Suicide is more common among older Americans than any other age group. The statistics are daunting. While people 65 and older account for 12 percent of the population, they represent 16 percent to 25 percent of the suicides. Four out of five suicides in older adults are men. And among white men over 85, the suicide rate — 50 per 100,000 men — is six times that of the general population.
Yet, says Dr. Gary J. Kennedy, director of geriatric psychiatry at Montefiore Medical Center in the Bronx, “If you consider only major depression as the antecedent of elder suicide, you’ll miss 20 to 40 percent of cases in which there is no sign of mental illness.”
Dr. Kennedy, who is also affiliated with Albert Einstein College of Medicine, recently directed a symposium in New York on preventing suicide in older adults, designed to alert both mental health and primary care practitioners to the often subtle signs that an older person may try to end it all.
The Warning Signs
In interviews, he and other symposium presenters noted that detecting suicidal impulses in older people often depended on the ability of family members and friends to recognize warning signs and act on them. According to Gregory K. Brown, a suicide specialist at the University of Pennsylvania, in studies of what preceded elder suicides, “suicide ideation” — the wish to die or thoughts of killing themselves — appears not to have been taken seriously. In 75 percent of cases, the suicide victims “had told family members or acquaintances of their intention to kill themselves,” Dr. Brown said.
Dr. Kennedy put it this way: “This is not simply a doctor’s problem. We need to think of elder suicide more as a social problem and look out for individuals at risk.”
Primary care practitioners are also crucial to suicide prevention among the elderly because older people, and especially older men, are unlikely to seek out and accept mental health services but are often seen by family doctors and nurses within days or weeks of a suicide. Among suicide victims 55 and older, 58 percent visited a general physician in the month before the suicide. In fact, 20 percent see a general physician on the same day and 40 percent within one week of the suicide.
While major depression is the main precipitant of suicide at all ages, social isolation is an important risk factor for suicide among the elderly. And older men, more so than older women, often become socially isolated.
Widowers are especially at risk because older men in the current generation tend to depend on their wives to maintain social contacts. When wives die, their husbands’ social interactions often cease.
“Older males who live alone are an endangered species,” Dr. Kennedy said — particularly “in states like Wyoming, Montana and Nevada, where the social distance is great and firearms are a part of the culture.”
Many men are poorly prepared for retirement, and don’t know how to fill in the hours and maintain a sense of usefulness when they stop working. “They often sit around watching TV,” said Martha L. Bruce, a professor of sociology and psychiatry at the Weill Medical College of Cornell University in White Plains said.
And Dr. Kennedy said, “After retirement a lot of older men start drinking heavily, a sign of increased aggression turned inward.” He called heavy drinking or binge drinking a risk factor for suicide among the elderly.
A particularly vulnerable time may be after the diagnosis of a life-threatening disease like cancer. Older men who were recently discharged from the hospital are also at high risk, Dr. Kennedy said. They need to be periodically screened for depressed mood, loss of interest in life and thoughts of killing themselves.
Serious personal neglect is another warning sign; people can commit a kind of passive suicide by failing to eat, letting themselves become dangerously sedentary or not taking needed medication.
Dealing With Depression
Contrary to what many people think, depression is not a normal part of growing older. Nor is it harder to treat in older people. But it is often harder to recognize and harder to get patients to accept and continue with treatment.
“Most people think sadness is a hallmark of depression,” Dr. Bruce said. “But more often in older people it’s anhedonia — they’re not enjoying life. They’re irritable and cranky.”
She added: “Many older people despair over the quality of their lives at the end of life. If they have a functional disability or serious medical illness, it may make it harder to notice depression in older people.”
Family members, friends and medical personnel must take it seriously when an older person says “life is not worth living,” “I don’t see any point in living,” “I’d be better off dead” or “My family would be better off if I died,” the experts emphasized. “Listen carefully, empathize and help the person get evaluated for treatment or into treatment,” Dr. Brown urged. He warned that “depressed older adults tend to have fewer symptoms” than younger adults who are depressed.
The ideal approach, of course, is to prevent depression in the first place. Dr. Brown recommended that older adults structure their days by maintaining a regular cycle and planning activities that “give them pleasure, purpose and a reason for living.”
He suggested “social activities of any type — joining a book club or bowling league, going to a senior center or gym, taking courses at a local college, hanging out at the coffee shop.”
Dr. Bruce suggests taking up a new interest like painting or needlework or volunteering at a place of worship, school or museum.
Dr. Brown notes that any activity the person is capable of doing can help to ward off depression and suicidal ideation. And he urges older people to talk to others about their problems.
By JANE E. BRODY
Source: http://www.nytimes.com/2007/11/27/health/27brod.html?_r=1&ei=5088&en=c8faf5a58c911c62&ex=1354251600&oref=slogin&partner=rssnyt&emc=rss&pagewanted=print
Forget yourself for others, and others will never forget you.
Sunday, December 2, 2007
Life by Candle Light
In India where all kinds of lobbies are active and vocal and their paths often cross, we have never been able to determine the balance between addressing human and environmental issues with the concerns of economic advancement.
SOME YEARS ago I made a trip from Ballia in Uttar Pradesh to Patna – an episode I will long remember. The journey would take about five hours, we were told, but since it was raining, we left that afternoon giving the trip a little more time than was needed. We crossed the Ganga at Ballia and moved into Buxar where we entered Bihar. Between the winter sunset and the cloudy sky, it soon turned dark and scary. We wound our way through several trails and village roads as our driver soon realized that the trip would take more than five or six hours began looking for shot cuts.
