U.S.
Food and Drug Administration
FDA Consumer magazine
March-April 2002
Table
of Contents
Here's a hot tip for a Web site loaded with useful consumer information ranging from technology tips to all kinds of advice for improving your lifestyle. It's called FirstGov for Consumers (www.consumer.gov), and it offers something for virtually everyone from more than two dozen federal agencies.
For example, if you are looking for reliable information about aging, dieting, diseases, exercise, insurance, medical procedures, or nutrition--you can find it there. How about the latest on the environment, home improvements, moving tips, real estate, safety, or the weather? It's there.
The site features up-to-date consumer news, and is a gateway to the Federal Trade Commission's Consumer Sentinel, a program designed to fight consumer fraud and scams. In addition, the site links to the Consumer Information Handbook, a massive resource that the site says "no consumer should be without." It is full of tips on how to shop wisely for cars, car mechanics, loans, credit cards, and other commodities.
Youth violence in schools and communities can leave parents feeling worried, protective and even helpless. But there are signs that these violent incidents are becoming less frequent. For example:
Despite these encouraging trends, parents remain deeply concerned, and many want to become involved in efforts to curb violence. To help parents, professionals, and even kids themselves learn more about youth violence, the National Youth Violence Prevention Resource Center has created a Web site that augments its many programs.
On the site, www.safeyouth.org, parents can learn ways to help prevent violence before problems occur and will find useful information on school-based violence, teen suicide, and fostering healthy youth development. Professionals can get tools to help bolster violence-prevention programs. And the site's "teens only" page gives teens tips on how to become actively involved in violence prevention by looking for signs of potentially violent behavior and starting nonviolence programs in school.
The National Youth Violence Prevention Resource Center is a joint venture between the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the Federal Working Group on Youth Violence.
More than 10 million vaccinations are given yearly to children who are less than a year old, usually between 2 months and 6 months of age. Though these vaccines are very effective in preventing dangerous illnesses, they can cause side effects, some of which may be serious and possibly life-threatening.
The FDA and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention keep track of vaccine-related "adverse events" through a program called the Vaccine Adverse Event Reporting System (VAERS). The program allows the two agencies to monitor vaccines after they have been approved and are on the market. Side effects not evident in clinical trials can come to light after the vaccine is in general use because a larger population has been exposed to the product. Though about 85 percent of adverse events reported to VAERS are minor, the remaining 15 percent involve serious events such as hospitalizations, life-threatening situations, and even death.
The FDA welcomes reports of vaccine adverse effects from all concerned individuals: patients, parents, health-care providers, pharmacists, and vaccine makers. To find out how to file a VAERS report, go to www.fda.gov/cber/vaers/vaers.htm.
Although progress has been made in providing people with disabilities access to employment, public accommodations, commercial facilities, information technology, telecommunications services, housing, schools, and polling places, significant challenges remain. To help inform the public about disabilities, the U.S. Department of Labor has created Disability Direct, a Web site that functions as a clearinghouse for disability information and provides access to resources and services throughout the federal government.
At www.disability.gov, the site links to extensive resources that include materials on:
Also on the site is a link to A-Prompt, a free tool that can check Web sites for accessibility and suggest ways to revise them.
--John Henkel, Website Management Staff
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2002-FEB-27.