Protecting Health from Climate Change: vulnerability and adaptation assessment

Extreme weather events can damage and destroy critical health infrastructure,
and reduce health system efficiency.

Sustainable Development and Environmental Health
Pan American Health Organization/WHO 2012 

“….There is now strong evidence that the earth’s climate is changing rapidly,
due mainly to human activities. Increasing temperatures, sea-level rises,
changes in precipitation patterns and extreme events are expected to increase
a range of health risks, from the direct effects of heat waves, floods and storms,
to more suitable conditions for the transmission of important infectious diseases,
to impacts on the natural systems and socioeconomic sectors that ultimately
underpin human health.
Much of the potential health impact of climate change can, however, be avoided
through a combination of strengthening key health system functions and
improved management of the risks presented by a changing climate…..”

“……The critical first step in this process is to carry out a vulnerability and
adaptation assessment. This allows countries to assess which populations
are most vulnerable to different kinds of health effects, to identify weaknesses in
the systems that should protect them, and to specify interventions to respond.
Assessments can also improve evidence and understanding of the linkages
between climate and health within the assessment area, serve as a baseline
analysis against which changes in disease risk and protective measures can
be monitored, provide the opportunity for building capacity, and strengthen the
case for investment in health protection……”

Disponible online en: http://bit.ly/IRNV5X

Imagen obtenida de: http://seeingyourstory.com/category/climate-change-2/

Mobile Technologies and Empowerment:

Enhancing human development through participation and innovation

UNDP’s Bureau for Development Policy, New York
United Nations Development Programme UNDP 2012 

“……….Mobile technologies are opening new channels of communication
between people and governments, potentially offering greater access to
public information and basic services to all. No other technology has been
in the hands of so many people in so many countries in such a short period
of time.

Recent estimates indicate that Information Communication Technologies
ICTs could be accessible to everyone by 2015 and bring internationally agreed
development targets ever closer to achievement Indeed, we are witnessing a
new wave of democratization of access to innovative ICT channels, propelled
by state-of-the-art technologies and diminishing barriers to entry.

…..In a global population of nearly seven billion people, the total number of
mobile phone subscriptions globally is an astonishing 5.4 billion — and
counting.1 Given that individual subscribers may have multiple and/or inactive
SIM cards, the actual number of individual mobile subscribers worldwide is
estimated at around 3.9 billion. Latest figures indicate that mobile phone
penetration rates stand at almost 45 percent in low-income countries and 76
percent in lower middle-income countries …

….Given that entire villages in poor and/or rural communities will often share
one or two cell phones, it is also estimated that 80 to 90 percent of people in
some poor countries have at least minimal access to a cell phone . Furthermore,
close to 80 million mobile subscribers, most of them in developing countries,
have no access to the electrical grid — and yet use a mobile phone.

…..That is in part because mobile technologies offer portable, real-time
communication and information access for people who previously had little to
no access to affordable communication channels. Mobiles have relatively low
physical infrastructure requirements and can reach remote areas in a more
cost-effective fashion than other ICTs such as the Internet or fixed phone lines.

In some places, mobile devices are simply the only option available. And mobile
phones require only basic literacy, making the barriers to entry much lower than
with other modern ICTs. Yet, mobile services for people at the bottom of the
pyramid remain high: the price basket for mobile services can amount to 15.75
percent of monthly average per capita income in countries with low human
development (compared with 4.86 percent in medium human development
contexts). And coverage in remote or marginalized areas is often nonexistent.

There are indications that at least ten percent of the global population and 40
percent of people in least developed countries are not covered by a mobile
network, entrenching divisions between populations in urban centres and
poorer populations in the periphery.

“….However, mobile phone subscriptions in the developing world are rapidly
outpacing those in the developed world and costs are coming down. Moreover,
public investment and public-private partnerships are becoming essential tools
for extending connectivity, services and information.

As a result, mobile technologies are starting to have an indelible impact on
human development, enhancing democratic governance and other development
areas such as health, education, agriculture, employment, crisis prevention
and the environment…..”

“….By themselves, mobile phones will neither pull people out of poverty, nor
propel democratic governance. Instead they are catalytic tools for enhancing
and broadening development programming if deployed strategically. They
open new channels for connecting the poor to services, new ways for citizens 
to have their voices heard, and new opportunities for civic engagement in larger
governance processes…..”

