Copyright 2009 Medical News Today Latest Aid / Disasters News From Medical News Today. http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/sections/aid-disasters/ admin@medicalnewstoday.com (MNT Admin) editors@medicalnewstoday.com (MNT Editors) en-us Sat, 04 Jul 2009 00:00:00 PDT http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/156404.php http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/156404.php Hurricane Katrina was the largest natural disaster in U.S. history, claiming the lives of more than 1,800 victims and causing well over $100 billion in damage along the Gulf Coast. The 2005 storm breached every levee in New Orleans, flooding almost the entire city as well as the neighboring parishes. Yet a surprising number of people stayed behind and rode out the storm. Aid / Disasters Fri, 03 Jul 2009 04:00:00 PDT http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/156298.php http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/156298.php Michel Sidibe, the executive director of UNAIDS, voiced concerns that wealthy nations who previously pledged to help Africa stop the spread of HIV/AIDS during the G8 summit four years ago, might instead use funds to bolster their own ailing economies, Reuters reports. "Before this financial crisis, the world came together and this solidarity helped put more than 3. HIV / AIDS Fri, 03 Jul 2009 00:00:00 PDT http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/156263.php http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/156263.php The first of two reviews in this week's edition of The Lancet discusses the standards of health and lifestyles of Indigenous people. It is the work of Professor Michael Gracey, of the Unity of First People of Australia, Perth, WA, Australia, and Professor Malcolm King, of the University of Alberta, Edmonton, Canada. Aid / Disasters Fri, 03 Jul 2009 00:00:00 PDT http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/156284.php http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/156284.php The second of two reviews in this week´s The Lancet discusses the primary origins of the health gap. In an effort to understand these inequalities, the authors attempt to give an Indigenous perspective. Aid / Disasters Thu, 02 Jul 2009 03:00:00 PDT http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/156127.php http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/156127.php Most of the world's acute hunger and undernutrition occurs not in conflicts and natural disasters but in the annual "hunger season," according to an article in this week's open access journal PLoS Medicine. The hunger season is the time of year when the previous year's harvest stocks have dwindled, food prices are high, and jobs are scarce, and is often under recognized. Aid / Disasters Thu, 02 Jul 2009 00:00:00 PDT http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/156063.php http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/156063.php Deputy Executive Director and Chief Operating Officer, Amir Abdulla, of the United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) today said that the agency's emergency operation in the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) - which aims to assist 6.2 million vulnerable and hungry people - is grossly under-funded. WFP has received US$75 million and would require US$504 million to reach all the hungry in the DPRK. Aid / Disasters Mon, 29 Jun 2009 02:00:00 PDT http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/155620.php http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/155620.php USAID announced on Thursday a $1 million commitment to a Red Cross project aimed at helping those "living along southern Africa's Zambezi River cope with worsening natural disasters because of climate change," the AP/Washington Post reports. Aid / Disasters Fri, 26 Jun 2009 12:00:00 PDT http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/155580.php http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/155580.php Polio, or poliomyelitis, is a highly contagious viral infection that can lead to paralysis, breathing problems, or even death. The term poliomyelitis is from the Greek poliós meaning "grey", myelós referencing the spinal cord, and -itis meaning inflammation. Polio can be classified as either symptomatic or asymptomatic. Infectious Diseases / Bacteria / Viruses Fri, 26 Jun 2009 06:00:00 PDT http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/155490.php http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/155490.php The world is slowly losing the fight against hunger in the Horn of Africa, according to the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC), which renewed its call for emergency food supplies, water and recovery activities to help about 2.5 million food insecure people in Djibouti, Ethiopia, Kenya and Somalia, Xinhua/CRIENGLISH.com reports. Aid / Disasters Fri, 26 Jun 2009 05:00:00 PDT http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/155484.php http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/155484.php At the opening of a three-day U.N. financial summit on Wednesday, developing countries joined U.N. officials in "calling for more money and a greater role in regulating the world economy in the wake of the worst global financial crisis since the Great Depression, which has taken a disproportionate toll on poor nations," AP/Google.com reports (Astor, AP/Google.com, 6/25). Aid / Disasters Fri, 26 Jun 2009 05:00:00 PDT http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/155486.php http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/155486.php Taiwan Marks Increased Numbers Of HIV-Positive Students The Taiwan AIDS Foundation said that according to Department of Health's Centers for Disease Control statistics, the average age of HIV positive people in the country is getting younger, the China Post reports. HIV / AIDS Fri, 26 Jun 2009 00:00:00 PDT http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/155380.php http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/155380.php Global warming will likely mean more unpredictable weather, scientists say, and a new study by researchers at the University of Georgia pins down, possibly for the first time, how drought conditions in an area's fall and winter may effect tornado activity the following spring. Water - Air Quality / Agriculture Thu, 25 Jun 2009 01:00:00 PDT http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/155230.php