World TB Day – IH CONNECT

IH News Global Health Weekly News Round-Up

March 22, 2013March 23, 2013 by Vaani, posted in News

World TB day celebrated on March 24, 2013

Politics and Policies:

Somalia signs its new Healthcare Plan. It has moved away from the emergency-level health provision towards more mainstream national health systems.
Kenya’s President elect promises much needed free primary healthcare for the citizens and raising the financing from 6-15%
Five memorandums of understandings has been signed by Egypt with South Sudan in the healthcare, livestock and agriculture sectors.
Tanzania and Japan sign Sh802 million project grant. It will help Tanzania in various sectors including health, education and water supply.
Kansas, United States, doctors may be required to tell patients that abortion causes breast cancer.

Programs:

The World Bank will help Cameroon to build safety net system aimed at reducing poverty and vulnerability. Households will get training to improve their health.
Solar power in Africa helps people to grow nutritional vegetables and improve their basic needs including health.
The United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) calls for more reproductive health resources.
UNAIDS and other health organizations support new TB and HIV initiative in Africa. It will include a package worth more than US$120 million to be used to expedite this process.
South Sudan through its community health workers detect and treat tuberculosis. This strategy is helping to fight tuberculosis draws communities themselves to detect and treat cases of tuberculosis.
UC San Francisco receives $2 million from billionaire Li K-shing for transforming its medical care by integrating data from the human genome and disease research with information from patient’s records and environmental data.

Research:

According to a study about 570 United Kingdom children start smoking every day. This has made the UK government to consider whether to introduce plain packaging for tobacco products.
According to a study published in the New England Journal of Medicine physiotherapy results are as good as knee surgery.
According to a study, as part of prevention of mother-to-child transmission of HIV virus, antiretroviral therapy has to be initiated before the last trimester of pregnancy to achieve an undetectable RNA plasma viral load before delivery.
A report of United Nation states that about four and a half billion people have access to toilet (as compared to six billion people who have access to mobile phones) of the world’s seven billion people.
Researchers are working to tackle obstacles to medical aid.
According to the World Health Organization and Global Fund Africa and Europe has not yet reached the millennium tuberculosis goal. They say that strains of tuberculosis with resistance to multiple drugs could spread widely.
According to a report by the UNICEF, about 66 million Nigerians are without portable water. It is the leading cause of diseases and deaths especially among under five aged children.
Doctors have discovered a women’s mysterious bone condition due to drinking a pitcher of tea every day for past 17 years.
Reports indicate that only 28% of Ugandans have access to hand-washing facilities. Statistics from the Uganda Demographic and Household Survey show that 190,000 Ugandan children die every year due to diarrhea.
A report publish by the World Health organization (WHO), among South-East Asia Region, Indonesia has achieved an amazing 90% success rate for TB treatment.
Scientists from the John Hopkins University have developed a new innovative method known as Predicting Infectious Disease Scalable Model (PRISM) extracts relationships between clinical, meteorological, climatic and socio-political data in Peru and the Philippines.
According to a study flu sufferers can spread the virus by sneezing, while talking, breathing by at least 6 feet.
A new method to treat blinding cornea diseases in children is now available in Singapore.
According to a study breast cancer radiation therapy increases a women’s risk of suffering a heart attack or other heart problems.
A study indicates an increase in the number of parents who won’t vaccinate daughters against Human Papilloma Virus (HPV).
A study shows that parents seem to be increasingly worried about the vaccine’s safety.
Low-GI protein blends have been designed to be eaten about 30 minutes before meals to reduce satiety is being marketed by a Swedish form Indevex. It increases release of incretin hormone which can provoke insulin release before blood glucose levels due to meal consumption.
A research done by Lund University in Sweden shows that we can modify the function of genes through epigenetic changes that can take place over the course of time.
United States tuberculosis rates reach all-time low but resistance of bacteria is a continuous threat.
Researchers have indicated that menstrual blood cells can be used to treat heart failure patients.
Researchers say that females with ovarian cancer too often get insufficient treatment.

Diseases and Disasters:

Chinese Public call for tackling water pollution.
Reports indicate that about 40 patients have lost their lives in drug trials in Maharashtra, India.
According to a report released by the CDC, from early December, 2012 to mid-February 2013, the Salmonella Typhimurium outbreak linked to ground beef had sickened a total of 22 people.
Natives of United States call for increased HIV testing per Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) recommendations.

