Gripe Suína IV - APA guidelines

Managing Your Anxiety about Swine Flu

The sudden and near-constant stream of news reports about swine flu can cause anyone to feel anxious and worried. These reactions are understandable because there are unknowns about the spread and severity of the illness. Even during this period of uncertainty, you can take several steps to manage your anxiety and have a positive outlook.

Keep things in perspective. Government officials need to prepare for worst-case scenarios in order to protect the public. The public, however, does not need to expect the worst. To date, the cases that have been identified in the United States are not severe. Americans who have contracted the illness have recovered.

Get the facts. Gather information that will help you accurately determine your risk so that you can take reasonable precautions. Find a credible source you can trust such as news from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control (http://cdc.gov/swineflu/), a local or state public health agency, or local elected official such as a state governor. This is a rapidly evolving situation, so gather information at regular intervals in order to help you distinguish facts from rumors. Be wary of unsubstantiated rumors, which can be upsetting and may deter you from taking appropriate action.

Maintain a hopeful outlook. Public health agencies around the globe are working on identifying outbreaks of the illness and to ensure the availability of the best medical care to those who are sick. Throughout the centuries, people have survived difficult life circumstances and gone on to live fulfilling and productive lives. There is no reason why this situation cannot be similar. Limit worry and agitation by lessening the time you and your family spend watching or listening to upsetting media coverage.

Stay healthy. A healthy lifestyle—including proper diet and exercise—is your best defense against any disease threat. Adopting hygienic habits such as washing your hands regularly will also minimize your exposure to all types of germs and disease sources. A healthy body can have a positive impact on your thoughts and emotions, enabling you to make better decisions and deal with the flu’s uncertainties.

Build resilience. Resilience is the process of adapting well in the face of adversity, threats or significant sources of stress. Draw on skills you have used in the past that have helped you to manage life’s adversities and use those skills to help you manage your emotions during this challenging time. See APA’s Road to Resilience brochure.

Have a plan. Think about how you might respond if swine flu were discovered in your area. You may want to stock up on non-perishable foods in case officials recommend staying home, explore options for working from home, and caring for sick family members, and establish an emergency family communication plan. Explore how you might spend your time if schools or businesses are closed. Working out some of these scenarios in advance can lessen your anxiety.

Communicate with your children. Discuss swine flu with honest and age- appropriate information. If your children have concerns, addressing those together may ease their anxiety and distress. Parents can also help allay distress by focusing children on routines and schedules that remain unchanged despite any changes due to swine flu preparations. Remember that children will observe adults behaviors and emotions for cues on how to manage their own emotions during this time.

Keep connected. Maintaining social networks can foster a sense of normality, and provide valuable outlets for sharing feelings and relieving stress. If officials have recommended limiting your social contact to contain an outbreak, you can stay connected via e-mail and telephone.

Seek additional help. If you have intense feelings of anxiety or hopelessness or are having trouble performing your job or other daily activities, a licensed mental health professional such as a psychologist can help you develop an appropriate strategy for moving forward. You can find psychologists near you by contacting your state psychological association or through APA’s psychologist locator.

A special thank you to: H. Katherine O'Neill, PhD; Ester Cole, PhD; and John R. Tassey, PhD for their assistance in preparing this document.

© 2009 American Psychological Association

Gripe Suína III

O nível de alerta da OMS subiu de quatro para cinco. Estamos em fase de pandemia, ou seja, no início do pico desta crise. Ainda não consegui foi perceber porque ainda só morreram pessoas mexicanas. Se alguém tiver tido acesso a uma explicação agradecia.

OMS:
Current level of influenza pandemic alert raised from phase 4 to 5
Based on assessment of all available information and following several expert consultations, Dr Margaret Chan, WHO's Director-General raised the current level of influenza pandemic alert from phase 4 to 5. She stated that all countries should immediately activate their pandemic preparedness plans. At this stage, effective and essential measures include heightened surveillance, early detection and treatment of cases, and infection control in all health facilities.

Entretanto, não sou a única a perguntar:

http://www.cnn.com/2009/HEALTH/04/28/swine.flu.mexico/

(CNN) -- It's a confounding question on the lips of disease detectives: Why have the only deaths from the swine flu outbreak happened in Mexico?

Mexican soldiers distributed 4 million masks on Sunday in Mexico City, which has 20 million residents.

Investigators also want to know why the disease has killed young adults, who should have the greatest resistance.

"They're good questions that we're asking, too," said Von Roebuck, spokesman for the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. "We're still young in this investigation and we're still trying to understand exposure in this country as well as exposure in Mexico."

Mexico has reported 152 fatalities in flu-like cases in recent days, seven of which have been confirmed as swine flu. Another 19 patients have been confirmed as having swine flu but surviving. About 2,000 people have been hospitalized with symptoms.

By contrast, the United States has had 64 confirmed cases, five hospitalizations and no deaths.

"The difference in seriousness between the known U.S. cases and the Mexican cases is the question that everyone wants to answer," said Maryn McKenna, author of "Beating Back the Devil," a 2004 book on the history of the CDC, and the forthcoming "Superbug," about drug-resistant staph.

There are no hard answers, but a consensus is emerging: The disease in Mexico has likely been around longer and infected more people than investigators can confirm.

"Do we really know all of the cases that existed in Mexico or is this just the tip of the iceberg?" asked Louis Sullivan, a physician and former head of Health and Human Services under President George H.W. Bush.

McKenna said it's possible "there is much more flu in Mexico than we know because it hasn't been counted. That would mean that there are mild cases there as well, but that you have to get to a certain number of cases before, statistically, you start to see the very serious ones, and the U.S. hasn't had that many cases yet."

It's a view shared on the streets of Mexico City, the hardest-hit area.

"My intuition is that as the medical community starts looking around and at what has happened they may find that swine flu was there and they just didn't catch it," said Ana Maria Salazar, a radio talk show host and political blogger who lives in Mexico City. "Nobody was looking for this. We were all looking for this in Asia."

The new virus has genes from North American swine influenza, avian influenza, human influenza and a form of swine influenza normally found in Asia and Europe, said Nancy Cox, chief of the CDC's Influenza Division.

Influenza is basically an extreme upper respiratory infection, and, by itself, is rarely fatal. But it can lead to deadly complications, such as pneumonia. About 36,000 Americans die from flu complications every year.

Swine flu is caused by a virus similar to the type of flu virus that, in various forms, infects people every year, but is a strain typically found only in pigs -- or in people who have direct contact with pigs.

A couple of factors could be causing the greater death toll in Mexico, said Howard Markel, a physician and director of the Center for the History of Medicine at the University of Michigan.

"They may have had cases for several months now and probably have a greater number of people who have the disease, probably tens of thousands," he said. "There may indeed be more cases in the United States. The snapshot we're seeing in the United States may be an incomplete snapshot."

Also, he said, the people who have died in Mexico could have had what he called "another co-factor," such as taking medicine or having pre-existing infections that would make them more vulnerable. It's also possible, he said, that those who died had an underlying genetic predisposition or condition.

Sullivan also pointed to possible "complicating factors," such as malnutrition, poor housing or crowded conditions.

Markel noted that "flu was classically called a crowding disease in the 19th century."

Disease investigators also are concerned by the fact that the outbreak has killed people in the prime of their lives, when they should have peak resistance.

"It is certainly a red flag," Markel said.

Health authorities have pointed out that this swine flu strain has never been seen. That may have a lot to do with the deaths, Markel said.

"It's a fairly novel strain," he said, "and the deaths could be from healthy people who have a healthy, robust immune system that overreacts." iReport.com: Share your concerns

That could result in a "cytokine storm" in which the body secretes too many chemicals as it tries to kill offending microorganisms.

The hyper-response can lead to accumulation of fluid in the lungs and a condition called "acute respiratory distress syndrome."

Julio Frenk, former health minister of Mexico and now dean of the Harvard School of Public Health, holds an opposing view: The disease could be killing people who are not healthy because of their living conditions.

