Mar
11
Medicare International offering health insurance with ‘passive war cover’
Filed Under Expat Insurance, Health Insurance, International Healthcare, Medical Insurance, Middle East | 1 Comment
London-based international medical insurer Medicare International has now added ‘passive war cover’ as an option on its health polices to provide coverage for contractors and workers in war torn nations.
Medicare has recognized there is a growing number of people working in and around zones of conflict in the world and has tried to cater to contractors and NGO staff by offering passive war cover options on top of their regular benefits for both individual and group international health insurance policies.
Senior Executive Director of Medicare International, David Pryor, said “In an age where localised conflicts seem to be ever present, whether in the form of a full scale encounter such as that in Afghanistan or on a more localised basis in other world hotspots, the reconstruction and rebuilding of economies is of vital importance. As a contractor or voluntary worker attached to an NGO, preparing yourself for the reality of entering such areas is a must, as the type of medical care which will be needed is quite different from standard healthcare practice. For those companies involved in reconstruction and aid, attracting the necessary highly-skilled specialists can be helped if they know they can at least have full medical cover.”
While most insurance policies have a complete war exclusion, Medicare International’s policies with passive war cover come with the full range of benefit options such as medical and evacuation, as well as rehabilitation coverage of up to £100,000 (US$149,330) which would go towards reconstructive plastic surgery and prosthetics. The plans with passive war cover also provide cover in the event of a terrorist attack. Medicare International also generally offers premium discounts on groups of 3 or more lives insured.
Companies Mentioned:
With 25 years of providing expatriates top quality international health insurance, Medicare International has grown by ensuring quick and easy access to their services 24 hours a day. The company currently covers clients from 86 nationalities in 114 countries around the world.
Mar
10
British Government tired of picking up bill for medical tourists, mulls changes
Filed Under Expat Insurance, Health Insurance, Healthcare, International Healthcare, Medical Insurance, United Kingdom | 2 Comments
The British Government is looking at a number of proposals that would attempt to curtail the number of medical tourists who leave without paying the bill, such as forcing visitors to show proof of medical insurance before entering the country.
The British Home Office has put forward ideas on ways to curtail the abuse of the National Health Service (NHS) system by visitors as the Department of Health is seeking to recover £22 million (US$32.9 million) in debt from foreign nationals that have received NHS services in the last 2 years without paying for them.
Numerous individual NHS Trusts are said to be seeking repayment of over £1 million in outstanding medical costs, including: London’s Imperial College Healthcare which is seeking £1.4 million including two £50,000 unpaid bills, one for a patient from the United Arab Emirates and one from Egypt; Pennine Acute Trust in Manchester has £1.2 million in outstanding bills, of which £34,000 is owed by a Malawian national with HIV; and Barts and the London NHS Trust is seeking repayment of £1.3 million, including a £52,000 surgery bill for a Chinese citizen.
On average, unsettled bills are £1,000, while numbers from the British Department of Health show that 50% of outstanding bills are not settled within one year of receiving treatment and 5% of overseas patients have three or more invoices that haven’t been paid. In total the NHS has to swallow £5 million in medical costs owed by foreigners every year.
At the moment, immigration laws only allow for barring people that already have an outstanding balance with the NHS from coming into Britain specifically for medical treatment. However, the proposals would seek to prevent abuse of the NHS system by making changes to immigration laws including making non-resident foreign nationals show proof that they have health insurance when they go through immigration, and extending the amount of time British expatriates can spend overseas before losing access to NHS services.
Any foreign visitor who already owes money to the NHS would be barred from entry into Britain, while any already in the country would be refused an extension of their visa until the debt has been settled. Also, any migrant seeking British citizenship will have their application delayed until any money they owe the NHS has been repaid. However, the proposals do allow free health care for failed asylum seekers who cannot be returned to their home nations at that time.
The proposals would not cover people who are from countries in the European Economic Area or those nations where Britain has reciprocal healthcare agreements. There are however, some concerns due to the fact that the proposals would mean sharing information on non-paying individuals with the Border Agency, which may be in conflict with patient confidentiality rules.