With not a trace of electricity in any of the villages, the only lights apart from the car headlights were sinister flashes of lightening illuminating a few meters ahead in grotesque flashes and the occasional flickering candlelight from a village hut. As the car sped forward, gaggles of women would scatter as the car lights focused on them as they sat for their ablutions by the roadside. With a pitch dark sky, a thousand stars but no moon and the brilliant flashes of lightening lighting up what appeared to be abandoned buildings but were simply huts with no electricity or candles. Altogether, the whole scenario looked like a lift out of a set from a Dracula movie with total darkness all around and shadowy figures appearing and disappearing at irregular intervals.
But perhaps the sets from the Dracula movies will become more common and we will learn to live by candlelight as most of our ancestors had done. For the facts are clear. India’s peak power deficit touched a 10-year high of 14.6 per cent between April and October, due to an exceptional spurt in demand and worse-than-expected capacity addition. India’s government has further scaled down its expected power capacity addition in the current year to 12,000 megawatts from 17,000 megawatts. Further poor as well as slow planning and decision-making processes ensure that even if projects are passed rapidly, it will still be years before the plants begin production. Meanwhile 412 million people live with no electricity and those who do have suffer long power cuts. Power thefts as well as transmission and distribution losses continue unabated all over the country.
Besides there is political opposition to whatever mode of electricity you try to generate. The opposition to the Indo- US nuclear deal has become common knowledge but what has become hidden in the fine print is the fact that most of India’s nuclear power plants are operating at levels of peak capacity due to a chronic shortage of uranium pending the finalization of the deal. So on one hand we are increasing demand and not adding commensurate capacity and on the other hand, the existing capacity is lying underutilized. Opponents of the nuclear power are also those who fear Chernobyl style disasters or slow effects of leaking radioactivity leading to environmental and public health impacts among other things.
Similarly, thermal power plants have their detractors. Down to Earth, the leading environment magazine lists that coal based thermal power plants in particular are high in air pollution, water consumption waste and carbon dioxide emission and others are not far behind. So it does not advocate the functioning any more of thermal power plants. Next on the list of are hydel power plants of which India is a huge reservoir, but wait a minute –while Hydel power plants are the least polluting of them all but seem to cause the largest amount of human displacement and suffering.
The agitations surrounding the environmental and human displacement caused by the Narmada and the Tehri Dam have carried on for years and there have been others like the project in Kerala adjacent to the Silent Valley that have never taken off. In India where all kinds of lobbies are active and vocal and their paths often cross, we have never been able to determine the balance between addressing human and environmental concerns with the concerns of economic advancement without balancing one apple cart or the other. And even as we learn to do that, we might also learn in the meanwhile to live by candlelight as they do in the villages of Bihar.
By Shantanu Dutta
Source : http://www.merinews.com/
Forget yourself for others, and others will never forget you.
SOME YEARS ago I made a trip from Ballia in Uttar Pradesh to Patna – an episode I will long remember. The journey would take about five hours, we were told, but since it was raining, we left that afternoon giving the trip a little more time than was needed. We crossed the Ganga at Ballia and moved into Buxar where we entered Bihar. Between the winter sunset and the cloudy sky, it soon turned dark and scary. We wound our way through several trails and village roads as our driver soon realized that the trip would take more than five or six hours began looking for shot cuts.
With not a trace of electricity in any of the villages, the only lights apart from the car headlights were sinister flashes of lightening illuminating a few meters ahead in grotesque flashes and the occasional flickering candlelight from a village hut. As the car sped forward, gaggles of women would scatter as the car lights focused on them as they sat for their ablutions by the roadside. With a pitch dark sky, a thousand stars but no moon and the brilliant flashes of lightening lighting up what appeared to be abandoned buildings but were simply huts with no electricity or candles. Altogether, the whole scenario looked like a lift out of a set from a Dracula movie with total darkness all around and shadowy figures appearing and disappearing at irregular intervals.
But perhaps the sets from the Dracula movies will become more common and we will learn to live by candlelight as most of our ancestors had done. For the facts are clear. India’s peak power deficit touched a 10-year high of 14.6 per cent between April and October, due to an exceptional spurt in demand and worse-than-expected capacity addition. India’s government has further scaled down its expected power capacity addition in the current year to 12,000 megawatts from 17,000 megawatts. Further poor as well as slow planning and decision-making processes ensure that even if projects are passed rapidly, it will still be years before the plants begin production. Meanwhile 412 million people live with no electricity and those who do have suffer long power cuts. Power thefts as well as transmission and distribution losses continue unabated all over the country.
Besides there is political opposition to whatever mode of electricity you try to generate. The opposition to the Indo- US nuclear deal has become common knowledge but what has become hidden in the fine print is the fact that most of India’s nuclear power plants are operating at levels of peak capacity due to a chronic shortage of uranium pending the finalization of the deal. So on one hand we are increasing demand and not adding commensurate capacity and on the other hand, the existing capacity is lying underutilized. Opponents of the nuclear power are also those who fear Chernobyl style disasters or slow effects of leaking radioactivity leading to environmental and public health impacts among other things.
Similarly, thermal power plants have their detractors. Down to Earth, the leading environment magazine lists that coal based thermal power plants in particular are high in air pollution, water consumption waste and carbon dioxide emission and others are not far behind. So it does not advocate the functioning any more of thermal power plants. Next on the list of are hydel power plants of which India is a huge reservoir, but wait a minute –while Hydel power plants are the least polluting of them all but seem to cause the largest amount of human displacement and suffering.
The agitations surrounding the environmental and human displacement caused by the Narmada and the Tehri Dam have carried on for years and there have been others like the project in Kerala adjacent to the Silent Valley that have never taken off. In India where all kinds of lobbies are active and vocal and their paths often cross, we have never been able to determine the balance between addressing human and environmental concerns with the concerns of economic advancement without balancing one apple cart or the other. And even as we learn to do that, we might also learn in the meanwhile to live by candlelight as they do in the villages of Bihar.
