http://www.cdc.gov/Features/HealthyVision/
Vision impairment becomes more common as people age. Women, minority groups, and people with chronic diseases like diabetes may be at higher risk for having vision impairment. The number of Americans 40 years and older with diabetic retinopathy and vision threatening retinopathy will triple in 2050; from 5.5 million to 16 million and from 1.2 million to 3.4 million respectively. While some eye conditions, like cataract, diabetic retinopathy, glaucoma, and age-related macular degeneration, can cause vision loss and even blindness, others, such as refractive errors, are common problems that can be easily corrected with glasses or contact lenses.

Vision health is an important public health concern because vision loss is associated with falls, depression, social isolation, and overall poorer health. Quality of life may be comprised because people with vision loss may have difficulties with activities such as reading, meal preparation, and driving a car.

Regular eye exams are important for good eye health as well as overall health. A comprehensive dilated eye examExternal Web Site Icon is a painless procedure in which an eye care professional examines the eyes to look for common vision problems and eye diseases, many of which have no early warning signs. People with diabetes need a comprehensive dilated eye examination at least once a year. Early detection, timely treatment, and appropriate follow-up may prevent vision loss and blindness.

Here are some tips to help you protect your visionExternal Web Site Icon:

1. Get a comprehensive dilated eye exam
2. Know your family’s eye health history
3. Eat right to protect your sight, particularly dark leafy greens such as spinach, kale, or collard greens and fish high in omega-3 fatty acids
4. Maintain a healthy weight
5. Wear protective eyewear when playing sports or doing activities around the home
6. Quit smoking or never start
7. Wear sunglasses that block out 99 to 100 percent of both UV-A and UV-B radiation
8. Clean your hands and your contact lenses properly to avoid the risk of infection
9. Practice workplace eye safety

For more information about vision health, visit the VHI Web site. The VHI team works with an array of partners to implement a public health framework that promotes vision health and quality of life for all populations, through all life stages, by preventing and controlling eye diseases, eye injury, and vision loss resulting in disability. The VHI is located in CDC's Division of Diabetes Translation.





MEDICAL GROUPS DARE NEW ADMINISTRATION TO CURB SMOKING AMONG THE YOUTH
http://www.doh.gov.ph/node/2659.html

Press Release/21 May 2010

Medical groups challenged the new Administration of President-elect Noynoy Aquino to decisively act and prevent more youth from getting hooked to smoking addiction amid increasing efforts of the tobacco industry to storm the market with cigarette promotional activities in stores, concert & sports events and other entertainment circles.

In a statement issued to the media, the medical doctors belonging to the Philippine College of Physicians (PCP) and Philippine College of Chest Physicians (PCCP) expressed their alarm over the 2009 Global Adult Tobacco Survey (GATS) released recently by the World Health Organization and the Department of Health.

“Our young generation will continue to be the hapless victims of the tobacco industry’s conscious efforts to lure them to smoking. They continue to bombard the stores with promotional materials, cigarette brand signages that are most accessible to our young’s near schools, malls and other major point-of-sale establishments,” said Dr. Eugene Ramos, PCP President.

Ramos cited the GATS results that show seven out of ten Filipinos aged 15 years old and above noticed cigarette advertisements. These were seen mostly in stores, posters, leaflets and calendars. About three in every ten Filipinos surveyed said they noticed pro-cigarette promotions in the form of brand names and cigarette logos in clothes.

“We call on our newly-elected President to support the efforts of the Department of Health to protect our children from the onslaught of tobacco promotions and advertisements. The Health Department needs to provide our children with health information that will effectively compete with the sophisticated marketing strategies of the tobacco industry,” said Dr. Abundio Balgos, PCCP President.

Balgos said the children need to be informed of the real consequences of smoking on their physical well-being and these are not effectively addressed in the existing health warning placed in cigarette packs.

The groups urged the DOH to provide more effective health information in cigarette packs because these are most accessible to tobacco users.

“In the marketing parlance, the youths are called ‘replacement smokers’ and they are the ones now being targeted by these tobacco companies. The battle against the tobacco industry for the hearts and minds of our children is tough and the government has no choice but to intervene on behalf of the health of the future generation,” said Balgos.




