The News Review:
- WORLD’S MOTHERS REPORT: RP RANKS FIRST IN CHILD HEALTH CARE
- China child virus cases high but no cause for panic
- Opposition attacks WA Government’s handling of Aboriginal child…
- Doremus: School nurses are public health allies
WORLD’S MOTHERS REPORT: RP RANKS FIRST IN CHILD HEALTH CARE
Philippine Headline News – May 7, 2008
In terms of newborn mortality rates, the Philippines has one of the lowest in the developing world with an average of 15 out of 1,000 live births. “Sixty percent of births in the Philippines are assisted by trained personnel, but the disparity between rich and poor is wide, with 92 percent of births among the wealthiest assisted by skilled health professionals, compared to 25 percent among the poorest,” the report stated. It noted that nearly half or 46 percent of the poorest children under 5 in the Philippines do not get health care when they need it and that a poor child is 3. 2 times more likely than a rich child to die before reaching age 5. “The Philippines could save many more children’s lives by targeting health care to the poor,” according to Save the Children. The report said that if all children survived at the same rate as the wealthiest children, 35 percent of the Philippines’ under-5 deaths could be averted. “That means 26,000 Philippine children would be saved each year,” the organization said.
China child virus cases high but no cause for panic
International Herald Tribune – May 7, 2008
“As we just started the web-based surveillance effort and reporting system, it is quite natural to see a rapid increase in numbers in the first few days of such reporting,” said Health Ministry spokesman Mao Qunan. The ministry recently made it mandatory for local health authorities to notify the government of cases. HIGH NUMBERS But around Asia, cases of the disease, which mostly affects children under five, were at higher than usual levels. Singapore reported a 75 percent surge in hand, food and mouth to 10,490 so far this year compared with last year, while Vietnam's health ministry said the country had about 3,000 cases in the first four months of the year, more than the total number of reported cases for 2007. Ten children had died from the disease in Vietnam. Hong Kong was also on alert… In China, a 2-year-old girl in the central province of Hunan and a 3-year-old boy in the southwestern region of Guangxi have become the latest to die of the EV71 strain, Xinhua reported. They were the first deaths reported in those areas. Health officials say the disease's high season is usually June and July and caution that it has yet to peak. BEIJING STABLE But the Health Ministry's Mao said Fuyang had reported no fatalities for the past six or seven days and said that now the virus had been identified, doctors were better able to treat symptoms and control the situation. Still, Anhui, a poor, inland province, was facing problems of proper treatment and unscrupulous doctors, the China Daily reported, saying 10 doctors there had been punished for malpractice relating to the outbreak. In one of the cases, doctors were given demerits for delaying the transfer of a patient to a larger, county hospital. In another, a doctor was fined for giving 17 children an injection he claimed could prevent EV71.
Opposition attacks WA Government’s handling of Aboriginal child…
abc.net.au – May 7, 2008
The figures, revealed in parliament yesterday, show that 53 of the children were Aboriginal and were aged 14-years and under. The Kimberey region was responsible for 18 of the cases. The Opposition’s spokeswoman for Child Protection Robin McSweeney says Aboriginal children are not being looked after in Western Australia. “With all the publicity about children living in poverty, Aboriginal children being sexually abused, here we have 53 of those 66 children are Aboriginal,” she said. “I would have expected those figures to be a lot less. ”
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Doremus: School nurses are public health allies
MetroWest Daily News – May 7, 2008
It helps young people work out relational issues and gender identity questions. Where there is homelessness, truancy, violence or mental health concerns such as depression or suicidal feelings, it intercedes. For the looming communicable illnesses of TB or MRSA, the annoyance of lice, or the remote possibility of bird flu or smallpox, these individuals are on the front line of surveillance and are there in the event of a mass casualty. They provide first aid and emergency care on a daily basis, connect families to primary care providers and facilitate the enrollment of children in state health insurance programs. When a child develops symptoms of acute illness, these healthcare providers perform assessment, intervention and implement a plan of care that often keeps a mildly ill child functioning so that a parent can remain in the workplace. This program that delivers these services (and more, too numerous to mention), is well known but not well understood or recognized for its value.
