The News Review:
- High school will host health clinic for community
- Stanislaus receives poor health rating
- Seattle institute aims to help cure world-health data disorder
- Health part of climate change awareness
- The Children of Gaza
- Kenya: Franchising Health Instead of French Fries
High school will host health clinic for community
Rocky Mountain News – Apr 9, 2008
In accordance with Jefferson County school district policy, no contraceptives or condoms will be distributed at the clinic. Students are welcome to walk into the clinic for consultation or treatment, but community members will need to make an appointment. The clinic works with Medicaid, Colorado Indigent Care Program, Child Health Plan Plus and private insurance companies to cover costs, and there is a sliding scale ($35-$45) for those who are uninsured. “We will not turn anyone away,” said Bakken. Info available* For more information on the Alameda High School Kids and Teens Clinic, call the Metro Community Provider Network at 303-761-4825. The clinic will soon announce its own phone number. Subscribe to the Rocky Mountain News Share.
Stanislaus receives poor health rating
Modesto Bee – Apr 9, 2008
com last updated: April 09, 2008 05:28:00 AM. comp –> Public Health Programs
The county’s Public Health Division educates the public and identifies and treats problems through public programs, school activities and privately funded efforts. They include:
The state-funded Child Health and Disability Prevention Program, which assesses the health of and provides services to low-income children. Staff members help families with medical scheduling and referrals, provide information to and train health care providers. The Healthy Eating and Active Living Community Health Initiative, funded by Kaiser Permanente, supports healthy eating and physical activity to decrease obesity and diabetes for west Modesto residents. The effort includes schools, work sites, health care workers and the neighborhood. It encourages neighborhood stores to sell more fresh fruits and vegetables, is exploring the construction of a walking trail over the Modesto Irrigation District canal and is encouraging “walk to school” days in 10 schools… The infections come in two types, he said: health-care associated, which happen in hospitals and long-term care facilities to people who are chronically ill and vulnerable; and those that happen in the community to healthy people who are in close contact, such as child care and school settings, gyms, prisons and in military training. The community infections are rarely fatal, Walker said. The Public Health Division is distributing brochures to child care providers and schools, he said. Walker said a growing problem is that revenue from state and federal sources is earmarked for specific programs, which makes it difficult for the county to respond to emerging issues in the community. Less than 5 percent of the federal and state money for public health is for chronic disease, Walker said. With limited funds, the Public Health Division has chosen to focus on the next generation to alleviate chronic disease, with programs aimed at children. “We continue to beat the bushes looking for foundations that may assist us in these efforts,” he said.
Seattle institute aims to help cure world-health data disorder
Seattle Times – Apr 9, 2008
As the United Nations body charged with shaping the world’s health agenda, WHO’s core mission includes monitoring health trends and gathering statistics. Some critics inside the bureaucracy bristle at an American billionaire encroaching on their turf, though few dare to openly speak out against the world’s richest philanthropy. Murray has also stepped on toes at another U. health organization, the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) with a report that showed child-death rates are dropping more slowly today than they were 30 years ago. But Murray and the Gates Foundation hope to quiet the discord this week, as the institute hosts its first international board meeting and scientific conference in Seattle.
Health part of climate change awareness
Jakarta Post – Apr 9, 2008
php”); }); Be a member & get the benefits! Register or login. Health Minister Siti Fadilah Supari said it was time to put health at the center of the climate change discourse, because health was closely linked to society and the environment. "The government is working to increase the public’s awareness of these issues by carrying out campaigns under the theme ‘Protecting Health from Climate Change’ this year," she said in a written speech delivered Monday by the ministry’s director general for disease control and environmental sanitation, I Nyoman Kandun. The minister’s speech was read during a discussion to mark World Health Day, which fell on April 7. The discussion heard that it was important to draw the public’s attention to climate change because it was triggering more frequent outbreaks of disease… "Even though they live below the poverty line, they still spend money for motorcycle payments and cellular phones. This lifestyle hinders them from fulfilling their basic needs. " He said he once saw a malnourished child whose mother was wearing gold bracelets. "That’s why educating people about how to adjust their lifestyle is truly important in order to improve their health standards. " Former ambassador for the UN Millennium Development Goals, Erna Witoelar, said the government campaigned to increase public awareness of these issues through its 2007 national action plan, which included the establishment of the "Communication Forum on Health Impact Study of Climate Change". Many people, however, have criticized the government for stalling at the conceptual level when dealing with climate change issues. Monday’s discussion brought more criticism for Jakarta’s perceived failure to introduce concrete programs to tackle climate change.
The Children of Gaza
اÙشر٠اÙاÙسط – Apr 9, 2008
Eyad Al Sarraj, director of the Gaza Community Mental Health Program, stated that Palestinian children have lost the sense of security and the sense of happiness. According to a study conducted by the Gaza Community Mental Health Program, 45% of children said that they had watched Israeli soldiers beat and insult their fathers in front of them. “The fact that Palestinian children take refuge in Palestinian organizations reflects their desire to gain a new strong identity that can protect them,” Al Sarraj added. Al Sarraj pointed out that matters are further complicated by the fact that Palestinian children are suffering from a chronic state of malnutrition that affects their intellect. He added that the accumulation of repression and violence affects the mental and creative abilities of Palestinian children and pushes them to resort to acts of extremism that reflect the pain and frustration that they feel. Al Sarraj indicated that approximately 36% of boys aged between eight and 12, and 17% of girls, hope to die in martyrdom operations against the Israeli army.
Kenya: Franchising Health Instead of French Fries
AllAfrica.com – Apr 9, 2008
GA_googleFillSlot(“AllAfrica_Story_Inset”);How did this project come about?It started when I learned that 25,000 children died each day because they did not have medicine that costs less than a cup of coffee. So I went to Africa to find out why and discovered that the average family can afford to pay for the medicine they need, usually to save their child’s life, but the medicine they had access to would be very poor or counterfeit, or the services they would need to properly diagnose a disease were not available. In many cases there was no access at all to health care that was close enough to home for people to get to easily. It occurred to me that maybe we could use the same franchise methods (as fast-food chain McDonald’s)… in order to deliver health care in developing countries. So I went to a McDonald’s franchisee that I knew and began to learn about how franchising works… Whatever you may think of McDonald’s French fries, they are of an amazingly consistent standard – you can buy them anywhere and they are exactly the same as any other McDonald’s French fries elsewhere in the world. I [also] met some of the world’s leaders in the global public health community at places like Oxford and the World Health Organization, and then I met with a number of franchise industry people to learn more about franchising. It was a very long, arduous process… It occurred to me that maybe we could use the same franchise methods (as fast-food chain McDonald’s)… in order to deliver health care in developing countries. So I went to a McDonald’s franchisee that I knew and began to learn about how franchising works… Whatever you may think of McDonald’s French fries, they are of an amazingly consistent standard – you can buy them anywhere and they are exactly the same as any other McDonald’s French fries elsewhere in the world. I [also] met some of the world’s leaders in the global public health community at places like Oxford and the World Health Organization, and then I met with a number of franchise industry people to learn more about franchising. It was a very long, arduous process. How many shops will you start with in Rwanda? The model we’re going to follow in Rwanda is an improvement over the model we have in Kenya… It’s more streamlined, lower cost and it will scale faster. For any large-scale health intervention to work there must be three things true of it. First, it must maintain business and clinical standards because what maintains business standards can be replicated, and if clinical standards aren’t maintained then medicine doesn’t work.
