USAID Deploys Disaster Assistance Response Team To Ethiopia To Curtail Drought Impacts April 1, 2016 News Summary Devex: Can USAID’s disaster team avert catastrophe in Ethiopia? “The U.S. Agency for International Development has deployed a disaster response team to Ethiopia, where there is a ‘crucial window of time’ to avert the worst impacts of a drought, according to the agency’s disaster chief. The disaster assistance response team…
3.4M Women Of Reproductive Age At Risk In War-Torn Yemen, UNFPA Says April 1, 2016 News Summary U.N. News Centre: Yemen: year of conflict puts 3.4 million women of reproductive age at risk, U.N. reports “A year of conflict in Yemen has left an estimated 3.4 million women of reproductive age between 15 and 49 years in need of humanitarian assistance, the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA)…
Health Inequities Remain Problem In World’s Growing Urban Areas, U.N. Report Says April 1, 2016 News Summary U.N. News Centre: U.N. report aims to equalize health conditions amidst exploding metro populations “…The ‘Global Report on Urban Health: Equitable, healthier cities for sustainable development,’ jointly released by the World Health Organization (WHO) and the U.N. Human Settlements Programme (U.N.-Habitat), compares data on health from urbanites in almost 100…
More Overweight Than Underweight People Worldwide, Study Shows April 1, 2016 News Summary Reuters: World’s obese population hits 641 million, global study finds “More than 640 million people globally now weigh in as obese and the world has more overweight than underweight people, according to an analysis of global trends in body mass index (BMI). … The study, published on Thursday in The…
Chronic Kidney Disease Of Unknown Origin Affecting Men From Asian, Latin American Nations April 1, 2016 News Summary Science: Mysterious kidney disease goes global “…This region in coastal Andhra Pradesh is at the heart of what local doctors and media are calling a [chronic kidney disease of unknown etiology (CKDu)] epidemic. … A rash of similar outbreaks in other countries has underscored that it is a global problem.…
GlaxoSmithKline Taking Steps To Help Reduce Drug Prices In Lower-Income Countries April 1, 2016 News Summary The Guardian: GlaxoSmithKline to lower drug prices in poorer countries “GlaxoSmithKline is taking action to make medicines more affordable in developing countries, including waiving patent protection for new drugs in the world’s poorest nations. … The measures will affect 85 countries, helping more than two billion people, and benefit Africa…
Women In Nepal Banished During Menstruation Despite Law Banning Practice April 1, 2016 News Summary The Guardian: Nepal’s bleeding shame: menstruating women banished to cattle sheds “…Sofalta is one of thousands of girls and women in Nepal who practice Chhaupadi — banishment to a cattle shed or makeshift hut — because of so-called ‘impurity’ during menstruation or just after childbirth. … Although Chhaupadi was outlawed…
Libya’s Health System Devastated By Violence, Medication Shortages April 1, 2016 News Summary The Lancet: Libya’s health crisis looks set to worsen “…Health workers largely fled the country after the violence escalated in 2014. The international community regards Libya as a high-risk state. Médecins Sans Frontières works in some places, including the ravaged city of Benghazi, but most charities dare not enter. U.N.…
Scientists Using Fetal Tissue Research, Genome Mapping To Answer Questions About Zika Virus March 31, 2016 News Summary Nature: Zika highlights role of controversial fetal-tissue research “A protein that helps Zika virus infect adult skin cells might also give the virus access to stem cells that make brain cells, suggests a study carried out on donated human fetal tissue. The result — published [Wednesday] in Cell Stem Cell…