By Shantanu Dutta
Source : http://www.merinews.com/
Forget yourself for others, and others will never forget you.
Drink tea for stronger bones, suggests study
Drinking tea regularly, known to have several health benefits, may be good for the bones too, say researchers in Australia.
Health experts in Perth studied 275 elderly women aged 70-85 and found that those who drank tea had higher bone density at their hips and less bone loss than women who didn't drink tea.
It was a larger five-year study of calcium supplements and osteoporosis - a disease that weakens the bones and increases the risk of fractures. The researchers led by Amanda Devine of University of Western Australia, Perth, measured the bone density of the hip at the beginning and end of the study and also kept a tab on the amount of black and green tea the women drank.
Although the study did not find a link between the cups of tea consumed per day and bone mineral density, it found the bone density at two places at the hip was higher in tea drinkers than in non-tea drinkers, the online edition of health Magazine WebMD reported.
Tea drinkers also had less loss of bone density over a four-year period compared to the women who did not drink tea.
These results took into account factors such as smoking history and use of calcium supplements, according to the study published in The American Journal of Clinical Nutrition showed.
'Other variables, such as dietary calcium and coffee intake, physical activity, and smoking did not appear to be important confounders of the relation between tea and bone density,' the researchers said.
People in the past have been using tea in managing and preventing allergies, diabetes, bacterial and viral infections, cavities and to reduce inflammatory diseases.
A previous study by the Yale School of Medicine had indicated that those who consume green tea on an average of 1.2 litres a day get several health benefits.
Separate studies have also revealed that tea can help improve gastrointestinal functions, alcohol metabolism, kidney, liver and pancreatic functions and protect the skin and eyes.
Source: http://www.indiaenews.com/australia/20071009/74315.htm
Forget yourself for others, and others will never forget you.
Health experts in Perth studied 275 elderly women aged 70-85 and found that those who drank tea had higher bone density at their hips and less bone loss than women who didn't drink tea.
It was a larger five-year study of calcium supplements and osteoporosis - a disease that weakens the bones and increases the risk of fractures. The researchers led by Amanda Devine of University of Western Australia, Perth, measured the bone density of the hip at the beginning and end of the study and also kept a tab on the amount of black and green tea the women drank.
Although the study did not find a link between the cups of tea consumed per day and bone mineral density, it found the bone density at two places at the hip was higher in tea drinkers than in non-tea drinkers, the online edition of health Magazine WebMD reported.
Tea drinkers also had less loss of bone density over a four-year period compared to the women who did not drink tea.
These results took into account factors such as smoking history and use of calcium supplements, according to the study published in The American Journal of Clinical Nutrition showed.
'Other variables, such as dietary calcium and coffee intake, physical activity, and smoking did not appear to be important confounders of the relation between tea and bone density,' the researchers said.
People in the past have been using tea in managing and preventing allergies, diabetes, bacterial and viral infections, cavities and to reduce inflammatory diseases.
A previous study by the Yale School of Medicine had indicated that those who consume green tea on an average of 1.2 litres a day get several health benefits.
Separate studies have also revealed that tea can help improve gastrointestinal functions, alcohol metabolism, kidney, liver and pancreatic functions and protect the skin and eyes.
Source: http://www.indiaenews.com/australia/20071009/74315.htm
Forget yourself for others, and others will never forget you.
Where little boys pick human bones for a living - 'Painful form of child labour'
At the busiest crematorium in this Tamil Nadu temple town in southern India, the quiet work of a group of little boys is more heartrending than the wails of bereaved relatives.
About 10 boys visit the crematorium at Thathaneri on the banks of the Vaigai river and rummage through the heap of hot ashes of dead bodies with their small bare hands to pick bones.
As wages for this unsavoury work, the 'vettiyans' or undertakers allow the children to eat the rice and sweets offered by relatives to the deceased. If the undertakers are generous, the children might go back home with Rs. 20 each. The ashes and bones collected by these children are handed over to the relatives of the dead for the ritual of immersing them in the sea or holy rivers.
This practice had gone on unnoticed until the district administration swooped down on the crematorium last Wednesday following a media report. Inspectors of the district's labour department have so far rescued four boys who used to work in the crematorium and put them back in schools.
Madurai district collector S.S. Jawahar told IANS: 'We are really pained to see little boys doing this sort of work and we have initiated immediate action.'
The district collector has also directed all grassroots officials to look into whether this 'painful form of child labour' is prevalent across the Madurai district.
However, initial reports suggest that the practice is confined only to the Thathaneri crematorium, which is the busiest in the city with no less than 20 bodies arriving there everyday.
In most villages, boys are not allowed to enter the crematorium and parents don't allow their children to eat the food offered to the dead. Social workers say the traditional belief is that not even street dogs sniff at the offerings made to the dead and the food is meant only for crows.
But poverty and the lack of parental care forced the boys, aged between eight and 15, to work at the Thathaneri crematorium, officials said.
The undertakers found it easy to lure orphans and children of poor agricultural labourers into the job with a handful of rice and a measly amount of money.
Of the four boys rescued by the administration, two are from the same family. Their father is a coolie and has no wherewithal to adequately feed them. In fact, these two boys used to go to school and had enrolled for the mid-day meal scheme. However, the offerings of sweets, rice and money were more attractive. The other two boys were school dropouts.
Though Madurai is seen as the land of temples and the seat of learning in Tamil Nadu, it is plagued by social evils like child labour, female infanticide and untouchability.
A decade ago, a survey on child labour carried out by the state's labour department showed that the Madurai district had one of the highest numbers of child labourers - mostly working in brick kilns, farms and weaving centres.
