The American Red Cross is responding to an unprecedented natural catastrophe and devoting every resource to this humanitarian relief effort. The American people can be confident the Red Cross will spare no effort to meet the needs of hundreds of thousands of Hurricane Katrina survivors.
Sheltering Operations
Since Hurricane Katrina made landfall, the Red Cross has provided more than 2.3 million overnight stays in 902 shelters across 26 states and the District of Columbia. On Sunday night, the Red Cross housed more than 36,000 Hurricane Katrina survivors in 236 shelters.
Relief Workers
More than 138,000 Red Cross workers from all 50 states, Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands have responded to Katrina. During this effort, the Red Cross has trained an additional 74,000 people in specialized disaster relief skills.
Feeding Operations
The Red Cross, in coordination with the Southern Baptist Convention, has served nearly 12 million hot meals and more than 8.2 million snacks to survivors of Hurricane Katrina.
Financial Assistance
The American Red Cross is expanding the variety of its efforts to provide financial assistance to upwards of three quarters of a million Hurricane Katrina victims who are dispersed across the nation. Assistance is provided in a variety of ways, including client assistance cards, vouchers, checks and cash. This program has reached more than 350,000 families to date.
Survivors can register for emergency financial assistance, 24 hours a day, by calling toll-free 1-800-975-7585. Due to the large number of survivors, phone lines may be overwhelmed.
Reuniting Families
Persons looking for loved ones can call 1-877-LOVED 1S (1-877-568-3317),
or go to wwwredcross and click on "Family Links Registry" to:
-- Register yourself
-- Register a loved one, or
-- View the existing list of registrants
Family Links Registrants
More than 206,000 have been registered online.
Health & Preventative Care
Visit The Red Cross or The CDC for information about health strategies and preventative measures for those in affected areas.
Disaster Mental Health
To date, almost 282,000 people have received Red Cross Disaster Mental Health services.
How to Help
To Volunteer
Contact your local Red Cross chapter to become a volunteer. Well-meaning individuals are urged not to report directly to the affected areas.
To Donate
Making a financial contribution is the best way to help, to donate:
Call 1-800-HELP NOW or 1-800-257-7575 (Spanish)
Make at secure, online donation at The Red Cross
Visit an Official Red Cross (Cash) Donation Site (retailer locations or online)
Contact your local Red Cross chapter
View additional Red Cross Donation Tips
Funds Received
As of Sept. 19, 2005, the Red Cross has received $764.7 million in gifts and pledges for the hurricane relief effort, of which an estimated $337 million has been received online.
The Red Cross has a four-star rating from Charity Navigator for its effective use of donations. At least 91 cents of every dollar donated to the American Red Cross goes directly to assist disaster victims.
Additional Resources & Information - To learn more about the coordination of efforts among the many organizations and agencies helping hurricane survivors and for additional resources, visit usafreedomcorps.
redcross
суббота, 30 апреля 2011 г.
пятница, 29 апреля 2011 г.
Pitt researchers simulate urban rescue environment at RoboCup 2005 in Osaka, Japan
As the July 7 bombings in London have so devastatingly illustrated, disaster relief is an arduous task, one that is carried out mainly by humans (and trained dogs), communicating face-to-face or by phones and walkie-talkies. Robots may provide limited support for search and rescue activities and are typically remotely operated by a separate team of humans, but such robots can be difficult to control.
To help robots become more helpful to humans during rescue operations, researchers from the University of Pittsburgh and Carnegie Mellon University have developed virtual hazardous environments that they are demonstrating at the International RoboCup Federation's RoboCup 2005 competition at the INTEX Exhibition Center in Osaka, Japan, through July 19. The goal of the annual RoboCup competitions, which have been in existence since 1997, is to produce a team of soccer-playing robots that can beat the human world champion soccer team by the year 2050. As part of that program, teams of robots also compete in a search-and-rescue category.
Michael Lewis, associate professor in Pitt's Department of Information Science and Telecommunications; Jijun Wang, a graduate student in the department; and Carnegie Mellon researchers Illah Nourbakhsh and Katia Sycara will demonstrate their virtual environments in the Urban Search and Rescue (USAR) competition, which takes place in portable disaster arenas designed by the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) to replicate the hazards and difficulties encountered by robots in real disaster environments. The demonstration will use exact models of these arenas as well as models of NIST's Nike silo robotic test site and an office building damaged in the Kobe earthquake to provide a range of environments.
Based on the Unreal game engine, the Pitt simulation provides realistic graphics and accurate physics to duplicate the problems and challenges faced by operators of real search and rescue robots. The operator's interface and overhead views of the arena will be displayed next to an immersive cave where the audience can follow the robots as they search for victims.
The simulation is available at - CLICK HERE - and more information about the demonstration is available at isd.mel.nist/projects/USAR. For more information on the RoboCup competition, visit robocup.
University of Pittsburgh
pitt
To help robots become more helpful to humans during rescue operations, researchers from the University of Pittsburgh and Carnegie Mellon University have developed virtual hazardous environments that they are demonstrating at the International RoboCup Federation's RoboCup 2005 competition at the INTEX Exhibition Center in Osaka, Japan, through July 19. The goal of the annual RoboCup competitions, which have been in existence since 1997, is to produce a team of soccer-playing robots that can beat the human world champion soccer team by the year 2050. As part of that program, teams of robots also compete in a search-and-rescue category.
Michael Lewis, associate professor in Pitt's Department of Information Science and Telecommunications; Jijun Wang, a graduate student in the department; and Carnegie Mellon researchers Illah Nourbakhsh and Katia Sycara will demonstrate their virtual environments in the Urban Search and Rescue (USAR) competition, which takes place in portable disaster arenas designed by the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) to replicate the hazards and difficulties encountered by robots in real disaster environments. The demonstration will use exact models of these arenas as well as models of NIST's Nike silo robotic test site and an office building damaged in the Kobe earthquake to provide a range of environments.
Based on the Unreal game engine, the Pitt simulation provides realistic graphics and accurate physics to duplicate the problems and challenges faced by operators of real search and rescue robots. The operator's interface and overhead views of the arena will be displayed next to an immersive cave where the audience can follow the robots as they search for victims.
The simulation is available at - CLICK HERE - and more information about the demonstration is available at isd.mel.nist/projects/USAR. For more information on the RoboCup competition, visit robocup.
University of Pittsburgh
pitt
четверг, 28 апреля 2011 г.
World Food Programme To Phase Out Aid In Uganda, Including HIV/AIDS Support
The United Nations World Food Programme will phase out food aid and HIV/AIDS support to Uganda, a United Nations official said on Thursday, Xinhua/ChinaView.cn reports. The plan could affect more than 1.5 million people. Uganda's WFP representative Stanlake Samkange said, "WFP's new global strategic direction reiterates that the WFP will always support the priorities of the governments of the countries where it operates. In Uganda's case, the government is more focused on upstream activities as compared to food aid and support to people affected by HIV/AIDS."
Samkange said because there are many groups dealing with HIV/AIDS aid in the country, WFP will focus only on the needs of people affected by HIV/AIDS within its new and ongoing programs. He said that a school feeding program in northern Uganda will continue and that other programs will be retargeted to ensure that they are effectively responding to changing needs. The phase out reportedly will end by December, Xinhua/ChinaView.cn reports.
WFP said that in 2008 its HIV/AIDS support reached an estimated 173,000 people (Xinhua/ChinaView.cn, 9/18).
Reprinted with kind permission from kaisernetwork. You can view the entire Kaiser Daily Health Policy Report, search the archives, or sign up for email delivery at kaisernetwork/dailyreports/healthpolicy. The Kaiser Daily Health Policy Report is published for kaisernetwork, a free service of The Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation.
© 2008 Advisory Board Company and Kaiser Family Foundation. All rights reserved.
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Samkange said because there are many groups dealing with HIV/AIDS aid in the country, WFP will focus only on the needs of people affected by HIV/AIDS within its new and ongoing programs. He said that a school feeding program in northern Uganda will continue and that other programs will be retargeted to ensure that they are effectively responding to changing needs. The phase out reportedly will end by December, Xinhua/ChinaView.cn reports.
WFP said that in 2008 its HIV/AIDS support reached an estimated 173,000 people (Xinhua/ChinaView.cn, 9/18).
Reprinted with kind permission from kaisernetwork. You can view the entire Kaiser Daily Health Policy Report, search the archives, or sign up for email delivery at kaisernetwork/dailyreports/healthpolicy. The Kaiser Daily Health Policy Report is published for kaisernetwork, a free service of The Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation.
© 2008 Advisory Board Company and Kaiser Family Foundation. All rights reserved.
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среда, 27 апреля 2011 г.
Some Congressional Democrats Appear Reluctant To Enter Debate Over PEPFAR's Abstinence Funding Requirements, Wall Street Journal Reports
Some Democratic leaders in Congress are showing "signs" that they are reluctant to enter the debate over the President's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief's abstinence spending requirements, the Wall Street Journal reports (Phillips, Wall Street Journal, 5/21). By law, at least one-third of HIV prevention funds that focus countries receive through PEPFAR must be used for abstinence-until-marriage programs (Kaiser Daily HIV/AIDS Report, 4/2).
Some HIV/AIDS advocates are calling on Democratic lawmakers to repeal the abstinence requirement in the upcoming foreign-aid spending bill, while supporters of the requirements are lobbying against the change, the Journal reports. According to the Journal, Democratic lawmakers "seem likely to push the issue off until later this year or even next year," when Congress is scheduled to reauthorize PEPFAR. The delay could mean that "any relaxation" in HIV/AIDS funding requirements might not take effect until 2009 or 2010, the Journal reports.
Some advocates who oppose the abstinence spending requirements say that the rule diverts money from programs that promote condom use and provide access to antiretroviral drugs and HIV/AIDS care. Although "Democrats have the power to do the right thing," they "don't seem to be willing to do it," Jodi Jacobson -- executive director of the Center for Health and Gender Equity, a group that is leading efforts to repeal the spending requirements -- said, adding, "What is the point in being in the majority if you can't take action?"
Opponents of the spending requirement also have pointed to recent studies, including an Institute of Medicine report that found congressional provisions about how to spend HIV/AIDS money hinders health professionals in the field. Another study, commissioned by HHS, found that abstinence-only programs in the U.S. have not impacted young people's sexual behavior.
Supporters of the spending requirement say that without it, programs promoting abstinence until marriage and fidelity would not receive adequate resources. "Over time, we probably won't need (the provision), but for now, we still do," Ambassador Mark Dybul, who serves as the U.S. global AIDS coordinator and administers PEPFAR, said. Other supporters have cited Uganda as an example of a country that has successfully reduced its HIV/AIDS prevalence by promoting abstinence and fidelity. Stephen Colecchi -- director of the Office of International Justice and Peace at the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, which supports abstinence programs -- said that in this case, "the morally right thing is also the efficacious approach."
According to the Journal, HIV/AIDS advocates have some "well-placed allies" in Congress, including Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.) and Rep. Barbara Lee (D-Calif.), members of the Senate Appropriations Committee and House Appropriations Committee, respectively. Feinstein has said that the requirement is "squeezing out" available funding for other HIV prevention efforts, such as those aimed at preventing mother-to-child HIV transmission and maintaining a healthy blood supply. Lee also has introduced a bill that would eliminate the abstinence requirement.
An unnamed White House spokesperson declined to say whether President Bush would veto legislation that relaxes abstinence spending requirements but added that the administration would "certainly fight to maintain a balanced approach" to HIV prevention funds. Some advocates also are calling for the repeal of a U.S. policy that requires recipients of federal HIV/AIDS service grants to pledge to oppose commercial sex work, the Journal reports (Wall Street Journal, 5/21).
"Reprinted with permission from kaisernetwork. You can view the entire Kaiser Daily Health Policy Report, search the archives, or sign up for email delivery at kaisernetwork/dailyreports/healthpolicy. The Kaiser Daily Health Policy Report is published for kaisernetwork, a free service of The Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation . © 2005 Advisory Board Company and Kaiser Family Foundation. All rights reserved.
Some HIV/AIDS advocates are calling on Democratic lawmakers to repeal the abstinence requirement in the upcoming foreign-aid spending bill, while supporters of the requirements are lobbying against the change, the Journal reports. According to the Journal, Democratic lawmakers "seem likely to push the issue off until later this year or even next year," when Congress is scheduled to reauthorize PEPFAR. The delay could mean that "any relaxation" in HIV/AIDS funding requirements might not take effect until 2009 or 2010, the Journal reports.
Some advocates who oppose the abstinence spending requirements say that the rule diverts money from programs that promote condom use and provide access to antiretroviral drugs and HIV/AIDS care. Although "Democrats have the power to do the right thing," they "don't seem to be willing to do it," Jodi Jacobson -- executive director of the Center for Health and Gender Equity, a group that is leading efforts to repeal the spending requirements -- said, adding, "What is the point in being in the majority if you can't take action?"
Opponents of the spending requirement also have pointed to recent studies, including an Institute of Medicine report that found congressional provisions about how to spend HIV/AIDS money hinders health professionals in the field. Another study, commissioned by HHS, found that abstinence-only programs in the U.S. have not impacted young people's sexual behavior.
Supporters of the spending requirement say that without it, programs promoting abstinence until marriage and fidelity would not receive adequate resources. "Over time, we probably won't need (the provision), but for now, we still do," Ambassador Mark Dybul, who serves as the U.S. global AIDS coordinator and administers PEPFAR, said. Other supporters have cited Uganda as an example of a country that has successfully reduced its HIV/AIDS prevalence by promoting abstinence and fidelity. Stephen Colecchi -- director of the Office of International Justice and Peace at the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, which supports abstinence programs -- said that in this case, "the morally right thing is also the efficacious approach."
According to the Journal, HIV/AIDS advocates have some "well-placed allies" in Congress, including Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.) and Rep. Barbara Lee (D-Calif.), members of the Senate Appropriations Committee and House Appropriations Committee, respectively. Feinstein has said that the requirement is "squeezing out" available funding for other HIV prevention efforts, such as those aimed at preventing mother-to-child HIV transmission and maintaining a healthy blood supply. Lee also has introduced a bill that would eliminate the abstinence requirement.
An unnamed White House spokesperson declined to say whether President Bush would veto legislation that relaxes abstinence spending requirements but added that the administration would "certainly fight to maintain a balanced approach" to HIV prevention funds. Some advocates also are calling for the repeal of a U.S. policy that requires recipients of federal HIV/AIDS service grants to pledge to oppose commercial sex work, the Journal reports (Wall Street Journal, 5/21).
"Reprinted with permission from kaisernetwork. You can view the entire Kaiser Daily Health Policy Report, search the archives, or sign up for email delivery at kaisernetwork/dailyreports/healthpolicy. The Kaiser Daily Health Policy Report is published for kaisernetwork, a free service of The Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation . © 2005 Advisory Board Company and Kaiser Family Foundation. All rights reserved.
вторник, 26 апреля 2011 г.
Chances Of Category 4 Or 5 Hurricanes Hitting Gulf Location Are .03 Percent Annually
Hurricanes Katrina and Rita focused the international spotlight on the vulnerability of the U.S. coastline. Fears that a "super-hurricane" could make a direct hit on a major city and cause even more staggering losses of life, land and economy triggered an outpouring of studies directed at every facet of this ferocious weather phenomenon. Now, an LSU professor takes us one step closer to predicting the future by drilling holes into the past.
Kam-biu Liu, George William Barineau III Professor in LSU's Department of Oceanography and Coastal Sciences, is the pioneer of a relatively new field of study called paleotempestology, or the study of prehistoric hurricanes. Liu, a long-time resident of Louisiana, became even more interested in the subject during the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, when a national debate was sparked concerning hurricane intensity patterns and cycles.
"People were discussing the probability of a Category 5 hurricane making direct impact on New Orleans," said Liu. "That's tricky, because it's never actually happened in history. Even Katrina, though still extremely powerful, was only a Category 3 storm at landfall."
Currently, experts tend to agree that Atlantic hurricane activity fluctuates in cycles of approximately 20-30 years, alternating periods of high activity with periods of relative calm. But records of such events have only been kept for the last 150 years or so. What would happen, Liu wondered, if you looked back thousands of years? Would larger cycles present themselves?
How does a scientist study storms that happened during prehistoric times? "Basically, we worked under the assumption that the storm surge from these catastrophic hurricanes would have the capability to drive sand over beach barriers and into coastal lakes," said Liu. "This is called an overwash event. We believed that pulling sediment cores from coastal lakes and analyzing the sand layers might give us the information we needed." The same methodology can be used to find overwash sand layers in coastal marshes. Using radiocarbon analysis and other dating techniques, Liu and his research team worked to develop a chronology of prehistoric storms in order to analyze any emerging patterns or cycles.
This methodology has proven successful for the group. In an article printed in the March issue of American Scientist, the magazine of Sigma Xi, the Scientific Research Society, Liu states that evidence from the Gulf Coast drill sites shows that hurricanes of catastrophic magnitude directly hit each location only approximately 10 - 12 times in the past 3,800 years. "That means the chances of any particular Gulf location being hit by a Category 4 or Category 5 hurricane in any given year is around 0.3 percent," said Liu.
After spending more that 15 years studying dozens of lakes and marshes along the U.S. Gulf and Atlantic Coasts, Liu and his students are moving on to a more tropical location. Liu was recently awarded more than $690,000 from the Inter-American Institute for Global Change Research, or IAI, for his new project titled "Paleotempestology of the Caribbean Region," which is slated to run for five years. He serves as the principal investigator for this international and multi-disciplinary project, which involves 12 other co-investigators from four different countries, including another contributor from LSU, Nina Lam, a professor in the Department of Environmental Studies.
