Childhood mortality: still a global priority

Mortality of children under-5 continues to be a global priority. In 2012, 6.6 million children under-5 died worldwide; more than half of these deaths are due to diseases that are preventable and treatable through simple, affordable interventions. In response to the United Nations’ Millennium Development Goal (MDGs) which called, through MDG4,to “reduceby two thirds the under-5 child mortality, between 1990 and 2015”, global organizations and many countries set targets and developed specific strategies to reduce child mortality and monitor progress.As a result, the number of deaths in children under-5 worldwide declined from 12.4 million in 1990 to 6.6 in 2012. Under-5 child mortality dropped in all regions of the world. However, two major challenges face the international community: The wide disparity in the risk of child death among countries, and the emerging role of neonatal death as a major component of child mortality. In order to continue the progress in reducing under-5 child mortality worldwide, current efforts must continue and new strategies need to be implemented to focus on preventing neonatal deaths as they start to represent a larger proportion of under-5 child deaths. In particular, further reduction in neonatal mortality will depend heavily on improving maternal health (MDG5).The world leaders continue to support the MDGs. In 2010, in a major push to accelerate progress on women’s and children’s health, a number of Heads of State and Government from developed and developing countries, along with the private sector, foundations, international organizations, civil society and research organizations, pledged over $40 billion in resources over the next five years

Parents' death and its implications for child survival

Reduction of child mortality is a global public health priority. Parents can play an important role in reducing child mortality. The inability of one or both parents to care for their children due to death, illness, divorce or separation increases the risk of death of their children. There is increasing evidence that the health, education, and  socioeconomic status of mothers and fathers have significant impact on the health and survival of their children. We conducted a literature review to explore the impact of the death of parents on the survival and wellbeing of their children and the mechanisms through which this impact is mediated. Studies have generally concluded that the death of a mother significantly increased the risk of death of her children, especially during the early years; the effect continues but is significantly reduced with increasing age through the age of 15 years. The effect of the loss of a father had less impact than the effect of losing a mother although it too had negative consequences for the survival prospect of the child. A mother’s health, education, socioeconomic status, fertility behavior, environmental health conditions, nutritional status and infant feeding, and the use of health services all play an important role in the level of risk of death of her children. Efforts to achieve the Millennium Development Goal No. 4 of reducing children’s under-5 mortality in developing countries by two thirds by 2015 should include promoting the health and education of women. Reduction of child mortality is a global public health priority. Parents can play an important role in reducing child mortality. The inability of one or both parents to care for their children due to death, illness, divorce or separation increases the risk of death of their children. There is increasing evidence that the health, education, and socioeconomic status of mothers and fathers have significant impact on the health and survival of their children.We conducted a literature review to explore the impact of the death of parents on the survival and wellbeing of their childrenand the mechanisms through which this impact is mediated. Studies have generally concluded that the death of a mother significantly increased the risk of death of her children, especially during the early years; the effect continues but is significantly reduced with increasing age through the age of 15 years. The effect of the loss of a father had less impact than the effect of losing a mother although it too had negative consequences for the survival prospect of the child. A mother's health, education, socioeconomic status, fertility behavior, environmental health conditions, nutritional status and infant feeding, and the use of health services all play an important role in the level of risk of death of her children. Efforts to achieve the Millennium Development Goal No. 4 of reducing children's under-5 mortality in developing countries by two thirds by 2015 should include promoting the health and education of women

Desigualdades na saúde: desafios, oportunidades e o que você pode fazer sobre isso: English