'I have launched a concerted campaign against such unhealthy practices targeting children. Everywhere I go I tell people that children are our true assets,' Jawahar said.
But evidently the government and social workers have a long way to go in taking care of Madurai's children.
Source: http://www.indiaenews.com/india/20071202/83905.htm
Forget yourself for others, and others will never forget you.
About 10 boys visit the crematorium at Thathaneri on the banks of the Vaigai river and rummage through the heap of hot ashes of dead bodies with their small bare hands to pick bones.
As wages for this unsavoury work, the 'vettiyans' or undertakers allow the children to eat the rice and sweets offered by relatives to the deceased. If the undertakers are generous, the children might go back home with Rs. 20 each. The ashes and bones collected by these children are handed over to the relatives of the dead for the ritual of immersing them in the sea or holy rivers.
This practice had gone on unnoticed until the district administration swooped down on the crematorium last Wednesday following a media report. Inspectors of the district's labour department have so far rescued four boys who used to work in the crematorium and put them back in schools.
Madurai district collector S.S. Jawahar told IANS: 'We are really pained to see little boys doing this sort of work and we have initiated immediate action.'
The district collector has also directed all grassroots officials to look into whether this 'painful form of child labour' is prevalent across the Madurai district.
However, initial reports suggest that the practice is confined only to the Thathaneri crematorium, which is the busiest in the city with no less than 20 bodies arriving there everyday.
In most villages, boys are not allowed to enter the crematorium and parents don't allow their children to eat the food offered to the dead. Social workers say the traditional belief is that not even street dogs sniff at the offerings made to the dead and the food is meant only for crows.
But poverty and the lack of parental care forced the boys, aged between eight and 15, to work at the Thathaneri crematorium, officials said.
The undertakers found it easy to lure orphans and children of poor agricultural labourers into the job with a handful of rice and a measly amount of money.
Of the four boys rescued by the administration, two are from the same family. Their father is a coolie and has no wherewithal to adequately feed them. In fact, these two boys used to go to school and had enrolled for the mid-day meal scheme. However, the offerings of sweets, rice and money were more attractive. The other two boys were school dropouts.
Though Madurai is seen as the land of temples and the seat of learning in Tamil Nadu, it is plagued by social evils like child labour, female infanticide and untouchability.
A decade ago, a survey on child labour carried out by the state's labour department showed that the Madurai district had one of the highest numbers of child labourers - mostly working in brick kilns, farms and weaving centres.
'I have launched a concerted campaign against such unhealthy practices targeting children. Everywhere I go I tell people that children are our true assets,' Jawahar said.
But evidently the government and social workers have a long way to go in taking care of Madurai's children.
Source: http://www.indiaenews.com/india/20071202/83905.htm
Forget yourself for others, and others will never forget you.
UNFPA - LAADLI National Awards for Creative Excellence for Social Change
It is a little known fact that in Asia, at least 60 million girls are 'missing' due to prenatal sex selection, foeticide or neglect.
In India, as per the Census 2001, there is an alarming decline in the 0 to 6 sex ratio. Across the country, a large number of districts were witness to the phenomena of dwindling number of girls in the population. The number of districts with a sex ratio of less than 800 girls per 1000 boys was 14 as compared to 0 districts in 1991. The number of districts with a sex ratio in the range 800 to 849 increased from 1 district to 32 districts in the same decade.
Pre-natal sex selection is wiping out large numbers of females from the population, even before they have had an opportunity to be born.
Delhi, the political capital of India and Mumbai the commercial capital of the country, have 0 to 6 sex ratios much below the national ratio of 927, which in itself is low. Delhi has a sex ratio of 865 and Mumbai 898. Mumbai had recorded a fall of 32 points in the last decade from 930 girls per 1000 boys in 1991 to 898 girls per 1000 boys in 2001.
An alarming situation, it calls for immediate action on the issue. Therefore, we aim to involve the masses in supporting our fight against sex selection, helping create social consciousness to the issue, and in the long run, contribute to correcting the sex ratio.
By keeping the UNFPA-LAADLI National Awards open to the masses, we also aim to create a people's movement against the practice of sex selection, by providing communication support to ongoing campaigns on the issue across the country. We intend creating a pool of promotional material that could be used specifically for the campaign against sex selection.
Last Date: January 30th 2008
The awards are open to creative professionals (from any organisation/NGO/NPO), freelance professionals and individuals who are simply creative and believe in the cause.
Entries may include unpublished, not aired material, besides those published or aired in the past.
All entries finally selected by the jury, would be uploaded on a web based free open communication resource, dealing with the issue of sex selection.
All stakeholders/NGOs etc will be allowed free access to the same and could customize/modify them to suit their requirements to promote the cause. However, it will be mandatory for the users to acknowledge the original author/designer/maker of the materials in their customized versions of the same.
Basic guidelines to be followed:
All entries must be developed specifically keeping in mind the issue of sex selection.
Please avoid use of language that portrays girls as objects of pity or devalues them.
Avoid using words such as foeticide, killing, murder, and genocide as this focuses attention on negative emotions of fear and violence, thereby turning the audience away from the issue at hand.
Avoid using gory, brutal and extremely gruesome images/photographs etc in the content of the promotional material.
Avoid language that holds the mother responsible for sex selection. She has very little control over the decision.
E mail your entries to:
creative.excellence@populationfirst.org
OR
Send by post to Population First, Shetty House, 3 rd Floor, 101, MG Road, Fort, Mumbai,India 400023
For further information or to download entry forms, visit www.populationfirst.org
Contact:
Saipriya Paranjape : 022 2262 6672/2262 6676 / 09869173095
Forget yourself for others, and others will never forget you.
