Against the Odds: Making a Difference in Global Health

Against the Odds focuses on how individuals and communities, in collaboration with scientists, advocates, governments and international organizations, have made and are making a difference in the health of people around the globe.

The exhibit presents a look at the public health problems posed by Hurricane Katrina. It showcases the barefoot doctors program, which trained over one million young people to treat the common ailments of residents of rural China in the 1960s and 1970s. The exhibition also profiles a campaign for oral rehydration in Bangladesh that was so successful that it has been adopted in Afghanistan as well. In another example of nation-to-nation collaboration, “Against the Odds” shows how the Pholela Health Center in South Africa inspired the community health center movement in the U.S.

Videocast of the opening:
http://videocast.nih.gov/Summary.asp?File=14435

The exhibition web site:
http://www.nlm.nih.gov/exhibition/againsttheodds/introduction.html

The Bathtub collection consists of fragments found in the old and rare bindings of the NLM’s rare book collection when items were rebound and conserved in the 1940s and 1950s. It is called the “Bathtub Collection” because then-curator Dorothy Schullian took the leftovers of conservation work home and soaked them in her bathtub to retrieve the often interesting bits and pieces of medieval manuscripts and early printed ephemera she found.

Slowly and ploddingly, especially where they had been glued together to form the linings of covers, I have soaked them apart in my bathtub. My knees, I assure you, have suffered, but I have entered a bibliographer’s paradise …” (Dorothy M. Schullian. “Here the Frailest Papers of the Bibliographical Society of America, 47 (1953))

Please visit the site at: http://www.nlm.nih.gov/exhibition/bathtub/

NLM is also home to numerous genealogical resources for those seeking information about ancestors with medical or health related training. Among these is the AMA Deceased Physicians Card File, a collection of nearly 400,000 index cards created by the AMA between about 1901 and 1969 focusing on everyone in the U.S. who received a medical degree. The cards were updated throughout the physician’s career with information about degrees obtained, licensing, addresses and finally cause of death and sometimes obituary citations and even portraits. Please visit the site at: http://www.nlm.nih.gov/exhibition/genealogy/

http://www.ahrq.gov/news/press/pr2008/innovationspr.htm

A new Web resource that allows users to learn, share, and adopt innovations in the delivery of health services was launched today by the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality. The resource-called the Health Care Innovations Exchange-is available at www.innovations.ahrq.gov.

AHRQ’s Health Care Innovations Exchange is the federal government’s repository for successful health care innovations. It also includes useful descriptions of attempts at innovation that failed. The Web site is a tool for health care leaders, physicians, nurses, and other health professionals who seek to reduce health care disparities and improve health care overall.

One of the innovations reads like an NN/LM funded outreach project:

Church-Based Initiative Supports Volunteers in Providing Education and Screenings to 150,000+ Memphis Residents, Leading to Improved Health Status (04/14/2008)

A church-based program trains congregational members to be volunteer “Health Representatives” for their churches. These representatives provide health and disease prevention education and health screenings related to health priorities established by the church and its pastor, including cancer, cardiovascular disease, obesity, diabetes, and HIV/AIDS.

Stay tuned, there is also an upcoming Webinar: Using AHRQ’s Health Care Innovations Exchange to Take on the Challenges of Care Delivery scheduled for May 12, 2:00 to 3:30 EDT.

The National Library of Medicine (NLM) is pleased to announce the solicitation of quotations from organizations and libraries to design and conduct projects that will improve access to HIV/AIDS related health information for patients, the affected community, and their caregivers.

Projects must involve one or more of the following information access categories:

• Information retrieval
• Skills development
• State-of-the-art resources
• Resource development
• Document Access.

Emphasis is placed upon the following types of organizations or arrangements for developing these programs:

• Community-based organizations (CBOs) or patient advocacy groups currently providing HIV/AIDS related serves to the affected community
• Public libraries serving communities in the provision of HIV/AIDS-related information and resources
• Health departments or other local, municipal, or state agencies working to improve public health
• Faith-based organizations currently providing HIV/AIDS-related services
• Multi-type consortia of the above-listed organizations that may be in existence or formed specifically for this project.

Standard Awards are offered for up to $60,000. Express Awards are offered for up to $10,000.

Quotations are due to NLM on Monday, June 16, 2008.

The solicitation for the 2008 AIDS Community Information Outreach Projects is posted at http://www.sis.nlm.nih.gov/hiv/2008aidsrfq.html .

Previously funded AIDS Community Information Outreach Projects are posted at http://www.sis.nlm.nih.gov/outreach/aids_cio_projects.html .

If there are any questions or concerns regarding the Request for Quotations (RFQ) or submission of the proposal, please contact Robin Hope-Williams, the NLM Contracting Officer, at (301) 496-6546 or email to: rhwilli@mail.nih.gov.

The NGC mission is to provide physicians, nurses, and other health professionals, health care providers, health plans, integrated delivery systems, purchasers and others an accessible mechanism for obtaining objective, detailed information on clinical practice guidelines and to further their dissemination, implementation and use. Below are links to guidelines for April’s health topics.

