THE ill winds of hurricane Katrina are still blowing, long after the storm has passed.
Though the immediate threat is over, the authorities are concerned that the disaster will have a devastating long-term impact on people’s mental health. Those who lost friends or relatives, or their homes and jobs, may be particularly vulnerable.
To determine the extent of the problem, the US National Institutes of Health and Harvard Medical School announced on 5 January a joint programme to monitor 2000 survivors of the disaster every three months. This will seek to identify the mental health and other challenges faced by…