Institutions participating in the study include:
* the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution,
* Brown University,
* Boston College,
* the University of Tennessee,
* the University of Toronto,
* the Memorial University of Newfoundland,
* the University of Costa Rica,
* the Instituto Mexicano de Tecnologia del Agua, or IMTA, in Mexico.
Liu's Caribbean research has attracted funding not only from the IAI but also from the U.S. National Science Foundation. He and his students have already engaged in three separate expeditions to the Caribbean, stopping in Anguilla, Barbuda and the Bahamas, in the summer and fall of 2006 to core coastal salt ponds in order to gather paleohurricane evidence for analysis. He has recently returned from a coring trip to the Mosquito Coast of Honduras, where he and his co-workers studied how Hurricane Mitch, a catastrophic hurricane that killed more than 12,000 people in Honduras and Nicaragua in 1998, impacted the local communities and environment. His students have also conducted coring fieldwork in Barbados, Nicaragua and Belize during the past year. With many future trips to the Caribbean in the planning stages, they hope to reproduce a prehistoric hurricane analysis as successful as their Gulf Coast study.
For more information on Liu and his work visit his faculty Web site at sce.lsu/faculty/liu.htm.
Contact Ashley Berthelot
LSU Media Relations
Contact: Kam-biu Liu
Louisiana State University
Kam-biu Liu, George William Barineau III Professor in LSU's Department of Oceanography and Coastal Sciences, is the pioneer of a relatively new field of study called paleotempestology, or the study of prehistoric hurricanes. Liu, a long-time resident of Louisiana, became even more interested in the subject during the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, when a national debate was sparked concerning hurricane intensity patterns and cycles.
"People were discussing the probability of a Category 5 hurricane making direct impact on New Orleans," said Liu. "That's tricky, because it's never actually happened in history. Even Katrina, though still extremely powerful, was only a Category 3 storm at landfall."
Currently, experts tend to agree that Atlantic hurricane activity fluctuates in cycles of approximately 20-30 years, alternating periods of high activity with periods of relative calm. But records of such events have only been kept for the last 150 years or so. What would happen, Liu wondered, if you looked back thousands of years? Would larger cycles present themselves?
How does a scientist study storms that happened during prehistoric times? "Basically, we worked under the assumption that the storm surge from these catastrophic hurricanes would have the capability to drive sand over beach barriers and into coastal lakes," said Liu. "This is called an overwash event. We believed that pulling sediment cores from coastal lakes and analyzing the sand layers might give us the information we needed." The same methodology can be used to find overwash sand layers in coastal marshes. Using radiocarbon analysis and other dating techniques, Liu and his research team worked to develop a chronology of prehistoric storms in order to analyze any emerging patterns or cycles.
This methodology has proven successful for the group. In an article printed in the March issue of American Scientist, the magazine of Sigma Xi, the Scientific Research Society, Liu states that evidence from the Gulf Coast drill sites shows that hurricanes of catastrophic magnitude directly hit each location only approximately 10 - 12 times in the past 3,800 years. "That means the chances of any particular Gulf location being hit by a Category 4 or Category 5 hurricane in any given year is around 0.3 percent," said Liu.
After spending more that 15 years studying dozens of lakes and marshes along the U.S. Gulf and Atlantic Coasts, Liu and his students are moving on to a more tropical location. Liu was recently awarded more than $690,000 from the Inter-American Institute for Global Change Research, or IAI, for his new project titled "Paleotempestology of the Caribbean Region," which is slated to run for five years. He serves as the principal investigator for this international and multi-disciplinary project, which involves 12 other co-investigators from four different countries, including another contributor from LSU, Nina Lam, a professor in the Department of Environmental Studies.
Institutions participating in the study include:
* the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution,
* Brown University,
* Boston College,
* the University of Tennessee,
* the University of Toronto,
* the Memorial University of Newfoundland,
* the University of Costa Rica,
* the Instituto Mexicano de Tecnologia del Agua, or IMTA, in Mexico.
Liu's Caribbean research has attracted funding not only from the IAI but also from the U.S. National Science Foundation. He and his students have already engaged in three separate expeditions to the Caribbean, stopping in Anguilla, Barbuda and the Bahamas, in the summer and fall of 2006 to core coastal salt ponds in order to gather paleohurricane evidence for analysis. He has recently returned from a coring trip to the Mosquito Coast of Honduras, where he and his co-workers studied how Hurricane Mitch, a catastrophic hurricane that killed more than 12,000 people in Honduras and Nicaragua in 1998, impacted the local communities and environment. His students have also conducted coring fieldwork in Barbados, Nicaragua and Belize during the past year. With many future trips to the Caribbean in the planning stages, they hope to reproduce a prehistoric hurricane analysis as successful as their Gulf Coast study.
For more information on Liu and his work visit his faculty Web site at sce.lsu/faculty/liu.htm.
Contact Ashley Berthelot
LSU Media Relations
Contact: Kam-biu Liu
Louisiana State University
понедельник, 25 апреля 2011 г.
WFP Plans Huge Cuts To Operations In Zambia As Funds Run Out
The United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) is preparing to
cut the vital food aid rations it currently provides to around 500,000
of the most vulnerable people in Zambia over the coming weeks - because
of a critical shortage of funds.
"WFP's resources are rapidly running out. In March or April we will be
forced to stop distributing food to some of the most disadvantaged
people in Zambia - such as orphans and patients undergoing treatment for
AIDS," said David Stevenson, WFP's Country Director in Zambia.
"Tens of thousands of Zambians are now much healthier and more
productive thanks to our food aid but without continued assistance,
their lives and livelihoods will once again be put at risk," Stevenson
added.
WFP needs US$29 million to fund its operations across Zambia until the
end of 2007. But with food stocks dwindling, WFP has already begun
reducing some rations and is planning for a series of massive cuts to
its aid operations.
This is happening at a time when widespread flooding across Zambia
threatens to increase the number of people in need of food assistance.
While the government has not launched a formal flood appeal, the
Vice-President has asked humanitarian agencies to try to assist affected
populations under their existing programmes.
A vulnerability assessment mission is currently underway to ascertain
the extent of the flooding in the worst-affected areas in the East, West
and Northwest and give a clearer picture of the number of people
affected and in need of assistance.
"WFP is committed to helping Zambians hit by natural disasters but our
resources cannot cover our current programmes let alone the increased
demand from flood victims," said Stevenson. "Obviously the widespread
flooding across the region is further stretching donor funds and
assistance for the needy is crucial."
Without new contributions, WFP will stop distributing nutritious daily
meals in schools to over 100,000 orphans and vulnerable children in
March, undermining attempts to keep them in school and jeopardizing
their nutritional health. At the same time, WFP will cease providing
food to 130,000 people in food-insecure households headed by children,
widows or grandparents as well as 28,000 households enrolled in
livelihood support activities.
In addition, WFP will halt critical food assistance in April to 6,000
HIV/AIDS patients on antiretroviral therapy (ART) and their family
members as well as 9,500 chronically ill people receiving home-based
care, many of whom are also on ART. Surveys in Zambia indicate that food
aid has increased adherence by up to 40 percent and significantly
improved the health of food-insecure ART patients - all of whom will be
threatened by WFP's cuts.
"It is staggering that essential food aid for people infected and
affected by HIV/AIDS might have to be cut just when so much is being
done by the Zambian government and others in the fight against the
pandemic," said Stevenson. "With extra funds, WFP can continue to
support thousands of ART patients - giving them and their families a
chance of a healthier and brighter future."
WFP is encouraging cash donations to source food from Zambia and within
the region.
WFP is the world's largest humanitarian agency: each year, we give food
to an average of 90 million poor people to meet their nutritional needs,
including 56 million hungry children, in at least 80 of the world's
poorest countries.
For further information please go to:
World Food Program WFP - We Feed People
cut the vital food aid rations it currently provides to around 500,000
of the most vulnerable people in Zambia over the coming weeks - because
of a critical shortage of funds.
"WFP's resources are rapidly running out. In March or April we will be
forced to stop distributing food to some of the most disadvantaged
people in Zambia - such as orphans and patients undergoing treatment for
AIDS," said David Stevenson, WFP's Country Director in Zambia.
"Tens of thousands of Zambians are now much healthier and more
productive thanks to our food aid but without continued assistance,
their lives and livelihoods will once again be put at risk," Stevenson
added.
WFP needs US$29 million to fund its operations across Zambia until the
end of 2007. But with food stocks dwindling, WFP has already begun
reducing some rations and is planning for a series of massive cuts to
its aid operations.
This is happening at a time when widespread flooding across Zambia
threatens to increase the number of people in need of food assistance.
While the government has not launched a formal flood appeal, the
Vice-President has asked humanitarian agencies to try to assist affected
populations under their existing programmes.
A vulnerability assessment mission is currently underway to ascertain
the extent of the flooding in the worst-affected areas in the East, West
and Northwest and give a clearer picture of the number of people
affected and in need of assistance.
"WFP is committed to helping Zambians hit by natural disasters but our
resources cannot cover our current programmes let alone the increased
demand from flood victims," said Stevenson. "Obviously the widespread
flooding across the region is further stretching donor funds and
assistance for the needy is crucial."
Without new contributions, WFP will stop distributing nutritious daily
meals in schools to over 100,000 orphans and vulnerable children in
March, undermining attempts to keep them in school and jeopardizing
their nutritional health. At the same time, WFP will cease providing
food to 130,000 people in food-insecure households headed by children,
widows or grandparents as well as 28,000 households enrolled in
livelihood support activities.
In addition, WFP will halt critical food assistance in April to 6,000
HIV/AIDS patients on antiretroviral therapy (ART) and their family
members as well as 9,500 chronically ill people receiving home-based
care, many of whom are also on ART. Surveys in Zambia indicate that food
aid has increased adherence by up to 40 percent and significantly
improved the health of food-insecure ART patients - all of whom will be
threatened by WFP's cuts.
"It is staggering that essential food aid for people infected and
affected by HIV/AIDS might have to be cut just when so much is being
done by the Zambian government and others in the fight against the
pandemic," said Stevenson. "With extra funds, WFP can continue to
support thousands of ART patients - giving them and their families a
chance of a healthier and brighter future."
WFP is encouraging cash donations to source food from Zambia and within
the region.
WFP is the world's largest humanitarian agency: each year, we give food
to an average of 90 million poor people to meet their nutritional needs,
including 56 million hungry children, in at least 80 of the world's
poorest countries.
For further information please go to:
World Food Program WFP - We Feed People
воскресенье, 24 апреля 2011 г.
Cholera Vaccine Delivery To As-Yet-Unaffected Parts Of Haiti Could Help Stabilize The Country
In the wake of devastating cholera outbreaks in refugee camps in earthquake-wracked Haiti, a group of leading experts from Harvard Medical School, George Washington University, and the International Vaccine Institute (IVI) have urged the United States to create an emergency stockpile of cholera vaccines for future humanitarian use.
"The costs to the U.S. of creating and maintaining a stockpile of several million doses of cholera vaccine would be low," said the experts in an article published online first in The New England Journal of Medicine (NEJM). "But the humanitarian benefits of rapid deployment of cholera vaccines to areas at high risk for major cholera outbreaks - such as earthquake-wracked Port-au-Prince, the Haitian capital where 1.3 million people live in unsanitary refugee camps - could be enormous."
Prof. Matthew K. Waldor of Harvard Medical School; Prof. Peter J. Hotez of the Department of Microbiology, Immunology and Tropical Medicine, George Washington University in the U.S; and Dr. John D. Clemens, Director General of the IVI in Korea jointly made this suggestion in their NEJM Perspective article entitled "A National Cholera Vaccine Stockpile - a New Humanitarian and Diplomatic Resource."
In addition to the obvious health and humanitarian benefits that a national stockpile of cholera vaccine could yield, deployment of such a vaccine to regions of the world that are at high risk for a cholera epidemic offers numerous other benefits, the experts stated. "Outbreaks of cholera and other diarrheal diseases impede recovery from natural and man-made disasters," said Prof. Hotez. "They also destabilize poor communities, promoting poverty by interfering with agricultural productivity and adversely affecting food security, and thereby potentially igniting new conflicts or exacerbating existing ones. If the vaccine were available now, it could still be delivered to as-yet-unaffected parts of Haiti in time to stabilize the country."
Cholera is a severe and often rapidly fatal diarrheal disease caused by the bacterium Vibrio cholerae. It can be fatal because the pathogen elicits secretion of large quantities of bacteria-laden fluid from the intestine, resulting in extreme dehydration. It is transmitted through the fecal-oral route and if the drinking water or food supply becomes contaminated with V. cholerae, the disease can spread through a population very rapidly.
It is estimated that the annual global burden of cholera is 3 million to 5 million cases and 100,000 to 130,000 deaths. There is no evidence of a global decline despite major efforts to ensure the provision of clean water and adequate sanitation. Cholera is endemic in many parts of South Asia, and can cause epidemics both in areas where it is endemic and in those where it is not, often as a result of man-made or natural disasters. Last year there were reportedly 4,000 deaths during a protracted epidemic in Zimbabwe, and more than 1,400 people have died in refugee camps in the ongoing outbreaks in Haiti. A recent analysis of the global burden of cholera conducted by the IVI, an international organization dedicated to new vaccines for the world's poor, estimates that approximately 1.5 billion people are at risk for cholera globally.
Treatment of cholera involves replacement of lost fluid with oral or intravenous rehydration solution and antibiotics, which can be lifesaving and can shorten duration of illness. However, these interventions can be difficult to administer when there are inadequate medical facilities, as is often the case in complex humanitarian emergencies. In addition, rapid progression of the disease means that there is only a narrow therapeutic window, making effective treatment a challenge.
Fortunately, three oral cholera vaccines are available. Dukoral® produced by Crucell of Sweden consists of killed V. cholerae cells and recombinant cholera toxin B. Since 1991, Dukoral® has been licensed in more than 60 countries, and is prequalified by the WHO for purchase by United Nations agencies. It has been used in crisis situations in Indonesia, Sudan, and Uganda, as well as in densely populated urban slums in Mozambique. The two other vaccines -- Shanchol® produced by Shantha Biotechnics of India, and mORC-VAX® made by VaBiotech in Vietnam -- consist of killed V. cholerae cells without the added toxin. Both vaccines were licensed in 2009, and Shanchol is currently awaiting prequalification by the WHO. All three vaccines are administered in a two-dose regimen.
Notably, the licensing in India of Shanchol, which was originally developed by the IVI, has added considerably to the momentum for the use of oral cholera vaccines to control endemic and epidemic cholera due to the numerous advantages it confers. Unlike Dukoral, it does not require administration with a buffer, thereby greatly simplifying its use under field conditions, including refugee camps and other post-crisis situations. In addition, it is a low-cost vaccine, increasing its access to governments and international agencies. Finally, a large efficacy trial in India has shown that the vaccine is more effective and lasts longer in young children (1-5 years old) than Dukoral. Of critical importance, the WHO's Strategic Advisory Group of Experts (SAGE) issued new updated recommendations for the use of new-generation cholera vaccines in its position paper in March 2010.
Alarmingly, however, fewer than 500,000 total doses of oral cholera vaccines (Dukoral or Shanchol) are presently available for shipment from their manufacturers, making it impossible to consider large-scale vaccination of at-risk populations. "The global shortage of cholera vaccine reinforces the urgency of creating a stockpile," said Dr. Clemens, an international expert in vaccine evaluation for developing countries.
Even though there is no imminent threat of cholera in the U.S., "We believe that our country should stockpile cholera vaccines for rapid deployment to parts of the world that suddenly find themselves at high risk for this disease," Prof. Waldor said. "Until recently, Latin America and the Caribbean region were considered to have a negligible risk of a cholera epidemic. Recent events in Haiti, however, force us to reconsider this belief. Other areas of the world where populations are at great risk include sub-Saharan Africa and South and Southeast Asia."
Moreover, by providing cholera vaccines to countries such as Pakistan with which the U.S. has a troubled relationship, the U.S. could also do its part to promote international stability and peace through vaccine diplomacy, the experts said.
Source:
Tae Kyung Byun
International Vaccine Institute
"The costs to the U.S. of creating and maintaining a stockpile of several million doses of cholera vaccine would be low," said the experts in an article published online first in The New England Journal of Medicine (NEJM). "But the humanitarian benefits of rapid deployment of cholera vaccines to areas at high risk for major cholera outbreaks - such as earthquake-wracked Port-au-Prince, the Haitian capital where 1.3 million people live in unsanitary refugee camps - could be enormous."
Prof. Matthew K. Waldor of Harvard Medical School; Prof. Peter J. Hotez of the Department of Microbiology, Immunology and Tropical Medicine, George Washington University in the U.S; and Dr. John D. Clemens, Director General of the IVI in Korea jointly made this suggestion in their NEJM Perspective article entitled "A National Cholera Vaccine Stockpile - a New Humanitarian and Diplomatic Resource."
In addition to the obvious health and humanitarian benefits that a national stockpile of cholera vaccine could yield, deployment of such a vaccine to regions of the world that are at high risk for a cholera epidemic offers numerous other benefits, the experts stated. "Outbreaks of cholera and other diarrheal diseases impede recovery from natural and man-made disasters," said Prof. Hotez. "They also destabilize poor communities, promoting poverty by interfering with agricultural productivity and adversely affecting food security, and thereby potentially igniting new conflicts or exacerbating existing ones. If the vaccine were available now, it could still be delivered to as-yet-unaffected parts of Haiti in time to stabilize the country."
Cholera is a severe and often rapidly fatal diarrheal disease caused by the bacterium Vibrio cholerae. It can be fatal because the pathogen elicits secretion of large quantities of bacteria-laden fluid from the intestine, resulting in extreme dehydration. It is transmitted through the fecal-oral route and if the drinking water or food supply becomes contaminated with V. cholerae, the disease can spread through a population very rapidly.
