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Closing the gap in a generation: Health equity through action on the social determinants of health

Social justice is a matter of life and death. It affects the way people live, their consequent chance of illness, and their risk of premature death. We watch in wonder as life expectancy and good health continue to increase in parts of the world and in alarm as they fail to improve in others.

Last year’s “Defense of Japan 2007” was our first white paper since the transition of the Defense Agency to the Ministry of Defense. The white paper demonstrated the resolve of the Ministry to become an organization more resilient to crisis and more capable to contribute to the international peace.

In the 21st century, agriculture continues to be a fundamental instrument for sustainable development and poverty reduction. Three of every four poor people in developing countries live in rural areas—2.1 billion living on less than $2 a day and 880 million on less than $1 a day—and most depend on agriculture for their livelihoods.

Given, where they are and what they do best, promoting agriculture is imperative for meeting the Millennium Development Goal of halving poverty and hunger by 2015 and reducing poverty and hunger for several decades thereafter. Agriculture alone will not be enough to massively reduce poverty, but it is an essential component of effective development strategies for most developing countries.

Green Goal™ stands for green objectives and achievements of the 2006 FIFA World Cup™ in Germany. For the first time in the history of the World Cup, an innovative, demanding and extensive environmental programme was successfully carried out and new paths pursued for large sporting events.

Human rights abuses and violence have escalated in Colombia’s south-west Pacific region in the past few years.Hundreds of people,mainly Afro-Colombian youths, are reported to have been killed in Buenaventura alone during 2007 in fighting between the paramilitaries, guerrillas and armed forces; in Nariño, on the southern tip of Colombia bordering Ecuador, as many as 7,000 people have been forced to flee their homes.

The second annual speedmatters.org survey of actual Internet speeds of users nationwide shows that the United States has not made significant improvements in deploying high-speed broadband networks in the past year. Our nation continues to lag behind other industrial nations and currently is ranked 15th in the percentage of residents who have broadband access.

2008 World Patent Report Confirms Increasing Internationalization of Innovative Activity. Increased patent filings in North East Asian countries (mainly China and the Republic of Korea) and in the US drove growth in worldwide filing of patent applications, which topped 1.76 million in 2006, representing a 4.9% increase over 2005, according to the 2008 edition of the WIPO World Patent Report.