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IHF NEWSLETTER
AMERICAS
Peru becomes the fortieth country to ratify
WHO tobacco convention
PERU BECAME THE 40TH STATE to ratify The World
Health Organization Framework Convention on Tobacco
Control (WHO FCTC) Treaty on 30 November 2004. In less
than a year and a half, 40 countries from all regions of the
world have taken the necessary steps to become contracting
parties to the Treaty, making it the first international legally
binding public health treaty under the auspices of WHO.
The Treaty will enter into force and become part of
international law in 90 days, following ratification by 40
countries in the past 17 months and will improve health by
contributing to the reduction of tobacco consumption,
currently the cause of premature death for nearly five million
people every year.
For more information contact: The WHO/Tobacco Free
Initiative on seoanem@who.int
PAHO and USAID sign new regional
partnership agreement worth US$20 million
THE PAN AMERICAN HEALTH ORGANIZATION (PAHO)
and the United States Agency for International Development
(USAID) signed a new three-year US$20 million regional
partnership agreement on the 15 November 2005 to
improve maternal and child health, reduce infectious disease
and strengthen health systems in the region.
As part of the grant agreement, USAID will contribute
US$4.168 million during the first year and US$12 million
over the three-year period. PAHO’s contribution will be
about US$8.1 million over the three-year period.
In maternal and child health PAHO and USAID will work
at the policy level to devote additional attention and
resources to reduce maternal mortality. In the area of
infectious disease, the partnership will focus on stemming
the tide of increasing resistance to commonly used drugs;
promoting rational pharmaceutical use, and building
capacity to treat TB and malaria. To integrate and strengthen
health systems, ie. will improve public health capacities,
management and administration of health services, foster
linkages and analyse health information systems.
For more information see: www.paho.org
Chronic kidney failure in the United States
increases 104% over decade
UNITED STATES CASES OF CHRONIC KIDNEY failure
doubled from 1990–2001 to 1,424 per million, due to an
increase in the prevalence of hypertension and diabetes, the
aging of the population and a higher survival rate for those
with the disease, the Centers for Disease Control and
Prevention reported in October 2004. To reverse the trend,
CDC recommends screening people at high risk, and
treating and controlling risk factors such as hypertension
and diabetes. About 19 million adults have chronic kidney
disease, and an estimated 80,000 are diagnosed with kidney
failure each year.
For further information see: www.cdc.gov
EUROPE
WHO concerned about absence from work
due to stress-related conditions
STRESS-RELATED CONDITIONS ARE THE MAIN CAUSE
of absence from work in several countries of the WHO
European Region, costing society increasing amounts in
sickness benefits and lost working days. Studies suggest
that 50–60% of all working days lost in those countries are
related to stress. Experts gathered in Tallinn, Estonia, on
4–5 October 2004 to discuss mental health and working
life, in preparation for the WHO European Ministerial
Conference on Mental Health to be held in Helsinki in
January 2005.
According to a survey in 2000 by the European
Foundation for the Improvement of Living and Working
Conditions, 28% of the 160 million workers in the
European Union complain of stress at work and over half
the workers report working at very high speed, and to tight
deadlines. Work-related stress factors contribute to a wide
spectrum of ill health: 13% of the European Union
workforce complain of headaches, 17% of muscular pains,
and 30% of backache, in addition to many other, even
potentially life-threatening diseases.
The meeting of experts in Tallinn, hosted by the Estonian
Ministry of Social Affairs, examined employment practices
across Europe, how different companies tackle stress at the
workplace and what measures can improve workers’ mental
health. Its conclusions will form part of the Ministerial
Conference in Helsinki in January 2005.
For more information: press_office@euro.who.int
New World Medical Association Secretary
General appointed
DR OTMAR KLOIBER, deputy Secretary General of the
German Medical Association, has been unanimously
appointed as the new Secretary General of the World
Medical Association. He succeeds Dr Delon Human, a
former family physician from Pretoria, South Africa, who is
standing down as Secretary General in early 2005 after
seven years in the position.
Dr Kloiber, who is 47 and a pathophysiologist, has been
working at the German Medical Association since 1991.
Before then he was involved in research on neurotoxicology,
first at the University of Minnesota in the United States and
then on pathophysiological studies at the Max-Planck
Institute for Neurological Research in Cologne, Germany.
For more information see: www.wma.net
The Editor would like to thank the World Health
Organization, the World Medical Association, the
Amercian Hospital Association, the Pan American
Health Organisation and the Global Forum for
Health Research for their help in compiling the
International news. Should you have any suitable
news items, please email your information to
Sheila@ihf-fih.org.
Vol. 40 No. 4 | World Hospitals and Health Services | 09