Politics & Policies
A review of US-funded Ebola recovery projects in Guinea, Liberia, and Sierra Leone by the US Government Accountability Office (GAO) released this week found that, of $1.6 billion appropriated by Congress in 2014 for US Agency for International Development (USAID) in the hard-hit region, $411.6 million has been targeted to 131 specific projects.
Programs, Grants & Awards
Each year we commemorate World TB Day on March 24 to raise public awareness about the devastating health, social and economic consequences of tuberculosis (TB) and to step efforts to end the global TB epidemic. The date marks the day in 1882 when Dr. Robert Koch announced that he had discovered the bacterium that causes TB, which opened the way towards diagnosing and curing this disease.
Research
In most health systems, Community Health Workers (CHWs) identify and screen for severe acute malnutrition (SAM) in the community. This study aimed to investigate the potential of integrating SAM identification and treatment delivered by CHWs, in order to improve the coverage of SAM treatment services.
Researchers with the National Institutes of Health (NIH) recently made a breakthrough on the link between iron supplements and worsening malaria infections, as well as curious mutation in African populations.
States that have approved medical cannabis laws saw a dramatic reduction in opioid use, according to a new study by researchers at the University of Georgia.
It seems the multi-billion dollar cannabis industry is having some problems with its employees showing up to work stoned. A recent study published in the American Journal of Industrial Medicine finds that a large percentage of those employed in the businesses of growing and selling weed are getting high either before work at some point during business hours — risking both their safety and that of their co-workers.
Diseases & Disasters
In West and Central Africa, nearly 170 young people are infected with HIV everyday and a disparity in funding has left the youth at risk.
Public Health England has reported a gonorrhea case resistant to the pair of antibiotics (ceftriaxone and azithromycin) that have been typically effective in treating gonorrhea.
For decades now, global health organizations and deep-pocketed philanthropies like the Gates Foundation have worked to eradicate wild poliovirus – and the achievement of that goal often seems tantalizingly close at hand.
The United Nations emergency food relief agency has airlifted over 80 metric tons of vital nutritional supplements to Papua New Guinea – enough to feed approximately 60,000 people in the earthquake-hit country.
Technology
Antibiotics were heralded as life-savers when they became widely available in the 1940s. Today, they are fast becoming killers themselves. The more any given antibiotic is used, the greater the chances that bacteria will develop antimicrobial resistance (AMR) that renders the drug ineffective.
Environmental Health
The world is facing one of the largest food crises in more than 79 years, and climate change is only making it worse. Between 2030 and 2050, climate change could kill an additional 250,000 people every year, from malnutrition, malaria, diarrhea and heat stress.
Lebanon’s waste crisis began in 2015 when a huge landfill site closed and government authorities failed to implement a contingency plan in time to replace it; dumping and burning waste on the streets became widespread. The campaign group Human Rights Watch calls it “a national health crisis”.
New research reveals shortening of telomeres due to air pollution in newborn. The researchers analyzed telomeres in the umbilical cord blood of 255 newborns, half of whom were born prior to the coal plant closure and the other half were conceived and born after the plant closure in Tongliang, China.
Equity & Disparities
One of the biggest issues at the intersection of sanitation, poverty and global health, open defecation has also long been one of the hardest to represent visually.
While globally men report a 25% higher cancer incidence than women, a new study reveals the opposite trend in India with more women being diagnosed with cancer than men.
Women, Maternal, Neonatal & Children’s Health
A United Nations employee who says she was sexually assaulted by a top UN official has spoken publicly for the first time, alleging she was offered a promotion if she accepted an apology from the man and claiming that the organization failed to take her complaint seriously.
An international health organization has suspended its partnership with the Heineken beer company because of the controversial use of so-called “beer girls” to promote its products.
Teenage pregnancy – the biggest killer of girls and women aged 15 to 19 in the world – is growing in the east Asia-Pacific region, the only place where the rate is climbing.
Human Rights
UN Security Council members condemned the killing of civilians in Gaza after a peaceful protest turned violent.
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