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SureScripts on Tuesday unveiled a Internet internet site that may allow wellness care workers to access the prescription details of people who live in locations impacted by natural disasters, the AP/Jackson Clarion-Ledger reports. Soon after an earthquake, hurricane or other disaster, representatives for the National Association of Chain Drug Stores along with the National Community Pharmacists Association would decide regardless of whether to open the Net site, www.icerx.org, which would make accessible the prescription histories of folks from zip codes within the affected areas. Emergency responders towards the 2005 hurricanes stated that one of the greatest health care troubles they faced was supplying the right prescription drugs to evacuees who didn’t don’t forget what medicines they had been taking. A prototype of the existing Net internet site, www.katrinahealth.org, was launched three weeks following Hurricane Katrina hit the gulf coast (AP/Jackson Clarion-Ledger, 4/23). Numerous drug store chains have their own Web sites for traveling customers, but the SureScripts program, named Rx History, will share info from major pharmacies. SureScripts spokesperson Rob Cronin stated that the company’s program is eventually to expand the program from emergency-only use to routine use (Steenhuysen, Reuters, 4/24). Because of privacy concerns, the Web web site will not incorporate records of treatments for “sensitive” conditions, based on SureScripts (AP/Jackson Clarion-Ledger, 4/23).

“Reprinted with permission from http://www.kaisernetwork.org. You are able to view the entire Kaiser Day-to-day Health Policy Report, search the archives, or sign up for email delivery at http://www.kaisernetwork.org/dailyreports/healthpolicy. The Kaiser Daily Well being Policy Report is published for kaisernetwork.org, a cost-free service of the Henry J. Kaiser Household Foundation . ? 2005 Advisory Board Company and Kaiser Household Foundation. All rights reserved.

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Four separate papers published in a unique Katrina issue of the Journal of Wellness Care for the Poor and Underserved, published nowadays, detail the dramatic prevalence of chronic illness among men and women most affected by the hurricanes of 2005.

One paper, by Dr. Tista Ghosh and colleagues, reports on the health desires of Hurricane Katrina evacuees who were sent to Denver. A startling proportion of the 106 households whose requirements were assessed were in need of prescription medication (60.2%). Secondly, non-Hispanic Black households had been a lot more most likely than non-Hispanic White households to require employment, housing, and dental services. Lastly, a huge subset of the sample reported symptoms indicative of altitude sickness along with the region-specific need for education on the effects of Denver’s mile-high altitude. A total of three,600 evacuees from the Gulf Coast had been sent to Denver.

A second paper, by Dr. Marilyn Ridenour and colleagues, reports on the wellness needs of evacuees from Hurricane Katrina who had been sent to West Virginia. A startling proportion with the evacuees reported chronic health conditions (46%), as well as the need for dental care (57%), eyeglasses (34%), dentures (28%), and medical services (25%). Twenty-five percent reported an acute illness.

A third paper reports on a mobile well being care unit in Gulf Coast Mississippi after Katrina: Information collected from all patient encounters from September 5-20, 2005 demonstrate that additionally to common respiratory illnesses, skin conditions, and minor injuries, a high proportion of visits were for vaccine administration and chronic medical issues which includes hypertension, diabetes, and asthma.

Finally, a paper from Tulane University reports that youngsters with chronic illness are at elevated risk for adverse outcomes following disasters than are young children with no such conditions. The study authors report on a post-Katrina study of 531 children and adolescents (79.8% younger than 13 years old), 50.5% male, 42.8% African American. Participants with pre-existing conditions (39.4% of the total sample) had been a lot more likely than those with out to be at clinic for a non-chronic well being condition as opposed to one more issue (43.five vs. 16.2%), to take asthma medication (37.four vs. 3.9%), to have asthma worsen (16.three vs. 1.9%), to miss a check out (49.2 vs. 39.8%), to run out of medications (33.9 vs. 7.9%), to live with flood damage (19.7 vs. 11.3%) or mold (23.6 vs. 15.8%), and to encounter disruption in care (58.4 vs. 38.3%) or negative psychological consequences (ranging from two.5% to 12.9%).

