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HIV cases reported from year 1990 to 2006 in Iceland:

Year — Total Cases / Cases per 100 000 population
1990 — 5 / 1.96
1991 — 10 / 3.89
1992 — 11 / 4.23
1993 — 3 / 1.14
1994 — 8 / 3.02
1995 — 7 / 2.62
1996 — 6 / 2.22
1997 — 9 / 3.30
1998 — 8 / 2.91
1999 — 12 / 4.33
2000 — 10 / 3.58
2001 — 11 / 3.91
2002 — 7 / 2.47
2003 — 10 / 3.51
2004 — 5 / 1.74
2005 — 8 / 2.77
2006 — 11 / 3.70

Source:
1. WHO Regional Office for Europe - CISID

HIV cases reported from year 1990 to 2006 in Ireland:

Year — Total Cases / Cases per 100 000 population
1990 — 105 /
1991 — 89 /
1992 — 195 /
1993 — 127 /
1994 — 80 /
1995 — 91 /
1996 — 101 /
1997 — 110 /
1998 — 120 / 2.15
1999 — 190 / 2.98
2000 — 290 / 7.60
2001 — 299 / 7.71
2002 — 364 / 9.36
2003 — 399 / 10.17
2004 — 356 / 8.93
2005 — 318 / 7.97
2006 — 337 / 7.96

Source:
1. WHO Regional Office for Europe - CISID

Stockholm Spring 05.2008, originally uploaded by micpohling.

Tulips around the neighbourhood.

HIV cases reported from year 1990 to 2006 in Germany:

Year — Total Cases / Cases per 100 000 population
1993 — 2407 / 2.66
1994 — 2310 / 2.64
1995 — 2174 / 2.46
1996 — 1967 / 2.27
1997 — 2014 / 2.36
1998 — 2210 / 2.58
1999 — 1786 / 2.10
2000 — 1684 / 1.98
2001 — 1308 / 1.55
2002 — 1867 / 2.22
2003 — 1902 / 2.24
2004 — 2237 / 2.66
2005 — 2433 / 2.90
2006 — 2718 / 3.24

Source:
1. WHO Regional Office for Europe - CISID

Sakura in Kista 04.2008, originally uploaded by micpohling.

Near to my workplace… Was having lunch under the cherry trees, just like the old Japan days

Denmark: no more free school choice?

Free school choice to end
02.05.2008

A majority in Copenhagen’s city council are ready to put an end to parents’ ability to send their children to the school of their choice.
Free choice of city schools for primary and secondary school students will be a thing of the past if city council passes a new proposal to limit children to two or three local educational facilities, reports Berlingske Tidende newspaper.
Currently, parents may send their kids to any school lying within Copenhagen municipality. But a majority in city council are set to change that in the interests of furthering integration.
‘If we’re going to have a real community school, then everyone in the local districts should be represented,’ said Jan Andreasen, Social Democratic member of the city’s Children and Youth Committee. ‘Integration will only succeed if parents don’t flee from their local schools.’
Many parents of children with ethnic Danish background do not want to send their children to schools where many of the students are Muslim, while Muslim parents are often hesitant to break the pattern of sending their children to the same schools.
Parents’ organisation School and Society indicated it doesn’t believe that forced integration is a solution to the problem.
‘We already have a very large number of parents applying to send their kids to private schools and I think this proposal would just make the situation even worse,’ said the organisation’s president, Thomas Damkjær Petersen.
The proposal will be taken up in the Children and Youth Committee before being sent on to the Education Ministry, where its approval would mean a law change. (RC)

Finland:

Midwives Call for More Natural Births
Published 06.05.2008, 10.56 (updated 06.05.2008, 10.59)

