Main Page - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Main Page - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Main Page - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Main Page - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Countries of the World - 19 years of CIA World Fact Books

Countries of the World - 19 years of CIA World Fact Books
Valuable source of data on countries of the World.

Countries of the World - 19 years of CIA World Fact Books

Countries of the World - 19 years of CIA World Fact Books
Valuable source of data on countries of the World.

Burden of Disease statistics

WHO Burden of Disease statistics
Burden of Disease statistics
Statistical estimates of mortality and burden of disease (DALYs) by cause for the world, regions and WHO Member States. Estimates of Healthy Life Expectancy (HALE) and Life Expectancy for WHO Member States. This is where to find the latest documentation, methods, results and projections for the Global Burden of Disease. Also, this is where to find manuals, resources and software for carrying out national burden of disease studies.

Nancy Birdsall: Inequality Matters

Nancy Birdsall: Inequality Matters: "After spending the late 1980s working on Latin America for the World Bank, I became involved in a major study of East Asia’s postwar growth. The contrast between the two regions was notable: Latin America was stagnating while East Asian economies were growing rapidly, with tremendously high rates of private and public investment and savings. The emphasis on exports and the pressure to compete in global markets seemed to have worked. " /.../

Your health is decided by politicians!

Article published in the Island. 23 March 2007

-Your health is decided by politicians!
by Dr Saroj Jayasinghe

The lay public is bombarded with information on what to eat, when to sleep, how to exercise and methods of relaxation. The media is adding fuel to this with slogans relating to health: "healthy life styles", "prevent non-communicable diseases" and an abundance of articles by experts who describe diseases and complicated procedures or heroic operations. This article is provocative. It attempts to convince the reader that a population’s health is more often than not determined by social and political factors, rather than doctors, pharmaceuticals and hospitals. In order to develop the argument, it is necessary to define and understand a few relevant concepts.
A few concepts
Health is not the mere absence of illness or disease.
It is a state of positive well-being. One can feel healthy even with a debility such as an amputated limb. Health also encompasses several dimensions. The World Health Organisation describes four dimensions:
physical, psychological, social and spiritual. This means, even with a ‘fit’ physical body, one can be psychologically unhealthy.
What does this broader definition mean in practical terms? Let us reflect on our own experiences for a moment. Consider the life span from birth to death.
For a greater part of an average life-span (which is almost 70 years in Sri Lanka), one remains healthy.
Sickness is often limited to a few short periods, until a serious sickness ends the innings! Look around and at a given moment, a majority of people around feel healthy and well. Even the few who unfortunately become ill with a chronic illness, have led a healthy life for a greater part of their lives, before falling sick.
The long-term goal of society should be to maintain and improve the health of the population, and to prevent persons from prematurely dying or going down with illness. Caring for those who are sick is essential, but the overall emphasis of society’s goal should be to find ways and means of maintaining health and promoting health of the whole population. Thus one should not confuse the subtle difference between the main focus of the current health services (i.e.
‘caring for the sick’) with that of society’s main goal (i.e. maintain and promote population health).
Once the goals of society are clear we need to pose the next obvious question "Who contributes most to maintain and promote our health? What contributions do the health services make towards maintaining and promoting health?"
Who is responsible for health of the population?
Health services play a crucial role in caring and curing for those who have unfortunately fallen ill.
However, maintaining health and health promotion are less reliant on the health services and are dependent on ‘other sectors’. Therefore if one adds up the totality of health of a population the key determinants are beyond ‘hospitals and doctors’.
Population health is determined to a greater extent by society working through other sectors, more than through health services. The next few paragraphs describe what these ‘other’ sectors are and the link to politicians.
Other sectors which contribute to health
A few examples are education, employment conditions, housing, and economic status. (I have deliberately left out well known sectors such as provision of clean water, sanitation, air pollution etc.)
Education is a key determinant of health of a population. Those with high quality education (e.g.
university education) have a larger proportion of healthy persons, than the uneducated. The poorly educated die younger and are more often affected by illness.
Employment conditions are also important for health.
Being employed in a secure job is good for health.
Unemployment (even threat of unemployment), manual work, night shifts, and lack of a supportive work environment contribute to people falling physically sick, absenteeism and low productivity.
Housing has a complex influence on health. In general terms, good housing leads to improved health. Research in Sri Lanka carried out by the Malaria Research Unit of the University of Colombo had shown that poor housing is linked to higher rates of malaria. More recently, the British Medical Journal of 3 March 2007 describes a study where mere provision of good insulated housing improved the health of the population .
