TIME examines the international fight against H1N1 (swine) flu, including current efforts to produce an H1N1 vaccine and prepare the northern hemisphere for the expected surge in infections this fall.

European Laboratories Form Consortium To Study Neglected Tropical Diseases A handful of European universities and industries have formed a consortium to “boost drug development for the treatment of two deadly diseases, the African sleeping sickness and Leishmaniasis, which affect millions of people worldwide,” afrol News reports. “This new project combines…

In the coming months, countries should prepare for an “explosion” in new cases of H1N1 (swine) flu until peak transmission of the virus is reached, the WHO’s Western Pacific director, Shin Young-soo told a symposium of health officials gathered in Beijing Friday, the Associated Press reports.

The number of H1N1 (swine flu) cases reported in WHO regions worldwide has grown by at least 24,000 in two weeks to cross the 340,000 mark since the virus was first detected in mid-April, the CDC reported Monday, according to Agence France-Presse.

The Guardian reports on the rollout of the GeneXpert tuberculosis (TB) testing machine in Mozambique, where it “should speed up TB diagnosis from two to three months to two hours.” According to the newspaper, “These machines mean people can be tested, diagnosed and started on multi-drug resistant treatment on the same day…

Mexican President Felipe Calderon and Chilean President Michelle Bachelet on Thursday emphasized the importance of developing countries having access to a vaccine that offers protection against the H1N1 (swine flu), “that has killed over 200 people and infected tens of thousands worldwide,” AFP/MSN Philippine News reports.

Researchers at the University of California, Berkeley, have developed a “prototype camera-phone mounted with a microscope” that can “magnify and photograph blood or saliva samples” for diagnosing diseases, the Canadian Press/Google.com reports.

South African President Jacob Zuma and Virgin Group founder and chair Richard Branson “intend [on] establishing a disease control centre in South Africa as soon as next year,” SAPA/The Times reports.

“Global health officials are scrambling to try to prevent the spread of the H1N1 swine flu virus, with U.S. officials moving Thursday with a recommendation that the Food and Drug Administration approve or license a [new H1N1] vaccine,” without waiting on the results from “clinical trials to test its safety and efficacy,” Wall Street Journal reports (Dooren/Winning, 7/24).

On January 13, India “completed two years since the last case of the crippling disease was reported … a huge achievement for a country that as recently as 2009 reported 741 cases of polio — more than any other country in the world, and almost half of cases reported globally…