Opportunities and risks following current European elections and maintaining and improving the health of citizens in EU countries was a major theme of the EHFG annual conference in October in Gastein, Austria. The Ebola crisis in six African nations, with about 14,000 reported cases and 4,900 deaths, was another topic of discussion by the 600 leading experts in attendance. The World Health Organization states 4.7 million people could be infected and 1.2 million people could die from Ebola by June 2015. The crisis is not just an epidemic, it is a systemic failure of our global health care model, according to experts. Moreover, it is a failure on governance, international development assistance, but primarily on the failure to take immediate action. and Marina Hužvárová.
The International Year of Chemistry 2011 attracted chemistry women worldwide for a breakfast meeting on January 18, 2011. In addition to networking, the aim was to commemorate the fundamental role Marie Curie attained in chemistry on the 100th anniversary of her being awarded the Nobel Prize for Chemistry in 1911. The event was held in various centers worldwide including Prague. and Zuzana Sedláková.
We feature an interview with Prof. Zdeněk Herman, a renowned Czech chemist. In his research he focuses on the dynamics of chemical reactions or the collisions of ions that he calls "billiards with particles." Professor Herman studied chemistry at the Faculty of Mathematics and Physics of Charles University specializing in physical chemistry and radiochemistry. After completing his studies in 1957, he joined the Institute of Physical Chemistry (now J. Heyrovsky Institute of Physical Chemistry of the ASCR). He was Head of the Department of Chemical Physics, and Deputy Director and Head of the Scientific Council of the Institute. Only after the fall of the communist regime was he allowed to complete his habilitation and become a Professor of Chemistry in 1996 at the Institute of Chemical Technology in Prague. Since 1989, he has served on many ASCR committees and in the Czech Government. In 2003, he was awarded the Czech Head National Prize. Professor Herman is also a sculptor and painter. For the 50th anniversary of the Institute of Chemical Process Fundamentals of the ASCR, he crafted a bronze bust of the Institute's founder, Professor Vladimír Bažant. and Marina Hužvárová.