All births in Finland are treated as though they are high-risk, according to the Federation of Finnish Midwives. The group says that Finland provides too many unnecessary caesarean sections, induced labours and epidurals.
In Finland, 70 percent of women giving birth for the first time receive an epidural, while 20 percent undergo a C-section. Meanwhile, half of all women receive an epidural. Just one decade ago, only around one-quarter of women underwent a C-section. Furthermore, hospitals vary considerably in their practices.
According to the federation, hospitals cater too much to patients.
“It’s unnecessary to administer an epidural to a mother who demands one when there is no medical reason to give it to her,” says the director of the federation, Terhi Virtanen.
“If an epidural is given too early, the birthing process can be halted. Then medications are needed to speed up the birth, which can lead to assisted suction deliveries and serious tears,” she adds.
Virtanen says women who have previously had C-sections are the most frequent recipients of the operation.
The federation has prepared a report on natural births. It says it hopes to work with physicians to compile recommendations for handling low risk births.

Netherlands:

Cabinet to tackle high baby death rate
Tuesday 06 May 2008

Health minister Ab Klink is working on plans to try to tackle the death rate for new born babies in the Netherlands, which some say is high among western European countries, the NRC reports on Tuesday.
‘Of every 1,000 babies, 13.4 die during the pregnancy or in the first month after birth,’ the paper says, quoting health council figures.
Klink is setting up a special committee which will be charged with reducing the baby death rate, the NRC says. In the meantime, he wants to involve social and healthcare groups in improving help to parents. The plans are contained in a concept letter which is circulating in medical circles.
Klink stressed that the Dutch tradition of encouraging home births was not at issue. ‘Far too many women, gynaecologists and researchers think it is a good institution,’ the paper quoted Klink as saying. ‘Home births cannot be regarded as being responsible for the higher baby death rate.’
In particular, Klink thinks improving prenatal care to immigrants and low-skilled households will bring positive results, the NRC says.

Norway:

Norwegians stump out cigs at record rate
First published: 05 May 2008, 12:45

In 1976, four out of 10 Norwegians smoked cigarettes daily. In 2007, the number had sunk to 2 out of 10.
“There’s no other country that has a faster rate of reducing smoking than Norway,” said Karl Erik Lund, a researcher in the Norwegian Institute for Alcohol and Drug Research (SIRUS).
He attributes this to a combination of official campaigns, increasing restrictions and high taxes. But he also says the symbolic idea of smoking has “turned upside down – from positive to negative.”
More women than men smoke in Norway now. While 23 percent of women say they smoke daily, 21 percent of men say they do.
However, the amount of men who use snuff has been growing rapidly. Among men between 16 and 44 years, there has been a tripling of snuff use since 1985.
Lund also thinks the smoking numbers will continue to fall.
“There is nothing that indicates we have met the bottom of the smokers yet. The number of smokers will continue to go down in the years that come. It is natural to believe that we will come down towards the 5-10 percent level of daily smokers in Norway,” he said.

Sweden:

Swedish for Immigrants enrolment hits all time high
Published: 4 May 08 10:17 CET

65,222 students attended Swedish for Immigrants (SFI) courses in 2007. The highest number ever and 24 percent up on 2006.
The number of beginners starting SFI courses in the 2006/07 academic year was the highest since 1993/94 when 35,500 signed up.
Over 130 language groups were represented in the 2006/07 academic year. Arabic was the most common mother tongue, with over 20 percent of students speaking Arabic as a first language. Many of the languages were spoken by only a handful of students.
62 percent of the beginners who started SFI courses in 2004/05 passed one of their courses and of those almost half gained top grades.
The level of prior education varies greatly among SFI students. The Swedish Board of Education (Skolverket) reported in a memorandum that there is a close correlation between the basic education of students and success in the SFI course.
Those with Polish as a mother tongue typically had the highest number of years of basic school education with over 90 percent having a minimum of 10 years school education before signing up for the course. Only 20 percent of those of Somali origin had more than 10 years school education.
The Board’s statistics also indicated that younger students proved more successful than older and that there were clear differences among different language groups depending on the similarity of their mother tongue to Swedish.
The average age of SFI students in 2006/07 was 32-years-old and 57 percent of the students were women.
SFI courses were offered in 251 of Sweden’s 290 local authorities in 2006/07.