Disponible online en: http://bit.ly/Hh2Q6E

Imagen obtenida de: newspano.com

Protección social inclusiva en América Latina

Una mirada integral, un enfoque de derechos

Autores: Simone Cecchini y Rodrigo Martínez

Comisión Económica para América Latina y el Caribe (CEPAL)
Santiago de Chile, marzo de 2011

"Una de las principales constataciones que emergen de la reflexión
impulsada por la CEPAL en los últimos años es que el desarrollo
económico y el desarrollo social están íntimamente entrelazados y deben
integrarse activamente en una política pública orientada a lograr una
mayor igualdad. Sin embargo, a la luz de las brechas y deudas sociales
en la región, para avanzar cabalmente hacia la igualdad de oportunidades
y la universalización de derechos es necesario redoblar los esfuerzos. Si
bien los resultados del último lustro son auspiciosos en cuanto a reducción
de la pobreza y crecimiento económico, América Latina sigue siendo la
región más desigual del mundo. Esto no solo plantea retos en materia
de ingresos monetarios sino también en las dimensiones de género,
étnicas y territoriales. Precisamente en grupos excluidos, entre otros, por
estos factores el empleo tiende a ser precario y no logra constituirse en
un vehículo de movilidad social y bienestar. Más aún, las condiciones
laborales de amplios sectores de la población distan mucho del horizonte
normativo del trabajo decente y no garantizan el acceso a mecanismos de
protección social.
Desde una óptica de derechos, la región aún está muy lejos de
alcanzar su plena realización. En ausencia de canales efectivos de
protección —públicos o privados— esta situación erosiona el sentido de
pertenencia e inhibe la legitimidad que hace posible un proyecto común y
compartido por la ciudadanía...

 
La persistencia de las dinámicas de desigualdad y exclusión,
que se expresan en las herramientas con las que individuos y familias
cuentan para protegerse y acceder a mejores condiciones de vida, tiene
repercusiones no solo en sus niveles de bienestar material sino también
en su percepción sobre un proyecto institucional y social compartido...

La protección social, formulada desde un enfoque de derechos, se vincula
a la lucha contra la desigualdad de diversas formas: reduce
considerablemente o elimina la probabilidad de no poder hacer frente a un
riesgo contingente; limita la reproducción del círculo vicioso de la pobreza y
la desigualdad al evitar que las familias hipotequen a futuro activos claves
para el desarrollo humano, como la salud y la educación, y facilita la
implementación de estrategias dirigidas a empoderar a aquellos grupos
más vulnerables frente a riesgos, particularmente a los niños, los
ancianos y las mujeres. Por último, en el libro se establece una base
normativa sobre la cual levantar sociedades más justas y solidarias, y se
garantiza, como un bien común, la protección de niveles de bienestar
considerados esenciales."

Disponible en: http://bit.ly/AEbEU8

Imagen obtenida de: http://eco-bandejas.blogspot.com

Design of a Website on Nutrition and Physical Activity for Adolescents

Results From Formative Research

Debbe Thompson1, PhD; Karen Weber Cullen1, DrPH, RD;
Carol Boushey2, PhD, RD; Karen Konzelmann3, MS, CHES

1USDA/ARS Children's Nutrition Research Center, Department of
  Pediatrics, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, TX, United States
2University of Hawaii Cancer Center, Epidemiology Program, University
   of Hawaii, Honolulu, HI, United States
3Organizational and Educational Consultant, Pearland, TX, United States

Corresponding Author:
Debbe Thompson, PhD

USDA/ARS Children's Nutrition Research Center
Department of Pediatrics
Baylor College of Medicine
1100 Bates Street
Houston, TX, 77030
United States
Phone: 1 713 798 7076
Fax: 1 713 798 7098
Email: dit [at] bcm.edu


ABSTRACT
Background: Teens do not meet guidelines for healthy eating and
physical activity. The Internet may be an effective method for delivering
programs that help them adopt healthy behaviors.
Objective: To collect information to design content and structure for a
teen-friendly website promoting healthy eating and physical activity behaviors.
Methods: Qualitative research, encompassing both focus group and
interview techniques, were used to design the website. Participants were
12-17 year olds in Houston, Texas, and West Lafayette, Indiana.
Results: A total of 133 participants took part in 26 focus groups while 15
participated in one-on-one interviews to provide guidance for the
development of teen-friendly content and structure for an online behavior
change program promoting healthy eating and physical activity to 12-17
year olds. The youth made suggestions to overcome common barriers to
healthy eating and physical activity. Their feedback was used to develop
“Teen Choice: Food & Fitness,” a 12-week online behavior change
program, populated by 4 cartoon character role models.
Conclusions: It is critical that members of the target audience be included
in formative research to develop behavior change programs that are
relevant, appealing, and address their needs and interests.

(J Med Internet Res 2012;14(2):e59)

Disponible online en: http://www.jmir.org/2012/2/e59/

Imagen obtenida de: Natural sports nutrition

Edward Jenner realizando la primera vacunación contra la viruela

Gaston Mélingue (1840-1914)

Jenner inoculant la vaccine (1879)
Óleo sobre lienzo
Académie Nationale de Médecine. Paris