"There could also be some elements in the host," he said. "These are poor people. Maybe their immune response is not as efficient. So we're going to have to just keep trying to understand why this difference and whether that continues as the epidemic unfolds."

He also noted that antiviral medications need to be taken within hours of the onset of symptoms, but people in Mexico may not have sought treatment immediately, if at all.

As the outbreak continues to unfold, so will the investigation.

"We're making every effort to truly understand this virus," said CDC's Roebuck. "But some of the reasons for what's happening we may never figure out."

Gripe Suína II - O que se pode fazer

Enquanto pesquisava a net à procura do impacto psicológico da gripe suína encontrei este site:

Picture the little kid crying in front of Mom. She’s wagging a finger at him saying, “I’ll give you something to cry about!” Anyone else feeling that way or is it just me? Terrorism, recession, and now what? Swine flu? Oy! What’s next? A plague of locusts?

Once again the media pounces and every five minutes we are hounded by how we shouldn’t panic. So much of what’s in the news right now is about as helpful as someone yelling “Fire!” in a crowded theater. “We don’t want you to panic, but there might be a three alarm blaze in the lobby.” Really, is that helpful?

So what can we do to address our anxiety over this crisis du jour? Treatment for situational anxiety doesn’t change much even if the trigger causing it does. Which is why the same advice I gave for Anxiety And The Plane Crash In Clarence, NY is basically applicable for Anxiety and Swine Flu.

Turn off the radio or television. Get off the news blogs. This is the best advice I can give you. Our brains and bodies are not made to assimilate repeated traumatic news force fed by 24 hour news networks. All we achieve is overloaded circuits and increased anxiety. Allow yourself to walk away from the news and come back to it occasionally for updates. When you must get information about the swine flu, exercise the control you have and get the best information you can, e.g. at the Centers for Disease Control’s website.

Breathe. Deep and slow. If you begin to feel the yellow flag signals of anxiety coming on (increased heart rate, shallow breathing, tense muscles, sweaty palms…) use your coping tools to keep the fear under control. Don’t run away from the feeling. Stop and breathe through it. Keep breathing; make yourself as comfortable as possible. Allow your everyday tasks at work and at home to distract you.

The best antidote to anxiety is action. What can you do besides washing your hands? Get outside and exercise, exercise, exercise! Process that adrenaline by working out. Our yards and gardens call for care, our kids want to play basketball. After an hour of play you will be able to focus again.

Be calm for your kids. If you have small children, they need you to be grounded and practical. Answer their questions as directly as you can without elaborating. If they ask: “Will I get sick and die?” or “Will you get sick and die?” Answer directly, “We all get sick sometimes but there’s absolutely no reason to think we will die from it. Now where’s your homework?”

Don’t give in to the anxious thoughts. Fight back. Practice mindfulness. Substitute visions of mayhem with prayer and meditation. Give your worry over to your higher power. Give yourself the oxygen of balanced thinking. If you have a history of anxiety disorder or OCD you may have a particularly hard time with this. Go to Swine Flu: A Special Warning To Those With OCD for guidance.

Inoculate yourself with humor. We humans love to laugh at our adversity. It’s a gift that separates us from the animals. A quick search on the Net supplied this:

“The only known cure for Swine Flu has been found to be the liberal application of oinkment.”

For more Swine Flu humor go to Funny Jokes and smile your anxiety away.

Elvira G. Aletta, Ph.D. is a clinical psychologist, wife, mom to two teenagers and blogger, seeking the balance in upstate New York. To learn more about Dr. Aletta, check out explorewhatsnext.com.

Gripe Suína

Últimos dados da WHO:

Swine influenza

The Emergency Committee, established in compliance with the International Health Regulations (2005), held its second meeting on 27 April 2009.

he Committee considered available data on confirmed outbreaks of A/H1N1 swine influenza in the United States of America, Mexico, and Canada. The Committee also considered reports of possible spread to additional countries.

On the advice of the Committee, the WHO Director-General decided on the following.

• The Director-General has raised the level of influenza pandemic alert from the current phase 3 to phase 4.
  
  The change to a higher phase of pandemic alert indicates that the likelihood of a pandemic has increased, but not that a pandemic is inevitable.
  
  As further information becomes available, WHO may decide to either revert to phase 3 or raise the level of alert to another phase.
  
  This decision was based primarily on epidemiological data demonstrating human-to-human transmission and the ability of the virus to cause community-level outbreaks.
  
  
• Given the widespread presence of the virus, the Director-General considered that containment of the outbreak is not feasible. The current focus should be on mitigation measures.
  
  
• The Director-General recommended not to close borders and not to restrict international travel. It was considered prudent for people who are ill to delay international travel and for people developing symptoms following international travel to seek medical attention.
  
  
• The Director-General considered that production of seasonal influenza vaccine should continue at this time, subject to re-evaluation as the situation evolves. WHO will facilitate the process needed to develop a vaccine effective against A(H1N1) virus.
  
  
• The Director-General stressed that all measures should conform with the purpose and scope of the International Health Regulations.

printable version Current WHO phase of pandemic alert Current phase of alert in the WHO global influenza preparedness plan Pandemic preparedness In the 2009 revision of the phase descriptions, WHO has retained the use of a six-phased approach for easy incorporation of new recommendations and approaches into existing national preparedness and response plans. The grouping and description of pandemic phases have been revised to make them easier to understand, more precise, and based upon observable phenomena. Phases 1–3 correlate with preparedness, including capacity development and response planning activities, while Phases 4–6 clearly signal the need for response and mitigation efforts. Furthermore, periods after the first pandemic wave are elaborated to facilitate post pandemic recovery activities. The current WHO phase of pandemic alert is 4. In nature, influenza viruses circulate continuously among animals, especially birds. Even though such viruses might theoretically develop into pandemic viruses, in Phase 1 no viruses circulating among animals have been reported to cause infections in humans. In Phase 2 an animal influenza virus circulating among domesticated or wild animals is known to have caused infection in humans, and is therefore considered a potential pandemic threat. In Phase 3, an animal or human-animal influenza reassortant virus has caused sporadic cases or small clusters of disease in people, but has not resulted in human-to-human transmission sufficient to sustain community-level outbreaks. Limited human-to-human transmission may occur under some circumstances, for example, when there is close contact between an infected person and an unprotected caregiver. However, limited transmission under such restricted circumstances does not indicate that the virus has gained the level of transmissibility among humans necessary to cause a pandemic. Phase 4 is characterized by verified human-to-human transmission of an animal or human-animal influenza reassortant virus able to cause “community-level outbreaks.” The ability to cause sustained disease outbreaks in a community marks a significant upwards shift in the risk for a pandemic. Any country that suspects or has verified such an event should urgently consult with WHO so that the situation can be jointly assessed and a decision made by the affected country if implementation of a rapid pandemic containment operation is warranted. Phase 4 indicates a significant increase in risk of a pandemic but does not necessarily mean that a pandemic is a forgone conclusion. Phase 5 is characterized by human-to-human spread of the virus into at least two countries in one WHO region. While most countries will not be affected at this stage, the declaration of Phase 5 is a strong signal that a pandemic is imminent and that the time to finalize the organization, communication, and implementation of the planned mitigation measures is short. Phase 6, the pandemic phase, is characterized by community level outbreaks in at least one other country in a different WHO region in addition to the criteria defined in Phase 5. Designation of this phase will indicate that a global pandemic is under way. During the post-peak period, pandemic disease levels in most countries with adequate surveillance will have dropped below peak observed levels. The post-peak period signifies that pandemic activity appears to be decreasing; however, it is uncertain if additional waves will occur and countries will need to be prepared for a second wave. Previous pandemics have been characterized by waves of activity spread over months. Once the level of disease activity drops, a critical communications task will be to balance this information with the possibility of another wave. Pandemic waves can be separated by months and an immediate “at-ease” signal may be premature. In the post-pandemic period, influenza disease activity will have returned to levels normally seen for seasonal influenza. It is expected that the pandemic virus will behave as a seasonal influenza A virus. At this stage, it is important to maintain surveillance and update pandemic preparedness and response plans accordingly. An intensive phase of recovery and evaluation may be required.

