Society must come to a conclusion on how important human suffering is

Society must come to a conclusion on how important human suffering is

Very interesting thoughts on the goals of Western medicine. Should medicine be about alleviating suffering? Totally eradicating disease through industrializing medicine (thing drug companies)? If global health is indeed largely affected by socioeconomic factors, should medicine drive policies?

Click here to read the article

PBS NewsHour’s Global Health Watch : Diseases, Conditions, Medical Advances and Related Policies

PBS NewsHour’s Global Health Watch features news and on-the-ground reports exploring the diseases, conditions, medical advances and policies affecting the health of people around the world.

Earthquake victims gather at the evacuation center in Kamaish
(Kamaishi.Perawongmetha/Getty Images)

BLOG  MARCH 24, 2011 Slideshow: TB a Silent KillerJust 22 countries contribute 80 percent of the global burden of tuberculosis.

A sampling from the March 25 2011 contents.
Each section includes Browse, Subscription, and Related Information options.

• Global Health
  • Recent Global Health Trips – Guatamala includes videos, a blog, and news updates
  • Blogs and reports on emerging news from Tokyo, Bangladesh, and Haiti
• The World’s Most Destructive Diseases
  • Information on the top 5 non-communicable diseases and also top 5 infectious diseases
  • Each disease or condition has information in these areas: global impact, causes, symptoms, prevention, and treatment
• From the Field (Archive) has links to current and past postings. There is a drop down menu organized by country.
• The For Teachers link  has the heading For Teachers and Students. It includes lesson plans.

Related Articles

• Japan Crisis: What’s next for nuclear energy in the U.S.? (boingboing.net)
• PBS Newshour: Wind Turbines and Health (windconcernsontario.wordpress.com)

Child Trends – Research and Resources

Child Trends

From a Scout Report summary by KMG

 

Child Trends is a non-profit, non-partisan research center, and is the “nation’s only independent research and policy center focused exclusively on improving outcomes for children.”

Research  topics include “Child Poverty,” “Fatherhood & Parenting,” “Youth Development,” and “Health.” In each section, the research focus on that topic is explained in a brief introduction, followed by resources that include research briefs, executive summaries and full reports, fact sheets, and a publications archive of materials over three years old.

A feature that visitors shouldn’t miss is “What Works/LINKS,” which can be accessed via the left side menu. The data in this section is about “programs that work -or don’t- to enhance children’s development”. There are effectiveness charts, “Lifecourse Interventions that Work,” and a continually updated database on programs that work (or don’t).

Visitors who are “Program Providers” in policy, education, or the media will find the “Information for…” heading on the left side of the homepage useful for fulfilling their specific needs.

From Biology to Community Library: The Settings for Health

This item helps explain why a healthy and prosperous community/society needs a firm foundation on healthy child development. This firm foundation has many genetic and environmental components.

From  a  February 2, 2011 Redefine.Rebuild.Reconnect. Changing our Picture of Health posting
From biology to a community library: the settings for health, Michelle Helliwell, Librarian

From [Harvard University] Center on the Developing Child (with links to their 24 videos)

(This blog item/Web page includes a great 7 minute video ,Foundations of Living Health, which outlines how various genetic and environmental factors affect the wellness of both individuals and the society at large)

When we talk about health and healthy living, there seems to be, at times, a division within healthcare (and outside of it) about what are the factors that contribute to your health and wellbeing. Good genes? How well you eat? Whether have a safe neighbourhood to play in? If you take a look at our page on health determinants, you’ll see that all of these, and others, have a role.

Fellow triPop member Sarah Hergett shared  the video …[ (at http://www.changingourpictureofhealth.ca/?p=225) ] … with our group the other day, and it’s worth passing on. It’s a presentation from the Center on the Developing Child at Harvard University. In this seven minute presentation, you’ll find how researches from the fields of neuroscience, biology, and public health present the tangible links between what goes on inside our bodies to how that’s impacted on our health throughout our lives. As a librarian – and an advocate for literacy and health literacy – I was particularly thrilled to see libraries on the list of important resources that contribute to our health. So…support your local library! Support your community. It’s good for your health:).

This quoted blog item/Web page includes a great 7 minute video, Foundations of Living Health, which outlines how various genetic and environmental factors affect the wellness of both individuals and the society at large.

This video summarizes findings from The Foundations of Lifelong Health Are Built in Early Childhood, a report co-authored by the National Scientific Council on the Developing Child and the National Forum on Early Childhood Policy and Programs.

The seemingly disparate health/well being factors include undue emotional stress, consumer products readily available (as liquor, fresh produce), healthy social relationships, parenting, individual genetic make-up, physical environments (think lead, tobacco products), schooling, libraries, government agency policies (as WIC), and employee policies affecting parents and others close to the child.

Analysis of Opinion Polls Show Americans’ Conflicting Views about the Public Health System

From the article summary at the Robert Woods Johnson Foundation

By: Blendon RJ, Benson JM, SteelFisher GK and Connolly JM
In: Health Affairs, 29(11), pp.2033-2040 [click here for the full text of the article]
Publisher: Project HOPE-The People-To-People Health Foundation, Inc.
Published: November 2010

This analysis of national opinion polls shows that a majority of Americans support increased spending on public health in general and that they see public health interventions as saving money in the long term. At the same time, many do not favor increased federal spending in a number of areas that public health officials deem important. In addition, polls show striking partisan differences, with Republicans much less supportive than Democrats of additional spending on public health. This split may have political implications for the public health component of the new health reform law if there is a change in party control of one or more houses of Congress after the November 2010 elections. As a result, in order to sustain public support for increased spending, it will be critically important to give examples of cost savings from public health programs and to highlight how they have reduced mortality from major chronic illnesses, such as cancer, heart disease, and HIV/AIDS.