– New JHCPU submissions website
– Factline: Tracking Health in Underserved Communities

Journal of Health Care for the Poor and Underserved

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4 (1 votes)

The latest problem with the peer reviewed Journal of Well being Care for the Poor and Underserved (JHCPU) addresses the detrimental effects of Hurricane Katrina, on the management of well being care in this country and on the continued suffering of numerous Americans as a result with the natural tragedy.

Meharry Medical College President Wayne J. Riley, M.D., MBA, wrote the forward to this edition revealing his own personal experiences in providing healthcare to evacuees and taking in numerous of his own household members, which includes his parents.

“Hurricane Katrina served as a great equalizer when anyone left in the surrounding area found them selves helpless – without anything – which includes access to healthcare,” stated Dr. Riley. “The devastation of this event served as a wake up call to the nation when we realized that we had been not equipped to handle the impact with the disaster.”

Limitations with the Healthcare System During a National Disaster

Studies in the JHCPU show that there are clear limitations inside the healthcare system during times of crisis. For instance, those suffering from chronic diseases found it difficult to obtain proper medical therapy, follow-up care, and prescription medicines.

One study published in the journal deals with the effects of managing chronic diseases in young children. Kids with conditions like asthma were at an increased risk of suffering adverse outcomes as a result of the hurricane. Some with the reasons include lack of access to medication and a deterioration of the quality with the environment because of mold and mildew from the flooding.

Another study on the hospital system states that patients had to be evacuated because of loss of power, water and sewer services. Federal assistance and rescue efforts had been late coming and unsuccessful so many hospitals turned into places of death.

Journal for Wellness Care for the Poor and Underserved

JHCPU has as its goal the dissemination of information on the health of, and well being care for, low-income and other medically underserved communities to health care practitioners, policy makers, and community leaders who are in a position to effect meaningful change. Issues dealt with include access to, quality of, and cost of well being care. Journal for Wellness Care for the Poor and Underserved

Meharry Medical College

Meharry Medical College is the nation’s largest private, independent historically black institution dedicated solely to educating minority and other health professionals. The College is particularly nicely known for its uniquely nurturing, highly effective educational programs; emerging preeminence in health disparities research; culturally sensitive, evidence-based well being services; and significant contribution to the diversity of the nation’s health professions workforce.

Meharry Medical College
1005 Dr. D. B. Todd Jr. Blvd.
Nashville, TN 37203
USA
www.mmc.edu

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The United Nations World Food Programme has made dramatic progress in reducing malnutrition in Ethiopia, Sudan and Chad but the achievements risk being diminished by constantly shifting security conditions, stated WFP Executive Director Josette Sheeran today.

Sheeran, speaking soon after she concluded a pay a visit to to the three countries, stated she is encouraged by the gains she has seen but emphasized that sustained improvement requires long-term investment to steer a country from overwhelming crisis to gradual recovery.

Sheeran’s Africa check out, her first field mission since assuming the top job at WFP on April 5, took her to Ethiopia, Sudan and lastly to Chad, where she met yesterday with government and donor country representatives to discuss assistance for some 365,000 refugees and internally displaced.

“Chad is facing the triple challenge of chronic hunger, a surge in internally displaced people and growing numbers of refugees from Darfur. We need to raise the resources to respond to all these needs,” said Sheeran.

Sheeran held discussions with Prime Minister Nouradine Delwa Kassire Coumakoye, the Secretary of State for External Relations, Djidda Moussa Outman, and Agriculture Minister Haroun Kabadi about WFP’s assistance to Chad, particularly the country’s youngsters.

“We discussed our hope to move beyond the emergency phase here and develop school feeding projects so that children can grow and gain an education and have greater opportunities in life,” said Sheeran.

Sheeran said she saw “both good and bad news” during her African tour. “I can see that we are making genuine progress in fighting acute malnutrition rates inside the region – in the Darfur provinces of Sudan it is down by 50% – but the attacks and carjackings are seriously impeding the brave efforts of our staff,” Sheeran stated.

“WFP has succeeded in finding innovative ways to get food towards the people in Darfur and Chad despite the banditry and violence, but we could do so significantly far more if all the actors worked with us to guarantee humanitarian safe access towards the people who need our help.”

WFP’s current biggest food assistance operation is the long-running emergency in Sudan, followed by the programme of longer-term development activities in Ethiopia. But Sheeran emphasized throughout the tour that WFP’s food plays an equally vital role during and following the emergency.