HIV cases reported from year 1990 to 2006 in Finland:

Year — Total Cases / Cases per 100 000 population
1990 — 89 / 1.78
1991 — 57 / 1.14
1992 — 93 / 1.85
1993 — 62 / 1.23
1994 — 69 / 1.36
1995 — 72 / 1.41
1996 — 69 / 1.35
1997 — 71 / 1.38
1998 — 80 / 1.55
1999 — 142 / 2.75
2000 — 145 / 2.80
2001 — 127 / 2.45
2002 — 129 / 2.49
2003 — 133 / 2.56
2004 — 128 / 2.47
2005 — 138 / 2.66
2006 — 195 / 3.71

Source:
1. WHO Regional Office for Europe - CISID

HIV cases reported from year 1990 to 2006 in Denmark:

Year — Total Cases / Cases per 100 000 population
1990 — 139 / 0.02
1991 — 327 / 0.06
1992 — 336 / 6.00
1993 — 325 / 6.17
1994 — 318 / 6.09
1995 — 307 / 5.87
1996 — 258 / 4.88
1997 — 288 / 5.39
1998 — 199 / 3.73
1999 — 286 / 5.35
2000 — 255 / 4.66
2001 — 321 / 5.87
2002 — 292 / 5.33
2003 — 259 / 4.82
2004 — 308 / 5.67
2005 — 283 / 5.02
2006 — 245 / 4.15

Source:
1. WHO Regional Office for Europe - CISID

Hehey, getting not bad

10-06-2007: 10 000 hits.
04-09-2007: 20 000 hits.
21-10-2007: 30 000 hits.
25-11-2007: 40 000 hits.
25-12-2007: 50 000 hits.
27-01-2008: 60 000 hits.
21-02-2008: 70 000 hits.
11-03-2008: 80 000 hits.
28-03-2008: 90 000 hits.
14-04-2008: 100 000 hits.
30-04-2008: 110 000 hits!!!!!!!

HIV cases reported from year 1990 to 2006 in Belgium:

Year — Total Cases / Cases per 100 000 population
1990 — 813 / 7.81
1991 — 802 / 7.82
1992 — 977 / 9.49
1993 — 949 / 9.11
1994 — 807 / 7.85
1995 — 768 / 7.41
1996 — 720 / 6.85
1997 — 700 / 6.64
1998 — 755 / 7.08
1999 — 801 / 7.63
2000 — 952 / 8.96
2001 — 966 / 9.08
2002 — 992 / 9.34
2003 — 1052 / 9.92
2004 — 1002 / 9.55
2005 — 1074 / 10.24
2006 — 995 / 9.29

Source:
1. WHO Regional Office for Europe - CISID

Denmark:

Study: Danes well paid
25.04.2008 
 
A new study shows that Danes leave poor paying jobs in record time compared to other countries.
Denmark is one of the countries in the world where the least number of citizens have low incomes, shows a new study.
According to the study, Denmark has a record high minimum wage in comparison to the other countries in the study.
‘In fact, our minimum wage corresponds to the median wage in the US,’ said professor Niels Westergaard-Nielsen, project manager of the study. ‘Approximately 50 percent of Americans earn less than, or just as much as a Danish worker on minimum wage.’
The study, conducted by researchers from Copenhagen Business School and Århus University, also indicated that Danes left poor paying jobs in record time.
Only France matched Denmark in terms of workers quickly switching from a lower income job to a better one. Countries such as the Netherlands, the United States, Germany and the United Kingdom were also included in the survey.
‘We’re talking about two world records - at least two international high scores, since these are some of the world’s strongest nations we’re comparing ourselves with,’ said Westergaard-Nielsen.
He also pointed out that most low income positions were generally held by students who were on their way into the job market. And once they finished their studies, they tended to move onto better paid jobs.
However, Westergaard-Nielsen said that the high salary levels here could affect the country’s competitiveness and force Denmark to outsource much of its production to countries where labour costs were substantially lower.
He also said that five percent of the country’s gross national product was used for maintaining the social safety net on the labour market, which was the highest level of the world. (LYT)

