The Letters of Vincent van Gogh

The Letters of Vincent van Gogh refers to a collection of 928 surviving letters written or received by Vincent van Gogh. 

More than 650 of these were from Vincent to his brother Theo. The collection also includes letters van Gogh wrote to his sister Wil and other relatives, as well as between artists such as Paul Gauguin, Anthon van Rappard and Émile Bernard. Vincent's sister-in-law and wife to his brother Theo, Johanna van Gogh-Bonger, spent many years after her husband's death in 1891 compiling the letters, which were first published in 1914. Arnold Pomerans, editor of a 1966 selection of the letters, wrote that Theo "was the kind of man who saved even the smallest scrap of paper", and it is to this trait that we owe the 663 letters from Vincent. 

By contrast Vincent infrequently kept letters sent him and just 84 have survived, of which 39 were from The Nevertheless it is to these letters between the brothers that we owe much of what we know today about Vincent van Gogh. Indeed the only period where we are relatively uninformed is the Parisian period when they shared an apartment and had no need to correspond. The letters effectively play much the same role in shedding light on the art of the period as those between the de Goncourt brothers did for literature.

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Towards a Tuberculosis Free Wordl

One in every three people worldwide is infected with tuberculosis and, while most will never become ill, those who do are often neglected or forced to live in silence with their disease as they are not on their health system’s radar. Members of the IFRC are mobilized to fight TB in their own communities through increased knowledge, as well as being empowered to actively contribute to all stages of TB control – prevention, care, treatment and support. In 2010, more than 5 million community members were reached through Red Cross Red Crescent societies in endemic countries around the world. 

Currently, there are more than 80,000 active TB staff and volunteers, the majority of whom are women, serving their communities, identifying vulnerable groups, providing effective health education and finding those in dire need of treatment. The Red Cross Red Crescent network serves 150,000 patients on a daily basis. This community-based approach is crucial to saving lives. The IFRC’s strength lies in its volunteer network and community-based expertise. Without our volunteers, the fight against TB cannot be won. Active Red Cross Red Crescent volunteers donated nearly 6 billion US dollars worth of volunteer services in 2009 worldwide, or nearly 90 US cents for every person on earth. While many volunteers work across multiple fields, most volunteering work – and the greatest proportion of value – was related to health promotion, treatment and services. Volunteers working in health accounted for more than 2.4 billion US dollars in 2010 alone. Whilst the IFRC’s Strategy 2020 is asking its member National Societies to do more, do better and reach further, TB remains a killer. We know that tuberculosis can be cured in 85 per cent of all cases, but it is essential that the treatment is completed and managed properly. If not, we will witness the development of more strains of multidrug-resistant TB. 

Our TB community-based volunteers are central to the goal of significantly increasing the number of people who can be cured of TB, and they do this by working directly with vulnerable populations. This advocacy report focuses on TB and calls unequivocally for more information on the disease, more funding for TB research, more people to be tested, more people to be treated, more resources and better welfare for the poor. It also offers our global membership of National Red Cross Red Crescent Societies, and you the reader, an advocacy tool that can be used to bring about change for the years ahead as together we commit to ridding the world of this ancient disease once and for all.

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Baby Book of Oral Health

Good oral health is essential to general health and well-being and involves much more than healthy teeth. Oral infections are associated with heart and lung disease, stroke, diabetes, and low-birth-weight, premature babies. Left untreated, tooth decay or oral infections can lead to other health problems and significant pain, interference with eating and nutrition, overuse of emergency rooms, and lost school or work time.

The Oral Health Program works to increase awareness of the importance of oral health and preventive care, foster community and state-wide partnerships to promote oral health and improve access to dental care, and promote the use of innovative and cost effective approaches to oral health promotion and disease prevention.

Mark Your Calendars for World Oral Health Day, March 20, 2014. World Oral Health Day is sponsored by the FDI World Dental Foundation every year on March 20 to highlight the benefits of a healthy mouth and promote worldwide awareness of oral health and the importance of oral hygiene. In addition, the observance offers the dental and oral health community a platform for action to help reduce the global oral disease burden. Health associations, specialist groups, governmental groups, educational associations, schools, community groups, and members of the general public are encouraged to take part in World Oral Health Day 2014.

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