In India, as per the Census 2001, there is an alarming decline in the 0 to 6 sex ratio. Across the country, a large number of districts were witness to the phenomena of dwindling number of girls in the population. The number of districts with a sex ratio of less than 800 girls per 1000 boys was 14 as compared to 0 districts in 1991. The number of districts with a sex ratio in the range 800 to 849 increased from 1 district to 32 districts in the same decade.
Pre-natal sex selection is wiping out large numbers of females from the population, even before they have had an opportunity to be born.
Delhi, the political capital of India and Mumbai the commercial capital of the country, have 0 to 6 sex ratios much below the national ratio of 927, which in itself is low. Delhi has a sex ratio of 865 and Mumbai 898. Mumbai had recorded a fall of 32 points in the last decade from 930 girls per 1000 boys in 1991 to 898 girls per 1000 boys in 2001.
An alarming situation, it calls for immediate action on the issue. Therefore, we aim to involve the masses in supporting our fight against sex selection, helping create social consciousness to the issue, and in the long run, contribute to correcting the sex ratio.
By keeping the UNFPA-LAADLI National Awards open to the masses, we also aim to create a people's movement against the practice of sex selection, by providing communication support to ongoing campaigns on the issue across the country. We intend creating a pool of promotional material that could be used specifically for the campaign against sex selection.
Last Date: January 30th 2008
The awards are open to creative professionals (from any organisation/NGO/NPO), freelance professionals and individuals who are simply creative and believe in the cause.
Entries may include unpublished, not aired material, besides those published or aired in the past.
All entries finally selected by the jury, would be uploaded on a web based free open communication resource, dealing with the issue of sex selection.
All stakeholders/NGOs etc will be allowed free access to the same and could customize/modify them to suit their requirements to promote the cause. However, it will be mandatory for the users to acknowledge the original author/designer/maker of the materials in their customized versions of the same.
Basic guidelines to be followed:
All entries must be developed specifically keeping in mind the issue of sex selection.
Please avoid use of language that portrays girls as objects of pity or devalues them.
Avoid using words such as foeticide, killing, murder, and genocide as this focuses attention on negative emotions of fear and violence, thereby turning the audience away from the issue at hand.
Avoid using gory, brutal and extremely gruesome images/photographs etc in the content of the promotional material.
Avoid language that holds the mother responsible for sex selection. She has very little control over the decision.
E mail your entries to:
creative.excellence@populationfirst.org
OR
Send by post to Population First, Shetty House, 3 rd Floor, 101, MG Road, Fort, Mumbai,India 400023
For further information or to download entry forms, visit www.populationfirst.org
Contact:
Saipriya Paranjape : 022 2262 6672/2262 6676 / 09869173095
Forget yourself for others, and others will never forget you.
AIDS Epidemic Update
New data show global HIV prevalence—the percentage of people living with HIV—has levelled off and that the number of new infections has fallen, in part as a result of the impact of HIV programmes.
These findings were released by the Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS) and the World Health Organisation (WHO) in the report: 2007 AIDS Epidemic Update.
However, in 2007 33.2 million [30.6 – 36.1 million] people were estimated to be living with HIV, 2.5 million [1.8 – 4.1 million] people became newly infected and 2.1 million [1.9 – 2.4 million] people died of AIDS.
There were an estimated 1.7 million [1.4 – 2.4 million] new HIV infections in sub-Saharan Africa in 2007—a significant reduction since 2001. However, the region remains most severely affected.
An estimated 22.5 million [20.9 – 24.3 million] people living with HIV, or 68% of the global total, are in sub-Saharan Africa. Eight countries in this region now account for almost one-third of all new HIV infections and AIDS deaths globally.
Since 2001, when the United Nations Declaration of Commitment on HIV/AIDS was signed, the number of people living with HIV in Eastern Europe and Central Asia has increased by more than 150% from 630,000 [490 000 – 1.1 million] to 1.6 million [1.2 – 2.1 million] in 2007.
In Asia, the estimated number of people living with HIV in Viet Nam has more than doubled between 2000 and 2005 and Indonesia has the fastest growing epidemic.
The new report reflects improved and expanded epidemiological data and analyses that present a better understanding of the global epidemic. These new data and advances in methodology have resulted in substantial revisions from previous estimates.
The epidemic estimates presented in this year’s report reflect improvements in country data collection and analysis, as well as a better understanding of the natural history and distribution of HIV infection. This information is vital in helping countries understand their epidemics and respond to them more effectively.
The single biggest reason for the reduction in global HIV prevalence figures in the past year was the recent revision of estimates in India after an intensive reassessment of the epidemic in that country.
The revised estimates for India, combined with important revisions of estimates in five sub-Saharan African countries (Angola, Kenya, Mozambique, Nigeria, and Zimbabwe) account for 70% of the reduction in HIV prevalence as compared to 2006 estimates.
"Reliable public health data are the essential foundation for an effective response to HIV/AIDS", said WHO's HIV/AIDS Director Dr Kevin De Cock. "While these new estimates are of better quality than those of the past, we need to continue investing more in all countries and all aspects of strategic information relating to health."
Source: http://southasia.oneworld.net/article/view/155732/1/6721
Forget yourself for others, and others will never forget you.
These findings were released by the Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS) and the World Health Organisation (WHO) in the report: 2007 AIDS Epidemic Update.
However, in 2007 33.2 million [30.6 – 36.1 million] people were estimated to be living with HIV, 2.5 million [1.8 – 4.1 million] people became newly infected and 2.1 million [1.9 – 2.4 million] people died of AIDS.
There were an estimated 1.7 million [1.4 – 2.4 million] new HIV infections in sub-Saharan Africa in 2007—a significant reduction since 2001. However, the region remains most severely affected.
An estimated 22.5 million [20.9 – 24.3 million] people living with HIV, or 68% of the global total, are in sub-Saharan Africa. Eight countries in this region now account for almost one-third of all new HIV infections and AIDS deaths globally.