Economic status is a key determinant. Economic development (with equity) promotes health. On average, the richer survive longer than the poor. The richer groups suffer less from communicable and non communicable disease such as diabetes, stroke and heart attacks. (It is a myth that these diseases are confined to the affluent). Scientists use the term ‘social determinants of health’ to describe all these ‘other sectors’ which impact on health.
These social determinants are largely a result of political decisions. Lack of housing (e.g. 50% of Colombo city population live in unsuitable houses (i.e. ‘slums’), poor quality education in the country (e.g. 18% sixth graders cannot write as highlighted in the Island editorial of 21 March 2007) , the status of labour laws (e.g. increasing pressure from multi-nationals to restrict labour rights) are finally based on political decisions. Doctors and hospitals deal mostly with the final detrimental effects of these decisions. Health is a wider issues not limited to the Ministry of Health. It is the responsibility of all the ministries of government and a cross-cutting issue, with political overtones. One pays a price if this reality is not appreciated, and often the price is in human lives.
The politics of health and specific disease prevention
What are the implications of knowledge on social determinants of health for disease prevention? This topic is of interest because the health services have several programmes aimed at disease prevention and health promotion. The specific simple example is used because currently there is a lot of in Sri Lanka to prevent an ‘epidemic’ of non-communicable diseases (NCDs, such as diabetes, coronary heart disease, hypertension, stroke).
The following facts must be mentioned. Firstly it is well known that the diet taken by the population is an important determinant of the prevalence of these NCDs.
Secondly, marketing campaigns by the food industry leads to unhealthy dietary habits among children, a consequence of which is childhood obesity. These obese children are at a higher risk of developing diabetes, heart disease and a many other chronic diseases in later adult life. One needs to view the numerous TV channels in Sri Lanka for a few hours (especially the children’s programmes) to observe how ‘unhealthy’ fast foods are being aggressively marketing to children.
This includes sausages, ice creams, sweetened drinks, biscuits, sweets etc. If Sri Lanka is to take comprehensive action to curb an epidemic of NCDs it also needs to discourage unhealthy food habits in the population. Should the government take any action to curb such marketing methods (*see foot note) or restrict the opening of fast-food outlets?
Any action on part of the government will be based on political pressures and realities. One common political decision in such circumstances is to be deliberately indecisive (i.e. not to take any action on promotion of fast-foods aimed at children). If this happens, victory for the fast-food industry is almost assured. The dull faces of the well meaning health professionals on TV attempting to educate the public on healthy life styles and the detrimental effects of fast foods is no match to the smart sportsmen or cartoon characters who promote the fast-foods! Thus extending this argument further means that the public have to bring on pressure at the political level to implement ‘pro-healthy’ policies. Failing to appreciate this fact may condemn the next generation of children to premature death and illness.
Conclusion
The article challenges the commonly held views on the definition of health and the belief that population health is largely determined by the health services.
Instead we propose a broader view of health with the hope that once these concepts are understood, the public and the health profession will direct more attention to policies which promote health, rather than be limited to curative services and hospitals. In order to be effective most such policies require action in the political arena.
(*Foot note: A similar debate is underway in the US, and there is an interesting article on food marketing and childhood obesity in the prestigious medical journal ‘New England Journal of Medicine’ 15 June 2006. It can be accessed freely from
http://content.nejm.org/cgi/content/full/354/24/2527
).

The writer is Professor, Department of Clinical Medicine, Faculty of Medicine, University of Colombo, Sri Lanka & Consultant Physician, The author can be contacted using the following e-mail address:
societyandhealth@yahoo.com

Food Marketing and Childhood Obesity -- A Matter of Policy

NEJM -- Food Marketing and Childhood Obesity -- A Matter of Policy: "Everyone knows that American children are becoming fatter, but not everyone agrees on the cause. Many of today's children routinely consume more calories than they expend in physical activity, but this imbalance results from many recent changes in home, school, and neighborhood environments. Concerned about the health and economic costs of childhood obesity, in 2004 Congress asked the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to examine one potential cause — the marketing of foods directly to children. The result is a new Institute of Medicine (IOM) study, Food Marketing to Children and Youth: Threat or Opportunity,1 that provides a chilling account of how this practice affects children's health. Food marketing, the IOM says, intentionally targets children who are too young to distinguish advertising from truth and induces them to eat high-calorie, low-nutrient (but highly profitable) 'junk' foods; companies succeed so well in this effort that business-as-usual cannot be allowed to continue. " /.../

Global Data Monitoring Information System

Global Data Monitoring Information System: "
▪ Agriculture and Achieving the Millennium Development Goals. The report shows the continuing importance of agriculture, both directly and indirectly, towards achieving the MDGs, especially in low income countries and examines alternative development scenarios using country-wide models.

