Brazil retained its top spot in the FIFA world rankings released Wednesday by soccer’s international governing body.

Canada remained at No. 66, sandwiched between Saudi Arabia and Wales.

Brazil ended Spain’s one-year supremacy atop the FIFA rankings in July, taking over the top position after winning the FIFA Confederations Cup the month before in South Africa. Read the full story

Undoubtedly one of the most beautiful events to occur in our world, the Aurora Borealis, also known as the Northern Lights, has both astounded and amazed people since it was first discovered. This phenomenon ocurrs when the sun gives off high-energy charged particles (also called ions) that travel out into space at speeds of 300 to 1200 kilometres per second. Read the full story

Well, I do believe President Obama and others have used the Canadian system as an example of universal health care. The Canadian Press reported that the incoming president of the Canadian Medical Association is calling for ideas to create a new health care system for Canada. She also went on to state that Canada could not continue its current path with the system it has in place now. Instead of trying to hurry legislation and force ideas down their country’s throat, Dr. Anne Doig is calling for the input of citizens and doctors to find a suitable plan. She also planned a trip to Europe to discuss ideas with other countries with universal health care. Either way, I still don’t agree that government needs to become involved with health care. I can make my own decisions regarding my health – I don’t need someone in Washington to do that for me.

Overhauling health-care system tops agenda at annual meeting of Canada’s doctors

By Jennifer Graham (CP) – 5 days ago

SASKATOON — The incoming president of the Canadian Medical Association says this country’s health-care system is sick and doctors need to develop a plan to cure it.

Dr. Anne Doig says patients are getting less than optimal care and she adds that physicians from across the country – who will gather in Saskatoon on Sunday for their annual meeting – recognize that changes must be made.

“We all agree that the system is imploding, we all agree that things are more precarious than perhaps Canadians realize,” Doing said in an interview with The Canadian Press.

“We know that there must be change,” she said. “We’re all running flat out, we’re all just trying to stay ahead of the immediate day-to-day demands.”

The pitch for change at the conference is to start with a presentation from Dr. Robert Ouellet, the current president of the CMA, who has said there’s a critical need to make Canada’s health-care system patient-centred. He will present details from his fact-finding trip to Europe in January, where he met with health groups in England, Denmark, Belgium, Netherlands and France.

His thoughts on the issue are already clear. Ouellet has been saying since his return that “a health-care revolution has passed us by,” that it’s possible to make wait lists disappear while maintaining universal coverage and “that competition should be welcomed, not feared.”

In other words, Ouellet believes there could be a role for private health-care delivery within the public system.

He has also said the Canadian system could be restructured to focus on patients if hospitals and other health-care institutions received funding based on the patients they treat, instead of an annual, lump-sum budget. This “activity-based funding” would be an incentive to provide more efficient care, he has said.

Doig says she doesn’t know what a proposed “blueprint” toward patient-centred care might look like when the meeting wraps up Wednesday. She’d like to emerge with clear directions about where the association should focus efforts to direct change over the next few years. She also wants to see short-term, medium-term and long-term goals laid out.

“A short-term achievable goal would be to accelerate the process of getting electronic medical records into physicians’ offices,” she said. “That’s one I think ought to be a priority and ought to be achievable.”

A long-term goal would be getting health systems “talking to each other,” so information can be quickly shared to help patients.

Doig, who has had a full-time family practice in Saskatoon for 30 years, acknowledges that when physicians have talked about changing the health-care system in the past, they’ve been accused of wanting an American-style structure. She insists that’s not the case.

“It’s not about choosing between an American system or a Canadian system,” said Doig. “The whole thing is about looking at what other people do.”

“That’s called looking at the evidence, looking at how care is delivered and how care is paid for all around us (and) then saying ‘Well, OK, that’s good information. How do we make all of that work in the Canadian context? What do the Canadian people want?’ “

Doig says there are some “very good things” about Canada’s health-care system, but she points out that many people have stories about times when things didn’t go well for them or their family.

“(Canadians) have to understand that the system that we have right now – if it keeps on going without change – is not sustainable,” said Doig.

“They have to look at the evidence that’s being presented and will be presented at (the meeting) and realize what Canada’s doctors are trying to tell you, that you can get better care than what you’re getting and we all have to participate in the discussion around how do we do that and of course how do we pay for it.”

(All bolded parts of the article are my own personal emphasis)

Traces of cocaine taint up to 90 percent of paper money in the United States, a new study finds.

A group of scientists tested banknotes from more than 30 cities in five countries, including the United States, Canada, Brazil, China, and Japan, and found “alarming” evidence of cocaine use in many areas.

U.S. and Canadian currency had the highest levels, with an average contamination rate of between 85 and 90 percent, while Chinese and Japanese currency had the lowest, between 12 and 20 percent contamination.

The findings were presented yesterday at the 238th National Meeting of the American Chemical Society in Washington, D.C.

Study leader Yuegang Zuo of the University of Massachusetts in Dartmouth said that the high percentage of contaminated U.S. currency observed in the current study represents nearly a 20 percent jump in comparison to a similar study he conducted two years ago.

“To my surprise, we’re finding more and more cocaine in banknotes,” Zuo said.

Scientists have known for years that paper money can become contaminated with cocaine during drug deals and directly through drug use, such as snorting cocaine through rolled bills. Contamination can also spread to banknotes not involved in the illicit drug culture, because bills are processed in banks’ currency-counting machines.

Continue Reading:

http://news.yahoo.com/

Canadian public health officials announced recently that the Canadian government will soon place an order for 50.4 million doses of the influenza A (H1N1) vaccine.

The officials, Leona Aglukkaq, Canada’s Minister of Health, and David Butler-Jones, Canada’s Chief Public Health Officer, said they expect the vaccine will be available in time for the winter influenza season.

“The government of Canada will ensure sufficient H1N1 vaccine is available to immunize every Canadian who needs and wants protection from the H1N1 virus,” Aglukkaq said in a press release. “We are pleased to have worked together with provinces and territories in implementing a coordinated, pan-Canadian response to all elements of the H1N1 outbreak, including decisions around vaccines.”

“We are confident the 50.4 million vaccine doses we plan to purchase will be sufficient to meet the needs of every Canadian likely to need and want protection,” said Butler-Jones.

Source:

http://www.pediatricsupersite.com/