- © 2008 Canadian Medical Association
Medpedia: Four of the world's most prestigious medical schools have banded together to help establish the most comprehensive online encyclopedia of medicine. To be called Medpedia and made freely available to all, the initiative proposes to be a medical clearinghouse for data about health, medicine and the body. Harvard, Stanford, California-Berkeley and Michigan are leading the project (www.medpedia.com). It's expected to be fully operational by the end of 2008.
Island fever: Health officials in the South Pacific island nation of Niue have proposed banning smoking and the sale of tobacco in both public areas and private homes. They must still convince their government to enact legislation implementing a ban, which would allow Niue to declare itself the world's first tobacco-free country.
HIV drug funding: The international drug financing organization UNITAID is contributing $50 million to address mother-to-child transmission of HIV. It announced the funding on July 31, 2008, with its partners in the initiative: UNICEF and the World Health Organization. The money will be used to test millions of pregnant women for HIV and to treat thousands of HIV-positive mothers and children. The target countries — Central African Republic, China, Haiti, Lesotho, Myanmar, Nigeria, Swaziland, Uganda, and Zimbabwe — are home to a quarter of the world's HIV-infected pregnant women.
Patient navigators: Alberta has dedicated $43 million to a “patient navigator” program to help people suffering from heart disease gain timely access to specialists. The province hired 11 patient navigators, who will help patients find appropriate specialists and ensure they have completed necessary tests. The provincial government hopes to create similar programs for patients with other medical problems.