Politics & Policies
At the urging of the White House, Germany nixed language referring to “sexual and reproductive health” in a signature UN resolution taking aim at rape in conflict situations, Foreign Policy reports.
Programs, Grants & Awards
The DMU Department of Global Health’s Distinguished Global Health Internships are highly selective research opportunities that enable students to explore global health research topics at various organizations. Students have the opportunity to work with researchers on projects such as conducting systematic reviews to create evidence-based educational materials for worldwide distribution.
Research
A swarm of micro-robots, directed by magnets, can break apart and remove dental biofilm, or plaque, from a tooth. The innovation arose from a cross-disciplinary partnership among dentists, biologists, and engineers.
Diseases & Disasters
Imagine your house is gone. And yet the TV set is still standing. That’s one of the scenes that photojournalist Tommy Trenchard documented as he visited parts of Mozambique hit by Cyclone Kenneth on Thursday.
Measles continues to spread in the United States, federal health officials said on Monday, surpassing 700 cases this year as health officials around the country sought aggressive action to stem the worst outbreak in decades.
Nearly three weeks since fighting began near the Libyan capital Tripoli, the UN health agency warned on Tuesday that “large numbers” of people are sheltering in medical clinics, while civilians continue to be killed or injured, and refugees and migrants remain exposed to clashes.
Students are currently being quarantined in Los Angeles. Mandatory-vaccination policies have been implemented in Brooklyn. Even President Donald Trump, contrary to prior assertions, today urged people to get children vaccinated.
The Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) today reported another double-digit rise in Ebola cases, as local leaders such as traditional chiefs and provincial representatives stepped up their efforts to convince community members to support the response efforts to end the outbreak.
In South Sudan mind-bending horrors abound of war, ethnic violence, rape, hunger and displacement. But for civilians living in the shadow of conflict, the greatest danger is often being cut off from health services, whether due to violence or lack of development in the vast, remote areas that make up much of the country.
Technology
The CDC is issuing new guidance to clinicians for the treatment of severe cases of malaria. The action follows discontinuation of quinidine, the only FDA-approved intravenous (IV) antimalarial drug in the United States.
Devout parents who are worried about vaccines often object to ingredients from pigs or fetuses. But the leaders of major faiths have examined these fears and still vigorously endorse vaccination.
Ghana’s long unsung health tech sector is getting global validation with two of its most promising startups being named among five winners for one of the most prestigious social enterprise awards in the world.
Environmental Health
Dozens of cities across the world have declared a climate emergency. Now, students behind the school climate strikes are bringing the movement to Switzerland and Germany. But what does that mean exactly?
Equity & Disparities
Sometimes it is important to go back to basics. For human interaction, one of the basics is language, the system of communication that, when applied at its best, allows us to understand each other, share, cooperate, and pull each other towards a better place. When on a collective journey towards a common objective such as the Sustainable Development Goals, with a rallying cry of “leaving no one behind” and a central aim of “reaching the furthest behind first”, this system of communication is fundamental to move beyond just the rhetorical: to be truly reached, the furthest one behind will need to understand what she is being told, and most likely, that exchange will have to be done in her own language. That principle should apply to all aspects of development, including global health.
The Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) set by the United Nations (UN) would “remain beyond reach” without adequate financing, an International Monetary Fund (IMF) official said.
Women, Maternal, Neonatal & Children’s Health
Anyone following international development is probably familiar with “stunting” — which in nontechnical terms means children being too short for their age. Over the past decade, as the world has focused unprecedented attention on undernutrition, stunting has taken center stage.
Help is needed urgently from the international community to help some 2,500 apparently stateless “foreign children” at a camp for the displaced, in north-east Syria, a top UN official said on Thursday.
Malnutrition is detrimental to the health of children. As a result of malnutrition, a child’s growth can be stunted. Additionally, both brain damage and physical impairments can arise from malnutrition.
Rates of sexual violence in El Salvador rose by a third last year, with the majority of cases involving teenage girls.
Over 19 million children in Bangladesh are vulnerable to the forces of climate change, says a new study released this month (April) by the UNICEF.
Children in some disaster-prone regions are twice as likely to be living in chronic poverty, according to new research.
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