“We need to have a well-planned transition for a country once the immediate crisis has passed,” said Sheeran. “In southern Sudan, two years after the peace agreement, our government partners are now seeking joint strategies with us for recovery and a gradual return to peacetime conditions.”

Sheeran cited WFP’s meals-in-school programme for young children in crisis settings as a good example of a “humanitarian bridge” from the emergency to a stable life. In Juba, she visited the Kuku A elementary school, where WFP provides a meal a day for almost 900 students. For most of them, it is the only meal they get.

“Combining nutritious food and basic education for youngsters is one of the smartest investments for a community crippled by disaster,” stated Sheeran. “Children are the future of a community and school feeding is the surest way to prepare them for that future.”

Sheeran warned, however, that despite the efforts in southern Sudan, half the territories still suffer emergency levels of malnutrition.

On her tour, Sheeran also spotlighted the role WFP’s procurement process can play in assisting poor farmers. WFP, whose cash-based procurement of food commodities has risen dramatically over the last 10 years, can “connect farmers to markets” by helping them meet the WFP’s rigorous standards for food purchase.

In Ethiopia last week, where Sheeran held roundtable discussions with grain traders, market experts and government officials, she called on all of them to help WFP find “better models for food assistance purchases” that could help poor farmers solve their chronic food insecurity.

“We need to take a a lot more strategic appear at our purchases to see that we are doing all we can to have the maximum positive impact on development,” she said — a view enthusiastically welcomed by the governments in all 3 countries she visited.

WFP is the world’s largest humanitarian agency: each year, we give food to an average of 90 million poor people to meet their nutritional needs, such as 58 million hungry young children, in at least 80 with the world’s poorest countries. WFP — We Feed People.

WFP Global School Feeding Campaign – For just 19 US cents a day, you can help WFP give kids in poor countries a healthy meal at school – a gift of hope for a brighter future.

http://www.wfp.org

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5 (1 votes)

FINDINGS: Previous research has shown that minorities have particularly cohesive extended household ties. For this study, UCLA researchers interviewed 58 randomly selected evacuees – mostly low-income African Americans – who relocated from New Orleans to Houston within the wake of Hurricane Katrina. The researchers found that the evacuees’ strong loved ones ties had a profound influence on factors affecting evacuation, including transportation decisions, access to shelter and how they perceived evacuation messages. These ties both facilitated and hindered their evacuation.

IMPACT: Disaster plans should take into account the influence that extended household ties and social networks have in decision-making among vulnerable and minority communities.

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AUTHORS: David P. Eisenman, Kristina M. Cordasco, Steve Asch and Deborah Glik of UCLA and Joya F. Golden of the Veterans Affairs Greater Los Angeles Healthcare System. Asch is also affiliated with all the VA Higher Los Angeles Healthcare System and the Rand Corp.

JOURNAL: American Journal of Public Health, April concern.

FUNDING: The National Science Foundation-supported Natural Hazards Research and Application Information Center and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Contact: Enrique Rivero
University of California – Los Angeles

lthcare Prof:

HHS’ Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality today released a DVD titled “Cross Training Respiratory Extenders for Medical Emergencies (Project XTREME),” to train well being care specialists who are not respiratory care specialists to provide basic respiratory care and ventilator management to adult patients in any mass casualty event. Amongst the possible emergencies when such auxiliary clinical help may possibly be necessary are an influenza pandemic, a bioterrorist attack involving anthrax or other agents, or an outbreak of severe acute respiratory illnesses. Principal target groups for the training are physicians, physician assistants, and nurses.

“The DVD is not intended to train well being care specialists to become respiratory therapists, but to expand our respiratory care capacity inside the event of a major public wellness emergency,” said AHRQ Director Carolyn M. Clancy, M.D. “I hope the DVD will get widespread use to ensure that we have adequate medical resources if confronted by a bioterrorist attack or other large-scale public health emergency.”

The DVD includes six training modules with interactive quizzes to test viewers’ knowledge. The modules cover infection control, respiratory care terms and definitions, manual ventilation (using hand-held bags), mechanical ventilation (using the two types of ventilators included in the Federal government’s Strategic National Stockpile of medicines and medical supplies for emergencies), airway maintenance, and airway suctioning.

