Oceania Update: The aim of the worldwide network of FIFA Medical Centres of Excellence is to improve the healthcare of football players and other athletes at every single level of the game through knowledge. “However the most important objective of the FIFA Medical network including the FIFA Medical Centres of Excellence is to promote the philosophy of prevention and use the power of football to contribute to the improvement of public health to tackle the "Unhealthy trias - fast food, soft drinks and physical inactivita" leading to overweight, diabetes and other NCD's in young adolescents.

First FIFA Medical Centre of Excellence Down Under - FIFA.com: "The Olympic Park Sports Medicine Centre (OPSMC) was officially inaugurated as a FIFA Medical Centre of Excellence by FIFA Chief Medical Officer, Prof Jiri Dvorak, at an official ceremony held in Melbourne today.

OPSMC is the first Australian Sports Medicine Centre to receive such an honour and joins a prestigious list of 32 medical centres and clinics worldwide who have also been accredited.

Speaking at the official inauguration ceremony, Prof Dvorak was complimentary of the work that the OPSMC is doing and the reputation that Australian has amongst the international sports medicine community.

“I am very happy to be in Melbourne for the first accredited FIFA Medical Centre of Excellence in Australia. This is a very well established and respected medical institution”, said Prof Dvorak."

read more at: http://www.fifa.com/aboutfifa/footballdevelopment/medical/news/newsid=2022439/?intcmp=fifacom_hp_module_news

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Europe Update: 'The Academy of Medical Royal Colleges has published a report containing 10 recommendations designed to tackle the UK’s obesity epidemic – a story covered by most of the UK media. The latest health survey data suggests the UK is the ‘fat man of Europe’, with a quarter of men and women, and one in five 10-11 year olds being obese. In a compelling analogy, the report likens the current situation of obesity to that of smoking during the 1970s. During the 1970s, most people working in the medical profession knew that smoking presented a significant risk to public health, but little was being done about it. The report argues that a similar situation now exists regarding the health risks associated with obesity – which is estimated to cost the NHS £5.1 billion a year. The views of thousands of practicing doctors in the UK were sought by the report's authors on how best to tackle the obesity crisis. The report presents 10 key recommendations on new ways to address the growing public health problem of obesity, including: banning junk food advertising before the 9pm watershed reducing the proximity of fast food outlets to schools, colleges and other places were young people gather a one-year trial of a 20% tax on sugary drinks, to see what effect this could have As the chair of the Academy of Medical Royal Colleges says, ‘This report does not pretend to have all the answers. But it does say we need together to do more, starting right now, before the problem becomes worse and the NHS can no longer cope.’

'Fizzy drink tax' to stop UK being 'fat man of Europe' - Health News - NHS Choices: "The report, ‘Measuring Up: The medical profession’s prescription for the nation’s obesity crisis’, was written by the Academy of Medical Royal Colleges and published this month.
It reveals how data from the 2009-11 Health Survey for England suggests that the UK is the ‘fat man of Europe’.
The survey showed that one quarter of men and women in England are obese (defined as a body mass index [BMI] over 30) and that two thirds of adults are obese or overweight (BMI over 25).
Another worrying trend highlighted by the report is that the 2011-12 National Child Measurement Programme reported that one in five children aged 10-11 is obese and one in three is overweight or obese.
Over the last 20 years, the number of morbidly obese adults (BMI over 40) is said to have more than doubled and now stands at over 1 million UK citizens.
The report is said to represent the views of the vast majority of the UK’s 220,000 practicing doctors, who are ‘united in seeing the epidemic of obesity as the greatest public health crisis facing the UK’."
read more at: http://www.nhs.uk/news/2013/February/Pages/UK-fat-man-of-Europe-warning.aspx
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Africa Update: With the National Health Insurance (NHI) pilot programmes already being rolled out in some of South Africa's major cities, the government says the country's health infrastructure remains a priority. The country's health sector received R133.6-billion from the 2013 National Budget tabled by Finance Minister Pravin Gordhan in Parliament in Cape Town on Wednesday. Gordhan said some of the money would go towards ensuring the completion of some 1 967 health facilities and 49 nursing colleges which he said were in various stages of planning, construction and refurbishment.

allAfrica.com: South Africa: More for Health As NHI Pilots Roll Out: "More than R800-million was to have been allocated for the scale-up of the provision of antiretroviral treatment. However, the Treasury says an additional budget allocation of R100-million in 2014/15 and R384-million in 2015 will be necessary to partly address the announced decrease in funding over the medium term from the US President's Emergency Plan for Aids Relief (Pepfar).

This programme has contributed roughly R4-billion a year towards the South African national HIV/Aids and tuberculosis response, but the amount is likely to decrease by 50 percent over the next five years.

However, Gordhan said there had been progress in the reducing mortality and improving the countryÂ’s HIV and TB programmes, with medical and nurse training capacity proving a success."

read more at:  http://allafrica.com/stories/201302280206.html

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Update: About a third of the climate change-causing greenhouse gas emissions in the county come from vehicle emissions, so it makes a difference where people live and how they get to where they need to go. And one of the ways to meet state-mandated targets to reduce greenhouse gas emissions is to reduce vehicle miles traveled. High-density housing linked to jobs and shopping areas by public transportation or walking and biking trails tends to lead to fewer vehicle miles traveled than spread-out housing connected only by roadways. The impact of the state legislation is evident in other plans developed by local governments.

Update factors in new laws for climate change | Recordnet.com: "For San Joaquin County, the California Air Resources Board target is a 5 percent reduction from 2005 levels by 2020 and a 10 percent reduction by 2035, according to the San Joaquin Council of Governments.

The 2014 Regional Transportation Plan being developed would set forth a forecast development pattern that will be able to meet those reduction targets, said Aaron Hoyt, an associate regional planner with COG, the county transportation planning authority.

"It also identifies the transportation network that will be needed to serve the needs of the future by all modes (of transportation)," he said."
read more at: http://www.recordnet.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20130225/A_NEWS/302250314

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