Tuesday, June 7, 2011

[EQ] Migration as a Tool for Disaster Recovery

Migration as a Tool for Disaster Recovery:
A Case Study on U.S. Policy Options for Post-Earthquake Haiti

 

Royce Bernstein Murray and Sarah Petrin Williamson

CGD Working Paper 255. Washington, D.C.
Center for Global Development - June 2011

http://www.cgdev.org/content/publications/detail/1425143

 

Available online PDF [60p.] at: http://bit.ly/lVomSy

 

“……..After a natural catastrophe in a developing country, international migration can play a critical role in recovery. But the United States has no systematic means to leverage the power and cost-effectiveness of international migration in its post-disaster assistance portfolios.

 

Victims of natural disasters do not qualify as refugees under U.S. or international law, and migration policy toward those fleeing disasters is set in a way that is haphazard and tightly constrained.

 

This paper comprehensively explores the legal means by which this could change, allowing the government more flexibility to take advantage of migration policy as one inexpensive tool among many tools for post-disaster assistance. It explores both the potential for administrative actions under current law and the potential for small changes to current law.

 

For concreteness, it focuses on the case of the 2010 earthquake in Haiti, but its policy lessons apply to future disasters that are sadly certain to arrive. The paper neither discusses nor recommends “opening the gates” to all disaster victims, just as current U.S. refugee law does not open the gates to all victims of persecution, but rather seeks to identify those most in need of protection and provide a legal channel for entry and integration into American life….”

 

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[EQ] Climate Change, the Indoor Environment, and Health

Climate Change, the Indoor Environment, and Health

US Committee on the Effect of Climate Change on Indoor Air Quality and Public Health

Board on Population Health and Public Health Practice- National Academy of Sciences 2011

Available online at: http://bit.ly/mOj0eu


“……Indoor environmental conditions exert considerable influence on health, learning, and productivity. Poor environmental conditions and indoor contaminants are estimated to cost the US economy tens of billions of dollars a year in exacerbation of illnesses, allergic symptoms, and lost productivity (Fisk and Rosenfeld 1997).

Climate change has the potential to affect the indoor environment. There is a large literature on how the indoor environment influences occupant health and how the external environment influences the indoor environment under different climate conditions. Research on the possible effects of climate change on human health is also emerging. However, the intersection of those bodies of research—the fraction specifically on the effects of climate change on human health in the indoor environment—is small. Such studies are complicated by the fact that the effects of climate change on indoor environmental quality are region-dependent and vary with the age and condition of the regionally dependent built environment.

 

Multiple parts of government and the private sector have a stake in issues of climate change, indoor environmental quality, and public health, but no one body has lead responsibility. As a result, there is a lack of leadership in identifying potential hazards, formulating solutions, and setting research and policy priorities….”



Contents


Report Synopsis

1 INTRODUCTION


2 BACKGROUND
2

Elements of Climate-Change Research Relevant to the Built Environment and Public Health

Adverse Exposures Associated with Climate-Change–Induced Alterations in the Indoor Environment

Time Spent in the Indoor Environment

Climate Change and Vulnerable Populations

3 GOVERNMENT AND PRIVATE-SECTOR INVOLVEMENT IN CLIMATE CHANGE, INDOOR ENVIRONMENT, AND HEALTH ISSUES


4 AIR QUALITY


5 DAMPNESS, MOISTURE, AND FLOODING


6 INFECTIOUS AGENTS AND PESTS


7 THERMAL STRESS


8 BUILDING VENTILATION, WEATHERIZATION, AND ENERGY USE

Energy Use in Buildings

Building Weatherization

Energy-Efficiency Programs for Buildings

Energy Star

Product-Labeling and Building-Certification Programs

Health Issues Related to Weatherization

Synthesis

Conclusions

References

9 KEY FINDINGS, GUIDING PRINCIPLES, AND PRIORITY ISSUES FOR ACTION


APPENDIXES

 

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This message from the Pan American Health Organization, PAHO/WHO, is part of an effort to disseminate
information Related to: Equity; Health inequality; Socioeconomic inequality in health; Socioeconomic
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[EQ] Inequity in Cancer Care: A Global Perspective

Inequity in Cancer Care: A Global Perspective

Human Health Reports No. 3

International Atomic Energy Agency IAEA

Vienna, 2011

Available online PDF [51p.] at: http://bit.ly/lXoG9p

 

“……….There is enough evidence to assert that people with a lower socioeconomic status experience greater cancer incidence and shorter survival rates after diagnosis. Yet, socioeconomic status, a function of income, education and occupation, does not itself cause cancer or poor outcomes. Rather, it is a marker for the underlying physical and social factors that cause the disease, its recurrence and its eventual outcome.