Swine influenza frequently asked questions

• What is swine influenza?
• What are the implications for human health?
• Where have human cases occurred?
• How do people become infected?
• Is it safe to eat pork and pork products?
• Which countries have been affected by outbreaks in pigs?
• What about the pandemic risk?
• Is there a human vaccine to protect from swine influenza?
• What drugs are available for treatment?
• What should I do if I am in regular contact with pigs?
• How can I protect myself from getting swine influenza from infected people?
• What should I do if I think I have swine influenza?

What is swine influenza?

Swine influenza, or “swine flu”, is a highly contagious acute respiratory disease of pigs, caused by one of several swine influenza A viruses. Morbidity tends to be high and mortality low (1-4%). The virus is spread among pigs by aerosols, direct and indirect contact, and asymptomatic carrier pigs. Outbreaks in pigs occur year round, with an increased incidence in the fall and winter in temperate zones. Many countries routinely vaccinate swine populations against swine influenza.

Swine influenza viruses are most commonly of the H1N1 subtype, but other subtypes are also circulating in pigs (e.g., H1N2, H3N1, H3N2). Pigs can also be infected with avian influenza viruses and human seasonal influenza viruses as well as swine influenza viruses. The H3N2 swine virus was thought to have been originally introduced into pigs by humans. Sometimes pigs can be infected with more than one virus type at a time, which can allow the genes from these viruses to mix. This can result in an influenza virus containing genes from a number of sources, called a "reassortant" virus. Although swine influenza viruses are normally species specific and only infect pigs, they do sometimes cross the species barrier to cause disease in humans.

What are the implications for human health?

Outbreaks and sporadic human infection with swine influenza have been occasionally reported. Generally clinical symptoms are similar to seasonal influenza but reported clinical presentation ranges broadly from asymptomatic infection to severe pneumonia resulting in death.

Since typical clinical presentation of swine influenza infection in humans resembles seasonal influenza and other acute upper respiratory tract infections, most of the cases have been detected by chance through seasonal influenza surveillance. Mild or asymptomatic cases may have escaped from recognition; therefore the true extent of this disease among humans is unknown.

Where have human cases occurred?

Since the implementation of IHR(2005)¹ in 2007, WHO has been notified of swine influenza cases from the United States and Spain.

How do people become infected?

People usually get swine influenza from infected pigs, however, some human cases lack contact history with pigs or environments where pigs have been located. Human-to-human transmission has occurred in some instances but was limited to close contacts and closed groups of people.

Is it safe to eat pork and pork products?

Yes. Swine influenza has not been shown to be transmissible to people through eating properly handled and prepared pork (pig meat) or other products derived from pigs. The swine influenza virus is killed by cooking temperatures of 160°F/70°C, corresponding to the general guidance for the preparation of pork and other meat.

Which countries have been affected by outbreaks in pigs?

Swine influenza is not notifiable to international animal health authorities (OIE, www.oie.int), therefore its international distribution in animals is not well known. The disease is considered endemic in the United States. Outbreaks in pigs are also known to have occurred in North America, South America, Europe (including the UK, Sweden, and Italy), Africa (Kenya), and in parts of eastern Asia including China and Japan.

What about the pandemic risk?

It is likely that most of people, especially those who do not have regular contact with pigs, do not have immunity to swine influenza viruses that can prevent the virus infection. If a swine virus establishes efficient human-to human transmission, it can cause an influenza pandemic. The impact of a pandemic caused by such a virus is difficult to predict: it depends on virulence of the virus, existing immunity among people, cross protection by antibodies acquired from seasonal influenza infection and host factors.

Is there a human vaccine to protect from swine influenza?

There are no vaccines that contain the current swine influenza virus causing illness in humans. It is not known whether current human seasonal influenza vaccines can provide any protection. Influenza viruses change very quickly. It is important to develop a vaccine against the currently circulating virus strain for it to provide maximum protection to the vaccinated people. This is why WHO needs access to as many viruses as possible in order to select the most appropriate candidate vaccine virus.

What drugs are available for treatment?

There are two classes of such medicines, 1) adamantanes (amantadine and remantadine), and 2) inhibitors of influenza neuraminidase (oseltamivir and zanamivir).

Most of the previously reported swine influenza cases recovered fully from the disease without requiring medical attention and without antiviral medicines.

Some influenza viruses develop resistance to the antiviral medicines, limiting the effectiveness of treatment. The viruses obtained from the recent human cases with swine influenza in the United States are sensitive to oselatmivir and zanamivir but resistant to amantadine and remantadine.

Information is insufficient to make recommendation on the use of the antivirals in treatment of swine influenza virus infection. Clinicians have to make decisions based on the clinical and epidemiological assessment and harms and benefit of the treatment of the patient². For the ongoing outbreak of the swine influenza infection in the United States and Mexico, the national and the local authorities are recommending to use oseltamivir or zanamivir for treatment of the disease based on the virus’s susceptibility profile.

What should I do if I am in regular contact with pigs?

Even though there is no clear indication that the current human cases with swine influenza infection are related to recent or ongoing influenza-like disease events in pigs, it would be advisable to minimize contact with sick pigs and report such animals to relevant animal health authorities.

Most people are infected through prolonged, close contact with infected pigs. Good hygiene practices are essential in all contact with animals and are especially important during slaughter and post-slaughter handling to prevent exposure to disease agents. Sick animals or animals that died from disease should not be undergoing slaughtering procedures. Follow further advice from relevant national authorities.

Swine influenza has not been shown to be transmissible to people through eating properly handled and prepared pork (pig meat) or other products derived from pigs. The swine influenza virus is killed by cooking temperatures of 160°F/70°C corresponding to the general guidance for the preparation of pork and other meat.

How can I protect myself from getting swine influenza from infected people?

In the past, human infection with swine influenza was generally mild but is known to have caused severe illness such as pneumonia For the current outbreaks in the United States and Mexico however, the clinical pictures have been different. None of the confirmed cases in the United States have had the severe form of the disease and the patients recovered from illness without requiring medical care. In Mexico, some patients reportedly had the severe form of the disease.

To protect yourself, practice general preventive measures for influenza:

• Avoid close contact with people who appear unwell and who have fever and cough.
• Wash your hands with soap and water frequently and thoroughly.
• Practice good health habits including adequate sleep, eating nutritious food, and keeping physically active.

If there is an ill person at home:

• Try to provide the ill person a separate section in the house. If this is not possible, keep the patient at least 1 meter in distance from others.
• Cover mouth and nose when caring for the ill person. Masks can be bought commercially or made using the readily available materials as long as they are disposed of or cleaned properly.
• Wash your hands with soap and water thoroughly after each contact with the ill person.
• Try to improve the air flow in the area where the ill person stays. Use doors and windows to take advantage of breezes.
• Keep the environment clean with readily available household cleaning agents.

If you are living in a country where swine influenza has caused disease in humans, follow additional advice from national and local health authorities.

What should I do if I think I have swine influenza?

If you feel unwell, have high fever, cough and/or sore throat:

• Stay at home and keep away from work, school or crowds as much as possible.
• Rest and take plenty of fluids.
• Cover your mouth and nose with disposable tissues when coughing and sneezing and dispose of the used tissues properly.
• Wash your hands with soap and water frequently and thoroughly, especially after coughing or sneezing.
• Inform family and friends about your illness and seek help for household chores that require contact with other people such as shopping.

If you need medical attention:

• Contact your doctor or healthcare provider before travelling to see them and report your symptoms. Explain why you think you have swine influenza (for example, if you have recently travelled to a country where there is a swine influenza outbreak in humans). Follow the advice given to you for care.
• If it is not possible to contact your healthcare provider in advance, communicate your suspicion of having swine influenza immediately upon arrival at the healthcare facility.
• Take care to cover your nose and mouth during travel.