Since 2001, when the United Nations Declaration of Commitment on HIV/AIDS was signed, the number of people living with HIV in Eastern Europe and Central Asia has increased by more than 150% from 630,000 [490 000 – 1.1 million] to 1.6 million [1.2 – 2.1 million] in 2007.
In Asia, the estimated number of people living with HIV in Viet Nam has more than doubled between 2000 and 2005 and Indonesia has the fastest growing epidemic.
The new report reflects improved and expanded epidemiological data and analyses that present a better understanding of the global epidemic. These new data and advances in methodology have resulted in substantial revisions from previous estimates.
The epidemic estimates presented in this year’s report reflect improvements in country data collection and analysis, as well as a better understanding of the natural history and distribution of HIV infection. This information is vital in helping countries understand their epidemics and respond to them more effectively.
The single biggest reason for the reduction in global HIV prevalence figures in the past year was the recent revision of estimates in India after an intensive reassessment of the epidemic in that country.
The revised estimates for India, combined with important revisions of estimates in five sub-Saharan African countries (Angola, Kenya, Mozambique, Nigeria, and Zimbabwe) account for 70% of the reduction in HIV prevalence as compared to 2006 estimates.
"Reliable public health data are the essential foundation for an effective response to HIV/AIDS", said WHO's HIV/AIDS Director Dr Kevin De Cock. "While these new estimates are of better quality than those of the past, we need to continue investing more in all countries and all aspects of strategic information relating to health."
Source: http://southasia.oneworld.net/article/view/155732/1/6721
Forget yourself for others, and others will never forget you.
Gender responsive budgeting
The programme is designed for personnel in development agencies and projects; and development professionals striving for addressing and mainstreaming gender concerns in policies, programmes and projects.
The program is supported by inputs from Parivartan’s knowledge partner Sambodhi Research & Communications Pvt. Ltd.; a lead training and development consultancy organisation.
The programme aims at building organisational capacities in gender mainstreaming through gender responsive budgeting and is targeted for operational and middle level functionaries, practitioners and consultants involved in designing, implementation, mentoring, monitoring and evaluation of development projects.
Training Outcomes
The training is specifically aimed at developing appreciation of the need and rationale for integrating gender concerns in project plans and budgets. The training outcomes would be:
Enhanced understanding for formulation and implementation of gender sensitive projects and budgets.
Skills for developing and using gender criteria and indicators for evaluating and monitoring the budgets at different levels.
Training Fee
The fee for the programme is Rs. 6,000/- per participant. Fee can be paid through Cheque/Demand Draft in favour of ‘Parivartan Samaj Sewa Samiti’ payable at Delhi.
For further information please contact:
PARIVARTAN
H-35 A, LGF, Kalkaji, New Delhi-110019
Phone: +91-11-40560734, 65492502
E-mail: contact@parivartan.org.in
swapnil@parivartan.org.in
Source: http://southasia.oneworld.net/article/view/155559/1/4867
Forget yourself for others, and others will never forget you.
The program is supported by inputs from Parivartan’s knowledge partner Sambodhi Research & Communications Pvt. Ltd.; a lead training and development consultancy organisation.
The programme aims at building organisational capacities in gender mainstreaming through gender responsive budgeting and is targeted for operational and middle level functionaries, practitioners and consultants involved in designing, implementation, mentoring, monitoring and evaluation of development projects.
Training Outcomes
The training is specifically aimed at developing appreciation of the need and rationale for integrating gender concerns in project plans and budgets. The training outcomes would be:
Enhanced understanding for formulation and implementation of gender sensitive projects and budgets.
Skills for developing and using gender criteria and indicators for evaluating and monitoring the budgets at different levels.
Training Fee
The fee for the programme is Rs. 6,000/- per participant. Fee can be paid through Cheque/Demand Draft in favour of ‘Parivartan Samaj Sewa Samiti’ payable at Delhi.
For further information please contact:
PARIVARTAN
H-35 A, LGF, Kalkaji, New Delhi-110019
Phone: +91-11-40560734, 65492502
E-mail: contact@parivartan.org.in
swapnil@parivartan.org.in
Source: http://southasia.oneworld.net/article/view/155559/1/4867
Forget yourself for others, and others will never forget you.
Second National Conference of Dalit Organisations
The National Conference of Dalit Organisations (NACDOR) will hold its Second National Conference from December 5-8, 2007 in New Delhi,India.
NACDOR was set up with the Self Help Movement of Dalits for their development in 2001. Since its inception NACDOR has worked towards the goal of social, economic, cultural and political empowerment of Dalits.
NACDOR has been successful in influencing civil society agenda, impacting government policy and programmes, and drawing the attention of international NGOs towards the emancipatory needs of the Dalits.
However, many realities have changed since NACDOR-I in 2001 – such as Special Economic Zones, the corporate entry of retails, privatisation of basic services such as health, education and sanitation, mechanisation of agriculture – all bearing repercussions on the livelihood and food security of the marginalized.
Inflation, marginalization of Dalits in development planning and budgetary allocations, increasing atrocities, the anti-Dalit psyche of people in police, administration and judiciary has increased the vulnerability of Dalits.
Therefore, it is time not only to consolidate past gains, but also identify new areas of intervention and work towards evolving a Comprehensive Dalit Agenda, clearly tackling emerging challenges that focus on new opportunities.
The conference is expected to be attended by representatives of 1,000 Dalit and other organizations.
Starting on World Dignity Day on 5th December, with a huge People’s March at the Parliament, NACDOR-II will conclude on International Day for Human Rights, 10th December, by lighting a thousand Candles of Dignity.
