Other Health
BRIEFS
| March 25, 2006 On the Brink: Guinea Worm - A Long Crusade - Dose of Tenacity Wears Down a Horrific Disease OGI, Nigeria — Whatever secrets the turgid brown depths of the Sacred Pond of Ogi may keep, there is one they betray quite easily: why it is so infuriatingly hard to wipe even one disease off the face of the earth. Ogi is one of the last areas of Nigeria infested with Guinea worm, a plague so ancient that it is found in Egyptian mummies and is thought to be the "fiery serpent" described in the Old Testament as torturing the Israelites in the desert. #http://www.nytimes.com/2006/03/26/international/africa/26worm.html# |
| August 3, 2005 Perspective: Why Africa cannot trade itself out of poverty One of the favorite mantras of the neo-cons around the world is "Trade not aid for Africa". They want Africans themselves to trade their way out of poverty, instead of relying on Western aid. How can a continent whose share of the world trade fell from 6% in 1980 to around 2% by 2002 realistically trade itself out of poverty? #http://unspun.mithuro.com/content/view/334/53/# |
| July 5, 2005 WHO makes progress in leprosy control, but challenges remain Brazzaville, 30 June 2005 -- The World Health Organization (WHO), working with partners and governments of endemic countries, has recorded appreciable progress in combating leprosy in the African Region. However, more efforts should be made in order to eliminate the disease as a public health problem worldwide. #http://www.afro.who.int# |
| July 4, 2005 A waste of time NIGERIAN MUSICIAN Femi Kuti has poured cold water on a benefit concert for Africa to be held in London this week, calling it "a waste of time." #http://www.nationmedia.com/eastafrican/current/Features/Magazine2.html# |
| June 27, 2005 Dangerous Pity The millions donated to Ethiopia in 1985 thanks to Live Aid were supposed to go towards relieving a natural disaster. In reality, donors became participants in a civil war. Many lives were saved, but even more may have been lost in Live Aid's unwitting support of a Stalinist-style resettlement project #http://www.prospect-magazine.co.uk/article_details.php?id=6937&AuthKey=207f99c7656bd085380fab04742ab1a7&issue=507# |
| June 2, 2005 WHO urges African governments to ratify, implement Tobacco Convention Brazzaville, 30 May 2005 -- African governments have been urged to ratify and implement the Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (FCTC), the World Health Organization's first treaty which provides for restrictions on tobacco advertising, promotion and sponsorship. |
| June 2, 2005 Africa responds to close down polio epidemic DAKAR/NAIROBI/HARARE, 13 May 2005 – Africa is responding aggressively to close down a polio epidemic that has spread the virus as far as Indonesia in recent weeks. |
| March 22, 2005 WHO to pursue decentralization of operations in Africa Brazzaville, 10 March 2005 -- Operations of the World Health Organization (WHO) in the African Region are being rapidly decentralized “so that focus will be on country level activities” WHO Regional Director for Africa, Dr Luis Sambo, has said. #http://www.afro.who.int# |
| March 22, 2005 WHO pledges accelerated action to reduce Africa's disease burden Brazzaville, 28 February 2005 - The World Health Organization (WHO) has pledged accelerated action to help reduce the disease burden in Africa and to assist countries in the region to achieve the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs). #http://www.afro.who.int# |
| November 17, 2004 Expanding antiretroviral therapy in Malawi: drawing on the country's experience with tuberculosis The DOTS ("directly observed treatment, short course") strategy has been successfully used in developing countries to provide effective control of tuberculosis. Field workers in Malawi are promoting the same approach for HIV infection through the expansion of highly active antiretroviral therapy #http://bmj.bmjjournals.com/cgi/content/full/329/7475/1163# |
| November 17, 2004 BMJ on ARV rollout, Malawi experience - Highly active antiretroviral therapy We need to scale up its use and reach with existing facilities in poor countries. The barriers to providing highly active antiretroviral therapy (HAART) in poor countries have until recently seemed insurmountable. |
| October 30, 2004 BENIN REPUBLIC DECORATES DR SAMBA Brazzaville, 20 October 2004 -- The WHO Regional Director for Africa, Dr Ebrahim M. Samba, has been decorated with one of Benin Republic's highest national merit awards for his contribution to health development in Africa. http://www.afro.who.int/ |
| September 2, 2004 Health update for Darfur, Sudan and Chad The main health concerns facing displaced people in Darfur and their host communities include: malnutrition, acute respiratory infections, diarrhoeal diseases, malaria, hepatitis E and conflict-related trauma. #http://www.who.int/en/# |
| September 2, 2004 Dr Luis Sambo nominated as WHO Regional Director for Africa 2 SEPTEMBER 2004 | BRAZZAVILLE -- Dr Luis Gomes Sambo was today nominated by the WHO Regional Committee for Africa for the post of WHO Regional Director for Africa. #http://www.afro.who.int/# |
| August 24, 2004 STATEMENT BY WHO REGIONAL DIRECTOR FOR AFRICA, DR EBRAHIM SAMBA,
ON THE EDITORIAL IN THE 7 AUGUST 2004 ISSUE OF THE LANCET An editorial in the August 7 issue of The Lancet painted a bleak picture of the work of WHO in the African Region, giving the impression that WHO is not recording any successes there. In fact, despite the challenges of poverty and ongoing instability, the opposite is true. #http://afro.who.int/# |
| July 3, 2004 Effectiveness and safety of a generic fixed-dose combination of nevirapine, stavudine, and lamivudine in HIV-1-infected adults in Cameroon: open-label multicentre trial Generic fixed-dose combinations have been prequalified by WHO to treat HIV-infected patients in resource-limited countries. Despite their widespread use they are, however, not yet recommended by some of the major donor agencies owing to scarcity of clinical data on effectiveness, safety, and quality. #http://www.thelancet.com/journal/vol364/iss9428/full/llan.364.9428.primary_research.30146.1# |
| July 3, 2004 An advance for HIV/AIDS treatment access in the developing countries Combination therapy with three generic antiretroviral drugs in a single tablet has been validated for the first time in an open clinical study in a developing country |
| July 3, 2004 Medicines out of Control? Antidepressants and the Conspiracy of Goodwill Medicines out of Control? Antidepressants and the Conspiracy of Goodwill is beautifully written, painstakingly researched, thoroughly referenced, powerfully and persuasively argued, and eerily up to date. |
| July 3, 2004 Treatment of leprosy: The evidence base for newer drug combinations and shorter regimens is weak Leprosy still poses major therapeutic challenges. We have effective antibiotics to cure the infection, but the immune mediated peripheral nerve damage can continue long after effective antimicrobial treatment has started, and patients continue to be stigmatised. |
| July 3, 2004 "Vitamins, Exercise May Help Metabolic Disorders" F. Patrick Robinson, PhD, RN, ACRN, a biobehavioral research fellow at the University of Illinois-Chicago, spoke about HIV- related metabolic abnormalities and exercise at the 2003 Association of Nurses in AIDS Care conference held in New York City last November. "There's a decade of research that shows that aerobics and weight lifting can reverse metabolic complications," he said. |
| July 3, 2004 Is GSK guilty of fraud? Whether paroxetine, a selective serotonin reuptake inhibitor made by GlaxoSmithKline, should be prescribed to depressed children and adolescents has been the subject of recent clinical controversy (see Lancet 2004; 363: 1335). #http://www.thelancet.com/journal/journal.isa# |
| July 3, 2004 Generic antiretroviral drugs--will they be the answer to HIV in the developing world? The use of HAART has led to cost-effective public-health programmes in countries such as Brazil, because there are now fewer episodes of illness and hospital admission #http://www.thelancet.com/journal/vol364/iss9428/full/llan.364.9428.analysis_and_interpretation.30169.1# |
| June 14, 2004 Guns but no bread - how arms exporters are failing developing countries It is a commonly held belief that developing countries rely primarily on small arms – which, being relatively cheap, should not be a huge financial burden to the country. But in fact, the countries of Africa, Latin America, Asia and the Middle East own 51% of the world’s heavy weapons and in 2002 they imported two thirds of all arms deliveries worldwide, at a value of nearly US$17 billion. #http://www.sipri.se/# |
| May 9, 2004 Made in India, the Ideal `Cocktail' for AIDS A three-year study of AIDS drugs has identified what the research leaders believe is the ideal triple-therapy cocktail for new patients. The successful cocktail, known colloquially as "two nukes plus a non-nuke," is the same one that the World Health Organization has been recommending in poor countries since 2002. |
| April 9, 2004 Battling the bugs – cutting death rates among HIV-positive TB patients What is the best way to reduce the death rate among HIV-positive people receiving treatment for tuberculosis (TB)? Based on results from Côte d’Ivoire, WHO/UNAIDS recommend the antibiotic, co-trimoxazole, for all African patients with AIDS. But will this work in Malawi, which has different patterns of resistance to this class of drugs? |
