Abstract

In October 2006, the Chief Medical Officer (CMO) of England asked Professor Sir John Tooke to chair a High Level Group on Clinical Effectiveness in response to the chapter 'Waste not, want not' in the CMOs 2005 annual report 'On the State of the Public Health'. The high level group made recommendations to the CMO to address possible ways forward to improve clinical effectiveness in the UK National Health Service (NHS) and promote clinical engagement to deliver this. The report contained a short section on research needs that emerged from the process of writing the report, but in order to more fully identify the relevant research agenda Professor Sir John Tooke asked Professor Martin Eccles to convene an expert group – the Clinical Effectiveness Research Agenda Group (CERAG) – to define the research agenda. The CERAG's terms of reference were 'to further elaborate the research agenda in relation to pursuing clinically effective practice within the (UK) National Health Service'. This editorial presents the summary of the CERAG report and recommendations.

Atistract Occupational health professionals need to know more about the health, worklife, and family life of international business travelers (IBTs). This descriptive correlational study, in two parts, examines the physiological and psychosocial experiences associated with business travel for a sample of 140 employees from western Canada's oil and gas industry. Results for Part One show that 76% of mTs report travel related health problems, 74% have jet lag, 45% have travelers' diarrhea and gastrointestinal complaints, 12% to 16% have climate adaptation problems, and 2 % report accidents and minor injuries. High risk behaviors include not carrying a first aid travel kit (54%); drinking more alcohol than ordinarily (21%); and neglecting food, water, and antimalarial precautions (6% to 14%). Other risk factors include age, length of stay, destination, pre-travel medical examinations, pre-travel advice, and eating and accommoda

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uring the past decade international business travel has grown substantially (Statistics Canada, 1992, 1994). Nevertheless, an extensive review of the literature reveals few studies concerning the health problems of international business travelers (lBTs). Although the recent publication of three occupational health studies (Kemmerer, 1998; Liese, 1997; Striker, 1999) indicates a change in the field, occupational health practitioners typically advise ffiTs based on the experiences of other traveling populations, such as tourists, expatriates, students, immigrants, volunteers, relief workers, and adventurers. If only for the purposes of comparison, this article refers to these studies to facilitate understanding of the potential health problems faced by ffiTs. This review of the literature examines both the physical and psychological health aspects associated with international travel. Thus, it offers valuable information for occupational health practitioners and researchers. Part of a