http://gh.websedgemedia.com Mon, 21 May 2012 01:17:05 +0100 en-uk /webmedia/logo.jpg http://gh.websedgemedia.com http://gh.websedgemedia.com/articles/the_potential_impact_of_an_aids_vaccine_in_uganda/
The study modeled a number of scenarios involving different levels of vaccine effectiveness and population coverage in Uganda. For example, the model shows that a vaccine that was only 50% effective and administered to 30% of the adult Ugandan population could reduce the total number of infections by 40%.

The modeling study was carried out by the Makerere University School of Public Health, with support from the International AIDS Vaccine Initiative and the Futures Institute. The publication can be found at http://www.iavi.org

News brought to you by Global Health TV, connecting health communities]]> Tue, 12 Jan 2010 16:31:15 +0000 http://gh.websedgemedia.com/articles/hiv_patients_in_delhi_to_get_free_bus_travel/
Officials in the Indian capital are planning to offer free bus travel only on services operated by the Delhi Transport Corporation (DTC).

The move was agreed on during a meeting of the Delhi State Aids Council, which is chaired by health and family welfare minister, Kiran Walia.

She said: "HIV/Aids patients and their attendants will be allowed free travel in DTC buses to antiretroviral treatment (ART) centres and hospitals for check-up and treatment.

"The patient will be provided with BPL cards for this purpose. We are also in the process of ensuring that the patients get to avail free tests without having to spend money on diagnostics for opportunistic infections."

Ms Walia concluded that the council plans to approach the Delhi Metro Rail Corporation, the body that is managing the construction of the new underground system in the city, to allow HIV and Aids sufferers to travel for free. ]]> Fri, 08 Jan 2010 09:27:05 +0000 HIV/AIDS http://gh.websedgemedia.com/articles/africa_and_asia_account_for_11_in_13_premature_births,_who_reports_/
It is currently estimated that around ten per cent of all births worldwide are premature, though this latest data released by the UN agency shows that women carrying a child in the developed world are significantly more likely to go through to a full term than women in the developing world.

In particular, the WHO's latest reproductive health figures show southern Africa to be a hotspot for premature births, with 17.5 per cent of all global cases occurring in this region, while Central Asia accounts for 3.8 per cent.

Notably, poverty and a lack of comprehensive healthcare mean that, while babies being born at 32 weeks developed countries are now just as likely to survive as those born at full term, in the developing world, being born at 32 weeks remains effectively a death sentence.

Commenting, Dr Lale Say of the WHO Department of Reproductive Health and Research, said: "Considering the dramatic rise in preterm births over the past 20 years shown in countries with accurate data, preterm birth continues to represent a significant health problem.

"Improving access to effective care, in particular in developing countries, must remain a priority."

Meanwhile, the Manila Bulletin has reported that a new reproductive health clinic is set to be opened in Davao City in the Philippines after several years of heated debate.

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]]> Thu, 07 Jan 2010 10:10:43 +0000 CHILD AND MATERNAL HEALTH HIV/AIDS http://gh.websedgemedia.com/articles/zimbabwe_health_minister_pledges_to_step_up_art_drug_availability_/
At present, while it is estimated that around 400,000 men, women and children could benefit from the life-prolonging drugs, just 180,000 are receiving the treatment.

In addition to severe poverty across the country, such a situation is also being made worse by a poorly-functioning national health system, making the delivery of medicines highly difficult in many parts.

However, Zimbabwe's health minister Henry Madzorera has stated that plans are in place to work with international aid organisations to step up the fight against the disease in 2010 and beyond.

"The need to improve anti-retroviral drug distribution is on top of government's priority list and (by end of this year) 300 000 people living with HIV will be able to access the life saving drugs," he told the country's independent news agency ZimOnline.

He also pledged to ensure that people living with HIV do not need to travel more than eight kilometres to collect ART drugs by the end of this year.

Retarded economic growth and high levels of poverty are seen as being among the main reasons behind the high levels of HIV/AIDS cases in sub-Saharan Africa, with one in three deaths from the condition currently occurring here.

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]]> Thu, 07 Jan 2010 10:09:45 +0000 CHILD AND MATERNAL HEALTH HIV/AIDS http://gh.websedgemedia.com/articles/uk_government_urged_'to_make_good_on_foreign_aid_promise'_/
Marking 40 years since UN nations pledged to give at least 0.7 per cent of their respective national incomes over to foreign aid, so as to combat hunger and disease, Oxfam has held a 'birthday celebration' to highlight the fact the UK is still nowhere near to fulfilling this.

