Search

Pakistan Launches Polio Vaccine Effort Pakistani health officials on Wednesday announced a three-day nationwide anti-polio vaccination campaign targeting the children of internally displaced persons (IDPs) camps, the  News International  reports. The announcment was made at a UNICEF-sponsored ceremony held at a Peshawar school (Mahmood, News International, 5/28). Altaf Bosan, who leads the expanded immunization program, said that targeting…

Recent outbreaks in Africa and Latin America have diminished the supply of yellow fever vaccines, the WHO said on Tuesday. The current emergency supply will run out by 2010, and there is no funding to continue subsequent immunization campaigns, Reuters reports.

Despite recent gains in reducing the cholera infection rate in Zimbabwe, the total number of cases in the region will likely cross the 100,000 mark within a week or two, according to a report released on Tuesday from the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC) and the Zimbabwe Red Cross, BBC reports.

Nearly 30 years after the emergence of HIV/AIDS, the global health community must develop new strategies to curb the spread of the disease in sub-Saharan Africa, some experts said Tuesday ahead of the Global Citizens Summit for Social Mobilization to End AIDS in Nairobi, Kenya, AFP/Google.com reports.

Spain , Gates Foundation Exploring Project To Fight Dengue, Malaria in Central America Spanish Prime Minister Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero and Bill Gates agreed on Tuesday to explore the possibility of a Central American malaria and dengue fever elimination effort, which would be coordinated by Mexico and Spain, the Latin…

The WHO will continue to monitor the spread of the H1N1 (swine) flu before issuing a decision on whether drug makers should begin the production of an H1N1 vaccine, acting WHO Assistant Director-General Keiji Fukuda said Tuesday, Reuters/Washington Post reports.

SciDev.Net examines the use of rapid diagnostic test (RDT) kits to identify malaria cases.

South African Health Minister Aaron Motsoaledi within the next two weeks is expected to launch a plan to address mother-to-child HIV transmission in an effort to reduce infant mortality in the country, The Times reports.

Authorities in South Africa have begun construction of one of the 20 planned Football for Hope centers in Africa — part of a 2010 World Cup Campaign called “20 Centers for 2010” aimed at reducing the prevalence of HIV/AIDS, poverty and crime in local communities — the AP/Google.com reports.

The AP/San Francisco Chronicle examines the “controversial” plan by fashion heiress Renu Mehta and Nobel Prize-winning economist James Mirrlees to raise money for developing nations by encouraging state governments to match private donations and increasing the amount of oversight wealthy donors have.