10 facts on children's environmental health

1. Environmental factors are responsible for 88% of the 1.5 million annual child deaths year due to diarrhoea.
2. Half of the two million annual child deaths from acute respiratory infections are attributable to indoor air pollution.
3. Asthma prevalence is rising rapidly in children.
4. In some developing regions of the world, more than one third of all children are affected by high levels of lead.

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Why a Global Day for Handwashing with Soap?

Handwashing with soap is the most effective and inexpensive way to prevent diarrheal and acute respiratory infections, which take the lives of millions of children in developing countries every year. Together, they are responsible for the majority of all child deaths. Yet, despite its lifesaving potential, handwashing with soap is seldom practiced and difficult to promote.

The challenge is to transform handwashing with soap from an abstract good idea into an automatic behavior performed in homes, schools, and communities worldwide. Turning handwashing with soap before eating and after using the toilet into an ingrained habit could save more lives than any single vaccine or medical intervention, cutting deaths from diarrhea by almost half and deaths from acute respiratory infections by one-quarter. A vast change in handwashing behavior is critical to meeting the Millennium Development Goal of reducing deaths among children under the age of five by two-thirds by 2015.

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2009 H1N1 Flu: Situation Update

Each week CDC analyzes information about influenza disease activity in the United States and publishes findings of key flu indicators in a report called FluView. During the week of August 16-22, 2009, a review of these key indictors found that influenza activity is either stable, or is increasing in some areas. Activity appears to be increasing in the Southeast based on influenza-like illness data reported by health care providers. Below is a summary of the most recent key indicators:

Visits to doctors for influenza-like illness (ILI) were highest in February during the 2008-09 flu season, but rose again in April 2009 after the new H1N1 virus emerged. Current visits to doctors for influenza-like illness are down from April, but are higher than what is expected in the summer and has increased over the last two weeks.
Total influenza hospitalization rates for adults and children are similar to or lower than seasonal influenza hospitalization rates depending on age group.
The proportion of deaths attributed to pneumonia and influenza (P&I) was low and within the bounds of what is expected in the summer.
Most state health officials are reporting regional or sporadic influenza activity. Two states (Alaska and Georgia) and Puerto Rico are reporting widespread influenza activity at this time. Any reports of widespread influenza activity in August are very unusual.
Almost all of the influenza viruses identified were the new 2009 H1N1 influenza A viruses. These 2009 H1N1 viruses remain similar to the viruses chosen for the 2009 H1N1 vaccine and remain susceptible to antiviral drugs (oseltamivir and zanamivir) with rare exception.

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Health Promotion Emblem

A brief explanation of the logo used by WHO since the First International Conference on Health Promotion held in Ottawa, Canada, in 1986. Select an element of the logo for the specific explanation of that part or simply read on for the complete explanation.

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