Global Health Weekly News Round-Up

March 25, 2012 by Vaani, posted in News

World TB day celebrated on 24^th March, 2012 (Source: http://www.who.int/mediacentre/events/annual/world_tb_day/en/index.html )
World Water day was observed on March 22^nd, 2012 (Source: http://www.boston.com/bigpicture/2012/03/world_water_day_2012.html ).

Politics and Policies:

The Governor of Washington has signed a bill into law, setting rules for insurers preparing for the state’s online insurance exchange (Source: http://www.seattlepi.com/news/article/Governor-signs-insurance-exchange-bill-into-law-3430993.php ).
The World Health Organization (WHO) designated an office of Singapore’s water agency Public Utilities Board (PUB) as a collaborating center for safe drinking water management and integrated urban water management (Source: http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/world/2012-03/22/c_131483664.htm ).
The Republican-controlled House has passed a bill to abolish a Medicare cost control board created by the new health care law (Source: http://www.nytimes.com/2012/03/23/us/politics/house-votes-to-kill-a-medicare-cost-control-board.html?ref=policy ).

Programs

The World Health Organization (WHO) will grant $1 million to Ukraine for the procurement of anti-tuberculosis medicines (Source: http://www.kyivpost.com/news/nation/detail/124752/ ).
To push for accelerated progress in improving maternal, sexual and reproductive health for girls and women, a three day Women Deliver Regional Consultation will be held from March 27-28 in Kampala, Uganda (Source: http://www.ghanaweb.com/GhanaHomePage/health/artikel.php?ID=233567 ).

Research

According to a study breast cancer relapse is more common in obese females (Source: http://www.lfpress.com/life/healthandfitness/2012/03/23/19541656.html ).
A study indicates that the women recovering from breast cancer have safe and beneficial pregnancy (Source: http://www.lifesite.net/news/new-study-says-pregnancy-is-safe-even-beneficial-for-women-recovering-from ).
In a study the scientists proved that breast cancer test can predict survival rate and aid in treatment (Source: http://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/2012/03/22/breast-cancer-test-predicts-survival-rate-treatment_n_1372186.html ).
A research shows a link between poor dental hygiene behaviors and risk of developing endocarditis (Source: http://www.banglanews24.com/English/detailsnews.php?nssl=67777aed059b79871ae1be572bcd107c&nttl=2012032236313 ).
A study done in Finland show that people who lived alone bought more anti-depressants (Source: http://www.medicaldaily.com/news/20120323/9355/depression-living-alone-mental-health-family.htm ).
Eating more blueberries, apples and pears may be linked to lower risk of diabetes (Source: http://www.foxnews.com/health/2012/03/19/blueberries-and-apples-tied-to-lower-diabetes-risk/ ).
A recent study rejects the previously thought association of prostate cancer risk with variants of geneTP₅₃AIP₁(Source: http://www.plosone.org/article/info%3Adoi%2F10.1371%2Fjournal.pone.0034128 ).
Scientists reveal that patients with a greater number of oligomers in the cerebrospinal fluid have a more pronounced Alzheimer’s disease (Source: http://www.emaxhealth.com/11394/scientist-find-link-between-protein-and-alzheimers ).
Eating cadmium in food might augment the threat for breast cancer (Source: http://www.healblog.net/toxin-in-foods-augment-breast-cancer-likelihood ).
Scientists have found that ultrasound is a new and better way to remove breast cancer tumors (Source: http://www.dailyrecord.co.uk/news/health-news/2012/03/24/new-method-to-remove-breast-cancer-tumours-simple-safe-and-effective-86908-23800122/ ).
In a randomized controlled trial, the scientists have proved that Zymaderm is an effective treatment for Molluscum contagiosum (Source: http://www.prweb.com/releases/2012/3/prweb9316545.htm ).
Scientists from the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious disease have reported two well-known cancer drugs – Gleevec and Tasigna- that prevented Ebola virus from replicating in a lab colony of human kidney cells (Source: http://www.nytimes.com/2012/03/20/health/advances-suggest-possible-cures-for-ebola-and-marburg-virus.html?_r=1&ref=policy ).
A study finds a different way of removing placenta during the child birth to prevent women from dying due to postpartum hemorrhage (Source: http://www.nytimes.com/2012/03/13/health/study-says-umbilical-cord-shouldnt-be-pulled-during-labor.html?ref=policy ).
In a long-term study, the researchers have found that the rate of cognitive decline in older patients is more than doubled after a hospital stay (Source: http://newoldage.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/03/23/after-hospitalization-mental-trouble-for-elderly-patients/?ref=policy ).