It is estimated that the annual global burden of cholera is 3 million to 5 million cases and 100,000 to 130,000 deaths. There is no evidence of a global decline despite major efforts to ensure the provision of clean water and adequate sanitation. Cholera is endemic in many parts of South Asia, and can cause epidemics both in areas where it is endemic and in those where it is not, often as a result of man-made or natural disasters. Last year there were reportedly 4,000 deaths during a protracted epidemic in Zimbabwe, and more than 1,400 people have died in refugee camps in the ongoing outbreaks in Haiti. A recent analysis of the global burden of cholera conducted by the IVI, an international organization dedicated to new vaccines for the world's poor, estimates that approximately 1.5 billion people are at risk for cholera globally.
Treatment of cholera involves replacement of lost fluid with oral or intravenous rehydration solution and antibiotics, which can be lifesaving and can shorten duration of illness. However, these interventions can be difficult to administer when there are inadequate medical facilities, as is often the case in complex humanitarian emergencies. In addition, rapid progression of the disease means that there is only a narrow therapeutic window, making effective treatment a challenge.
Fortunately, three oral cholera vaccines are available. Dukoral® produced by Crucell of Sweden consists of killed V. cholerae cells and recombinant cholera toxin B. Since 1991, Dukoral® has been licensed in more than 60 countries, and is prequalified by the WHO for purchase by United Nations agencies. It has been used in crisis situations in Indonesia, Sudan, and Uganda, as well as in densely populated urban slums in Mozambique. The two other vaccines -- Shanchol® produced by Shantha Biotechnics of India, and mORC-VAX® made by VaBiotech in Vietnam -- consist of killed V. cholerae cells without the added toxin. Both vaccines were licensed in 2009, and Shanchol is currently awaiting prequalification by the WHO. All three vaccines are administered in a two-dose regimen.
Notably, the licensing in India of Shanchol, which was originally developed by the IVI, has added considerably to the momentum for the use of oral cholera vaccines to control endemic and epidemic cholera due to the numerous advantages it confers. Unlike Dukoral, it does not require administration with a buffer, thereby greatly simplifying its use under field conditions, including refugee camps and other post-crisis situations. In addition, it is a low-cost vaccine, increasing its access to governments and international agencies. Finally, a large efficacy trial in India has shown that the vaccine is more effective and lasts longer in young children (1-5 years old) than Dukoral. Of critical importance, the WHO's Strategic Advisory Group of Experts (SAGE) issued new updated recommendations for the use of new-generation cholera vaccines in its position paper in March 2010.
Alarmingly, however, fewer than 500,000 total doses of oral cholera vaccines (Dukoral or Shanchol) are presently available for shipment from their manufacturers, making it impossible to consider large-scale vaccination of at-risk populations. "The global shortage of cholera vaccine reinforces the urgency of creating a stockpile," said Dr. Clemens, an international expert in vaccine evaluation for developing countries.
Even though there is no imminent threat of cholera in the U.S., "We believe that our country should stockpile cholera vaccines for rapid deployment to parts of the world that suddenly find themselves at high risk for this disease," Prof. Waldor said. "Until recently, Latin America and the Caribbean region were considered to have a negligible risk of a cholera epidemic. Recent events in Haiti, however, force us to reconsider this belief. Other areas of the world where populations are at great risk include sub-Saharan Africa and South and Southeast Asia."
Moreover, by providing cholera vaccines to countries such as Pakistan with which the U.S. has a troubled relationship, the U.S. could also do its part to promote international stability and peace through vaccine diplomacy, the experts said.
Source:
Tae Kyung Byun
International Vaccine Institute
суббота, 23 апреля 2011 г.
HIV/AIDS Epidemic In Sub-Saharan Africa Should Be Classified As Disaster, Red Cross Report Says
The HIV/AIDS epidemic in sub-Saharan Africa is so severe that it should be classified as a disaster comparable to famine or floods, according to a report released Thursday by the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies, AFP/Google reports. In its annual report, titled "World Disasters Report 2008," IFRC said there is "no doubt" that HIV/AIDS matches the United Nations' definition of a disaster.
According to AFP/Google, the U.N. Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs defines a disaster as a "serious disruption of the functioning of a society, causing widespread human, material or environmental losses which exceed the ability of a society to cope using only its own resources." IFRC said that such a situation exists in sub-Saharan Africa, where about two-thirds of the world's people with HIV live. The report noted that at least one in 10 people is HIV-positive in countries such as Botswana, Lesotho, Malawi, Mozambique, Namibia, South Africa, Swaziland, Zambia and Zimbabwe. In addition, the social tension and economic strain related to the disease are felt by everyone in a country and not just those living with the disease.
"Reflecting on the lives of most people living in sub-Saharan Africa raises more alarm than hope," the report said, adding that HIV/AIDS "is directly responsible for restraining and reducing human and resource capacities across societies because HIV infections and AIDS[-related] deaths are common among workers of all qualifications and expertise, and in all industries." The report noted that along with the "high costs of caring for people living with HIV, those capacity constraints lead to withered health and education systems, declining food security, skilled labor shortages and an increasingly ramshakled infrastructure" (AFP/Google, 6/25).
IFRC said that ignoring HIV/AIDS as a disaster exposes people to unnecessary risks. According to the report, relief workers should do more to prevent unsafe blood donations, protect women and children from rape and minimize disruptions in HIV treatment. In addition, low-cost measures and better planning should be implemented to minimize the risk of spreading the disease in a disaster zone (AP/International Herald Tribune, 6/26). The report also called on governments and humanitarian agencies to pay more attention to HIV/AIDS in their response to armed conflicts, as well as the growing rate of transmission among vulnerable groups, including injection drug users, commercial sex workers and men who have sex with men (Evans, Reuters, 6/25).
Mukesh Kapila, IFRC's special representative for HIV/AIDS, said, "It's a question of adding HIV as a dimension in planning a response to disasters." He added, "Let's not forget that the HIV disaster takes place invisibly. A few [cases] here, a few hundred there, if you add up the numbers, it's a major disaster for many communities" (AP/International Herald Tribune, 6/26).
The report is available online.
Reprinted with kind permission from kaisernetwork. You can view the entire Kaiser Daily Health Policy Report, search the archives, or sign up for email delivery at kaisernetwork/dailyreports/healthpolicy. The Kaiser Daily Health Policy Report is published for kaisernetwork, a free service of The Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation.
© 2008 Advisory Board Company and Kaiser Family Foundation. All rights reserved.
According to AFP/Google, the U.N. Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs defines a disaster as a "serious disruption of the functioning of a society, causing widespread human, material or environmental losses which exceed the ability of a society to cope using only its own resources." IFRC said that such a situation exists in sub-Saharan Africa, where about two-thirds of the world's people with HIV live. The report noted that at least one in 10 people is HIV-positive in countries such as Botswana, Lesotho, Malawi, Mozambique, Namibia, South Africa, Swaziland, Zambia and Zimbabwe. In addition, the social tension and economic strain related to the disease are felt by everyone in a country and not just those living with the disease.
"Reflecting on the lives of most people living in sub-Saharan Africa raises more alarm than hope," the report said, adding that HIV/AIDS "is directly responsible for restraining and reducing human and resource capacities across societies because HIV infections and AIDS[-related] deaths are common among workers of all qualifications and expertise, and in all industries." The report noted that along with the "high costs of caring for people living with HIV, those capacity constraints lead to withered health and education systems, declining food security, skilled labor shortages and an increasingly ramshakled infrastructure" (AFP/Google, 6/25).
IFRC said that ignoring HIV/AIDS as a disaster exposes people to unnecessary risks. According to the report, relief workers should do more to prevent unsafe blood donations, protect women and children from rape and minimize disruptions in HIV treatment. In addition, low-cost measures and better planning should be implemented to minimize the risk of spreading the disease in a disaster zone (AP/International Herald Tribune, 6/26). The report also called on governments and humanitarian agencies to pay more attention to HIV/AIDS in their response to armed conflicts, as well as the growing rate of transmission among vulnerable groups, including injection drug users, commercial sex workers and men who have sex with men (Evans, Reuters, 6/25).
Mukesh Kapila, IFRC's special representative for HIV/AIDS, said, "It's a question of adding HIV as a dimension in planning a response to disasters." He added, "Let's not forget that the HIV disaster takes place invisibly. A few [cases] here, a few hundred there, if you add up the numbers, it's a major disaster for many communities" (AP/International Herald Tribune, 6/26).
The report is available online.
Reprinted with kind permission from kaisernetwork. You can view the entire Kaiser Daily Health Policy Report, search the archives, or sign up for email delivery at kaisernetwork/dailyreports/healthpolicy. The Kaiser Daily Health Policy Report is published for kaisernetwork, a free service of The Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation.
© 2008 Advisory Board Company and Kaiser Family Foundation. All rights reserved.
пятница, 22 апреля 2011 г.
HIV/AIDS Advocates Calling For Increased Funding For PEPFAR, Investment In New Initiatives
Some HIV/AIDS advocates are calling on Congress to allocate more money than President Bush has asked for the President's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief as lawmakers prepare to vote next week on reauthorizing the program, Inter Press Service reports. Bush has called on Congress to authorize a $30 billion, five-year extension of PEPFAR. Some advocates are calling for a $59 billion, five-year extension of the plan to address HIV/AIDS, tuberculosis, malaria and parallel programs aimed at reducing disease vulnerability, Inter Press Service reports. They also have said that they want PEPFAR officials to expand funding for new initiatives, such as programs to strengthen local health care systems, microbicide research, and education and economic empowerment initiatives aimed at women.
Pat Daoust, director of Physicians for Human Rights' Health Action AIDS Campaign, said, "Getting drugs on the ground is not the only answer. Making treatments available is not the only answer." Daoust added, "We need health care workers to deliver the treatments." PHR data show that in sub-Saharan Africa, 3% of the world's health care workers serve 24% of the world's population living with HIV/AIDS. An estimated one million additional health workers are needed in the region to address the needs of the population. Advocates also are calling for "wrap-around programs" that combine HIV/AIDS prevention and treatment with routine health and social services, according to Inter Press Service.
Providing no-cost primary education would be another successful HIV/AIDS intervention, some advocates have said. Pauline Muchina -- who serves in the United Nations' Global Coalition on Women and AIDS -- said that HIV/AIDS cases decreased in Kenya when the government began providing no-cost education to all children. Many advocates have said that PEPFAR's second phase should incorporate education and economic empowerment initiatives to address the disproportionate HIV/AIDS burden among women in sub-Saharan Africa.
In addition, advocates have said that the second phase of PEPFAR should shift its emphasis from abstinence-only programs to other prevention methods for women, such as microbicides. Current prevention strategies use the ABC model -- which stands for abstinence, be faithful and use condoms -- but gender inequality in many sub-Saharan African countries make it difficult for women to negotiate condom use, according to Inter Press Service. "These three are all important, but we need to look beyond" ABC, Muchina said, adding, "We need to look to prevention options that are in women's hands."
Among youth in the region, 75% of those living with HIV/AIDS are young women and girls, Muchina said. Women account for about 50% of HIV cases worldwide but represent 61% of HIV cases in sub-Saharan Africa, Inter Press Service reports. "Until we address the overriding issues and make a substantial investment in those issues, we are never going to reach the number of people that we said we would," Daoust said (Pollock, Inter Press Service, 1/29).
Reprinted with kind permission from kaisernetwork. You can view the entire Kaiser Daily Health Policy Report, search the archives, or sign up for email delivery at kaisernetwork/dailyreports/healthpolicy. The Kaiser Daily Health Policy Report is published for kaisernetwork, a free service of The Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation© 2005 Advisory Board Company and Kaiser Family Foundation. All rights reserved.
Pat Daoust, director of Physicians for Human Rights' Health Action AIDS Campaign, said, "Getting drugs on the ground is not the only answer. Making treatments available is not the only answer." Daoust added, "We need health care workers to deliver the treatments." PHR data show that in sub-Saharan Africa, 3% of the world's health care workers serve 24% of the world's population living with HIV/AIDS. An estimated one million additional health workers are needed in the region to address the needs of the population. Advocates also are calling for "wrap-around programs" that combine HIV/AIDS prevention and treatment with routine health and social services, according to Inter Press Service.
Providing no-cost primary education would be another successful HIV/AIDS intervention, some advocates have said. Pauline Muchina -- who serves in the United Nations' Global Coalition on Women and AIDS -- said that HIV/AIDS cases decreased in Kenya when the government began providing no-cost education to all children. Many advocates have said that PEPFAR's second phase should incorporate education and economic empowerment initiatives to address the disproportionate HIV/AIDS burden among women in sub-Saharan Africa.
In addition, advocates have said that the second phase of PEPFAR should shift its emphasis from abstinence-only programs to other prevention methods for women, such as microbicides. Current prevention strategies use the ABC model -- which stands for abstinence, be faithful and use condoms -- but gender inequality in many sub-Saharan African countries make it difficult for women to negotiate condom use, according to Inter Press Service. "These three are all important, but we need to look beyond" ABC, Muchina said, adding, "We need to look to prevention options that are in women's hands."
Among youth in the region, 75% of those living with HIV/AIDS are young women and girls, Muchina said. Women account for about 50% of HIV cases worldwide but represent 61% of HIV cases in sub-Saharan Africa, Inter Press Service reports. "Until we address the overriding issues and make a substantial investment in those issues, we are never going to reach the number of people that we said we would," Daoust said (Pollock, Inter Press Service, 1/29).
Reprinted with kind permission from kaisernetwork. You can view the entire Kaiser Daily Health Policy Report, search the archives, or sign up for email delivery at kaisernetwork/dailyreports/healthpolicy. The Kaiser Daily Health Policy Report is published for kaisernetwork, a free service of The Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation© 2005 Advisory Board Company and Kaiser Family Foundation. All rights reserved.
четверг, 21 апреля 2011 г.
New Call To Londoners Exposed To 7/7 Bombings To Join Health Follow-up
Londoners and visitors to the Capital exposed to the July bombings last year are being urged to support a public health follow-up.
Organised by the Health Protection Agency, the follow-up is part of the overall health response to the explosions in London on July 7. Although the assessment of the risk of long-term adverse health effects as a result of exposure during the bombings is low, health professionals at the Health Protection Agency believe that it is important that any health consequences that do occur as a result of the bombings are accurately documented. This will not only ensure that those involved can be provided with further health advice as necessary, but will also provide vital information that can help to protect the wellbeing of those involved in any future incidents.
Everyone directly exposed to fumes, smoke, blood or blast effects from the explosions in the Capital on July 7 last year is being asked to join the follow-up, and also anyone in the immediate vicinity or helping in the emergency response in the following locations:
-- On trains on the Piccadilly or Circle lines at or near Edgware Road , Kings Cross, Liverpool Street and Russell Square stations
-- On platforms and escalators, and in lifts, ticket halls or passage ways at any of the above stations
-- In Tavistock Square
The follow-up will also include NHS, Transport for London and Emergency Service staff involved in the emergency response on July 7.
Professor Mike Catchpole , who is co-ordinating the public health follow-up for the Agency, said:
"This is an important element of the public health response to the tragic events in the Capital last July. Experience from similar incidents in New York and Madrid has shown the immense value of a co-ordinated health follow-up.
"Just over 100 people, the majority of whom were treated in A&E on the day, have already volunteered to take part in the follow-up work to help us monitor longer-term health issues such as the inhalation of smoke and the psychological impact. But we are keen to ensure that everyone caught up in the events of last July, especially people who may have visited their GP or called NHS Direct for advice, is contacted and offered the opportunity to join.
"Not only will it allow them to be kept up to date with information and support services, the regular follow-up they will be involved in will help us provide advice to others in the event of any future incidents in the UK ."
A new information leaflet is available for all who were directly exposed in the July 7 bombings at the locations listed above. Please call 020 8327 6434 or e-mail london.responsehpa.uk to request a copy.
Inclusion in the follow-up is entirely voluntary and all personal information will be kept confidential and will not be shared with others unless permission is given. Once consent is granted, a detailed questionnaire will be sent to participants.
To ensure participants are updated on any advice and services available, the Health Protection Agency is working with hospital doctors and other specialists offering advice and support for those involved in the July 7 bombings. The Agency is also working with the London Development Centre for Mental Health, which is responsible for the NHS Trauma Response services which are providing psychological support for those involved in the London bombings.
hpa.uk
Organised by the Health Protection Agency, the follow-up is part of the overall health response to the explosions in London on July 7. Although the assessment of the risk of long-term adverse health effects as a result of exposure during the bombings is low, health professionals at the Health Protection Agency believe that it is important that any health consequences that do occur as a result of the bombings are accurately documented. This will not only ensure that those involved can be provided with further health advice as necessary, but will also provide vital information that can help to protect the wellbeing of those involved in any future incidents.
Everyone directly exposed to fumes, smoke, blood or blast effects from the explosions in the Capital on July 7 last year is being asked to join the follow-up, and also anyone in the immediate vicinity or helping in the emergency response in the following locations:
-- On trains on the Piccadilly or Circle lines at or near Edgware Road , Kings Cross, Liverpool Street and Russell Square stations
-- On platforms and escalators, and in lifts, ticket halls or passage ways at any of the above stations
-- In Tavistock Square
The follow-up will also include NHS, Transport for London and Emergency Service staff involved in the emergency response on July 7.
Professor Mike Catchpole , who is co-ordinating the public health follow-up for the Agency, said:
"This is an important element of the public health response to the tragic events in the Capital last July. Experience from similar incidents in New York and Madrid has shown the immense value of a co-ordinated health follow-up.
