Tag: Tobacco

Stop Tobacco Industry Interference (WHO Video)

by ihsection, posted in Information and Social Media

So I understand what they’re getting at here (deaths due to tobacco, marketing tobacco to minors, etc.), but personally I find this video to be somewhat scattered and not very focused. Normally I really like the WHO videos, but I find this one less than impressive.


Tobacco is public health enemy number one. It kills six million people every year. The tobacco industry does everything it can to undermine anti-tobacco work. WHO has chosen “Stop tobacco industry interference” as the theme for the 2012 World No Tobacco Day – on 31 May. Discover the subversive methods of the tobacco industry by watching the campaign video. Find out what WHO, governments and civil society are doing, and how you can help stop the tobacco industry in its tracks, by joining the conversation on Twitter @WHO – #NoTobacco. (http://twitter.com/#!/who)

Global Health Weekly News Round-Up

by Vaani, posted in News
  • April 7th is celebrated every year as World Health Day to mark the founding anniversary of World Health Organization (WHO).

Politics and Policies:

  • Food and Drug Administration (FDA) warns against Japanese weight loss pills. The product contains a suspected cancer-causing agent – Phenolphthalein.
  • Indonesia has won a tobacco dispute with the United States after the World Trade Organization (WTO) ruled in its favor saying that the US ban on clove cigarettes was discriminatory.
  • The 126th Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU) Assembly in Kampala, Uganda, adopts Resolution on “Access to Health as Basic Right”.
  • World politicians meeting in the capital of Uganda, Kampala, have agreed on the need to repeal laws discriminating against HIV/AIDS which they say have contributed to an increase in the rate of new infections.
  • Dharamsala (in India) based Central Tibetan Administration (CTA) has launched a Medicare system for Tibetans in Exile.
  • The Department of Health (DH) of Hong Kong has appealed the public not to buy or consume an oral product called “Ling Zhi She Xiang Tong Mai Dan”.
  • The Chilean Senate has rejected three bills that would have eased the country’s absolute ban on abortions.

Programs

  • An emergency funding of $26 million has been authorized by President Barack Obama to the United Nations High Commissioner for the Sudanese refugees. This will help to respond to the crisis of health, water and food.
  • Bill Gates- Backed Alliance prepares to fight cervical cancer in the developing world. This program is planned to protect 20 million women in thirty countries by the end of decade.
  • Palmcroft Church of Arizona is organizing a campaign to raise thousands of dollars to bring clean water to the poorest of poor in Haiti and Ethiopia.
  • United States Fund for UNICEF President and CEO, Ceryl Stern joins Royal delegation to UNICEF emergency center.
  • The Kenya Aids Vaccination Initiative (KAVI) is collaborating with Uganda, Rwanda, Zambia, Tanzania, South Africa and Gambia to carry out its research to develop biological marker for understanding the diseases among the people in Africa.
  • The Arab bank for Economic Development in Africa (BADEA) has signed loan agreements worth US$ 10 million to improve health services and expanding its coverage in West African region.
  • A meeting organized by the interest groups together for a Stakeholders Consultation on Tuberculosis in the mining sector under the auspices of the South African Development Community (SADC), with the World Bank support.
  • The Primate’s World Relief and Development Fund (PWRF) and the Canadian International Development Agency (CIDA) will together begin US$ 10.8 million health care program that will focus on maternal and child health in fifty nine villages in Burundi, Mozambique and Tanzania.
  • The HIV Early Infant Diagnosis Project funded by the Clinton Foundation and Mozambique’s Ministry of Health has saved an estimated 20,000 babies from infection in the first six months of its launch. Sequoia Technology and Telit Wireless Solutions- providers of technology for this project- has developed a way for the rural medical clinics in Africa to wirelessly receive HIV test results of the expectant mothers within days of testing.
  • The UK government is planning to develop a smartphone natural disaster application, to help victims of flood, famines and earthquake.
  • The first Czech clinic of addictology, focused on the treatment and prevention of alcohol and illegal drug addictions and research into them was opened in Prague.