▪ MiniAtlas of the Millennium Devlopment Goals: Building a Better World.
The third volume in the miniatlas series is an at-a-glance guide to the MDGs.

▪ A Global Agenda to End Poverty map, a large-format, full-color wall map highlighting progress toward the goals is released in partnership with National Geographic. The map has a special focus on educating secondary school students about the substance of the MDGs and what is needed to meet them."

Global Data Monitoring Information System

Global Data Monitoring Information System: "
▪ Agriculture and Achieving the Millennium Development Goals. The report shows the continuing importance of agriculture, both directly and indirectly, towards achieving the MDGs, especially in low income countries and examines alternative development scenarios using country-wide models.

▪ MiniAtlas of the Millennium Devlopment Goals: Building a Better World.
The third volume in the miniatlas series is an at-a-glance guide to the MDGs.

▪ A Global Agenda to End Poverty map, a large-format, full-color wall map highlighting progress toward the goals is released in partnership with National Geographic. The map has a special focus on educating secondary school students about the substance of the MDGs and what is needed to meet them."

Novo Método de cálculo para o PIB

O Sistema de Contas Nacionais, que inclui o cálculo do PIB, passa a adotar o ano 2000 como referência e incorpora dados das pesquisas anuais econômicas e domiciliares, além das informações tributárias das Pessoas Jurídicas, entre outros aprimoramentos.
O Instituto Brasileiro de Geografia e Estatística (IBGE) divulga nova série do Sistema de Contas Nacionais. Esta série passa a incorporar, integralmente, as pesquisas anuais do IBGE, as informações anuais da Declaração de Informações Econômico-Fiscais da Pessoa Jurídica (DIPJ), agregado por código da Classificação Nacional de Atividade Econômica (CNAE), os resultados da Pesquisa de Orçamentos Familiares de 2003, o Censo Agropecuário 1996 e, ainda, atualiza conceitos e definições introduzindo as últimas recomendações das Nações Unidas e de outros organismos internacionais.
A nova série de contas nacionais terá como referência inicial o ano 2000, com maior detalhamento de atividades e produtos para as Tabelas de Recursos e Usos e de setores institucionais para as Contas Econômicas Integradas. Para o período anterior a 2000 realizou-se a retropolação dos dados até 1995, dentro das disponibilidades de informações, estimando-se uma nova série de Tabelas de Recursos e Usos na classificação do sistema anteriormente divulgado, encadeada com a nova série no ano 2000./.../

Modelo Anatômico-3D

Modelo Anatômico-3D: "Modelo anatômico 3D é uma ferramenta para criação de imagens da anatomia do corpo humano para fins diversos como apresentações em Power Point, estudos, trabalhos científicos e afins.

Este recurso biovisual foi criado à partir de um corpo humano real."

Industry Gifts to Physicians

NEW YORK, March 20 -- Minnesota and Vermont require pharmaceutical companies to disclose payments of $100 or more to physicians and other health care providers, but both states have been accused of failing to deliver on that promise of transparency.
The two states are not living up to their pledges to make it clear to patients whether pharmaceutical company largess and gifts of various kinds might be influencing physicians unduly in the choice of drugs they prescribe, said geriatrician Joseph S. Ross, M.D., M.H.S., of Mount Sinai Medical School, in the March 21 issue of the Journal of the American Medical Association.
"The Vermont and Minnesota laws requiring disclosure of payments do not provide easy access to payment information for the public and are of limited quality once accessed," wrote Dr. Ross. "However, substantial numbers of payments of $100 or more were made to physicians by pharmaceutical companies."
Dr. Ross expanded on the thrust of his JAMA paper in an interview. The Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America (PhRMA) provided a statement of response attributable to Ken Johnson, the senior vice president.

senduit: Terms of Service

senduit: Terms of Service: "Terms of Service
These Terms of Service set forth the terms and conditions upon which Senduit makes available, at no charge, its file transmission services. Your use of the services is expressly conditioned on your compliance with these Terms of Service. By clicking accessing or using the services, you are indicating that you agree to be bound by these Terms of Service. You acknowledge and agree that Senduit may revise these Terms of Service at any time. By continuing to access or use the services after Senduit makes any such revision, you agree to be bound by the revised Terms of Service."

