H5N1

First off, I hope everyone enjoyed the presentation Kat and I did. As you can tell, Kat is the flu expert and loves the subject. Its always fun working with someone so passionate. It was an interesting subject to research on. It was also quite frightening given the death toll from the 1918 flu.

Thank you for your remarks, and I will definitely use the recommedations to improve upon the next presentation I give to the class.

Continuing on with the bird flu. As I was perusing through bbc, I noticed they have an article that it is now in Hungary: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/6310029.stm and Japan: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/6305029.stm

On the site there is also a concise FAQ about avian flu: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/health/3422839.stm I really like how this provided a brief overview of the flu, how its spread, and what is being done. I think it is a good example of creating public awareness without creating a panic (which is similar to one of the questions Kat and I asked last week). Its really nice to see all this information compounded onto a huge news source with various links that include numerous questions from readers answered (i.e. can my labrador get infected?) and numerous maps depicting where birdflu has spread and which countries have human cases. To be honest, if I knew about this site when I was doing my part of the project, it would've made it a lot easier (although WHO also offers a great place to look up bird flu). Moreover, having an article on Avian flu pop up while random people worldwide are perusing through headlines, grabs readers' attention. I think that awareness of the issue will help preparedness and in the event of an outbreak, cause less panic.

On a lighter note, I found this article to be comedic (for studybreaks): http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/6309159.stm

Globalization

In the video for week 2 there was a particularly interesting one on globalization. In the beginning, it mentioned how droves of people protest and are against sweat shop labor in other countries and so on and so forth. Its funny because for a while I always thought of myself to be one of those people. About a year ago I saw a piece on one of those news shows (like 20/20 or Dateline..I can't recall exactly which one it was) on how people in places like Sri Lanka and Vietnam where all the big factories are going think all of us are, to put it bluntly, stupid. As noted in this video, yes these factories are only paying the workers far less than what any factory workers in the US would receive. Practically dollars a day. However, in comparing the amount that they would have earned in another factory, this is apparently far more. So in a sense, these factories coming in these poor countries is a good thing. Because these foreign factories are paying more than the ones established in the region, it drives up the overall rates of factory workers in all factories. This is definitely good. However, I still am a bit uncomfortable with this. The rates begin to grow, and the foreign factories leave so they can set up shop in another country with cheaper rate. Thus, the thousands of employees that big companies like Nike employs all of a sudden find themselves without a job. Conversely, the corporation has now moved in a more poor region and thus helps build the new country up economically. I can see the pros and cons of both sides, but I think there needs to be some sort of ethical stipulation to these corporations before they come in and set up shop. They need to not only guarantee the better wages in respect to the country's wages, but also other benefits (i.e. health and at the very least a good severance package when the company closes to allow these people to go on until they could find another job).

This is also leads me to think about, as Americans we always complain about outsourcing -- all our jobs are going overseas. The truth is, America can no longer be a country of factories. We need to, as Dr. Shahi has stated, evolve and be innovative. If we are to survive as a global power, we need to put more money into our schools, ensure that every child has a good education. America's elementary school system is failing in many states. If we don't encourage the young minds of our nation, we have no hope but to fall fast and hard.

Hans Rosling's presentation

video: http://www.ted.com/tedtalks/tedtalksplayer.cfm?key=hans_rosling&flashEnabled=1

Having watched this video a number of things jump to mind. First off, the manner in which it is presented. This is a dynamic speaker whose enthusiasm grabs your attention. Moreover, the presentation itself helps keep you visually stimulated as well as informed in regards to the subject being presented. In essence, the presentation was not only informative, but a great way of promoting Gapminder (http://www.gapminder.org/).

In terms of the the topic being presented. These trends regarding wealth and life expectancies clearly represent the disparities that exist between countries. Moreover, he emphasizes the differences that exist within regions. What I found very interesting is how he noted in each region, there is a range from countries that are poor to countries that are rich and how to develop a program for the whole region when there are so many variations within the region. In other words, a region is not equal, so can an intervention be successful for the rich if you are tailoring it for the poor? This makes sense because it is clear to anyone that the rich have a completely different mindset than the poor.

That being said, it makes me wonder how do you design an intervention for all these subgroups? For each region, the intervention must be socially and economically relevant, thus suggesting highly specialized interventions. Certainly a daunting task. However, I feel that working with the already local health organizations, and hopefully establishing an efficient process, big change can occur.