The News Review:
- US health secretary visits China, talks about product safety, child…
- Ethiopia: Over 46 Mln People Provided With RH/FP Services
- Mental health workers blast CPS for separating polygamist families
- Mobile teams to vaccinate children in remote areas
- Report: 39 dead from China child virus
- Health information for women offered at midday event this week
- Row over health risks of marriage between cousins
US health secretary visits China, talks about product safety, child…
International Herald Tribune – May 12, 2008
Leavitt was due to meet later with China's health minister to discuss various issues, including a viral outbreak that has killed at least 34 children and sickened thousands. He said he planned to reiterate a U. offer to help China in its fight against the outbreaks of hand, foot and mouth disease. “We have some people at the Centers for Disease Control who have unique qualifications and experience in this specific disease,” Leavitt said… “We have a strong desire for a cooperative relationship where we can share assets, and if this is a such a situation we would welcome that opportunity. ” China's official Xinhua News Agency reported late Sunday that the viral infections had been brought under control in the eastern city of Fuyang, where 22 children had died from the disease as of May 10. American health experts have helped with epidemiology in past disease outbreaks in China, including the SARS epidemic of 2003, when Beijing was criticized internationally for trying to conceal the emergence of the disease. This latest disease outbreak shows how China has improved its handling of such crises, Leavitt said. “They are regularly updating the public on the results. It's coming from a system that seems to have integrity in seeking answers,” he said. Leavitt also said the two sides were making progress on a dispute over the investigation into imports of heparin, a blood thinner linked to 81 deaths and hundreds of severe allergic reactions.
Ethiopia: Over 46 Mln People Provided With RH/FP Services
AllAfrica.com – May 12, 2008
A range of beneficiaries of the program were present on the occasion to give testimonies as to how they benefit from the program. Government officials, representatives of donor organizations, NGOs and other stakeholders attended the occasion. With a population of 75 million, Ethiopia is the second largest country in sub-Saharan Africa. As 85 percent of Ethiopians live in rural areas, access to modern health care is often limited and harmful traditional practices, such as early marriage and female circumcision, are prevalent… Government officials, representatives of donor organizations, NGOs and other stakeholders attended the occasion. With a population of 75 million, Ethiopia is the second largest country in sub-Saharan Africa. As 85 percent of Ethiopians live in rural areas, access to modern health care is often limited and harmful traditional practices, such as early marriage and female circumcision, are prevalent. Relevant LinksEast AfricaEthiopiaHealth and MedicinePathfinder International has been operational in Ethiopian since 1995 with the focus to improve the lives of families through the provision of reproductive health and family planning services. The organization had secured finance for USAID, SIDA, David and Lucile Packard Foundation, UNFPA and UNICEF to execute programs.
Mental health workers blast CPS for separating polygamist families
Dallas Morning News – May 12, 2008
In a set of unsigned written reports, workers with Hill Country Community Mental Health-Mental Retardation Center said that the Child Protective Services investigation of suspected child abuse and its decision to ask for state custody of all 464 children punished mothers who appeared to be good parents of healthy, emotionally normal kids, the San Antonio Express-News reported. “The mothers are incredibly loving and patient with the children. The children were well-socialized and well-behaved and interacted willingly and happily with us,” one wrote. Another wrote: “The children were sweet and well-mannered upon our arrival. They obeyed their mothers and appeared to be healthy and well-nourished.
Mobile teams to vaccinate children in remote areas
Hindu – May 12, 2008
Elango, Additional Director of Public Health, said here on Sunday. According to health officials in Dindigul district, mobile teams would go to villages such as Poondi, Kaunji and Pookal in Kodaikanal Hills that had no transport facilities to reach the nearest PHC. The committee members include experts from Institute of Child Health, Chennai, Directorate of Public Health and the King’s Institute of Preventive Medicine. “The objective is to ensure complete coverage. The government will come out standard guidelines on vaccination within a week,” Dr.
Report: 39 dead from China child virus
USA Today – May 12, 2008
A girl died in eastern Anhui province from enterovirus 71, a virus that causes a severe form of the disease, Xinhua said. Anhui is the worst-hit province, and was where the first wave of deaths from the disease were recorded in March. Another child died on the southern tropical island of Hainan and three in southern Guangdong province, but no further details were available about their cases, Xinhua said. Most cases of hand, foot and mouth in China this year have been blamed on enterovirus 71. Hand, foot and mouth has sickened 24,934 children in six provinces, Xinhua said. Cases have cropped up from Guangdong province in the south to Jilin province in the northeast, along with major cities such as Beijing and Shanghai… Health and Human Services Secretary Mike Leavitt said in Shanghai on Monday the U. would be willing to help China with the disease. Hand, foot and mouth spreads through contact with saliva, feces, fluid secreted from blisters or mucus from the nose and throat. There is no vaccine or specific treatment, but most children affected by mild forms of the disease recover quickly without problems after suffering little more than a fever and rash.
Health information for women offered at midday event this week
Seattle Times – May 12, 2008
National Women’s Health Week is being celebrated with Walking Across Cultures, an event where women in the community will be able to get information on women’s health, child and maternal health, blood-pressure screenings and breast-cancer education. Gatherings will be held 11:30 a… National Women’s Health Week is being celebrated with Walking Across Cultures, an event where women in the community will be able to get information on women’s health, child and maternal health, blood-pressure screenings and breast-cancer education. Gatherings will be held 11:30 a.
Row over health risks of marriage between cousins
Pakistan Dawn – May 12, 2008
com – DO NOT MODIFY –>. The debates will be held by the Royal Society of Medicine as part of its 100 Years of Medical Genetics celebrations on May 23, and by the Progress Educational Trust at Clifford Chance in east London on May 29. Both will reveal deep divisions among scientists. Some researchers and politicians say inter-cousin unions, which are highly prevalent among British Pakistanis, have led to a striking rise in the incidence of rare recessive disorders, many of them fatal, in areas such as Bradford. The trend has led to calls for cousin marriages to be banned… ”
Others who have warned about the dangers include Phil Woolas, an environment minister, who provoked fury earlier this year when he said the culture of arranged marriages between first cousins was the ‘elephant in the room’ and argued that if ‘you have a child with your cousin , the likelihood is there will be a genetic problem’. This last claim is hotly disputed by genetic counsellors and Muslim doctors. They point out that the danger of a child having birth defects if the parents are cousins is double that of other children, which means the risk rises from about 2 per cent in the general population to about 4 per cent when the parents are closely related. A risk of 4 per cent therefore does not make it ‘likely’ there will a genetic problem, as Woolas claimed, say genetic counsellors. “The danger posed by cousin marriage is highly exaggerated,” said Aamra Darr, a senior research fellow at Bradford University. As Darr pointed out, women in Britain are more likely now to have children when they are over 30, increasing the likelihood of them having babies with Down’s Syndrome. But no one suggests that there should be a ban on over-30s having babies, Darr added.