RELATED LINKS

- ¹ International Health Regulations (2005)
- ² Benefits and harms of influenza-specific antivirals

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/8021547.stm

P T QUAKE ’09 Novidades

As novidades que estávamos à espera!!

O Exercício "PTQUAKE09" terá lugar nos dias 5 e 6 de Maio de 2009.

Trata-se do terceiro e último exercício da série planeada e conduzida pela ANPC no quadro da validação dos pressupostos do Plano Especial de Emergência de Risco Sísmico para a Área Metropolitana de Lisboa e Concelhos Limítrofes (PEERS-AML). Os primeiros exercícios desta série decorreram em 2008, respectivamente em Maio e Novembro.

O "PTQUAKE09" é ainda o primeiro exercício internacional de protecção civil a ter lugar em Portugal. Nesta medida, o exercício enquadra-se na iniciativa europeia FIRE 6 e fará mobilizar para Portugal equipas de protecção civil com valências nas áreas da Busca e Salvamento em ambiente urbano e da emergência médica oriundas de Espanha, França, Itália e Grécia. Participarão ainda neste exercício equipas das Regiões Autónomas dos Açores e da Madeira, também com valências nas áreas acima identificadas.

A principal finalidade deste exercício é treinar a estrutura operacional e restantes Unidades Orgânicas (UO) da ANPC e ainda as demais entidades com responsabilidade em matéria de protecção civil, à luz dos princípios do Sistema Integrado de Operações de Protecção e Socorro, do PEERS-AML e, concretamente, no quadro de uma intervenção em caso de ocorrência de um evento sísmico, conduzindo à intervenção de equipas regionais e europeias nas operações.

Neste sentido, o "PTQUAKE'09" apresenta cinco principais objectivos:

• Operacionalizar a versão em análise do PEERS-AML, na componente dos mecanismos de direcção, comando e controlo, do reconhecimento avançado, da resposta imediata e de curto-prazo, da avaliação de estruturas, apoio social, apoio logístico da gestão de informação e dos mecanismos de assistência internacional;
• Exercitar o planeamento e a condução de um exercício LIVEX de âmbito internacional por parte da ANPC;
• Exercitar o acolhimento e a integração de equipas de intervenção europeias numa operação nacional;
• Testar a articulação operacional com equipas das Regiões Autónomas dos Açores e da Madeira e;
• Testar a interoperabilidade entre as equipas de intervenção nacionais e as europeias nas Áreas de Intervenção (AI) da Busca e Salvamento em Ambiente Urbano (USAR) e da Emergência Médica (EM).

Entidades Nacionais Participantes

Participam activamente no exercício "PTQUAKE09" as seguintes entidades nacionais:

1. Corpos de Bombeiros da AML
2. Serviços Municipais de Protecção Civil de Benavente, Lisboa, Vila Franca de Xira e Seixal
3. Polícia de Segurança Pública
4. Guarda Nacional Republicana
5. Direcção-Geral da Autoridade Marítima
6. Instituto Nacional de Emergência Médica
7. Instituto de Meteorologia
8. Forças Armadas: Marinha, Exército e Força Aérea
9. Cruz Vermelha Portuguesa
10. Ministério Público
11. Instituto Nacional de Medicina Legal
12. Polícia Judiciária
13. Agência Portuguesa do Ambiente
14. Direcção-Geral da Saúde
15. Empresa de Meios Aéreos
16. Laboratório Nacional de Engenharia Civil
17. Associações de Radioamadores

Equipas Nacionais

As Equipas Nacionais são constituídas por operacionais oriundos das diversas entidades participantes, com valências nas seguintes áreas:

• Emergência Médica
• Busca e Salvamento
• Matérias Perigosas
• Apoio Psicológico
• Mortuária
• Apoio Social
• Incêndios Urbanos e Industriais
• NRBQ

Equipas Internacionais

As equipas internacionais participantes no "PTQUAKE09" são oriundas de Espanha, França e Grécia.

No que respeita à participação internacional, foram solicitadas aos países participantes valências nas áreas da busca e salvamento em ambiente urbano (USAR – Urban Search and Rescue) e da Emergência Médica.

Cenários

O cenário do exercício "PTQUAKE09" é fictício e deverá permitir a condução das acções a tomar em caso de diversas ocorrências no âmbito da Protecção Civil, de acordo com as capacidades e possibilidades das entidades participantes.

Dos vários cenários possíveis no território da AML CL admite-se como hipótese de planeamento um cenário próximo de magnitude moderada a elevada (magnitude=6.6/6.7) com epicentro no Vale Inferior do Tejo. Deste cenário resulta uma área afectada com um raio superior a 40 km, cujos danos estimados deverão concentrar-se, em especial, em torno dos concelhos marginais ao rio Tejo.

Como hipótese de planeamento para o “PTQUAKE09” com probabilidade de gerar danos moderados a elevados, são de considerar os concelhos de Lisboa, Seixal, Vila Franca de Xira e Benavente.

O exercício será jogado, durante os dois dias seguidos, sem interrupção, nos três distritos acima mencionados e ainda na cidade de Lisboa.

Durante o exercício "PTQUAKE09" serão testadas apenas as seguintes valências: Avaliação e Reconhecimento (ERAS), Busca e Salvamento em Ambiente Urbano (USAR), Emergência Médica (EM), Incidentes com substâncias Nucleares, Radiológicas, Biológicas e Químicas (NRBQ) e com Matérias Perigosas (HAZMAT), Mortuária (MORT), Incêndios Urbanos e Industriais (IUI), Apoio Social (APSOC), Apoio Psicológico (APSIC), Avaliação de Estruturas (AVEST) e Perímetros e Áreas de Segurança (PASEG).

Mais informações em http://ptquake09.prociv.pt/

Sri lanka: Crise Humanitária!!

Photo: Sri Lankan Ministry of Defence

Over 100,000 Sri Lankan civilians fled the combat areas in northern Sri Lanka since 20 April and humanitarian agencies are struggling to clothe, feed and shelter them

COLOMBO, 23 April 2009 (IRIN) - International and Sri Lankan relief agencies and government authorities are scrambling all available resources, and sending out appeals for more assistance, after over 100,000 Sri Lankan civilians fled combat areas in the north in the past few days.

The UN in Colombo said teams were working around the clock to clothe, feed and shelter crowds of weary and hungry people.

"I saw infants with dysentery, malnourished children and women, untended wounds, and people dressed in the ragged clothing they've been wearing for months," Neil Buhne, UN resident coordinator in Sri Lanka, said in a statement on 23 April after visiting the new escapees from the combat zone.

"We need funds for all the basics, like food, medicine, water, sanitation, nutrition, shelter, and clothing. And we want to try to get kids as soon as possible back into school in order to give them some semblance of normality."

Sri Lankan Foreign Minister Rohitha Bogollagama met diplomats on the morning of 23 April, and appealed for more help for the surge of civilians arriving in government controlled areas, after the Sri Lankan army pierced a massive earth bund constructed by the Tamil Tigers.

The combat zone of recent days has been a 12-km-long strip of territory on the eastern coast of Mulaithivu District, northeastern Sri Lanka, but the Sri Lankan army is now in control of a 3km stretch of the zone, according to Defence Ministry sources.

Reuters video short on Sri Lankan exodus

Watch larger version of video

Bogollagama said more civilians were expected to cross into government-controlled areas. He said the government expected at least 15,000 more civilians would flee in the coming days and that 15,000-20,000 civilians still remained trapped in the combat zone. Over 170,000 have fled the fighting since December 2008, according to Sri Lankan government figures.

Humanitarian emergency

"With the unprecedented influx of large numbers of people in such a short period of time, obviously we do face an emergency humanitarian situation," he told the diplomatic corps at the ministry, and appealed for urgent supplies for shelter, safe drinking water, sanitation and medicine.

Bogollagama said at a press conference that the US government had pledged to provide a field hospital, and India was sending 40,000 emergency family kits. The European Union had pledged US$22 million worth of assistance and other aid was in the pipeline. The Foreign Ministry had set up a task force to liaise with foreign donors and coordinate assistance.

