Donning their superhero capes are Prof Klaus Kellner and Prof Alta Schutte.

 

Klaus has been appointed as a member of the National Coordination Body for the United Nations’ Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD) in South Africa. In turn, Alta is the first person from Africa to head the International Society of Hypertension (ISH).

 

Klaus is from the School for Biological Sciences and Alta from the Hypertension in Africa Research Team (HART). She also holds the Research Chair in Early Detection and Prevention of Cardiovascular Disease in Africa.

 

Less land means less food

 

Prof Klaus KellnerOne of the disturbing facts that Klaus and his fellow team members will face is that more than 1,5 billion people worldwide are affected by desertification, land degradation and drought. More than 250 million people live in drylands. Of these drylands, between 10% and 20% are already degraded while another 12 million hectare degrade each year.

 

Fortunately superhero Klaus is an expert on the impact of desertification, land degradation and drought. His expertise includes the restoration of degraded rangelands in mostly arid and semi-arid systems, as well as sites that industrial use has damaged.

 

As a member of the UNCCD, he will be part of a team that will make inputs to a coordinating forum that will prepare, implement and evaluate the UNCCD’s National Action Programme.

 

The enemy within

 

Prof Alta SchutteAlta says in South Africa total deaths caused by chronic diseases now outnumber deaths related to HIV/Aids.

 

Most victims of fatal heart attacks and strokes were unaware that they suffered from its leading cause, hypertension. People neglect to test regularly because they don’t feel sick when they have high blood pressure. This is the danger: not knowing. It might kill you.

 

One of Alta’s most important tasks in her two-year tenure as president of the ISH will be to head a team who will define international guidelines for the treatment of hypertension. “There is a dire need to simplify the guidelines of the developed countries. We have to set a standard that can be practised globally – also in developing countries.”

 

With our two superheroes ready to serve on a global scale, the human race might be able to slow down the universal threats of hypertension and desertification. Who knows, we may soon reap the rewards of healthier hearts and fertile land.