DOH ISSUES ADMINISTRATIVE ORDER REQUIRING GRAPHIC HEALTH INFORMATION ON TOBACCO PACKAGING
http://www.doh.gov.ph/node/2661.html

Press Release/24 May 2010

The Department of Health (DOH) today reaffirmed its commitment to the Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (FCTC) and issued Administrative Order No. 2010-0013 requiring graphic health information on all tobacco packages and to adopt measures to ensure that tobacco product packaging and labeling do not promote tobacco use by any means that are false, misleading, deceptive or likely to create an erroneous impression.

The issuance of the AO is considered a monumental achievement in government efforts to curb tobacco use and reduce its gargantuan socio-economic costs. It is estimated that smoking exacts a P200 billion toll on the country due to health costs and productivity losses, in comparison to the P30B revenues gained from taxes paid by the tobacco industry.

The required graphic health warning information on all tobacco packages reflect findings that warning labels must be noticeable, relevant and memorable in order to be effective. At least 38 countries and territories are already implementing picture-based warnings on tobacco packaging. These include Canada, Brazil, Singapore, Thailand, Venezuela, Jordan, Australia, Uruguay, Panama, Belgium, Chile, Hong Kong, New Zealand, Romania, United Kingdom, Egypt, Brunei, India, Taiwan, Malaysia, Peru, Djibouti, Switzerland, Cook Islands, Niue, Papua New Guinea, Samoa, Mongolia and Iran.

The European Union has also recommended that all their 27 member-states implement graphic health warnings. Other countries in the process of implementing picture-based warnings include France, Iceland. Ireland, Latvia, Macau, Norway, Pakistan, Portugal, Slovakia, South Africa, South Korea, the United States, and member-states of the Gulf Cooperation Council and the Caribbean Community.

Most of the gains in reducing consumption are estimated to come from the youth sector who will likely be discouraged from smoking due to the graphic health information. This is very relevant considering that smoking prevalence among young Filipinos aged 13-15 has increased by approximately 30% over the past two years, according to the Philippines’ 2007 Global Youth Tobacco Survey.

Bills have been filed in both the Senate (SB 2377) and the House of Representatives (HB 3364) that will mandate the use of picture-based warnings instead of mere text warnings on no less than 50% of both the front and back sides of the tobacco packages. However, these legislative initiatives have met strong opposition from the tobacco industry, which has used its influence on legislators, especially those from the Northern bloc of tobacco-growing provinces.

“The passage of these bills into law must be prioritized considering that an average of 1 Filipino dies every 6 minutes due to tobacco-related diseases”, said Health Secretary Esperanza Cabral, adding that as of September 2008, the Philippines is already in violation of its treaty obligations under the FCTC.

“I am appealing to the leaders of the next administration to ensure their passage into law in order to save more than 17.3 million current smokers in the country aged 15 years and above from further addiction and exposure to major health risks”, Cabral said. She also noted that tobacco companies such as Philip Morris, Fortune Tobacco and Mighty Corporation already produce cigarette packages with graphic warnings for export to other countries. “There’s no reason why they cannot do it for us here”, she concluded.

Noting that the Arroyo Administration, in its concern for tobacco farmers has provided funds to the Philippine Tobacco Authority (PTA) to develop alternative crops and livelihoods for the tobacco farmers, Secretary Cabral expressed her appeal to the PTA to fulfill its obligations to tobacco farmers and to make a report on how it has spent the money allocated for this purpose. At the moment, the profits of tobacco companies and their middlemen have kept increasing whereas tobacco farmers have unfortunately been kept poor as they have always been. Perhaps it’s time for tobacco farmers to shift to growing more high value crops from which they can earn a better living.



HP Expands Recall of Notebook Computer Batteries Due to Fire Hazard
http://www.cpsc.gov/cpscpub/prerel/prhtml10/10240.html
U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission
Office of Information and Public Affairs Washington, DC 20207

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
May 21, 2010
Release # 10-240 Firm’s Recall Hotline: (888) 202-4320
CPSC Recall Hotline: (800) 638-2772
CPSC Media Contact: (301) 504-7908
HP Media Contact: (281) 514-6552
HP Expands Recall of Notebook Computer Batteries Due to Fire Hazard
WASHINGTON, D.C. - The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission, in cooperation with the firm named below, today announced a voluntary recall of the following consumer product. Consumers should stop using recalled products immediately unless otherwise instructed. It is illegal to resell or attempt to resell a recalled consumer product.

