Neha Jain: http://canadaaviationnews.blogspot.com/25

1. International Chair on Cardiometabolic Risk: Millions of Overweight People Unaware of Cardiometabolic Dangers

Experts meeting at the 2nd International Congress on Abdominal Obesity (ICAO) today issued a warning that millions of individuals around the globe are at risk from the cardiometabolic consequences of being overweight. Worryingly, the experts suggest that these people are not being identified by their doctors.

The International Chair on Cardiometabolic Risk (ICCR) released the statement from the ICAO, at a symposium sponsored by GlaxoSmithKline. The statement suggests that the media tends to focus on extremes when discussing obesity: either skinny celebrities who gain or lose a few pounds or the morbidly obese who need the help of fire-fighters to leave their homes. As the proportion of the general population which is overweight or obese increases, so the perception of what is the norm of a healthy weight is being reset. In the minds of society as a whole, including healthcare practitioners, the mental picture of an overweight or obese person has been reset inaccurately to a far heavier model.

Yet it is the millions across the world with BMIs above 25 who may already be suffering the early stages of high blood pressure, dyslipidemia and diabetes, who could benefit most from early intervention, say ICCR.

“Many primary care doctors may be treating obese patients with BMIs of 30 and above for the symptoms related to increased cardiometabolic risk, like pre-diabetes, dyslipidemia and hypertension, but not treating them for the underlying cause, their excess visceral adiposity,” commented Professor Jean-Pierre Després, Scientific Director of ICCR and Professor, Faculty of Medicine, University Laval, Québec, Canada. Visceral adiposity is fat stored in the abdomen and around the vital organs. Excess visceral fat increases the risk of serious diseases, such as type 2 diabetes, stroke and heart disease.

“A patient with a BMI of 29 or 31 is the norm today yet when we think of an obese person, we tend to visualise someone with a much higher BMI of 40 plus. Patients with lower BMIs but higher levels of hidden, visceral fat are more difficult to identify yet can be at as much cardiometabolic risk as more obviously obese individuals”, continued Professor Després. ICCR emphasised the need for urgent action to target these at-risk patients in order to slow the increasing rate of obesity across the world and stem the rising levels of diabetes and cardiovascular disease.

New research released at the Congress from the INternational Study of Prediction of Intra-abdominal adiposity and its RElationships with cardioMEtabolic risk/Intra-Abdominal Adiposity (INSPIRE ME IAA) supports the ICCR’s position. INSPIRE ME IAA recruited 4,504 patients from 29 countries and showed harmful cardiometabolic risk profiles among non-diabetic, study participants, even among sub-groups of moderately overweight patients with an excess of visceral adipose tissue.

ICCR called for a renewed focus on what actually constitutes a healthy weight and how healthcare professionals support people in attaining and maintaining it. “In addition to patients who are clearly obese, we need to pay attention to overweight patients with visceral obesity who do not realise the potential dangers of the fat within their abdomen. Their doctor may not make this connection either. Yet a modest weight loss of just five or ten percent could result in a substantial loss of visceral adipose tissue and make all the difference to these people” stated Professor Després.

Modest gradual weight loss is recognised by most experts as the best way to lose and keep off weight, yet the diet industry and media fuel unrealistic expectations by promoting ‘crash diets’ and extreme dieters who slim to a fraction of their previous size. A lack of information and guidance on realistic approaches to and interventions which support modest weight loss is also considered by ICCR as a factor in the failure to reverse the tide of obesity.

As an organisation which strongly advocates a multidisciplinary approach to treating cardiometabolic risk factors, ICCR believes it is in a strong position to drive a renewed effort to overcome the multi-factorial barriers preventing healthcare professionals from turning the tide in the battle against obesity. ICCR also told the Congress it will seek to encourage and broaden the conversation around the concept of healthy weight in the hope of resetting the conversation around abdominal obesity, realistic weight loss and health.

2. Aviation industry needs to boost wages to address looming job shortage: ICAO
MONTREAL - Air carriers needs to improve wages and benefits in order to help regain the lost appeal of an industry facing a historic shortage of skilled professionals, the head of the UN civial aviation agency said on Thursday.

A wave of retiring baby boomers and skyrocketing demand in emerging markets are creating shortages — particularly of pilots, controllers and mechanics, said Raymond Benjamin, secretary general of the International Civil Aviation Organization.

Being a flight attendant or pilot no longer has the appeal that it did decades ago, he said Thursday in Montreal after speaking to the French Chamber of Commerce in Canada.

"It's no longer the glamourous era of pilots with nice uniforms. (Now) they are people who often have second jobs."

A recent ICAO study said that 560,000 people will need to be trained over the next 20 years, including 360,000 maintenance workers, 160,000 pilots and 40,000 aircraft controllers.

Strong aviation growth in some parts of the world is also accentuating the problem because they offer large incentives to attract workers to relocate.

"There are some places where demand is so strong that they suck up all the graduates of other countries," Benjamin said.

The comments come as Air Canada (TSX:AC.B) has begun contract negotiations with its workers. Its various unions are seeking large wage increases to partially recover for years of few gains caused by the airline's weak financial position.

Low wages also contribute to pilot fatigue if they take several jobs to make ends meet. Although some pilots for large planes at major airlines can earn well over, $100,000 a year, that's not the case for pilots at small regional airlines.

The co-pilot of a deadly 2009 crash nearly Buffalo, N.Y. took a cross-country red-eye flight the night before to get to her $23 an hour or US$16,000 a-year job. Rebecca Shaw, 24, previously had a second job working in a coffee shop. The average salary for Colgan Air pilots was around US$55,000.