| April 9, 2004 Combining drugs for intestinal infections in Zanzibar - Are two better than one? How can we combat the intestinal infections caused by roundworms (nematodes), Ascaris, whipworms and hookworms in children and women of childbearing age? |
| April 9, 2004 Pass or fail – ensuring successful transfer of health policy between countrie How do health policies spread from one country to the next? Transfer without ownership may make implementation difficult. Researchers from the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine look at the development of international policy on tuberculosis (TB) control over the last two decades. |
| April 9, 2004 How many tests are enough? Testing for tuberculosis in Ethiopia Ethiopia has the ninth highest tuberculosis (TB) burden in the world. Given the country’s limited resources, decision-makers need to optimise case detection without overloading the health system. Patients currently have to produce three sputum specimens for testing. Are the second and third sputum tests really necessary? |
| April 9, 2004 Education and health care quality affect pregnancy outcomes in Malawi Of 585 000 maternal deaths worldwide each year, 99% are in developing countries. What factors underlie this striking imbalance? Research involving the Malawi College of Medicine and the Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine studied this issue in a rural community in southern Malawi |
| April 9, 2004 Runaway strains – rotavirus diversity threatens vaccine success in Ghana Diarrhoea kills around three million children each year. One in five of these deaths is due to rotavirus infection. The many different strains of rotavirus complicate the development of a vaccine. Scientists from the Navrongo Rotavirus Research Group studied rotavirus infection in Ghana and the scope for using a vaccine there. |
| April 9, 2004 Parental influence on teenagers’ sexual health in the slums of Nairobi n Kenya, reproductive health problems among adolescents derive from practicing early and unsafe sex. The absence or presence of parents can affect the ability of adolescents to protect their sexual health. Research suggests that, in particular, the presence of a father in the home can strongly influence an adolescent's sexual well-being. |
| April 9, 2004 How healthy are African school children? More attention needs to be paid to the health of school-age children in sub-Saharan Africa, and their sense of well-being. The use of questionnaires in schools can help teachers and health care workers identify and assess common health problems. |
| April 9, 2004 Tuberculosis control needs strong national health services The number of tuberculosis cases continues to rise worldwide and only a minority of people has access to high quality tuberculosis services. Researchers from Belgium’s Institute of Tropical Medicine argue that tuberculosis control cannot reach its targets without investing in an adequate network of accessible, effective and comprehensive health services. |
| March 30, 2004 UN HEALTH AGENCY SEEKS TO COMBAT DANGEROUS MISUSE AND OVERUSE OF MEDICINES With misuse and overuse accounting for almost half the total global use of medicines with potential severe consequences such as drug resistance and even death, the United Nations health agency today called for multilateral partnerships to set up advocacy and education programmes especially in developing countries. |
| March 18, 2004 Flagging global sanitation target threatens other Millennium Development Goals The global target of halving the proportion of people without access to basic sanitation by 2015 is currently out of reach for many countries, said Børge Brende, Chair of the 12th Session of the UN Commission for Sustainable Development (UNCSD), in a special interview with the Bulletin. Water, Sanitation and Health web site |
| March 17, 2004 Delivering on universal treatment access through Health Systems in Southern Africa The following highlights some of the points made in a presentation made by Dr Rene Loewenson of TARSC Zimbabwe and Regional Network for Equity in Health in Southern Africa (EQUINET) at the PATAM conference www.equinetafrica.org |
| February 29, 2004 AFRICA'S NEONATAL MORBIDITY AND MORTALITY RATES ARE AMONG THE HIGHEST IN THE WORLD - WHO STUDY Neonatal morbidity and mortality rates in the African Region, currently estimated at 45 deaths per 1,000 live births, are among the highest in the world, and contribute about 50% of the infant mortality rate in the Region, according to a WHO-sponsored study made available at a regional workshop on improving maternal and neonatal health in Harare, Zimbabwe. |
| February 29, 2004 COUNTRIES URGED TO IMPROVE ACCESS TO EMERGENCY OBSTETRIC CARE African governments should ensure improved access to emergency obstetric care (EOC) as this is key to reducing maternal and neonatal mortality in order to reduce the high maternal and neonatal mortality rate in the Region, a Reproductive Health expert said in Harare on Monday. |
| February 29, 2004 Meeting develops roadmap to reduce maternal and newborn deaths in Africa Experts from various international agencies and Non Governmental Organizations attending a meeting on maternal and neonatal death reduction in Harare ended their deliberations on Wednesday with the development of a road map aimed at accelerating progress to reduce maternal and newborn morbidity and mortality in the African Region. |
| February 14, 2004 WHO, AMREF, AFRICARE, MEDILINKS PLAN FOR AFRICA HEALTH DAY In observance of Africa Health Day, the World Health Organization (WHO), in partnership with the African Medical Research Foundation (AMREF)1, Africare2and Medilinks3, is organizing an exhibition and a panel discussion on 19 February 2004 in New York highlighting health and development issues in Africa. WHO/AFRO |
| February 14, 2004 MEETING TO DISCUSS NATIONAL PROFILES ON STATUS
OF CHILDREN'S ENVIRONMENTAL HEALTH A technical consultation to review the national profiles on the status of children's environmental health in six African countries is to take place from 4 to 6 February in Cape Town, South Africa, hosted on behalf of the WHO Regional Office for Africa (AFRO) by the Medical Research Council of South Africa. WHO/AFRO |
| February 14, 2004 WHO reiterates need to eliminate Female Genital Mutilation The World Health Organization has re-iterated its call to Member States in the African Region to eliminate Female Genital Mutilation (FGM), often referred to as female circumcision." WHO/AFRO |
| February 14, 2004 Polio eradication: now more than ever, stop polio forever In 2004, the world has its best – and perhaps last – chance to stop polio forever. There is a historic, one-time only opportunity to stop transmission of poliovirus. If the world seizes this opportunity and acts immediately, no child will ever again know the crippling effects of this devastating disease. The Global Polio Eradication Initiative |
| February 12, 2004 WHO announces the membership of the Commission on Intellectual Property Rights, Innovation and Public Health The Director-General of WHO, Dr LEE Jong-wook, today announced the members of the Commission on Intellectual Property Rights, Innovation and Public Health (CIPIH). The Commission has been established as a result of a resolution at the 2003 World Health Assembly (WHA56.27). Terms of reference for review group [pdf 49kb] |
| February 12, 2004 Medicinal plants – guidelines to promote patient safety and plant conservation for a US$ 60 billion industry The World Health Organization (WHO) today releases guidelines for good agricultural and collection practices for medicinal plants - an industry estimated worth more than US$ 60 billion. The guidelines are intended for national governments to ensure production of herbal medicines is of good quality, safe, sustainable and poses no threat to either people or the environment. Guidelines |
| February 9, 2004 Jimmy Carter calls for urgency in the fight to eradicate guinea- worm disease in West Africa Today, 650 kilometres north of Ghana’s capital city, former U.S. President Jimmy Carter and senior officials from The Carter Center, the World Health Organization, and UNICEF made a historic visit to the endemic guinea-worm village of Dashie to urge Ghana to finish the eradication of guinea-worm disease. Jimmy Carter calls for urgency in the fight to eradicate guinea- worm disease in West Africa |
| February 9, 2004 Into Africa Can founding a medical journal improve the health of a country? James K. Tumwine believes it can help, and he has set out to prove it. Africa, he told Curtis Abraham, needs to be self- reliant in medical research. He recalls how one of his papers was rejected when he submitted it from Zimbabwe, but published when he sent it to the same journal from Oxford New Scientist -Into Africa |
| February 5, 2004 HIV/AIDS and hunger When HIV/AIDS first began its unrelenting spread through the poor countries of the world, we in the World Food Programme (WFP), like many in the humanitariancommunity, tended to view the phenomenon as a medical crisis that had little to do with hunger and food aid. velopment Gateway |
| January 29, 2004 How a Goat Led a Girl Up the Path to an Education A goat is responsible for Beatrice Biira's arrival from her home village just south of the Equator in Uganda to this frosty New England town, where even thermal underwear, sturdy duck boots and a puffy parka fail to keep the cold from her bones. NewYork Times |
