Author: abbhirami

Politics & Policies

Bipartisan Senate negotiators are trying to come to an agreement about boosting funding to combat Zika.

Programs

African Leaders for Nutrition is being spearheaded by the African Development Bank President to end malnutrition in Africa, where malnutrition contributes to 45 percent of all deaths in children under 5.

Research

A group of researchers mapped the global environmental suitability for Zika virus and have found that about 2.17 billion people inhabit these regions.  The Zika virus has been linked to microcephaly and Guillain-Barré syndrome.  It was first discovered in Uganda in 1947, with an outbreak in 2007 in the Federated States of Micronesia, and in 2013, it spread across other parts of Oceania, and finally, a large outbreak occurred in Brazil in 2015.

According to a recent study published in the American Journal of Preventive Medicine, higher levels of neighborhood greenness, such as trees, grass, park space, and other vegetation, were linked to a significant reduction in the rate of chronic illnesses, such as diabetes, hypertension, and high cholesterol in the older American population, especially in low-to-middle income neighborhoods.  The level of greenness was measured by vegetative presence via NASA satellite imagery.

Diseases & Disasters

April 25 is World Malaria Day.  For half the world, every day is malaria day – a day to keep up the fight against this killer disease.  Last year, malaria claimed 438,000 lives, with 214 million cases in 97 countries.

The failure of antibiotic drugs due to resistance is a very real and growing threat that, if left unchecked, could kill as many as 10 million people by 2050.

Three years after the Rana Plaza disaster in Bangladesh that killed more than 1,100 factory workers, the rights and safety of workers are in greater focus, but progress in fixing problems in the supply chain is slow, according to experts and activists.

Sanofi and its vaccines global business unit Sanofi Pasteur, announced recently that the Strategic Advisory Group of Experts on Immunization (SAGE) has issued its recommendations to the World Health Organization (WHO) on the use of its dengue vaccine.

A 7.8 magnitude earthquake hit Ecuador,  killing at least 238 people and wounding 1,550 people.  The earthquake is similar in magnitude to the 1906 San Francisco earthquake that killed over 3,000 people and destroyed over three quarters of the city.  It is the biggest earthquake to hit the country in decades.  A one point increase in magnitude is equal to ten times the size of the earthquake because the Richter scale is logarithmic.

A second earthquake hit Ecuador just days after the initial 7.8 earthquake.  This time a 6.1 magnitude earthquake hit the country and damages are estimated at $2 to $3 billion, according to the President of Ecuador.

A 7.3 magnitude earthquake hit Japan close to the city of Kumamoto, which was hit earlier by a 6.4 magnitude earthquake.  At least 42 people have died and more than 1,000 people have been injured.  These are the biggest earthquakes to hit Japan since the 9.0 magnitude earthquake in 2011.

In an effort to end polio worldwide, more than 155 countries and territories will be switching to a different polio vaccine, as the largest and fastest globally synchronized switching of a vaccine moves forward.

Technology

The Drugs for Neglected Diseases initiative will be testing an affordable hepatitis C regimen in Malaysia and Thailand.

Sisu Global Health, a Baltimore medical device maker for the developing world, received a $200,000 investment from the Abell Foundation.

Environmental Health

More than 170 countries signed the Paris Agreement climate change  accord on Friday, April 22 in New York.  It was the largest gathering of governments for a signing ceremony and it marks a strong international commitment to deliver on the promises made in Paris last December to avoid a climate disaster.  The agreement will come into force once 55 countries representing 55% of the global greenhouse gas emissions approve the agreement in their countries.

April 22 is Earth Day.  The first Earth Day was celebrated in 1970 in the US and it is organized by the Earth Day Network.  This year it coincides with the signing of the Paris agreement and because it is observed in many countries, the United Nations General Assembly designed April 22 as International Mother Earth Day in 2009.

The British Petroleum (BP) oil spill, which was the largest oil spill in US history, affected more shoreline than originally thought.  Scientists from the federal government’s National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and several private research companies found oil along 1,313 miles out of 5,930 miles of surveyed shoreline after the spill, an increase of 19 percent from previously published estimates.  BP agreed to pay $18.7 billion to settle all federal and state claims arising from the 2010 Deepwater Horizon oil spill, including the biggest pollution penalty in US history.

Equity & Disparities

The National Institute on Minority and Health Disparities (NIMHD) will be researching disparities in surgical outcomes for disadvantaged populations.  As much as 11-30 percent of the global burden of disease requires surgical care or anesthesia management or both.  The research program builds on the concerted efforts of the American College of Surgeons and its affiliates to improve access, quality and safe surgical care for all population groups.

