The News Review:
- Kevin Rudd’s childcare vision wins business support
- South Africa: Health MDGs Achievable Within Next Eight Years
- Cameroon: Plan Cameroon Sizes Up Its Field Health Services
- New Calculator Factors Chances for Very Premature Infants
Kevin Rudd’s childcare vision wins business support
NEWS.com.au – Apr 17, 2008
" One-stop shops for children and their parents have merit but would come at great expense to taxpayers, federal Opposition Leader Brendan Nelson says. In a speech in Sydney last night, Prime Minister Kevin Rudd outlined the proposal that he will submit to this weekend’s 2020 Summit for discussion. Mr Rudd said the centres would bring together maternal and child health, long-day care and preschool into one-stop shops for parents with children aged up to five years. Dr Nelson today praised the idea, but warned the government must determine a price tag because the proposal will not be cheap, Dr Nelson said. "I’ve noticed he hasn’t yet put any cost on it – I’m sure it’s going to be very expensive. " Under Rudd’s plan, every child under five should have access to affordable child care by 2020 under a vision outlined by Kevin Rudd. The Prime Minister delivered his 2020 goal last night as ideas from more than 3600 individuals and groups were released by the Australia 2020 Summit organisers… Eighteen months’ subsidised maternity and paternity leave for all Australians, a better deal for farm animals and a Ministry for Peace are among the other proposals for this weekend’s summit. The Rudd plan is uncosted, but would provide a one-stop shop to provide baby health checkups, feeding advice, early learning and play activities. They would also provide a place for parents to meet and get advice on child rearing. The Federal Government spends about $3 billon a year on childcare subsidies. Labor promised at the election to spend $1. 5 billion over three years boosting the childcare tax rebate from 30 per cent to 50 per cent.
South Africa: Health MDGs Achievable Within Next Eight Years
AllAfrica.com – Apr 17, 2008
"We know what we want to achieve and how we can achieve this goal, what is necessary is to accelerate the implementation of the programme which requires greater investment in strengthening of national health system," said the minister. GA_googleFillSlot(“AllAfrica_Story_Inset”);The minister was speaking on Wednesday during the closing of the African Union consultative workshop on maternal, new born and child mortality, which started on Sunday. The workshop aimed to provide an opportunity for health organisations and institutions to share experiences and best practices and strategies on reducing the maternal, newborn and under five year’s mortality. Minister Tshabalala-Msimang who is also the Chairperson of the Bureau of African Union Health said there is a need to strengthening the health system and collection of reliable data, which is critical in informing policy intervention to improve the quality of care at different levels within the health system. "Reliable data will also assist us in unmasking the progress that is being made by different regions and countries on various indicators relating to the MDG," she said. During the workshop delegates recommended that countries should make maternal death a noticeable condition including the death occurring in the community. They also recommended that appropriate legal policy and community framework must be put in place at national level to institutionalise maternal death reviews… She however, acknowledged the achievement by the continent despite all the challenges. "Every country in our continent have found it necessary to investigate the reasons behind the maternal death occur and find corrective measures to prevent them," said the minister. During the conference, delegates invited the minister to be Africa’s champion and Goodwill Ambassador for advocating the implementation of the recommendation of Africa’s Movement to Improve Maternal Health and Promote Child survival and development in Africa, beyond 2015. Relevant LinksSouthern AfricaHealth and MedicineSouth AfricaAccepting an invitation, the minister said: "I will not let you down, I will make sure that these recommendations are known by my colleagues and presented to Heads of State of the African Union as part of the progress report on the implementation of the African Health strategy.
Cameroon: Plan Cameroon Sizes Up Its Field Health Services
AllAfrica.com – Apr 17, 2008
Inspired by the World Health Day 2008, Plan Cameroon Communications officer Marie Paul Tchautcha took time off on April 8 and 9 assessing the effectiveness of their health services in Mezam and Ngokentunjia divisions in the North West Province. It was a rare moment to communion with the beneficiary communities of Ndop, Bamukumbit, Baligashu, Agyati, Bafut and Obang. The Plan Guest were heralded in the Ndop and Bafut District hospitals with song and dance acknowledging that the organisation is a blessing to their health needs. GA_googleFillSlot(“AllAfrica_Story_Inset”);On the spot it was all joy and praises for plan Cameroon as a veritable development agent at the service of Cameroon.
New Calculator Factors Chances for Very Premature Infants
New York Times – Apr 17, 2008
About 40,000 babies a year are born at this very early stage in the United States. The new method uses an online calculator developed for such cases factoring in traits like birth weight and sex and generating statistics on chances of the baby’s survival and the likelihood of disabilities (… “If you could take what the girls have and give it to the boys, we’d be one step ahead of the game,” said Dr. Higgins, an author of the study and a program scientist at the Neonatal Research Network of the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development. Although some extremely premature infants do well, many die, sometimes after weeks or months of painful invasive procedures in the intensive care unit. Survivors often suffer brain damage, behavior problems, vision and.
