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Johns Hopkins Hospital launches Meatless Monday campaign to encourage healthier

The Johns Hopkins Hospital will launch a campaign on Monday, April 12 to encourage healthier eating among patients, visitors and staff — Meatless Monday.

12 Apr 2010

World Health Day: Addressing health and quality of life for city dwellers

This year's World Health Day theme, "Urbanization and Health: Urban Health Matters," reminds us that many of those people most at risk of poor health around the world live in cities.

8 Apr 2010

European Commission rolls out new food security policies; Agricultural Research Conference concludes

The European Commission (EC) recently announced that it has adopted two new policy frameworks "to help developing countries address food security in emergency and long-term situations" and has called upon member nations to implement similar policies, IRIN reports.

3 Apr 2010

News outlets report on developments from Agricultural Research Conference

Nature News examines potential funding reforms for the Consultative Group on International Agriculture Research (CGIAR), which are under discussion at a the Global Conference on Agricultural Research for Development (GCARD) in Montpellier, France. The CGIAR "supports thousands of scientists working on agriculture and food security in developing countries," according to Nature News.

2 Apr 2010

BRIC ministers reach agreement on promoting global food security

Brazil, Russia, India and China, collectively known as BRIC, have reached an agreement to promote global food security, the Moscow Times reports (Anishyuk, 3/29).

30 Mar 2010

Wall Street journal examines fundraising efforts by GAVI, Global Fund

The GAVI Alliance and the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria "on Friday began an effort to raise as much as $24 billion from members of the Group of 20 nations that will test whether a major push begun a decade ago against infectious diseases can survive the global recession," the Wall Street Journal reports. The two groups held meetings last week in The Hague with government representatives from existing and potential donor nations, according to the newspaper.

30 Mar 2010

IRIN examines new global agricultural strategy report

IRIN examines a new global food security strategy based on a report to be presented on March 28 in France at the first Global Conference on Agricultural Research for Development (GCARD). The article includes details about food insecurity around the world, which has given rise to the need for new methods of providing more food.

27 Mar 2010

Obama celebrates health overhaul win

President Barack Obama is scheduled to sign health overhaul legislation into law Tuesday morning, marking an accomplishment that has left the White House euphoric after the president staked his political fortunes on the measure, Reuters reports.

24 Mar 2010

Health care bill victory for Pelosi

Roll Call reports that "no vote came easy" for House Speaker Nancy Pelosi for the health bill. "The stories of the late-breaking votes illustrate just how tight the margin was.

24 Mar 2010

Sodexo uses ENERGY STAR database to reduce environmental impact of its hospital clients

In an effort reduce the environmental impact of its hospital clients, Sodexo, Inc., a leader in Quality of Life Services solutions, is using the ENERGY STAR database to measure environmental impacts at eight out of ten of the more than 100 hospitals for whom Sodexo provides Facility Solutions.

23 Mar 2010

Pelosi, Emanuel, Clyburn among those Dems who played pivotal role in House health bill passage

The Hill: "Nancy Pelosi showed Sunday why she is one of the most powerful Speakers in history. In shepherding one of the most controversial bills through the House, Pelosi achieved what some thought what was impossible after Scott Brown's victory in Massachusetts two months ago.

23 Mar 2010

ESA announces new launch date for Earth Explorer CryoSat-2 satellite

The technical issue with the second stage of the Dnepr rocket that delayed the launch of ESA's Earth Explorer CryoSat-2 satellite in February has now been resolved - and the new launch date of 8 April has been set.

22 Mar 2010

University of Maryland professor honored with the 2010 Stockholm Water Prize

Dr. Rita Colwell, distinguished Professor from the University of Maryland and John Hopkins University's Bloomberg School of Public Health in the United States, has been named the 2010 Stockholm Water Prize Laureate. Dr. Colwell's pioneering research on the prevention of waterborne infectious diseases has helped protect the health and lives of millions.

22 Mar 2010

U.N. Secretary-General launches report aimed at meeting MDGs by 2015

U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon "warned on Tuesday that failure to meet" Millennium Development Goal (MDG) targets by the 2015 deadline could result in "increased instability, violence, epidemic diseases and overpopulation," Agence France-Presse/Mail & Guardian reports (3/17).

18 Mar 2010

Hall of Human Origins to be opened at Smithsonian's National Museum of Natural History

A new exhibition hall dedicated to the discovery and understanding of human origins opens March 17 at the Smithsonian's National Museum of Natural History. Based on decades of cutting-edge research by Smithsonian scientists, the David H. Koch (pronounced "coke") Hall of Human Origins will open to the public in a special preview from noon to 3 p.m. Wednesday, March 17, which also marks the 100-year anniversary of the museum's official opening on the National Mall.

17 Mar 2010

Global access to safe drinking water increased, sanitation lagging behind, WHO-UNICEF report finds

A report released Monday by the WHO and UNICEF documents mixed progress in improving drinking water and sanitation conditions worldwide, VOA News reports (Schlein, 3/15). "The report - presenting the latest data on improved sources of sanitation and drinking water in 209 countries or territories - is aimed at assisting policy-makers, donors, government and non-governmental agencies decide what needs to be done," U.N. News Centre writes (3/15).

17 Mar 2010

Specialists convene to address future climatic trends

Specialists from various Earth system science disciplines recently gathered to address a major question: what will our environment look like in the future?

15 Mar 2010

Groups take to streets, airwaves for health overhaul endgame

"With the health care debate headed toward a showdown on Capitol Hill, the battle is being joined locally at street rallies, in television ads and through phone banks. Members of Congress, particularly Democratic moderates such as Rep. Bob Etheridge, are facing stepped-up lobbying efforts as President Barack Obama makes a final push for passage of a bill aimed to change the health care system. At the same time, conservative critics are waging a last effort to derail the bill" (Christensen, 3/12).

15 Mar 2010

European countries to review impact of environmental policies on popluation health status

Representatives of 53 Member States from the WHO European Region will gather in Parma, Italy, on 10-12 March 2010 to review the impact of national and cross-border environmental policies on the health status of their populations.

10 Mar 2010

Spring weather determines severity of allergy symptoms

With record-setting snowfall and wet weather in the region this winter, one question comes to mind for many as spring approaches: how bad will my allergies be?

10 Mar 2010