| December 19, 2003 World Health Report Identifies the Non-Sexual Transmission of HIV Called a Blood Borne Retrovirus The new World Health Report 2003 made public yesterday December 18, indictes a significant shift in policy outlook at the World Health Organisation. |
| November 22, 2003 Pathways through the sustainable livelihoods maze In recent years, there has been an explosion of interest in the concept of sustainable livelihoods (SL). Has the sustainable livelihoods approach (SLA) to development and poverty reduction managed to address gender, power and markets and to overcome the sectoral divisions which have characterised development work? How can SLA be mainstreamed? Department for International Development, UK |
| November 22, 2003 Food for thought: are West Africa’s family farms worth saving? Is neo-liberalism widening the differences between West African family farmers and agribusiness enterprises? Should regional agricultural policies focus solely on increasing production or should we value agriculture’s role in the management of natural resources and the provision of employment? If so, how can family farmers and their representative organisations be offered greater security of land tenure and a voice in policy-making? Centre de Coopération Internationale en Recherche Agronomique pour le Développement (CIRAD) |
| November 22, 2003 Water resources management and access to safe water and basic sanitation Why do over a billion people still lack access to safe water and another 2.4 billion people adequate sanitation? Water resources are becoming increasingly stressed. What are the links between water resources management and economic development and security, and the links between water and sanitation services and health and livelihoods outcomes? Department for International Development (DFID), UK |
| November 22, 2003 Understanding the political economy of violence in Africa s there a risk that established analyses of the causes of conflict in Africa are shaping inappropriate, idealistic or cynical policy responses? Is the currently in-vogue political economy of violence perspective the key to understanding the causes of Africa’s many conflicts? Could ‘track two’ diplomacy contribute to more creative initiatives to terminate conflicts? Centre for the Study of African Economies (CSAE), UK |
| November 22, 2003 Where has all the education gone? Tracing the employment outcomes of African school-leavers and graduates What happens when African students finish their education? Is there an excess supply of educated labour? What do school-leavers and graduates think about the relevance and quality of their education in light of their subsequent experiences of employment? Institute of Development Studies (IDS), UK |
| November 22, 2003 Does investing in education reduce poverty? Evidence from Ghana, Uganda and South Africa Three broad facts about education have emerged from recent research. Firstly, almost universally education is found to lift people out of poverty. Secondly, when a comparison is made between investing in education and other forms of investment, the returns from investing in education are on average lower. Thirdly, the returns to education – in the sense of the increment in income that accrues to each year of education – are much higher for those with higher levels of education. What factors influence these trends? Centre for the Study of African Economies (CSAE), UK |
| November 21, 2003 Sticking with tradition: patients with mental disorders seek help from healers Traditional healers are a widely-used source of primary care in most African countries. What is their role in the treatment of common mental disorders (CMD)? Researchers from the UK Institute of Psychiatry investigated the levels of CMDs among people attending primary health clinics and traditional healer centres in Dar-Es-Salaam, Tanzania. #http://www.id21.org/health/h3mn1g1.html# |
| November 4, 2003 AFRICAN COUNTRIES URGED TO RE-POSITION FAMILY PLANNING African countries should re-position family planning as a priority health intervention because of its potential for helping to drastically reduce maternal infant and child deaths. WHO Africa Region |
| November 4, 2003 The price of better health in Iraq: an extra US$ 14 per person per year As the international community gathers to consider the urgent reconstruction needs of Iraq, the World Health Organization (WHO), UNICEF and the World Bank will highlight the requirements for better health in Iraq and an effective health system for the Iraqi people. WHO |
| November 4, 2003 Health and Finance Ministers to address need for worldwide increase in health investment Ministers of Health, Finance and Planning from 40 developing countries will come together with development partners at WHO headquarters from 29 to 30 October to address the need to significantly increase investments in health. This is the first time that the World Health Organization (WHO) has hosted a meeting so widely attended by non-health officials, underlining the urgency of building national capacity to absorb increased health funding. Macroeconomics and health |
| November 4, 2003 PARTICIPANTS AT REPRODUCTIVE HEALTH MEETING
CONDEMN FEMALE GENITAL MUTILATION Participants in the 2nd African Regional Reproductive Health Task Force meeting which ended Friday in Dakar, Senegal, unanimously condemned female genital mutilation (FGM) and agreed that health workers implicated in the practice should be sanctioned by their professional associations. WHO Africa Region |
| November 4, 2003 2nd WHO AFRICAN REPRODUCTIVE HEALTH TASK FORCE MEETING ENDS, ADOPTS RECOMMENDATIONS The second meeting of the WHO African Reproductive Health Task Force ended Friday in Dakar, Senegal, with the adoption of recommendations aimed at scaling up interventions designed to improve reproductive health indicators in the African Region. WHO Africa Region |
| November 4, 2003 Musculoskeletal conditions affect millions Joint diseases, rheumatoid arthritis and osteoarthritis, osteoporosis, spinal disorders, low back pain, and severe trauma are among 150 musculoskeletal conditions affecting millions of people globally, according to a comprehensive new publication released today by the World Health Organization (WHO) in collaboration with the Bone and Joint Decade Initiative the Bone and Joint Decade theme issue of the Bulletin of the World Health Organization |
| October 11, 2003 Africa's visionary editor Professor James Tumwine launched an African medical journal two years ago that is already indexed on Medline AFRONETS |
| September 10, 2003 WHO REGIONAL COMMITTEE ENDS, ADOPTS SIX RESOLUTIONS The 53rd session of the WHO Regional Committee for Africa ended Friday in Johannesburg with the adoption of six resolutions, including one endorsing a strategy on women's health which focuses on the health conditions that are exclusive to, or more prevalent in, women. WHO Africa Region |
| September 10, 2003 FOOD-BORNE ILLNESS CONSTITUTES MAJOR PUBLIC HEALTH CHALLENGE Food-borne illness presents a major and continuing challenge to Africa as it adversely affects health, lowers economic productivity, and in several cases results in death and disability. WHO Africa Region |
| September 10, 2003 ROAD ACCIDENTS SOAR IN AFRICA, COST THE REGION $7.3 BILLION Mortality rate from road traffic accident injuries in Africa is the highest in the world, costing the Region $7.3 billion or 1% of its Gross Domestic Product annually, the World Health Organization says in a report released Monday in Johannesburg. WHO Africa Region |
| September 10, 2003 MAN-MADE DISASTERS, NATURAL HAZARDS COST AFRICA $15 BILLION an-made disasters and natural hazards such as armed conflicts, floods, drought, famine, earthquakes and volcanic eruptions cost Africa $15 billion in 2002. WHO Africa Region |
| September 10, 2003 PREVENTIVE MEASURES, RESPONSE MECHANISMS KEEP SARS
AT BAY IN AFRICA Preventive measures and response mechanisms put in place by the World Health Organization (WHO) and its Member States have helped to check the spread of Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS) in Africa, says a report released Monday in Johannesburg by the World Health Organization. WHO Africa Region |
| September 10, 2003 WHO CALLS ON AFRICAN GOVERNMENTS TO FORMALLY RECOGNIZE TRADITIONAL MEDICINE The World Health Organization (WHO) has called on African governments to accord formal recognition to traditional medicine, create an enabling environment for its practice, and integrate the time-honoured system of medicine into their national health systems. The call was made by the WHO Regional Director for Africa, Dr Ebrahim M. Samba, in a message on the occasion of the first African Traditional Medicine Day to be observed Region-wide on 31 August. WHO Africa Region |
| September 10, 2003 HEALTH IN AFRICA IN 2002 - A BALANCE SHEET The World Health Organization (WHO) and its Member States in the African Region have made definite progress towards polio eradication, with the Region attaining certification level surveillance for the first time in 2002, and the number of polio-endemic countries reduced by 67%, from six in 2001 to two in 2002, WHO says in a report released on Monday. WHO Africa Region |
| September 2, 2003 TOWARDS BETTER HOSPITAL SERVICES IN AFRICA African governments have been urged to increase funding for their health sectors, allocate more funds to hospitals, desist from embarking on 'prestigious' health projects, and focus more on the viability, usefulness, equity and sustainability of health investments. WHO Africa Region |