Mar
5
CIGNA International offers health assessment on Expatriate Benefits plans
Filed Under CIGNA, Expat Insurance, Health Insurance, International Healthcare, Medical Insurance | 1 Comment
CIGNA International is to begin offering an international health assessment tool to help identify health risks for expatriate employees.
The preventative tool is aimed at identifying areas of health risk for employees that may endanger their work assignment, and comes with any CIGNA International Expatriate Benefits (CIEB) standard health plan to fully insured customers at no extra charge.
The assessment comes as a multilingual online questionnaire, which CIGNA says can be completed in about 20 minutes on CIGNA International Expatriate Benefits secure website www.CIGNAenvoy.com. The questionnaire, developed by London-based CIGNA company vielife, can also be customized to contain questions relating to specific geographical areas and will be available in 20 languages by the end of 2010.
CIGNA says that once the customer answers a series of questions about their lifestyle and health habits, upon completion they will be sent an electronic report detailing potential health risks as well as a section on the customers’ current health status and recommendations for improving their health. CIGNA notes that the questionnaire is both voluntary and confidential.
Sonny Patel, CIEB’s Senior Director of Global Health Solutions said “Completing a health assessment provides individuals with practical, appropriate and achievable recommendations in areas such as stress, nutrition, physical fitness, sleep and work/life balance. It’s an important resource in helping employers ensure their expatriate employees can fulfill their work assignments and enjoy life while away from home,”
Companies Mentioned:
CIGNA International Expatriate Benefits
For more than 125 years, CIGNA has been helping people lead healthier, more secure lives. The company provides health care and related benefits offered through the workplace. Key product lines include health care products and services (medical, pharmacy, behavioral health, clinical information management, dental and vision benefits, and case and disease management); and group disability, life and accident insurance. In addition, CIGNA also provides life, accident, health and expatriate employee benefits insurance coverage in selected international markets, primarily in Asia and Europe.
Feb
10
CIGNA International to offer individual Private Medical Insurance worldwide.
Filed Under BUPA, CIGNA, Expat Insurance, Health Insurance, Insurance Company, Medical Insurance | 3 Comments
CIGNA International has announced an initiative to develop and distribute individual private medical insurance on the international stage.
Currently, CIGNA only offers international private medical insurance to corporations and group customers. The new business plan will open up new markets of potential clients as they aim to sell private medical insurance to individual citizens in other nations as well as individual expatriates and high-net worth clients.
CIGNA has hired Keith Biddlestone away from Bupa International to kick start and lead the new initiative, effective February 1st, 2010. Biddlestone has a strong background in private medical insurance, with 25 years of work experience in Bupa; most notably as the managing director of the U.K. based global health care business, where his responsibility included the operations of Bupa’s multi-distribution program for selling individual private medical insurance.
Companies Mentioned:
For more than 125 years, CIGNA has been helping people lead healthier, more secure lives. The company provides health care and related benefits offered through the workplace. Key product lines include health care products and services (medical, pharmacy, behavioral health, clinical information management, dental and vision benefits, and case and disease management); and group disability, life and accident insurance. In addition, CIGNA also provides life, accident, health and expatriate employee benefits insurance coverage in selected international markets, primarily in Asia and Europe.
Since being started in 1947, the British United Provident Association, or Bupa, has grown to an international company offering health insurance, health and care services to over 10 million customers in 190 countries around the world.
Feb
9
Spanish Doctors Call for Reevaluation of EHIC Scheme
Filed Under Expat Insurance, International Healthcare, Medical Insurance, Spain, Switzerland, United Kingdom | 6 Comments
Politicians and Doctors in Spain have recently joined forces to speak out against certain British ‘health tourists’ who are receiving free-of-charge medical treatment which is ultimately being paid for by taxpayers.
The SiMAP Union, representing public health doctors in Spain, criticized travelers holding the European Health Insurance Card (EHIC) for misusing the provision of emergency care and treatment destined for troubled holidaymakers. This criticism is not directed to expats with rightful residency who pay taxes.
