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Loading ...LAC Health Stats, Trends and Trivia
Saturday, June 21st, 2008Which Latin American or Caribbean nation smokes or drinks the most? In which are you more likely to die from cancer than infectious diseases such as malaria or dengue? Which has the highest percentage of obese people? Which spends the most on the health of their citizens? If you you’ve ever wondered about such questions, […]
World No-Tobacco Day: Chile’s “Smoke-Free Classroom” Initiative
Thursday, June 12th, 2008Synopsis in English: Chile is a good example of a LAC nation that “followed the script” for World No-Tobacco Day 2008. The idea behind the event held every year on 31 May is to focus on the tobacco control theme for the given year chosen by the World Health Organization (WHO); this year that theme […]
WHO Calls for Complete Tobacco Ad Ban
Friday, June 6th, 2008It was only a matter of time. World Health Organization (WHO) officials have long expressed the belief that one of the most effective tools in decreasing tobacco consumption is a a complete ban on all forms of advertising, promotion and sponsorship of tobacco products and bands. They wanted it in the Framework Convention on Tobacco […]
WHO’s First Report on Tobacco Control Efforts
Wednesday, February 6th, 2008The World Health Organization (WHO) has released its first global report on tobacco control efforts. While there is progress to report, there’s also clearly alot of work remaining. Some of the key messages: Only 5% of the global population is protected by comprehensive national smoke-free legislation and 40% of countries still allow smoking in hospitals […]
Trends in Adult Smoking in Mexico
Monday, September 24th, 2007A recent article* published in Salud pública de México, the magazine of Mexico's National Institute of Public Health (INSP) examines trends in four key smoking indicators in Mexico, as revealed through its National Addiction Surveys (MNAS) conducted in 1988, 1993, 1998 and 2002. The author argues that, even though the data do not fit well […]
Tobacco Use in Individuals with Severe Mental Illnesses / Tabagismo em indivíduos com transtornos mentais graves
Sunday, July 29th, 2007A study* has just been published in the August edition of the Brazilian journal Revista de Saúde Pública (“Public Health Magazine”). I’m mentioning it here in the The Temas Blog out of the conviction that there will be some journalist somewhere (or perhaps many) who, perhaps to get senstional headlines, will misinterpret or mis-report this […]
Helping Poor Countries Deal with Chronic Non-Communicable Diseases
Thursday, July 26th, 2007Last month the World Bank issued an interesting report on chronic non-communicable chronic diseases (NCDs) such as cardiovascular disease, cancer, diabetes, and chronic lung or kidney disease, which I am adding to the Temas Recommended Reading List section on health. Perhaps by now you’re thinking that I have some sort of obsession about NCDs, since […]
Cardiovascular Disease in LAC Revisited
Tuesday, July 3rd, 2007Fellow bloggers, has this ever happened to you? You run across an important piece of news — a breakthrough study just released, for example — and are tempted to simply cut-and-paste into your blog the Reuters or other news blurb, or a related press release, or you’re tempted to make a “quick-and-dirty” post making (perhaps […]
A Health Agenda for the Americas
Saturday, June 9th, 2007The annual General Assembly (GA) of the Organization of American States (OAS), held this year in Panama just last week, was used as the venue for formally rolling out the “Health Agenda for the Americas” developed over the last two years by the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO) and the World Health Organization (WHO). The […]
World No-Tobacco Day in LAC: Puerto Rico Celebrates Fewer Smokers
Wednesday, June 6th, 2007Puerto Rico observed World No-Tobacco Day (31 May) by recognizing the anti-tobacco work of a mayor and by celebrating a drop in smoking prevalence on the island.