Name of Product: Lithium-Ion batteries used in Hewlett-Packard and Compaq notebook computers

Units: About 54,000 (70,000 units were previously recalled in May 2009)

Importer: Hewlett-Packard Co., of Palo Alto, Calif.

Hazard: The recalled lithium-ion batteries can overheat, posing a fire and burn hazard to consumers.

Incidents/Injuries: Since the May 2009 recall, HP has received 38 additional reports of batteries that overheated and ruptured resulting in 11 instances of minor personal injury and 31 instances of minor property damage.

Description: The recalled lithium-ion rechargeable batteries are used with various model series of HP and Compaq notebook computers. The chart below includes all notebook model numbers associated with batteries recalled to date. The computer model number is located at the top of the service label on the bottom of the notebook computer. Not all batteries matching the bar codes are being recalled.
Notebook Model Number Battery Bar Codes (^ in the code
can be any letter or number)
HP Pavilion dv2000, dv2500, dv2700
dv6000, dv6500, dv6700
dx6000, dx6500, dx6700 62940^^AXV^^^^, 65035^^B7U^^^^,
65035^^B7V^^^^, 65035^^BGU^^^^,
65035^^BGV^^^^
dv9000, dv9500, dv9700 65033^^B7U^^^^, 65033^^B7V,
65033^^BGU^^^^
Compaq Presario A900
C700
F500, F700
V3000, V3500, V3700
V6000, V6500, V6700 62940^^AXV^^^^, 65035^^B7U^^^^,
65035^^B7V^^^^, 65035^^BGU^^^^,
65035^^BGV^^^^
HP G6000, G7000 62940^^AXV^^^^, 65035^^B7U^^^^,
65035^^B7V^^^^, 65035^^BGU^^^^,
65035^^BGV^^^^
HP Compaq 6510b, 6515b
6710b, 6710s
6715b, 6715s 65000^^B5V^^^^
6720s 67059^^V8U^^^^, 67059^^V8V^^^^

Sold at: Computer and electronics stores nationwide, hp.com and hpshopping.com from August 2007 through July 2008 for between $500 and $3,000. The battery packs were also sold separately for between $100 and $160.

Manufactured in: China

Remedy: Consumers should immediately remove the batteries referenced above from their notebook computer and contact HP to determine if their battery is included in this recall (even if the battery was previously checked). Consumers with recalled batteries will receive a free replacement battery. After removing the recalled battery from their notebook computer, consumers may use the AC adapter to power the computer until a replacement battery arrives. HP recommends that only batteries obtained from HP or an HP authorized reseller be used with HP notebook PCs.

Consumer Contact: For additional information, visit the HP Battery Replacement Program website at http://www.hp.com/support/BatteryReplacement or call (888) 202-4320 between 7 a.m. and 7 p.m. CT Monday through Friday.




ngm nationalgeographic com your shot web site
http://ngm.nationalgeographic.com/your-shot/your-shot



Boating safety
http://www.cdc.gov/Features/BoatingSafety/
Stay Safe on the Water

Everyone, on all types of boats, should wear properly-fitted life jackets, or personal flotation devices (PFD). By wearing a life jacket, you can dramatically decrease your chances of drowning in a boating incident.
Know the Facts

Recreational boating——can be a wonderful way to spend time with family and friends. And making boating safety a priority can ensure that it stays fun.

Consider that:

* In 2008, 3,330 people were injured, and more than 700 died, in boating incidents. Of those who drowned, 9 out of 10 were not wearing life jackets.
* More than 7out of every 10 (72%) of fatal boating incident victims drowned in 2008.
* Alcohol use was the leading contributing factor in fatal boating incidents.

Reduce Your Risk

Whenever you are headed out on the water, keep these tips from the U.S. Coast Guard in mind:

Wear it. Properly fitted life jackets can prevent drownings and should be worn by everyone on any boat, at all times. Coast Guard-approved life jackets are now better looking and more comfortable.

Don't Drink. Alcohol use affects judgment, vision, balance, and coordination. Reports suggest that alcohol was a contributing factor in about one in five boating fatalities.

Take a Course. People operating boats can help keep their passengers safe. Boating education courses teach the regulatory and statutory rules ("Rules of the Road") for safe operation and navigation of recreational boats.


