Archive - Sep 3, 2009

• CDC releases latest Swine Flu figures
• Obama to address Congress on healthcare reform
• Virginia governor's race heats up
• High carbon emissions could affect fishing industry
• Women seek political spaces in Lebanon

• US to cut aid to Honduras, but doesn’t say military take-over was a “coup”
• Riots follow announcement of Gabon’s election results
• Ethnic tensions flare again in Western China’s Xinjiang region
• Indonesia surveys damage after large earthquake
• Investigation reopens into Russian journalist’s murder
• Somali militants threaten to expand operations into peaceful Somaliland
• California health insurance providers deny over 20% of claims

Thirty-six children have died from Swine Flu, according to data released today by the Centers for Disease Control.  Dr. Thomas Frieden, Director of CDC:

“In two-thirds of those cases, the child had one severe underlying illness, or underlying disability, muscular dystrophy, long standing musculatory or cardiac problems. There were some children who didn´t have an underlying condition and who did become severely ill and they were generally infected also by bacteria.”

In all, there's been 477 deaths in the US connected to Swine Flu. Dr. Frieden said the H1-N1 virus is spreading in parts of the US, particularly in the Southeast where many have already returned to school.

According to the American College Health Association, some 1600 cases of Swine Flu were reported at colleges and universities last week alone. But the CDC says while the flu may affect many people - up to half the US population - most will not get severely ill.

Dr. Frieden says they are also looking at the risk to healthcare workers:

“They are the first line of defense and we need to ensure that we do everything we can to reduce to the greatest extent possible their risk of becoming ill on the job.  Protecting healthcare workers involves many different factors including how the healthcare are organized, whether people who are not severely ill come in for care and overwhelm the system and how many different healthcare workers have contact with people who may be infected.”

The Institute of Medicine released a report today examining the best ways to protect healthcare workers, including the use of masks or respiratory devices.

The CDC said the Swine Flu vaccine isn't ready yet, but is expected to be available by mid-October. The vaccine will be free and some states and cities could cover the costs to administer the shot. CDC recommends all school children and people with underlying conditions and risk factors get the vaccine.

President Obama will address a joint session of Congress next week to discuss health care. It will be another attempt to persuade the public and Congress to support efforts at reform. FSRN’s Leigh Ann Caldwell speaks to host Manuel Rueda about the healthcare debate.

With exactly two months to go before elections, the governor’s race in the state of Virginia is heating up.  Republican Bob McDonnell has led the polls for weeks, but the recent publication of a controversial thesis paper could give his Democrat challenger a boost. FSRN´s Karen Miller has more.

Today marks the 200th day of the Recovery Act, one of the first laws signed by President Obama.   The Recovery Act seeks to create jobs and mitigate the impact of the economic recession on American families. Today, Secretary of Labor Hilda Solis talked about the administration´s efforts to create jobs.

“During my first 100 days in office, my department released $45 billion of the $46 billion for recovery act efforts. We moved immediately to protect workers who lost their jobs and provided new worker training opportunities for those looking to upgrade their skills. We made $220 million available to help dislocated workers transition into high growth sectors. We are providing $500 million for high job training. And we rewarded $114 million to community groups across the country to provide education and training to young people.”

Despite these programs, recovery is slow.   The US unemployment rate still hovers around ten percent and experts say it would be over 16 percent if those who have given up looking for a job were also counted.  The sub-prime mortgage loan crisis and the ensuing financial breakdown have hit construction workers and manufacturers the hardest.

The fishing industry is another sector that´s concerned about job losses and some are pointing to climate change as the problem, connecting high carbon emissions to a decline in fish stocks.  In Alaska, fish industry workers and green groups are coming together to target this issue. This Labor day weekend, they´ve planned a visual protest out in the water involving dozens of fishermen and boats.

FSRN spoke to environmental activist Brad Warren.  Warren works for the Sustainable Fisheries Initiative and he´s one of the organizers of Voices of the Ocean, the event that will take place in Homer, Alaska this weekend.

Its been over three months since Lebanon held its elections and the politically divided country is still struggling to name a cabinet that satisfies all political groups.  Meanwhile, very little attention is being paid to perhaps the biggest losers in the election: women.  FSRN´s Don Duncan has more from Beirut.