Women in Kenya remain disadvantaged, with opportunities for educational, social, and economic advancement inferior to those of men. Women are underrepresented in modern sector wage employment, political and judicial decision making, and all major public service appointments. Numerous social, economic, and cultural barriers limit womens participation in these areas. But womens underrepresentation in education is a primary factor. The benefits of womens education to women and to society in general are immense. In the workplace, education increases skills needed for job entry, improves chances of vertical mobility, and enhances overall labor market productivity. It also has positive consequences at home, including improved health, increased child survival rates, reduced fertility rates, lower infant mortality rates, and better protection against HIV and AIDS (Tembon and Fort 2008). Education of women and girls is therefore not only a moral and human rights issue, but also an economic and development issue. Given the significant benefits of womens education, equity in education is essential to improving circumstances for all Kenyans. As the leading provider of education, the government should acknowledge that compensatory mechanisms may be required to level the playing field for disadvantaged girls, and it should adopt an approach that uses these mechanisms. Making education equitable means adopting policies and initiatives that support equal provisions across genders. Female Education in Kenya Education in Kenya has four basic levels: preschool (ages 4-6), primary (ages 7-14), secondary (ages 15-18), and tertiary. Since attaining political independence from Great Britain in 1963, the Kenyan government has emphasized educations importance to economic development. It has also increased the number of schools at all levels, from about six thousand primary and 150 secondary schools in 1963 to almost twenty thousand primary and four thousand secondary schools in 2004. As a result, the student population has increased substantially, with over 700 percent growth at the primary level and almost 3,000 percent growth at the secondary level (Ministry of Education 2007). But this total expansion in education hides disparities by gender and region.
Wolters Kluwer Health, a leading global provider of
information for healthcare professionals and students, announced today that
Susan Driscoll, President CEO, Wolters Kluwer Health, Professional
Education
has been invited to deliver a speech at the 2010 Beijing International
Publishing Forum, organized by the Chinese General Administration of Press
and
Publication, on Sunday, August 29, 2010, in Beijing, China.
The Beijing International Publishing Forum is the most important high level
event that provides a valuable opportunity and a platform for Chinese and
foreign publishers to have a dialogue to exchange experiences and learn
from
each other. Held in conjunction with the2010 Beijing International Book
Fair,
this years theme is “Global Publishing Cooperation and Chinas Market
Opportunities.”
In the area of Science and Education Books Publishing, Ms Driscoll
addressed the
impact of availability and the power technology is having on what
publishers are
offering and the potential in medical publishing. Lippincott Williams and
Wilkins, the medical book imprint of Wolters Kluwer Health, has been
publishing
books for over 200 years, and, in fact, is the oldest book publisher in the
United States. Wolters Kluwer Health publishes both education and reference
books for doctors, nurses, and other health professionals.
Ms. Driscoll spoke about the transformation of Wolters Kluwer Health as a
traditional publisher of books to a future where books are quickly becoming
unbound, providing immediate access to content and integrated into the
learnflow
or workflow of the health student or professional.
On Monday, August 30, Wolters Kluwer officially opened its participation in
the
Beijing International Book Fair at 9:00 am on its stand with the launch of
the
latest, innovative products from Wolters Kluwer China. Throughout the Fair,
Wolters Kluwer will demonstrate the latest productivity solutions, tools,
and
products for professionals in the healthcare, pharmaceutical, tax,
accounting,
legal, and regulatory markets worldwide from brands such asAspen
Publishers,
CCH, Kluwer Law International and Lippincott Williams Wilkins.
In August 2004, the Law #230, approved by the Government of Puerto Rico in a three party resolution, created the University of Puerto Rico Comprehensive Cancer Center (UPRCCC), a public corporation affiliated to the University of Puerto Rico. This law established that this Center will be the organism responsible for executing the public policy related to the prevention, education, and research, as well as the clinical and treatment services related to cancer in Puerto Rico. The dual mission of the UPRCCC is: (1) To deliver the best research-driven cancer care through programs that integrate patient care, research, prevention, and education, and (2) To eradicate cancer in Puerto Rico using a multidisciplinary approach of basic, clinical, and population research. Thus, the UPRCCC is fundamental for the development of cancer control, research, and training efforts in Puerto Rico. More recently, in 2008, with funding from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Puerto Rico published its first official Cancer Control Plan, a structured guide with measurable outcomes aimed at reducing the cancer burden in our population. All of the previously mentioned initiatives will continue to be key to the progress in cancer control and research in Puerto Rico and thus, to the quality of the preventive and treatment services that we will offer to our patients. The increase in the cancer burden in Puerto Rico has been accompanied by a substantial increase in the volume of published research and federal funds to academic institutions in Puerto Rico for cancer research. Despite this advancement, areas that need our continued support and development in the years to come include: 1) continued surveillance of cancer occurrence in Puerto Rico through the Puerto Rico Central Cancer Registry, 2) development of transdisciplinary and translational cancer research that encompass all areas of the cancer control continuum (prevention, early detection, diagnosis, treatment, survivorship), 3) outreach efforts that bring scientific knowledge to the development of targeted cancer control strategies for the community, 4) development of sound cancer-related public policy, and 5) continued training of the next generation of cancer researchers and health professionals. Our ability to collaborate in multidisciplinary local and international teams will be essential to our success. The forthcoming issue of the Puerto Rico Health Sciences Journal provides an informative summary of various research studies that are currently being conducted in Puerto Rico. The 17 articles in this issue describe diverse research areas in the cancer field including disease burden, disease prevention, correlates of cancer occurrence, diagnostic technologies and clinical management. In addition, an overview of cancer training efforts in the island is discussed. Our future as a healthy nation will require a concerted effort between government, academia and industry that lead the research, training, and public policy efforts that will ultimately result in improved cancer prevention and control outcomes for the people of Puerto Rico. We hope you find in this edition of the journal a well-rounded overview of cancer research in Puerto Rico.
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