Palliative Care Matters - pallcare.info

Palliative Care Matters - pallcare.info: "Palliative Care Matters is a website intended for health-care professionals working in palliative care or related fields. You are welcome to visit the pages as a Guest, but please consider registering, as this will bring several advantages.

An important feature of the site allows you, as a registered user, to automatically identify new items that have been added since your last visit. If you also register your profession and home country, several of the pages will show quick menu links to items most likely to interest you.

The site is being continuously developed. Please let me know if you come acrosss any problems or 'bugs'; also, any feedback, comments or suggestions are always welcome at Contact"

Hart of Glyncorrwg -- Moorhead 97 (3): 132 -- Journal of the Royal Society of Medicine

Hart of Glyncorrwg -- Moorhead 97 (3): 132 -- Journal of the Royal Society of MedicineBorn in 1927, Julian Tudor Hart (Figure 1) grew up in a home that served, among other things, as a transit camp for anti-fascist refugees from Continental Europe. His mother, Dr Alison Macbeth, was a member of the Labour Party. His father, Dr Alexander Tudor Hart, belonged to the Communist Party and represented the South Wales Miners' Federation in a dispute over medical care; later he volunteered as a surgeon for the International Brigades fighting against General Franco in the Spanish Civil War. Despite the efforts of his parents to discourage him from entering medicine, Julian's ambition was to be a general practitioner in a coal mining community; but as a medical student in Cambridge and London he recognized the dismal reputation of general practice as the least satisfying and most frustrating field of medicine. If serious-minded students were to be turned to this kind of work, the intolerable features of general practice had to modified.1 New recruits to medicine, he argued, should cultivate disciplined anger against the attitudes and circumstances that impeded effective delivery of medical science to sick people.2 These and subsequent opinions were doubtless coloured by his Marxist convictions. Later in life he expanded on his critique of the medical profession, declaring that medical education was `training the wrong people, at the wrong time, in the wrong skills and in the wrong place'.3/.../

UNVIOLENCESTUDY.ORG

UNVIOLENCESTUDY.ORG
Introduction
The United Nations Secretary-General's Study on Violence against Children has been a global effort to paint a detailed picture of the nature, extent and causes of violence against children, and to propose clear recommendations for action to prevent and respond to it. This is the first time that an attempt has been made to document the reality of violence against children around the world, and to map out what is being done to stop it. Since 2003, many thousands of people have contributed to the study in consultations and working groups, through questionnaires and in other ways. Children and young people have been active at every level. On 11 October 2006, the UN General Assembly will consider the study's findings and recommendations.

» Download, World Report on Violence against Children

» Download the United Nations Secretary-General's Report on Violence against

Our unequal society -- Godlee 334 (7591): 0 -- BMJ

Our unequal society -- Godlee 334 (7591): 0 -- BMJ: "

Fiona Godlee, editor

fgodlee@bmj.com

Back in the 1980s, when Margaret Thatcher was confidently asserting that there was no such thing as society, researchers ploughing the unfashionable furrow of health inequalities must have despaired of ever being heard. Things have moved on since then, though not perhaps as far as we might have hoped. There is now good evidence, some of it published in the BMJ (1999;319:953) that the healthiest and happiest societies are those with the most equal distribution of income. And compared even with a decade ago, when wider issues such as poverty and housing were excluded from discussion (BMJ 1995;311:1177), governments have become braver about embracing these social issues when talking about health. The 2004 Wanless report showed that the British government is taking seriously the need to take action to reduce health inequalities.

But the reality lags far behind. In 2005 George Davey-Smith and colleagues looked at health inequalities in the UK (BMJ 2005;330:1016, doi: 10.1136/bmj.330.7498.1016) They concluded that, despite government promises of action, inequalities in life expectancy have continued to widen, alongside widening inequalities in income and wealth. Last month's Unicef report has put unwelcome flesh on the bones of this evidence, ranking Britain bottom among the 21 most developed nations in terms of the wellbeing of our children, while countries with more equal wealth distribution, most notably the Netherlands, can celebrate happy healthy children who are not living in a climate of fear. As with health care, the individualistic, market forces and US model—that potent mix of individualism, market forces, and illiberal social policies—does not look like the one that countries should follow. Instead the evidence points towards the benefits of liberal policies on drugs and sex, and comprehensive social welfare.