The UN said it had released an appeal for $155 million appealed for $155 million to meet the anticipated increase in assistance in February but thus far had received less than one third of that amount.

"Many of these people were forced from their homes by fighting more than a year ago, and it is something of a miracle that they have survived such a terrible ordeal," Buhne said in his statement and warned of overcrowding in the existing "welfare sites".

"Mismatch"

Photo: Sri Lankan Ministry of Defence

With tens of thousands more civilians expected to flee the no-fire zones in the days ahead, humanitarian agencies and the Sri Lankan government are appealing for additional resources

Relief agencies working in the northern town of Vavuniya, where the bulk of the newly fled are arriving, said the situation on the ground had changed dramatically since the 20 April exodus.

"It appears that because of the sudden surge, there is a mismatch between the available resources and the massive needs," Menaca Calyaneratne, spokesperson for Save the Children Sri Lanka, told IRIN. "We need coordination at all levels to meet the needs of all these people."

Save the Children said it was prioritising by looking after the educational needs of displaced children and students who had their educations disrupted when their schools were taken over to house those fleeing the war. Calyaneratne said Save the Children would provide educational assistance to at least 37,000 students - a number that would surely rise with new arrivals.

Urgent need for medical aid

Doctors working in Vavuniya said in a website posting that there was also an urgent need for medical assistance.

"We've been seeing very severely wounded patients. The numbers of patients have increased rapidly over the last three or four days," Paul McMaster, a doctor with Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF), said. "We're seeing a stream of badly wounded people being brought in to us," he said in a web-post.

"Our hospital has got about 450 beds, and we've now got more than 1,700 patients in the hospital - on the floor, in the corridors, and even outside," he said.

Trauma e Apoio Psicossocial em Gaza

Photo: Erica Silverman/IRIN

Psychological trauma was rated as a main concern by hundreds of respondents to the UN survey (file photo)

GAZA CITY, 26 April 2009 (IRIN) - The UN Inter-Agency Gender Task Force (IAGTF), a mechanism for integrating gender concerns into UN policies and programmes, on 23 April published the results of a household survey on the needs and perceptions of men and women in the aftermath of Israel's recent 23-day military offensive in Gaza.

The survey was conducted through face-to-face interviews with 1,100 adult men and women across the Gaza Strip in the first week of March 2009. IAGTF is led by the UN Development Fund for Women (UNIFEM) in the occupied Palestinian territories.

Psychological trauma was consistently rated as a main concern by respondents regardless of gender, region, or social group, and psychosocial services were deemed to be a critical need, like food and water, according to the survey.

"We have to help ourselves recover from the images and memories of the war," said Iptihal, (she declined to giver her family name), aged 24, a public relations officer for a heritage organisation in Gaza City. "Counselling is not readily available; we only have one psychiatric hospital, and it is not socially acceptable to seek psychological treatment."

Iptihal said she was most affected by her inability to help others near her who had suffered and died.

With increased stress and limited access to psycho-social services, one emerging problem is self-medication with unsupervised pharmaceutical therapies, the survey said.

Medical professionals and pharmacists in Gaza reported an increase in self-medication with behaviour control substances during and post-conflict in Gaza.

Lack of consultation on humanitarian aid

Relief efforts in Gaza have intensified post-conflict, although 85 percent of men and 88 percent of women surveyed reported that they had not been involved in any consultation on the planning or design of humanitarian assistance in their community.

Women involved in planning relief overwhelmingly reported it was a male-dominated effort.

UNIFEM believes the survey could be used as a tool for implementing gender-responsive aid programmes.

Some 60 percent of respondents said they had received food aid since the end of the war, although about half of the recipients expressed dissatisfaction with the assistance, stating it was insufficient or inappropriate to their needs.

About 20 percent of households said boys' needs were prioritised when there was a food shortage, and elderly men and women were most at risk of not getting adequate food.

The Israeli offensive - ostensibly in retaliation for continued Hamas rocket-fire from Gaza into Israel - began on 27 December 2008 and ended on 18 January.

Sudão: ONG's acusam governo de extorsão

Photo: UN DPI

An MSF worker with IDPs: Staff of some of the NGOs expelled from Sudan last month have accused the government of "extorting" large sums of money from them

CAIRO, 24 April 2009 (IRIN) - Staff of some of the NGOs expelled from Sudan last month have accused the government of "extorting" large sums of money from them. Khartoum has defended its demands, saying those who failed to pay what it called "compensation" might be jailed.

"They asked us to pay an exorbitant amount of money... [and said]: 'We have your passports. Once you agree to pay, you can leave the country'," said Jane Coyne, head of mission for Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF)-France, one of 13 aid agencies ordered to leave Sudan for their alleged provision of information to the International Criminal Court. On 4 March the ICC indicted Sudanese President Omar el-Bashir on charges of war crimes and crimes against humanity.

On 19 March, Sudan's Labour Ministry ordered all of the expelled agencies to pay their local staff members six months' severance pay, rather than the one month in lieu of notice that the law stipulates in most cases.

"They went beyond their mandates. So the government has to take action," Labour Minister Alison Monani Magaya said. "We have sufficient evidence they have done wrong."

The extra pay-outs amount to $11.5 million for the 13 organisations, in addition to US$10.6 in usual termination-without-notice payments and $20.3 million in seized assets, NGO sources said.

"The word I like to use is extortion.That's all money that at the end of the day has to come from donors that would have otherwise gone for programmes in Darfur," an aid source said on condition of anonymity.

"It's absolutely maddening that we would have to pay this and that the government is just going to get away with it. There's no recourse. There's no retribution. There's no penalty for the government. There's nothing."

Photo: IRIN

Aid workers at a past food distribution in Darfur: Some NGOs have accused the government of extortion

Passports confiscated

MSF International said in a statement that the Sudanese authorities had confiscated departing staff members' passports until just a few hours before they left. This "effectively put them in a hostage situation." Bank accounts were also frozen at times.

Most of the expelled NGOs have agreed to the government's demands so as to ensure their staff could leave Sudan and to avoid potential detention or physical attack by members of the public. Local media and government officials - as well as several speeches by the president - have repeatedly referred to NGO "spies" and "thieves".

"We felt like there wasn't a choice," said Reshma Adatia, country director for MSF-Holland. "The [other] concern was instead of taking it out on us, they might take it out on our [national] staff."

The government dismissed claims of harassment and scare tactics, saying the passports were being held for the purpose of making exit visas. "Nobody harassed them," Ahmed Adam, director-general of NGOs at the government's Humanitarian Aid Commission, said. "Some NGOs are saying that the government cancelled the registration without reason. If you want to defend yourself, you can take the case to court."

Mohamed Yousif Almustafa, state minister of Labour, warned that the remaining aid workers could be detained or put on trial if their organisations did not pay.

Almustafa, who owes his position to his membership of the Sudan People's Liberation Movement, a former rebel group which joined the government after a 2005 peace deal, did agree the payments were "unfair".

"It was not their [the NGOs'] move. They didn't expel the people. The government did that."

Photo: IRIN

Displaced women at a camp in Nyala, west Darfur - file photo

Assets seized

MSF also expressed concern over the use of seized assets. Some aid workers alleged government officials were driving their vehicles, wearing their clothes and selling their laptop computers. One aid worker said even curtains from a residential compound were taken.

Agreements between Sudan and NGOs state that humanitarian assets brought into the country are Sudan's property once the aid agencies leave, but MSF worried about how items such as satellite phones and four-wheel-drive vehicles would be used.

"A lot of our assets are now in the possession of National Security, who I consider to be party to the conflict," MSF's Coyne said.

Dangerous precedent

Coyne said she was "gravely concerned" by the precedent the government was setting by demanding money from aid organisations.

"That was part of the rationale for why I would be willing to consider accepting the danger of being arrested in a country like Sudan. Somebody has to say that this isn't right and it's not acceptable."