Diseases & Disasters

Swine Flu hits India, kills 14 people (Source: http://health.india.com/news/india-swine-flu-h1n1-update-14-dead-over-150-cases/ ).
A 7.4- magnitude earthquake struck Mexico on March 20, between Acapulco and Oaxaca (Source: http://abcnews.go.com/International/magnitude-74-earthquake-shakes-mexico/story?id=15963259 ).
Lyme disease spreading in Canada (Source: http://www.scientificamerican.com/article.cfm?id=lyme-disease-pushes-northwards ).
The top 10 list compiled from the Rhode Island Department of Labor indicates asbestos-related occupations are the deadliest jobs here (Source: http://www.asbestos.com/news/2012/03/23/asbestos-occupations-on-rhode-islands-deadliest-jobs/ ).

Global Health News Last Week

March 29, 2011August 13, 2015 by ihsection, posted in News

From March 28 to April 1, panelists working in Canada, Uganda, the United States, and Zambia will lead a discussion in GHDonline.org on ways to build sustainable partnerships to strengthen surgical and anesthesia capacity in resource-poor settings. More information can be found here.

March 22 was World Water Day. Blogger Tom Murphy has collected some interesting videos on PSI’s blog here.
Elizabeth Taylor, Hollywood icon and longtime advocate for the fight against HIV/AIDS, passed away on March 23 at age 78.
March 24 was World TB Day.

POLICY

China, the world’s largest tobacco producer and home to a third of all smokers, has issued a national ban on smoking in hotels, restaurants and other indoor public spaces.
Fears are growing among HIV/AIDS sufferers in the Ukraine amid claims from some patients that they have been denied life-saving medicines by authorities during a crackdown on drug substitution therapy.
The WHO has announced a list of 30 essential medicines for treating common diseases of mothers and children that can be used as the basis for procurement and supply of medicines and guide local medicine production.

RESEARCH

Scientists from the University of California, Berkeley (UCB), Dublin City University and Universidad de Valparaiso (Chile) have developed a self-powered, low-cost chip that can test blood samples and diagnose diseases like tuberculosis and HIV within minutes.
Researchers have discovered that capsaicin, the compound that makes jalapeños, red chilies, and the famous habanero pepper spicy, inhibit the production of cholera toxins.
Results from a recent study show that people with HIV who change antiretroviral treatment regimens due to side effects are at higher risk for developing drug resistance.
The Pakistan Medical Association’s 2011 annual report found that 400,000 infants die in the first year of their life each year and 1 out of 10 children die by the age of five.
A study by researchers from Johns Hopkins University found that child diarrhea deaths could be almost halved if currently available interventions such as breastfeeding, hand washing with soap, and improved household water treatment were widely implemented.
Global health and development blogger Amanda Makulec shares seven key ideas that she took home from the Global Health Metrics and Evaluation Conference in Seattle.

DISEASES AND DISASTERS

Despite setbacks, work continues at Japan’s Fukushima Dai-Ichi nuclear power plant. Meanwhile, in addition to radiation-contaminated vegetables, officials are now warning families to not give Tokyo tap water to infants due to elevated levels of radiation found in the water supply. The World Bank estimates that the earthquake and tsunami have caused as much as $235 billion in damage to Japan and that it will take five years for the nation to recover.
The crisis in Côte d’Ivoire continues as well, as the country’s healthcare system is strained by the violence.
Leprosy, which has been officially “eliminated” in India, still affects hundreds of thousands of people who are shunned by society. There are 130,000 new cases diagnosed in the country each year.
Leaders at the 26th Annual Conference of Alzheimer’s Disease International challenged the World Health Organization and countries around the world to take action on the dramatic surge in the global incidence of Alzheimer’s disease and dementia.

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