Finland:

Drug Patients Take Hospital Beds from the Elderly
Published 28.04.2008, 10.26

The number of patients receiving treatment for drug abuse in health centres and hospitals has increased in recent years. The rising demand for beds has meant that senior citizens have not had access to the care they need.
According to a report in the Keskisuomalainen newspaper, figures recently released by Centre for Research and Development of Welfare and Health, STAKES, indicate that in 2006 health centres and hospitals treated more than 21,000 Finns for drug abuse. The majority of patients admitted for such treatment were in the 21 - 64 year old age group.
At the same time increasing numbers of senior citizens seeking treatment at hospitals and health centres have had to queue for beds. At the state level, rehabilitating patients have also commanded most of the beds available since the year 2004.
However, the situation is variable across larger cities. In many cities, the demand for places for drug rehabilitation has been declining. Exceptions to this trend include Kuopio and Jyväskylä, where the demand has been growing. In Espoo the number of beds devoted for drug rehabilitation has also been on the increase.

Netherlands:

White Dutch kids play together
Monday 28 April 2008

Only one in 10 white Dutch children play with children of other nationalities when playing outside, according to research published today.
But over one-third of ethnic minority children play in mixed groups, says the children’s play lobby group OMO.

Norway:

99 out of 100 thieves go free
First published: 28 Apr 2008, 11:37

A new report by the justice minister, Knut Storberget, shows that 99.2 percent of all serious robberies on the streets of Oslo are never solved.
Last year, 11,033 crimes were reported, but just 80 were solved.
And the wave of robberies is increasing rapidly. Yesterday 33 people were the victims of serious crimes in Oslo. In the first three months of 2008, serious robberies in public places have increased by 10 percent.
Many city officials blame the increase in crime on begging and prostitution by people from other lands, mostly Eastern Europe.
A ban on begging in the streets was lifted in 2005.
But while the criminals go free, the politicians and police argue about what can be done. City Council head Erling Lae has sent a letter to the justice minister asking that “pågående” (insistent, or aggressive) begging and prostitution be forbidden.
“Beggers with Eastern European ethnic backgrounds represent a far more aggressive and insistent begging behavior than we have previously been accustomed to. There are also strong indications that they are behind much of the criminality in the form of pickpockets, break-ins, and shop robberies,” wrote Lae.

Sweden:

High school students ignorant of their geography
Published: 26 Apr 08 12:27 CET

High school students in Umeå were unable to name Finland’s capital city in a recent survey which showed an alarming ignorance of basic geography.
Students from Umeå University in the north of Sweden interviewed 200 high school students aged 17-19-years-old on their geography skills.
More than 68 percent responded that they do no know where the European Union has its headquarters, 75 percent could not place Teheran in Iran and 96 percent could not name two Swedish national parks.
“This is the level of knowledge on which they will then make their decisions,” said dismayed student Christian Lund to Västerbottens-Kuriren.
Lund wonders how the students will later be able to develop their opinions in democratic and societal issues such as the environment, sustainable development and politics without some basic knowledge of geography.
The results of the study will be sent to schools minister, Jan Björklund.

Stockholm Sakura 04.2008, originally uploaded by micpohling.

Sakura viewing at Stockholm Kungsträdgården park on Sunday.

Percentage of Dutch people who are drinkers from year 1988 to 2000:
a) according to gender - male and female.
b) according to age group - 20-44, 45-64, and 65 older.

Legend:
a) square - male, cross - female
b) X - 20-44 years old
Y - 45-64 years old
Z - > 65 years old.

Note:
Part I: % of Dutch people are drinkers
Part II: % of Dutch drinkers who drink more than 6 glasses of alcohol at least once a week

Source: Statistic Netherlands - Health and Welfare, Aspect of (un)healthy Behaviour

Number of cigarrettes smoked by Dutch smokers per day from year 1988 to 2000:
a) according to gender - male and female.
b) according to age group - 20-44, 45-64, and 65 older.