"If this was another government, people would have spoken out long, long before," said Ed Schenkenberg, coordinator of the Geneva-based International Council of Voluntary Agencies, a coalition of humanitarian NGOs whose membership includes nine of the 13 expelled agencies.

Even before the payments were made, aid workers expressed concerns over a shrinking humanitarian space and said the threat of expulsion could deter them from speaking out or doing sensitive work.

"There is a climate of fear and I am concerned about what that means for all agencies to provide appropriate aid for populations in Sudan," Adatia of MSF-Holland said.

Schenkenberg said: "The issue of severance payments and, in general, the way this expulsion is taking place is not just the concern of the NGOs being expelled, but the whole humanitarian community."

DRC e os rapazes soldado

Photo: Vincent Mayanja/IRIN

Radhika Coomaraswamy

NAIROBI, 22 April 2009 (IRIN) -

More child soldiers are to be demobilised in South Kivu Province, but concerns remain because some of those freed earlier have ended up in the national army, Radhika Coomaraswamy, special representative of the Secretary-General for children and armed conflict, has told a news conference in Kinshasa.

About 1,200 children have been released from various militias since January. However, any that have joined specially designated brigades within the national army will not be allowed to stay.

"The new Congolese army cannot afford to have children in its ranks and the integration process is a unique opportunity to identify and release them," she said.

At a transit centre in Masisi, she heard stories of grave human rights violations: "Sexual violence remains one of the most critical concerns in the DRC, devastating the lives of thousands of girls," she said.

Nova crise humanitária

Photo: Sri Lankan Army

Some 39,000 civilians fled the no fire zone on 20 April, the largest number ever, although tens of thousands of civilians remain in the conflict zone and the no fire zone in harms way

COLOMBO, 21 April 2009 (IRIN) - The UN has called on the Sri Lankan government to exercise "maximum restraint" to protect the lives of tens of thousands of civilians still trapped in a tiny pocket of Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE)-controlled territory in northern Sri Lanka.

"While relieved at the numbers who have managed to escape from the fighting, there are still considerable numbers of civilians left inside," UN Humanitarian Coordinator in Sri Lanka Neil Buhne told IRIN.

"Our calculations and reports from government officials still in the area suggest there are at least some tens of thousands, and perhaps as many as 100,000 or more left. We hope it is less, but we must be prepared for more," said Buhne.

Over 100,000 people have fled the fighting between Sri Lankan government forces and the Tamil Tigers since December 2008, including over 39,000 that crossed the frontlines near Puthukkudiyiruppu on 20 April - the largest number of civilians to escape the fighting in a day in the last 15 months.

According to Sri Lankan military sources, the civilians escaped the fighting after government troops pierced an earth bund around the 20sqkm so-called No Fire Zone, just east of Puthukkudiyiruppu on 20 April morning.

Call for greater humanitarian access

If fighting continues and if the LTTE refuses to allow people to leave the conflict zone, then we face the intolerable inevitability of seeing many more children killed.

UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon deplored the continuing use of heavy weapons in the vicinity of civilians, and the LTTE tactic of preventing civilians from fleeing the conflict zone. He also called for wider access for UN agencies in the combat areas and the "welfare centres" accommodating escaped civilians.

"The UN must also be allowed to have full access to screening centres and any other reception points for those escaping the conflict zone. It is also important to ensure the sustainable resettlement of these internally displaced persons (IDPs) as soon as possible," his office said in a statement released on 20 April.

The UN Children's Fund (UNICEF) warned that if civilians remained trapped within the combat zone, it could lead to "dreadful consequences".

"If fighting continues and if the LTTE refuses to allow people to leave the conflict zone, then we face the intolerable inevitability of seeing many more children killed," UNICEF's regional director for South Asia, Daniel Toole, said in a statement on 20 April.

Gearing up to respond

International and Sri Lankan relief agencies told IRIN they were committed to continuing their assistance.

"For the US government the assistance to the World Food Programme (WFP) is extremely important and we are committed to continue with it," Lona Middlebrough, spokesperson for the US Agency for International Development (USAID), told IRIN.

USAID is the single largest contributor to WFP assistance programmes in Sri Lanka, the spokesperson said. In 2008 it contributed essential supplies valued at US$29 million and recently made a $15 million commitment of supplies due to arrive on the island in June.

Middlebrough told IRIN funding by USAID would probably increase for WFP and other relief agencies.

Photo: Sri Lankan Army

Civilians fleeing the no fire zones to government controlled areas on 20 April

The International Organization for Migration (IOM) also told IRIN it was ramping up its aid as the numbers fleeing the fighting had dramatically increased.

"IOM plans to increase its assistance as the displaced numbers rise. It will continue its support in responding to the pressing needs of IDPs in shelter, water and sanitation facilities, transport, registration and logistic support," Passanna Gunasekera, a spokesperson for IOM, said.

The UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR) is also gearing up to respond to the growing numbers of displaced people. "UNHCR has stepped up its emergency response in Sri Lanka's north, where displacement numbers are growing," it said on 17 April.

"UNHCR - together with the government and other partners - is responding with massive shelter support and regular distribution of non-food aid items while undertaking protection monitoring."

quando a crise chega às ONG's

Photo: Kamila Hyat/IRIN

Many NGOs are looking for new ways to raise money

NEW YORK, 21 April 2009 (IRIN) - Non-profit organisations and NGOs are laying off staff and cutting back aid programmes as the global recession bites, and the prospects for 2010 also look bleak.

"Clearly the impact of the financial downturn on charities is widening and deepening," said Dame Suzi Leather, chair of the Charity Commission, the independent regulator for charitable activity in England and Wales. "Some charities still face that double whammy of a drop in income as well as an increased demand for services."

In its latest update the Commission reported that 64 percent of charities with an annual income of over £1 million (about US$1.48 million) said they were concerned their services or funding might be greatly affected.

"In 2009, we're estimating that giving from foundations will decline in the range of the high single digits to the low double digits," said Steven Lawrence, senior director of research at the Foundation Center, a leading US authority on philanthropy, noting that foundation assets declined double that amount, almost 22 percent, in 2008.

"Unquestionably 2010 is going to be another year of decreasing foundation giving, but based on past experience it will still be in a more modest range," he told IRIN. This is going to be felt right through the non-profit world for NGOs in Africa and elsewhere, he said.

The overall effect of the crisis on charitable giving both by foundations and individuals is wide-ranging.

"There have been cutbacks in budgets and programmes. Some members have instituted wage freezes, hiring freezes, travel restrictions, etc. There also have been functions eliminated and layoffs," James Bishop, vice-president of Humanitarian Policy and Practice at InterAction, the largest coalition of US-based international NGOs, told IRIN.

Reduced operations

One NGO that has resorted to most of these measures is Catholic Relief Services (CRS), which reaches more than 80 million people in over 100 countries, and is now facing a 13 percent shortfall in revenue from its private US donors for the first six months of the 2009 financial year.

"In a normal year our private revenue coming into the agency from mainly American Catholics would be $150 million - we expect that to be reduced by $16 million to $17 million and we've lost an equal amount in equities," Executive Vice-President of Charitable Giving Michael Wiest told IRIN.

Photo: Masoud Popalzai/IRIN

In Afghanistan, inadequate resources have affected efforts to improve the situation of women

CRS already had in place plans to reduce - over a three-year period - its operations in East Asia, Eastern Europe and South America in favour of increased growth in Africa, South Asia and the Middle East.

"But because of the financial situation we had to move in that direction very quickly," Wiest said. "We've reduced our programming in those three areas sharply over the past six months so as to maintain to the degree possible our efforts in Africa, Pakistan and Afghanistan."

Programmes cut include economic development in agriculture, micro-financing and maternal child health, while the programmes benefitting Africa range from anti-retroviral therapy and other AIDS projects such as care for orphans, to agriculture, microfinance and water development.

Cuts, cuts...

CRS has not laid off any international staff but has eliminated several hundred national personnel from its overall staff of 5,000-6,000, mainly in countries where projects were cut.

