April 18, 2006 Source: :
http://www.news.utoronto.ca/bin6/060418-2210.asp Conference brings together global experts to examine challenges of fighting infections and chronic diseases World health issues to be addressed by international experts
Apr 18/06
by Karen Kelly (about) (email) Infectious and chronic disease experts from around the world will join experts from the World Health Organization and the University of Toronto to share experiences and examine the dual challenge of fighting infectious and chronic diseases at a conference at U of T on Thursday, April 20 beginning at 8:30 a.m. in the J.J.R. Macleod Auditorium, 1 King’s College Circle. The conference, Crossroads in Global Health: The Dual Challenge of Infectious and Chronic Diseases, is organized to address world health issues such as influenza, malaria and chronic diseases such as cancer and diabetes. Keynote speakers are U of T’s Philip Berger, a founding member of the Canadian Centre for Victims of Torture, who spent seven months at the Tepong Clinic in Leribe, Lesotho — one of Africa’s worst hit AIDS regions — and Professor Kevin Kain whose research focuses on emerging diseases (including malaria, SARS and West Nile) that threaten travellers, migrants, blood safety and global health and security. Other speakers include health ministers from Mexico and Thailand who will share their perspectives on health financing in the age of crippling health problems. The conference is organized by the Centre for International Health at the University of Toronto and St. Michael’s Hospital and by the Global Health Education Consortium. For more information and a full conference schedule go to http://intlhealth.med.utoronto.ca. Did you know?
· Two species of mosquito responsible for malaria are still widely prevalent — there is always the risk of malaria being reintroduced. Source: U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
· In the previous century, pandemics travelled the globe in six to nine months; with international air travel, viruses could reach all continents in less than three months. Source: WHO
· Approximately 650 million people (about half of whom smoke today) will eventually be killed by tobacco. Source: WHO
· Close to 25 per cent of countries in the world have not made any specific provision for diabetes care in their national health plans. By 2025, there is a projected increase of 170 per cent in the number of cases in developing countries and 42 per cent in developed ones. Source: International Diabetes Federation
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