NACDOR presently comprises more than 300 grassroots Dalit organizations and has a nationwide network of committed volunteers.
For more information:
National Conference of Dalit Organisations (NACDOR)
M-3/22, Model Town – III, Delhi – 110 009.
Tele: 91 11 27419002
E-mail: nacdor@gmail.com
Website: www.nacdor.org
Forget yourself for others, and others will never forget you.
NACDOR was set up with the Self Help Movement of Dalits for their development in 2001. Since its inception NACDOR has worked towards the goal of social, economic, cultural and political empowerment of Dalits.
NACDOR has been successful in influencing civil society agenda, impacting government policy and programmes, and drawing the attention of international NGOs towards the emancipatory needs of the Dalits.
However, many realities have changed since NACDOR-I in 2001 – such as Special Economic Zones, the corporate entry of retails, privatisation of basic services such as health, education and sanitation, mechanisation of agriculture – all bearing repercussions on the livelihood and food security of the marginalized.
Inflation, marginalization of Dalits in development planning and budgetary allocations, increasing atrocities, the anti-Dalit psyche of people in police, administration and judiciary has increased the vulnerability of Dalits.
Therefore, it is time not only to consolidate past gains, but also identify new areas of intervention and work towards evolving a Comprehensive Dalit Agenda, clearly tackling emerging challenges that focus on new opportunities.
The conference is expected to be attended by representatives of 1,000 Dalit and other organizations.
Starting on World Dignity Day on 5th December, with a huge People’s March at the Parliament, NACDOR-II will conclude on International Day for Human Rights, 10th December, by lighting a thousand Candles of Dignity.
NACDOR presently comprises more than 300 grassroots Dalit organizations and has a nationwide network of committed volunteers.
For more information:
National Conference of Dalit Organisations (NACDOR)
M-3/22, Model Town – III, Delhi – 110 009.
Tele: 91 11 27419002
E-mail: nacdor@gmail.com
Website: www.nacdor.org
Forget yourself for others, and others will never forget you.
Bill Gates grant gives fillip to polio eradication campaign
An international campaign to eradicate polio received a major boost with the announcement that the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation would give 100 million dollars to support intensified immunisation in the handful of countries where the virus remains active.
The grant went to the Rotary Foundation, an organisation of service clubs with over 1.2 million members worldwide, and its PolioPlus Programme.
"It's a very large grant for us. Certainly not the largest we've ever made, but on the other hand this is perhaps one of the largest possibilities we've had to deal with: ultimate eradication of this horror from the lives of children. There's almost no figure that is too high to invest in that possible end," William Gates Sr., co-chair of the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, told IPS.
Since the Rotary Foundation started their programme to eradicate polio in 1985, according to their own figures two billion children have been immunised, another five million children have been spared disability and more than 250,000 lives were saved from the debilitating and often deadly disease.
Considering that it has collected a total of 633 million dollars since the beginning of the polio project in 1985, the grant of the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation alone represents over 15% of the Rotary Foundation's budget in the last 22 years together.
"So necessary is this infusion of funds to the polio eradication initiative that Rotary will spend the initial 100 million dollars in direct support of polio immunisation activities in 2008," said Dr. Robert Scott, chair of the Rotary Foundation of Rotary International and its PolioPlus Programme.
Last four countries
The acute viral infectious disease still paralyses sufferers in four countries. Despite major efforts in recent years, Afghanistan, India, Nigeria and Pakistan still reported some 2,000 cases of polio last year. However, this number is in contrast with the 350,000 children paralysed worldwide every year when Rotary first began their work.
"99% of the job is done," Scott said.
Still, public health experts agree that it is the final one percent that is most difficult and expensive.
"That's why this grand grant comes at a critical moment," said Dr. Margaret Chan, director-general of the World Health Organisation (WHO). "Polio eradication will be a perpetual gift to all future generations of children who can grow up free from this crippling disease. We are closer to this goal than ever before."
Funding gap
The funding gap to a polio-free world, according to the Rotary Foundation, is still 650 million dollars. After receiving the Gates Foundation grant, Scott hopes to mobilise additional resources in order to solve this problem.
"This is of course by far, by far, by a hundred times almost, the biggest grant we've ever received," Scott told IPS. "We have had some smaller grants of five, 10 and 15 million dollars from various organisations, but a hundred million dollars takes our breath away."
"We are extremely proud that the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation thought of us as a suitable organisation and an organisation that can deal with such a large sum and deal with it efficiently due to our previous experience in this programme of polio eradication," he said.
Although they are the last four countries on the earth with cases of polio, according to the WHO, Afghanistan, India, Nigeria and Pakistan are all on track to achieve eradication. But every country is facing its own unique problems.
Challenges ahead
"In terms of numbers of cases, actually, we are seeing the smallest number in Pakistan and Afghanistan. But the challenge there is getting our healthcare workers to reach every child in every household," Chan told IPS.
She said "given the security situation there it's sometimes quite difficult, but I'm happy to report that our colleagues at different levels get agreements and the support of leaders, Taliban leaders as well as the government, to give us some days, we call it days of tranquility, whereby our healthcare workers could reach as many children as possible."
For security and infrastructural reasons, sometimes it is hard to reach every child in regions that are prone to polio. But according to Chan, WHO is now able to reach close to 100,000 children who had not been reached in the last two years.
The situation in India and Nigeria is worse, but Chan notes that "in both cases, India and Nigeria are actually showing improvements since my urge to the governments this February to put in additional efforts."
Despite all the efforts to finally eradicate polio by the Rotary Foundation and cooperating institutions, Scott added many people believe polio is not that big of a problem anymore.