Legend:
a) square - male, cross - female
b) X - 20-44 years old
Y - 45-64 years old
Z - > 65 years old.

Note:
Part I: % of Dutch people are smokers
Part II: % of Dutch smokers smoke more than 20 cigarrettes
Part III: Number of cigarrettes per Dutch smokers per day

Source: Statistic Netherlands - Health and Welfare, Aspect of (un)healthy Behaviour

Stockholm Sakura 04.2008, originally uploaded by micpohling.

Sakura viewing in Kungsträdgården park in Stockholm, Sweden. Obviously every Stockholmer is out of house and sunbathing here

Denmark:

Organ donor rules increase death count
22.04.2008

While its Nordic neighbours have improved their donor transplant figures a growing number of Danes die waiting for a new organ.
As long as it is up to Danes themselves to sign up to be organ donors, Denmark’s figures for people who die on waiting lists will continue to rise.
A new study from organ procurement co-operative Scandiatransplant shows that Denmark lags far behind its neighbours in saving lives through organ transplants, with waiting lists that are much longer than its Nordic neighbours.
And the reason, according to both Scandiatransplant and numerous medical experts, is the country’s donor volunteer programme.
In Finland, Sweden and Norway, adult citizens are automatically registered as organ donors and must themselves contact the authorities if they wish to be taken off the donor list. In Denmark, citizens must sign up to be organ donors - and often do not.
‘Donor number are increasing in the other countries while it is falling in Denmark,’ Preben Kirkegaard, liver surgeon at University State Hospital, told Berlingske Tidende newspaper. ‘And a larger donor pool is crucial if we’re going to make a dent in the waiting lists.’
The number of Danes who die waiting for a lung, for example, is equal to that of all three other Nordic countries combined. Those countries have also reduced their organ transplant waiting times while in Denmark the period continues to grow longer.
And the lack of donors is glaringly obvious in the number of organs Denmark imports and sends out to other countries for transplants. Hearts are a prime example, as between 2000 and 2006 Denmark received 44 hearts from foreign countries while exporting only six.
The Nordic countries successes were based on the Spanish model of the self opt-out, instituted some years ago. And instead of using millions on advertising campaigns to lure donors, Spain created a central governmental agency to handle all the nation’s transplant activities. The country now leads the world in the number of potential organ donors.
Yet despite the alarming figures here in Denmark, a Berlingske Research survey indicated that 10 out of 13 members of parliament’s health care committee are against changing the volunteer donor rules. (RC)

Finland:

Report: Depression Costs Society 1bn a Year
Published 17.04.2008, 18.36

The costs of clinical depression to Finnish society are higher than previously thought — about one billion euros annually, according to a report broadcast Thursday by YLE television’s current affairs programme “Silminnäkijä” (”Eyewitness”).
That figure includes the costs of disability pensions, sick leave, rehabilitation, medications and decline in productivity. In the past, the Ministry of Social Affairs and Health have estimated the cost to be about half a billion annually. However its figures only included disability pensions and sick leave costs.
Every year, about 200,000 people in Finland are diagnosed with clinical depression. The number of people granted early retirement because of depression has increased tenfold since 1985.
The use of antidepressant drugs has also risen tenfold over the past two decades. They are now used by nearly 400,000 Finns, about seven percent of the population.
Meanwhile, the number of suicides has dropped by about one third. It peaked around 1990 at about 1,500 a year. Over the last three years it has been about 1,000.

Netherlands:

Obesity costs €600m in absenteeism
Monday 21 April 2008

Overweight workers are costing Dutch industry €600m a year, according to health ministry figures, quoted in the economists’ magazine ESB, reports news agency ANP.
People who are too heavy are more likely to be off sick and take longer sick leave, the magazine is reported as saying.