The DVD was produced for AHRQ by a team of respiratory care specialists in the Denver Well being Medical Center led by Michael Hanley, M.D., as part of Project XTREME. A related report also funded by AHRQ, “Project XTREME: Model for Well being Professionals’ Cross-Training for Mass Casualty Respiratory Needs,” provides further information on the training model also as the research and methodologies used in developing it. A cost-free, single copy with the DVD and a CD-ROM with all the report could be ordered by calling 1-800-358-9295 or by sending an e-mail to ahrqpubs@ahrq.gov.

AHRQ has funded far more than 60 emergency preparedness-related studies, workshops, and conferences to help hospitals and wellness care systems prepare for public health emergencies. Far more information about these projects could be found on the web at http://www.ahrq.gov/prep/.

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The Global Fund To Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria on Friday announced that it will need to triple its annual spending to between $6 billion and $8 billion by 2010 to meet the needs of developing countries, Reuters AlertNet reports. According to Global Fund Executive Director Michel Kazatchkine, the new funding goals, which are about three to four times current annual spending, will require additional contributions from the public and private sectors. According to Reuters AlertNet, the Global Fund will seek donations from countries and business to help reach its spending target (Reuters AlertNet, 4/27). Kazatchkine said the new goal is an “inspiring challenge.” He added that the increase “will allow the world to do considerably, much much more to reach” goals set by the Group of Eight industrialized nations and the United Nations, like providing universal access to antiretroviral drugs, providing every African kids with an insecticide-treated net and reducing TB deaths by half. The Global Fund supports 30% of HIV/AIDS programs, about two-thirds of TB treatment and 45% of malaria therapy programs worldwide, AFP/Yahoo! News reports. “Programs we support are presently saving three,000 lives per day,” Kazatchkine stated (AFP/Yahoo! News, 4/27).

“Reprinted with permission from http://www.kaisernetwork.org. It is possible to view the entire Kaiser Everyday Wellness Policy Report, search the archives, or sign up for e-mail delivery at http://www.kaisernetwork.org/dailyreports/healthpolicy. The Kaiser Day-to-day Health Policy Report is published for kaisernetwork.org, a free service of the Henry J. Kaiser Household Foundation . ? 2005 Advisory Board Company and Kaiser Family Foundation. All rights reserved.

Current Article Ratings:
Patient / Public:

3 (1 votes)

Healthcare Prof:

Trust for America’s Health (TFAH) supports the interim guidance issued today in Mortality and Morbidity Weekly Report concerning standards for use of masks and respirators in the event of a pandemic flu outbreak. Masks and N95 respirator masks are important elements of a multi-pronged approach to containing a potential pandemic that also includes use of vaccines, antiviral medication, and hygiene.

TFAH points out, however, that the U.S. stockpile of masks and respirators falls far short with the amounts that would be required to meet the levels needed for recommended use.

To reach recommended levels of capacity, especially for N95 respirator masks, production would need to be significantly elevated. Funds must be directed to producing, purchasing and stockpiling the equipment.

“We shouldn’t gamble together with the health of Americans. The medical experts say we should be stockpiling masks and N95 respirators to protect our health care workers and to prevent the spread of a pandemic virus,” said Jeff Levi, PhD, Executive Director of TFAH. “Just as the country has made an investment to increase production capacity and stockpiles of vaccines and anti-virals, we must do the same for respirators and masks.”

TFAH also notes special attention must be paid to protecting kids. At present produced N-95 respirator masks are not manufactured to protect kids. The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has noted that children may be far more susceptible than adults to infection, and compared to adults, youngsters usually shed more influenza virus and for a longer period of time.

Trust for America’s Well being is a non-profit, non-partisan organization dedicated to saving lives by protecting the health of every community and working to make disease prevention a national priority. http://www.healthyamericans.org

Trust for America’s Health
http://www.healthyamericans.org

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5 (1 votes)

Article Opinions:1 posts
The World Bank’s pro-private market-orientated policies and its involvement in reforms that have harmed well being systems in several poor countries have raised question marks over its new ten year well being policy, says a Comment in this week’s edition of The Lancet.

The Comment is authored by Dr David McCoy, Department of Epidemiology and Public Well being, University College London, UK – a member of the Steering Committee for The People’s Well being Movement and co-managing editor of Global Well being Watch.