Research

  • Researchers say that fish along the Orange County coast may have been affected by radioactivity that fell in California in the days after Japan’s 2011 nuclear disaster. They also say that small levels of radioactive isotope have accumulated in seaweed along the local shoreline.
  • A research suggests link between an injectable form of progestin-only birth control and an increased risk of breast cancer.
  • A universal cancer vaccine has been developed by a group of researchers. The early clinical trial has shown that it triggers an immune response and targets a molecule found in 90% of all cancers.
  • A remedy consisting of phytonutrients extracted from eggplant have been confirmed to treat and basal cell and squamous cell carcinoma.
  • A study on females in China revealed that the vegetables like mustard and turnip greens, bok choy, cauliflower and green cabbage are protective against breast cancer.
  • According to a study malaria stain resistant to the most effective drug used to treat the disease has spread along the Thai-Myanmar border. If ways are not found to contain it, it might reach India and Africa.
  • According to a recent survey Delhi (in India) has the highest number of corporate employees afflicted with insomnia due to high stress level and demanding schedules in offices. This city is followed by Mumbai, Ahmedabad, Chandigarh, Hyderabad, Pune and Chennai.
  • Type 2 diabetes rising sharply in China. About 30 percent increase in cases in only seven years.
  • Data from 2010 Basic Health Research (Riskesdas) shows that 27.1% of obese people above the age of eighteen years with BMI greater than 27.The same data shows obesity among kids below five years olds has increased to 14% from 11% in 2007.
  • Scientists from Duke-NUS Graduate Medical School in Singapore and the National Cancer Center Singapore have identified more than 600 genes that are mutated in stomach cancer, the second most lethal cancer in the world.
  • The blood-pressure medication prazosin was found to be an effective treatment to curb nightmares related to post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD).
  • A study shows that most of the fat people think they are not fat.
  • Researchers have demonstrated the effectiveness of hypnotism in reducing severe symptoms of Irritable Bowel Syndrome.
  • A new study suggests a link between obesity during pregnancy and autism.
  • The dengue virus may make mosquitoes even thirstier for human blood according to a study conducted at the John Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health.
  • According to a new study, waist size helps to predict heart disease risk in teenagers.

Diseases & Disasters

  • The eastern horn of Africa is in famine crisis. About 750,000 people are at a risk of death.
  • H1N1 was detected in a Hong Kong’s slaughter house during regular influenza virus surveillance for pigs.
  • Avalanche in Siachen glacier region claims life of people in India and Pakistan.
  • Nine miners trapped in collapsed mine in Peru.

Conference Calls and Radio Shows of Interest

by ihsection, posted in MDGs / SDGs, Section Announcements, Trade and Health

Our very own Mini Murthy and Elvira Beracochea are co-hosting a radio show on the MDGs! The inaugural episode aired last week, but you can listen to it in the archives and tune in for future episodes. They will be on every Thursday at 12 p.m. EST. More information can be found below.

Millennium Development Goals: Progress and Challenges

A NEW AND EXCITING PROGRAM DEBUTS THIS WEEK ON AV RADIO
PROGRAM: Millennium Development Goals
TOPIC OF DISCUSSION: Millennium Development Goals: Progress and Challenges
PLEASE JOIN THIS WEEK’S DISCUSSION LIVE BY PHONE OR SKYPE
WHEN: THURSDAY, MARCH 15TH, 2012
TIME: 12: 00 P.M. to 1: 00 P.M. EASTERN STANDARD TIME
TO PARTICIPATE BY PHONE: CALL THIS NUMBER DURING SHOWTIME: (760) 283-0850
TO JOIN BY SKYPE ADD: AFRICANVIEWS (CALL IN DURING SHOWTIME)

TOPIC’S BACKGROUND:

In 2000, 189 nations made a promise to free people from extreme poverty and multiple deprivations. This pledge became the eight Millennium Development Goals to be achieved by 2015. The MDGs provide a framework for the entire UN system to work coherently together toward a common end. UNDP, global development network on the ground in 177 countries and territories, is in a unique position to advocate for change, connect countries to knowledge and resources, and coordinate broader efforts at the country level. In September 2010, the world recommitted itself to accelerate progress towards these goals.