"Just over 100 people, the majority of whom were treated in A&E on the day, have already volunteered to take part in the follow-up work to help us monitor longer-term health issues such as the inhalation of smoke and the psychological impact. But we are keen to ensure that everyone caught up in the events of last July, especially people who may have visited their GP or called NHS Direct for advice, is contacted and offered the opportunity to join.
"Not only will it allow them to be kept up to date with information and support services, the regular follow-up they will be involved in will help us provide advice to others in the event of any future incidents in the UK ."
A new information leaflet is available for all who were directly exposed in the July 7 bombings at the locations listed above. Please call 020 8327 6434 or e-mail london.responsehpa.uk to request a copy.
Inclusion in the follow-up is entirely voluntary and all personal information will be kept confidential and will not be shared with others unless permission is given. Once consent is granted, a detailed questionnaire will be sent to participants.
To ensure participants are updated on any advice and services available, the Health Protection Agency is working with hospital doctors and other specialists offering advice and support for those involved in the July 7 bombings. The Agency is also working with the London Development Centre for Mental Health, which is responsible for the NHS Trauma Response services which are providing psychological support for those involved in the London bombings.
hpa.uk
среда, 20 апреля 2011 г.
WFP To Buy Food In Mozambique For Flood Victims; Warns Flood Waters Could Rise Futher
The United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) said recently that it would like to buy locally as much food as possible for 120,000 people already affected by flooding in central Mozambique but stressed that cash donations were crucial.
Over the last six years, WFP has spent more than 20 million US dollars in Mozambique buying close to 100,000 metric tons of food - including maize, maize meal and corn-soya blend - for people affected by HIV/AIDS and food insecurity caused by crop failure and natural disasters. WFP spent a record US$7.4 million on local purchases in Mozambique in 2006.
"We generally prefer to buy food locally if it's available, cost competitive and purchases do not drive up prices," said Amir Abdulla, WFP Regional Director for Southern Africa. "Such purchases underpin local markets, boost the economy and help to secure jobs, which can stimulate economic growth."
WFP has so far distributed food to some 33,500 people hit by flooding in areas downstream from Mutarara in the Zambezi River Basin and around Quelimane. The UN system in Mozambique is expected to launch an international appeal in the coming days to fund a large humanitarian relief operation - a significant portion of which will involve food aid that WFP would prefer to procure locally.
WFP is working with the UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) and the Ministries of Industry and Commerce, and Agriculture to maximize local purchases for the flood response.
While flood waters in central Mozambique have started receding in the last few days, more rainfall is expected across southern Africa, which could cause greater distress to communities already affected by the flooding as well as those that have so far narrowly escaped.
Mozambique's national disaster relief agency, INGC, has estimated that up to 285,000 people will be affected by flooding before this rainy season finishes around the end of March. Water levels in much of central Mozambique are already higher than at any time since March 2001, and with the rains expected to continue for another month, officials remain extremely concerned about the welfare of people in low-lying areas.
Meanwhile, tropical storm Favio is building up, off the coast of southern Madagascar. On its current trajectory, it is expected to make landfall in Mozambique's southern Inhambane Province by late Wednesday. WFP is closely monitoring the situation.
The weather has been substantially drier in southern Mozambique leading to drought conditions but funding for WFP's programmes in this area for people affected by HIV/AIDS, including orphans and vulnerable children, remains critically short. WFP currently needs US$12 million to buy food for up to 900,000 people through the end of 2007.
"Mozambique battles floods, drought and cyclones at the same time of the year, nearly every year, which is the why the international community cannot afford to neglect any one area of assistance," Abdulla said. "Food aid is an extremely quick response to these types of crises and has proven to be very effective time and time again."
WFP is the world's largest humanitarian agency: each year, we give food to an average of 90 million poor people to meet their nutritional needs, including 61 million hungry children, in at least 80 of the world's poorest countries.
WFP Global School Feeding Campaign - For just 19 US cents a day, you can help WFP give children in poor countries a healthy meal at school - a gift of hope for a brighter future.
For further information please go to:
World Food Program WFP - We Feed People
Over the last six years, WFP has spent more than 20 million US dollars in Mozambique buying close to 100,000 metric tons of food - including maize, maize meal and corn-soya blend - for people affected by HIV/AIDS and food insecurity caused by crop failure and natural disasters. WFP spent a record US$7.4 million on local purchases in Mozambique in 2006.
"We generally prefer to buy food locally if it's available, cost competitive and purchases do not drive up prices," said Amir Abdulla, WFP Regional Director for Southern Africa. "Such purchases underpin local markets, boost the economy and help to secure jobs, which can stimulate economic growth."
WFP has so far distributed food to some 33,500 people hit by flooding in areas downstream from Mutarara in the Zambezi River Basin and around Quelimane. The UN system in Mozambique is expected to launch an international appeal in the coming days to fund a large humanitarian relief operation - a significant portion of which will involve food aid that WFP would prefer to procure locally.
WFP is working with the UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) and the Ministries of Industry and Commerce, and Agriculture to maximize local purchases for the flood response.
While flood waters in central Mozambique have started receding in the last few days, more rainfall is expected across southern Africa, which could cause greater distress to communities already affected by the flooding as well as those that have so far narrowly escaped.
Mozambique's national disaster relief agency, INGC, has estimated that up to 285,000 people will be affected by flooding before this rainy season finishes around the end of March. Water levels in much of central Mozambique are already higher than at any time since March 2001, and with the rains expected to continue for another month, officials remain extremely concerned about the welfare of people in low-lying areas.
Meanwhile, tropical storm Favio is building up, off the coast of southern Madagascar. On its current trajectory, it is expected to make landfall in Mozambique's southern Inhambane Province by late Wednesday. WFP is closely monitoring the situation.
The weather has been substantially drier in southern Mozambique leading to drought conditions but funding for WFP's programmes in this area for people affected by HIV/AIDS, including orphans and vulnerable children, remains critically short. WFP currently needs US$12 million to buy food for up to 900,000 people through the end of 2007.
"Mozambique battles floods, drought and cyclones at the same time of the year, nearly every year, which is the why the international community cannot afford to neglect any one area of assistance," Abdulla said. "Food aid is an extremely quick response to these types of crises and has proven to be very effective time and time again."
WFP is the world's largest humanitarian agency: each year, we give food to an average of 90 million poor people to meet their nutritional needs, including 61 million hungry children, in at least 80 of the world's poorest countries.
WFP Global School Feeding Campaign - For just 19 US cents a day, you can help WFP give children in poor countries a healthy meal at school - a gift of hope for a brighter future.
For further information please go to:
World Food Program WFP - We Feed People
American Red Cross Responds To Tornadoes In The Southeast
Severe weather and tornadoes ripped through the South Tuesday night resulting in significant damage to communities in Arkansas, Kentucky, Tennessee, Alabama and Mississippi. The tornadoes left more than 45 people dead and injured hundreds. The Red Cross immediately responded to the tornadoes, providing shelter, feeding victims and search and rescue workers, and lending emotional support to all. Members of the Red Cross Annual Disaster Giving Program helped ensure the Red Cross could be there immediately to rush relief to the affected residents, but the need for additional donations is still great due to the devastation caused by the tornadoes throughout the South.
Additional financial donations are needed to support the ongoing relief efforts of the Red Cross. The Red Cross will continue to mobilize volunteers and supplies, such as clean-up kits, into the affected areas. Red Cross case workers will work with individuals and families to provide additional assistance based on the damage sustained to their homes, and will provide care and comfort to help residents and emergency workers manage the stress and fear that accompanies all disasters.
"Donations from our Annual Disaster Giving Program members enabled the Red Cross to provide immediate, life-saving support to the affected communities throughout the South," said Steve Denne, vice president of development at the American Red Cross. "These funds, coupled with the support of the American public, are vital to the organization's ability to carry out its mission."
Annual Disaster Giving Program members pledge donations on an on-going basis, in advance of major disasters, to help the Red Cross ensure an immediate response to meet the needs of those affected by disasters of all sizes, at no cost and regardless of income.
People can join the Annual Disaster Giving Program members in supporting the Red Cross Disaster Relief Fund and help provide food, shelter, counseling and other assistance to the victims of thousands of disasters across the country each year, disasters like the southern tornadoes. Log-on to redcross or call 1-800- HELP NOW to make a donation.
Members of the Annual Disaster Giving Program:
- American Express Foundation
- AT&T Foundation
- AXA Foundation
- Citi
- ConAgra Foods Foundation
- FedEx Corporation
- JCPenney Company
- Kimberly-Clark Corporation
- Merck & Co, Inc.
- MorganStanley
- Raytheon Company
- State Farm
- State Street Corporation
- Target
- The TJX Companies, Inc.
All American Red Cross disaster assistance is free, made possible by voluntary donations of time and money from the American people. You can help the victims of thousands of disasters across the country each year, disasters like these tornadoes, by making a financial gift to the American Red Cross Disaster Relief Fund, which enables the Red Cross to provide shelter, food, counseling and other assistance to victims of disaster. The American Red Cross honors donor intent. If you wish to designate your donation to a specific disaster please do so at the time of your donation. Call 1-800-REDCROSS or 1-800-257-7575 (Spanish). Contributions to the Disaster Relief Fund may be sent to your local American Red Cross chapter or to the American Red Cross, P. O. Box 37243, Washington, DC 20013. Internet users can make a secure online contribution by visiting redcross.
About the American Red Cross
The American Red Cross provides relief to victims of disasters at home and abroad, collects and distributes nearly half of the nation's blood supply, teaches lifesaving skills, and supports military members and families. The American Red Cross, a charity and not a government agency, depends on voluntary contributions of time, money and blood to perform its humanitarian mission.
American Red Cross
Additional financial donations are needed to support the ongoing relief efforts of the Red Cross. The Red Cross will continue to mobilize volunteers and supplies, such as clean-up kits, into the affected areas. Red Cross case workers will work with individuals and families to provide additional assistance based on the damage sustained to their homes, and will provide care and comfort to help residents and emergency workers manage the stress and fear that accompanies all disasters.
"Donations from our Annual Disaster Giving Program members enabled the Red Cross to provide immediate, life-saving support to the affected communities throughout the South," said Steve Denne, vice president of development at the American Red Cross. "These funds, coupled with the support of the American public, are vital to the organization's ability to carry out its mission."
Annual Disaster Giving Program members pledge donations on an on-going basis, in advance of major disasters, to help the Red Cross ensure an immediate response to meet the needs of those affected by disasters of all sizes, at no cost and regardless of income.
People can join the Annual Disaster Giving Program members in supporting the Red Cross Disaster Relief Fund and help provide food, shelter, counseling and other assistance to the victims of thousands of disasters across the country each year, disasters like the southern tornadoes. Log-on to redcross or call 1-800- HELP NOW to make a donation.
Members of the Annual Disaster Giving Program:
- American Express Foundation
- AT&T Foundation
- AXA Foundation
- Citi
- ConAgra Foods Foundation
- FedEx Corporation
- JCPenney Company
- Kimberly-Clark Corporation
- Merck & Co, Inc.
- MorganStanley
- Raytheon Company
- State Farm
- State Street Corporation
- Target
- The TJX Companies, Inc.
All American Red Cross disaster assistance is free, made possible by voluntary donations of time and money from the American people. You can help the victims of thousands of disasters across the country each year, disasters like these tornadoes, by making a financial gift to the American Red Cross Disaster Relief Fund, which enables the Red Cross to provide shelter, food, counseling and other assistance to victims of disaster. The American Red Cross honors donor intent. If you wish to designate your donation to a specific disaster please do so at the time of your donation. Call 1-800-REDCROSS or 1-800-257-7575 (Spanish). Contributions to the Disaster Relief Fund may be sent to your local American Red Cross chapter or to the American Red Cross, P. O. Box 37243, Washington, DC 20013. Internet users can make a secure online contribution by visiting redcross.
About the American Red Cross
The American Red Cross provides relief to victims of disasters at home and abroad, collects and distributes nearly half of the nation's blood supply, teaches lifesaving skills, and supports military members and families. The American Red Cross, a charity and not a government agency, depends on voluntary contributions of time, money and blood to perform its humanitarian mission.
American Red Cross
Robotic Problem Solving For Mars Has Implications For Disaster Settings
Today's advanced mobile robots explore complex terrains across the globe and even on Mars, but have difficulty traversing sand and other granular media like dirt, rubble or slippery piles of leaves.
A new study published February 10 in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences takes what may be the first detailed look at the problem of robot locomotion on granular surfaces. Among the study's recommendations: robots attempting to move across sandy terrain should move their legs more slowly, especially if the sand is loosely packed.
"We have discovered that when a robot rotates its legs too fast or the sand is packed loosely enough, the robot transitions from a rapid walking motion to a much slower swimming motion," said Daniel Goldman, an assistant professor in the School of Physics at the Georgia Institute of Technology. This project was funded by the Burroughs Wellcome Fund and the U.S. Army Research Laboratory.
The physics of movement on granular media has been largely unexplored systematically, so Goldman and his team set out to systematically investigate the performance of a small six-legged device called SandBot. The robot was designed by Haldun Komsuoglu and Daniel Koditschek at the University of Pennsylvania.
"This is new territory because researchers have not examined the interaction between an animal's foot and sand like they have a whale or duck's flipper and water," said Goldman. "Sand is a uniquely challenging terrain because it can shift quite easily from solid to fluid to solid and requires different locomotion strategies."
To conduct controlled experiments, Georgia Tech physics graduate student Chen Li built a trackway for SandBot to run along. The trackway consists of an eight-foot-long poppy seed-filled container with tiny holes in the bottom through which air can be blown. The air pulses elevate the granules and cause them to settle into a loosely packed solid state, allowing the researchers to closely control the density of the material.
"We used poppy seeds as the granular material because they were large enough not to get into the SandBot motors but light enough to be manipulated with our air blowers," explained Goldman. "We have done experiments with small glass beads, which more closely approximate desert sand, and found no qualitative change in the results."
In the desert, typical volume fractions for granular media range from 55 to 64 percent. For the study's initial experiments, the researchers packed the poppy seeds to a volume fraction of 63 percent, placed SandBot onto the surface and set its c-shaped legs to rotate five times per second. The little robot, which could bounce quickly across hard ground, became completely stuck in the granular material after just a few steps.
The researchers discovered that the problem was the rotational motion of the robot's limbs. The SandBot moves its limbs in an alternating tripod gait and during a rotation, each limb moves fast while it is in the air and slow while it is in the ground. The researchers found that the robot could walk across the sand quickly - at a speed of one body length per second - if the rotation frequency was fixed and three parameters were adjusted: the durations of the slow and fast phases and the angle at which the limb changed from slow to fast.
"A systematic study of the motion then revealed that changes in volume fraction of less than one percent resulted in either rapid motion or slower swimming," added Goldman. "We saw similar sensitivity when we changed the limb rotation frequency."
To study this phenomenon further, Goldman and Paul Umbanhowar of Northwestern University developed a simple kinematic model of penetration and slip of a curved limb on granular media. The model results showed that the relationship of the speed to the volume fraction and frequency of leg rotation was largely controlled by the degree to which the robot limbs penetrated into the sand with each step.
The higher the limb frequency and the looser the granular material, the deeper the robot sank into the granular material. Thus the length of the step the robot could take was shortened and when the step size became too short, the robot took its next step into ground disturbed by the previous step. This triggered a catastrophic loss of speed and a shift from walking to continuous paddling through the poppy seeds.
Goldman believes that this study's experiments and model describing the basic behavior of motion on granular media will help biologists understand how animals appear to move effortlessly across a diversity of complex substrates.
He also plans to use the information to help roboticists design devices with the appropriate feet and limb motion to move well in complex terrain - including sand. Future robots may have the ability to sense the type of material they are walking across, allowing them to adjust their limb motion accordingly. Such smart robots would advance the exploration of other planets, as well as search-and-rescue missions in disaster settings.
This material is based on research sponsored by the Army Research Laboratory and was accomplished under Cooperative Agreement Number W911NF-08-2-0004. The views and conclusions contained in this document are those of the authors and should not be interpreted as representing the official policies, either expressed or implied, of the Army Research Laboratory or U.S. Government.
Source: John Toon
Georgia Institute of Technology Research News
A new study published February 10 in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences takes what may be the first detailed look at the problem of robot locomotion on granular surfaces. Among the study's recommendations: robots attempting to move across sandy terrain should move their legs more slowly, especially if the sand is loosely packed.
"We have discovered that when a robot rotates its legs too fast or the sand is packed loosely enough, the robot transitions from a rapid walking motion to a much slower swimming motion," said Daniel Goldman, an assistant professor in the School of Physics at the Georgia Institute of Technology. This project was funded by the Burroughs Wellcome Fund and the U.S. Army Research Laboratory.
The physics of movement on granular media has been largely unexplored systematically, so Goldman and his team set out to systematically investigate the performance of a small six-legged device called SandBot. The robot was designed by Haldun Komsuoglu and Daniel Koditschek at the University of Pennsylvania.
"This is new territory because researchers have not examined the interaction between an animal's foot and sand like they have a whale or duck's flipper and water," said Goldman. "Sand is a uniquely challenging terrain because it can shift quite easily from solid to fluid to solid and requires different locomotion strategies."
To conduct controlled experiments, Georgia Tech physics graduate student Chen Li built a trackway for SandBot to run along. The trackway consists of an eight-foot-long poppy seed-filled container with tiny holes in the bottom through which air can be blown. The air pulses elevate the granules and cause them to settle into a loosely packed solid state, allowing the researchers to closely control the density of the material.
"We used poppy seeds as the granular material because they were large enough not to get into the SandBot motors but light enough to be manipulated with our air blowers," explained Goldman. "We have done experiments with small glass beads, which more closely approximate desert sand, and found no qualitative change in the results."
