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The ISHM—Japan Chapter, comprising some 500 members, was represented at ISHM '84 by 60 members, 30 of whom attended as a group. Twelve papers were presented by Japanese delegates at the Conference held in the Loews Anatole Hotel from 17–19 October.

A recent meeting involved co‐operation with the organisers of the Canadian High Technology Show and the local Chapter of the SMTA. The programme included an inspiring keynote address by Mr Frank J. Pipp, Xerox Corporation. The topic of the address was ‘Malcolm Baldridge National Quality Control and the Evaluation of Total Quality Control in Xerox Corporation.’

Objective – This chapter assesses the extent to which previous economic and financial crises had a negative impact on health outcomes and health financing. In addition, we review evidence related to the effectiveness of different policy measures undertaken in past crises to protect access to health services, especially for the poor and vulnerable. The current global crisis is unique both in terms of its scale and origins. Unlike most previous instances, the current crisis has its origins in developed countries, initially the United States, before it spread to middle- and lower-income countries. The current crisis is now affecting almost all countries at all levels of income. This chapter addresses several key questions aimed at helping inform possible policy responses to the current crisis from the perspective of the health sector: What is the nature of the current crisis and in what ways does it differ from previous experiences? What are some of the key lessons from previous crises? How have governments responded previously to protect health from such macroeconomic shocks? How can we improve the likelihood of positive action today?

Methodology/approach – The chapter reviews the literature on the impact of financial crises on health outcomes and health expenditures and on the effectiveness of past policy efforts to protect human development during periods of economic downturn. It also presents analysis of household surveys and health expenditure data to track health seeking behavior and out-of-pocket expenditures by households during times of financial crisis.

Findings – Evidence from previous crises indicates that health-related impacts during economic downturns can occur through various channels. The impact in households experiencing reductions in employment and income could be manifest in terms of poorer nutritional outcomes and lower levels of utilization of health care when needed. Households may become impoverished, reduce needed health services, and experience reductions in consumption as a result of health shocks occurring during a time when their economic vulnerability has increased. Women, children, the poor, and informal sector workers are likely to be most at risk of experiencing negative health-related consequences in a crisis. Real government spending per capita on health care could decline due to reduced revenues, currency devaluations, and potential reductions in external aid flows. Low-income countries with weak fiscal positions are likely to be the most vulnerable.

Implications for policy – Past crises can inform policy-making aimed at protecting health outcomes and reducing financial risk from health shocks. Evidence from previous crises indicates that broad-brush strategies that maintained overall levels of government health spending tended not to be successful, failing to protect access to quality health services especially for the poor. It is particularly vital to ensure access to essential health commodities, which in many low-income countries are imported, in the face of weakening exchange rates. Focused efforts to sustain the supply of lower-level basic services, combined with targeted demand-side approaches like conditional cash transfers may be more effective than broader sectoral approaches. Low-income countries may need specific short-term measures to ensure that health outcomes do not suffer.

The ISHM CAN‐AM Chapter recently organised a half‐day programme of paper presentations followed by a tour of a local hybrid facility. The event took place on 26 April at the Holiday Inn, Montreal (Pointe Claire), Quebec, with the theme of the papers concentrating on advances in hybrid manufacturing processes and some coverage of SMT.

In order for system designers to make full use of the successive generations of semiconductor devices it is becoming increasingly necessary to choose interconnection systems that are tailored to the application. As this trend becomes more pronounced, the limitations of traditional methods of constructing boards onto which electronic components can be assembled are becoming more obvious. In this paper the application of selective electroplating, a technique that has been in use for many years but has not previously been fully exploited, is discussed. It is shown by examining a number of case studies that with a small amount of innovation this basic technique can be extended to meet the needs of a number of application areas while still operating within the normal processing windows of the materials.

The ISHM‐Benelux Chapter will organise a one‐day conference at the Antwerp Crest Hotel, on Thursday 29 October 1987. The conference will be aimed at applications of hybrid circuits rather than technology.

ISHM‐Benelux has recently set up a permanent secretariat at the following address:

VUTRAX, Computamation's PCB design system, now has drivers for the Metheus 1004, 1008 and 1104 graphics cards offering 1024×768 resolution in 16 colours. This enhancement, giving significant increases in display speed, follows the recent introduction of a VUTRAX family for schematic entry, through basic manual PCB design to fully integrated automatic design systems. Major price advantages have been realised on many system modules while preserving the concept of function modularity, and systems can still be tailored to exact requirements.

ISHM invites papers for the above Conference, to be held on 29–31 May 1991 in Rotterdam, The Netherlands. Papers should cover areas such as: design, manufacturing, packaging and interconnection, materials and processing, applications, reliability, components, new technologies, marketing and economics, optoelectronics. Summaries should be in English, length 200–300 words. The deadline for receipt of summaries is 30 September 1990. (For full details, see announcement on pp. 54–55.)

Plasma chemistry is employed almost exclusively for etching, cleaning and deposition processes in semiconductor device fabrication technology. As a natural expansion of this successful technique, attention has been directed at similar processes for thick film ceramic, thin film hybrid and more generally printed circuit board electronic assemblies. This paper discusses a variety of applications, some established and some experimental, where plasma is offering the benefits which semiconductor engineers have enjoyed for many years. Such applications include general organic removal, i.e., flux residues, finger print contamination and the removal/reduction of oxides and glass on thick film conductors to promote improvements in solderability and wire bondability.