Friday Newsletter
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Dear Centre Leaders,
In today's newsletter:
  • Drowning: WHO provides guidance
  • Interested to contribute a blog?
  • Bangladesh needs strict action against cigarettes and smokeless tobacco
  • Child disability in rural eastern Ethiopia
1. Drowning: WHO provides guidance
More than 360,000 people are estimated to die from drowning worldwide..
A recent Lancet editorial reminds us that each year, more than 360,000 people are estimated to die from drowning worldwide. Globally, drowning occurs most often in children between 1 and 4 years of age, and in Bangladesh drowning accounts for 43% of all deaths in this age group.
 
The WHO has released a follow-up implementation guide for policy makers, government officials, and non-governmental organisations, with the aim of providing practical steps towards tailoring preventive measures to local settings. The guide outlines six interventions. As some of our member centres operate in areas that are prone to floods, we believe this is very relevant to them.
Read more:
Further details 1
Further details 2 
2. Interested to contribute to a blog?
The Global Health, Epidemiology and Genomics journal has a dedicated website for blog posts. They are looking to publish blog posts in-line with the themed collections and would like to include a blog relating to the Longitudinal Population-Based Studies collection.

For those who are interested to contribute, the blogs are usually 300-500 words in length and previous examples can be found here:
News from Centres
 1. icddrb:
     Bangladesh needs strict action against cigarettes and smokeless tobacco
Nine in 10 children who smoke never receive help to stop smoking.
In Bangladesh, many schoolchildren begin smoking under the age of ten and most have not been questioned over their age when buying cigarettes, shows an icddr,b study. icddr,b researchers have also pointed out that the current tobacco regulations are not effective against the widespread use of sadapatha and zarda (dried and processed tobacco leaves) known as smokeless tobacco. Read more:
 2. Kersa HDSS:
     Child disability in rural eastern Ethiopia
Dr. Nega Assefa, Kersa Centre Leader.
The type and extent of childhood disability in Ethiopia is unknown due to lack of accurate and reliable data. This study "In Rural Eastern Ethiopia Hearing Loss Is the Most Frequent Disability during Childhood: A Community Based Survey" tried to assess the magnitude and types of disabilities among children in eastern Ethiopia.
 
The researchers conducted a cross-sectional community-based study among households that are under demographic and health surveillance in eastern Ethiopia. The study population consisted of all children aged 0–14 years. A structured questionnaire was used to assess the type and severity of the disability. The study found out that childhood disability is a health challenge in the study area and is already common at an early age. Permanent disability among children may be prevented by an early screening program in the routine child health services and adequate care, especially for hearing impairment. Read more:
Policy Engagement and Communications