Sustainable systems need a strong economic infrastructure or the social competition for scare resources and limited political influence to spark recovery will inevitably lead to self-interest, protectionist measures by governmental institutions, perpetuating the multiple crises now underway. Development and deployment of rapid recovery solutions that have a global impact on environmental and societal systems can succeed with a shared communication platform for multistakeholder action.

Lucie Laflamme, Karolinska Institutet, Stockholm, Sweden
Dinesh Sethi, WHO Regional Office for Europe
Stephanie Burrows, Université de Québec à Montréal, Montréal, Canada
Marie Hasselberg, Karolinska Institutet, Stockholm, Sweden
Francesca Racioppi, WHO Regional Office for Europe
Franklin Apfel, World Health Communication Associates, Somerset, United Kingdom
WHO Regional Office for Europe - Copenhagen, Denmark - 2009

Available online PDF [38p.] at: http://www.euro.who.int/document/e92197.pdf

Jan. 28, 2009
By Tong Wenxun

Immediately following the terror of the SARS breakout and its mysterious disappearance, another deadly disease appeared on the scene. In 2004 the avian influenza virus attacked poultry farms and wild birds across the Asian countryside.

These two diseases share the same source: China. Their initial disclosures were also similar in that a few brave people revealed the truth to the world despite pressure from Chinese authorities to deny their existence.

Shankar Prinja a & Rajesh Kumar b
a. London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, Keppel Street, London, WC1E 7HT, England.
b. School of Public Health, Postgraduate Institute of Medical Education and Research, Chandigarh, India.

Bulletin of the World Health Organization 2009;87:84-84. doi: 10.2471/BLT.08.062695
Volume 87, Number 2, February 2009

Available online at: http://www.who.int/bulletin/volumes/87/2/08-062695/en/index.html

Adam Wagstaff
The World Bank - Development Research Group
Human Development and Public Services Team - Policy Research Working Paper 4821
January 2009

Available online PDF file [39p.] at:
http://www-wds.worldbank.org/external/default/WDSContentServer/IW3P/IB/2009/01/21/000158349_20090121101737/Rendered/PDF/WPS4821.pdf

In Zimbabwe, the opposition has finally reached a power-sharing agreement with the Mugabe-controlled government, but Mugabe remains in control of crucial elements of the government in collapse, and a military that has remained loyal to him.

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DISPATCH: MUGABE'S ZIMBABWE
'Now the Terror Has Returned'

Sunday, February 1, 2009; Page B02

ANNALS OF PUBLIC POLICY
GETTING THERE FROM HERE
How should Obama reform health care?
by Atul Gawande
JANUARY 26, 2009

Our jerry-rigged health-care system contains many models that reformers can build on.

Media and democracy in fragile states: the promises and problems of policy relevant research
by James Deane

Disaster-affected communities are and should be the architects of their own recovery, not merely passive recipients of international goodwill
by Imogen Wall

International Epidemiologic Association (IEA)

Jaipur, India April 5-17, 2009

Website: http://www.dundee.ac.uk/iea/Welcome.htm

The deadline for applications is: February 1, 2009

Information about the course and the application form are available at: http://www.dundee.ac.uk/iea/SEAsia.htm

Eight months after Cyclone Nargis, this year's monsoon paddy harvest is less than hoped

THAUK KYAR, 7 January 2009 (IRIN) - U Nay Aung, a resident of Thauk Kyar village in Dedaye Township, is one of thousands of farmers across the cyclone-affected area who never gave up, succeeding after the fourth attempt to yield some harvest.

In May, his 4.6 hectares of paddy fields were badly affected by the tidal surge that accompanied Cyclone Nargis. When the donated seeds did not take, he borrowed money to buy his own.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2008/dec/02/forests-brazil/print

Brazil announces plan to slash rainforest destruction
Tom Phillips in Rio de Janeiro
guardian.co.uk, Tuesday 2 December 2008 12.52 GMT

The Brazilian government yesterday announced a 10-year plan to slash rainforest destruction by 70% days after new figures showed Amazon deforestation was again on the rise.

Officials said the targets, which are part of Brazil's Climate Change Plan, were the first time the Brazilian government had set specific goals for deforestation reduction.

January 28, 2009
Sri Lanka: 250,000 Civilians Trapped in Intense Fighting
MSF Denied Access to Assist Victims in War Zone

Doctors Without Borders/Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) is very concerned for the safety of an estimated 250,000 people trapped in heavy fighting in the Vanni in northern Sri Lanka. Hundreds of civilians are reported to have been wounded and killed during the last days as the LTTE-controlled area has shrunk in the face of the government of Sri Lanka’s military offensive.

By MARC CHAMPION in Davos, Switzerland, and ANDREW BATSON in Beijing

The premiers of Russia and China slammed the U.S. economic system in speeches Wednesday, holding it responsible for the global economic crisis.

Both focused on the role of the U.S. dollar, with China's Premier Wen Jiabao calling for better regulation of major reserve currencies and Russia's Prime Minister Vladimir Putin calling over-reliance on the dollar "dangerous."

Wen Jiabao and Vladimir Putin address the World Economic Forum in Davos.

Zimbabwe's water, sanitation and health systems have collapsed
The death toll from the cholera outbreak in Zimbabwe has now passed the 3,000 mark, the UN's World Health Organization (WHO) has said.
The latest figures represent an increase of more than 1,000 deaths in just two weeks.
Meanwhile, the MDC's leader sounded more upbeat about power-sharing, a day after his party denied it had agreed to join a unity government next month.
He said it would go ahead if the rivals resolved their long-running disputes.