Know about carbon monoxide (CO). All internal combustion engines, such as boat engines and onboard motor generators, emit CO, an odorless, colorless, poisonous gas.
In the early stages, the symptoms of CO poisoning are similar to seasickness, but CO can kill in a matter of minutes. To avoid CO poisoning, be aware of the risk,
ensure sufficient ventilation, properly install and maintain equipment, and use CO detectors, especially in living and sleeping areas. See "Prevent Carbon Monoxide
Poisoning on Your Boat."


In an effort to raise parents' awareness about the leading causes of child injury in the United States and how they can be prevented, CDC has launched the "Protect
the Ones You Love" initiative. Parents can play a life-saving role in protecting children from injuries.

The following resources offer information that can help you stay safe on the water:
CDC Resources

* Facts and Resources about Water-related Injuries
* Protect the Ones You Love: Drownings Fact Sheet
* Healthy Swimming and Recreational Water Facts
* Download or listen to a podcast
o Protect the Ones You Love from Drowning [PODCAST - 3:05 minutes] (2008)
o Staying Safe in the Water [PODCAST - 5:38 minutes] (2008)
o Staying Safe on the Water [PODCAST - 3:45 minutes] (2008)



External Resources

* National Safe Boating CouncilExternal Web Site
* North American Safe Boating CampaignExternal Web Site
* U.S. Coast Guard Office of Boating SafetyExternal Web Site



http://www-odi.nhtsa.dot.gov/recalls/results.cfm?rcl_id=10V218000&searchtype=quicksearch&summary=true&refurl=rss
Report Date : May 23, 2010 at 07:52 PM
NHTSA Campaign ID number : 10V218000
Vehicle Make / Model: Model Year(s):
LEXUS / LS460 2009-2010
LEXUS / LS460L 2009-2010
LEXUS / LS600H 2010
LEXUS / LS600HL 2010
Manufacturer: TOYOTA MOTOR NORTH AMERICA, INC. Mfr's Report Date: MAY 21, 2010
NHTSA CAMPAIGN ID Number: 10V218000
N/A
NHTSA Action Number: N/A
Component: STEERING:ELECTRIC POWER ASSIST SYSTEM
Potential Number of Units Affected: 3800
Summary:
TOYOTA IS RECALLING CERTAIN MODEL YEAR 2009 AND 2010 LEXUS LS460 AND LS600 VEHICLES MANUFACTURED FROM AUGUST 20, 2009 THROUGH MAY 13, 2010. A PROGRAMMING CHANGE OF THE STEERING CONTROL ECU FOR THE VARIABLE GEAR RATIO STEERING (VGRS) SYSTEM CAN CAUSE IMPROPER ACTIVATION OF THE STEERING SYSTEM PROTECTION LOGIC DESIGNED TO PROTECT THE SYSTEM WHEN LARGER THAN NORMAL STEERING INPUTS ARE APPLIED AT A FULLY TURNED POSITION.
Consequence:
IMPROPER ACTIVATION OF THE STEERING SYSTEM PROTECTION LOGIC CAN CAUSE THE STEERING WHEEL TO BECOME OFF-CENTERED UP TO 90 DEGREES. THIS MAY OCCUR AFTER THE DRIVER HAS FULLY TURNED THE STEERING WHEEL IN ONE DIRECTION THEN QUICKLY ATTEMPTS TO TURN IT BACK TO THE CENTER POSITION. SHOULD THIS OCCUR WHILE DRIVING, THE RISK OF A CRASH IS INCREASED.
Remedy:
TOYOTA WILL NOTIFY OWNERS AND LEXUS DEALERS WILL REPLACE THE STEERING CONTROL ECU FREE OF CHARGE. TOYOTA HAS NOT DETERMINED WHEN THE SAFETY RECALL IS EXPECTED TO BEGIN. OWNERS MAY CONTACT TOYOTA AT 1-800-331-4331.
Notes:
OWNERS MAY ALSO CONTACT THE NATIONAL HIGHWAY TRAFFIC SAFETY ADMINISTRATION'S VEHICLE SAFETY HOTLINE AT 1-888-327-4236 (TTY 1-800-424-9153), OR GO TO HTTP://WWW.SAFERCAR.GOV .