West - Welfare Society Territory

Less iodine in pregnancy, lower baby’s IQ

Quentin Hurel — Wed, 22 May 2013 16:06:52 +0000

Iodine deficiency can affect the mental development of children. A group of researchers led by Professor Margaret Rayman of the University of Surrey have based their observation on 1040 first-trimester pregnant women by measuring their urinary iodine concentration. Their results published in the Lancet have revealed an association between maternal iodine status and child IQ at age 8 years and reading ability at age 9 years. After they have included 21 socioeconomic, parental, and child factors as confounders, researchers have noted that children of women with a fewer iodine ratio were more likely to have scores in the lowest quartile for verbal IQ, reading accuracy and reading comprehension. The scientists have said that their results show the importance of adequate iodine status during early gestation and that this issue should be treated as an important public health in the UK.

Gay men can donate blood in Canada

Redazione West — Wed, 22 May 2013 15:50:22 +0000

Homosexual men in Canada have been finally allowed by the National Health System to give their contrbution to blood donation, but they are hiwever subjected to strict restrictions. Health Canada allows from now gay men to donate blood if they have not had sex with men in the past five years. Health Canada has said that advances in screening technology permit easily and quickly detection of disease-causing agents and so the legislation from 1983 was not necessary anymore. The association of HIV and sexual transmitted diseases with homosexuality is recurrent, homosexual represent a part of the population facing the big risks face to HIV infection:

One quarter of gay menhaven’t been tested for STDs

Unprotected sex in the UK, gay suffer the consequences

HIV spread could be halted within one generation

How do gay men affected by HIV live?

Healthcare inequality for Danish rich and poor

Letizia Orlandi — Wed, 22 May 2013 15:15:33 +0000

In Denmark, inequality in health has nearly doubled in the past 25 years. The health minister, Astrid Krag, has revealed a new health initiative that promises to enhance equality in the health sector so that the health and life expectancy of the nation’s residents won’t be dependant upon their social status. As part of the initiative, a number of public figures will be asked to function as special ‘equality ambassadors‘ in order to combat the widening health inequality gap between the poor and the affluent.

Ukraine remains firmly anti-gay marriage

Ivano Abbadessa — Wed, 22 May 2013 15:15:11 +0000

More than 79% of Ukraine people do not agree with gay marriage and 2 in 3 think homosexuality is a form of perversion. Data coming from a survey conducted by the GFK- Ukraine, that underlines 25% of those who don’t agree with gay marriage don’t want gay couples to adopt; then 46% think such unions can be a bad example for children, while 40% think it is contrary to morality. Just 4,6 % agree with homosexual marriage, the most tolerant under 29 and living in the capital. The most homophobic, instead, belong to the third age and live in the western country.

People with Alzheimer’s suffer in silence

Ivano Abbadessa — Wed, 22 May 2013 15:15:06 +0000

Half of British sufferers from dementia are ashamed of admitting it within family. A feeling especially common among youngsters aged 18-24 (64%) and among those aged more than 55 (60%). These data come from a survey commissioned by the Alzheimer’s Society that counts half a million people currently suffering from Alzheimer’s and not willing to admit it. It’s time to talk about dementia, this is the name of the booklet issued by the association, a work that shows how to start a conversation on the matter with family and medicines. It also provides advice for family and friends on how to approach a dementia sufferer: 1) ask the patient if he think you’re best person to talk to about his illness, 2) waiting for the right moment to start talking; 3) being kind in the choice of words ; 4) trying to be positive ; 5) asking for help to organizations about Alzheimer’s.

Who wants to understand Italy?

Federica Mastroforti — Wed, 22 May 2013 15:02:22 +0000

It is called ”Noi Italia. 100 statistic to understand the country we live in” and it is available also in an English version for foreign users who want to know Italy better. The project of ISTAT (The italian Institute of Statistics) aims at giving a general framework for understanding the different economic, social, demographic and environmental aspects of the Peninsula and its role within Europe. A wide variety of indicators (from economy to culture, to the labour market, to household economic conditions etc.), will be classified in 118 factsheets and cover 19 areas of interest. Indicators can be looked up in an interactive way through innovative visualisation tools, both by area of interest and by single factsheet; they are downloadable and sharable with social networks.

Illegal immigrants without the right to healthcare

Ivano Abbadessa — Wed, 22 May 2013 15:00:42 +0000

Eighty per cent of undocumented immigrants who are victims of accidents at work say they are not protected by public healthcare. This is partly due to national regulations but also, often, because workers do not report the accident. This is the picture painted by a report from Medicines du Monde, which examined the difficulties faced by undocumented immigrants in accessing healthcare in 11 European countries. The report is supported by the story of Idrissa (whose name has been changed for reasons of privacy), a 27 year old who had to be hospitalized after an accident in the French shipyard where he worked. With a salary of €600 a month, he was in a position to receive social benefits. But this didn’t happen. In fact, he not only had to pay for care and medication out of his own pocket, but he also returned to work after a short time for fear of being fired.

The conundrum of unaccompanied children

Letizia Orlandi — Wed, 22 May 2013 15:00:11 +0000

Unaccompanied foreign children are the most unresolved point of European migration policies. It is a problem that the authorities too often fail on. This is particularly the case in the recognition of refugee status, when the verification of the asylum seeker’s declarations in relation to his/her background takes on a fundamental importance. The UK is a striking example. According to the report ‘Happy Birthday? Disputes on the age of children in the immigration system’, hundreds of unaccompanied children seeking asylum were put in danger by social workers who did not believe their versions of events. The Coram Children’s Legal Centre warns that many experts have misclassified many children as adults. This has resulted in them becoming homeless, being denied the right to study or imprisoned illegally in detention centres for adults. This harsh approach is explained by two facts. One is that classifying under-18s as adults saves the government money, as it removes the state’s obligation to support them and allows the Home Office to forcibly expel them from the UK. The second factor is that this hard line on immigrants is a winning electoral strategy for all parties.

