Although telecommunications, specifically the Internet, is increasingly
critical to the international sharing of knowledge and information, high school students
in Medford, Oregon, and Volgograd, Russia, have found that face-to-face communication is
still the best. Four students had an exceptional face-to-face communication opportunity
when they presented their youth health education project to the Health Committee of the
Gore-Chernomyrdin Commission earlier this year and met Secretary of Health and Human
Services Donna E. Shalala and Minister of Health and Medical Industry of the Russian
Federation A.D. Tsaregorodtsev. After attending the committee's morning session, the
students commented on the very broad understanding of health issues and policies required
of a high-level government health official.
The two Oregon seniors, who were enrolled in advanced Russian language
and culture classes, had worked with the two Russian students on creating a culturally
appropriate workshop on youth health issues. These issues centered primarily on smoking,
alcohol, and sexually transmitted diseases. The students described their efforts to ensure
cultural sensitivity of the materials and determined that some topics were inappropriate
for either school.
The students gave the workshop in Oregon and in Volgograd as part of the
youth exchange program of the U.S. Information Agency (USIA). The School Linkage Program
is supported by the Freedom Support Act Secondary School Initiative administered by USIA.
The American Council of Teachers of Russian coordinates the Medford-Volgograd linkage.
The Health Committee meeting coincided with 10 Volgograd students'
3-week exchange to the United States. As part of their 3-day trip to Washington, DC, the
students and their school director enjoyed VIP tours, visited museums, attended a seminar
on individual rights and responsibilities, and did volunteer work for the homeless. In
Medford, they stayed with local families and attended school as well as visited major
attractions, such as Crater Lake and the San Francisco Bay Area.
During their 2-week stay in Russia in the spring, seven St. Mary's students attended classes and toured Moscow sites. They presented the youth health project to a large group of Russian students.
Founded in 1865, St. Mary's School is a college preparatory day school
with grades 6 through 12 and an enrollment of 329 students. The school has its own World
Wide Web site (http://www.stmarys.
medford.or.us) where the Russian program is highlighted. Volgograd Gymnasium #13,
formerly called Volgograd School #28, is a special English school. The two schools have
had a partner relationship since spring 1990 and have participated in four exchanges.
RESOURCES |
| The place to start looking for international health-related
resources is right on the Internet-on the World Wide Web site of the Health Committee of
U.S.-Russia Joint Commission on Economic and Technological Cooperation: http://odphp.osophs.dhhs.gov/russia (see Focus).
The place to start looking for international health-related resources is right on the
Internet-on the World Wide Web site of the Health Committee of U.S.-Russia Joint
Commission on Economic and Technological Cooperation: http://odphp.osophs.dhhs.gov/russia (see
Focus). Hyperlinks appear for 10 areas, including diabetes and tuberculosis treatment and control. Public and private resources are listed, such as HyperDOC, the World Wide Web server of the National Library of Medicine, and the University of Washington Health Sciences Center.Hyperlinks appear for 10 areas, including diabetes and tuberculosis treatment and control. Public and private resources are listed, such as HyperDOC, the World Wide Web server of the National Library of Medicine, and the University of Washington Health Sciences Center. The health information seeker first must identify the specific need, conduct an online search, and e-mail for other information if necessary. For example, the Health Committee page points to four locations for tuberculosis, each suggesting more resources. A popular Internet search engine identified the University of Columbia's "External Tuberculosis Resources" web page, http://www.cpmc.columbia.edu/tbcpp/ with 36 hyperlinks to sites with information for patients and health care providers and lists of other resources.The health information seeker first must identify the specific need, conduct an online search, and e-mail for other information if necessary. For example, the Health Committee page points to four locations for tuberculosis, each suggesting more resources. A popular Internet search engine identified the University of Columbia's "External Tuberculosis Resources" web page, http://www.cpmc.columbia.edu/tbcpp/ with 36 hyperlinks to sites with information for patients and health care providers and lists of other resources. Office of Disease Prevention and Health Promotion Healthy People 2000
Home Page: Agency for International Development Cooperation Agency Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Food and Drug Administration National Center for Health Statistics U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, |
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