Racial disparities in health outcomes, access to health care, insurance coverage, and quality of care in the United States have existed for many years. The Development and implementation of effective strategies to reduce or eliminate health disparities are hindered by our inability to accurately assess the extent and types of health disparities due to the limited availability of race/ethnicity-specific information, the limited reliability of existing data and information, and the increasing diversity of the American population. Variations in racial and ethnic classification used to collect data hinders the ability to obtain reliable and accurate health-indicator rates and in some instances cause bias in estimating the race/ethnicity-specific health measures. In 1978, The Office of Management and Budget (OMB) issued "Directive 15" titled "Race and Ethnic Standards for Federal Statistics and Administrative Reporting" and provided a set of clear guidelines for classifying people by race and ethnicity. Access to health care, behavioral and psychosocial factors as well as cultural differences contribute to the racial and ethnic variations that exist in a person’s health. To help eliminate health disparities, we must ensure equal access to health care services as well as quality of care. Health care providers must become culturally competent and understand the differences that exist among the people they serve in order to eliminate disparities. Enhancement of data collection systems is essential for developing and implementing interventions targeted to deal with population-specific problems. Developing comprehensive and multi-level programs to eliminate healthcare disparities requires coordination and collaboration between the public (Local, state and federal health departments), private (Health Insurance companies, private health care providers), and professional (Physicians, nurses, pharmacists, laboratories, etc) sectors.  Disparidades raciais nos resultados de saúde, acesso a cuidados de saúde, cobertura de seguro e qualidade de atendimento nos Estados Unidos existem há muitos anos. O desenvolvimento e a implementação de estratégias efetivas para reduzir ou eliminar as disparidades de saúde são dificultadas pela nossa incapacidade de avaliar com precisão a extensão e os tipos de disparidades de saúde devido à disponibilidade limitada de informações específicas de raça / etnia, confiabilidade limitada dos dados e informações existentes. e a crescente diversidade da população americana. Variações na classificação racial e étnica usadas para coletar dados dificultam a obtenção de índices confiáveis e precisos de indicadores de saúde e, em alguns casos, causam viés na estimativa de medidas de saúde específicas de raça / etnia. Em 1978, o Escritório de Administração e Orçamento (OMB) publicou a "Diretriz 15" intitulada "Normas Raciais e Étnicas para Estatísticas Federais e Relatórios Administrativos" e forneceu um conjunto de diretrizes claras para classificar as pessoas por raça e etnia. O acesso a cuidados de saúde, factores comportamentais e psicossociais, bem como diferenças culturais, contribuem para as variações raciais e étnicas que existem na saúde de uma pessoa. Para ajudar a eliminar as disparidades de saúde, devemos garantir a igualdade de acesso aos serviços de saúde, bem como a qualidade do atendimento. Os prestadores de cuidados de saúde devem tornar-se culturalmente competentes e compreender as diferenças existentes entre as pessoas que servem para eliminar as disparidades. O aprimoramento dos sistemas de coleta de dados é essencial para desenvolver e implementar intervenções direcionadas para lidar com problemas específicos da população. O desenvolvimento de programas abrangentes e multiníveis para eliminar as disparidades na atenção à saúde exige coordenação e colaboração entre os setores público, privado e profissional (departamentos de saúde locais, estaduais e federais), privados (empresas de seguro-saúde, provedores privados de saúde) e profissionais (médicos e enfermeiros), farmacêuticos, laboratórios, etc)

Scenes of a fight

Panel: Note to Self: Why I Write What I Write (2

Analysis And Design Of A Modular Solar-fed Fault-tolerant Power System With Maximum Power Point Tracking

Solar power is becoming ever more popular in a variety of applications. It is particularly attractive because of its abundance, renewability, and environment friendliness. Solar powered spacecraft systems have ever-expanding loads with stringent power regulation specifications. Moreover, they require a light and compact design of their power system. These constraints make the optimization of power harvest from solar arrays a critical task. Florida Power Electronics Center (FPEC) at UCF set to develop a modular fault-tolerant power system architecture for space applications. This architecture provides a number of very attractive features including Maximum Power Point Tracking (MPPT) and uniform power stress distribution across the system. MPPT is a control technique that leads the system to operate its solar sources at the point where they provide maximum power. This point constantly moves following changes in ambient operating conditions. A digital controller is setup to locate it in real time while optimizing other operating parameters. This control scheme can increase the energy yield of the system by up to 45%, and thus significantly reduces the size and weight of the designed system. The modularity of the system makes it easy to prototype and expand. It boosts its reliability and allows on-line reconfiguration and maintenance, thus reducing down-time upon faults. This thesis targets the analysis and optimization of this architecture. A new modeling technique is introduced for MPPT in practical environments, and a novel digital power stress distribution scheme is proposed in order to properly distribute peak and thermal stress and improve reliability. A 2kW four-channel prototype of the system was built and tested. Experimental results confirm the theoretical improvements, and promise great success in the field

Libya and regional security

In theory and practice, there is a consensus that the question of regional security is becoming of great importance. This largely due to the fact that the level of international security is interlocked and heavily pending on the extent of micro-security: i.e. regional, subregional, national, local and personal. Accordingly, we will examine how Libya deals with the security issue within its regional settings. Initially, this requires throwing light on the underlying factors that heavily determine the preference and priority of which regional security arrangement to adhere. In the Libya case, there are a number of alternatives. This include: the Arab world, the Middle East, North Africa, the Arab Maghreb and the Mediterranean Region.Mesa Seguridad Internacional: La seguridad regional: estructura y coyunturaInstituto de Relaciones Internacionale