The charity has also pointed out that 2010 represents the tenth anniversary of the introduction of the Millennium Development Goals, with again much still to be done to fulfill the aims of eradicating poverty and hunger and reducing child mortality rates from preventable diseases.

"If all of the UN member countries came good on their promise to give 0.7 per cent every year, potentially millions of lives would be saved around the developing world," Malcolm Fleming, Oxfam Scotland's campaigns manager told the Herald.

"The government has since set a target of 2013 to reach 0.7 per cent but they must take huge steps towards achieving that in 2010," he added.

These comments come just days after the world's aid charities marked the fifth anniversary of the Asian tsunami.

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]]> Wed, 06 Jan 2010 10:07:00 +0000 OTHER CHILD AND MATERNAL HEALTH HIV/AIDS http://gh.websedgemedia.com/articles/head_of_us_aids_mission_focuses_on_long-term_planning_/
Citing the need to adapt the global fight against the disease to reflect the broad nature of the challenge at hand, Obama appointee Eric Goosby placed addressing underlying underlying health problems in African and Asian countries as the main part of his new five-year plan for the President's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR).

Specifically, future funding will go more towards bolstering national healthcare progammes in general, rather than those focusing just on HIV and AIDS, while money will be invested in training more localised healthcare workers.

"We've created a very good start at what was an emergency response. We now need to move that emergency response into a sustained response," Mr Goosby said in an interview with Reuters.

He also stressed, however: "We are still responding to an emergency in no uncertain terms. It is still killing millions of people."

Around three in four AIDS-related deaths currently occur in sub-Saharan Africa.

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]]> Wed, 06 Jan 2010 10:06:17 +0000 OTHER HIV/AIDS CHILD AND MATERNAL HEALTH http://gh.websedgemedia.com/articles/china_struggling_with_rise_in_drug-resistant_tb_cases_/
At present, the country has the second-highest number of TB cases in the world, after India, with the country struggling to cope with a rise in drug-resistant forms of the disease.

Although the World Health Organisation (WHO) recommends that all TB treatment be provided free of charge, tens of thousands of Chinese are unable to afford medication.

Failing to finish a course of treatment before the bacteria is fully eliminated exacerbating the problem by enabling the disease to mutate and become resistant to standard, affordable, drugs.

"When these patients infect others, the others will get drug-resistant TB," Lin Yan, China's in-country director for the International Union Against TB and Lung Disease explained to Reuters.

"That increases the cost of treating that person and increases the chances of him not recovering."

It is currently estimated that around a third of the world's population are infected with M tuberculosis, with one new infection occurring every second.

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]]> Wed, 06 Jan 2010 10:05:40 +0000 OTHER HIV/AIDS TB CHILD AND MATERNAL HEALTH http://gh.websedgemedia.com/articles/malaria_expert_given_award/
Professor Alan Cowman was awarded the 2010 Howard Taylor Ricketts Award by the University of Chicago.

The honour recognises outstanding achievements and accomplishments in the medical science industry.

Professor Cowman has studied parasites which cause malaria for the last 30 years.

His work has focused on the Plasmodium falciparum, which causes the most deadly strain of the disease.

He said that the award was a "very nice surprise and a great honour".

Professor Cowman added: "Malaria presents an enormous health burden but also has a major impact on social and economic development in countries where the disease is endemic. New therapies are urgently needed."

Latest figures the Health Ministry have this week shown that cases of malaria topped 69,000 in Cambodia during the first 11 months of 2009.

The statistics also revealed a rise in the number of instances of dengue in the country during the year in comparison with 2008.

News brought to you by Global Health TV, connecting health communities]]> Tue, 05 Jan 2010 09:44:50 +0000 MALARIA OTHER HIV/AIDS TB CHILD AND MATERNAL HEALTH http://gh.websedgemedia.com/articles/scientists_make_molecule_hiv_link/
Experts at San Francisco's Gladstone Institute believe they may have discovered a way of preventing infections.

The researchers have proposed that the surfen synthetic molecule may be able to block sexual transmission of HIV.

Dr Warner Greene, senior author of the study, told HealthDay News: "Surprisingly, although HIV readily replicates once inside the body, the virus struggles to establish a beachhead of infection during sexual transmission."

He added that the experts have been examining SEVI, which is a protein found in semen that can make HIV more infectious.