"Indeed, most of the world is, thanks to our combined efforts, polio-free, but the disease is still threatening children in some developing countries," he said. "Because polio is a virus that moves from child to child, it is capable of reemerging anywhere in the world – especially if we don't follow through and eradicate this disease once and for all now."
By Philip Rouwenhorst
Source: http://southasia.oneworld.net/
Forget yourself for others, and others will never forget you.
The grant went to the Rotary Foundation, an organisation of service clubs with over 1.2 million members worldwide, and its PolioPlus Programme.
"It's a very large grant for us. Certainly not the largest we've ever made, but on the other hand this is perhaps one of the largest possibilities we've had to deal with: ultimate eradication of this horror from the lives of children. There's almost no figure that is too high to invest in that possible end," William Gates Sr., co-chair of the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, told IPS.
Since the Rotary Foundation started their programme to eradicate polio in 1985, according to their own figures two billion children have been immunised, another five million children have been spared disability and more than 250,000 lives were saved from the debilitating and often deadly disease.
Considering that it has collected a total of 633 million dollars since the beginning of the polio project in 1985, the grant of the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation alone represents over 15% of the Rotary Foundation's budget in the last 22 years together.
"So necessary is this infusion of funds to the polio eradication initiative that Rotary will spend the initial 100 million dollars in direct support of polio immunisation activities in 2008," said Dr. Robert Scott, chair of the Rotary Foundation of Rotary International and its PolioPlus Programme.
Last four countries
The acute viral infectious disease still paralyses sufferers in four countries. Despite major efforts in recent years, Afghanistan, India, Nigeria and Pakistan still reported some 2,000 cases of polio last year. However, this number is in contrast with the 350,000 children paralysed worldwide every year when Rotary first began their work.
"99% of the job is done," Scott said.
Still, public health experts agree that it is the final one percent that is most difficult and expensive.
"That's why this grand grant comes at a critical moment," said Dr. Margaret Chan, director-general of the World Health Organisation (WHO). "Polio eradication will be a perpetual gift to all future generations of children who can grow up free from this crippling disease. We are closer to this goal than ever before."
Funding gap
The funding gap to a polio-free world, according to the Rotary Foundation, is still 650 million dollars. After receiving the Gates Foundation grant, Scott hopes to mobilise additional resources in order to solve this problem.
"This is of course by far, by far, by a hundred times almost, the biggest grant we've ever received," Scott told IPS. "We have had some smaller grants of five, 10 and 15 million dollars from various organisations, but a hundred million dollars takes our breath away."
"We are extremely proud that the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation thought of us as a suitable organisation and an organisation that can deal with such a large sum and deal with it efficiently due to our previous experience in this programme of polio eradication," he said.
Although they are the last four countries on the earth with cases of polio, according to the WHO, Afghanistan, India, Nigeria and Pakistan are all on track to achieve eradication. But every country is facing its own unique problems.
Challenges ahead
"In terms of numbers of cases, actually, we are seeing the smallest number in Pakistan and Afghanistan. But the challenge there is getting our healthcare workers to reach every child in every household," Chan told IPS.
She said "given the security situation there it's sometimes quite difficult, but I'm happy to report that our colleagues at different levels get agreements and the support of leaders, Taliban leaders as well as the government, to give us some days, we call it days of tranquility, whereby our healthcare workers could reach as many children as possible."
For security and infrastructural reasons, sometimes it is hard to reach every child in regions that are prone to polio. But according to Chan, WHO is now able to reach close to 100,000 children who had not been reached in the last two years.
The situation in India and Nigeria is worse, but Chan notes that "in both cases, India and Nigeria are actually showing improvements since my urge to the governments this February to put in additional efforts."
Despite all the efforts to finally eradicate polio by the Rotary Foundation and cooperating institutions, Scott added many people believe polio is not that big of a problem anymore.
"Indeed, most of the world is, thanks to our combined efforts, polio-free, but the disease is still threatening children in some developing countries," he said. "Because polio is a virus that moves from child to child, it is capable of reemerging anywhere in the world – especially if we don't follow through and eradicate this disease once and for all now."
By Philip Rouwenhorst
Source: http://southasia.oneworld.net/
Forget yourself for others, and others will never forget you.
Benefits Of Middle Age Exercise
A new study conducted by researchers at the Peninsula Medical School in Exeter, UK, has shown that maintaining physical activity in middle age leads to better basic physical abilities as we age, and that weight is not a deciding factor.
The study showed a direct link between levels of physical activity in middle age and physical ability later in life – regardless of body weight.
Led by Dr. Iain Lang, the research team found that middle-aged people who maintained a reasonable level of physical activity were less likely to become unable to walk distances, climb stairs, maintain their sense of balance, stand from a seated position with their arms folded, or sustain their hand grip as they get older.
The study revealed that, among men and women aged 50 to 69 years and across all weight ranges, the rate of decreased physical ability later in life was twice as high among those who were less physically active.
For the research, the team studied 8,702 participants in the US Health and Retirement Study and 1,507 people taking part in the English Longitudinal Study of Ageing. Each subject was followed for up to six years.
The results revealed that being overweight or obese was associated with an overall increased risk of physical impairment but that, regardless of weight, people who engaged in heavy housework or gardening, who played sport or who had a physically active job, were more likely to remain mobile later in life.
Researchers found that physical activity of about 30 minutes three or more times a week resulted in fewer than 13 per cent of people developing some sort of physical disability, while this rate increased to 24 per cent where subjects were less active.
"There are three truly interesting results from this research. The first is that our findings were similar from the US and the UK, which suggests that they are universal. The second is that exercise in middle age does not just benefit people in terms of weight loss it also helps them to remain physically healthy and active later in life. The third is that, in terms of results from activity, weight does not seem to be an issue." Dr. Lang said.
Source: (ANI)
Forget yourself for others, and others will never forget you.
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