The declaration established eight Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) and time-bound targets by which progress can be measured. With the 2015 deadline looming, how much progress has been made? And is the pace of progress sufficient to achieve the goals? The MDGs break down into 21 quantifiable targets that are measured by 60 indicators.

In our inaugural episode we hope to give a brief over view of the progress and challenges made from the year 2000- 2005 and focus on Sub Saharan Africa to review the progress made with reference to MDGs 1 and 4.

Join us as we explore this very important topic on MDGs.

HOST: DR. PADMINI MURTHY
Padmini (Mini) Murthy is a physician and an activist who did her residency in Obstetrics and Gynecology. She has practiced medicine in various countries. She has a Master’s in Public Health and a Masters in Management from New York University (NYU). Murthy has been on the Dean’s list at NYU stein hart School of Education and named Public service scholar at the Robert F Wagner Graduate School at New York University. She is also a Certified Health Education Specialist.

CO-HOST: DR. ELVIRA BERACOCHEA
Elvira Beracochea, MD, MPH, has more than 25 years of experience that encompass her work as physician, public health and international development expert, human rights advocate, epidemiologist, health policy advisor, researcher, health systems and hospital manager, consultant, professor and coach. She has worked in over 30 countries in Latin America, Africa, Asia, Eastern Europe and the South Pacific. Dr Elvira is committed to helping realize the right to health and the right to development and to improving the effectiveness of development assistance. For this reason, in 2005, she founded MIDEGO, an organization with an urgent rights-based mission: accelerate the achievement of the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) approved by the United Nations in the year 2000.

ABOUT THE PROGRAM:
The Millennium Development Goal is a weekly discussion on AV Radio based on the Millennium Declaration, adopted by all 189 United Nations Member States in 2000, promised a better world with less poverty, hunger and disease; a world in which mothers and children have a greater chance of surviving and of receiving an education, and where women and girls have the same opportunities as men and boys. It promised a healthier environment and greater cooperation-a world in which developed and developing countries work in partnership for the betterment of all.

LISTEN TO THIS RADIO PROGRAM ARCHIVES AT: http://www.africanviews.org/index.php/av-radio/av-radio/AV-Radio/womens-education_c1021_m157/

Next month, APHA’s Trade and Health Forum will be holding an open Educational Session on Tobacco and International Trade Agreements. It will take place on April 12 at 2:30 PM Pacific/5:30PM Eastern.

The first 30 minutes of the call will be an educational session about recent activity pertaining to alcohol and tobacco in trade agreements and the question of “carve outs”. Donald Zeigler, PhD, Director of Prevention and Healthy Lifestyles at the American Medical Association (AMA) will lead the session. Dr. Zeigler has been active in the Trade and Health Forum, representing the Alcohol, Tobacco and Other Drug Section of the American Public Health Association and has been interested in trade and health issues for almost a decade. He was instrumental in getting the AMA to adopt policy on trade and has worked with other medical specialty societies to adopt policy, as well. The AMA recently called on the US Trade Representative to carve out tobacco and alcohol from the proposed Trans-Pacific Partnership agreement.
The second 30 minutes of the call will be dedicated to Trade and Health Forum business. You are welcome to join for the full call, and we welcome your input.

To dial in, please call (605) 475-4850 and use the following access code: 810329#. If you have questions, please direct them to Natalie Sampson (nsampson@umich).

Very best,

American Public Health Association’s
Trade & Health Forum Leaders

Global Health News Last Week

by ihsection, posted in News

October 10 was World Mental Health Day.
October 15 was Global Handwashing Day.

POLITICS AND POLICY

  • The U.S. Army has proposed major cuts to its work on HIV, especially in the vaccine field. Leaders of the Infectious Diseases Society of America and other biomedical research organizations oppose the cuts.
  • The WHO plans to recommend tighter nutritional standards in food aid for young children, a move activists say is necessary to improve donations from countries such as the United States.
  • The US Department of Defense is funding platforms that will completely rethink how malaria drugs are developed.
  • Former Bush Administration official Andrew Natsios argues the case for foreign aid: “Singling out foreign aid for disproportionate cuts—which is exactly what has happened—is a serious mistake the United States as a world leader will pay for in the future.”
  • A survey of 507 Americans at the end of September sought to capture what, exactly, Americans know about the foreign aid budget. Particpiants were asked four questions about their impressions of foreign aid and opinions on why it is important to American interests.  Go here to read the full fact sheet that also includes more details about the study’s methods and see below to review the results in more detail.
  • The World Health Organization’s chief on Monday urged governments to unite against “big tobacco”, as she accused the industry of dirty tricks, bullying and immorality in its quest to keep people smoking.

