Recent polls demonstrate that Americans view healthcare reform issues to be a leading domestic concern for their new President to address. This presentation will explore the new Administration's proposals for ensuring healthcare for all and improving the health of Americans and suggest some innovative solutions that can be implemented to enhance economic prosperity, national security, and global health.

Critical Women’s Health Issues in the 21st Century
Today, the leading killer of women are chronic diseases including heart disease, cancer, stroke, and diabetes, and in the information age, health has become a global issue. This presentation will address some of the critical health issues facing American women at the beginning of the 21st century. Women’s health across life spans will be discussed with important new information and the steps each one of us can take towards a healthier future.

Global Health Issues in the 21st Century: Opportunities and Challenges
This presentation addresses some of the critical health issues facing our country and world today. With international trade, travel, and telecommunications, the world is shrinking, causing greater threat for the travel of infectious diseases. Blumenthal discusses preparedness and prevention as cornerstones to meeting and defeating emerging health threats, such as infectious diseases, avian flu, bioterrorism, and obesity, and to ensure a healthier future for ourselves and our world.

The Future of Health in the 21st Century
Medical science is entering a golden age but the keys to life are not all locked in the laboratory. Technological progress, which there has been much of, is not a complete recipe for better health. Even as scientists explore the frontiers of medicine, prevention remains the cornerstone to a healthier future. Many health concerns including avian flu and AIDS are just a jet plane away. Global health issues have significant humanitarian, economic, and national security implications for all of us. This talk will explore these issues and will conclude with a prescription for some simple steps we all can take towards a healthy future.

Winning the War Against Cancer: A Progress Report
Revolutionary scientific advances have sparked transformations in our understanding and treatment of cancer, and we now stand on the verge of even greater discoveries. Knowledge about cancer has been dramatically expanded, the stigma has been shattered, and we not have an entire generation who call themselves cancer survivors. What breakthroughs will the next decade bring? Everyone in the world stands to benefit, as cancer does not respect state or national borders and is a global health concern with significant humanitarian, economic, and national security implications. This talk will explore these issues and will conclude with a prescription for some simple steps we all can take towards a healthier – cancer free – future.

Healthcare in the 2008 Presidential Elections
The suite of healthcare concerns – soaring medical costs, uninsured citizens, the need to protect against and respond to natural disasters, pandemics, and possible bioterrorist threats, to emphasize preparedness and prevention, to strengthen health-related research, and to improve the delivery of quality medical and public health services – are issues that must be at the top of presidential candidates’ lists. These concerns also underscore that strong leadership in the White House and in federal agencies on science, health, and technology is more important than ever.

Recent polls demonstrate that Americans view healthcare reform issues to be a top domestic issue for the presidential elections. This presentation will review presidential candidates’ proposals for ensuring healthcare for all and improving the health of Americans and suggest some innovative solutions that a next president can implement to enhance economic prosperity, national security, and global health.

Pandemic Flu Preparedness: What You Need to Know
Avian flu has recently moved to the top of the administration’s healthcare agenda. However, since 1997, medical experts have been warning for years that international travel, a weakened public health system, and antiquated vaccines have made the prospect of an influenza pandemic a matter of when, not if.

The H5N1 strain of the influenza virus currently circulating in many countries has the potential to develop into a deadly human virus. Already, the virus has “killed more birds than any in the history of the world,” humans do not have immunity, and unlike season flu, strikes younger victims. One of the lessons of Hurricane Katrina is that the United States is not sufficiently prepared to deal with public health crises including sever natural disasters, bioterrorist attacks, or a pandemic flu.

This presentation discusses what is known about emerging disease threats such as avian flu, what may cause it to become a human pandemic, and what steps individuals, businesses, and the government can do to reduce risk and to prepare.