| August 19, 2003 53RD SESSION OF WHO REGIONAL COMMITTEE FOR AFRICA
TO TAKE PLACE FROM 1-5 SEPTEMBER IN JOHANNESBURG The 53rd session of the WHO Regional Committee for Africa (RC53) is scheduled to take place from 1 to 5 September at the Sandton Convention Centre in Johannesburg, South Africa. WHO Africa Region |
| August 6, 2003 Fast-acting ebola vaccine protects monkeys A single shot of a fast-acting, experimental Ebola vaccine successfully protects monkeys from the deadly virus after only one month. If this vaccine proves similarly effective in humans, it may one day allow scientists to quickly contain Ebola outbreaks with ring vaccination--the same strategy successfully used in the past against smallpox, according to a study published in this week's issue of Nature. NIH/National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases |
| August 6, 2003 WHO ORGANIZES WORKSHOP ON DEVELOPMENT OF ESSENTIAL PUBLIC HEALTH COVERAGE PLAN An inter-country workshop aimed at assisting 12 African countries to develop, implement and monitor plans for essential public health coverage and interventions to address the major avoidable causes of morbidity and mortality is to be held from 4 to 8 August 2003 in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. WHO Africa Region |
| August 6, 2003 AFRICAN LEADERS CALL FOR INCREASED EFFORTS TO PREVENT VIOLENCE In news about Africa, war and conflict often take centre stage, but they conceal equally vicious forms of violence such as homicide, rape, the abuse and neglect of children, violence against women and violence against the elderly. In the first week of July 2003, the second summit of the 53-nation African Union adopted, in Maputo, a resolution encouraging governments to respond to violence in all its forms as a priority public health challenge for countries in the region. WHO Africa Region |
| August 1, 2003 AFRICAN LEADERS CALL FOR INCREASED EFFORTS TO PREVENT VIOLENCE In news about Africa, war and conflict often take centre stage, but they conceal equally vicious forms of violence such as homicide, rape, the abuse and neglect of children, violence against women and violence against the elderly. In the first week of July 2003, the second summit of the 53-nation African Union adopted, in Maputo, a resolution encouraging governments to respond to violence in all its forms as a priority public health challenge for countries in the region. WHO Africa Region |
| August 1, 2003 New WHO Director-General steps up global polio eradication effort as Polio threatens other countries New WHO Director-General Dr LEE Jong-wook today announced plans to rapidly step up the global effort to eradicate polio, as the programme enters a critical phase. From the end of August to December, the key endemic countries will conduct mass immunization campaigns aimed at reaching a total of 175 million children. Success in eradicating polio depends on the success of these campaigns in India, Nigeria, Pakistan and Egypt. WHO |
| July 15, 2003 Health crisis threatens western Côte d'Ivoire Médecins sans Frontières (MSF) is extremely concerned about the humanitarian situation in western Côte d'Ivoire that has been provoked by war and widespread violence. MSF |
| July 15, 2003 WHO calls for widespread free access to anti-TB drugs for people living with HIV he World Health Organization today called for free anti- TB drugs (ATDs) and quality care to be made widely available to people living with HIV, along with renewed efforts to increase access to anti-retrovirals (ARVs) in developing countries. Currently, tuberculosis is the biggest killer of people with AIDS. Gallery |
| July 3, 2003 Failure to take prescribed medicine for chronic diseases is a massive, world-wide problem Poor adherence to the long-term treatment of chronic diseases, like cardiovascular diseases, HIV/AIDS, or depression is an increasing, world-wide problem of striking magnitude. Adherence problems are observed in all situations where the self-administration of treatment is required, regardless of the type of disease. Adherence to Long-term Therapies |
| July 3, 2003 DNDi diseases focus DNDi plans to spend around US$250 million over 12 years to develop 6-7 drugs and several drugs in the pipeline to combat sleeping sickness, leishmaniasis and Chagas disease - three killer diseases that threaten a combined 350 million people every year. MSF |
| July 3, 2003 Drugs for neglected diseases A new not-for-profit drug research organization that will harness cutting-edge science to develop medicines for diseases afflicting the world's poorest people was established today in Geneva. MSF |
| July 3, 2003 Medicine prices: a new approach to measurement In developing countries, most medicines are paid out-of-pocket by individual patients rather than being subsidised through social insurance. High prices are a major barrier to the use of medicines and better health, yet too little is known about the prices that people pay for medicines in low- and middle- income countries. WHO - Drugs and Medicine |
| June 30, 2003 Agricultural response to AIDS crisis urgently needed Agricultural institutions urgently need to respond to the HIV/AIDS epidemic, which continues to ravage many rural areas in developing countries, jeopardizing the human right to food of millions of people, according to FAO and the Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS). FAO |
| June 26, 2003 New initiative to research and develop drugs for the world’s most neglected diseases In a unique initiative, the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR), the Nobel Prize winning Organization Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) and four eminent public research institutes from around the world have joined forces to address the lack of research and development in drugs for neglected diseases. This Drugs for Neglected Diseases initiative or DNDi, will work in close collaboration with WHO/TDR Tropical Disease Research program WHO |
| June 25, 2003 Grim picture: improving the health service in Chad What problems do developing countries face when building and scaling up their health services? The Swiss Tropical Institute, together with the Centre de Support en Sante Internationale, examined the problems faced by Chad, one of the poorest countries in the world. |
| June 25, 2003 Trace amounts? Assessing hospital costs in Zimbabwe Hospital costs are difficult to measure when there is limited or poor quality data. Current accounting methods may miss key aspects of inefficiency. Researchers from the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine find that using ‘tracer’ illnesses is a more effective way to assess costs in Zimbabwe’s hospitals |
| June 20, 2003 Perspectives in adolescent reproductive health in Nigeria A professor of community health at the College of Medicine, University of Lagos, Mrs. Muriel Oyediran, has indicted the society for double standards in dealing with issues that bother on sexuality of adolescents. |
| June 20, 2003 Safe injection practices awareness low in Nigeria – Study Awareness on safe injection practices is low among Nigerian primary healthcare workers, especially those in clinical practice who work with needles and other sharp objects, which could aid the transmission of HIV/AIDS, a study has concluded. |
| June 20, 2003 New Report Maps Fistula in Africa - Finds Hidden Condition Widespread The first report ever to map obstetric fistula in sub-Saharan Africa was launched today by UNFPA (United Nations Population Fund) and EngenderHealth. Obstetric fistula, a debilitating pregnancy-related condition caused by prolonged obstructed labour, leaves women constantly leaking urine and/or faeces. EngenderHealth |
| June 20, 2003 Global Fund Money to Fight AIDS, TB and Malaria in Kenya - Agreement Provides $52 Million for Rapid Response to Epidemics The Government of Kenya and the Global Fund have signed an agreement for grants worth US$ 52 million to battle AIDS, tuberculosis and malaria. The Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis & Malaria |
| June 19, 2003 One hundred days into the outbreak Tomorrow will mark the 100th day since WHO first alerted the world, on 12 March, to the SARS threat. From the 55 cases recognized on that day, alarmingly concentrated in hospitals in Hong Kong, Hanoi, and Singapore, the outbreak exploded within a month to cause some 3000 cases and more than 100 deaths in 20 countries on all continents. #http://www.who.int/csr/don# |
| June 11, 2003 WORLD NO TOBACCO DAY: "TOBACCO FREE FILM AND FASHION" "STOP PROMOTING TOBACCO", DR SAMBA Dr Ebrahim M. Samba, the WHO Regional Director for Africa, today condemned the implication of the film and fashion industry in the promotion of tobacco on the occasion of the commemoration of the 17th World No Tobacco Day which theme is "Tobacco free film. Tobacco free fashion". WHO |
| June 5, 2003 Africa's Schools Stagger - Commentary HIV/AIDS kills teachers faster than they can be trained, makes orphans of students and threatens to derail efforts by highly infected countries to get all boys and girls into primary school by 2015, writes World Bank disease epidemiologist Don Bundy in the World Paper. And yet a good basic education ranks among the most effective and cost-effective means of preventing HIV. World Bank - Education |