Out of the thousands of British expats and tourists alternating residence between UK and Spain there is a percentage who time their visits to coincide with their needs for medical treatment. An approximate estimate by SiMAP puts this figure at 20 percent of all hospital admissions in Alicante, a favoured tourist destination.
Health professionals for years have kept silent about what politicians labeled as “freeloading” by these expats, and it’s possible that this rare support is instigated by the Doctors’ first-hand perception of the issues; issues which include ‘medical tourists’ jumping queues, draining the Spanish healthcare system of their limited resources and depriving local people of medical attention they are rightfully entitled to receive.
One point of contention is the definition of ‘emergency treatment’ which has meant that in most instances Doctors do not question the alleged illnesses claimed by these foreign patients.
Addressing the above issue from a different angle, UK-based International healthcare and insurance firm PMI Global recently found that up to 20 per cent of companies are not procuring the correct health insurance for their expat employees in long-term foreign assignments.
In a report compiled by PMI Global, it was also revealed that up to 48 percent of companies didn’t carry the appropriate health assessments for the destinations their expat employees are sent to, and almost 50 percent of the companies neglect organizing the necessary vaccinations. Other problems identified include the level of access to psychological assistance and proper advice on where to receive medical attention.
According to comments by the operations director for PMI Global, too many employers are relying on the European Health Insurance Card (EHIC) in lieu of a proper international health insurance cover to ensure the medical attention their staff may require whilst on overseas assignments.
“While the EHIC entitles any resident in the UK to receive emergency healthcare treatment while traveling in the European Economic Area (EEA) and Switzerland, restrictions mean it isn’t a substitute for standalone international health insurance,” Rachael Floyd, operations director for PMI Global stated.
Given the looming healthcare budget shrinkage for both Spain’s SiMAP and the UK’s NHS, a possible target for cost-cutting measures would be the resources currently allocated for non-essential treatments and such action could potentially solve the perceived ‘medical care freeloading’ problem.
Insurance company and union mentioned:
PMI Global is a pioneering service offering an integrated package of insurance and healthcare support for employees abroad. The service is operated by PMI Health Group, the UK’s largest independent specialist provider of employee healthcare and insurance services.
SiMAP (Spanish)
SiMAP is a union of doctors in Valencia working in the public healthcare sector, covering the 3 provinces in the community. With essential presence in the Health Sector Roundtable, without favouritisms, to achieve greater quality of care and decent working conditions.
Feb
5
SWICA and DKV Globality in new partnership
Filed Under DKV, Expat Insurance, Health Insurance, Healthcare, International Healthcare, Switzerland | 3 Comments
A cooperation agreement has been signed between SWICA and DKV Globality. As one of the biggest health and accident insurance companies in Switzerland, SWICA aims to jointly market with DKV Globality the international health insurance cover Globality CoGenio in the Swiss market, as well as providing a local continuation of insurance option in Switzerland. DKV Globality is a leading international health insurer with a special focus on expatriates. This joint approach closes a gap in corporate health and accident plans for global companies.
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More often than not, the staff of international companies and organizations on temporary overseas assignments have to fend for themselves or are inadequately insured when falling ill or suffering an accident. Another concern is whether they can resume the same level of cover provided by their plan upon their return to Switzerland. The partnership between SWICA and DKV Globality aims to eliminate the risk to expatriates when overseas.
Corporate clients benefit from the cooperation since it allows policyholders to switch from SWICA’s national inpatient and outpatient private health insurance solutions to DKV Globality’s international expat solutions, without the need for medical underwriting.
Globality CoGenio is an integrated, worldwide insurance solution for corporate clients in the Swiss market. This insurance solution offers the best of both worlds, since it has a wide range of assistance services and other benefits in addition to comprehensive healthcare services, ensuring comprehensive protection whilst maintaining individual local support.
Furthermore, this cooperation meets the needs of international companies by providing even wider cover. Swiss companies with international operations can now be offered by SWICA the market-leading DKV Globality products, supplementing its existing product range, whilst corporate clients in Switzerland of DKV Globality can enjoy the continuation of insurance option for staff returning to Switzerland.
A win-win situation for both companies and their clients.
