An Internet forum is a facility on the World Wide Web for holding discussions, or the web application software used to provide the facility. Web-based forums, which date from around 1995, perform a similar function as the dial-up bulletin boards and Internet newsgroups that were numerous in the 1980s and 1990s. A sense of virtual community often develops around forums that have regular users. Technology, computer games, and politics are popular areas for forum themes, but there are forums for a huge number of different topics .

Internet forums are also commonly referred to as web forums, message boards, discussion boards, discussion forums, discussion groups, bulletin boards (but see also dial-up bulletin boards), fora (the proper Latin plural) or simply forums.

Culture

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Internet forums are prevalent in several developed countries. In terms of countable posts, Japan is far in the lead with over two million posts per day on their largest forum, 2channel. The United States does not have any one large forum, but instead several hundred thousand smaller forums, the largest of which are GameFAQs, Gaia Online, and IGN. Other countries such as China, the Netherlands, and France are also home to hundreds of independent forums. Some countries such as Finland and Sweden do not have many prevalent forums despite having open and easily available Internet access. As of yet no study has been done on the prevalence of forums in countries around the world. It is also dubious as to whether any country has its own fora, as - especially in the English language - contributors to a forum often come from outside the country in which the forum is hosted. There is often not a 1-1 relationship between languages and countries: for example, English language fora are contributed to by people all over the world, whilst Japanese language fora are likely to be contributed to only by Japanese people, but Japanese people also contribute to English language fora, so there is no 1-1 relationship between Japanese language fora and Japanese people contributing to fora.

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WHO news

Inequities are killing people on a "grand scale" reports WHO's Commission
Thu, 28 Aug 2008 09:00:00 +0200
28 August 2008 | GENEVA -- A girl in Lesotho is likely to live 42 years less than another in Japan. In Sweden, the risk of a woman dying during pregnancy and childbirth is 1 in 17 400; in Afghanistan the odds are 1 in 8. These "social determinants of health" have been the focus of a three-year investigation by an eminent group of policy makers, academics, former heads of state and former ministers of health which has presented its findings to the WHO Director-General Dr Margaret Chan.
The face of cancer is changing
Wed, 27 Aug 2008 00:00:00 +0200
27 August 2008 -- For public health, the complexity of cancer control has increased enormously following the shift of the disease burden from wealthy to less affluent countries. Cancer causes around 7.9 million deaths worldwide each year.
Floods in West Africa raise major health risks
Tue, 19 Aug 2008 09:30:00 +0200
19 August 2008 -- Rising flood waters across West Africa are intensifying health risks for millions of people, and adding to the impact of the food price crisis. International aid is needed since heavy rains could exacerbate health threats for conditions including malaria, diarrhoea and other potentially fatal communicable diseases.
WHO launches new HIV/AIDS guide to help countries reach universal access
Tue, 05 Aug 2008 17:15:00 +0200
5 August 2008 -- At the XVII International AIDS Conference in Mexico City, WHO launched a package of priority interventions designed to help low- and middle-income countries move towards universal access to HIV/AIDS prevention, treatment, care and support.
WHO and World Bank join forces for better results from global health investments
Tue, 05 Aug 2008 17:00:00 +0200
5 August 2008 -- As delegates gather at the International AIDS Conference (3-8 August), WHO and the World Bank address the pressing global debate around health systems and initiatives in specific aspects of health, nutrition and population.
Targeted action on HIV and tuberculosis needed to reach drug users
Mon, 04 Aug 2008 00:00:00 +0200
4 August 2008 -- Health and criminal justice authorities need to provide targeted services to drug users, especially those who inject drugs, to prevent and treat tuberculosis (TB) and HIV. TB is a major cause of death for people living with HIV, but drug users who are HIV-positive face stigma, discrimination and barriers to accessing life-saving treatments.

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