By Andrew Buncombe, Asia correspondent
Saturday, 2 May 2009

On the anniversary of the Burmese cyclone, more than a hundred thousand survivors are still living in makeshift shelters hopelessly inadequate to the monsoon rains that will soon engulf the country.

But despite the population's desperate need, the ruling junta has now tightened regulations to make it harder for aid workers to get visas.

By Madison Park
(CNN)

A runny nose. A cough. A sore throat. And even pork eaten a week ago.

Hospitals like Sutter Delta Medical Center in Antioch, California, set up triage tents to handle overcrowding

After a week of headlines about the H1N1 virus, or swine flu, many emergency rooms and hospitals are crammed with people, many of whom don't need to be there.

The visits by the "worried well" have triggered concerns of overburdening the nation's hospitals and emergency departments, several health care professionals told CNN.

2008, iv + 28 pages ISBN 978 92 890 7186 4
WHO Regional Office for Europe- Copenhagen, Denmark

Available online PDF [36p.] at: http://www.euro.who.int/Document/E91310.pdf

“…..The Eleventh Futures Forum reviewed some countries’ experience in applying ethical governance approaches to a major contemporary policy concern for WHO and its Member States: preparedness for an influenza pandemic. The topic provided a concrete policy-making example that participants could use to discuss broader and more generic ethical governance approaches in European health systems.

First Flu Death Provides Clues to Mexico Toll

Adriana Zehbrauskas for The New York Times

By MARC LACEY and ELISABETH MALKIN
Published: April 30, 2009

OAXACA, Mexico — Adela María Gutiérrez fell ill in the beginning of April with what she thought was a bad cold. She tried aspirin and antibiotics, bed rest and moist towels, but nothing brought down her soaring fever, reduced her aches and pains, or boosted her energy level.

By Catherine Bremer

MEXICO CITY (Reuters) - Mexico began shutting down parts of its economy on Thursday to slow the spread of a new flu strain as officials urged increased worldwide precautions against an imminent pandemic.

-- snip --

New confirmed flu cases were reported in the United States, Canada and Europe, although a case in Peru, which would have been the first confirmed case in Latin America outside of Mexico, was later discounted.

Teams in Action:
Primary Health Care Teams for Canadians

Health Council of Canada – April 2009

Teams Should be “Standard of Care” for Canadians with Chronic Health Conditions

Available online PDF [57p.] at: http://www.healthcouncilcanada.ca/teamsinaction.pdf

As Canada’s health care system deals with an aging population, collaborative health care teams are an effective way to treat the increasing number of Canadians with chronic health conditions.

UK Government Equalities Office (GEO)

On Friday 24th April 2009 the Equality Bill was introduced in the House of Commons and it was published on Monday 27th April.
Please see below for more information, documents and relevant downloads:
· The Equality Bill and Explanatory Notes (Links to external site.)
· A Fairer Future- The Equality Bill and other action to make equality a reality
· Impact Assessment
· Equality Impact Assessment
· Easy Read
· Assessing the Impact of a Multiple Discrimination Provision

Equality Bill 2008-09

The Millennium Development Goals Fail Poor Children: The Case for Equity-Adjusted Measures

Daniel D. Reidpath1*, Chantal M. Morel2, Jeffrey W. Mecaskey3, Pascale Allotey1
1 Centre for Public Health Research, Brunel University, Uxbridge, United Kingdom,
2 LSE Health, London School of Economics, London, United Kingdom,
3 Save the Children UK, London, United Kingdom
PLoS Med 6(4): e1000062. doi:10.1371/journal.pmed.1000062 - April 28, 2009

Available online at: http://www.plosmedicine.org/article/info%3Adoi%2F10.1371%2Fjournal.pmed.1000062

Many governments around the world have begun to impose restrictions in hopes of limiting the spread of Swine Flu. A CNN story gives an update of cases and focuses on Mexico's new enforcement of restaurant closures and contemplation of transportation restrictions.

http://www.cnn.com/2009/HEALTH/04/28/swine.flu/index.html

MEXICO CITY, Mexico (CNN) -- About 35,000 public venues in Mexico City were shut down or told to serve only takeout meals Tuesday as officials tried to contain a deadly swine flu outbreak.

Relevantamiento de Planes y Políticas Nacionales de Salud:
Resultados e Implicaciones

By Patrick Oppmann
CNN

SEATTLE, Washington (CNN) -- Predicting the path of a swine flu outbreak is next to impossible, public health officials say. But Dr. Ira Longini has spent more than three decades trying to do just that.

Dr. Ira Longini studies simulations of hypothetical influenzas and how they would spread. And Longini says the apparent new strain of swine flu appears to be here to stay. "We are probably going to have to live with this virus for some time," he told CNN.

Managing evidence-based knowledge:
the need for reliable, relevant and readable resources

Sharon Straus is with the LiKaShing Knowledge Institute, St. Michael’s Hospital, University of Toronto,
R. Bryan Haynes is with the Department of Clinical Epidemiology and Biostatistics, McMaster University, Hamilton, Ont. Canada
Canadian Medical Association CMAJ • April 28, 2009; 180 (9). doi:10.1503/cmaj.081697

Available online at: http://www.cmaj.ca/cgi/reprint/180/9/942