A new evidence-based map estimates that in 2009 2.85 billion people lived “at risk of infection” with the malaria parasite Plasmodium vivax, reports BMJ News. A new study, published in PLoS Neglected Tropical Diseases, shows P vivax “is more widespread and potentially represents a greater burden on human health in some parts of the world than P falciparum, the species usually associated with the greatest mortality and morbidity,” BMJ News writes (Moszynski, 8/3).
New Meningitis Vaccine Scheduled For ‘Mass Campaign’ In October The WHO “recently gave approval to a new meningitis vaccine that is expected to cost only 50 cents a dose, a price many African governments and donors can afford,” the New York Times reports. The vaccine is produced by the Serum Institute of…
“Eastern Africa is free of polio again, with four countries – Ethiopia , Kenya, Sudan and Uganda – having reported no cases of the crippling disease for more than a year, U.N. and other aid agencies said on Friday,” Reuters reports (7/30). The WHO “said the region had responded fast to the outbreak,” according to the Daily Monitor. The article reports that the four countries now “join neighbouring Somalia which has been polio free for the last three years” (Lirri, 8/2).
Steps The U.S. Can Take To Improve Its Commitment To Development A Center for Global Development memo offers suggestions for the U.S. to improve its commitment to policies that benefit poor countries after it ranked 17th out of 22 wealthy in the 2009 Commitment to Development Index. Among a set of 20 recommendations,…
“[H]umanitarian watchdog Development Initiatives outlines some of the needs, responses and funding trends” in humanitarian aid over the past decade in its 2010 Global Humanitarian Assistance (GHA) report, IRIN writes in an article that examines the organization’s findings.
House Passes War Supplemental Spending Bill; Includes Fund For Haiti The House on Tuesday passed a $59 billion war supplemental spending bill by a vote of 308-114, which will now be sent to President Barack Obama “for his signature,” CongressDaily reports (Sanchez, 7/28). The bill includes “$2.8 billion for relief efforts in…
In an effort to prevent and control outbreaks of animal diseases and the associated costs, the U.N. Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) on Monday announced a new five-year initiative “to improve global response to disease outbreaks, implement effective prevention and containment strategies and manage risks,” PANA/Afrique en ligne reports (7/28).
African leaders participating in the 15th African Union (AU) Summit, which concluded on Tuesday, agreed to expand a campaign aimed at curbing maternal mortality on the continent and adopted other “key actions” in an effort to reduce infant and maternal mortality, PANA/Afrique en ligne reports.
The New York Times examines a set of questions raised by news out of the International AIDS Conference-AIDS 2010 last week that a microbicide gel containing the antiretroviral (ARV) tenofovir used by women before and after sex helped reduce their risk of HIV infection by 39 percent.