In the desert, typical volume fractions for granular media range from 55 to 64 percent. For the study's initial experiments, the researchers packed the poppy seeds to a volume fraction of 63 percent, placed SandBot onto the surface and set its c-shaped legs to rotate five times per second. The little robot, which could bounce quickly across hard ground, became completely stuck in the granular material after just a few steps.
The researchers discovered that the problem was the rotational motion of the robot's limbs. The SandBot moves its limbs in an alternating tripod gait and during a rotation, each limb moves fast while it is in the air and slow while it is in the ground. The researchers found that the robot could walk across the sand quickly - at a speed of one body length per second - if the rotation frequency was fixed and three parameters were adjusted: the durations of the slow and fast phases and the angle at which the limb changed from slow to fast.
"A systematic study of the motion then revealed that changes in volume fraction of less than one percent resulted in either rapid motion or slower swimming," added Goldman. "We saw similar sensitivity when we changed the limb rotation frequency."
To study this phenomenon further, Goldman and Paul Umbanhowar of Northwestern University developed a simple kinematic model of penetration and slip of a curved limb on granular media. The model results showed that the relationship of the speed to the volume fraction and frequency of leg rotation was largely controlled by the degree to which the robot limbs penetrated into the sand with each step.
The higher the limb frequency and the looser the granular material, the deeper the robot sank into the granular material. Thus the length of the step the robot could take was shortened and when the step size became too short, the robot took its next step into ground disturbed by the previous step. This triggered a catastrophic loss of speed and a shift from walking to continuous paddling through the poppy seeds.
Goldman believes that this study's experiments and model describing the basic behavior of motion on granular media will help biologists understand how animals appear to move effortlessly across a diversity of complex substrates.
He also plans to use the information to help roboticists design devices with the appropriate feet and limb motion to move well in complex terrain - including sand. Future robots may have the ability to sense the type of material they are walking across, allowing them to adjust their limb motion accordingly. Such smart robots would advance the exploration of other planets, as well as search-and-rescue missions in disaster settings.
This material is based on research sponsored by the Army Research Laboratory and was accomplished under Cooperative Agreement Number W911NF-08-2-0004. The views and conclusions contained in this document are those of the authors and should not be interpreted as representing the official policies, either expressed or implied, of the Army Research Laboratory or U.S. Government.
Source: John Toon
Georgia Institute of Technology Research News
UNICEF Responding To Indonesian Earthquake - Focus On Immediate Survival Of Victims - Approximately One Third Are Feared To Be Children
UNICEF is preparing
emergency supplies to be sent to help victims of the earthquake in Central
Java, Indonesia.
The UN's Children Agency has deployed staff to Yogyakarta, hard hit by
the earthquake to assess the immediate needs of victims.
UNICEF has emergency supplies of tents, hygiene kits, health kits and
school supplies ready to be transported to the earthquake zone.
The supplies include: tarpaulins; essential health supplies, hygiene
kits; small tents; large tents; lanterns; collapsible water tanks; school
kits; school tents; recreation kits and school in a box school supplies.
The U.S. Fund for UNICEF is accepting donations via 1-800-4-UNICEF or
unicefusa.
emergency supplies to be sent to help victims of the earthquake in Central
Java, Indonesia.
The UN's Children Agency has deployed staff to Yogyakarta, hard hit by
the earthquake to assess the immediate needs of victims.
UNICEF has emergency supplies of tents, hygiene kits, health kits and
school supplies ready to be transported to the earthquake zone.
The supplies include: tarpaulins; essential health supplies, hygiene
kits; small tents; large tents; lanterns; collapsible water tanks; school
kits; school tents; recreation kits and school in a box school supplies.
The U.S. Fund for UNICEF is accepting donations via 1-800-4-UNICEF or
unicefusa.
Free Health Care Clinic For The Uninsured Returns To New Orleans In Time Of Oil Crisis
During this time when many people are still suffering from the effects of the oil crisis in the Gulf of Mexico, the area's uninsured residents will be able to receive medical care during a two-day free medical clinic in New Orleans on Tuesday, August 31, and Wednesday, September 1. The National Association of Free Clinics (NAFC), sponsor of the free clinic at the Ernest N. Morial Convention Center, is calling on volunteers to sign up to help.
"This free clinic will be held exactly five years after Hurricane Katrina and its aftermath devastated New Orleans and much of the Gulf Coast," NAFC Executive Director Nicole Lamoureux said. "Five years later, as an oil-related disaster threatens the livelihoods of many of the area's residents, those who still need help will find free medical care there and be connected to additional area resources available to them."
This free C.A.R.E. (Communities Are Responding Everyday) Clinic is not just for the sick but also for anyone who is uninsured and has not seen a doctor recently. All participants will receive preventive primary medical care and be connected to the area's safety-net providers such as free clinics.
Since last September, more than 9,200 uninsured patients received treatment at C.A.R.E. Clinics in Houston, New Orleans, Little Rock, Kansas City, Hartford, Atlanta, and most recently in Washington, D.C.
Source: National Association of Free Clinics
"This free clinic will be held exactly five years after Hurricane Katrina and its aftermath devastated New Orleans and much of the Gulf Coast," NAFC Executive Director Nicole Lamoureux said. "Five years later, as an oil-related disaster threatens the livelihoods of many of the area's residents, those who still need help will find free medical care there and be connected to additional area resources available to them."
This free C.A.R.E. (Communities Are Responding Everyday) Clinic is not just for the sick but also for anyone who is uninsured and has not seen a doctor recently. All participants will receive preventive primary medical care and be connected to the area's safety-net providers such as free clinics.
Since last September, more than 9,200 uninsured patients received treatment at C.A.R.E. Clinics in Houston, New Orleans, Little Rock, Kansas City, Hartford, Atlanta, and most recently in Washington, D.C.
Source: National Association of Free Clinics
Include Indigenous Communities In MDGs Or Watch Them Die A Slow Death, Experts Warn
We are dangerously close to killing off the world's Indigenous populations, and losing forever the invaluable knowledge these communities have about medicines and the ecosystem.
This stark warning is being made today by a team of health experts based at the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine (LSHTM) and coincides both with the launch of a major, month-long series on Indigenous Peoples' health in the Lancet, which begins today, and the fifth session of the UN's Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues, which took place this week.
The experts caution that major international policies such as the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), which were set up to target the world's poorest people could, as they currently stand, actually lead to entire populations of Indigenous peoples being wiped out forever.
They explain that minority groups such as Indigenous peoples could be ignored because of the way the MDGs work - by focusing on big numbers and encouraging targets to maximise health benefits for the majority. This means that the health experiences of minority Indigenous populations will be swallowed up, unnoticed, in the country statistics for the MDGs, and that these communities could become the hidden victims of the global effort to tackle poverty.
The Lancet series has been written in the first year of the Second Decade of the World's Indigenous Peoples, initiated after a First Decade which - even according to the High Commissioner for Human Rights, achieved little. The High Commissioner noted in an evaluation of the Decade that its main objective, the adoption of a declaration of rights for Indigenous peoples, had not been achieved and that more needed to be done by the Member States and the international community to improve the rights of Indigenous peoples.
The LSHTM team, which is contributing a number of research papers and coordinated the series, is echoing the calls made by the Permanent Forum for more research and action to get Indigenous peoples' health included into the MDGs, and for the issue to be placed high on the agenda at the UN's MDG forthcoming conference in September.
'Even though we know they experience worse health conditions than even their poor non-indigenous counterparts living in the same countries, Indigenous children rarely get a mention in global health initiatives', comments Dr. Carolyn Stephens, who is leading the LSHTM team.
'Small numbers of deaths in minority populations will not affect the MDGs at all. This may mean that they can be achieved even as indigenous people gradually disappear from our world. At the moment, their very focus on headline-capturing big numbers has an impact on Indigenous peoples - both in terms of their international visibility, and in fund allocation'.
The authors describe the importance and value of Indigenous wisdom for the future of international health and medicine, and point out that some of the most significant pharmaceutical breakthroughs in Western medicine have originated from, and continue to be found in Indigenous plants.
Dr Stephens adds: 'Indigenous people will continue to be exploited by governments, and to suffer great health disadvantage, unless their rights are recognised internationally. We want the second International Decade to have a far stronger and more radical emphasis on indigenous rights, and new policies for indigenous health. We want the issue to be top of the agenda when the UN meets in September to discuss progress in achieving the MDGs. And we want this decade to be remembered as the one in which the United Nations finally ratified the Draft Treaty on Indigenous People's Rights'.
Today, Richard Horton, editor of the Lancet, made an urgent appeal to action, concluding "Perhaps the most urgent call of all is to remove the cloak of invisibility from the shoulders of indigenous peoples-not only to reveal their diversity and heritage, but also to reflect on their cultural fragility and to protect and strengthen their essential, foundational place in human society".
Disappearing, displaced and undervalued - a call to action for Indigenous Health worldwide by Carolyn Stephens, John Porter, Clive Nettleton and Ruth Willis, will be published later this month as part of the Lancet series on Indigenous health which begins today.
LONDON SCHOOL OF HYGIENE & TROPICAL MEDICINE (LSHTM)
Keppel Street
London
WC1E 7HT
lshtm.ac.uk/
This stark warning is being made today by a team of health experts based at the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine (LSHTM) and coincides both with the launch of a major, month-long series on Indigenous Peoples' health in the Lancet, which begins today, and the fifth session of the UN's Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues, which took place this week.
The experts caution that major international policies such as the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), which were set up to target the world's poorest people could, as they currently stand, actually lead to entire populations of Indigenous peoples being wiped out forever.
They explain that minority groups such as Indigenous peoples could be ignored because of the way the MDGs work - by focusing on big numbers and encouraging targets to maximise health benefits for the majority. This means that the health experiences of minority Indigenous populations will be swallowed up, unnoticed, in the country statistics for the MDGs, and that these communities could become the hidden victims of the global effort to tackle poverty.
The Lancet series has been written in the first year of the Second Decade of the World's Indigenous Peoples, initiated after a First Decade which - even according to the High Commissioner for Human Rights, achieved little. The High Commissioner noted in an evaluation of the Decade that its main objective, the adoption of a declaration of rights for Indigenous peoples, had not been achieved and that more needed to be done by the Member States and the international community to improve the rights of Indigenous peoples.
The LSHTM team, which is contributing a number of research papers and coordinated the series, is echoing the calls made by the Permanent Forum for more research and action to get Indigenous peoples' health included into the MDGs, and for the issue to be placed high on the agenda at the UN's MDG forthcoming conference in September.
'Even though we know they experience worse health conditions than even their poor non-indigenous counterparts living in the same countries, Indigenous children rarely get a mention in global health initiatives', comments Dr. Carolyn Stephens, who is leading the LSHTM team.
'Small numbers of deaths in minority populations will not affect the MDGs at all. This may mean that they can be achieved even as indigenous people gradually disappear from our world. At the moment, their very focus on headline-capturing big numbers has an impact on Indigenous peoples - both in terms of their international visibility, and in fund allocation'.
The authors describe the importance and value of Indigenous wisdom for the future of international health and medicine, and point out that some of the most significant pharmaceutical breakthroughs in Western medicine have originated from, and continue to be found in Indigenous plants.
Dr Stephens adds: 'Indigenous people will continue to be exploited by governments, and to suffer great health disadvantage, unless their rights are recognised internationally. We want the second International Decade to have a far stronger and more radical emphasis on indigenous rights, and new policies for indigenous health. We want the issue to be top of the agenda when the UN meets in September to discuss progress in achieving the MDGs. And we want this decade to be remembered as the one in which the United Nations finally ratified the Draft Treaty on Indigenous People's Rights'.
Today, Richard Horton, editor of the Lancet, made an urgent appeal to action, concluding "Perhaps the most urgent call of all is to remove the cloak of invisibility from the shoulders of indigenous peoples-not only to reveal their diversity and heritage, but also to reflect on their cultural fragility and to protect and strengthen their essential, foundational place in human society".
Disappearing, displaced and undervalued - a call to action for Indigenous Health worldwide by Carolyn Stephens, John Porter, Clive Nettleton and Ruth Willis, will be published later this month as part of the Lancet series on Indigenous health which begins today.
LONDON SCHOOL OF HYGIENE & TROPICAL MEDICINE (LSHTM)
Keppel Street
London
WC1E 7HT
lshtm.ac.uk/
UNICEF: Soaring Child Deaths In Greater Horn Of Africa Must Be Averted
A lethal mix of drought, expanding conflict, rising food and energy prices, disease, and high poverty is pushing children and their families in the Greater Horn of Africa to the brink of disaster. Actions and policies are needed now to avert grave human suffering.
Ethiopia and Somalia are the worst affected, but parts of Eritrea, Djibouti, Kenya and Uganda show ominously similar signs. "The time to act is now," said Per Engebak, UNICEF's Regional Director for East and Southern Africa, "to save children's lives. Committed, proactive, and decisive actions on the part of national governments and international partners can mitigate the multiple threats to children and families in the Greater Horn of Africa. The signs are there and governments and international partners must heed them and act on them."
In Somalia, buffeted by the combined shocks of conflict and by recurrent waves of drought and flooding, the global acute malnutrition rates are now above 20 per cent, higher than the 15% rate that indicates a severe nutritional situation warranting emergency responses. Similarly high rates are being found among children in other parts of the Greater Horn.
In areas of Ethiopia, drought and conflict are leaving millions food insecure and often cut off from relief. The Government estimates that 75,000 children are severely malnourished. Uganda is recording a new wave of disturbing malnutrition in the northern pastoral region of Karamoja, which has endured flooding, then drought and devastating animal diseases since last year, with malnutrition rates above 15 per cent recorded in February 2008. Malnutrition will add to the burden of children in the area who face high levels of malaria and pneumonia and where child mortality is already 30 per cent higher than the national average.
In Kenya, an estimated 1.2 million people are in need of emergency food assistance and many of those are children. Pastoralist populations in the arid and semi-arid north are particularly affected, but food insecurity is growing, an aftershock of the post- election violence which displaced people (77,000 remain cut off from their farms and livestock) and interrupted the agricultural cycle. High fuel and agricultural input costs and disappointing rains in much of the country are worsening the situation.
Throughout the Greater Horn, malnutrition is compounding the risks to survival that children routinely face, including pneumonia, diarrhoeal diseases and other infections. Recent years have seen an increase in acute watery diarrhoea and cholera in many of these countries affecting tens of thousands of children.
To stop and reverse the trends auguring another major humanitarian disaster, the international community and donors will need to fully support the responses of governments in the region to stabilize the situation and enable timely and effective responses. Resources and actions are required to ensure relief supplies and basic services, including health care and sanitation for affected populations. And systems are needed to clear and distribute food and non-food relief supplies.
"By taking these critical actions, governments and their international partners can make a huge difference in the coming months," Engebak emphasized.
About UNICEF
UNICEF is on the ground in over 150 countries and territories to help children survive and thrive, from early childhood through adolescence. The world's largest provider of vaccines for developing countries, UNICEF supports child health and nutrition, good water and sanitation, quality basic education for all boys and girls, and the protection of children from violence, exploitation, and AIDS. UNICEF is funded entirely by the voluntary contributions of individuals, businesses, foundations and governments.
unicef
Ethiopia and Somalia are the worst affected, but parts of Eritrea, Djibouti, Kenya and Uganda show ominously similar signs. "The time to act is now," said Per Engebak, UNICEF's Regional Director for East and Southern Africa, "to save children's lives. Committed, proactive, and decisive actions on the part of national governments and international partners can mitigate the multiple threats to children and families in the Greater Horn of Africa. The signs are there and governments and international partners must heed them and act on them."
In Somalia, buffeted by the combined shocks of conflict and by recurrent waves of drought and flooding, the global acute malnutrition rates are now above 20 per cent, higher than the 15% rate that indicates a severe nutritional situation warranting emergency responses. Similarly high rates are being found among children in other parts of the Greater Horn.
In areas of Ethiopia, drought and conflict are leaving millions food insecure and often cut off from relief. The Government estimates that 75,000 children are severely malnourished. Uganda is recording a new wave of disturbing malnutrition in the northern pastoral region of Karamoja, which has endured flooding, then drought and devastating animal diseases since last year, with malnutrition rates above 15 per cent recorded in February 2008. Malnutrition will add to the burden of children in the area who face high levels of malaria and pneumonia and where child mortality is already 30 per cent higher than the national average.
In Kenya, an estimated 1.2 million people are in need of emergency food assistance and many of those are children. Pastoralist populations in the arid and semi-arid north are particularly affected, but food insecurity is growing, an aftershock of the post- election violence which displaced people (77,000 remain cut off from their farms and livestock) and interrupted the agricultural cycle. High fuel and agricultural input costs and disappointing rains in much of the country are worsening the situation.
Throughout the Greater Horn, malnutrition is compounding the risks to survival that children routinely face, including pneumonia, diarrhoeal diseases and other infections. Recent years have seen an increase in acute watery diarrhoea and cholera in many of these countries affecting tens of thousands of children.
To stop and reverse the trends auguring another major humanitarian disaster, the international community and donors will need to fully support the responses of governments in the region to stabilize the situation and enable timely and effective responses. Resources and actions are required to ensure relief supplies and basic services, including health care and sanitation for affected populations. And systems are needed to clear and distribute food and non-food relief supplies.
"By taking these critical actions, governments and their international partners can make a huge difference in the coming months," Engebak emphasized.
