Global Health News, December 2006

Here are some global health news stories that have been getting coverage in the last month of so. Enjoy!

  • Africa baby deaths 'preventable'

More than one million African babies each year die within their first month of life, says a report. The World Health Organisation reveals many newborns are dying from infections which could be cheaply prevented.

But statistics show even in the poorest African countries, investment in ante-natal and newborn care could dramatically reduce mortality rates.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/6173744.stm

  • No Cell Phone-Cancer Risk, Large Study Says

In the latest study to address the issue of cellular phones and cancer, a Danish survey of more than 420,000 cell phone users who first subscribed to service in the early 1980s through the mid-1990s suggests that there is no link. Researchers at the Danish Institute of Cancer Epidemiology followed 420,095 cell phone users who subscribed to service between 1982 and 1995, and were tracked through 2002 to spot any incidences of cancer. Compared with the general population, there was no appreciable difference.

http://www.betanews.com/article/NoCellPhoneCancerRiskLargeStudySays/1165435999

  • World AIDS Day observed around the globe

Advocates stress need to protect women from infection

Campaigners sang, lit candles and marched Wednesday as they observed World AIDS Day by turning the spotlight on the need to protect women and girls, often sidelined in the fight against the disease. "Today the face of AIDS is increasingly young and female," said Peter Piot, head of UNAIDS. "We will not be able to stop this epidemic unless we put women at the heart of the response to AIDS."

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/ID/6627732/

  • NAT Report on AIDS and Poverty in the UK

One third of people living with HIV in the UK have experienced real poverty. A new report by Cusaid and the NAT, documents the problem and suggests solutions.

http://www.nat.org.uk/page/3723

  • Fighting in Malakal

In a breach of the ceasefire, there have been two days of fighting between the SPLA and Sudanese Government forces in the southern city of Makalal.

http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=56576&SelectRegion=East_Africa&SelectCountry=SUDAN

  • UN rushes in relief supplies for flood victims after Typhoon Durian

United Nations agencies are rushing relief supplies for victims of floods and mudslides in the Philippines, where at least 526 people have been killed, more than 1000 wounded and 740 reported missing in the wake of Typhoon Durian, which totally destroyed 80,000 homes, damaged more than 150,000 others and affected 1.5 million overall. The UN World Health Organization is giving priority to distributing potable water as well as water purification tablets.

http://www.un.org/apps/news/story.asp?NewsID=20848&Cr=philippines&Cr1

  • UN steps up airlift to more than 100,000 flood victims

28 November 2006 - The United Nations refugee agency is stepping up its airlift of emergency supplies for more than 100,000 Somalis made homeless by massive flooding in Kenya's Dadaab region, where they had sought shelter from drought and conflict in their own country.

http://www.un.org/apps/news/story.asp?NewsID=20751&Cr=kenya&Cr1=floods

  • The cost-effectiveness of Antiretroviral Treatment in Khayelitsha, South Africa - a primary data analysis

Given the size of the HIV epidemic in South Africa and other developing countries, scaling up antiretroviral treatment (ART) represents one of the key public health challenges of the next decade. Appropriate priority setting and budgeting can be assisted by economic data on the costs and cost-effectiveness of ART. The objectives of this research were therefore to estimate HIV healthcare utilisation, the unit costs of HIV services and the cost per life year (LY) and quality adjusted life year (QALY) gained of HIV treatment interventions from a provider's perspective.

http://www.resource-allocation.com/content/4/1/20

  • Rich countries 'blocking cheap drugs for developing world'

US and EU have broken Doha pledges, says Oxfam. Stop Aids claims 75% of HIV patients not treated. Poor people are needlessly dying because drug companies and the governments of rich countries are blocking the developing world from obtaining affordable medicines, a report says today.

Five years to the day after the Doha declaration - a groundbreaking deal to give poor countries access to cheap drugs - was signed at the World Trade Organisation, Oxfam says things are worse.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/medicine/story/0,,1946998,00.html

  • Kerala, Diseases Follow Environmental Degradation

Lulled by social indices that compare with the developed world's and tourist brochures that gush over 'God's Own Country', the deaths of 125 people from an outbreak of the mosquito-borne disease, chikungunya, has come as a reality check for people in this southern state. Authorities and experts, starting with federal health minister Anbumani Ramadoss, were quick to point out that the outbreak, which raged through September and October, was linked to insanitary conditions fostered by creeping environmental degradation in Kerala, known for its lush, spice-growing hills, riverine valleys and serene backwaters that empty into the Arabian sea.

http://www.ipsnews.net/news.asp?idnews=35695

  • WHO and partners accelerate fight against counterfeit medicines

Up to 50% of medicines sold through rogue web sites are fake. The World Health Organization (WHO) and more than 20 international partners are today launching a comprehensive package of measures to help national authorities safeguard their populations from the dangers of counterfeit medicines.

http://www.who.int/mediacentre/news/releases/2006/pr69/en/index.html

  • Is it flu or malaria? New disease test has answer

A new diagnostic tool called a gene chip can tell with a single test if a patient has malaria, Ebola, influenza or a bacterial infection, researchers said on Wednesday. The so-called GreeneChip can quickly diagnose infectious diseases caused by viruses, bacteria, fungi or parasites, using tissue, blood, urine and stool, the international team of researchers report in the journal Emerging Infectious Diseases. So when a patient comes in with flu-like symptoms, such as fever, a sore throat, a cough and muscle aches, a doctor armed with such a chip can quickly tell if it is a dangerous strain of flu or a relatively harmless virus.

http://today.reuters.co.uk/news/CrisesArticle.aspx?storyId=N05323248&WTmodLoc=World-R5-Alertnet-3

  • New Medact Report on Trident

As the cabinet proposed renewing Trident, the British nuclear programme, Medact have released a report documenting the likely impact on health.

http://www.medact.org/content/wmdandconflict/medacttridentbrief.pdf

Last updated on Sunday 06 April 2008 at 22:24.