The Comment says that while the Bank used to be the pre-eminent international health financing agency, it now operates in a crowded field with players like WHO, UNICEF, the US President’s Emergency Fund for Aids Relief (PEPFAR), and the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation.

With these new players, the Bank has stepped back to assess its role, and has announced its intention to establish itself as the lead global agency for health-systems policy development, even suggesting that WHO and UNICEF should focus on the technical aspects of disease control and wellness facility management.

Whilst the Comment generally welcomes the bank’s recognition that health systems need to be strengthened, particularly within the light of the proliferation of global health initiatives and single illness programmes, it says: “While the Bank’s strategy contains significantly to agree with, its claims to expertise and credibility in the field of well being systems are troubling. Indeed, structural adjustment programmes and health sector reforms inspired by the bank have underpinned many of the current difficulties in poor countries.”

It adds: “The Bank’s continued promotion of market oriented policies and its view that health care could be reduced to a set of tradable commodities and services raise important concerns.”

The Comment concludes by calling on the WHO, developing country governments, donors and international NGOs to establish a coherent long term plan to repair the fragmented, inequitable and under-resourced well being systems of poor countries.

An accompanying Editorial calls for the swift resignation of the World Bank’s president Paul Wolfowitz in order to restore the organisation’s credibility – which has been undermined by ethical lapses and accusations that President Bush’s policies are influencing the bank’s strategy.

The Editorial criticises the attempted manipulation of the organisation’s new ten year health policy and says that the Bank’s managing director Juan Jose Daboub is accused of attempting to water down the women’s reproductive health part of the policy.

Part of the Editorial reads: “Bank employees were so dismayed at the attempted manipulation with the new wellness strategy that they leaked information to advocacy groups to ensure intense lobbying over its wording would take place. The latest version with the well being strategy, noticed by health campaigners, now recognises the reproductive rights of women.”

It concludes: “As nicely as undermining the organisation’s work and demoralising its staff, the current crisis could provide an excuse for donors to delay, or worse, halt their funding commitments towards the Bank. As The Lancet went to press, Wolfowitz remained determined to keep his position. He and the Bank’s board of directors must remember the organisation’s mission to alleviate poverty. They must do what is best for the world’s poorest people and negotiate a quick resignation from Wolfowitz.”

The Lancet

lthcare Prof:

5 (1 votes)

The University of California, Santa Barbara chapter of Engineers Without Borders-USA (EWB-USA) was awarded the “2007 Project with the Year” in the EWB-USA 2007 International Conference in Amherst, Massachusetts, for its ongoing project in Araypallpa, Peru. The award comes having a $5,000 prize donated by BoldeReach, a community of women dedicated to supporting organizations that aid those in extreme need around the world.

The UCSB chapter was asked by the rural community of Araypallpa to help implement sustainable engineering projects to improve wellness, education and quality of life within the farming village of about 300 people. Chapter members very first visited Araypallpa in July, 2004 to install a solar-powered lighting system for two classrooms at the local school and to perform community water, sanitation, and well being assessments. The team returned the following summer to install a pilot slow sand filter and provide training to the community to maintain and monitor the system. The team also conducted a far more detailed health survey and met with community leaders to prioritize future projects.

Last summer, the chapter members helped establish a library to provide educational resources related to agriculture and started a gray water recycling pilot project. This summer, the team will do a final evaluation with the pilot slow sand filter and construct a full-scale system. The chapter members will also create an improved water chlorination device and evaluate ways to enhance the water system’s efficiency and create irrigation and water conservation techniques.

EWB at UCSB, now with about 40 active members, was founded in October, 2003 and has partnered with communities in Peru, Mali and Thailand on projects including solar power, water purification, sanitation, and bio-fuel production. Membership is open to all, such as students, staff, and community members. Student members of EWB at UCSB are majoring in engineering, geography, environmental science and management, anthropology, physics, biology, and other fields. Managed by volunteers, all donations go directly to cover equipment, supplies, and travel required for each project.

EWB-UCSB won the “Sustainable Legacy Award” and the Thomas P. Waters Foundation Grant last year for their efforts in Peru.

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Contact: Barbara B. Gray
University of California – Santa Barbara