About UNICEF
UNICEF is on the ground in over 150 countries and territories to help children survive and thrive, from early childhood through adolescence. The world's largest provider of vaccines for developing countries, UNICEF supports child health and nutrition, good water and sanitation, quality basic education for all boys and girls, and the protection of children from violence, exploitation, and AIDS. UNICEF is funded entirely by the voluntary contributions of individuals, businesses, foundations and governments.
unicef
WFP Welcomes French Offer To Protect Ships From Somali Pirates
The United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) thanked
France
or its proposal to provide naval escorts to protect ships
carrying
food off the Horn of Africa from pirate attacks.
"We are grateful to the Government of France for this generous offer,
which
would reduce the threat of piracy and allow WFP to feed more hungry
people
in Somalia," said WFP Executive Director Josette Sheeran at UN
headquarters
in New York.
Sheeran also thanked the multinational coalition naval force off
Somalia
for its increased surveillance in recent months and said she hoped it
will
continue.
WFP and the International Maritime Organization (IMO) have jointly
appealed
for high-level international action to stamp out piracy in waters
off
Somalia, following a series of attacks including on two vessels that
had
just unloaded WFP food in Somalia. In 2005, an upsurge of piracy in
Somali
waters, including the hijacking of two ships contracted for WFP, forced
the
UN agency to suspend all deliveries by sea for some weeks.
Some 80 percent of WFP food assistance for Somalia moves by sea, and
pirate
attacks have threatened to cut WFP's main supply route,
jeopardizing
rations for the 1.2 million people WFP expects to be feeding by the end
of
2007. Overall, there were 17 pirate attacks on ships in waters off
Somalia
in the first half of 2007, compared with eight attacks in the same
period
last year.
The French proposal envisions a two-month period during which naval
vessels
would escort ships carrying WFP food assistance as they traverse
Somali
waters. Ships would be escorted to the entrance of Mogadishu port.
WFP is increasing its food distributions in Somalia so has to ship
more
food just as the stormy monsoon season is coming to an end, Sheeran
said.
Before the onset of the monsoon last June, increasing pirate attacks
had
cut by half the number of ships available to transport WFP food
supplies.
Without escorts, WFP fears the pirates will return as the heavy
monsoon
seas calm, allowing them to start hunting for ships again.
Most of the pirate assaults did not appear aimed at seizing cargo
but
rather designed to force ship owners to pay ransom for vessels and
crew
held hostage. The pirates are highly mobile, manning fast vessels and
using
satellite position-fixing gear to attack ships far out at sea,
sometimes
more than 200 nautical miles off the Somali coast.
WFP is the world's largest humanitarian agency: on average, each year, we
give food to 90 million poor people to meet their nutritional needs,
including 58 million hungry children, in 80 of the world's poorest
countries. WFP - We Feed People.
wfp
France
or its proposal to provide naval escorts to protect ships
carrying
food off the Horn of Africa from pirate attacks.
"We are grateful to the Government of France for this generous offer,
which
would reduce the threat of piracy and allow WFP to feed more hungry
people
in Somalia," said WFP Executive Director Josette Sheeran at UN
headquarters
in New York.
Sheeran also thanked the multinational coalition naval force off
Somalia
for its increased surveillance in recent months and said she hoped it
will
continue.
WFP and the International Maritime Organization (IMO) have jointly
appealed
for high-level international action to stamp out piracy in waters
off
Somalia, following a series of attacks including on two vessels that
had
just unloaded WFP food in Somalia. In 2005, an upsurge of piracy in
Somali
waters, including the hijacking of two ships contracted for WFP, forced
the
UN agency to suspend all deliveries by sea for some weeks.
Some 80 percent of WFP food assistance for Somalia moves by sea, and
pirate
attacks have threatened to cut WFP's main supply route,
jeopardizing
rations for the 1.2 million people WFP expects to be feeding by the end
of
2007. Overall, there were 17 pirate attacks on ships in waters off
Somalia
in the first half of 2007, compared with eight attacks in the same
period
last year.
The French proposal envisions a two-month period during which naval
vessels
would escort ships carrying WFP food assistance as they traverse
Somali
waters. Ships would be escorted to the entrance of Mogadishu port.
WFP is increasing its food distributions in Somalia so has to ship
more
food just as the stormy monsoon season is coming to an end, Sheeran
said.
Before the onset of the monsoon last June, increasing pirate attacks
had
cut by half the number of ships available to transport WFP food
supplies.
Without escorts, WFP fears the pirates will return as the heavy
monsoon
seas calm, allowing them to start hunting for ships again.
Most of the pirate assaults did not appear aimed at seizing cargo
but
rather designed to force ship owners to pay ransom for vessels and
crew
held hostage. The pirates are highly mobile, manning fast vessels and
using
satellite position-fixing gear to attack ships far out at sea,
sometimes
more than 200 nautical miles off the Somali coast.
WFP is the world's largest humanitarian agency: on average, each year, we
give food to 90 million poor people to meet their nutritional needs,
including 58 million hungry children, in 80 of the world's poorest
countries. WFP - We Feed People.
wfp
Norepinephrine May Increase Chances Of Survival In Hemorrhagic Shock
For trauma patients with shock caused by severe bleeding, giving the drug norepinephrine along with initial fluid replacement might help to improve the chances of survival.
The October issue of the journal Anesthesiology features a study in rats suggesting that fluid resuscitation plus norepinephrine could offer a new approach to reducing the risk of death for trauma victims with uncontrolled bleeding and shock. "We have demonstrated that using norepinephrine in the early phase of an animal model of uncontrolled hemorrhagic shock allowed us to improve survival, reducing the amount of fluid infusion and reducing bleeding volumes," comments Dr. Frederic Adnet of Avicenne Hospital, Bobigny, France. Norepinephrine is a natural substance released into the bloodstream during periods of stress, such as hemorrhage.
The researchers designed a study in rats to simulate the situation in which a person suffers head injury combined with uncontrolled bleeding (hemorrhage). The study followed a model that is very commonly used in animal research for studying resuscitation in trauma patients, before the techniques are tried in clinical studies. The animals were under anesthesia (asleep) during the procedure.
Resuscitation was performed using fluid replacement alone or with different doses of norepinephrine. The study also evaluated the effects of resuscitation at normal versus lower-than-normal blood pressure. Norepinephrine is a vasopressor, or vasoconstrictor, which means that it causes the blood vessels to narrow. Under current guidelines, norepinephrine is used for patients in shock only when they don't respond to initial fluid resuscitation.
At the proper dose, using norepinephrine with resuscitation fluids significantly improved the chances of survival. Norepinephrine also reduced the amount of fluid needed for resuscitation, as well as the amount of blood lost.
"We also demonstrated that using norepinephrine allowed us to restore a normal blood pressure without altering survival, which is one of the most important aims in head-injured trauma patients," adds Dr. Adnet.
Many patients especially young people die every day from bleeding caused by multiple trauma. Recent studies have challenged current guidelines for early resuscitation of trauma patients with uncontrolled hemorrhagic shock.
Adding norepinephrine to fluid resuscitation for uncontrolled bleeding and shock appears to be a promising approach to reducing the risk of death, and possibly for improving final outcomes in trauma survivors, the researchers believe. Dr. Adnet adds, "It would be interesting to evaluate the benefits of this new type of resuscitation through a clinical research study of patients with the common problem of profound hemorrhagic shock."
With further study, the use of fluid resuscitation with norepinephrine might be an attractive alternative to treatment of trauma patients with uncontrolled hemorrhagic shock, writes Dr. Philippe Van der Linden of Centre Hospitalier Universitaire Brugmann-HUDERF in Brussels, Belgium, in an accompanying editorial. "Indeed, the combined use of fluids and vasoconstrictors in order to restore and maintain a predefined target perfusion [blood] pressure might be the more efficient approach, while reducing the risks of side effects associated with the use of each treatment alone."
While a number of studies of anesthetic drugs in animals have provided useful direction for further research, it is important to note that animal studies are considered basic science and their findings do not always translate to the complex physiological system of human beings.
For additional information on this study, go to anesthesiology.
Founded in 1905, the American Society of Anesthesiologists is an educational, research and scientific association with 41,000 members organized to raise and maintain the standards of the medical practice of anesthesiology and improve the care of the patient.
Visit our Web site at asahq.
American Society of Anesthesiologists (ASA)
520 N. Northwest Hwy.
Park Ridge, IL 60068-2573
United States
asahq
The October issue of the journal Anesthesiology features a study in rats suggesting that fluid resuscitation plus norepinephrine could offer a new approach to reducing the risk of death for trauma victims with uncontrolled bleeding and shock. "We have demonstrated that using norepinephrine in the early phase of an animal model of uncontrolled hemorrhagic shock allowed us to improve survival, reducing the amount of fluid infusion and reducing bleeding volumes," comments Dr. Frederic Adnet of Avicenne Hospital, Bobigny, France. Norepinephrine is a natural substance released into the bloodstream during periods of stress, such as hemorrhage.
The researchers designed a study in rats to simulate the situation in which a person suffers head injury combined with uncontrolled bleeding (hemorrhage). The study followed a model that is very commonly used in animal research for studying resuscitation in trauma patients, before the techniques are tried in clinical studies. The animals were under anesthesia (asleep) during the procedure.
Resuscitation was performed using fluid replacement alone or with different doses of norepinephrine. The study also evaluated the effects of resuscitation at normal versus lower-than-normal blood pressure. Norepinephrine is a vasopressor, or vasoconstrictor, which means that it causes the blood vessels to narrow. Under current guidelines, norepinephrine is used for patients in shock only when they don't respond to initial fluid resuscitation.
At the proper dose, using norepinephrine with resuscitation fluids significantly improved the chances of survival. Norepinephrine also reduced the amount of fluid needed for resuscitation, as well as the amount of blood lost.
"We also demonstrated that using norepinephrine allowed us to restore a normal blood pressure without altering survival, which is one of the most important aims in head-injured trauma patients," adds Dr. Adnet.
Many patients especially young people die every day from bleeding caused by multiple trauma. Recent studies have challenged current guidelines for early resuscitation of trauma patients with uncontrolled hemorrhagic shock.
Adding norepinephrine to fluid resuscitation for uncontrolled bleeding and shock appears to be a promising approach to reducing the risk of death, and possibly for improving final outcomes in trauma survivors, the researchers believe. Dr. Adnet adds, "It would be interesting to evaluate the benefits of this new type of resuscitation through a clinical research study of patients with the common problem of profound hemorrhagic shock."
With further study, the use of fluid resuscitation with norepinephrine might be an attractive alternative to treatment of trauma patients with uncontrolled hemorrhagic shock, writes Dr. Philippe Van der Linden of Centre Hospitalier Universitaire Brugmann-HUDERF in Brussels, Belgium, in an accompanying editorial. "Indeed, the combined use of fluids and vasoconstrictors in order to restore and maintain a predefined target perfusion [blood] pressure might be the more efficient approach, while reducing the risks of side effects associated with the use of each treatment alone."
While a number of studies of anesthetic drugs in animals have provided useful direction for further research, it is important to note that animal studies are considered basic science and their findings do not always translate to the complex physiological system of human beings.
For additional information on this study, go to anesthesiology.
Founded in 1905, the American Society of Anesthesiologists is an educational, research and scientific association with 41,000 members organized to raise and maintain the standards of the medical practice of anesthesiology and improve the care of the patient.
Visit our Web site at asahq.
American Society of Anesthesiologists (ASA)
520 N. Northwest Hwy.
Park Ridge, IL 60068-2573
United States
asahq
Mayor of London calls bombings a 'cowardly attack'
Statement by Ken Livingstone, Mayor of London -
This was a cowardly attack, which has resulted in injury and loss of life. Our thoughts are with everyone who has been injured, or lost loved ones. I want to thank the emergency services for the way they have responded.
Following the al-Qaeda attacks on September 11th in America we conducted a series of exercises in London in order to be prepared for just such an attack. One of the exercises undertaken by the government, my office and the emergency and security services was based on the possibility of multiple explosions on the transport system during the Friday rush hour. The plan that came out of that exercise is being executed today, with remarkable efficiency and courage, and I praise those staff who are involved.
I'd like to thank Londoners for the calm way in which they have responded to this cowardly attack and echo the advice of the Metropolitan Police Commissioner Sir Ian Blair - do everything possible to assist the police and take the advice of the police about getting home today.
I have no doubt whatsoever that this is a terrorist attack. We did hope in the first few minutes after hearing about the events on the Underground that it might simply be a maintenance tragedy. That was not the case. I have been able to stay in touch through the very excellent communications that were established for the eventuality that I might be out of the city at the time of a terrorist attack and they have worked with remarkable effectiveness. I will be in continual contact until I am back in London.
I want to say one thing specifically to the world today. This was not a terrorist attack against the mighty and the powerful. It was not aimed at Presidents or Prime Ministers. It was aimed at ordinary, working-class Londoners, black and white, Muslim and Christian, Hindu and Jew, young and old. It was an indiscriminate attempt to slaughter, irrespective of any considerations for age, for class, for religion, or whatever.
That isn't an ideology, it isn't even a perverted faith - it is just an indiscriminate attempt at mass murder and we know what the objective is. They seek to divide Londoners. They seek to turn Londoners against each other. I said yesterday to the International Olympic Committee, that the city of London is the greatest in the world, because everybody lives side by side in harmony. Londoners will not be divided by this cowardly attack. They will stand together in solidarity alongside those who have been injured and those who have been bereaved and that is why I'm proud to be the mayor of that city.
Finally, I wish to speak directly to those who came to London today to take life.
I know that you personally do not fear giving up your own life in order to take others - that is why you are so dangerous. But I know you fear that you may fail in your long-term objective to destroy our free society and I can show you why you will fail.
In the days that follow look at our airports, look at our sea ports and look at our railway stations and, even after your cowardly attack, you will see that people from the rest of Britain, people from around the world will arrive in London to become Londoners and to fulfil their dreams and achieve their potential.
They choose to come to London, as so many have come before because they come to be free, they come to live the life they choose, they come to be able to be themselves. They flee you because you tell them how they should live. They don't want that and nothing you do, however many of us you kill, will stop that flight to our city where freedom is strong and where people can live in harmony with one another. Whatever you do, however many you kill, you will fail.
ukresilience/statements.htm
This was a cowardly attack, which has resulted in injury and loss of life. Our thoughts are with everyone who has been injured, or lost loved ones. I want to thank the emergency services for the way they have responded.
Following the al-Qaeda attacks on September 11th in America we conducted a series of exercises in London in order to be prepared for just such an attack. One of the exercises undertaken by the government, my office and the emergency and security services was based on the possibility of multiple explosions on the transport system during the Friday rush hour. The plan that came out of that exercise is being executed today, with remarkable efficiency and courage, and I praise those staff who are involved.
I'd like to thank Londoners for the calm way in which they have responded to this cowardly attack and echo the advice of the Metropolitan Police Commissioner Sir Ian Blair - do everything possible to assist the police and take the advice of the police about getting home today.
I have no doubt whatsoever that this is a terrorist attack. We did hope in the first few minutes after hearing about the events on the Underground that it might simply be a maintenance tragedy. That was not the case. I have been able to stay in touch through the very excellent communications that were established for the eventuality that I might be out of the city at the time of a terrorist attack and they have worked with remarkable effectiveness. I will be in continual contact until I am back in London.
I want to say one thing specifically to the world today. This was not a terrorist attack against the mighty and the powerful. It was not aimed at Presidents or Prime Ministers. It was aimed at ordinary, working-class Londoners, black and white, Muslim and Christian, Hindu and Jew, young and old. It was an indiscriminate attempt to slaughter, irrespective of any considerations for age, for class, for religion, or whatever.
That isn't an ideology, it isn't even a perverted faith - it is just an indiscriminate attempt at mass murder and we know what the objective is. They seek to divide Londoners. They seek to turn Londoners against each other. I said yesterday to the International Olympic Committee, that the city of London is the greatest in the world, because everybody lives side by side in harmony. Londoners will not be divided by this cowardly attack. They will stand together in solidarity alongside those who have been injured and those who have been bereaved and that is why I'm proud to be the mayor of that city.
Finally, I wish to speak directly to those who came to London today to take life.
I know that you personally do not fear giving up your own life in order to take others - that is why you are so dangerous. But I know you fear that you may fail in your long-term objective to destroy our free society and I can show you why you will fail.
In the days that follow look at our airports, look at our sea ports and look at our railway stations and, even after your cowardly attack, you will see that people from the rest of Britain, people from around the world will arrive in London to become Londoners and to fulfil their dreams and achieve their potential.
They choose to come to London, as so many have come before because they come to be free, they come to live the life they choose, they come to be able to be themselves. They flee you because you tell them how they should live. They don't want that and nothing you do, however many of us you kill, will stop that flight to our city where freedom is strong and where people can live in harmony with one another. Whatever you do, however many you kill, you will fail.
ukresilience/statements.htm
Zimbabwe's forgotten children
Striking new data shows Zimbabwean children - at their hour of greatest need - are being overlooked -
As the world focuses on the upcoming Zimbabwean elections, UNICEF today released startling new statistics which call for
politicians and donors to defend children as rigorously as they defend democracy.
Despite the world's fourth worst rate of HIV/AIDS and the highest rise in child mortality of any nation, Zimbabweans receive
just a fraction of donor funding compared to other countries in their region.
"The world must differentiate between the politics and the people of Zimbabwe," said UNICEF Executive Director Carol Bellamy,
speaking in Johannesburg. "Every day children in Zimbabwe are dying of HIV/AIDS, every day children are becoming infected,
orphaned, and forced to leave school to care for sick parents. The global generosity towards tsunami victims was inspiring,
but it has dried up for Zimbabwean children who are facing a deadly crisis every day of their lives."