Doctors deal every day with the fallout of our unequal society and may feel, with good reason, that they lack the tools to make a difference. "We doctors are hiding," says Des Spence, "in a dugout in the comfort zone of scientific medicine, so often of questionable benefit, so that we have lost sight of the wider problems in society. Perhaps it is time to look over the edge and see the devastation that childhood is becoming" (doi: 10.1136/bmj.39139.462361.59)

The science may be comforting but it can also be powerful. As Hilary Thompson writes (doi: 10.1136/bmj.39133.558380.BE), the Wanless report highlighted the almost complete lack of evidence for interventions to reduce health inequalities. A study in this week's BMJ addresses that lack. Philippa Howden-Chapman and colleagues have pulled off an impressive feat with their randomised trial of improved insulation in low income housing in New Zealand, finding that it improved self reported and objective measures of health (doi: 10.1136/bmj.39070.573032.80). Before this trial, the debate was stuck on whether low household income rather than substandard housing was the main problem underlying health inequalities. As the authors of this study conclude, it is easier to upgrade low income housing than to redistribute income.

Reducing inequity is a global responsibility. One of the four cornerstones of WHO's health for all policy is ensuring equity in health. The BMJ and other journals are focusing on poverty and health later this year (http://www.bmj.com/channels/research.dtl#call) and this year's Global Forum for Health Research in China has taken health inequity as its theme. Good research can change the way people think."

Mortality in Randomized Trials of Antioxidant Supplements for Primary and Secondary Prevention

Systematic Review and Meta-analysis
Goran Bjelakovic, MD, DrMedSci; Dimitrinka Nikolova, MA; Lise Lotte Gluud, MD, DrMedSci; Rosa G. Simonetti, MD; Christian Gluud, MD, DrMedSci
JAMA. 2007;297:842-857.
Context Antioxidant supplements are used for prevention of several diseases.
Objective To assess the effect of antioxidant supplements on mortality in randomized primary and secondary prevention trials.
Data Sources and Trial Selection We searched electronic databases and bibliographies published by October 2005. All randomized trials involving adults comparing beta carotene, vitamin A, vitamin C (ascorbic acid), vitamin E, and selenium either singly or combined vs placebo or vs no intervention were included in our analysis. Randomization, blinding, and follow-up were considered markers of bias in the included trials. The effect of antioxidant supplements on all-cause mortality was analyzed with random-effects meta-analyses and reported as relative risk (RR) with 95% confidence intervals (CIs). Meta-regression was used to assess the effect of covariates across the trials.
Data Extraction We included 68 randomized trials with 232 606 participants (385 publications).
Data Synthesis When all low- and high-bias risk trials of antioxidant supplements were pooled together there was no significant effect on mortality (RR, 1.02; 95% CI, 0.98-1.06). Multivariate meta-regression analyses showed that low-bias risk trials (RR, 1.16; 95% CI, 1.05-1.29) and selenium (RR, 0.998; 95% CI, 0.997-0.9995) were significantly associated with mortality. In 47 low-bias trials with 180 938 participants, the antioxidant supplements significantly increased mortality (RR, 1.05; 95% CI, 1.02-1.08). In low-bias risk trials, after exclusion of selenium trials, beta carotene (RR, 1.07; 95% CI, 1.02-1.11), vitamin A (RR, 1.16; 95% CI, 1.10-1.24), and vitamin E (RR, 1.04; 95% CI, 1.01-1.07), singly or combined, significantly increased mortality. Vitamin C and selenium had no significant effect on mortality.
Conclusions Treatment with beta carotene, vitamin A, and vitamin E may increase mortality. The potential roles of vitamin C and selenium on mortality need further study.
Author Affiliations: The Cochrane Hepato-Biliary Group, Copenhagen Trial Unit, Center for Clinical Intervention Research, Copenhagen University Hospital, Rigshospitalet, Copenhagen, Denmark (Drs Bjelakovic, L. L. Gluud, Simonetti, and C. Gluud and Ms Nikolova); Department of Internal Medicine, Gastroenterology and Hepatology, University of Nis, Nis, Serbia (Dr Bjelakovic); and Divisione di Medicina, Ospedale V. Cervello, Palermo, Italy (Dr Simonetti).

WORLD DEVELOPMENT REPORT 2007

WDR 2007: "Developing countries which invest in better education, healthcare, and job training for their record numbers of young people between the ages of 12 and 24 years of age, could produce surging economic growth and sharply reduced poverty, according to a new World Bank report launched at the Bank's Annual Meetings in Singapore.
With 1.3 billion young people now living in the developing world-the largest-ever youth group in history-the report says there has never been a better time to invest in youth because they are healthier and better educated than previous generations, and they will join the workforce with fewer dependents because of changing demographics.
However, failure to seize this opportunity to train them more effectively for the workplace, and to be active citizens, could lead to widespread disillusionment and social tensions."

