January 11, 2010

According to research by The Children's Hospital of Philadelphia (CHOP) recently published in the Journal of Traumatic Stress, one month after their child was injured 37 percent of parents experienced acute stress disorder or significant traumatic stress symptoms, including re-experiencing the incident, avoiding reminders of the incident, and increased general anxiety or jumpiness. Of those parents 15 percent displayed longer-term symptoms of post traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) more than six months after the initial injury. "Research consistently shows the important role that parents play in a child's recovery. So, in addition to all the things parents do to help their child recover, it's very important that they also take good care of themselves," says Nancy Kassam-Adams, Ph.D., the study's lead author and director of the behavioral science core at CHOP's Center for Injury Research and Prevention. "To help families understand and deal with their reactions to a child's injury, we created a web site, www.AfterTheInjury.org." "It is natural for parents to feel very upset or anxious in the first days and weeks following a child's injury," explains Flaura Koplin Winston, M.D., Ph.D., a co-author of the study and co-scientific director of the Center for Injury Research and Prevention at CHOP. "But, when traumatic stress reactions go on for longer than a month, worsen, or get in the way of normal life, it is important for parents to seek support for themselves." Full release.

The following remarks are being released today by the U.S. Department of Justice: Hello everyone and thank you for joining us today. I am Associate Attorney General Tom Perrelli and I want to welcome you today as we commemorate National Stalking Awareness Month. As part of my job, I oversee our grant making programs for state, local and tribal law enforcement. That includes the Office on Violence Against Women (OVW), which administers critical funding to advocates, victim service providers and law enforcement agencies across the country. I am honored to stand here to shine a spotlight on the critical issue of violence against women. This is an issue I personally care deeply about, and it is one of the many areas where I believe that we can make a real and significant difference. I know that I am looking out at an audience of people who have been and are personally and professionally affected by stalking. You are the law enforcement officers, the prosecutors, the judges and the service providers who see the effects of stalking every day, who struggle to help victims and to take action to put an end to stalking and to the dangerous cycle of violence to which stalking behavior so often leads. I also know that we have several survivors of stalking with us today - some of whom you will hear from. To you, I want to extend my heartfelt appreciation - for being here today to share your stories and to help us all learn how to communicate better and faster, so that we can help put an end to this crime. Full release.

The American Association for the Study of Liver Disease (AASLD) today reacted favorably to the release by they Institute of Medicine (IOM) of the report of "Hepatitis and Liver Cancer: A National Strategy for Prevention and Control of Hepatitis B and C." This landmark study evaluated the burden from viral hepatitis and current preventive and management practices and recommended ways to reduce new cases of hepatitis B and C and morbidity and mortality from chronic disease. "We welcome this report," said Dr. Arun Sanyal, President of AASLD, adding, "It is an important first step in the effort to eradicate hepatitis B and C." AASLD has long advocated for a comprehensive national program to prevent new infections and limit the spread of infection through early identification and treatment of infected individuals. This will reduce the burden of end stage liver disease and liver cancer, which are projected to kill about 150000 Americans according to the IOM report. "We will continue to work closely with the Division of Viral Hepatitis within the CDC, National Institutes of Health, Department of Veterans Affairs, and other federal and state agencies to act on the recommendations of the IOM report," Dr. Sanyal continued. "Specifically, AASLD and its membership will remain the vanguard in the development of new knowledge and educational programs on viral hepatitis that will advance the recommendations of the IOM." Full release.

In FY 2009 USAID's Office of Food for Peace (FFP) provided approximately 2.4 million metric tons (MT) of food, valued at approximately $2.2 billion, benefiting people in 44 countries worldwide.* USAID's Office of Food for Peace supports emergency programs that help those affected by conflict and natural disasters, such as drought, as well as long-term, non-emergency programs that seek to address the underlying causes of hunger, such as by increasing agricultural productivity and improving maternal and child health. Full release.

For the first time in history Commissioner Douglas Shulman today publicly committed the Internal Revenue Service to fighting US charities that launder tax exempt US donations into illegal Israeli West Bank settlement activities. During an exchange broadcast over National Public Radio, Commissioner Shulman was unequivocal that all such violators would be prosecuted. Host Susan Paige, USA Today: "I failed to get an answer to Grant [Smith's] question about if a charity that accepts tax deductible contributions is doing something that's illegal, do you go after them? The point that Grant was making was charities that may help fund West Bank settlements. What is the case with that? Is that illegal and would you go after a charity that was helping to fund that activity?" Full release.

On January 18, 2010, the Obesity Action Coalition (OAC) will launch a national weight and health awareness campaign aimed to encourage the American public to assess their weight and urge them to speak to their doctor about their weight. The goal of this campaign is to get the American public to start looking at weight and its impact on their health and the health of their loved ones. "The OAC educates hundreds of thousands of individuals affected by excess weight each year. We realized the need for a campaign that would encourage all individuals to assess their weight and open the 'often avoided' discussion about weight with their doctor. America is facing one of the largest health epidemics of all time - obesity, and the only way for our nation to address this epidemic is to educate ourselves and learn more about the impact our weight has on our health and wellness," said Joseph Nadglowski, OAC President and CEO. Through the "Your Weight Matters" Campaign, individuals can take the "Your Weight Matters" Challenge and sign up to pledge to talk to their doctor about their weight. When taking the challenge, individuals will receive an e-toolkit with valuable information for managing their weight and tips for when talking to their doctor. During launch week, the first 500 individuals who sign up to take the "Your Weight Matters" challenge will receive the official "Your Weight Matters" awareness bracelet and also be entered into a drawing to win a free iPod touch. Full release.

