December Health Observances

Welcome back, Battling for Health!

Our apologies for being out of sight starting at the end of November till now. Let us be thankful it was the site which had “health” problems and not the people running the site. Nevertheless, we missed out on a couple of very important health observances during the time when we were down.

Anyway, welcome to our newly “refurbished” site that should be faster and better and nicer.

December 1 was World Aids Day

Red ribbon is to AIDS just as pink ribbon is to breast cancer. The US Dept of Health and Human Services was in the front line of the campaign to increase awareness about AIDS and HIV. Did you know, for example that “an estimated 1.1 million Americans are living with HIV, and yet one out of five don’t know it?”

US Health Secretary Kathleen Sebelius said in her speech to commemorate this day:

“Every year, World AIDS Day represents a special moment. It is a day to remember those we have lost to the HIV pandemic and to honor those who fight against the virus.

It is a day to celebrate the gains we have made in responding to HIV around the world.    But it is also a day to look ahead with hope and purpose at the next steps we can take in our fight against HIV/AIDS.”

Dec 5 to 11 is National Handwashing Awareness Week in the US

We are just in time to observe the National Handwashing Awareness Week. Handwashing became almost synonymous to the swine flu prevention last year. While the H1N1 epidemic may be over, the threat of the seasonal flu is as real as ever. Add to that the threat of cholera. The take home message is that handwashing is as necessary as ever, epidemic or no epidemic because “Clean Hands Save Lives.” We’ll bring more tips about handwashing in the upcoming posts.

Dec 5 to 11 is National  Influenza Vaccination Week in the US

Every year, health authorities organize this event to encourage people to get their flu shots in December to January “The flu ends with U” is the slogan of this year’s flu vaccination week. We will be bringing you more flu updates in the coming days.