Health Awareness Topics - April 2008

• Alcohol Awareness Month (see related guidelines)
• Cancer Control Month (see the Frequently Requested Search page for various cancer-related topics)
• National Autism Awareness Month (see related guidelines)
• STD Awareness Month (see the Frequently Requested Search page for various STD-related topics)

The new Hospital Compare website was created through the efforts of the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS), an agency of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS), along with the Hospital Quality Alliance (HQA). The HQA is a public-private collaboration established to promote reporting on hospital quality of care. The HQA consists of organizations that represent consumers, hospitals, doctors and nurses, employers, accrediting organizations, and Federal agencies. http://www.hospitalcompare.hhs.gov/

“For the first time, consumers have the three critical elements - quality information, patient satisfaction survey information, and pricing information for specific procedures - they need to make effective decisions about the quality and value of the health care available to them through local hospitals.” The updated information is part of the public health effort to strengthen consumer choice and create incentives to motivate providers to provide better care for all Americans. For fuller coverage, see:http://www.hhs.gov/news/press/2008pres/03/20080328a.html

The April issue of NIH News in Health, the monthly newsletter bringing you practical health news and tips based on the latest NIH research, is now online at http://newsinhealth.nih.gov/. In this issue of NIH News in Health: http://newsinhealth.nih.gov/pdf/NIHNiH%20April08.pdf

When a Medical Emergency Strikes

A Race Against the Clock

If you’re seriously injured, your recovery-and even your life-can depend on how quickly the emergency medical team arrives, what type of treatment you get and how fast they get you to a hospital.

Guard Your Liver: Protect Yourself From Hepatitis Hepatitis can make you feel as if you have the flu, but it’s a completely different disease. Flu is caused by viruses that attack your lungs and respiratory system; hepatitis is a liver disease. Some forms of hepatitis get better on their own. But others can inflict serious liver damage, and may even leave you needing a new liver.

Health Capsules:

• Allergens in Homes Linked to Asthma
• Diet and Metabolic Syndrome
• Featured Web Site: Anabolic Steroid Abuse

The new Health Care Notification Network system was created by Medem of San Francisco, California. It is supported by a group of pharmaceuticals, insurance firms, organizations, and medical centers, such as Blue Cross Blue Shield, Aetna, J and J, as well as the American College of Surgeons, among others (full list at http://www.hcnn.net/docs/HCNNSupporters.pdf). The network will be using email to quickly disseminate time sensitive drug safety alert information to health care professionals.

• HCNN replaces the current, paper-based alerts sent to physicians and other healthcare providers via U.S. mail.
• Alerts include medication recalls, warnings and national public health emergencies.
• HCNN fulfills new FDA guidance for electronic communication of patient safety notification and is supported by medical liability carriers, U.S. medical societies, national patient advocacy groups, health plans and many other national healthcare organizations that are dedicated to improved patient safety.
• HCNN protects healthcare provider privacy. No email addresses will be sold or disclosed to any third parties.

Registration for U.S. physicians and other health care providers is available immediately at http://www.hcnn.net. For more information about the HCNN and online patient safety Alert services, see http://www.hcnn.net.

http://newsroom.hrsa.gov/releases/2008/poisonhelp.htm

The Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) has announced a new poison prevention campaign. The Poison Help Campaign addresses the alarming statistics on poisonings in the United States. This past year, more than 2.4 million poison exposures were reported to the nation’s network of Poison Control Centers (PCCs). Unintentional poisoning deaths are the second leading cause of injury death for U.S. adults.

The campaign features a new Web site, http://PoisonHelp.hrsa.gov, with downloadable resources to inform and educate the public on poison prevention, and the national Poison Help toll-free number (1-800-222-1222) that callers can use to reach a PCC. The Campaign also serves as a resource for health professionals, PCC staff, and injury prevention organizations.

Consider subscribing to the Poison Control Program Update, a quarterly newsletter describing current and upcoming program activities and highlights new poison prevention resources. http://poisonhelp.hrsa.gov/news_winter08.htm

To receive future newsletters via e-mail, contact HRSA at comments@hrsa.gov.

The National Institutes of Health (NIH) have established the NIH Intramural Center for Genomics and Health Disparities (NICGHD), a new venue for research about the way populations are impacted by diseases, including obesity, diabetes and hypertension. NICGHD employs a genomics approach, collecting and analyzing genetic, clinical, lifestyle and socio-economic data to study a range of clinical conditions that have puzzled and troubled public health experts for decades. An additional focus of NICGHD will be to provide training opportunities for students and established scientists from developing countries and from minority groups in the United States. Fuller information about NHGRI can be found at its Web site,  http://www.genome.gov.

The trans-NIH center is directed by internationally renowned genetic epidemiologist Charles N. Rotimi, Ph.D., former director of the National Human Genome Center at Howard University. Read the complete NIH News Release at http://www.nih.gov/news/health/mar2008/nhgri-17.htm