In today's USA Today, former 9/11 Commission Co-Chairs Lee Hamilton and Tom Kean write in an op-ed "there is still work to be done" to protect our country, following "the recent terrorist incidents at Fort Hood and in the skies above Detroit." Hamilton and Kean, now co-chairs of the Bipartisan Policy Center's National Security Preparedness Group, are "leading an effort to conduct a review of the Intelligence Reform and Terrorism Prevention Act and the effectiveness of the Director of National Intelligence (DNI)," five years after issuing their 9/11 Commission recommendations. "National Security is too important to become a partisan issue," write Hamilton and Kean. "We believe that in matters of national security, our priority should be to figure out what went wrong and how to fix it." "The president should order the DNI to report on any barriers to the sharing of information, but also on ways the authority of the DNI can be strengthened to ensure unity of effort," they write. "Strengthening the DNI's capacity to collect, analyze and integrate massive amounts of data to protect Americans is a multiyear process requiring sustained support from the White House and oversight from the Congress." Full release.

The American Heart Association (AHA) applauds the efforts of New York City to work with the packaged and restaurant foods industry to reduce the amount of salt in the food supply. These efforts serve an important role in bringing both the public health community and food industry together to create solutions and help Americans live healthier lives. The AHA is very concerned with the amount of salt Americans are consuming since sodium can have a detrimental effect on health, including high blood pressure, stroke, heart failure, and kidney disease. Unfortunately, Americans eat about twice the recommended daily amount of sodium. Only a small fraction of the sodium in our diets is added at the table as salt; almost 80% of it is added to packaged and restaurant foods. As a result, it is extremely difficult for individuals to limit sodium in their diet. The AHA would like to see food manufacturers and restaurants reduce the sodium added to foods by 50% over the next 10 years, for the benefit of public health. By reducing the amount of salt in packaged and restaurant foods, manufacturers could reduce the prevalence of high blood pressure and cardiovascular disease. Full release.

Three subjects dominating the headlines get deeper looks in the Winter 2010 issue of The Wilson Quarterly: terrorism, Pakistan, and the Arab world. What explains the actions of people such as Major Nidal Malik Hasan, accused of the November 5 mass shooting at Fort Hood, or Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab, charged with trying to blow up a transcontinental airliner over Detroit on Christmas Day? Thomas Rid shows how the global jihad is fragmenting, and why that makes the challenge of defeating it even tougher. Why does Pakistan remain a terrorist haven? Because Pakistanis live in an alternate universe, writes Robert M. Hathaway. In an intimate portrait of the country, he says Pakistanis think nothing happens without "Allah, the army, or America." Unless they "accept responsibility for their own future, Pakistan will have no future," Hathaway warns. Changes in U.S. policy can help. Why is the Arab world stuck in a cycle of stagnation and turmoil? In a magisterial survey of the Arab countries, David B. Ottaway highlights the growing diversity, religious upsurge, and other forces that have paralyzed Arab leaders for the past 30 years. The absence of fresh leadership does not augur well for the future. Full release.

The Executive Council of the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers (IAM) has voted unanimously to oppose any health care reform legislation that is funded by taxing the value of workers' existing health care benefits. "For decades, IAM members exchanged substantial wage increases for the best possible health insurance," said IAM President Tom Buffenbarger. "Now, in a bizarre turn of events, their insurance premiums will be subject to a forty percent excise tax if the Senate version of health care reform becomes law. Democratic leaders have the power to stop this travesty and I urge them to do so, quickly and completely." "IAM members are rightfully outraged over the bait and switch tactics at both ends of Pennsylvania Avenue," said Buffenbarger. "They were promised health care reform. Now they face health care deformed by backroom deals." No single issue brought more union members onto last year's campaign trail than Republican threats to tax health care benefits, and the Democrats' pledge to protect those benefits. Full release.

CQ-Roll Call Group today announced the launch of CQ StateTrack's new regulatory monitoring service. This new service provides users with the ability to identify and monitor rule-making activities in single states or across multiple states. "We are very excited about our new regulatory monitoring service," said Ron Hogan, vice president and founder, CQ StateTrack. "This new service enables our subscribers to keep current on proposed and adopted regulations using the same interactive map-based display, search engine and alerting functionality they have come to rely on from CQ StateTrack's legislative service." In addition, the customizable reports and custom e-mail alerts that are valuable features of CQ StateTrack's legislative service are also available in the new regulations service. As a result, users receive accurate, real-time intelligence on the state regulatory developments that affect their interests. Full release.

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