is similar to ratings in past years. More than $14 million of the surplus was achieved by reducing the number of spare vehicles and by cutting week- end SkyTrain frequency in what McLay called part of TransLink’s ongoing pro- gram of “service optimization.” TransLink has also been swapping out regular buses for smaller, 24-pas- senger community shuttles. McLay said this is part of the regular improve- ments made every year to “better match ridership demand.” The news of a surplus surprised Blaine Barron, a transit user of 28 years who thought TransLink was los- ing money. Barron said he wonders where the extra funds will go. Langara business student Paul Isapour wants TransLink to provide free transit now. “Bus passes are so expensive,” he said. According to McLay, $14.3 million will be “embedded into the way [Trans- Link] does business,” which will allow TransLink to continue reliable, safe service without any service cuts. “[TransLink is] a non-profit organiza- tion. All surplus we have, we want to re- invest it into the transportation system.” Students try to cram onto the 49 bus headed toward Metrotown on Thursday. This route sees more than 21,000 passengers daily. TransLink recently pro- posed service cuts that would eliminate the 49’s stops in Champlain Heights. No final decision has been made yet. KARLY BLATS photo