8 de março: Dia Internacional da Mulher...

De: Marcelo Gustavo Colominas [mailto:mgcolominas@hotmail.com]
Enviada em: sábado, 3 de março de 2007 12:21
Para: cardtran@fac.org.ar
Assunto: En vísperas del 8 de marzo

The Lancet 2007; 369:715
Editorial
The health of women
March 8, 2007, marks International Women's Day—a day widely recognised as an annual opportunity to focus on the predicaments facing women around the world. The day can be viewed as a celebration of progress made so far towards women achieving equality with men, but it can also act as a reminder of all that still needs to be done. Although there has undoubtedly been major progress to date, in no country in the world can women claim to have the same rights and opportunities as men. This is especially so in the context of health.
Progress in recent years is partly because of the international focus and activity centred around the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs). MDG-3 aims to promote gender equality and empower women. Its associated target is to eliminate gender disparity between primary and secondary education.
Indicators are: the ratio of girls to boys in all levels of education; the ratio of literate women to men; the share of women in wage employment in the non-agricultural sector; and the proportion of seats held by women in national parliament. It is a lost opportunity that no health indicator was added to this list.
The latest MDG report highlighted that despite some successes around MDG-3, there are still areas of concern. Globally, more than one in five girls of primary school age are not in school compared with about one in six boys.
Women account for three-quarters of the 960 million people in the world who cannot read. Women also represent an increasing share of the world's work force—over a third in most regions except southern and western Asia and northern Africa—but they are disadvantaged in securing paid jobs. On average, women receive up to 40% less pay than men for the same work.
Over-representation in subsistence sectors and sociocultural attitudes continue to limit women's economic advancement. In 2006, around 17% of parliamentary seats worldwide were held by women, with some countries, such as Rwanda and Denmark, nearing 50%. However, women's national political representation remains very low in northern Africa and western Asia. What about the health of women?
Women put their lives at risk every time they become pregnant. They are the primary providers of child welfare. They are increasingly susceptible to HIV/AIDS and other major diseases. And they play a crucial part in the management of household resources. In areas that did not make the MDG priority list, such as sexual and reproductive health and the experience of violence, empowerment of women is even more important, since there is little interest from the international community in tackling these resistant challenges.
Sexual and reproductive ill health accounts for nearly a third of lost disability-adjusted life-years in women of reproductive age. An estimated 90% of deaths from unsafe abortions and 20% of obstetric mortality could be avoided with improved access to contraception, but in many countries only a tiny minority of women have access to contraceptive methods. There is a competitive global market for generic contraceptive drugs but in Africa, for example, 97% of the population cannot afford even generic contraceptives without the help of subsidies. In addition, in some countries, women can only receive contraceptives if they first have laboratory tests that often cost more than a month's salary. Yet the latest figures show that donor funding for family planning has decreased by 36%.
The Lancet Series on sexual and reproductive health also showed that women's health rapidly improves when abortion is made legal, safe, and easily accessible but this is not an option for many women. Anti-abortion laws in 2% of countries, such as Nicaragua and El-Salvador, do not permit terminations when the woman's life is at risk from severe complications of pregnancy. MDG-5 aims to improve maternal health yet over 500000 women continue to die every year from—often preventable—complications of pregnancy. There can be little progress in improving women's health, or in achieving any of the MDG targets, without considering gender equality.
To date, 150 countries have ratified the UN Convention of the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women, and 189 countries have agreed an action plan resulting from the Fourth World Conference on Women in Beijing.
Despite this progress, women's health rights continue to be neglected by the international community, and no more so than in the health sector.
Sustainable solutions to the world's economic, health, political, and social problems will not be found until the rights and full potential of women are achieved. Something to reflect on for International Women's Day.
The Lancet
http://www.thelancet.com/journals/lancet/article/PIIS0140673607603298/fulltext
===============================================_
Personalmente creo que las conclusiones de la Editorial ("Sustainable solutions to the world's economic, health, political, and social problems will not be found until the rights and full potential of women are
achieved") son dialecticamente incorrectas.
Estoy convencido que la liberación femenina será producto de un cambio revolucionario que cree las condiciones materiales para que la igualdad de géneros sea posible, no al revés.
Es notable como el pensamiento "progresista", en casi todos los ámbitos, plantea las cuestiones más o menos de esta manera. Estoy convencido que es un escamoteo grosero a plantear el problema de fondo - la abolición del capitalismo, como etapa histórica agotada - y un abrigar esperanzas en que la "humanización" del capital y el reformismo sea una solución a los grandes problemas de la Humanidad. Claro que gran parte del movimiento feminista (quizá la mayoría) es funcional a esta corriente de pensamiento.
==============================================
________________
Marcelo G. Colominas
SCChaco