http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/155230.php The global economic crisis has had a devastating impact on the world's hungry. In the past year, approximately 100 million people have been added to the ranks of the roughly 1 billion people worldwide considered by the United Nations Food and Agricultural Organization to be undernourished, according to its report issued June 19, 2009. Thus, the second annual McGill Conference on Global Food Security, Oct. 5-7, 2009, could not be more timely. Conferences Wed, 24 Jun 2009 08:00:00 PDT http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/155190.php http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/155190.php Two young people, former child soldiers, who have transformed their brutal life experiences toward helping the more than one billion children whose lives are currently touched by war today told the international community, including Franco Frattini, the Italian Minister of Foreign Affairs, and Giovanni Alemanno, Mayor of Rome, what must be done to ensure that children are fully protected even in the heat of war. Aid / Disasters Wed, 24 Jun 2009 06:00:00 PDT http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/155152.php http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/155152.php The World Bank released a report Monday, projecting "a 2.9 percent contraction in global GDP this year, as rich countries contract by 4.5 percent," the Wall Street Journal reports. Aid / Disasters Wed, 24 Jun 2009 06:00:00 PDT http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/155154.php http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/155154.php The Network of African Science Academies (NASAC) issued Aid / Disasters Wed, 24 Jun 2009 06:00:00 PDT http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/155159.php http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/155159.php For the first time, the number of chronically hungry people worldwide is greater than 1 billion, according to a recent U.N. Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) statement, the Financial Times reports (Blas, Financial Times, 6/19). The total number of hungry people is estimated to have reached 1. Aid / Disasters Tue, 23 Jun 2009 04:00:00 PDT http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/154968.php http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/154968.php Instead of responding to natural disasters after they happen, aid should be dedicated to helping countries prepare for future disasters, John Holmes, the U.N.'s emergency relief coordinator, said Friday, Reuters reports. Aid / Disasters Tue, 23 Jun 2009 03:00:00 PDT http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/154927.php http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/154927.php ArcelorMittal and the American Red Cross are launching a new national partnership, Creating Safer Communities, designed to bring important safety training and resources to people who live and work in communities where ArcelorMittal operates. ArcelorMittal, the world's leading steel company, provided a grant of $152,500 to be distributed in multiple communities across the US. Aid / Disasters Tue, 23 Jun 2009 03:00:00 PDT http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/154962.php http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/154962.php To mark World Refugee Day on June 20, the U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) urged the "international community to do more to protect and care for refugees around the world," VOA News reports (Schlein, VOA News, 6/20). Antonio Guterres, the UNHCR head, said, the "people cared for by the U.N. refugee agency and our partners are among the most vulnerable on Earth. Aid / Disasters Mon, 22 Jun 2009 01:00:00 PDT http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/154756.php http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/154756.php World hunger is projected to reach a historic high in 2009 with 1 020 million people going hungry every day, according to new estimates published by FAO today. The most recent increase in hunger is not the consequence of poor global harvests but is caused by the world economic crisis that has resulted in lower incomes and increased unemployment. This has reduced access to food by the poor, the UN agency said. Aid / Disasters Sat, 20 Jun 2009 06:00:00 PDT http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/154654.php http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/154654.php Panasonic Toyota Racing Formula 1 drivers will team up with the world's largest humanitarian agency to fight world hunger on Sunday (June 21) at the British Grand Prix. Jarno Trulli and Timo Glock are driving cars sporting the logo of the United Nations World Food Programme's "Fill the Cup" campaign for the duration of the 2009 racing season. Aid / Disasters Sat, 20 Jun 2009 01:00:00 PDT http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/154667.php http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/154667.php Well-heeled donors, private corporations and average citizens sending money to their favorite charities are changing the landscape of global health funding, according to a new study by the Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation (IHME) at the University of Washington. The research shows that funding for health in developing countries has quadrupled over the past two decades - from $5.6 billion in 1990 to $21.8 billion in 2007. Aid / Disasters Fri, 19 Jun 2009 06:00:00 PDT http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/154635.php http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/154635.php The Guardian examines the recent U.S. commitment to continue support for the development of Nigeria's health and education sector by Anne Fleuret, Nigeria's acting mission director of USAID. Aid / Disasters Fri, 19 Jun 2009 05:00:00 PDT http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/154631.php http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/154631.php The House State-Foreign Operations Appropriations Subcommittee "unanimously approved its FY10 funding measure without any amendments" on Wednesday, "deferring expected fights for the full committee markup in a week," CongressDaily reports. The bill provides "increased funding for additional department and USAID employees," according to Congress Daily. Aid / Disasters