APHA Section Elections are now open!

by ihsection, posted in APHA IH Section

Attention all IH Section members! APHA elections are now open – you should have received an e-mail from Fran Atkinson with instructions on how to cast your vote online. If you have not received it, check your spam folder and deleted items!

I have copied and pasted the text of the e-mail below, but you still need your unique PIN and member ID, both provided by APHA. Log on and vote!

Dear APHA Member:

The 2012 election polls are now open! APHA would like to encourage all members to vote at this time, it directly affects the future of the Association. Please follow the simple steps below to login and vote.

1.) Go to the APHA voting site: https://www.esc-vote.com/publichealth

2.) In the first box enter your Unique PIN: [provided by APHA]

3.) Press the tab key

4.) In the second box enter your APHA Member ID Number: [provided by APHA]

5.) Press the tab key

6.) Click on the “Login” button to begin voting

Please note that ballots are tallied by an outside vendor – to ensure that your vote is confidential.

If you need assistance, you can click on the “Help” button on the login page to access the help screen or call 1-866-720-4357 to speak with an Election Services Co. customer service representative. Please note that you must cast your ballot by 5:00 p.m. (EDT) on July 30.

Thank you for taking the time to vote.

Sincerely,

Frances Atkinson, MSM
Director of Component Affairs

CGDev Video: Assessing the Los Cabos G-20 Summit and Rio+20 Earth Summit (panel discussion)

by ihsection, posted in Information and Social Media


Over the course of one week, world leaders convened in Los Cabos, Mexico, for the G20 Summit and in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, for the United Nations Conference on Sustainable Development. The outcomes of these two high-level meetings have potentially important implications for poor people in the developing world in three key areas: food security and agriculture, energy, and green growth. U.S. representatives to the Los Cabos G20 and Rio+20 summits, and other distinguished speakers joined us for an assessment of these summits and the road ahead.

MSF Videos: Neglected Tropical Diseases

by ihsection, posted in Information and Social Media

MSF recently released this set of videos on NTDs (neglected tropical diseases). On a related note, I am looking for someone to take over this duty for the blog (finding interesting/relevant YouTube videos and posting them here with some brief commentary), so if you are interested, please e-mail me!


Sleeping sickness is a fatal and much neglected disease that plagues parts of Africa.


Chagas is a parasitic disease found on the American continent, where it affects an estimated 8 to 10 million people and claims up to 12,500 lives every year.

[youtube-http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bvyMN4sEEDY]
Kala Azar is a neglected tropical disease responsible for 50,000 deaths every year.

Global Health Weekly News Round-Up

by Vaani, posted in News

Politics and Policies:

  • Supreme Court upholds President Obama’s health-care law.
  • South Africa adopts 2.5 micron meter (PM 2.5) ambient air quality standards to maintain public health.
  • Indian government proposes new health mission with a focus on the health challenges of people in towns and cities.
  • For uninsured in Texas, Supreme Court ruling adds to uncertainty.
  • Some GOP-led states plan to resist health care law, as ruling reins in Medicaid expansion.
  • Ottawa earmarks $238M for health data research.

Programs

  • The Bank Windhoek Cancer Apple Project sold a total of 87400 apples and raised N$1.3 million for the Cancer Association of Namibia (CAN).
  • Swim across America raises $400K for cancer research.
  • The Prem Rawat (TPRF) Foundation has awarded US$20,000 to cover the costs of a garden-installation program in challenged Niger. These gardens provide fresh produce for the school children lunch.
  • The Primate’s World Relief and Development Fund (PWRDF), with financial support of the government of Canada begins 5-year $2million healthcare program that will focus on preventing HIV/AIDS and tuberculosis among pregnant women in the Ngqushwa district of the Eastern Cape, South Africa.
  • The International Youth Fellowship (IYF) has launched 2012 World Youth Camp in Accra. The aim behind it is make the youth stay away from acts that might lead to violence and conflicts during the coming elections. It will include free medical screening and lectures.
  • A polio campaign from June 29 to July 1 in Lunda Norte Province (Angola) is estimated to vaccinate about 250,000 children from ages 0 to 5.
  • Looking at the health and safety problems of the children, Nestle, Africa vows action on coca child labor in Ivory Coast.
  • Equatorial Guinea offers food aid to Somali famine victims.
  • Workshop on malaria control under way in Ethiopia. This year’s National Malaria Control Programme (NMCP) Best Practice Sharing Workshop will acknowledge the progress made in managing malaria (particularly at community level).
  • Global action for healthy communities without illicit drugs theme marked the celebrations of International Day against drug abuse and illicit drug trafficking in Gambia.
  • ‘Love the Gambia foundation’ donated medical equipment’s worth £150,000 to the Ministry of Health and Social Welfare of Gambia.
  • A team of IBM experts presented a plan to the Kenyan Ministry of Health and the United States Embassy in Kenya to encourage more women to request screening for cervical cancer.
  • Ghana to give USD1m to tackle neglected endemic tropical diseases in order to protect the gains made by the country in Guinea Worm eradication and the elimination of trachoma.
  • Uganda Red Cross Society seeks Sh4.5 Billion for Budada district to provide the people with sanitation kits, hygiene kits, latrine slabs, and safe clean water and sanitize them to prevent any disease outbreaks like diarrhea and dysentery.
  • “Neighbors’ eye” program in Rwanda to help eradicating drug abuse.
  • Hong Kong’s first anti-cancer drug (for liver cancer) granted with US FDA IND.
  • Nepal gets $8 million from UN peace building fund. This funding will used for the activities such as mobile health camps, health services inside the cantonments.
  • Cordillera (Philippines) administrative region children to receive free rotavirus vaccination.
  • Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR) and Children with Intestinal and Liver Disorders (CH.I.L.D) create Canadian Children Inflammatory Bowel Disease Network.