 

Lower socioeconomic status can lead to access problems along the entire spectrum of care, starting from early detection issues to the delays in diagnosis after the appearance of initial symptoms. Apart from logistical barriers to access, people of lower socioeconomic status are more likely to remain uninformed about early detection programmes and disease management, including the early signs, symptoms and availability of cancer treatment. Lastly, but certainly not least important, the quality of available care may vary with socioeconomic status [1].

 

Health care disparities arise from a complex interplay of economic, social, and cultural factors [2]. It is well known that cancer is a major cause of death throughout the world, second only to cardiovascular diseases. Around ten million new cancer patients are diagnosed every year [4]. The overall incidence of cancer in developing countries is half of that observed in the developed world, and it is increasing rapidly. Site specific cancer survival rates in developing countries are often less than one third of those in the developed world [5]. In contrast, cancer mortality is already comparable between the developing and the developed world.

It would be unrealistic to attempt to find a molecular explanation for the difference in incidence and mortality for most cancers between more and less affluent socioeconomic groups. However, it is likely that many more genetic and epigenetic alterations that have been identified so far are required to complete the process of carcinogenesis. This would eventually explain in molecular terms the demonstrated effect of environmental exposures [3].

 

The cost of cancer care is another key issue when addressing cancer disparities. This varies dramatically according to the disease and its stage, and whether curative therapy is to be attempted. There is no doubt that there are enormous limitations in the use of cancer resources in developing countries. Apart from the cost of the treatment itself, cancer management generally requires the participation of a number of trained professionals, who are

 

The magnitude of socioeconomic differences varies between populations, and over time also within populations [6]. This suggests that identifying factors that influence socioeconomic status and health, and the pathways by which they operate, may be an important public health measure to reduce inequality in health….”

Content:

1. INTRODUCTION .
2. DISPARITIES IN CANCER INCIDENCE AND MORTALITY

3. CANCER RISK FACTORS

3.1. Tobacco consumption

3.2. Alcohol drinking

3.3. Nutrition and physical activity

3.4. Sexual behaviour and reproductive health
3.5. Environmental pollution .

3.6. Infections.

4. CANCER SCREENING

4.1. Cervical cancer screening

4.1.1. South and Central America

4.1.2. Africa
4.1.3. Asia .

4.1.4. Breast cancer screening.

4.1.5. Oral cancer screening

5. WOMEN’S CANCER
6. CHILDHOOD CANCER

7. CANCER SURVIVAL

8. ACCESS TO CANCER THERAPY

8.1. Cancer care
8.2. Access to radiation therapy.

8.2.1. Megavoltage radiation units according to population.

8.2.2. Megavoltage radiotherapy units according to cancer incidence

8.2.3. Megavoltage radiotherapy units related to gross domestic product (GDP) .

8.2.4. Provision of brachytherapy .

8.2.5. Inequalities in radiotherapy: Gender issues

8.2.6. IAEA activities in radiotherapy and cancer control

9. CONCLUSIONS

10. POLICY TO ADDRESS INEQUALITY

REFERENCES .

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This message from the Pan American Health Organization, PAHO/WHO, is part of an effort to disseminate
information Related to: Equity; Health inequality; Socioeconomic inequality in health; Socioeconomic
health differentials; Gender; Violence; Poverty; Health Economics; Health Legislation; Ethnicity; Ethics;
Information Technology - Virtual libraries; Research & Science issues.  [DD/ KMC Area]
Washington DC USA

“Materials provided in this electronic list are provided "as is". Unless expressly stated otherwise, the findings
and interpretations included in the Materials are those of the authors and not necessarily of The Pan American
Health Organization PAHO/WHO or its country members”.
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