Dr Greene suggested that greater knowledge of surfen, and in turn SEVI, could result in scientists being able to make developments which lead to the lowering of HIV transmissions.

Earlier this week, the US announced that it had lifted its travel restriction on people with HIV or Aids.

Under the previous system, people with the infections were unable to enter the country.

News brought to you by Global Health TV, connecting health communities]]> Tue, 05 Jan 2010 09:42:29 +0000 MALARIA HIV/AIDS OTHER TB CHILD AND MATERNAL HEALTH http://gh.websedgemedia.com/articles/cambodian_malaria_infections_increase/
Latest figures from the Health Ministry showed cases of dengue were up by 22 per cent compared to 2008.

This meant that more than 11,000 people suffered from the disease in Cambodia in 2009.

Meanwhile, preliminary figures suggested that in the 11 months to November 2009 there were more than 69,000 cases of malaria in the country.

Dr Doung Socheat, the director of Cambodia's malaria programme, suggested that the mobility and development of the nation may be playing a part in these rates.

He said: "We have a lot of movement of population, especially headed to the west of the country, which led to more cases [of malaria].

"Cambodia is a developing country and dengue fever is very closely related to development. With construction sites you get [stagnant water]."

Last week, Associated Press reported that a new form of malaria was prevalent in the Thai-Cambodian border village of O'treng.

News brought to you by Global Health TV, connecting health communities]]> Tue, 05 Jan 2010 09:40:26 +0000 MALARIA HIV/AIDS OTHER TB CHILD AND MATERNAL HEALTH http://gh.websedgemedia.com/articles/us_removes_hiv/aids_travel_restriction/
Under the previous ruling, which had stood for 22 years, individuals with the infections were unable to enter the country.

However, President Obama has now lifted the restriction, suggesting that it does not fit with the nation's plans to be a major force in fighting the disease.

Rachel Tiven, head of Immigration Equality, told the BBC that the ban could have affected a major event which aims to raise awareness and help tackle HIV and Aids.

She said: "The 2012 World Aids Conference, due to be held in the US, was in jeopardy as a result of the restrictions. It's now likely to go ahead as planned."

Ms Tiven also told the BBC that the move to lift the travel restriction was overdue.

The decision to remove the ban was first announced last year and was backed by the United Nations, which urged all other countries with similar restrictions to consider lifting them.

News brought to you by Global Health TV, connecting health communities]]> Mon, 04 Jan 2010 09:40:36 +0000 HIV/AIDS MALARIA OTHER TB CHILD AND MATERNAL HEALTH http://gh.websedgemedia.com/articles/kenyan_malaria_fight_on_'shaky_ground'/
Cosmas Butunyi, writing for the Daily Nation, said that the country is on "shaky ground" when it comes to the disease.

The article pointed to World Health Organization figures which showed the nation's dependence on funding to help fight malaria.

Mr Butunyi commented that Kenya may be about to be turned down in its application to the Global Fund, which could severely affect the country's malaria strategy.

Dr Andrew Githeko, a senior researcher at the Kenya Medical Research Institute, told the news provider that the nation cannot tackle medical issues effectively under the current system.

He said: "The burden is so huge that the country cannot afford to tackle the diseases by itself."

Last week, scientists from the UK Department for International Development warned that climate change could make people more likely to develop diseases such as malaria in the future.

News brought to you by Global Health TV, connecting health communities]]> Mon, 04 Jan 2010 09:36:06 +0000 HIV/AIDS MALARIA OTHER TB CHILD AND MATERNAL HEALTH http://gh.websedgemedia.com/articles/swine_flu:_children_most_at_risk/ ]]> Thu, 31 Dec 2009 16:08:06 +0000 OTHER INFECTIOUS DISEASES HIV/AIDS MALARIA OTHER TB CHILD AND MATERNAL HEALTH http://gh.websedgemedia.com/articles/malaria_warning_issued/
People living in certain districts on Mount Kenya are now seven times more likely to develop the disease than they were ten years ago.

That is according to research funded by the UK Department for International Development.

Some outbreaks of malaria can be attributed to a number of factors, however, on Mount Kenya, the only change recorded has been a rise in the average temperature, the scientists explained.

International development secretary Douglas Alexander commented that the Kenyan outbreak could be a sign of things to come.

He said: "Without strong and urgent action to tackle climate change, malaria could infect areas without any experience of the disease.