Insurance companies mentioned:
SWICA
SWICA is one of the largest health and accident insurance companies in Switzerland, with a high-quality range of products and services comprising health, accident and daily allowance insurance for individual and corporate clients. Over a million people and more than 22,000 companies rely on premier service, financial security and competent assistance in the event of illness or accident. With its decentralised organisation, SWICA serves clients at over 50 locations in Switzerland.
DKV Globality
DKV Globality is a leading international health insurer with a special focus on expatriates, i.e. people working or studying abroad. Global companies and their expatriate staff as well as individuals and their families place their trust in DKV Globality’s expertise. The company stands for more than 80 years’ experience in health insurance and the proven competence of an international network of assistance and service partners. It is a member of Munich Health with more than 5,000 experts at 26 locations worldwide, providing its clients and partners around the world with innovative healthcare solutions. DKV Globality is a subsidiary of Munich Re, offering the financial strength and security of one of the world’s leading (re)insurers.
Feb
4
International Health Insurers Expanding Overseas Operations
Filed Under Allianz, BUPA, China, China insurance, Expat Insurance, IHI Bupa, IHI Danmark, Insurance Company, Spain | 3 Comments
Both Bupa and Allianz are making moves to expand their international operations this year. Bupa has added a sales and support center in Fuengirola, Spain to provide administrative support for Bupa International and IHI Bupa customers. The 12 person service center will also aid distributors in Europe, Africa and the Middle East.
Allianz, on the other hand, is opening new gateways in China. It has recently been given approval from regulators to change the status of their fully-owned Allianz Insurance Co. Guangzhou Branch from a branch office to a subsidiary of Allianz Versicherungs A.G.
Previously, China only allowed foreign joint-venture companies to enter two new provinces a year. Changing the status of the company to a subsidiary makes the company an independent legal entity which allows it to apply for setting up its own branch offices in other provinces in China. While this may allow Allianz to enter more than two provinces in China per year, it still depends heavily on collaboration and negotiations between the Allianz subsidiary and a variety of Chinese regulators.
The Allianz casualty and property branch office opened in 2003, they have been growing their business selling engineering, domestic credit, liability, property, marine, short-term health insurance and accident insurance in the province to clients both foreign and domestic.
Given the new opportunities for expansion into new provinces, Allianz intends to keep the focus on growing their core industrial and commercial business, as well as expanding retail distribution of their products during 2010.
Companies Mentioned:
Bupa – Since being started in 1947, The British United Provident Association, or Bupa, has grown to an international company offering health insurance, health and care services to over 10 million customers in 190 countries around the world.
Allianz – Founded in 1890 as an accident and transport insurer, Allianz has grown into a international insurer with over 75 million customers in approximately 70 countries.
Jan
29
The Expat Experience
Filed Under Expat Insurance | 4 Comments
According to a recently released Gallup survey, which has taken three years to complete, 16% of all adults in over 130 countries globally – equivalent to over 700 million people – would relish the prospect of starting a new life in a different country. Unsurprisingly, the most popular migration destinations include relatively wealthy Western countries, with Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates also being seen as attractive places to live.
If all adults seeking relocation achieved their desires the population of the USA would increase by 165 million people, while France, Britain and Canada would each receive 45 million new migrants. According to the survey, African adults were the keenest to leave their home countries, while Asian respondents were the happiest to stay where they are.
Top Migration Destinations
There are a number of factors at work in the desire of individuals to relocate to another country. For many expatriates the primary consideration when deciding to stay in their country of residence, or relocate somewhere else is with regards to job opportunities. This is not surprising in an era of increased globalization in the workplace. For many expatriates, the biggest advantage to taking an employment position away from their home country is with regards to their employment contract or career prospects. According to a report released by HSBC, 51% of expats will stay in their country of residence because of a superior employment contract, while 44% would remain to improve their career prospects.
HSBC found that expatriates enjoy a superior quality of life when they move abroad, with Canada achieving top position for the world’s largest expatriate lifestyle survey; Australia and Thailand placed second and third respectively. The United Kingdom, while being a desirable destination for millions of people around the globe, placed last in terms of quality of life; this may be in part due to the limited access to healthcare and social services enjoyed by non-nationals, and the competitiveness of the job market.