This massive disparity in aid comes despite the fact that:
-- The under-five mortality rate has risen 50% since 1990 (now 1 death for every 8 births)
-- One hundred babies become HIV-positive every day in Zimbabwe
-- One in five Zimbabwean children are now orphans (1 million from HIV/AIDS)
-- A child dies every 15 minutes due to HIV/AIDS in Zimbabwe
-- 160,000 children will experience the death of a parent in 2005
In 2004-5 Zimbabwe received little or no HIV/AIDS funding support from the main donor initiatives.
In southern Africa, the area most devastated by HIV/AIDS, the average annual donor-spending-per-HIV-infected-person among
these three initiatives is US $74. In Zimbabwe the figure is just $4.
In Zambia, a country with slightly lower HIV rates than Zimbabwe, donors give US $187 per HIV-positive person; in Namibia
$101, in Uganda $319, and in Eritrea $802.
Overall donor support for Zimbabwe is also far lower than any other country in the region. The World Bank estimates that
Zimbabweans receive US $14 per capita, from both official development assistance (ODA) and official aid from the World Bank,
the IMF, other international organizations and from individual nation donors. This is less than one-quarter of what Namibians
($68) receive, and around 12 percent of those in neighbouring Mozambique ($111).
Progress Nonetheless
Despite the dearth in funds, Zimbabwe is making inroads in the fight against HIV/AIDS and rising child mortality. UNICEF, in
concert with the rest of the UN family, is providing community support to counseling and psychosocial support for 100,000
orphaned children, and has provided assistance in achieving a national measles coverage of 95 per cent.
This progress has occurred thanks to critical and direct support from the UK's Department for International Development, the
European Commission, and the Norwegian, Dutch, Japanese and German Governments. Other actors are working hard across
Zimbabwe to address the needs of children.
But much more would be done with greater funding. Despite the current political climate, Zimbabwe is one of but a few
countries with a National Plan of Action for Orphans and Vulnerable Children (OVCs) adopted by government. This plan is
costed and includes a clear monitoring and evaluation plan. UNICEF is responsible for overall UN coordination of the OVC
response, and is supporting implementation across Zimbabwe. Zimbabwe is the only country in Africa which has instituted a
three percent tax levy to mobilize domestic resources for fighting HIV/AIDS.
"Some 110 Zimbabweans under the age of 15 will become infected with HIV/AIDS today," said Bellamy. "Another 110 will be
infected tomorrow, 110 more the day after that. Yet despite these horrendous numbers Zimbabweans have the determination and
the education to defeat HIV/AIDS and other causes of child mortality. But to do so they need international help."
For further information, please contact:
James Elder
UNICEF Zimbabwe
Tel: + (27) 828580856 (while in RSA 15-19March)
+ (263) 91276120 (all other times, in Zimbabwe)
jelderunicef
Sarah Crowe
UNICEF Africa News Desk
Tel: + (27) 83 402 9812
scroweunicef
Gordon Weiss
UNICEF HQ, New York
Tel: +1 212 326 7426
Recent broadcast quality footage and photographs from Zimbabwe are online at
unicef
For nearly 60 years UNICEF has been the world's leader for children, working on the ground in 158 countries to help children
survive and thrive, from early childhood through adolescence. The world's largest provider of vaccines for poor countries,
UNICEF supports child health and nutrition, quality basic education for all boys and girls, access to clean water and
sanitation, and the protection of children from violence, exploitation, and AIDS. UNICEF is funded entirely by the voluntary
contributions of governments, businesses, foundations and individuals.
unicef
As the world focuses on the upcoming Zimbabwean elections, UNICEF today released startling new statistics which call for
politicians and donors to defend children as rigorously as they defend democracy.
Despite the world's fourth worst rate of HIV/AIDS and the highest rise in child mortality of any nation, Zimbabweans receive
just a fraction of donor funding compared to other countries in their region.
"The world must differentiate between the politics and the people of Zimbabwe," said UNICEF Executive Director Carol Bellamy,
speaking in Johannesburg. "Every day children in Zimbabwe are dying of HIV/AIDS, every day children are becoming infected,
orphaned, and forced to leave school to care for sick parents. The global generosity towards tsunami victims was inspiring,
but it has dried up for Zimbabwean children who are facing a deadly crisis every day of their lives."
This massive disparity in aid comes despite the fact that:
-- The under-five mortality rate has risen 50% since 1990 (now 1 death for every 8 births)
-- One hundred babies become HIV-positive every day in Zimbabwe
-- One in five Zimbabwean children are now orphans (1 million from HIV/AIDS)
-- A child dies every 15 minutes due to HIV/AIDS in Zimbabwe
-- 160,000 children will experience the death of a parent in 2005
In 2004-5 Zimbabwe received little or no HIV/AIDS funding support from the main donor initiatives.
In southern Africa, the area most devastated by HIV/AIDS, the average annual donor-spending-per-HIV-infected-person among
these three initiatives is US $74. In Zimbabwe the figure is just $4.
In Zambia, a country with slightly lower HIV rates than Zimbabwe, donors give US $187 per HIV-positive person; in Namibia
$101, in Uganda $319, and in Eritrea $802.
Overall donor support for Zimbabwe is also far lower than any other country in the region. The World Bank estimates that
Zimbabweans receive US $14 per capita, from both official development assistance (ODA) and official aid from the World Bank,
the IMF, other international organizations and from individual nation donors. This is less than one-quarter of what Namibians
($68) receive, and around 12 percent of those in neighbouring Mozambique ($111).
Progress Nonetheless
Despite the dearth in funds, Zimbabwe is making inroads in the fight against HIV/AIDS and rising child mortality. UNICEF, in
concert with the rest of the UN family, is providing community support to counseling and psychosocial support for 100,000
orphaned children, and has provided assistance in achieving a national measles coverage of 95 per cent.
This progress has occurred thanks to critical and direct support from the UK's Department for International Development, the
European Commission, and the Norwegian, Dutch, Japanese and German Governments. Other actors are working hard across
Zimbabwe to address the needs of children.
But much more would be done with greater funding. Despite the current political climate, Zimbabwe is one of but a few
countries with a National Plan of Action for Orphans and Vulnerable Children (OVCs) adopted by government. This plan is
costed and includes a clear monitoring and evaluation plan. UNICEF is responsible for overall UN coordination of the OVC
response, and is supporting implementation across Zimbabwe. Zimbabwe is the only country in Africa which has instituted a
three percent tax levy to mobilize domestic resources for fighting HIV/AIDS.
"Some 110 Zimbabweans under the age of 15 will become infected with HIV/AIDS today," said Bellamy. "Another 110 will be
infected tomorrow, 110 more the day after that. Yet despite these horrendous numbers Zimbabweans have the determination and
the education to defeat HIV/AIDS and other causes of child mortality. But to do so they need international help."
For further information, please contact:
James Elder
UNICEF Zimbabwe
Tel: + (27) 828580856 (while in RSA 15-19March)
+ (263) 91276120 (all other times, in Zimbabwe)
jelderunicef
Sarah Crowe
UNICEF Africa News Desk
Tel: + (27) 83 402 9812
scroweunicef
Gordon Weiss
UNICEF HQ, New York
Tel: +1 212 326 7426
Recent broadcast quality footage and photographs from Zimbabwe are online at
unicef
For nearly 60 years UNICEF has been the world's leader for children, working on the ground in 158 countries to help children
survive and thrive, from early childhood through adolescence. The world's largest provider of vaccines for poor countries,
UNICEF supports child health and nutrition, quality basic education for all boys and girls, access to clean water and
sanitation, and the protection of children from violence, exploitation, and AIDS. UNICEF is funded entirely by the voluntary
contributions of governments, businesses, foundations and individuals.
unicef
Arizona Hispanic Group Reverses Decision To End HIV/AIDS Services Through Ryan White Program
Arizona-based Chicanos Por La Causa will continue offering HIV/AIDS services through the Ryan White Program, following a pledge by two state officials to help the group raise about $43,000 through private donors to maintain the services, the Arizona Republic reports. According to the Republic, Chicanos Por La Causa is one of "a handful of organizations that specialize in helping Latinos, especially immigrants and Spanish speakers, manage" HIV/AIDS (Wingett, Arizona Republic, 1/12). Hispanics represent 23% of Arizona's known HIV/AIDS cases.
The group received $284,992 in Ryan White funding this fiscal year, an increase over the $256,908 it had received in the previous fiscal year, the Republic reports. However, Edmundo Hidalgo, CEO of Chicanos Por La Causa, said the group stood to lose $45,000 if it continued its HIV/AIDS services through the end of the fiscal year. The group's caseload ranges from 50 to 100 clients, and it provides such HIV/AIDS services as case management and behavioral health and nutrition programs (Kaiser Health Disparities Report, 1/9).
Maricopa County Supervisor Mary Rose Wilcox and state Rep. Robert Meza (D) have pledged to help Chicanos Por La Causa raise funds to maintain its HIV/AIDS services. Hidalgo said, "It saves the program in the short term," adding, "We are collaborating with other providers to be able to save the program in [the] long term. It's unfortunate that this is the kind of crisis it takes to bring attention to it (HIV/AIDS)."
Wilcox added, "It would be really remiss not to have a culturally diverse program like CPLC doing this. The program is so fundamentally important to our community and the culturally diverse program they offer is necessary" (Arizona Republic, 1/12).
Reprinted with kind permission from kaisernetwork. You can view the entire Kaiser Daily Health Policy Report, search the archives, or sign up for email delivery at kaisernetwork/dailyreports/healthpolicy. The Kaiser Daily Health Policy Report is published for kaisernetwork, a free service of The Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation© 2005 Advisory Board Company and Kaiser Family Foundation. All rights reserved.
The group received $284,992 in Ryan White funding this fiscal year, an increase over the $256,908 it had received in the previous fiscal year, the Republic reports. However, Edmundo Hidalgo, CEO of Chicanos Por La Causa, said the group stood to lose $45,000 if it continued its HIV/AIDS services through the end of the fiscal year. The group's caseload ranges from 50 to 100 clients, and it provides such HIV/AIDS services as case management and behavioral health and nutrition programs (Kaiser Health Disparities Report, 1/9).
Maricopa County Supervisor Mary Rose Wilcox and state Rep. Robert Meza (D) have pledged to help Chicanos Por La Causa raise funds to maintain its HIV/AIDS services. Hidalgo said, "It saves the program in the short term," adding, "We are collaborating with other providers to be able to save the program in [the] long term. It's unfortunate that this is the kind of crisis it takes to bring attention to it (HIV/AIDS)."
Wilcox added, "It would be really remiss not to have a culturally diverse program like CPLC doing this. The program is so fundamentally important to our community and the culturally diverse program they offer is necessary" (Arizona Republic, 1/12).
Reprinted with kind permission from kaisernetwork. You can view the entire Kaiser Daily Health Policy Report, search the archives, or sign up for email delivery at kaisernetwork/dailyreports/healthpolicy. The Kaiser Daily Health Policy Report is published for kaisernetwork, a free service of The Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation© 2005 Advisory Board Company and Kaiser Family Foundation. All rights reserved.
China Should Provide Country's 140,000 AIDS Orphans With HIV/AIDS Information, Financial Assistance, UNICEF Says
There are an estimated 140,000 children in China who have lost one or both parents to AIDS-related illnesses, according to figures released Sunday by UNICEF China, the South China Morning Post reports. The organization also called on China to increase financial assistance provided to AIDS orphans in the country, according to the Morning Post. Ken Legins, chief of HIV/AIDS for UNICEF China, said the figures are unofficial and were gathered with the help of institutions in the country. Official figures provided by the Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention in 2005 showed that 76,000 children in China had lost at least one parent to AIDS-related illnesses and that the number was expected to rise to 260,000 by 2010. Zhang Lei, a consultant for UNICEF, said there are about 500,000 children in China who have been orphaned by the disease, are HIV-positive or are living in households with at least one HIV-positive parent.
Official government figures show that about 8,000 AIDS orphans in China receive some type of government assistance. Legins called on the government to provide information to children, such as educating them about HIV/AIDS and prevention methods. The agency also is encouraging communities to care for children affected by AIDS rather than placing them in orphanages. It is important to "go talk to the kids and try to figure out how you need to provide the services, skills and information to them," Legins said. He said one of the primary reasons communities refuse to care for children orphaned by AIDS is because "they don't have the correct information about how [HIV] is transmitted," adding, "You need to educate the community." According to Chung To -- founder of Hong Kong's Chi Heng Foundation, which has assisted children affected by HIV/AIDS in several mainland provinces -- the central Chinese government is "more supportive" of HIV/AIDS prevention efforts, but "local governments are not very consistent" (Savadove, South China Morning Post, 7/9).
"Reprinted with permission from kaisernetwork. You can view the entire Kaiser Daily Health Policy Report, search the archives, or sign up for email delivery at kaisernetwork/dailyreports/healthpolicy. The Kaiser Daily Health Policy Report is published for kaisernetwork, a free service of The Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation . © 2005 Advisory Board Company and Kaiser Family Foundation. All rights reserved.
Official government figures show that about 8,000 AIDS orphans in China receive some type of government assistance. Legins called on the government to provide information to children, such as educating them about HIV/AIDS and prevention methods. The agency also is encouraging communities to care for children affected by AIDS rather than placing them in orphanages. It is important to "go talk to the kids and try to figure out how you need to provide the services, skills and information to them," Legins said. He said one of the primary reasons communities refuse to care for children orphaned by AIDS is because "they don't have the correct information about how [HIV] is transmitted," adding, "You need to educate the community." According to Chung To -- founder of Hong Kong's Chi Heng Foundation, which has assisted children affected by HIV/AIDS in several mainland provinces -- the central Chinese government is "more supportive" of HIV/AIDS prevention efforts, but "local governments are not very consistent" (Savadove, South China Morning Post, 7/9).
"Reprinted with permission from kaisernetwork. You can view the entire Kaiser Daily Health Policy Report, search the archives, or sign up for email delivery at kaisernetwork/dailyreports/healthpolicy. The Kaiser Daily Health Policy Report is published for kaisernetwork, a free service of The Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation . © 2005 Advisory Board Company and Kaiser Family Foundation. All rights reserved.
UNICEF Concerned About Emotional Distress Of Children In Myanmar
UNICEF is setting up child-friendly spaces in camps giving shelter to people affected by Cyclone Nargis. These spaces offer care and protection for children and young people especially those who have lost or been separated from their families. Just in Laputta Township in the Irrawaddy Delta, UNICEF is currently trying to identify the parents of 24 children sheltering with people they do not know.
The child-friendly spaces can also serve as makeshift schools while UNICEF works towards getting children back to school in time for the opening of the school year on June 1. In addition, UNICEF has ordered large quantities of "schools-in-a-backpack", a more mobile version of the "school-in-a-box" kit used in emergency situations around the world.
"In any situation where you have children living under extremely stressful conditions, both physically and emotionally, it is important for their welfare that they are provided with a space where they feel safe and cared for - where they can begin to return a little bit to normal life" said Ramesh Shrestha, UNICEF Representative in Myanmar.
According to UNICEF, up to 90 per cent of the schools in the affected areas have been damaged to some degree. This adds up to some 3,000 primary schools and more than 500,000 pupils. UNICEF will set up safe learning spaces with tents and provide essential learning packages for the children who have no school to go to.
Since the cyclone hit on May 3, UNICEF has been distributing food, water, medicines and shelter equipment. In the wake of the disaster, lack of access to clean water and poor sanitation, inadequate shelter and poor nutrition pose particular threats to children. This leads to an increased risk of diarrhea which can be deadly to children living in precarious conditions such as these. Flooding can also be a source of mosquito breeding and can lead to outbreaks of malaria and dengue fever, which are endemic in Myanmar. UNICEF water and sanitation experts are also concerned that the breakdown in the power supplies and sanitation systems may lead to a high risk of infections and water-borne diseases such as cholera and dysentery.
UNICEF has 130 staff in country, 9 zonal offices and a headquarter office in Yangon.
About UNICEF
UNICEF is on the ground in over 150 countries and territories to help children survive and thrive, from early childhood through adolescence. The world's largest provider of vaccines for developing countries, UNICEF supports child health and nutrition, good water and sanitation, quality basic education for all boys and girls, and the protection of children from violence, exploitation, and AIDS. UNICEF is funded entirely by the voluntary contributions of individuals, businesses, foundations and governments.
unicef
The child-friendly spaces can also serve as makeshift schools while UNICEF works towards getting children back to school in time for the opening of the school year on June 1. In addition, UNICEF has ordered large quantities of "schools-in-a-backpack", a more mobile version of the "school-in-a-box" kit used in emergency situations around the world.
"In any situation where you have children living under extremely stressful conditions, both physically and emotionally, it is important for their welfare that they are provided with a space where they feel safe and cared for - where they can begin to return a little bit to normal life" said Ramesh Shrestha, UNICEF Representative in Myanmar.
According to UNICEF, up to 90 per cent of the schools in the affected areas have been damaged to some degree. This adds up to some 3,000 primary schools and more than 500,000 pupils. UNICEF will set up safe learning spaces with tents and provide essential learning packages for the children who have no school to go to.
Since the cyclone hit on May 3, UNICEF has been distributing food, water, medicines and shelter equipment. In the wake of the disaster, lack of access to clean water and poor sanitation, inadequate shelter and poor nutrition pose particular threats to children. This leads to an increased risk of diarrhea which can be deadly to children living in precarious conditions such as these. Flooding can also be a source of mosquito breeding and can lead to outbreaks of malaria and dengue fever, which are endemic in Myanmar. UNICEF water and sanitation experts are also concerned that the breakdown in the power supplies and sanitation systems may lead to a high risk of infections and water-borne diseases such as cholera and dysentery.
UNICEF has 130 staff in country, 9 zonal offices and a headquarter office in Yangon.
