Current Global Health Issues

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• — Month in Focus July 2010

     (Sunday, 25 July 2010 20:46)

  

  Video update on Médecins Sans Frontières activities in July 2010. Includes Haiti, malnutrition and Kyrgyzstan.

  Haiti: Six months on
  Malnutrition: Hundreds of thousands of children under threat
  Kyrgyzstan: Tension remains high

• — Southern Sudan: Médecins Sans Frontières expands activities as nutritional situation worsens

     (Thursday, 22 July 2010 20:28)

  In the last few months, a combination of bad harvests and growing insecurity has resulted in a huge increase in the rates of malnutrition in Southern Sudan. Médecins Sans Frontières emergency teams are responding to the crisis, but more feeding centres, specialised food, and staff are needed to prevent needless deaths of Sudanese children. Moses Chol, Emergency Coordinator for Médecins Sans Frontières in Southern Sudan, explains how the organisation is expanding activities so that more nutritional aid will reach the regions that desperately need it.

  Moses, what is the nutritional situation in Southern Sudan today?

  The situation is extremely worrying,...

• — CAR: In Zémio, people seek refuge from LRA attacks

     (Thursday, 22 July 2010 20:23)

  

  An upsurge in attacks by the Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA) in late April caused thousands of people to leave their homes and head for the small rural town of Zémio, in the southeast of the Central African Republic (CAR). Since May, Médecins Sans Frontières has been providing medical support for the displaced people as well as for the host population.

  “Throughout April, the LRA made several vicious attacks on towns in this area. But, suddenly, it wasn’t isolated attacks any more, it was just attack after attack after attack in the small...

• — Tension and violence continue in south Kyrgyzstan; Médecins Sans Frontières calls for impartial access to health care

     (Tuesday, 20 July 2010 23:39)

  Geneva, 20 July 2010. Five weeks after violent clashes erupted in the south of Kyrgyzstan and despite an apparent return to a more peaceful situation, Médecins Sans Frontières doctors, psychologists and nurses continue to deal with cases of violence on a daily basis. More concerning still, the capacity of victims to receive adequate health care differs according to the community they belong to.

  “Every day, in our mobile clinics and health facilities with which we collaborate, our medical teams treat patients who have suffered heavy beatings or who even show signs of torture. Many people, especially from the Uzbek community...

• — DRC: Médecins sans Frontières continues to support treatment of victims of fuel tanker explosion

     (Monday, 19 July 2010 19:14)

  Médecins Sans Frontières continues to support the treatment of burn victims in several hospitals in South Kivu province, after a fuel tanker crashed and exploded in the village of Sange earlier this month. The number of deaths has increased to 269, according to the latest figures of the Congolese Ministry of Health.

  Médecins sans Frontières divides its support over three hospitals. In Uvira it supports the treatment of 28 patients with second and third degree burns, in Bukavu’s Panzi hospital eight patients and in the local hospital at Sange there are 16 inpatients being treated with 12 more as outpatients.

The Lancet Global Health Network

• — This week in medicine

     (Tuesday, 27 July 2010 10:19)

  The following will be published in the July 31 issue of The Lancet: Death rates A report from the UK Office for National Statistics shows that death rates in England and Wales fell by 3·5% overall between 2008 and 2009, with a decline of 2% for men and nearly 5% for women. There were 509 090 [...]

• — This week in medicine

     (Wednesday, 21 July 2010 05:25)

  The following will be published in the July 24 issue of The Lancet: New US HIV strategy The Obama administration has announced a new national strategy to reduce the annual number of HIV infections in the USA by 25% within 5 years. The plan also aims to increase the proportion of newly diagnosed patients who receive care within [...]

• — This week in medicine

     (Wednesday, 14 July 2010 04:52)

  The following will be published in the July 17 issue of The Lancet: Drug development The TB Alliance has granted the Drugs for Neglected Diseases initiative (DNDi) royalty-free rights to develop antituberculosis compounds that have the potential to treat Chagas disease, sleeping sickness, and leishmaniasis. These infectious diseases together kill more than 100 000 people every [...]

• — This week in medicine

     (Wednesday, 07 July 2010 04:22)

  The following will be published in the July 10 issue of The Lancet: Meningitis hope A new meningitis A conjugate vaccine approved last week by WHO could be the first to prevent outbreaks in Africa. The existing poly­saccharide vaccine confers only short-term immunity and is not suitable for children younger than 2 years. The vaccine costs [...]

• — This week in medicine

     (Wednesday, 30 June 2010 04:50)

  The following will be published in the July 3 issue of The Lancet: Disastrous disaster response Haitian rebuilding efforts after the January earthquake are being hampered by disorganisation and lax leadership, a US Senate report declared last week. The report came as the US Congress was set to debate investment of US$2 billion in Haitian relief. [...]

Kaiser Daily Global Health Policy Report

Daily global health news summaries provided by the Kaiser Family Foundation.

• — Need For Shelter In Haiti; Avoiding Disease Outbreaks; Presidential Election

     (Friday, 30 July 2010 12:26)

  USAID Director Rajiv Shah "says shelter and rubble removal are immediate priorities in the reconstruction efforts in earthquake-devastated Haiti," VOA News reports. Shah briefed the House Foreign Relations Subcommittee on the Western Hemisphere Thursday, and also "said between 300,000 and 400,000 units of shelter are needed. He said aid workers are trying to provide about 135,000 transitional structures right now."

• — Nature Series Examines Role Science Can Play In Securing Food For The Future

     (Friday, 30 July 2010 12:20)

  As part of a series of stories and editorials on the role science can play in securing food for the future, Nature News examines the challenges associated with feeding the world's hungry.

• — Sen. Appropriations Committee Approves $54.1B FY2011 Foreign Ops Spending Bill, Including $8.2B For Global Health Programs

     (Friday, 30 July 2010 12:11)

  The Senate Appropriations Committee on Thursday approved a $54.1 billion FY 2011 spending bill for the State Department and related agencies "that includes potentially controversial abortion language," CQ reports.

• — WHO Expert: Faster MDR-TB Test Should Be Made Available To Vulnerable Populations

     (Friday, 30 July 2010 12:06)

  A new diagnostic tool that shortens the diagnosis of multidrug-resistant tuberculosis (MDR-TB) from eight weeks to two hours should be made available to vulnerable populations according to a WHO expert, Reuters reports.

• — Opinions: IDUs And HIV; AIDS 2010; International Violence Against Women Act

     (Friday, 30 July 2010 12:04)