A medical student describes a recent trip to North Korea to provide medical care as part of the biannual medical service trips to Pyongyang, which is led by a Korean-American neurosurgeon. The trips include surgeries, public health interventions, technical support, and local capacity building.  Ultimately, the trips are about fostering peaceful, academic, and service-driven engagement with North Korea.

Only one in four adults and one in 10 children living with HIV in West and Central Africa have access to antiretroviral (ARV) drugs, compared to almost half of HIV sufferers in Eastern and Southern Africa.  Unless ARV drugs are more readily available to those in the West and Central African regions, the UNAIDS program to help curb the HIV epidemic by 2020 will fail.

Global News Round Up is produced by the communications team

Politics & Policies

Mathematical disease modeling can help policymakers during their decision making process when epidemics like Ebola and Zika occur.  The Fogarty International Center recently hosted a meeting between scientists at the center and government officials from the U.S. in order to foster closer collaboration between academia and the government.

The United Nations High-Level Meeting on Ending AIDS, which will be held in New York on June 8-10, will bring out the importance of political leaders meeting ambitious goals to help end the AIDS epidemic and the need for civil society to set demands and hold government accountable for their stances and promises.

Programs

The 69th World Health Assembly (WHA) will be held in Geneva, Switzerland on May 18-26.  WHA is the decision making body of the World Health Organization (WHO) and is attended by delegations from all WHO Member States and focuses on a specific health agenda prepared by the Executive Board. The main functions of the WHA are to determine the policies of the Organization, appoint the Director-General, supervise financial policies, and review and approve the proposed programme budget.  As the world looks to 2030, and prepares to meet the challenges of an ambitious set of Sustainable Development Goals, WHO is developing three global health sector strategies to cover: HIV/AIDS, viral hepatitis, and sexually transmitted infections.  The strategies will cover the years 2016-2021 and will be finalized for consideration during the meeting.

The Consortium of Universities for Global Health (CUGH) Conference was held in San Francisco April 9-11.  It is the largest academic global health conference in the U.S. and this year’s theme was: “Bridging to a Sustainable Future for Global Health.”

Research

A new study published in The Lancet has estimated the worldwide trends in diabetes since 1980 using data from 751 studies including nearly 4.4 million adults from 146 of the 200 countries. The results show that since 1980 the age-adjusted prevalence rates of diabetes has either increased or remained unchanged in every country. The study also shows that there has been a quadrupling of the number of people with diabetes owing to population growth and an aging population. Burden of diabetes has increased faster in LMICs (low-middle income countries) than in high-income countries.

The United Nations agencies have released the latest Global Report on Urban Health. The report presents new data on the health of city-dwellers from nearly 100 countries with a special analysis on the impact of health inequities on the Millennium Development Goals achievement.

Diseases & Disasters

A strain of malaria called Plasmodium   knowlesi found in Southeast Asian Macaque     monkeys has the potential to become a major human disease.  In Borneo, Malaysia the “monkey malaria” has become the most common form of malaria diagnosed in the hospitals.  Symptoms are very similar to those found in the other five types of malaria strains and patients respond to standard malaria treatment upon early diagnosis. Current research is focusing on whether this strain of malaria can have the potential of being easily transmitted from human to human in the future because it is normally a zoonotic (animal to human transmission) disease.

The yellow fever epidemic that started in Angola in December has spread to Democratic Republic of Congo, where there have been 51 deaths. While steps are being taken to curb the epidemic, with the complete depletion of emergency stockpile of vaccines there is a global vaccine shortage.

Technology

A handful of researchers are separately working on inexpensive, paper-based diagnostic tests that accurately pinpoint the cause of a disease in minutes and could speed up treatment and prevent its spread.

Environmental Health

More than 100 countries, including the world’s top four polluters, plan on signing the Paris Agreement on climate change during a ceremony in New York at the United Nations on April 22.  Among them is India, which plans to provide electricity to every village by 2017 and every household by 2019.  Approximately 300 million Indians do not have access to electricity.  Rich countries are committed to helping developing countries with at least $200 billion per year starting in 2020 to help them meet their goals, however, there is opposition from the Third World Network, which cautions the poorer nations to reconsider signing until the financial commitment by the richer countries is fulfilled.  Carbon Brief estimates developing countries will need about $3.5 trillion by 2030 to implement their plans.

Equity & Disparities

Analysis of the data from the Global Adult Tobacco Survey conducted in 5 countries between 2011 and 2012 shows that the socially and economically disadvantaged populations are at greater risk of tobacco usage. Their results show that risk for tobacco use was considerably lower in women when compared to men and among people who were better educated. These results call for interventions that specifically focus on these vulnerable populations.

The Global Food Security Act—HR 1567—was passed by the house. The bill authorizes “a comprehensive, strategic approach for U.S. foreign assistance to developing countries to reduce poverty and hunger, achieve food security and improved nutrition, promote inclusive, sustainable agricultural-led economic growth, improve nutritional outcomes, especially for women and children and build resilience among vulnerable populations.”