Research

  • A study published in Lancet describes a treatment option for the people living with HIV/AIDS. The quad pill includes an integrase inhibitor, which is meant to stop the virus from replicating.
  • A study published in the Journal of AIDS confirms that the Shang Ring is safe to use and demonstrates that men should exceed the recommended timing for removing the device. This requires only one visit for the procedure and it stays in place for 7 days after the procedure.
  • According to a recent study the pregnant women in Lilongwe and Malawi need to be informed of their increased risk for HIV and the importance of using condoms throughout pregnancy and the postpartum.
  • A study conducted by the New Zealand’s Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry (MAF) has found that children’s intake of iodine has significantly improved since the mandatory bread fortification policy.
  • A team of scientists from the National University of Singapore’s (NUS) Department of Biological Sciences and Mechanobiology Institute have discovered how a drug – Lead compound- can deprive cancer cells of energy and stop them from growing tumor. This drug-lead compound is named BPTES.
  • According to a study, expectant mothers who dealt with the strain of a hurricane or major tropical storm passing nearby during their pregnancy had children who were at elevated risk of abnormal health conditions at birth.

Diseases & Disasters

  • Strong earthquake (of magnitude 6.6) rocks China’s far-western frontier. About 34 people are reported to be injured.
  • Earthquake of 3.4 magnitude strikes Morgan Hill about 12 miles from San Martin and 15 miles from San Jose City Hall.
  • Household air pollution in Laos fuels pneumonia. A report by the World Health Organization (WHO) and the UN Development Programme (UNDP) noted that 1,200 of the 1,777 deaths could be directly attributed to solid fuel use.
  • Floods by the water of river Brahmaputra in the state of Assam (India) has caused death of 35 people. 11 lakh people are left stranded.
  • 350,000 marooned in flooding of river Brahmaputra in Bangladesh.
  • The Ministry of Health (Singapore) said microspordial spores are common in Singapore soil.

 

 

 

APHA Mid-Year Meeting

by ihsection, posted in APHA IH Section, Guest Blog

Below is a post from past section chair, Dr. Miriam Labbock, who is representing the IH Section at this year’s APHA Mid-Year Meeting in Charlotte, North Carolina.

Dear All:
I am at the mid-year meeting of APHA representing the IH Section – as well I might, as there only seem to be a handful at most of section members here. We gathered together at a break to see who was here…BUT HERE’S MY VOTE THAT WE GET MORE INVOLVED IN THIS MEETING FOR NEXT YEAR!!! It has little to no section or affiliate politicking and actually sticks pretty much to public health issues, and gives sufficient time for discussion and networking. If we can add in a little IH, this could serve as an excellent alternative to the possibly missing GHC opportunity, with some a solid learning time.!

Yesterday, the first day, we had a keynote speech by Dr Don Berwick, guru of improving quality in the health care setting. While he stuck pretty much close to his comfort zone by his own admission, some of the questions pulled him out to discuss public health. Bottom line: huge call for increased communication between clinical and public health agendas.

Luckily, today, the keynote was Dr Mike McGinnis, who is well known in US Public Health circles. His talk much more directly addressed the question of how to increase the dialogue and mutual action. I encourage you all to read his comments, which I am told will be on line on the APHA website soon.

Last night, we had a special session planned to discuss the supreme court decision on ACA. Of course, the decision will not be until Thursday, but there were some interesting points made. In the immigration case, the Supreme Court made a big deal of the fact that they cannot make a judgement on something that is not yet in place…so this heartened the crowd that the provisions that have not as yet been implemented may be safe…we shall see.

Breakout sessions that I attended included “Building the Evidence Base for Public Health” where the take home message was very familiar to those of us who work in other countries: you need ‘evidence’ that is more relevant to action planning! Great speakers. Again, I would encourage you to visit the site. Shiriki offered a bit on the L.E.A.D. approach that may be relevant and all the speakers were innovative and interesting. The next was on Building Community Action – again, I think we are way ahead of the game in IH, but it was good to hear about domestic efforts to involve all stakeholders in health planning. All sessions pretty much addressed increasing activity (for obesity and coronary and diabetes) and decreasing sweet drinks. Lots of sidewalks in the discussion. I wish there has been some other topics, but it was very eye opening to see how state-side public health units have to function. My hats off to them – so many bureaucratic hurdles…

Stay tuned, because tomorrow the discussion will further highlight…ACA, of course! Let’s see what the Supreme Court comes up with!!

Best wishes to all, Miriam