Increasingly, expatriates around the world are spending more time away from their home nations, and this trend is increasing. More than half the respondents questioned by HSBC had lived outside of their home nations for more than 5 years. The countries where expatriates tended to reside the longest before returning to their home countries included South Africa, Thailand, and Canada. Expatriates originating from Thailand, Bahrain, South Africa, Russia and the USA had a higher tendency to permanently relocate away from their home nations and spend the remainder of their life overseas. The average time for most expatriates to live outside of their home nation is between 7 – 48 months.
One of the biggest challenges to the expatriate lifestyle is with regards to healthcare access. For many expatriates not covered by a national health insurance scheme, accessing the health care services they require can be difficult. As a consequence of this, there is a growing need for expatriates to purchase some form of international health insurance. Additionally, the expatriate focused services sector has seen explosive growth over the last year as companies realize the need for services and products specifically targeted towards these consumers. Dow Jones, Labour International, Conservatives Abroad, and Marks and Spencer are all organizations which have made the move to provide tailored services and options to expats around the world.
Nov
10
Rationing US Healthcare – Are you Ready?
Filed Under Expat Insurance, Health Insurance, Healthcare, International Healthcare, Medical Insurance, USA Health Insurance | 1 Comment
U.S. President Barack Obama made a major address to Congress in early September 2009, in which he outlined
his plan to fix the country’s US$ 2.5 trillion healthcare system. The healthcare reform plan must pass by the two chambers, the House of Representatives and Senate, before Obama can sign it into law. The current cost estimate for healthcare reform is US$ 1 trillion over the next 10 years by no means a meager price tag; and one which has borne the brunt of the Republican ire. On Saturday night (7th November 2009), after a 12-hour debate with 220-215 vote, the House of Representatives narrowly passed a healthcare reform bill, which clears the way for the Senate to begin to consider the passage of the legislation. The House vote was a vital victory for Obama, who staked much of his political capital on the healthcare battle. With the vote now going to the Senate, the fate of healthcare reform and the Obama’s presidency hangs in the balance.
Senate Democrats will require 60 out of 100 votes to end the debate and bring the legislation to the final vote. Currently, there are a number of moderate Democratic senators whom still have reservations. If the Senate does pass the bill it would need to be reconciled with the House version by a panel of lawmakers, from both chambers, before legislation is presented for final approval. On the other hand, if the Senate does not pass the bill, the House and Senate would have to reconcile their differences and agree on one bill to be passed again, and sent to Obama for his signature.
The President and his officials have repeatedly said that the healthcare bill would be signed into law by the end of 2009. It is their target to get health insurance reform done in 2009, and they are determined to achieve that. The White House has pushed hard to get a bill passed this year; the primary aim was always to establish momentum and call a vote prior to the beginning of the Congressional campaign season, because passing major legislation in a Congressional election year is considered more difficult. The calendar is not looking friendly, it is just less than one month away till end of 2009, and the self-imposed deadline by President Obama means that it will be tough to get approval from the Senate to pass the healthcare reform bill, yet there is still time to see whether the President can adhere to the target.
Healthcare reform involves a permanent change to the entire healthcare system in the USA and it has a, potentially, far greater and longer effect on the US nation than any single other piece of legislation. As mentioned in our 7th August, 2009 post, we have outlined the goals of the Obama administration reforms. In this month’s update, we would like to review some concerns and reasons not to support the healthcare reform bills.
Before we review the concerns or reasons not to support healthcare reform, let us look at why healthcare reform is being considered. Unlike in other countries, under the current healthcare system in the USA, an individual will never be refused admission to a hospital or left on the street by an ambulance just because one cannot produce a credit card or proof of insurance. It is however essential that you are insured for medical expenses because medical costs are highly inflated in the USA. There are currently more than 46 million Americans without health insurance of any kind, approximately another 25 million people are underinsured, meaning their coverage is inadequate for their needs. With the recent economic downturn, there are additional hundreds of thousands of people sent into the category of uninsured as unemployment rates increase. This comes down to the basic economic principle of supply and demand. Another contributing factor to the underinsured and uninsured is that medical costs continue to rise. It has been reported that US$2.2 trillion was spent on US healthcare in 2007, accounting for 16% of GDP, about twice the average of other OECD countries. The rising healthcare costs in turn means that more and more people in America are unable to afford healthcare and rising costs also mean that the Government is spending more and more on Medicare and Medicaid.