| May 14, 2003 WHO WELCOMES AFRICAN MINISTERS' CALL FOR ACTION AGAINST SARS 2 Brazzaville, 2 May 2003 -- The World Health Organization (WHO) Friday welcomed the call by African health ministers for "appropriate responses" to the Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS), and pledged continued support to African countries, many of which have already taken measures to detect and curb the spread of the disease. WHO AFRO |
| May 2, 2003 LOST GENES LEND NEW STRENGTH TO TB VACCINE Reinforcing the existing tuberculosis (TB) vaccine with new genes from the microbe that causes the disease makes the vaccine more effective, Stewart Cole and his colleagues report in the May issue of Nature Medicin |
| April 26, 2003 BRINGING EPILEPSY OUT OF THE SHADOWS IN AFRICA Epilepsy is one of the major brain disorders thought to affect between three and four million Africans. Sometimes called a seizure disorder, epilepsy is a chronic medical condition produced by a temporary change in the electrical function of the brain, causing seizures which affect awareness, movement or sensation. The disease affects people in all nations and of all races. Left untreated, like any other disease, it could impede the social development of the patient. World Health Organisation - Regional Office for Africa |
| April 14, 2003 WORLD HEALTH DAY - HEALTHY ENVIRONMENTS FOR CHILDREN: DR SAMBA CALLS FOR IMMEDIATE ACTION More than 70% of the deaths of the children in Africa are due to six major diseases which are directly or indirectly related to environmental risks factors, namely acute respiratory infections, diarrhoea, measles, malaria, HIV/AIDS and malnutrition. World Health Organisation - Regional Office for Africa |
| April 14, 2003 INDICATORS FOR TB CONTROL IN AFRICA IMPROVE, BUT STILL FALL SHORT OF GLOBAL TARGETS Treatment success and case detection rates for tuberculosis (TB) have improved appreciably in Africa since 1993 when the disease was declared a global emergency by the World Health Organization (WHO), but the current indicators in the Region still fall short of global targets, a WHO official has said in Harare, Zimbabwe. World Health Organisation - Regional Office for Africa |
| April 14, 2003 SIX COMMUNICABLE DISEASE OUTBREAKS REPORTED IN 31 COUNTRIES IN FIRST QUARTER OF 2003 Outbreaks of six communicable diseases were reported in 31 of the 46 countries in the African Region of the World Health Organization (WHO) in the first quarter of this year, according to statistics published Tuesday in Brazzaville by the WHO Regional Office for Africa. World Health Organisation - Regional Office for Africa |
| March 18, 2003 Milestone Reached in 100-Year War Against Meningitis The Meningitis Vaccine Project (MVP), a partnership between the World Health Organization (WHO) and the Seattle-based Program for Appropriate Technology in Health (PATH), today announced a major milestone forward in the fight against the deadly meningitis A epidemics that have plagued sub-Saharan Africa for over 100 years. The Meningitis Vaccine Project |
| March 15, 2003 Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS) Spreads Worldwide World Health Organization issues emergency travel advisory: During the past week, WHO has received reports of more than 150 new suspected cases of Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS), an atypical pneumonia for which cause has not yet been determined. WHO |
| March 10, 2003 MESSAGE OF THE REGIONAL DIRECTOR, DR. EBRAHIM M. SAMBA ON THE OCCASION OF INTERNATIONAL WOMEN'S DAY, 8 MARCH 2003 TO ALL LADIES IN THE WHO AFRICAN REGION As we celebrate the 3rd International Women's Day in this Millennium, it is my pleasure to recognize all the ladies in the African Region who in one way or other contribute to the Work of WHO. For 2003 the motto is "Gender, Women's empowerment and Millennium Development Goals" WHO Regional Office for Africa |
| March 8, 2003 International Women's Day International Women's Day 2003 dawns on a world in which there is both a need and cause for hope; but also at a time of widespread fear and insecurity. On the day that commemorates women’s rights and struggles, the signposts of progress are undeniable United Nations Development Fund For Women |
| February 14, 2003 Outbreaks in Africa underscore the urgency for increased global influenza surveillance and pandemic planning As the world’s influenza experts gathered this week in Geneva, Switzerland, to determine next year’s vaccine composition, recent outbreaks in the Democratic Republic of the Congo and in Madagascar illustrate the threat influenza presents to developing nations. WHO |
| February 10, 2003 WHO releases action plan to safeguard health in war-stricken West Africa The World Health Organization today issued a joint Action Plan to alleviate human suffering in crisis shaken West Africa. During a three-day meeting in Accra with officials from Ministries of Health of the region, WHO staff examined the challenges of the health sector and finalized a co-ordinated response strategy. WHO |
| February 10, 2003 Leprosy: urgent need to end stigma and isolation he world is making great progress towards the goal of eliminating leprosy as a public health problem. But serious concerns remain in several countries, including India, Nepal and Brazil. This was the message delivered at the opening of the annual gathering here of leprosy endemic countries and partners sponsored by the World Health Organization (WHO). WHO |
| February 10, 2003 Partnership moves in record time to provide vaccine against meningitis as epidemic emerges in Africa Speeding up what is usually a years long process, the World Health Organization (WHO), GlaxoSmithKline and the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation are making a new meningitis vaccine available to African countries just months after an emerging epidemic of a new strain of the disease was discovered. The ACW135 vaccine will cover the typical meningitis strains found in Africa (A and C) as well as the W135, a strain found only in sporadic cases on the continent until last year, when it affected 14,453 people and killed 1,743 in Burkina Faso. WHO |
| January 28, 2003 Dr Jong Wook Lee nominated to be WHO Director-General Dr Jong Wook Lee was nominated today by the World Health Organization's Executive Board for the post of Director-General of the agency. The Director-General is WHO's chief technical and administrative officer and sets the policy for the Organization's international health work. WHO |
| January 26, 2003 Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation announces $200 million grant to accelerate research on “grand challenges” in global health The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation announced a $200 million grant to establish the Grand Challenges in Global Health initiative, a major new effort and partnership with the National Institutes of Health (NIH). Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation |
| January 21, 2003 Director-General selection process enters final phase The WHO Executive Board today announced the short list of candidates for the new Director-General. WHO's legal text:selection process and the criteria that the Director-General should fulfill |
| January 17, 2003 Forty new countries given low cost access to health journals Forty-three new countries were added to the list of eligible participants in the Health InterNetwork Access to Research Initiative (HINARI) this week, giving them online access to 2,200 high-quality medical journals at drastically reduced prices. WHO |
| January 15, 2003 Increasing fruit and vegetable consumption to prevent chronic diseases has profound implications for global food production, says WHO "Increasing the consumption of fruit and vegetables is a necessary part of the effort to reduce the growing global burden of chronic diseases," says the World Health Organization’s Dr Derek Yach, Executive Director, Noncommunicable Diseases & Mental Health. 5-A-Day Initiative |
| January 9, 2003 New forms of assistance for developing countries For the first time, a programme of decentralized cooperation has been signed by the UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) and the Italian government representing a new kind of partnership between local authorities in Italy and in developing countries to focus on food security and rural development. FOOD AND AGRICULTURE ORGANIZATION OF THE UNITED NATIONS |
| January 9, 2003 New $2.5 Million Grant from the Netherlands Helps Make Pregnancy and Childbirth Safer for Women In an end-of-year show of support to women’s rights and reproductive health services, the Dutch government announced this week an additional $2.5 million contribution to UNFPA, the United Nations Population Fund. The new pledge follows a $2 million grant that the Netherlands allocated last July in addition to its regular 2002 pledge. This brings the total Dutch contribution to almost $55 million and makes the Netherlands UNFPA’s top donor for this year. UNFPA |
| January 7, 2003 New York Times: A Global Medicine Deal When the World Trade Organization was established in 1995, no one would have predicted that poor nations' access to medicines would become its most contentious issue. Yet the current round of trade negotiations is stuck, acrimoniously, over drugs. In December, 143 of the W.T.O.'s 144 members agreed on a solution. But the lone holdout, the United States, blocked the deal. Access to Essential Medicines |