Benjamin said ICAO has created a working group to develop new standards and procedures to address a problem has caused numerous accidents and fatalities.

Recommendations to government could include reducing the number of hours in flight or lengthen the intervening rest times

3. India to support ICAO's endeavors to promote peace amongst nations
Civil Aviation Minister Vayalar Ravi on Monday reaffirmed India's commitment and support to International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) towards fulfillment of its vision of a safe, secure, orderly and sustainable development of international civil aviation by promoting consensus and cooperation amongst the members of ICAO.

Inaugurating the Regional Aviation Security Conference (RAVSECC) here, Ravi said: "India will continue to fully support ICAO's endeavors to promote understanding, friendship and peace amongst the nations and people of the world besides promoting economic development, trade and tourism throughout the world."

"Aviation security has been identified by ICAO as one of the three major strategic objectives. We have noted that during recent times ICAO is instituting organizational reforms to increase its effectiveness and efficiency to enable the organisation to face new challenges of technological, economic, social and legal nature," he added.

Ravi, who is also the Overseas Indian Affairs Minister, said the member states of ICAO have greatly benefited from modernized aviation security standards laid by ICAO, which are audited and enforced across the globe.

"Through audits and technical assistance ICAO has provided a basic platform to build a robust aviation security framework. We wholeheartedly welcome these measures and commit to extend necessary support to ICAO in implementing these reforms," said Ravi.

"We also support USAP and commit to fund all aviation security programme through ICAO. India has done well in the first USAP audit conducted by ICAO. The second round is under way," he added.

Ravi further said over the years aviation has become a soft target for terrorists and extremists.

"Any attack on aviation generates a lot of media interest and helps the terrorist groups to achieve their objective of getting maximum publicity. Securing aviation, as you all will agree is a complex business. The dichotomy of stringent security measures vis-Ã -vis the demand for efficient passenger facilitation needs to be managed properly. While fully sympathetic to the demands of the industry and passengers for better facilitation we need to place the security of aviation as our top most priority," said Ravi.

Appreciating the huge potential of aviation as a key driver of economy, the minister said: "Development of infrastructure, generation of employment, promotion of tourism, establishing international and domestic connectivity, movement of cargo etc. are some of benefits of aviation which have just started positively impacting our economy. The last thing we want is any disruption or interference in the orderly operation of domestic and international aviation in this region."

"Aviation Security unlike aviation safety is an extremely dynamic entity. The threats, risks and challenges change and grow very fast leaving us with very little time to react and put corrective measures. The only way to hope for a secure aviation is to think ahead in this game, plan and be prepared for any and every eventuality," he added.

Asserting that India is fully cognizant of the fact that terrorism is not restricted by national boundaries, Ravi said: "We are keen to develop mechanisms within ICAO States to share security related information especially at regional level in an appropriate manner. All of us present here recognize this and that is why we are here today."

The objective of the conference, which is being organised by the Ministry of Civil Aviation, is to endorse the declaration on security adopted in the 37th International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) Assembly and also to review the developments taking place in the field of aviation security in the countries of this region.

Delegates from 16 countries, including Saudi Arabia, UAE, Qatar, Pakistan, Afghanistan, Maldives, Bhutan, Mauritius, Sri Lanka, Nepal, Bangladesh, Thailand, Singapore, Malaysia and India International Organizations like Airport Council International, European Commission, International Air Transport Association, Department of Transport-UK, Transport Security Administration, USA are attending the Conference. (ANI)

4. TSA Administrator Applauds Adoption of Global Aviation Security Measures
Transportation Security Administration (TSA) Administrator John S. Pistole this week joined the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) Regional Conference in New Delhi, India, where the 14 member states in attendance adopted the Security Roadmap on Aviation.

“I applaud the adoption of the Security Roadmap on Aviation, which will strengthen global security measures to address ever-changing and emerging threats,” said Administrator Pistole, who returned from New Delhi yesterday. “This roadmap will assist member states in protecting global aviation from terrorist and other security threats.”

The roadmap identifies the actions the member states will take to strengthen security screening procedures by ensuring that professionals are appropriately trained and equipped. Key elements include air cargo security and capacity building.

This agreement will enhance existing aviation security harmonization efforts of countries in the region, as well as the concepts in the ICAO Declaration on Aviation Security. After the conference, Administrator Pistole met with aviation officials in India to discuss opportunities for further collaboration and sharing of best practices.

This week’s meeting was the first ICAO Regional Conference following last October’s General Assembly where the ICAO Declaration on Aviation Security was adopted. This was also the first regional conference since the adoption of Amendment 12 to Annex 17. (Amendment 12 represents a series of improvements to Annex 17, which identifies the Standards and Recommended Practices for the protection of the security of international aviation.)

The Department of Homeland Security (DHS), including TSA, continues to engage its international security partners in the joint mission of strengthening global aviation security. DHS and TSA have entered into a number of bi-lateral and multi-lateral agreements with foreign security partners and have worked with the aviation industry to continue leveraging knowledge of foreign cargo screening practices to strengthen air cargo security and fulfill the 9/11 Act.

Last October’s adoption of the ICAO’s Declaration on Aviation Security forged a new foundation for aviation security that will better protect the entire global aviation system from evolving terrorist threats. Through the Declaration, the Assembly recognizes the need to strengthen aviation security worldwide and urges member states to take steps to enhance international cooperation to counter threats to civil aviation.

NEHA JAIN

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