Despite stricter laws teenagers still smoking flavoured tobacco products.
More than half of Canadian teenage smokers opt for flavoured tobacco products, despite many flavours being banned, reports a new study. The survey found among those teenagers who smoke, more than half prefer flavoured tobacco such as bubblegum, cherry, or watermelon.
Researchers found that among students who reported smoking cigarettes in the 30 days prior to the study, 32 percent said they used menthol cigarettes. Previous research suggests the use of fruit, menthol, and other flavours makes tobacco more palatable to new users, especially young people.
Expats need to consider their insurance options if they plan on having children while abroad.
Significant numbers of British expats live and work in the world’s top business centres. Yet typically around 50% of this group of well educated, generally senior level managers will have no international private medical insurance, whilst according to research produced by Mintel, up to 55% may be accompanied by their spouses and family.
For a successful expat starting or adding to family abroad is relatively common. Having a baby is a wonderful, exciting, and happy occasion for all the family. However, it can also be stressful and costly, especially in a foreign country. Should complications occur during pregnancy or childbirth it is important to be prepared in terms of insurance coverage so money is the least of your worries.
According to the Family Futures Survey from Lloyds International Private Banking, nearly two fifths (38%) of British people with children would consider a move abroad, with 45% citing their families as an incentive for the move. When questioned on their reasons behind considering a move overseas, bringing family closer together was named as a major deciding factor by 53%.
A better quality of life was the top reason given for moving. cited by 67% of respondents. The survey, conducted by YouGov on behalf of Lloyds, asked over 1,000 British people their views on moving abroad. To experience a different culture was also a reason for over half (59%) of respondents. Better schooling and easier access to healthcare were also a factor for 38% and 22% respectively.
Latin American countries have different entry and visa requirements.
If you’re planning to move to Central or South America you are likely to need a visa depending on your nationality. For many expats in order to get a visa, or even to simply enter some countries, you will have to fulfill some health requirements.
Bolivia and Panama
Everyone, visitors or expats, coming from a yellow fever infected region, must provide an International Certificate of Vaccination, which states that you are immunised against yellow fever. If you need a student visa (visa de estudiante) or a work visa you will have to present a medical certificate (certificado médico), which has to include an HIV test and state that you are free from other infectious diseases.
Image: Teenagers by Monica Arellano-Ongpin (Flickr, CC BY 2.0)
The World Health Organisation (WHO) is calling for a stronger global focus on adolescent health after releasing its report, Health for the World’s Adolescents. The report reveals depression is the predominant cause of disability and illness among boys and girls aged between 10 and 19. The top three causes of death for adolescents are traffic accidents, HIV/AIDS, and suicide.
An estimated 1.3 million adolescents died in 2013, mostly from preventable or treatable causes. Evidence suggests half of all adults affected by mental health issues show symptoms from age 14, however, many cases are undiagnosed and untreated early enough. If adolescents have access to the diagnosis and support they need, deaths may be prevented.
The best places to be a mother (blue) and the worst (red).
The annual Save the Children report, State of the World’s Mothers 2014, ranks 178 countries on several factors related to the well-being of both mothers and children. The top ten countries in 2014 are dominated by European entries, with Australia being the only non-European country, tied in ninth place with Belgium. The ten worst places for mothers and their children are all in Africa.
The top three countries to raise children are Finland, Norway and Sweden, with the other Nordic countries of Iceland, and Denmark in in fourth and sixth place respectively. In general, the report states all the countries in the top ten scored very highly for mothers’ and children’s health, educational, political, and economic status.
Brazilian/American expat, husband, and father of three, John Sepulveda has worked in banking for more than 30 years. He has lived and worked in the U.S, Mexico, Brazil, and is now based in Madrid, Spain. We interviewed him about healthcare in Brazil.
1) What’s your opinion of healthcare in Brazil?
I would definitely not count on the public health system in Brazil. If you’ve followed events in Brazil over this past year you will have seen how people’s discontent with public services poured out into the streets, with crowds clamoring for more investments in public education, security and health care.
Waiting times are terribly long for those who depend on public health and only the most serious cases are tended to quickly. It’s not unusual for hospitals to be so crowded that beds are placed in the hallways. So I’d certainly recommend that anyone moving to Brazil buy private insurance.
As most insurers will put up obstacles to cover pre-existing conditions, sign up right away. There are costly, elite insurers with the very best doctors, but you can also find relatively less expensive ones who still include good-quality doctors and hospitals.
Cuts and deprivation means children more likely to die in Britain than other European countries.
Children in the UK are more deprived and are at higher risk of death than those in other Western European countries, says a report from the Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health. The study, Why Children Die, found 2,000 additional children die each year – five a day – compared with Sweden, the best performing country.
The report said, “If we compare ourselves with the country with the lowest mortality for children and young people, Sweden (after controlling for population size among other variables), we find that in the UK every day five children under the age of 14 die who would not die in Sweden.”
While some businesses are fighting it on religious grounds, the majority support free birth control on health plans.
Nearly one in seven Americans support the mandate that health insurance plans under the Affordable Care Act (ACA) must provide birth control, according to a nationwide survey. Researchers from the University of Michigan asked adults from all 50 states and the District of Columbia about universal coverage for birth control, which is being challenged in the U.S. Supreme Court.
There has been an ongoing debate over the provision of birth control on plans available through Obamacare. The provision for free birth control under most health plans has been available since 2012. The greatest support for contraception came from women, blacks, Hispanics, adults with private or public insurance, and parents with children younger than 18 at home, according to the study, published in the Journal of the American Medical Association.
Image: Mexico City by Edmund Garman (CC BY 2.0)
Expats love the adventure of moving abroad. This excitement is an inevitable product of facing the unknown. But it’s also true that the unfamiliar can be scary—whether we fear leaving family and friends, not integrating into a new culture or crime in our new location.
Safety should always be a priority, but there isn’t any need to be afraid if you are prepared to adapt your lifestyle in order to be safe in your new environment.