| January 3, 2003 Supachai disappointed over governments’ failure to agree on health and development issues Director-General Supachai Panitchpakdi today (20 December 2002) expressed disappointment over the failure by WTO member governments to meet the year-end deadlines for agreement in negotiations on special and differential treatment for developing countries and access to essential medicines for poor countries lacking capacity to manufacture such drugs themselves. TRIPS:Pharmaceuticals and patents |
| December 30, 2002 To save lives, WHO rushes medical supplies to drought- ridden Ethiopia The World Health Organization (WHO) has shipped a first batch of 54 new Emergency Health Kits to Ethiopia to strengthen the health sector response to the severe drought. Today, the kits arrived in Addis Ababa ready for immediate secondary distribution. World Health Organisation |
| December 18, 2002 Purdue research hints that birds could spread Ebola virus Ebola shares a closer relationship with several bird viruses than was previously thought, bolstering the case for a common ancestor and hinting that birds might carry the deadly virus, a Purdue University research team reports. Purdue research hints that birds could spread Ebola virus |
| December 18, 2002 Condom use among youth in urban Cameroon In Cameroon, as in many sub-Saharan African countries, high-risk sexual activity is common among young people. A third of women aged 15-19 are pregnant or have had children, and a similar fraction of both sexes have had a sexually transmitted infection (STI). How can young people be encouraged to use condoms? Who influences their decisions most: their peers or parents? Population Services International |
| December 18, 2002 Africa in crisis: Hazards rise for prime-age adults The real crisis of ageing is in sub-Saharan Africa. A combination of high fertility, rising longevity, civil war and HIV/AIDS lies behind a unique transformation of the demographic structure in which, unlike any other regions in the world, falling life expectancy at birth is associated with rising life expectancy at later ages. University of Nottingham, UK |
| December 18, 2002 Keeping it clean: women, living spaces and health in urban Mali How do urban women manage their health in their day-to-day lives? Can the organisation of living space lead to poor health? What health challenges are presented by communal living? These questions are explored in research from University Laval, Quebec, into health practices in a squatter commune in Mali. Université Laval, Canada |
| December 18, 2002 Is pregnancy good for your health? Evidence from Senegal Maternal mortality is an important public health issue in developing countries. It is also widely recognised as a sensitive indicator of health system performance. But are all deaths during pregnancy directly due to child-bearing? What role do indirect causes play? London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, UK] |
| December 18, 2002 The causes of massive tropical splenomegaly in Ghana Massive tropical splenomegaly – an abnormal swelling of the spleen – is a common disorder in the African tropics. What are the main causes of the affliction, and how might clinicians in developing countries distinguish between these causes? Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine (LSTM), UK |
| December 13, 2002 World Bank & IMF Africa Departments Issue Statement to Executive Directors on Food Situation in Eastern and Southern Africa The food security situation in southern and eastern Africa has continued to deteriorate since the summer. Donors’ response to date has met only half of the midyear appeal for aid by UN agencies. Since then, the needs have doubled, and we urge donors to increase the assistance provided to deal with this enormous humanitarian crisis. World Bank and Rural Development in Africa |
| December 10, 2002 ETHIOPIA: Interview with Carol Bellamy, Executive Director of UNICEF Carol Bellamy is the Executive Director of the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF). She has just ended a two-day visit to Ethiopia to witness at first hand the scale of the drought there. Here are excerpts from her interview with IRIN, during which she talked about HIV/AIDS, the drought, genetically modified food, land distribution and the responsibilities of the government and donors. |
| December 10, 2002 AFRICAN COUNTRIES MAKE PROGRESS IN DISEASE CONTROL,
SURVEILLANCE AND ROUTINE IMMUNIZATION Countries in the World Health Organization (WHO) Africa Region made reasonable progress in the areas of accelerated disease control, disease surveillance and routine immunization during 2002, the Regional Adviser for Vaccine Preventable Diseases at the WHO Regional Office for Africa, Dr Deo Nshimirimana has reported. World Health Organization - Regional Office for Africa |
| December 10, 2002 TFI MEETING ENDS, ADOPTS RECOMMENDATIONS The 10th meeting of the Task Force on Immunization (TFI) in Africa and the 9th meeting of the Africa Regional Inter-Agency Coordination Committee (ARICC) ended Thursday in Abuja, Nigeria, with the adoption of a number of recommendations aimed at scaling up action for routine immunization, accelerated diseases surveillance and control, as well as the interruption of the wild poliovirus in the African Region by 2003. World Health Organization - Regional Office for Africa |
| December 5, 2002 Continued research on lymphatic filariasis is essential A global public-private partnership sponsored by the World Health Organization (WHO) has resulted in significant progress over the past five years in reaching the goal of eliminating lymphatic filariasis (LF) - a profoundly disfiguring disease, caused by a mosquito-borne parasite, that is endemic in 80 countries. Emory University Health Sciences Center |
| December 3, 2002 The effect of anti-measles campaigns in southern Africa The measles vaccine is safe and highly effective, so why is this disease still the leading cause of death among African children? The governments of seven countries in southern Africa have implemented targeted measles elimination campaigns over the past five years with help from the World Health Organisation (WHO). How successful have they been? World Health Organisation |
| December 3, 2002 Surveying the health of schoolchildren in Chad The government of Chad recognises health and nutrition as major influences on children’s educational success. But before planning school health services, they need to know the extent of health problems among Chad’s schoolchildren. Assisted by researchers from the Partnership for Child Development at Imperial College London, they conducted the first nationwide health survey of school-age children. Imperial College of Science and Technology |
| December 2, 2002 New study pursues the impact of pregnancy on drug efficacy Whether pregnant women with conditions ranging from ulcers to AIDS should keep taking the same doses of medicine they took before pregnancy is a question Medical College of Georgia researchers want answered. |
| December 2, 2002 ACCESS TO ESSENTIAL DRUGS MAY BE UNDERMINED BY GLOBAL PATENT AGREEMENT A third of the world's population still has no access to essential drugs. In the poorest countries of Africa and Asia this figure rises to half. With the global agreement on intellectual property rights (TRIPS) forcing countries to introduce new patent protection laws over the next decade, this situation could worsen, according to a new report from the London-based Panos Institute. The Panos Report, Patents, Pills and Public Health: can TRIPS deliver? |
| November 29, 2002 ETHIOPIA: Interview with Dr Catherine Hamlin, founder of the Fistula Hospital Dr Catherine Hamlin, 75, founded the world-renowned Fistula Hospital in Ethiopia with her late husband in 1974. In that time they have treated over 20,000 women suffering from appalling birth injuries. Here Dr Hamlin tells IRIN of why more needs to be done to improve a key millennium development goal of maternal health. |
| November 10, 2002 Zinc supplementation reduces diarrhea and death in Bangladeshi children An international team of scientists, evaluated the effectiveness of zinc therapy delivered often for a short period during diarrhea episodes in 8,070 Bangladeshi children and documented signifi-cantly lower rates of child morbidity, hospitalization and non-injury death in children treated with zinc. The BMJ |
| November 5, 2002 10 million Euros needed now to prepare for deadly new strain of Meningitis in Africa The next meningitis outbreak in Africa could be less than two months away. Unless new funds are urgently provided, the vaccine and drugs which are needed to prevent deaths and control the epidemic will quite simply not be available. Meninigitis |
| November 3, 2002 New role for immune system player may help improve cancer vaccines Researchers have discovered that a molecule best known for its anti-microbial properties also has the ability to activate key cells in the immune response. |
| November 3, 2002 Symposium on emerging diseases and bioterrorism Experts from France and the U.S. will discuss diseases such as smallpox, influenza, Ebola virus and plague, and how these threats can be countered, at a two day symposium,"Emerging Infectious Diseases and Bioterrorism: Regional Threats, Global Impact" at UC Davis. Symposium on emerging diseases and bioterrorism |
| October 30, 2002 Years of healthy life can be increased 5-10 years, WHO says Worldwide, healthy life expectancy can be increased by 5-10 years if governments and individuals make combined efforts against the major health risks in each region, the World Health Organization (WHO) says in its new yearly report. The World Health Report 2002 |