Encuentros creativos: línica y Crítica en Medicina

De: Dr.Alejandro Wajner [mailto:ahwajner@gmail.com]
Enviada em: sábado, 3 de março de 2007 05:18
Para: aloyzio.achutti@terra.com.br
Assunto: Encuentros creativos: línica y Crítica en Medicina.

Encuentros creativos

libres y gratuitos

" Clínica y crítica en Medicina:

¿ Cómo construimos los cuerpos?"

Siete intensos talleres en la

Unidad Geriatría

del Hospital Ramos Mejía( 1ª Piso Clínica Médica)

TE: 4127 0270

Mhadid@intramed.net

Agosto del 2 al 13 septiembre del 2007

7 jueves de 3 horas desde las 11, 30 hs

capacidad para 30 seres

jefe Dr. Miguel Hadid/ director Dr. Alejandro Wajner

Temario:

Eutonía: Frida Kaplan y colaboradoras

Arte ataca: artistas populares

Baile: danza- movimiento

Teatro: tragedia/ drama/ comedia

Humor: la risa

Juegos/ educación: jardines de infantes

Filosofía/ pensamiento

Poesía/ afectos

¡ Atrevete, Anotate, atraete!

Aprender a vivir( alegría), no a durar...

¡ Pro-move la salud de todos!

¿ Cómo? ¿ Quién? ¿Cuándo?

Medicina de los caminantes

Medicina sin Techos

Auspician:

Cátedra libre de Salud y Derechos humanos de Medicina/ UBA

La Interhospitalaria: " La Solidaria" de salud de todos

ALAMES

Universidad Popular Madres de Plaza de Mayo

Prescription Abuse to Pass Illicit Drugs, Group Says

VIENNA, Austria — Abuse of prescription drugs is about to exceed the use of illicit street narcotics worldwide, and the shift has spawned a lethal new trade in counterfeit painkillers, sedatives and other medicines potent enough to kill, a global watchdog warned Wednesday.

Prescription drug abuse already has outstripped traditional illegal drugs such as heroin, cocaine and Ecstasy in parts of Europe, Africa and South Asia, the U.N.-affiliated International Narcotics Control Board said in its annual report for 2006.

In the United States alone, the abuse of painkillers, stimulants, tranquilizers and other prescription medications has gone beyond "practically all illicit drugs with the exception of cannabis," with users increasingly turning to them first, the Vienna-based group said.

Unregulated markets in many countries make it easy for traffickers to peddle a wide variety of counterfeit drugs using courier services, the mail and the Internet./.../

Junta Internacional de Fiscalização de Entorpecentes

UNODC lança Relatório Anual da JIFE

Junta Internacional de Fiscalização de Entorpecentes destaca problemas dos mercados-não regulamentados e traz informações sobre oferta e demanda de drogas lícitas e ilícitas no mundo

Rio de Janeiro, 1 ^o de março - O Representante do Escritório das Nações Unidas contra Drogas e Crime (UNODC) para o Brasil e Cone Sul, Giovanni Quaglia, lançou hoje o Relatório Anual da Junta Internacional de Fiscalização de Entorpecentes (JIFE). O evento, às 10h no Centro de Informação das Nações Unidas (UNIC) no Rio de Janeiro, contou com a participação do Secretário Nacional Antidrogas, Gral. Paulo Roberto Uchôa e do Diretor-Adjunto da Agência Nacional de Vigilância Sanitária (ANVISA), senhor Norberto Rech.

Este mais recente relatório da JIFE destaca os problemas mundiais dos mercados não-regulamentados, inclusive venda de remédios falsos e contrabandeados. A publicação também traz informações mundiais sobre produção, o tráfico e o consumo de drogas ilícitas e lícitas.

A JIFE é uma organização independente, com sede junto ao UNODC em Viena, Áustria, que monitora a aplicação das convenções internacionais para o controle de drogas.