Norway:

Record number of visiting workers
First published: 18 Apr 2008, 16:10

Over 85,000 foreigners had legal work permits in Norway in March, a huge jump from the same time last year.
Polish workers are the largest group of “foreign workers” in Norway, according to the country’s immigration agency UDI (Utlendingsdirektoratet).
This has led to many Polish workers applying to bring their families in to Norway, said the UDI.
In the first three months of the year, 1,015 family immigrant permissions were granted to Polish citizens. This is almost double the number in the same period of 2007.
In total, 4,800 have been granted permission so far this year, 25 percent more than during the same period last year.

Sweden:

Nurses demonstrate for higher pay as strike looms
Published: 20 Apr 08 12:14 CET

Nurses took to the streets in Stockholm and Gothenburg on Sunday to demonstrate for higher pay. A strike beckons on Monday as mediators called off talks on Saturday.
Negotiations between healthcare employers and unions broke off in deadlock on Saturday afternoon. A strike now seems inevitable on Monday as nurses and other healthcare professionals demand higher pay.
The Swedish Association of Healthcare Professionals (Vårdförbundet) sat down in a final attempt to secure a deal with the Swedish Association of Local Authorities and Regions (SALAR) on Saturday.
According to SALAR’s press spokesperson Claes Bertilson, by late afternoon negotiations had broken down in stalemate.
“This means that everything indicates that a strike will break out on Monday.”
Around 1,000 healthcare professionals marched from Götaplatsen to Gustaf Adolfs torg in Gothenburg’s town centre as a show of union strength in preparation for the pending strike. Among them were nurses Evelyn Sjöberg and Marianne Persson.
“We are ready for conflict but it is clear that something is wrong when one has to go out on strike,” the nurses said to news agency TT as the demonstration wound its way through the western Swedish town.
The demonstrators held up banners bearing slogans such as “We want fair pay,” “We are worth it,” and “Undervalued but vital.”
“People study to become nurses today, but it doesn’t pay. At the same time we have to accept substantial responsibility.” said Evelyn Sjöberg.
If the strike is not avoided at the eleventh hour then 3,500 nurses will go on strike across Sweden on Monday. This will have an immediate effect on scheduled healthcare, such as the need to re-schedule planned operations. Problems for the third-party to the conflict–the patients–are expected to be substantial.

Percentage of Dutch smokers who smoke more than 20 cigarrettes per day from year 1988 to 2000:
a) according to gender - male and female.
b) according to age group - 20-44, 45-64, and 65 older.

Legend:
a) square - male, cross - female
b) X - 20-44 years old
Y - 45-64 years old
Z - > 65 years old.

Note:
Part I: % of Dutch people are smokers
Part II: % of Dutch smokers smoke more than 20 cigarrettes
Part III: Number of cigarrettes per Dutch smokers per day

Source: Statistic Netherlands - Health and Welfare, Aspect of (un)healthy Behaviour

Stockholm Sakura 04.2008, originally uploaded by micpohling.

Unbelievably beautiful, I almost thought I was in Japan

According to this article, yes.

Waiting in line outside a warehouse last weekend to buy government-supplied rice was Julieta Casanova, 60, who lives with her two children and eight grandchildren in Tandang Sora, a slum outside of Manila.

“We can’t survive without rice,” Casanova said. The government rations the rice to five kilograms per person, which Casanova said would last two days.

So if the author of the article is not mistaking about 5kg rice per household or per person, I wonder how someone can eat 1.25kg rice per meal in 2 days? (Assuming 4 meals in 2 days).

Percentage of Dutch people are smokers from year 1988 to 2000:
a) smoker according to gender - male and female.
b) smoker according to age group - 20-44, 45-64, and 65 older.

Legend:
a) square - male, cross - female
b) X - 20-44 years old
Y - 45-64 years old
Z - > 65 years old.

Note:
Part I: % of Dutch people are smokers
Part II: % of Dutch smokers smoke more than 20 cigarrettes
Part III: Number of cigarrettes per Dutch smokers per day

Source: Statistic Netherlands - Health and Welfare, Aspect of (un)healthy Behaviour