Preconception care: developing and implementing regional and national programs

Introduction: During the past few decades, health workers have come to agree that there is a very important place for preconception care (PCC) in improving maternal and infant pregnancy outcomes. The United States Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and the World Health Organization issued recommendations encouraging countries to develop and implement preconception care programs. The reports include an in-depth discussion of the rationale and scientific evidence behind PCC as well as definitions, goals, components and recommended interventions to be included in PCC. These reports also offer very broad guidelines but do not offer details on how to develop and implement preconception care programs. Objective: The CDC and WHO reports identify the need for multisectoral engagement in developing and implementing preconception care programs and propose some activities and strategies to be considered in developing PCC programs. However, the recommendations fall short of specifying real steps that countries and regions should take in implementing PCC programs. In this publication we propose action steps for developing and implementing regional or national preconception care programs. Methods: We reviewed the published and unpublished literature (using PubMed and the Internet) to identify reports that describe processes for developing and implementing PCC programs. We used information from the literature along with experiences we gained through our work and interaction with States and developing countries to prepare a detailed description of the steps involved in developing and implementing a PCC program. Results: We found very little in terms of “tools” for program managers and providers to use when developing and implementing PCC programs. We prepared a guide, including a summary of steps and a proposed timeline, for program directors to use for developing and implementing PCC programs. Conclusion: Developing and implementing a sustainable PCC program should address issues related to educating the public, providers and policy makers about the benefits of PCC. It also includes establishing an infrastructure within the departments of health and ensuring resources to build, guide, monitor and evaluate the PCC program. Finally, implementation of a successful program depends heavily on the proper training of public health and clinical care providers in the delivery of the services included in the program

Preconception Care to Improve Pregnancy Outcomes: The Science

Introduction: In the last decades, improvements in the care of pregnancy and child development have been observed worldwide. However, pregnancy problems remain high in most countries. There was a concentration of care in the prenatal period as the primary approach for improving pregnancy results. Currently, attention to the care of pregnant women, women who have recently given birth, and newborns are focused on the care of preconception to improve the results of pregnancy and improve the outcomes of child growth and development. Objective: Describe the evidence for preconception care (PCC) and information to the health care provider, as well as describe instruments to present health care providers with PCC, its definition, its components, recommended interventions, and the scientific basis for recommendations. Methods: There was a search for published and unpublished literature related to scientific evidence for the effectiveness of PCC in improving pregnancy results. The search was carried out based on Pubmed and using data scraping techniques, in the material available on the internet and disseminated by international organizations, such as the World Health Organization and reports by government agencies. Results: It is reported that the literature on the scientific basis for PCC is fragmented, and most publications discuss evidence of one or a few interventions, with the majority of reports considering PCC for specific populations, such as women with chronic health problems and couples with infertility. However, these publications do not offer a realistic view of the proposed PCC interventions, with the scientific evidence that supports them. The general aspects of the existing literature and the recommended preconceived care interventions are described, together with the quality of the scientific evidence and the strength of the recommendations behind each of these interventions. Conclusion: Many clinical interventions have been identified that could be offered to women before conception to help avoid adverse outcomes. Most of these interventions have scientific evidence to support their role in improving pregnancy outcomes. Therefore, it is recommended that clinical care providers incorporate evidence-based prejudice services in their daily care of women of reproductive age, in an effort to improve women’s health before and during pregnancy, as well as improve pregnancy outcomes for women and their children.Não se aplic

Rethinking Frantz Fanon's "On national culture" within the context of Native American and Palestinian literature

Thesis (M.A.)--University of Oklahoma, 2003.Includes bibliographical references (leaves 90-94)

Preconception care to improve pregnancy outcomes: clinical practice guidelines

Introduction: There is scientific evidence that the health of women before pregnancy contributes to the maternal and infant outcomes of pregnancy. There is also scientific evidence that the health of women of reproductive age may be improved through the provision of Preconception Care (PCC). Preconception care includes interventions to assess, identify, address, and modify a woman’s health conditions and risks to ensure that these health conditions and risks do not negatively affect the outcome of her pregnancy. Many of the medical conditions, environmental exposures, personal behaviors, and psychosocial risks associated with negative pregnancy outcomes have been identified and there are recommendations for including these conditions in PCC services. Objective: Our purpose is to present a tool for clinical care providers involved in delivering PCC services. We try to answer the following questions: what do providers actually do when a woman of reproductive age arrives at their offices? What questions to ask? What examinations to conduct? What laboratory tests to perform? And, what education and counselling to offer? Methods: We reviewed published and un-published literature related to the scientific evidence for the effectiveness of PCC in improving pregnancy outcomes. We searched PubMed for published articles, and we searched the internet for unpublished reports prepared by international organizations such as the World Health Organization and reports from governmental agencies. We summarized the information and presented a comprehensive overview of actions that providers should take to address various risk behaviors, exposures and health conditions. Results: Several scientists, countries, and international organizations have proposed answers to the above questions. However, there has been no consistency and there is not a single publication that includes a comprehensive compilation of the proposed actions. We summarized the recommended actions that clinical care providers should take in addressing various health conditions, risk behaviors, and exposures. Conclusion: It is recommended that all providers screen all women for their intentions to become pregnant and to provide them with appropriate services. Women should be referred to specialized care when risk behaviors and medical conditions that go beyond the skills and abilities of the primary care provider are identified