Veja os principais pontos do relatório em português:

• Mensagem do Presidente
  
• Perigos dos Medicamentos Falsos
  
• Destaques Regionais
  
• Uso de drogas com venda controlada ultrapassa o uso de drogas ilícitas
  
• Remédios Incentivam Obsessão pela Magreza
  
• Situação das drogas no Afeganistão está se deteriorando rapidamente, segundo JIFE
  
• O papel da Junta Internacional de Fiscalização de Entorpecentes
  
• O Brasil no Relatório Anual da JIFE

Faça o download do relatório completo (Arquivo PDF - 2,6 Mb): espanhol

Faça o download da edição sobre Precursores Químicos (Arquivo PDF - 3,8 Mb): : espanhol

Para mais informações entre em contato:

Carolina Gomma de Azevedo

Assessora de Comunicação - UNODC Brasil - www.unodc.org.br

Tel: 55 61 3367-7353 (r 207) e 55 61 8143 4654

Carolina.Azevedo@unodc.org

ProCOR's Louise Lown "Heart Hero" Award APPLICATION DEADLINE: 30 APRIL 2007

From: Coleman, Catherine [CCOLEMAN5@PARTNERS.ORG]
ProCOR's Louise Lown "Heart Hero" Award APPLICATION DEADLINE: 30 APRIL 2007

ProCOR's newly established Louise Lown "Heart Hero" Award recognizes individuals or groups who are working to promote heart health through innovative, preventive approaches in developing countries or other low-resource settings. Examples of eligible initiatives include community programs promoting physical activity, nutrition or tobacco control; population-based interventions reducing diabetes, hypertension and obesity; patient-focused clinical programs increasing access to screening, identification and control of risk factors; advocacy and policy activities; relevant research; and resource development and dissemination.

The application deadline for the 2007 award is 30 April 2007 and the first winner will be announced in June. The award prize is US$1,000.

Help us recognize efforts that often escape the notice of global media by forwarding information about the award to your colleagues and to other networks!

The award honors Mrs. Lown's lifelong commitment to the rights and wellbeing of others through her work as a social worker, activist and writer.

The award is administered by ProCOR, a program of the Lown Cardiovascular Research Foundation in Brookline, Massachusetts, USA. ProCOR was founded in 1997 by Dr. Bernard Lown, Nobel Peace Prize recipient and inventor of the cardiac defibrillator. ProCOR is a global health communication network that promotes knowledge sharing to prevent cardiovascular disease in developing countries and other low-resource settings. ProCOR uses low-cost communication technologies to create a forum in which people working in clinical, community, and policymaking settings around the world can exchange information and ideas and support each other's activities to promote heart health in their neighborhoods and countries.

Who can apply
Applications are encouraged from individuals or groups working to promote heart health in developing countries or other low-resource settings (nonprofit, governmental, or private sector). To be considered, applicants must meet the criteria specified below and provide all information requested on the application form.

Award Amount
US$ 1,000

Programs that are accepted for consideration but that do not receive the award will nevertheless gain increased visibility among a diverse global community committed to sharing knowledge in order to promote cardiovascular health.

Award criteria
Programs applying for the award must:
--Build awareness or support action that promotes heart health.
--Innovatively respond to local health needs.
--Demonstrate success.
--Be cost-effective and potentially sustainable.
--Have been in operation for a minimum of one year.
--Have the potential to be adapted or replicated.

Application process and timeline
--Applications are accepted year-round.
--Applications are reviewed on a continuous basis by an award committee.
--Applicants will be notified whether their program has been accepted for consideration.
--Applicants for the 2007 award will be selected for consideration by May 2007.
--Information about programs that are selected for award consideration may be published in ProCOR's email news/discussion forum and on the ProCOR website.
--The 2007 award recipient will be announced in June 2007.
--Funds will be provided directly to the NGO or individual with primary responsibility for the project.

Information required after award is received One of the award's goals is to encourage the sharing of experience and adaptation of successful models. Award recipients are expected to provide periodic activity updates, insights derived from their experiences, information about local health status, etc.

How to apply
Send the information requested below to Catherine Coleman, ProCOR Editor in Chief.
E-mail: ccoleman5@partners.org.
Fax: 001 617 734 5763
Mail: Louise Lown Heart Hero Award, Lown Cardiovascular Research Foundation, 21 Longwood Avenue, Brookline, MA, 02446, USA

For more information
Contact Juan Ramos, ProCOR Program Coordinator.
E-mail: jramos3@partners.org
Telephone: 001 617 732 1318 ext. 3319