Ben Block

China and the United States should focus on their similarities, rather than their differences, to jumpstart bilateral climate negotiations, a pair of former White House staffers recommended yesterday.
Unable to agree on each other's role in addressing climate change, the talks between the world's two largest greenhouse gas emitters have remained in gridlock since the United States excused itself from the Kyoto Protocol in 2001.

By BRYAN WALSH Monday, Feb. 09, 2009

Directive Expands Makeup and Role Of Security Body
By Karen DeYoung
Washington Post Staff Writer
Sunday, February 8, 2009; A01

President Obama plans to order a sweeping overhaul of the National Security Council, expanding its membership and increasing its authority to set strategy across a wide spectrum of international and domestic issues.

Norwegian Directorate of Health - 2008

Available online as PDF file [144p.] at:
http://www.helsedirektoratet.no/vp/multimedia/archive/00062/Health_creates_welfa_62299a.pdf

‘….. The report for 2008 is a systematic description and review of the Norwegian health system based on the World Health Organisation’s definitions of functions and goals for health systems. The report also provides insights into and discusses the links between the health system, health and welfare in society.

With this report, the Directorate of Health seeks to:

For those that are interested in helping the 4 billion people who live on less than $2 per day.

For more information:

http://experiencedynamics.blogs.com/site_search_usability/2008/05/design-like-you.html

WASHINGTON (CNN) -- Leading Republicans warned Sunday that the Obama administration's $800 billion-plus economic stimulus effort will lead to what one called a "financial disaster."

The country will "pay dearly" if it executes the president's stimulus plans, Sen. Richard Shelby says.

"Everybody on the street in America understands that," said Sen. Richard Shelby, the ranking Republican on the Senate Banking Committee. "This is not the right road to go. We'll pay dearly."

The Chinese ambassador to the United States has urged developed countries to help developing nations address problems relating to climate change, saying it is a "common but differentiated responsibility" for them all.

"China is ready to maintain close cooperation with the US," Zhou Wenzhong told a forum at the Brookings Institution, a Washington-based think-tank, on Thursday, adding the country will continue to be "an active and responsible participant and contributor" to international cooperation in regard to clean energy and climate change.

Addresses Overflow Crowd at Woodrow Wilson Center

(Washington, D.C.) “Is there such a thing as ‘peak water’? There is a vast amount of water on the planet—but we are facing a crisis of running out of sustainably managed water,” said Peter Gleick, president of the Pacific Institute. “Humans already appropriate over 50 percent of all renewable and accessible freshwater flows, and yet billions still lack the most basic water services.”

WHO Executive Board 124th Session EB124.R8 - Agenda item 4.5
26 January 2009

Available online

English: http://www.who.int/gb/ebwha/pdf_files/EB124/B124_R8-en.pdf

Spanish: http://www.who.int/gb/ebwha/pdf_files/EB124/B124_R8-sp.pdf

French: http://www.who.int/gb/ebwha/pdf_files/EB124/B124_R8-fr.pdf

Thu Feb 05 10:05:18 UTC 2009
(Reuters) - IBM is teaming up with Google Inc on a new software to move data from remote personal medical devices into Google Health and other personal health records (PHRs).

Patients will be able to exchange vital health information with their doctors and other health services professionals more easily, and in real-time, by using the IBM software.

"Once stored in a PHR, the data can also be shared with physicians and other members of the extended care network at a user's discretion," IBM said in a statement.

The HIV pandemic is continuing to destroy the social safety nets of sub-Saharan African countries.
Millions of children are being orphaned by AIDS.
Extended families, neighbors and NGOs are caring for many of these children, and in some cases young teens are caring for their younger siblings in "child-headed households".

A CIA report in 1999 considered HIV/AIDS as a threat to security, and General Colin Powell repeatedly stated that it was a greater threat than Iraq.

The article below gives an example of this interconnectedness.

Health Equity: Our Global Responsibility
16th Annual Canadian Conference on International Health

Sunday, October 25th to Wednesday, October 28th, 2009
Ottawa, Ontario, Canada

Website: http://www.csih.org/en/ccih/index.asp

The Conference will examine inequities of health status, and the impact on the health of marginalized, vulnerable and Indigenous populations of changing environments, whether these changes are due to climate, technology, the economy or threats to human security.

Materials from January 21 Webinar on Evaluating Measures of Success Using Clinical Decision Support

AHRQ has made available the materials from its January 21 Webinar on “Evaluating Measures of Success Using Clinical Decision Support” on its National Resource Center for Health Information Technology.

The Independent Evaluation Group (IEG) at the World Bank, in partnership with the Faculty of Public Affairs and Management at Carleton University
International Program for Development Evaluation Training
Building Skills to Evaluate Development Interventions

June 8 - July 3, 2009 Ottawa, Canada

Website: http://www.ipdet.org/page.aspx?pageId=programInfo