There are ongoing debates as to whether to approve the healthcare reform bills. While Americans are concerned about what will happen to their own healthcare if reform passes, they are also concerned about what will happen if reform does not pass. Some of the concerns and reasons not to support the healthcare reform bills are outlined below.
It seems that it is the wrong time for the United States to pursue healthcare reform right now. After all, the US has been in the middle of two wars and a recession. President Obama mentioned that the cost of the healthcare system remaining in its present state is much higher than the cost of healthcare reform. The United States spends more than US$ 2 trillion on healthcare each year, in which about US$700 billion is spent on unnecessary treatments. President Obama has promised that he will only sign a healthcare reform bill that is deficit neutral, meaning that it will not incur one extra cent to the deficit in 10 years. The current estimate is that if healthcare reform passes, it will costs US$1 trillion over the next 10 years. President Obama believes that it can be funded with the removal of waste in the system, in which, some of these savings may not be recognized by the Congressional Budget Office. A few key financing options that are currently on the table include squeezing savings out of Medicare and Medicaid, Taxation on the wealthy, Taxation on employee health insurance benefits, limit the itemized deductions of the wealthy, impose or raise taxes on sugary soft drinks and alcohol, penalize employers who do not offer health insurance and lower the insurance subsidy threshold. Types of funding is however yet to be finalized. If funding is not considered properly, it will add to the burden of an already unstable system.
The fundamental question on healthcare reform is that who will pay for all of these government healthcare costs? The answer is of course the taxpayers across America. The difference between the healthcare system that is in place now and President Obama’s healthcare reform is that under the current system, citizens have a choice to buy insurance. Should this healthcare reform bill pass, an individual will no longer have that option. It is compulsory for everyone to pay for healthcare whether you like it or not. The Government will be in charge of the citizen’s healthcare, the taxation to support it as well as the co-payments associated.
For those people who are struggling to receive healthcare under the current system, it might be great news to them with the passage of the healthcare reform bill in the House. Any individual will be able to enter hospitals in any city in the US and receive healthcare despite whether or not they are covered by insurance. However, questions will likely arise with the Government controlling healthcare; will treatments be provided to all people on an equal basis? Currently in US, many people with disabilities may already be enrolled on the Social Security Disability Income (SSDI) program and obtain cash benefits to support their living, with the passage of the healthcare reform bill, will these people receive the same medical treatment as any other US citizens? Moreover, the current Government is already running many programs like SSDI, Medicare and Medicaid, even more recently,the Cash-for-Clunkers program (a tiny program compared to the budget projected for healthcare), which the United States Government is struggling with running adequately. There are funding and management issues with these few Government programs. With the passage of the healthcare reform bill, the competency of Government Management is surely in question. Will the same Government be able to proficiently run and manage the national healthcare program as well as all the other programs that are already in place?
If healthcare is universal for all Americans, it is likely that there will be a long waiting lists for people to obtain standard healthcare. Individuals who do not have healthcare coverage would however be happy, since there is at least a line that they could wait on. For these people, a waiting line is much better than the alternative of having no medical care. The Government will need to address the issue on resources such as the number of primary care providers available in the US to manage the number of new patients who will be able to access healthcare once the healthcare reform is passed. If there is a shortage of healthcare providers to provide adequate care to patients, then the poor and elderly will likely be put last in line to receive treatment, which brings back to the point stated above on whether treatment will be given to all citizens equally.
Previous American Presidents have tried to bring US into the community of nations that provide healthcare to all citizens. They have attempted seven times but encountered a number of roadblocks and the efforts all failed. Whether the healthcare reform will follow the same path as previous administrations have tried or there will be changes in the whole American healthcare system, it is yet to be seen. After all, rationing a nation’s healthcare system involves plenty of changes. With the pass of the healthcare reform by the House of Representatives, this already signified a historical moment in the history of the nation. Now, we shall wait and see what the Senate brings in and whether Obama can be the last President that can take up the cause on healthcare reform.