Politics & Policies

A report by The Johns Hopkins – Lancet Commission on Public Health and International Drug Policy calls for governments to reevaluate policies on the global war on drugs.  The report argues the policies have negatively contributed to public health, human rights, and development, while minimally impacting the drug markets or drug use among drug offenders.  It calls for a focus on scientifically based evidence and public health during policy discussions.

Programs

The 21st International AIDS Conference will be held from July 18-22 in Durban, South Africa.  This year’s theme: Access Equity Rights Now.

Research

A new PLOS (Public Library of Science) collection named “Grand Convergence: Aligning Technologies and Realities in Global Health” argues that we may be able to save  10 million lives per year in one generation from HIV/AIDS, tuberculosis, malaria, maternal and infant deaths, and neglected tropical diseases, which are conditions that disproportionately affect the world’s poorest.

The Zika virus, which was first detected in Brazil in 2013, may have been brought by visitors to the country during the 2013 Confederations Cup soccer tournament, according to a paper published in Science.  The researchers sequenced the genome of the virus samples taken from infected patients in an attempt to retrace the virus’ route.

A study published in Science Translational Medicine has shown promise for a new experimental dengue vaccine called TV003.  Because dengue is caused by the same family of viruses that cause Zika, the success of TV003 may translate to a Zika virus vaccine.

Diseases & Disasters

The worst yellow fever outbreak in 30 years in the African country of Angola has infected more than 450 people and caused 178 deaths.  Yellow fever is caused by the same Aedes aegypti mosquito that transmits the Zika virus.  Symptoms include fever, headache, muscle pain, nausea, vomiting, and fatigue.  Vaccination is recommended and although the World Health Organization (WHO) has vaccinated 5.7 million people in the capital city of Luanda, vaccines are still in short supply.  Angola is one of 34 African countries where yellow fever is present.

March 24 is World Tuberculosis (TB) Day.  Although TB is treatable and preventable, it infects almost a third of the world population and it kills about 1.5 million people annually.  A century has passed since the scientific discovery of the bacterium that causes TB, but it remains one of the world’s most deadliest infectious disease. The global health community has called for the eradication of TB by 2035.

Middle East respiratory syndrome coronavirus (MERS-CoV), which was first reported in Saudi Arabia in 2012, has infected 4 more individuals, with 1 death reported. There has been 1,698 confirmed infections and 609 deaths, with 26 countries reporting cases of infection.   Symptoms include fever, cough and shortness of breath. Pneumonia is common, but not always present. Gastrointestinal symptoms, including diarrhea, have also been reported.  About 36% of patients have died from MERS-CoV and there is currently no vaccine.  Treatment is supportive based on clinical findings and camels may play role in the disease process.

Technology

In an effort to explore cost effective ways of reducing waiting times for HIV testing of infants, the Government of Malawi and UNICEF have started testing the use of Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs or drones). UAVs have been previously used in surveillance and assessments during disasters.

Environmental Health

Environmental factors associated with industrialization may play a role in the rise of inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) or Crohn’s disease in parts of Asia, where the disease has been virtually nonexistent.  Both the Asia-Pacific Crohn’s and Colitis Epidemiology Study (ACCESS) and the Genetics, Environmental, Microbial (GEM) Project aims to study the factors that may contribute to the development of Crohn’s disease. The complex nature of the disease has left researchers with many unanswered questions.

Although 195 nations agreed on a climate change deal in December to reduce  greenhouse gas emissions, a paper in the Atmospheric Chemistry and Physics outlines a much sooner prediction of catastrophic effects due to global warming such as rising global sea levels due to large-scale melting of polar ice sheets, flooding of coastal cities, such as New York, London, Rio de Janeiro, Shanghai, and storms of great magnitude not seen before, unless there is significant cuts in greenhouse gas emissions soon across the globe.  Mainstream climatologists disagree with the timeline.

In order to stop the spread of spruce bark beetle, Poland has approved a large-scale logging in the Białowieża forest, despite opposition from scientists, ecologists, and the European Union.  The Białowieża forest spans 150,000 hectares (2.47 acres) and is home to 20,000 animal species and has been untouched for more than 10,000 years.

A study by the Nanyang Technological University’s S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies (RSIS) noted that variations in food production around the world due to climate events are likely to become more intense and frequent, which could impact food supply in countries like Singapore that imports most of their food from other countries.

The findings published in the annual report by the UN Environment Program, the Frankfurt School, and the Bloomberg New Energy Finance states that nations in the world invested a record $286 billion in renewable energy development in 2015.  China led in the amount invested at $103 billion, while other developing countries, including India and Brazil, invested $156 billion.