April 25, 2007, marks the seventh commemoration of Africa Malaria Day, a day chosen in 2000 by African governments to reaffirm their commitment, embodied in the Abuja Declaration, to halve the burden of malaria in Africa by 2010.
The Hamilton Project, an initiative at the Brookings Institution, hosted a forum, “Health Care Reconsidered: Options for Change,” today at the Brookings Institution in Washington, D.C. At the event, policy papers on reforming Medicare Part “D” (including closing the “donut hole” gap in prescription drug coverage), improving preventive care and promoting greater affordability through progressive cost-sharing were released by The Hamilton Project.
The U.S. Government through the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) announced a three-year contract to bolster international capacity for avian and pandemic influenza response.
The increasing number of tuberculosis cases detected annually in Thailand is an ongoing challenge for the government, the Nation reports. According to Somchai Pinyopornpaitch, deputy director-general of the Department of Disease Control, TB cases have increased for several years despite health officials’ efforts.
In a knowledge economy, people work increasingly with their heads instead of their hands. This makes mental health a crucial component of economic growth. However, the knowledge economy leads to high levels of stress and mental health problems. By damaging its “mental capital” the knowledge economy undermines the basis for its own success. These are some of the conclusions of the report “Mental Capital” by Rifka Weehuizen, researcher at UNU-MERIT in the Netherlands.