About UNICEF
UNICEF is on the ground in over 150 countries and territories to help children survive and thrive, from early childhood through adolescence. The world's largest provider of vaccines for developing countries, UNICEF supports child health and nutrition, good water and sanitation, quality basic education for all boys and girls, and the protection of children from violence, exploitation, and AIDS. UNICEF is funded entirely by the voluntary contributions of individuals, businesses, foundations and governments.
unicef
Funding Shortage Edges Millions Of Southern Africans Into Food Crisis
The United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) has warned that a massive funding shortfall is forcing food aid cuts to as many as 4.3 million people across southern Africa who remain chronically vulnerable despite this year's reportedly good harvests across the region.
The US$60 million funding shortfall comes just as the annual "lean season" approaches, when people have to wait until next March or April for the harvest. Due to a lack of donor support, since September WFP offices across the region have begun to reduce the level of food assistance provided to mother and child nutrition centres, school-feeding projects and patients receiving medication for HIV/AIDS or tuberculosis. Countries like Malawi, Namibia and Swaziland are facing severe cuts of between 80 and 100 percent.
"After the good harvests were reported, WFP scaled down general food assistance to concentrate on the people with the most chronic needs - such as those with HIV/AIDS," said Amir Abdulla, WFP's Regional Director for southern Africa. "Here, where HIV prevalence rates are the highest in the world, people are dying of AIDS-related illness when they could have survived for years if they had had enough food to eat. Anti-retroviral therapy is not effective on an empty stomach."
"HIV-positive people in poor communities have little or no food at home, because they cannot grow it or pay for it. If we can help them now, we can avoid a longer drawn-out crisis down the road," Abdulla said. "Food aid gives them a chance not only to live longer, but also to work and raise their families."
In addition to HIV/AIDS, the region suffers from grinding poverty and other diseases like malaria, tuberculosis and pellagra. Despite some abundant rains this year, millions of people were too poor to buy seeds and fertilisers to grow food or buy grains once they were harvested. Some areas still had insufficient rain or even floods that washed out crops.
In Zimbabwe alone, a May 2006 vulnerability assessment identified 1.4 million people as being in critical need of food assistance. Yet in October, WFP was forced to scale down operations in the country to roughly half of the 900,000 people it was originally targeting. Funding shortages forced cuts in the urban feeding and school-feeding programmes, and a suspension of mobile feeding in rural areas.
"Further reductions may have to be imposed unless resourcing improves," Abdulla said. According to revised figures, WFP needs at least US$17 million just to get Zimbabwe through the lean season, when it expects to target some 1.9 million people.
Zimbabwe is one of seven countries under a regional WFP operation, which began in January 2005 and is scheduled to continue through December 2007. The other countries under the operation - and facing similar shortfalls - are Lesotho, Malawi, Mozambique, Namibia, Swaziland and Zambia.
"While the hungry elsewhere on the continent attract world attention, southern Africa's food problems are equally tragic," said Abdulla. "Hungry people are less able to cope; they succumb more quickly to chronic disease. Young children who are poorly nourished are more likely to die before reaching their teens," he said.
"With food assistance, people get the survival cushion they need while they finish schooling, learn new job skills, or switch to more hardy crops. It must remain a vital element of the region's development," Abdulla said.
Funding shortfalls for WFP to meet 'lean season' food assistance needs through March 2007
CountryPeopleNeeds(US$ millions)Shortfalls (US$ millions)
Lesotho150,000US$4US$2 (50%)
Malawi904,000US$22US$19 (86%)
Mozambique461,000US$13US$10 (77%)
Namibia100,000US$5US$4 (80%)
Swaziland200,000US$6US$5 (83%)
Zambia620,000US$11US$3 (27%)
Zimbabwe1.9millionUS$57US$17 (30%)
Total4.3millionUS$118US$60 (51%)
Contributions to WFP in southern Africa for 2006 (against a total appeal of US$644 million for the three-year operation) include: USA, US$155 million; The European Commission, US$84 million; UK, US$27million; Malawi, US$20 million; The Netherlands, US$19 million; Japan, US$17 million; Canada, US$17 million; Algeria, US$8 million; Australia, US $8 million; Ireland, US $6 million; and South Africa, US $5 million.
WFP is the world's largest humanitarian agency: each year, we give food to an average of 90 million poor people to meet their nutritional needs, including 58 million hungry children, in at least 80 of the world's poorest countries.
WFP Global School Feeding Campaign - For just 19 US cents a day, you can help WFP give children in poor countries a healthy meal at school - a gift of hope for a brighter future.
For further information please go to:
World Food Program WFP - We Feed People
The US$60 million funding shortfall comes just as the annual "lean season" approaches, when people have to wait until next March or April for the harvest. Due to a lack of donor support, since September WFP offices across the region have begun to reduce the level of food assistance provided to mother and child nutrition centres, school-feeding projects and patients receiving medication for HIV/AIDS or tuberculosis. Countries like Malawi, Namibia and Swaziland are facing severe cuts of between 80 and 100 percent.
"After the good harvests were reported, WFP scaled down general food assistance to concentrate on the people with the most chronic needs - such as those with HIV/AIDS," said Amir Abdulla, WFP's Regional Director for southern Africa. "Here, where HIV prevalence rates are the highest in the world, people are dying of AIDS-related illness when they could have survived for years if they had had enough food to eat. Anti-retroviral therapy is not effective on an empty stomach."
"HIV-positive people in poor communities have little or no food at home, because they cannot grow it or pay for it. If we can help them now, we can avoid a longer drawn-out crisis down the road," Abdulla said. "Food aid gives them a chance not only to live longer, but also to work and raise their families."
In addition to HIV/AIDS, the region suffers from grinding poverty and other diseases like malaria, tuberculosis and pellagra. Despite some abundant rains this year, millions of people were too poor to buy seeds and fertilisers to grow food or buy grains once they were harvested. Some areas still had insufficient rain or even floods that washed out crops.
In Zimbabwe alone, a May 2006 vulnerability assessment identified 1.4 million people as being in critical need of food assistance. Yet in October, WFP was forced to scale down operations in the country to roughly half of the 900,000 people it was originally targeting. Funding shortages forced cuts in the urban feeding and school-feeding programmes, and a suspension of mobile feeding in rural areas.
"Further reductions may have to be imposed unless resourcing improves," Abdulla said. According to revised figures, WFP needs at least US$17 million just to get Zimbabwe through the lean season, when it expects to target some 1.9 million people.
Zimbabwe is one of seven countries under a regional WFP operation, which began in January 2005 and is scheduled to continue through December 2007. The other countries under the operation - and facing similar shortfalls - are Lesotho, Malawi, Mozambique, Namibia, Swaziland and Zambia.
"While the hungry elsewhere on the continent attract world attention, southern Africa's food problems are equally tragic," said Abdulla. "Hungry people are less able to cope; they succumb more quickly to chronic disease. Young children who are poorly nourished are more likely to die before reaching their teens," he said.
"With food assistance, people get the survival cushion they need while they finish schooling, learn new job skills, or switch to more hardy crops. It must remain a vital element of the region's development," Abdulla said.
Funding shortfalls for WFP to meet 'lean season' food assistance needs through March 2007
CountryPeopleNeeds(US$ millions)Shortfalls (US$ millions)
Lesotho150,000US$4US$2 (50%)
Malawi904,000US$22US$19 (86%)
Mozambique461,000US$13US$10 (77%)
Namibia100,000US$5US$4 (80%)
Swaziland200,000US$6US$5 (83%)
Zambia620,000US$11US$3 (27%)
Zimbabwe1.9millionUS$57US$17 (30%)
Total4.3millionUS$118US$60 (51%)
Contributions to WFP in southern Africa for 2006 (against a total appeal of US$644 million for the three-year operation) include: USA, US$155 million; The European Commission, US$84 million; UK, US$27million; Malawi, US$20 million; The Netherlands, US$19 million; Japan, US$17 million; Canada, US$17 million; Algeria, US$8 million; Australia, US $8 million; Ireland, US $6 million; and South Africa, US $5 million.
WFP is the world's largest humanitarian agency: each year, we give food to an average of 90 million poor people to meet their nutritional needs, including 58 million hungry children, in at least 80 of the world's poorest countries.
WFP Global School Feeding Campaign - For just 19 US cents a day, you can help WFP give children in poor countries a healthy meal at school - a gift of hope for a brighter future.
For further information please go to:
World Food Program WFP - We Feed People
Clemson Faculty Explore How To Convert Shipping Containers Into Emergency Housing
Resources to solve the housing crisis in Haiti may already be on hand.
Some Clemson University researchers have been experimenting with ways to convert shipping containers into emergency housing in the hurricane-prone Caribbean, where a surplus of the sturdy boxes often sits in port yards.
Pernille Christensen, a research associate in the Richard H. Pennell Center for Real Estate and Ph.D. student in planning, design and the built environment; associate professor Doug Hecker; and assistant professor Martha Skinner of Clemson's School of Architecture, collaborated on the SEED Project, working to develop a method to convert the shipping containers into homes.
The original idea was inspired by housing crises that have followed large hurricanes in the Caribbean and United States. However, Hecker said shipping containers would meet those needs in an earthquake zone, too.
"Because of the shipping container's 'unibody' construction they are also very good in seismic zones and exceed structural code in the United States and any country in the world," Hecker said. "They have also been used in other countries as emergency shelters in the case of earthquakes. As the SEED Project develops this will certainly be an area that we incorporate. With a few simple cuts at the port, a storage container can be turned into something that is livable and opens to the site."
Faculty and students sought a way to put displaced people in emergency housing that could be sturdy and safe on a permanent site. Putting families back on their own land quickly is key to the idea. Families displaced by disaster often do not return to their permanent homes for years, if ever, but the Clemson researchers are looking for strategies to implement the SEED Project as quickly as possible, ideally having a modified container on site within three weeks.
"You get people back in their communities and it strengthens those communities," Christensen said. "They work on their home, not a temporary shelter, and then they work with their neighbors to rebuild the neighborhood. It leads to a healthier and safer community. And these are places often in dire need of better housing."
Many Caribbean countries import more containers than they export, which leads to the surplus of containers in those nations.
"The project has a double mission: to address the local need of providing adequate housing for people in need while solving a global problem of recycling - giving purpose to empty containers that would otherwise be discarded," Skinner said.
As part of this research, the group is studying the cycles of natural disasters by looking at the larger picture through mapping and logistics to understand how containers move, available surpluses and ultimately coordinating the cycles of natural disasters with the ebb and flow of container supplies worldwide.
The SEED Project also includes plans for using another surplus item, 55-gallon steel drums, as a way to create a starter garden - from seed - on the roof of the container homes as a way to get food crops started when the ground may be contaminated by stormwater. Water also would be filtered through the drums before being used in a water pod comprised of shower, sink and composting toilet.
A prototype emergency container home is under way on the Clemson campus, and the project has been awarded an Environmental Protection Agency P3 (People, Prosperity and the Planet) grant to make the container part of the 2010 National Sustainable Design Expo on the National Mall in Washington, D.C., in April. The research team plans to build a prototype in the Caribbean in the next year.
The research was partially funded by Container-It of Atlanta, Sargent Metals of Anderson and the Intermodal Steel Building Units Association. Clemson also is collaborating with Tri County Technical College's department of welding.
Source: Ross Norton
Clemson University
Some Clemson University researchers have been experimenting with ways to convert shipping containers into emergency housing in the hurricane-prone Caribbean, where a surplus of the sturdy boxes often sits in port yards.
Pernille Christensen, a research associate in the Richard H. Pennell Center for Real Estate and Ph.D. student in planning, design and the built environment; associate professor Doug Hecker; and assistant professor Martha Skinner of Clemson's School of Architecture, collaborated on the SEED Project, working to develop a method to convert the shipping containers into homes.
The original idea was inspired by housing crises that have followed large hurricanes in the Caribbean and United States. However, Hecker said shipping containers would meet those needs in an earthquake zone, too.
"Because of the shipping container's 'unibody' construction they are also very good in seismic zones and exceed structural code in the United States and any country in the world," Hecker said. "They have also been used in other countries as emergency shelters in the case of earthquakes. As the SEED Project develops this will certainly be an area that we incorporate. With a few simple cuts at the port, a storage container can be turned into something that is livable and opens to the site."
Faculty and students sought a way to put displaced people in emergency housing that could be sturdy and safe on a permanent site. Putting families back on their own land quickly is key to the idea. Families displaced by disaster often do not return to their permanent homes for years, if ever, but the Clemson researchers are looking for strategies to implement the SEED Project as quickly as possible, ideally having a modified container on site within three weeks.
"You get people back in their communities and it strengthens those communities," Christensen said. "They work on their home, not a temporary shelter, and then they work with their neighbors to rebuild the neighborhood. It leads to a healthier and safer community. And these are places often in dire need of better housing."
Many Caribbean countries import more containers than they export, which leads to the surplus of containers in those nations.
"The project has a double mission: to address the local need of providing adequate housing for people in need while solving a global problem of recycling - giving purpose to empty containers that would otherwise be discarded," Skinner said.
As part of this research, the group is studying the cycles of natural disasters by looking at the larger picture through mapping and logistics to understand how containers move, available surpluses and ultimately coordinating the cycles of natural disasters with the ebb and flow of container supplies worldwide.
The SEED Project also includes plans for using another surplus item, 55-gallon steel drums, as a way to create a starter garden - from seed - on the roof of the container homes as a way to get food crops started when the ground may be contaminated by stormwater. Water also would be filtered through the drums before being used in a water pod comprised of shower, sink and composting toilet.
A prototype emergency container home is under way on the Clemson campus, and the project has been awarded an Environmental Protection Agency P3 (People, Prosperity and the Planet) grant to make the container part of the 2010 National Sustainable Design Expo on the National Mall in Washington, D.C., in April. The research team plans to build a prototype in the Caribbean in the next year.
The research was partially funded by Container-It of Atlanta, Sargent Metals of Anderson and the Intermodal Steel Building Units Association. Clemson also is collaborating with Tri County Technical College's department of welding.
Source: Ross Norton
Clemson University
U.S., Britain To Present Debt Relief Plan to G7 Finance Ministers
The United States and Britain this week reached an agreement on a plan to cancel the debt of the world's poorest nations and are expected to present their proposal to finance ministers from the Group of Seven industrialized nations on Friday during a meeting in London, the... New York Times reports. According to an unnamed U.S. official, U.S. Treasury Secretary John Snow and U.K. Chancellor of the Exchequer Gordon Brown will present the proposal to the finance ministers from Britain, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan and the United States. The proposal would cancel an estimated $16.7 billion in debt owed by 18 countries, most in Africa, to international lenders such as the World Bank, International Monetary Fund and African Development Bank. The deal also would allow the countries to use an estimated $1 billion in annual interest payments for economic development and health, education and social programs. The debt cancellation proposal likely will be "the only big issue" leaders of the Group of Eight industrialized nations -- which includes the G7 countries and Russia -- discuss at their summit next month in Gleneagles, Scotland, according to the Times.
Plan Details
The heavily indebted countries eligible under the proposal are Benin, Bolivia, Burkina Faso, Ethiopia, Ghana, Guyana, Honduras, Madagascar, Mali, Mauritania, Mozambique, Nicaragua, Niger, Rwanda, Senegal, Tanzania, Uganda and Zambia. The program eventually could be expanded to include at least nine other countries. All countries eligible for debt cancellation would have to demonstrate that they have taken steps to improve governance, reduce corruption and pursue what lenders define as sound economic policies (Becker/Stevenson, New York Times, 6/10). Officials said that further cancellation is possible as developing countries make further economic and social reforms (Hitt, Wall Street Journal, 6/10).
Reaction, Annan Comments
Advocacy groups that have been working for debt relief welcomed the announcement, the Times reports (New York Times, 6/10). However, some groups said that at least 62 countries, including large debtors such as Nigeria and Indonesia, should be included in the program (BBC News, 6/10). They said that these 62 countries require full debt cancellation in order to meet the U.N. Millennium Development Goals (Johnson, AP/Hartford Courant, 6/10). U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan during a news conference on Thursday urged all wealthy nations to increase aid, improve trade and provide debt relief to the world's poor countries. He called this year a "make-or-break moment" for developing countries, adding that the next three months offer three "critical opportunities" for wealthy nations to demonstrate their commitment to MDGs. During the U.N. General Assembly meeting later this month, the G8 summit in July and the U.N. summit in September, it is critical that world leaders take steps to reach MDG targets, Annan said (AP/Yahoo! News, 6/10). He also praised the European Union for its pledge to nearly double development aid in five years, adding, "I look to all donors to follow their example."
Wealthy Nations Should Increase Aid to Sub-Saharan Africa, Reports Say
The United Nations this week released two reports detailing conditions in sub-Saharan Africa and calling for increased aid and debt relief measures for the continent. The U.N. Millennium Project released a report showing that almost half of all deaths among children under age five occur in sub-Saharan Africa. The report also says that half of the 11 million annual childhood deaths are from five diseases -- pneumonia, diarrhea, malaria, measles and HIV/AIDS. The second report, released by the U.N. Development Programme, provides a statistical analysis estimating that 28 million African children will die over the next decade if the continent continues on its current development path. The upcoming G8 summit "provides a critical opportunity to prevent the potential human development costs identified in this report from becoming actual costs," the report says, adding that an estimated 5.1 million African children will die in 2015 (Dugger, New York Times, 6/10).
"Reprinted with permission from kaisernetwork kaisernetwork. You can view the entire Kaiser Daily HIV/AIDS Report, search the archives, or sign up for email delivery at kaisernetwork/dailyreports/hiv.. The Kaiser Daily HIV/AIDS Report is published for kaisernetwork, a free service of The Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation . © 2005 Advisory Board Company and Kaiser Family Foundation. All rights reserved.
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