Internet dating for detainees

Letizia Orlandi — Wed, 22 May 2013 15:00:02 +0000

When it comes to prisons, Sweden continues to be ahead of the game. Despite its 6,000 detainees, the Scandinavian country has for years been promoting reintegration rather than detention. The latest in this line of progressive policies is a surprising innovation called Prisonmatch. This is a specialist dating site that aims to facilitate contact between those who live behind bars and those outside. Seeing as prisoners do not have access to the internet, the mechanism is activated externally. The site managers are committed to collecting requests that come from members of the public, who choose their prisoner and communicate via a pseudonym. They send letters written on behalf of the prisoner and relate any response. The rules for participation are clear: for membership is free for members of the public, while prisoners pay 200 euros a year. Anyone can register, except those sentenced for rape and pedophilia. On the other hand, murderers are allowed. The probation service makes the decision on whether the two are allowed to meet.

At $410,000, Belgian racing pigeon bolts to title of world’s most expensive bird

yoyo — Wed, 22 May 2013 14:47:34 +0000

Spanish youth could find a job… in Germany

Quentin Hurel — Wed, 22 May 2013 11:05:41 +0000

Madrid and Berlin have finalised an agreement on May 21st which aims at supporting employment and vocational education for Spanish young people in Germany. According to Fatima Bañez, the Spanish Minister of Employment, about 5 000 young spaniards should benefit from trainings and skilled jobs in Germany each year. In fact, this agreement implies the support of the German administration to young people looking for trainings and jobs. Enmeshed in recession, Spain knows alarming unemployment rates especially concerning youth; it has reached 27% of the working population this year and even 57.22% for 16-24 years old.

Childhood aggression may be linked to passive smoking

Quentin Hurel — Wed, 22 May 2013 09:47:10 +0000

Passive smoking smoke can cause children to be more aggressive and develop antisocial behaviour by the end of fourth grade. A study published in the Journal of Epidemiology and Community Health has observed 2055 children and has found these results. Compared with never exposed children, babies who have been exposed to continuous second-hand smoke have developed more aggressive and antisocial behaviours under 10 years old. The same results have been noted concerning children exposed to transient levels of second-hand smoke. However, Dr Linda Pagani and Dr Caroline Fitzpatrick, of the University of Montreal in Canada, have added that they have found no evidence of dose-dependence.

Are really men the stronger sex?

Federica Mastroforti — Wed, 22 May 2013 09:16:32 +0000

Sexual health is a right which seems to be enjoyed more by men than women. A circumstamce that confirms this is that the urologist is a taboo subject for men – and is rarely talked about between father and son. On the other hand for women, going to the gynecologist is a routine event, often done since a very young age and often accompanied by one’s mother. The Italian association for the right to sexual health (AIDASS) is seeking to redress this gender inequality with a bill that proposes to set up free clinics for boys. West met the president of the association, professor Giuseppe La Pera, who is a specialist urologist.

“While it is easier for girls to get gynecological check-ups starting from a young age, it’s not so easy for boys,” says La Pera. He adds: “The legislation that will be presented on May 21 at the regional authority of Lazio seeks to establish free clinics for male sexual health, which will fill the cultural gap for boys.”

“In Italy, we need to improve services. To shed light on the problem: only 30% of boys are completely healthy from the point of view of the genitalia. As many as 70% have a problem with their reproductive system that also involves their sexuality and this tends to be underestimated. A lack of information on the subject is to blame.”

For this reason, many young males are “left to deal with the problem alone, and then go on to develop a really damaging biological condition. More often than not, solutions for male genital disfunction are dealt with at the initiative of individual families. What is actually needed, to raise awareness of this, is social assistance.” The lack of social assistance is a serious fault of Italian society: ignoring the problem is equivalent to creating individuals who are prey to insecurities that reverberate in their personal life.

In the opinion of the urologist, “a boy who finds he has some kind of disorder, without proper help, can try various ‘DIY’ solutions, from the most common, such as finding information on the internet, to those more dangerous, such as the use of heroin.”

“Some individuals may become agressive (especially towards females) or, conversely, they might give up on the problem by developing a defeatist ‘no one wants me’ attitude. The use of drugs helps the boy to diminish anxiety caused by the problem, but it certainly does not solve the root cause”

High risks of sleeping with mum and dad

Letizia Orlandi — Tue, 21 May 2013 15:15:40 +0000

Bed-sharing newborns are five times more likely to die suddenly than those who sleep in a cot. The controversy over whether parents should share a bed with newborns has been reignited by research, reported in the medical journal BMJ Open, showing that babies who do are five times more likely to die suddenly than those who sleep in a cot. British Ministers have asked health advisers to urgently reappraise official guidance on co-sleeping and cot death to see if it needs to be updated to recommend that parents never let their child sleep beside them, as is already the case in the Netherlands, which advise against bed-sharing until a child is at least three months old.

Down’s syndrome widespread in Germany

Beatrice Credi — Tue, 21 May 2013 15:15:33 +0000

An estimated 50,000 people live with Down syndrome in Germany, and many of them feel marginalized in their everyday lives. A new four-part TV series to be broadcast in June on Germany’s main network ARD, will show people living with Down syndrome and provide insight into their everyday lives. Called “Show Me Your World,” the project aims to show how people with Down syndrome can live very normal lives. In fact, many people with Down syndrome live completely normal lives with their families.