PROGRAMS

  • Berk Ozler examines some recent reports about the challenges surrounding male circumcision. In the World Bank Development Impact blog, he offers two suggestions for how to improve the programs.
  • A partnership between Pampers and UNICEF to deliver neonatal tetanus vaccines is on track to eliminate the disease by 2015.
  • A $258 million initiative sponsored by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation aimed at preventing AIDS in India appears to have paid off overall, researchers say, resulting in more than 100,000 fewer new HIV infections over five years. Many aren’t quite ready to judge this project, Avahan, a success, however. The project failed in three of the six Indian states where it was tested.
  • Are the Millennium Villages an intervention that can reach scale? Supporters say yes and detractors are skeptical. Madeline Bunting covers the debate in the Guardian Development.
  • A report on the MGDS by United Nations Development Program, the UN Economic Commission for Africa, the African Development Bank and the African Union Commission says that social protection programs can have a wide positive impact.

RESEARCH

DISEASES AND DISASTERS

APHA Mid-Year Meeting, Day 2: Public Health Jobs, Prevention, and Wellness (and why the heck does APHA serve sodas at lunch?)

by Jessica, posted in APHA IH Section

I get frustrated sometimes with the academic nature of policy presentations. I have spent enough time in masters classes and government work to be used to lofty language and bureaucracy-speak, but I wonder at its utility at a conference that is focusing on how the public health rubber is meeting the road in this climate of health reform. The breakout session I attended this morning was on the public health workforce. I scratched my head while trying to understand the connection between the session topic and the Brian Smedley’s (from the Joint Center for Political and Economic Studies) presentation on the disparities between white-dominated and minority neighborhoods (the moderator had to make the connection for the audience). Cynthia Lamberth from the University of Kentucky raised some good points on planning for changes in the number of public health workers that will be driven by reform. She said that while many universities and states are in a “wait and see” mode, we cannot afford to wait – hospitals and clinical establishments and planning now, and the field of public health should be following suit. (She also pointed out the convoluted and outdated hiring practices that make it so difficult for public health graduates to get jobs in academia or with the government, which I definitely appreciated).

The presentation that got me up to the microphone, however, was one by John Lisco of the CDC on their various fellowship programs. Any students or recent graduates reading this blog are most likely familiar with at least a few of these programs – Public Health Prevention Service, Epidemic Intelligence Service, Presidential Management Fellows, etc. – and are also familiar with how incredibly competitive they are. The competitiveness of a program is not a bad thing in and of itself, but in an economic climate (and corresponding job market) like ours, finding work is extremely difficult no matter where the vacancy is. On top of that, many of these fellowship programs have highly specific rubrics and ranking criteria – while the essays have very vague prompts. You have to know someone on the inside to know what the selection panel is looking for in your essay, and how to make yourself stand out among thousands of qualified applicants.

On the other hand, it was great to hear about the experiences of communities implementing prevention and wellness program during the afternoon sessions. Major areas of focus included obesity, smoking cessation, and working to make health foods available in low socioeconomic neighborhoods. I was particularly impressed by the results of tobacco-cessation program in Indiana presented by Carla Sneegas, Executive Director of the Indiana Tobacco Prevention and Cessation Program. The program used a fax-referral system that targeted employers, allowing them to fax in a form to enroll in the program to help their employees quit smoking. The program utilized various approaches, including “quitting competitions” and monetary incentives, and some employers had cessation rates of 50% or more. Kudos to Ryan Kellog from Seattle and King County for calling out APHA on having soft drinks at lunch. He added a slide at the end of his presentation on the Communities Putting Prevention to Work program in King County with the picture of the spread with Coke, Sprite, and Diet Coke. “Why the heck were there sugar-sweetened beverages at lunch today?” Good question, indeed.