Twelve O’Clock and All is Most Decidedly Not Well: UNICEF’s Report on Child Well-Being in Rich Nations

UNICEF’s 2013 comparative report on child well-being in rich nations, AKA the Innocenti Report Card 11 (see page two of the report for a handy visual summary of findings) deserves our consideration. The news is Not Good for children in some of the richest nations amongst the group:  the U.S., for instance, ranks with a number of rather worse-off—by GDP—Baltic nations.  Geography also is no clear indicator: whereas the U.S. comes in 26th overall out of 29, fellow North American nation Canada comes in middle-of-the-pack at 17th.  The top five in order are Netherlands, Norway, Iceland, Finland, and Sweden.

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HIV acquisition higher in young Ugandan women than in young men

A recent study of HIV infection in Uganda revealed that young women are much more likely than young men to become infected with the AIDS virus.  Although previous studies have documented the higher proportion of young women than young men … Continue reading

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Notes on Suicide

Image source: www.bestmastersincounseling.com Link courtesy of Frida Jackson … Continue reading

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Eden Foods and birth control

Eden Foods, which specializes in natural and organic foods, takes its commitment to “the natural” very seriously. It has sued the Obama administration to get an exception from the mandate to cover birth control in its employees’ health insurance plan, … Continue reading

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Living with Dying

I didn’t mean to write about death in my first blog for IJFAB, but it is too much on my mind to ignore. A close and valued friend finally succumbed to cancer, experiencing not the several months of life that she, and I, believed were left, but falling away in a matter of just a few short weeks. Before I last left the country (I work abroad) we had joked about ‘hope and recovery’ – even knowing the latter would never happen – and wondered whether a mutual friend, a documentary maker who has filmed extensively in hospices, would be interested in working with Gill to record the final months. We were all involved in a funded project called Living with Dying and it seemed appropriate, as good academics, to turn our concerns to didactic purposes. In our exchanges of emails whilst I was away, Gill never ceased to think strategically about future possibilities and her last mail to me – sent the day before she lapsed into semi-consciousness – expressed real disappointment at the failure to secure a further grant. When I returned to the UK 2 days later and phoned to arrange a visit, a young doctor came on the phone to gently tell me that Gill had died a few hours before. I was very shaken but immensely grateful that she had not cited patient confidentiality as a reason to withhold the news. It is always uncertain being a friend rather than family, and I wish the putative hierarchy were more often sidestepped.

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The Luck of the Draw: The Fiscal and Moral Confusion of American Hospitals

The fact that Americans, without any increases in quality or quantity of services, pay much more for medical care than anyone in “peer” nations (and elsewhere) is something that is, outside of certain sociopolitical circles,  no longer up for debate. … Continue reading

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CFP: Special Issue on Transnational Reproductive Travel

Vol 7, No. 2: Special issue on Transnational Reproductive Travel The deadline for submission for this issue is June 1, 2013. Guest Editors: Françoise Baylis and Jocelyn Downie The transnational fertility industry is a multibillion-dollar global industry that continues to grow … Continue reading

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Weight Loss and the Mentally Ill

A common reason that those suffering from serious mental illness are “noncompliant” with medication is the side effect of weight gain. Of those who stay on their medication, weight gain can be the most distressing side effect. According to the National Institutes of Health, mentally ill people are 50% more likely to be overweight/obese than the general population. Weight gain has significant negative health implications and is one reason why on average mentally ill people die younger than non-mentally ill people.

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One Hand Holding the Other

a href=http://www.cnn.com/2013/04/12/health/bionic-hands/index.html?hpt=hp_t1This article/a by Danielle Dellorto reports on the experience of Jason Koger, the first double amputee to receive a new, incredibly sensitive bionic hand, the i-Limb Ultra Revolution (by Touch Bionics). This prosthetic is far more dexterous than previous models … Continue reading

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