Whether the healthcare reform is to the better or worse of the USA, in the midst of all changes, if you do not want to be one of the “victims”, it is best to put in place a private healthcare insurance plan in order to give full protection to yourself and your family.
Oct
2
Good News for People Who like Bad News: Swine Flu Still Here
Filed Under Expat Insurance, Health Insurance, Healthcare, International Healthcare, Medical Insurance, Swine Flu, Uncategorized | 2 Comments
Now that the summer is winding to a close, we can all start getting ready for flu season. Only problem is, it’s come early this year.
Influenza-like illnesses are on the rise in both Britain and the United States. The American Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) are reporting that influenza-like illnesses have been on the rise in the U.S. for the last six weeks and while the numbers of influenza hospitalizations are similar or below regular flu season levels, it’s still higher than expected for this time of year. Currently, 26 U.S. states are reporting widespread influenza activity. Across the pond in England, numbers of estimated cases are at 14,000 people, which is 5,000 more cases than the previous week.
Swine flu continues to affect every age group, with 79 reported outbreaks in English schools since the start of the fall term with 39 of those occurring in two areas and 49 pediatric deaths in America (pediatric medicine covers infants to adolescents). Swine flu also remains is a major concern for people with severe underlying medical conditions, such as leukemia, and expectant mothers.
Swine flu vaccines are of course being prepared to be rolled out later this year, with the WHO estimating production capacity at 3 billion doses per year. Thankfully, clinical trails indicate that only one dose is necessary to give immunity to older children and adults, but 3 billion doses per year still doesn’t cover the 6.8 billion people walking the earth right now. Given that many countries are reliant upon vaccine donations, Australia, New Zealand, Brazil, France, Italy, the United Kingdom, Norway and the United States have pledged vaccine donations for developing countries. Understandably, the WHO is open to similar contributions and support from other countries.
On a sadder note, a telephone survey carried out by Consumer Reports found that only 34% of U.S. Adults would definitely get vaccinated. Furthermore, only 35% said they plan to have their child vaccinated, with 14% decidedly against the idea of vaccinating their child. Of all the people who are currently undecided or opposed to getting vaccinations 63% said they wanted to build ‘natural immunities’. This is, unfortunately, a tragic misunderstanding with potentially fatal consequences, according to Dr. John Santa, the director of health ratings for Consumer Reports, “[y]our body produces exactly the same antibodies, whether it’s from a ‘natural’ infection or from a vaccine[.]”
While the vaccine is still in the mail, let’s take a quick moment to reflect on what we can all do to help us, and those around us, not get infected. Wash your hands! With Soap! Let’s be clear now, running half a second’s worth of water over your hands and not even glancing at the soap dispenser accomplishes absolutely nothing. Given that influenza is communicable either by direct person-to-person transmission (the genius next to you on the bus is coughing and sneezing on you), or through surface contact (someone sneezes on an object, then you touch the object and then your face), it’s always a good time to wash your hands.
It is also important that if you’re going to cough or sneeze that you cover your mouth. While this may seem like a simple enough thing to do, most people just don’t do it. If you’re going to use a tissue to cover your face when coughing or sneezing, cover your face with it and then make sure to throw the tissue away. Carrying around a tissue filled with germs isn’t good for anyone and it sort of makes you a disease vector. Should you not have a tissue at hand, cough or sneeze into the inside of your elbow. Given that the influenza virus can survive on the surface of objects, if have the flu and you cough all over your hands and don’t wash them immediately, you’re basically spreading the virus to every object you touch after that. Trust me, that’s a bad thing.
Please take care as we come closer to the regular flu season, especially now that children have gone back to school. It is important that we all make an effort to stay clean and not get sick, please, for the sake of us all, make sure that you know how to wash your hands and cover your face properly. More importantly, put your knowledge into practice. Stay safe, I’m off to wash my hands.