It has imposed a sliding pay cut on international staff, ranging from 1.5 per cent for the lowest salaries to 10 percent at the top. It has also suspended agency contributions to the US 403B retirement fund and abolished 15-day leave carryovers from one year to the next, this latter saving about $2.2 million.

"On the revenue side we've approached some of our very wealthy donors and asked them to make a special effort to help," Wiest said of renewed efforts to raise revenue. "We're looking to raise, hopefully from a handful, three or four or five or six of these people, maybe $10 million, and we will be making a special appeal through the American Catholic community through the mail to match that."

But CRS is fortunate in that it gets most of its funding from the US government and the mainly officially financed Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis, and Malaria, which has so far not cut back donations, as well as from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, which virtually alone among foundations has pledged to increase its grants this year.

Moreover, it has not been forced out of Sudan as have many other NGOs, and is hoping to receive increased funding from the US government and the UN World Food Programme for its work there.

"We were requested by the US, the UN and our sister agencies to ramp up our efforts because we were not thrown out of Sudan as were these other agencies, so we will see a dramatic upscale in the size of our Darfur programmes," Wiest said.

Photo: Anna Koblanck/IRIN

The overall effect of the crisis on charitable giving both by foundations and individuals is wide-ranging

Hiring freeze

Other NGOs which receive government funding are also in a less dire situation. The International Rescue Committee (IRC), which helps relocate refugees and rebuild lives in the wake of disaster in 42 countries, receives over 75 percent of its funding from European governments, the US government, the UN and the World Bank, and this funding has increased since October 2008.

So far it has not had to cut back programmes or lay off staff, but it has imposed a hiring freeze, only filling critical positions. "We have done what most organisations have done - we have reviewed all budgets and reduced or eliminated any expenses that were considered non-essential, such as travel," IRC Chief Financial Officer Patricia Long told IRIN.

Others have already projected lay-offs. The UK affiliate of Oxfam International is cutting about 50 posts in its 2009-2010 budget, beginning next month, with consequent job losses. "The figure is still somewhat fluid because we continue to make arrangements wherever possible for transfers within Oxfam for people in posts identified for cuts," Acting Head of Public Relations Magda Walter told IRIN.

Many NGOs are looking for new ways to raise money. "Some groups are looking to raise money from donors overseas in places like China and India, but obviously the recession has had an impact too on donors overseas," Caroline Preston, staff writer of the Chronicle of Philanthropy, a Washington-based fortnightly newspaper of the nonprofit world, told IRIN.

"The other big thing is government money; groups are continuing to pursue government grants."

CARE, one of the world's largest private international humanitarian organisations, is trimming its budget but not yet cutting entire programmes.

"Instead, we are reducing staff travel and other expenses that result in some streamlining in the programme arena," Public Relations Director Lurma Rackley told IRIN. "We have taken the measure of a pay-cut across the board in the hope of avoiding any lay-offs."

They might be thousands of miles from the earthquake on Wall St., but they will feel the tremors for years to come

Getting the word out

Seeking new sources of financing, CARE recently launched a project - A Powerful Noise Live - in 450 theatres across the USA, featuring three women making a positive difference in the lives of other women in Bosnia, Vietnam and Mali, thus introducing CARE to new audiences and raising money.

"We're also planning innovative efforts with corporate allies to generate funding for our mission," Rackley said.

Another of those looking for new financing is Save the Children UK. "For a start we are being cannier at sourcing funds, looking in new ponds for funding," Director of Fundraising Tanya Steele told IRIN, without being more specific, noting that Save the Children's shops are seeing more customers as people tighten their belts.

"The bitter irony of course is that this very context is making the lives of the people we work with unbearably hard," she said. "The work we are doing now feels all the more vital given the global economic situation. As the world continues to feel the effects of global gambling, our eyes are on the most vulnerable members of society. They might be thousands of miles from the earthquake on Wall St., but they'll feel the tremors for years to come."

III Simposio Internacional PTSD‏

Centro de Estudos de Saude Mental da Escola Superior de Saúde de Portalegre, com o Apoio da Autoridade Nacional de Protecção Civil, vai realizar nos próximos dias 15 e 16 de Maio o III Simposio Internacional de Perturbação Pós Stress Traumático.

Os trabalhos vão decorrer no Pequeno Auditório do Centro de artes do Espectáculo de Portalegre, sendo as Inscrições limitadas.

Posters e Comunicações Livres, deverão ser propostos de acordo com o regulamento, até ao dia 8 de Maio de 2009.

Mais informações e Inscrições em http://www.essp.pt/III_Simposio.php ou http://saudementalessp.blogspot.com/

Programa:

15 de Maio 2009

8.30h Abertura do Secretariado

9.30h SESSÃO SOLENE DE ABERTURA

10.00h – CONFERÊNCIA
CISM – O modelo e a sua aplicabilidade
Isabel Cambraia – NAV Portugal
Comentador: Nuno Silva (CM Avis)

11.00h – Pausa para Café / Mostra de Posters

11.15h ‐ PAINEL

Medicina legal, emergência e catástrofe – Pedro Amorim
Stress e agentes da autoridade – Mário Guedelha
(Destacamento de Trânsito de Portalegre /GNR)
Stress e doença mental – João Albuquerque (CRM Assumar)
Moderador: Raul Cordeiro (IPP/ESSP)

13.00H – ALMOÇO LIVRE

14.00H – CONFERÊNCIA

Estado de arte da PTSD – Implicações e repercussões
Ângela Maia – Universidade do Minho
Comentador: João Claudino Junceiro (IPP/ESSP)

14.45h – PAINEL
Stress e protecção civil – Nuno Moura (BV Benavente)
Stress e emergência médica – Manolo Carrasco (Cruz Roja ‐ Cáceres – Espanha)
Stress e pré‐Hospitalar – Jorge Marques (ULSNA/VMER)
Moderador: Belo Costa (CDOS Portalegre)

15.30h – Pausa para Café/Mostra de Posters

15.45H – COMUNICAÇÕES LIVRES

Moderador:

17.30h ‐ ENCERRAMENTO

16 de Maio 2009

9.30h – CONFERÊNCIA
Intervenção Psicossocial: A realidade na Estónia
Imbi Jaetma – Head of Educational Department SKA Rescue College ‐ Estónia
Comentador: Miguel Arriaga – IPP/ESSP

10.15h – Pausa para Café /Mostra de Posters

10.30h – À CONVERSA COM…
Paulo Sargento /Rita Lourenço ‐ ULHT
Moderador: Hugo Alcântara – SIC

11.30h – COMUNICAÇÕES LIVRES
Moderador:

12.30H Entrega de Prémios de Posters e Comunicações Livres

SESSÃO DE ENCERRAMENTO

COMUNICAÇÕES LIVRES E POSTERS

Pedidos de Regras para Comunicações Livres e Posters para:

jclaudino@essp.pt
miguelarriaga@essp.pt
raulcordeiro@essp.pt
cesmessp@gmail.com
saudemental@essp.pt
www.saudementalessp.blogspot.com

Artigos Abril - Vários Jornais da APA e livros também

L’inventaire d’anxiété situationnelle et de trait d’anxiété (IASTA-Y): Structure factorielle et biais linguistique. / The Inventory of situational anxiety and feature of anxiety (IASTA-Y): Factorial structure and oblique linguistic.

Vigneau, François; Cormier, Stéphanie

Canadian Journal of Behavioural Science/Revue canadienne des sciences du comportement. Vol 41(2), Apr 2009, 115-120.

The factor structure of the French Canadian version of State–Trait Anxiety Inventory (STAI-Y; Spielberger et al., 1983), the Inventaire d’anxiété situationnelle et de trait d’anxiété (IASTA-Y; Gauthier & Bouchard, 1993), was explored. Both a two-factor (state, trait) structure predicted by the theory associated with the original scale and a four-factor structure (state anxiety present, state anxiety absent, trait anxiety present, trait anxiety absent) have been reported in the literature.