| October 29, 2002 Protecting healthworkers from TB in Malawi High rates of TB and HIV infection in sub-Saharan Africa increase the risk of healthworkers of catching TB from their patients. In mid-1998, Malawi’s National Tuberculosis Control Programme produced guidelines for hospitals on TB control. Are hospitals sticking to the guidelines? Are they having any effect? |
| October 29, 2002 Simply effective - magnesium sulphate reduces the risk of eclampsia in pregnancy Pre-eclampsia and eclampsia may kill more than 50 000 pregnant women each year, mostly in developing regions. A study in 33 countries, co-ordinated by the Oxford Institute of Health Sciences, shows that magnesium sulphate reduces the risk of eclampsia and maternal death. The Magpie Trial Consortium |
| October 29, 2002 Maternal mortality in rural Gambia: levels, causes and contributing factors Women are 75 times more likely to die as a result of pregnancy in sub- Saharan Africa than in developed regions. Reducing maternal mortality is therefore high on the international health agenda. But how effective are current efforts to improve maternal health in developing countries? Medical Research Council Laboratories, Gambia |
| October 29, 2002 Pumping iron - making prenatal iron supplementation work An estimated 58 percent of pregnant women in developing countries are anaemic. Health ministries in most poor countries aim to provide iron supplements for pregnant women. So why is maternal anaemia still rife? mothercare |
| October 29, 2002 Patient choice of treatment strategies in South Africa South Africa’s Northern Cape Province has around 547 new TB cases per 100 000 population each year. It may be impossible to provide directly observed treatment (DOT) for every TB patient in high burden settings. Are there effective alternatives to DOT? Should health facilities offer patients a range of treatment options? Oxford University |
| October 29, 2002 Healthcare access for nomadic women Nearly six percent of Chad's population are nomadic pastoralists. What specific problems do women in these groups face when trying to access healthcare? University of Durham |
| October 29, 2002 Condom use among youth in urban Cameroon In Cameroon, as in many sub-Saharan African countries, high-risk sexual activity is common among young people. A third of women aged 15-19 are pregnant or have had children, and a similar fraction of both sexes have had a sexually transmitted infection (STI). Population Services International |
| October 29, 2002 Casting the net - free bednets for pregnant Kenyan women Malaria prevention using insecticide-treated bednets (ITNs) can increase child survival, reduce illness among pregnant women and improve birth outcomes. But what is the best way to deliver ITNs to those at risk? Kenya Medical Research Institute |
| October 29, 2002 The effect of anti-measles campaigns in southern Africa The measles vaccine is safe and highly effective, so why is this disease still the leading cause of death among African children? World Health Organisation |
| October 28, 2002 Medical editors pledge support for development of African journals A group of African medical editors has set up a forum to support and strengthen medical journals in Africa it was reported in the British Medical Journal (BMJ 2002;325:922 ( 26 October ). The BMJ |
| October 27, 2002 Palliative Care - Help for Uganda's terminally ill A story reported in the reported on BBC news tells how a “ground- breaking palliative care programme is transforming the lives of thousands of terminally-ill people in Uganda.” Hospice Africa |
| October 26, 2002 New type of antiobiotic tackles hard-to-treat pediatric infections Pediatricians have another weapon in their arsenal to fight infections that have shown resistance to common antibiotics, according to data presented today by a team of investigators led by Baylor College of Medicine. |
| October 26, 2002 Down and out in Zomba: the situation and education of orphans in Malawi What does it mean to be a young orphan? Why and how are numbers burgeoning? Why are orphans socially excluded and how might education support their inclusion? id21 Health |
| October 25, 2002 Patient Comprehension Should be Assessed as 'Routine' Part of Informed Consent Process for Studies in Developing Countries, Researchers Say "Formal assessment of research participants' comprehension of the consent form should be considered as a routine step in the informed consent process in less-developed countries," Kaiser Daily HIV/AIDS Report |
| October 25, 2002 Far-fetched? Does travelling for treatment increase TB mortality risks? The mortality rate for patients using a tuberculosis (TB) treatment programme in the Northern Province of South Africa is relatively high (12 percent). Is this related to the distance that patients have to travel for treatment? id21 Health |
| October 25, 2002 Drug-resistant tuberculosis: can we save money AND save lives? The spread of drug-resistant disease is one of the biggest challenges in international health. It can cost up to one million dollars to treat a patient with drug-resistant tuberculosis (TB) in the United States. But what is the cheapest and most effective way to treat the disease? Can treatment strategies used in industrialised nations be applied in developing countries? id21 Health |
| October 18, 2002 ETHIOPIA: Interview with top athlete Haile Gebreselassie After renewing his pledge last week to highlight the problem of the million HIV/AIDS orphans in Ethiopia through the UN Children's Fund (UNICEF), Haile Gebreselassie, one of the greatest athletes in the world, tells IRIN why he has personally campaigned to emphasise the problem among the youth, and how drug companies dealing in anti-retroviral drugs have a moral obligation to sell them more cheaply. |
| October 15, 2002 Global Fund gives approval to generic drugs The Global Fund to fight AIDS yesterday said it was giving approval to the use of generic copies of AIDS drugs being used in the fight against the HIV/AIDS epidemic. UNAIDS |
| October 12, 2002 World Sight Day: 10 october 2002 An estimated 180 million people world-wide are visually disabled. Of those, between 40 and 45 million persons are blind. Due to growing populations and ageing, these numbers are expected to double by the year 2020 making a colossal human tragedy even worse, stalling development and denying a basic human right. Eighty percent of all cases of blindness can be prevented or treated WHO |
| October 12, 2002 New figures show AIDS fight under- resourced - Existing funds insufficient to keep pace On the eve of the Board meeting of the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, TB and Malaria, the Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS) and the World Health Organization (WHO) released updated figures on the cost of mounting the global response to HIV/AIDS. Revised estimates to 2005 for prevention, care and support programmes in low- and middle-income countries indicate that US$ 10.5 billion will be needed by 2005. UNAIDS |
| October 3, 2002 One person dies a violent death every minute: First ever Global Report on Violence and Health released Violence kills more than 1.6 million people every year. Public health experts say these statistics are just the tip of the iceberg with the majority of violent acts being committed behind closed doors and going largely unreported. World Health Organisation |
| September 27, 2002 Researchers Create an Equation Based on Maternal Characteristics That Rivals Ultrasound in Calculating Birth Weight An equation based on maternal characteristics and gestational age is just as accurate as ultrasound for predicting birth weight, while costing less and requiring no additional trained staff, says a new study from Duke University Medical Center and California State University. Journal of Reproductive Medicine |
| September 27, 2002 US researchers find endometriosis associated with wide range of diseases US researchers report today (Friday 27 September) in Europe's leading reproductive medicine journal, Human Reproduction*, that women with endometriosis are significantly more likely than other women to suffer from a number of additional distressing or disabling conditions. Human Reproduction |
| September 26, 2002 WHO urges monitoring of traditional medicine The World Health Organization (WHO) is calling on developing countries to better monitor and regulate traditional medicine. About 80 per cent of all Africans rely to some extent on traditional, village-based practitioners and remedies, since manufactured medicines or regular health care services are often unavailable or too expensive. |
| September 26, 2002 WHO urges an increase in influenza vaccination Influenza can be a deadly disease, not just an inconvenience. During the most recent influenza outbreak in Madagascar which began in early June 2002 and lasted until late August, more than 22,000 people were infected. Six hundred and seventy one people died. |
| September 21, 2002 WHO prepares to tackle emerging crisis in African meningitis area The emergence of a newly epidemic strain of meningitis in West Africa earlier this year has given renewed urgency to the search for a more effective and affordable vaccine. |
| September 12, 2002 PANOS - Is the Worldbank's Strategy to Reduce Poverty Working? Three years after the World Bank and International Monetary Fund (IMF) introduced their Poverty Reduction Strategy (PRS) approach as the latest template for the world's poorest countries to get out of poverty, a new Panos report examines the progress so far and the arguments about whether PRS can succeed. Reducing Poverty |
