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This essay explores what we can learn about the household limitation behaviour and strategies of those members of sixteenth-century French society who numbered among the mass of the poor. In particular, it focuses on the evidence produced by urban poor relief councils and hospitals, as they recorded the circumstances of the poverty-stricken clientele for their administrative records, and presents some preliminary findings. Although contraceptive methods do not feature explicitly in petitions and supporting documents, it is possible to build up a modest picture from these sources of the kinds of household limitation techniques available to the urban poor. As this essay demonstrates, in some cases, these involved reproductive strategies, yet in other cases it may be more appropriate to speak of household limitation methods.

Since 2002, all states have received federal funds for disaster preparedness through Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) Bioterrorism Hospital Preparedness Program grants. Minnesota has received dollar 19.4 million, which has been spent to improve communications and coordination among hospitals and emergency providers, purchase equipment and medications, and train staff. The Minnesota Department of Health, which administers the funds, recently assessed the state's level of preparedness, finding that the state is well-prepared for smaller events such as a chemical incident or a limited outbreak of an infectious disease. A catastrophic event such as pandemic influenza would likely overwhelm the state's systems and providers.

Bangladesh was hit by the worst flood in over a century in the summer of 1998. Although many households were able to smooth consumption expenditure, not everyone was able to maintain adequate calorie consumption. As a consequence, the nutritional status of children in households that were more severely exposed to the flood deteriorated. We use a three round panel data set to investigate which households were better protected from longer term nutritional crises, and whether the health of flood-exposed children recovered to the level of those who were not exposed. The evidence suggests that children exposed to the flood were adversely affected by the shock to their health and did not recover within the survey period. The results also suggest that ex ante government programs were more effective than ex post interventions to protect the heath of children from the impact of the flood.

NYC RECOVERS, an alliance of organizations concerned with New York City's social and emotional recovery post-9/11, was formed to meet the need to rebuild social bonds strained or ruptured by the trauma to the regional system caused by the destruction of the Twin Towers. NYC RECOVERS, with minimal funding, was able to create a network of 1000 organizations spanning the five boroughs, carrying out recovery events throughout the 'Year of Recovery', September 2001 to December 2002. This paper describes the concepts, techniques and accomplishments of NYC RECOVERS, and discusses potentials of the model, as well as obstacles to its implementation.

Geographic information systems (GIS) are increasingly used for integrating data from different sources and substantive areas, including in humanitarian action. The challenges of integration are particularly well illustrated by humanitarian mine action. The informational requirements of mine action are expensive, with socio-economic impact surveys costing over US$1.5 million per country, and are feeding a continuous debate on the merits of considering more factors or 'keeping it simple'. National census offices could, in theory, contribute relevant data, but in practice surveys have rarely overcome institutional obstacles to external data acquisition. A positive exception occurred in Lebanon, where the landmine impact survey had access to agricultural census data. The challenges, costs and benefits of this data integration exercise are analysed in a detailed case study. The benefits are considerable, but so are the costs, particularly the hidden ones. The Lebanon experience prompts some wider reflections. In the humanitarian community, data integration has been fostered not only by the diffusion of GIS technology, but also by institutional changes such as the creation of UN-led Humanitarian Information Centres. There is a question whether the analytic capacity is in step with aggressive data acquisition. Humanitarian action may yet have to build the kind of strong analytic tradition that public health and poverty alleviation have accomplished.

Tuberculosis (TB) is a major public health problem in complex emergencies. Humanitarian agencies usually postpone the decision to offer TB treatment and opportunities to treat TB patients are often missed. This paper looks at the problem of tuberculosis treatment in these emergencies and questions whether treatment guidelines could be more flexible than international recommendations. A mathematical model is used to calculate the risks and benefits of different treatment scenarios with increasing default rates. Model outcomes are compared to a situation without treatment. An economic analysis further discusses the findings in a trade-off between the extra costs of treating relapses and failures and the savings in future treatment costs. In complex emergencies, if a TB programme could offer 4-month treatment for 75% of its patients, it could still be considered beneficial in terms of public health. In addition, the proportion of patients following at least 4 months of treatment can be used as an indicator to help evaluate the public health harm and benefit of the TB programme.

Section 3102 of the Children's Health Act of 2000, Pub. L. 106-310, amends section 501 of the Public Health Service (PHS) Act (42 U.S.C. 290 aa) to add a new subsection (m) entitled "Emergency Response." This newly enacted subsection 501(m) authorizes the Secretary to use up to, but no more than, 2.5% of all amounts appropriated under Title V of the PHS Act, other than those appropriated under Part C, in each fiscal year to make "noncompetitive grants, contracts or cooperative agreements to public entities to enable such entities to address emergency substance abuse or mental health needs in local communities." Because Congress believed the Secretary needed the ability to respond to emergencies, it exempted any grants,contracts, or cooperative agreements authorized under this section from the peer review process otherwise required by section 504 of the PHS Act. See section 501(m)(1) of the PHS Act. Instead, the Secretary is to use an objective review process by establishing objective criteria to review applications for funds under this authority. Pursuant to Public Law 106-310, the Secretary is required to establish, and publish in the Federal Register, criteria for determining when a mental health or substance abuse emergency exists. In this interim final rule, the Secretary sets out these criteria, as well as the intended approach for implementing this new mental health and substance abuse emergency response authority. The Secretary invites public comments on both the criteria and the approach described in this interim final rule.

Background: Following the recent drought in Ethiopia, the Jewish Agency, aided by the Israel Ministry of Foreign Affairs, launched a medical relief mission to a rural district in Ethiopia in May-August 2000., Objectives: To present the current medical needs and deficiencies in this representative region of Central Africa, to describe the mission's mode of operation, and to propose alternative operative modes., Methods: We critically evaluate the current local needs and existing medical system, retrospectively analyze the mission's work and the patients' characteristics, and summarize a panel discussion of all participants and organizers regarding potential alternative operative modes., Results: An ongoing medical disaster exists in Ethiopia, resulting from the burden of morbidity, an inadequate health budget, and insufficient medical personnel, facilities and supplies. The mission operated a mobile outreach clinic for 3 months, providing primary care to 2,500 patients at an estimated cost of $48 per patient. Frequent clinical diagnoses included gastrointestinal and respiratory tract infections, skin and ocular diseases (particularly trachoma), sexually transmitted diseases, AIDS, tuberculosis, intestinal parasitosis, malnutrition and malaria., Conclusions: This type of operation is feasible but its overall impact is marginal and temporary. Potential alternative models of providing medical support under such circumstances are outlined.