In the present study, 361 university students (147 male, 198 female; mean age of 21 years) were administered the IASTA-Y along with a vocabulary test (Mill Hill; Deltour, 1993). The factor structure of the IASTA-Y was examined using confirmatory factor analysis. Three models were tested: One factor, two factor (correlated), and four factor (correlated). Results showed that the fit of the four-factor model was better than that of the two simpler models.

However, correlational analyses taking into account vocabulary performance revealed that the size of the correlations between scores based on the four-factor model (state-anxiety present, state anxiety absent, trait anxiety present, trait anxiety absent) varied depending on verbal ability, thus indicating linguistic bias in the instrument. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2009 APA, all rights reserved)

Empirical support for psychodynamic interventions.

Curtis, Rebecca C.; Winarick, Daniel J.

PsycCRITIQUES. Vol 54(16), 2009, No Pagination Specified.

Reviews the book, Handbook of evidence-based psychodynamic psychotherapy: Bridging the gap between science and practice, edited by Raymond A. Levy and J. Stuart Ablon (see record 2008-14828-000).

This book is a compilation of peer-reviewed scholarly articles presenting the best available empirical support for psychodynamic psychotherapy to date. It makes a strong and convincing argument to mainstream academic psychology and psychiatry for psychodynamic psychotherapies to be included as empirically supported treatments.

In addition, it provides empirical support for such psychodynamic concepts as defense mechanisms changing during the course of psychotherapy. The book presents converging evidence from outcome research as well as from process research showing that psychodynamic psychotherapy reduces disorder-specific symptoms as well as improves general mental health and personality functioning in a wide range of psychopathology.

The volume provides chapters on research supporting the use of psychodynamic interventions in general and especially for panic disorder, eating disorders, borderline personality disorder, and defensive functioning. It also has chapters on empirical measures of psychotherapy process and a section on theory and technique that includes discussions of rupture resolution, affect-focused therapy, and factors leading to sustained gain for depression. Two chapters address the neurobiology of therapy, and five letters provide personal comments on psychodynamic treatment research. The book has two main intended audiences: (a) practicing clinicians who either seek support for psychodynamic theory and interventions or marginalize it and (b) academics.

The book could also be used in a graduate-level clinical psychology course. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2009 APA, all rights reserved)

Emergent effects of investigating the human brain.

Raz, Amir; Zigman, Philip

PsycCRITIQUES. Vol 54(16), 2009, No Pagination Specified.

Reviews the book, Cerebrum 2008: Emerging ideas in brain science by Cynthia A. Read (see record 2008-04790-000). This book features contributions spanning numerous facets of our lives that brain science either has or will likely transform: from medicine, education, and architecture, all the way to the creative arts. Compared with other compilations with a similar flavor, Cerebrum 2008 stands out in communicating a few key issues in contemporary neuroscience while gearing the presentation toward a wide, uninitiated readership.

Cerebrum 2008 successfully captures the promise and future prospects of brain science. Each contribution reports current developments in a major area of neuroscience while amply contextualizing the overarching implications. These readable essays appeal to a wide readership as they provide an accessible glimpse into current issues in brain science, including several that compel us all to reexamine our concept of self. Cerebrum 2008 reaffirms that we have much to look forward to from future research in brain science. Beyond striving for a better understanding of the organ of behavior, neuroscience offers us the potential to transform our brains, minds, and humanity. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2009 APA, all rights reserved)

Mind = Computation.

Adams, William A.

PsycCRITIQUES. Vol 54(16), 2009, No Pagination Specified.

Reviews the book, Computing the mind: How the mind really works by Shimon Edelman (see record 2008-12207-000). This book is a unique blend of cognitive psychology, artificial intelligence, neuroscience, and philosophy. It will be well received in a survey course in cognitive psychology focusing on artificial intelligence, or the reverse.

Findings from neuroscience are brought in as examples to support arguments about the computational behavior of the brain, but the neurological coverage is not comprehensive or detailed enough to stand alone as an introduction to cognitive neuroscience.

This book has over 600 pages because a third of each page is a wide margin containing drawings, photos, jokes, curious facts, random quotations, diagrams, and so on. Most of this marginalia is interesting but redundant or tangential to the text proper, adding little more than visual variety. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2009 APA, all rights reserved)

Culture clashes between psychiatric tribes.

Collins, Pádraig

PsycCRITIQUES. Vol 54(16), 2009, No Pagination Specified.

Reviews the book, Cultural formulation: A reader for psychiatric diagnosis edited by Juan E. Mezzich and Giovanni Caracci (see record 2008-12113-000).

This book forms part of a body of work that questions certain fundamental tenets in psychiatric diagnosis, that is, that psychiatric disorders exist across cultures in universal, categorizable forms, deriving from shared biological commonalities, identifiable using a common list of symptoms, and treatable using the same "evidence-based" treatments. This essentially is an ahistorical, acultural understanding of mental health distress.

Mezzich and Caracci clearly are members of the tribe who believe that sociocultural factors are central to understanding the origin and expression of mental health distress. They will need some potent medicine, however, if they are to overcome the hostility of surrounding tribes. This book is one source of powerful juju in this regard. In its own way, it's a revolutionary book cloaked in establishmentarian language.

The reviewer hopes it becomes required reading both for students and consultants of psychiatry such that when DSM-V emerges, psychiatry's own cultural revolution will have rescued cultural formulation from the appendices and placed it in its rightful position at the center of the diagnostic framework. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2009 APA, all rights reserved)

Anxious about unexplained symptoms.

Leventhal, Howard

PsycCRITIQUES. Vol 54(16), 2009, No Pagination Specified.

Reviews the book, Psychological treatment of health anxiety and hypochondriasis: A biopsychosocial approach by Jonathan S. Abramowitz and Autumn E. Braddock (see record 2008-10831-000).

Abramowitz and Braddock open this interesting volume with the first of multiple vignettes of individuals experiencing and coping with medically unexplained symptoms. The case examples are designed to avoid what they and many clinicians regard as the “largely atheoretical, superficial approach” of the fourth edition of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders to “conditions characterized by highly idiosyncratic (i.e., patient specific) symptoms and controlling variables” that comprise health anxiety.

A central question is whether the case examples and the biopsychosocial approach adopted by the authors provide the theoretical framework for research that will advance the understanding and clinical practices needed to reduce the suffering of patients living with these disorders. Unfortunately, the list of disorders and of their presumed underlying factors does little more than resurrect the DSM labels the authors had previously discarded. Although the phenotypic properties of each condition are interesting, this book does not provide a convincing analysis of the cognitive and affective processes active in the initiation and maintenance of these differentiable forms of health anxiety.

Criticisms aside, Abramowitz and Braddock’s text will be welcomed at a prime location on my desk and recommended as a must read for my students. The reason is simple enough: It provides a clearly written, broad, and detailed view of a domain of human behavior that complements our work on self-management of diagnosed chronic illnesses. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2009 APA, all rights reserved)

Multidimensional international influences on family dynamics, functioning, and structure.

Kaslow, Florence

PsycCRITIQUES. Vol 54(16), 2009, No Pagination Specified.

Reviews the book, Families in a global context, edited by Charles B. Hennon and Stephan M. Wilson (see record 2008-10719-000).

In this volume, Hennon and Wilson strive to offer a comparative analysis of families residing in 17 quite variegated countries to highlight the diversity of families around the globe. To facilitate this analysis, chapter authors were asked to address certain core family issues: couple formation and marital dynamics, families and children, gender, stress, aging, and other family situations.

The chapters are largely descriptive, even though many of the statements are based on research findings. The chapter authors provide excellent overviews of the dominant assumptions, the sociocultural heritage, and the family structures in the various countries included in this book.

Their overviews include typical customs, mores, traditions, role and behavior expectations, values, religious belief systems, the main and/or conflicting economic and political philosophies that families hold, and the type and kind of educational systems to which the children and adults are exposed. Although the book describes the myriad problems confronting families in the 17 countries discussed, it provides few solutions or recommendations for how families can better cope in a diverse, multicultural, and very large global world. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2009 APA, all rights reserved)