| September 5, 2002 The 250 Millionth Dose of Mectizan Administered in Tanzania It was reported by Dagi Kimani a special correspondent The East African that the small village of Bombani in the central Tanzanian district of Muheza, will this week make medical history, when the 250 millionth dose of the river blindness drug mectizan, is administered there. |
| September 5, 2002 A troubled decade for Africa's children: Trapped by poverty, disease, war and insufficient aid Over a decade after world leaders gathered at the 1990 World Summit for Children to set ambitious targets for improvements in child health and welfare, life for tens of millions of Africa's youngest and most vulnerable inhabitants remains difficult, dangerous and, all too often, tragically short. Africa Recovery |
| September 5, 2002 United Nations New Agenda for the Development of Africa The United Nations New Agenda for the Development of Africa in the 1990s (UN-NADAF) was adopted by the UN General Assembly in December 1991. It was to last for a decade, as a successor to the five- year UN Programme of Action for African Economic Recovery and Development (UNPAAERD) launched in 1986, the first-ever UN programme for a specific region of the world UN-NADAF. |
| September 2, 2002 Earth Summit - Secretary-General Says Completed Negotiations Provide a Solid Foundation For Action Agreement was reached on the last remaining provisions of the Plan of Implementation for the World Summit on Sustainable Development, concluding negotiations that have taken place over nine months on three continents, and that will guide implementation for actions to achieve sustainable development. WSSD |
| September 2, 2002 UN Secretary-General Calls for Change at Summit Calling the present model of development "flawed for many," United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan said he hoped the World Summit on Sustainable Development in Johannesburg would mark the opening of a new chapter of responsibility, partnerships and implementation. WSSD |
| September 2, 2002 Many Summit Goals Realized At Midpoint The World Summit on Sustainable Development in Johannesburg reached its midpoint with significant agreements on a wide range of issues and major announcements on resources and partnerships, yet full agreement on a Programme of Implementation is still dependent on a breakthrough on some of the toughest issues. WSSD |
| August 30, 2002 EARTH SUMMIT: Interview with Carol Bellamy, UNICEF Executive Director The lives of more than six million children are at immediate risk in Malawi, Zambia, Lesotho, Swaziland and Mozambique due to a crippling combination of drought, hunger, illness and HIV/AIDS. |
| August 28, 2002 EARTH SUMMIT: IRIN Interview with Pedro Sanchez, World Food Prize winner Pedro Sanchez, a pioneer in the field of tropical soils and agroforestry at the University of California, Berkeley, is the 2002 winner of the World Food Prize. The award, announced earlier this month by the World Food Prize Foundation, is the highest international honour bestowed upon an individual for achievements in improving the world's food supply and reducing hunger. |
| August 21, 2002 WHO, MINISTERS TO DISCUSS HUMANITARIAN CRISIS IN SOUTHERN AFRICA Health Ministers from ten southern African countries and senior officials of the World Health Organization meet from 26 - 28 August in Harare, Zimbabwe, to examine the response of the health sector to the acute and large-scale humanitarian crisis facing the region. |
| August 19, 2002 Nearly one in five Hajj pilgrims carries the meningitis bacteria Nearly one in five (17%) of pilgrims returning from the annual Islamic pilgrimage to Mecca and Medina (Hajj) are carrying meningococcal bacteria, finds a study in this week's BMJ. As a result the researchers recommend, vaccination should become mandatory for all Hajj pilgrims, and should also be considered for their families. Nearly one in five Hajj pilgrims carries the meningitis bacteria |
| August 6, 2002 Health conditions aggravate Southern Africa famine Devastating health conditions are putting 12-14 million people within Southern Africa at particular risk during the ongoing shortage of food. Rainfall failure has trigged a crisis which is being exacerbated by a combination of long-term deterioration in health services, the ravaging AIDS epidemic and serious economic problems facing countries in the region. |
| August 6, 2002 UCLA AIDS Institute scientists show antiretroviral drugs can eradicate AIDS epidemic UCLA AIDS Institute researchers have predicted that widespread use of antiretroviral (ARV) drugs can eventually stop the HIV epidemic in its tracks -- even in African nations where a high percentage of people are infected. The Lancet Infectious Diseases reports the findings in its August edition. |
| August 6, 2002 Eficiency, feasibility of antiretroviral therapy in Africa demonstrated in IRD- coordinated surveys Three-quarters of all people hit by HIV live in Sub-Saharan Africa. It is vital therefore that antiretroviral treatments, available and effective in industrialized countries, can be used for patients in Africa. Several enquiries, coordinated by the Institut de Recherche pour le Développement (IRD) are bringing proof that such treatments are both effective and feasible in several African countries. |
| July 22, 2002 US witholds funds for UNFPA The U.S. government is set to withhold $34 million dollars in funds that were due for UNFPA family planning programs because conservative American groups alleged the initiative aimed at controlling population tolerates abortions and forced sterilizations in China. U.S. to Withhold $34M in U.N. Funds |
| May 10, 2002 The Brain Drain The brain drain costs Africa US $4 billion a year through top professionals seeking better jobs abroad. This was contained in the Keynote speech presented at the University of Pennsylvania Africafest celebrations on April 10th 2002, by Dr John Kiwanuka Ssemakula The Brain Drain |
| May 10, 2002 Children: United Nations Special Session UNGASS CHILDREN The Special Session on Children, to be held 8-10 May 2002, is an unprecedented meeting of the UN General Assembly dedicated to the children and adolescents of the world. Children: United Nations Special Session |
| April 23, 2002 THE GLOBAL FUND: WHICH COUNTRIES OWE HOW MUCH? Nearly one year ago, the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria was created to increase annual expenditure on the AIDS epidemic to $7-10 billion by 2005. So far only $1.8 billion has been raised Global Fund Contributions |
| April 3, 2002 Expanding Nursing Roles In an attempt to relieve the pressure on over worked general practitioners (GP) in the UK, it was announced that a pilot scheme to expand nursing roles will come in force on Monday April1st 2001 in a story reported on the BBC 1st April 2002. |
| March 29, 2002 The International Congress on Infectious Diseases (ICID 2002) Over 2000 delegates attended the ICID held in Singapore from March 11-14, 2002 from 100 countries. The focus of the 10th ICID was mainly on Asia, however papers presented included subjects such as the need for continued vigilance in disease surveillance because relaxed surveillance was putting the world at risk; as well as examining WHO guidelines on disease outbreaks, in this case their failure in a meningitis outbreak in Kivu, in Congo. ICID 2002 |
| March 29, 2002 SCIENCE AND THE MEDIA An International Workshop Science And The Media was held on Feb 26-28, 2002, at Tobago, West Indies to discuss the role of science communicators in educating the public about the benefits and dangers of science and technology in today’s world. Science and the Media |
| February 20, 2002 Medilinks The theme for Medilinks for the next few months is going to be on Capacity Development and Building in Africa in relation to health. If you have any ideas, thoughts, articles or information on this very important subject, please send them in to editor@medilinks.org |
| February 20, 2002 Call for proposals The Global Fund to fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria is announcing the first call for proposals to the Global Fund that was formally adopted by the newly appointed Board on 28-29 January 2002 in Geneva. The deadline for the first round of proposals is March 10th 2001. Not much time so hurry! But there'll be a second round to be announced. The Global Fund to fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria |
| November 15, 2001 Double standards TRIPS over drug patents The WTO is meeting once more and once again the issue of drug patents and the right to produce life saving generic drugs will be on the agenda. But there is suspicion that some industrialised countries employ double standards when it comes to enforcing patent law. Read more.… Double standards on Trips |
| May 12, 2001 Links and Resources: I am currently updating "Links and Resources" page on Medilinks. As anyone knows finding useful and relevant information, material and tools on th Web can be extremely difficult. So if you know of any useful sites with health information related to Africa please send them in with a brief description of the site and its usefulness. |
| February 8, 2001 Not enough Doctors (Correction) A colleague pointed out to me a mistake in the calculations I had made in a story about the opening up of a new AIDS treatment centre to training doctors in how to prescribe anti HIV treatmen Read More |