Comments on: Annabel Ferriman on questions for Margaret Chan

By: Catherine Coleman

Catherine Coleman — Wed, 01 Jul 2009 16:42:17 +0000

I would like to ask Dr. Chan her thoughts on the omission of chronic disease prevention from the MDGs. Many groups are advocating for this inclusion. Most recently the International Diabetes Federation, International Union Against Cancer, and World Heart Federation issued a joint statement urging WHO to integrate NCD prevention into its global development agenda. The MDGs are the primary agenda at this time, and they represent laudable goals. They guide a majority of international donors in directing their gifts. Chronic disease prevention could be integrated into several of the MDGs, if not added as a separate goal. Is advocacy for this a waste of our effort and is there something else we should be doing that would bear fruit?
Catherine, Coleman, Editor in Chief, ProCor
ProCor is a global network promoting cardiovascular health in low-resource settings, and is a program of the Lown Cardiovascular Research Foundation in Boston MA USA.

By: Camilo Colaco

Camilo Colaco — Mon, 29 Jun 2009 09:46:59 +0000

On a recent vist to the US, I found that immigration checks at Miami now include fingerprinting of all fingers on both hands by placing hands in contact with a solid screen. I assume this is also the policy at other US airports (including international flight hubs such as Miami) and possibly other international airports too. Given thae know survival of infuenza virus on solid surfaces, this surely is a highly efficient way to spread the virus. Is the WHO taking any steps to address this extremely large but easily avoidable risk to the further spread of pandemic influenza (and other infectious diseases)? I would think even a simple multilingual notice to ‘wash your hands’ on the fingerprinting machines would make a significant impact.

By: Breda Synnott

Breda Synnott — Wed, 24 Jun 2009 14:28:21 +0000

Considering the fact that asthma is such a common condition, have any H1N1 flu victims who have died had asthma. Did they have severe disease, or are those whose asthma is under control and fairly mild, at equal risk of dying from flu? Does the type of treatment asthmatics are taking influence the course of the flu?