"That's why we need to make sure vulnerable, developing nations such as Kenya have the support they need to tackle the potentially devastating impacts of climate change."

Official statistics have shown that there are currently around 2,000 cases of malaria brought into the UK every year.]]> Thu, 31 Dec 2009 16:06:40 +0000 OTHER INFECTIOUS DISEASES MALARIA HIV/AIDS OTHER TB CHILD AND MATERNAL HEALTH http://gh.websedgemedia.com/articles/scientists_raise_malaria_concerns/
That is according to scientists from the Kenyan Medical Research Institute.

During a study, which was funded by the British government, the researchers found that in some districts of Mount Kenya, people are now seven times more likely to catch the potentially fatal disease than they were ten years ago.

The scientists were concerned by these particular outbreaks as the communities living at these high altitudes typically have little or no immunity to malaria.

International development secretary Douglas Alexander said: "The spread of malaria in the Mount Kenya region is a worrying sign of things to come."

He added: "Without strong and urgent action to tackle climate change, malaria could infect areas without any experience of the disease. That's why we need to make sure vulnerable, developing nations such as Kenya have the support they need to tackle the potentially devastating impacts of climate change."

According to the research team, although in some cases malaria outbreaks can be attributed to numerous factors, the only change on Mount Kenya over the past decade had been a rise in temperature.

News brought to you by Global Health TV, connecting health communities]]> Thu, 31 Dec 2009 10:10:48 +0000 MALARIA http://gh.websedgemedia.com/articles/london_borough_is_worst_in_the_west_for_tb/
Newham, east London, is said to have 108 diagnoses of the disease for every 100,000 people living there, according to figures published in the New Scientist.

This is more than the number of cases recorded in Russia and twice the current tuberculosis rate in India, the Daily Mail reported.

Last year, there were nearly 3,000 fresh diagnoses of the disease, which is more than twice the number recorded in New York.

Responding to the figures, public health expert Dr John Watson called on medical chiefs to introduce more effective screenings for people entering the UK.

He told the newspaper: "I am concerned about the rise in TB generally, and particularly in certain parts of the country such as London."

Dr Watson added: "We recognise that there are parts of the system that are not as effective as they could be. We need to look at ways of addressing this that are sensible and humane."

New figures haves shown that fresh cases of tuberculosis rose by 10.6 per cent in England and Wales last year.]]> Wed, 30 Dec 2009 11:05:50 +0000 TB MALARIA OTHER INFECTIOUS DISEASES HIV/AIDS OTHER http://gh.websedgemedia.com/articles/who_issues_h1n1_flu_pandemic_warning/
That is according to World Health Organization (WHO) chief Margaret Chan.

Ms Chan was responding to allegations made by some countries that the international pandemic was over.

She said: "I think it is too premature and too early for us to say we have come to an end of the pandemic influenza worldwide.

"It would be prudent and appropriate for WHO together with our member states to continue to monitor the evolution of this pandemic for the next six to 12 months."

Ms Chan explained that it is dangerous to become complacent with regards to the spread of the virus as pandemic influenza is very unpredictable.

Latest statistics from the WHO have shown that the estimated death toll recorded two weeks ago was some 11,000.

According to figures published by the NHS, there have been 298 deaths as a result of the virus in the UK.]]> Wed, 30 Dec 2009 10:32:38 +0000 OTHER TB MALARIA OTHER INFECTIOUS DISEASES HIV/AIDS http://gh.websedgemedia.com/articles/village_hit_by_new_malaria_strain/
O'treng, which is located on the Thai-Cambodian border, has proved resistant to numerous treatments that scientists have put onto the market to fight the disease, Associated Press reported.

According to the news provider, the strain of malaria is now showing signs of being able to beat Artemisinin, which is thought to be the last affordable drug available to the people in the region.

Dr Nick White, a malaria expert at the Mahidol University in Bangkok, told Associated Press about the major health problem on the horizon should all treatments prove to be ineffective.

He said: "We know that children have been dying in Africa - millions of children have died over the past three decades - and a lot of those deaths have been attributed to drug resistance. And we know that the drug resistance came from the same place."

Last week, a new report looked into the ways in which malaria parasites move through the body, concluding that gliding and cohesion periods are used during the journey through red blood cells.

News brought to you by Global Health TV, connecting health communities]]> Tue, 29 Dec 2009 09:42:21 +0000 MALARIA OTHER TB OTHER INFECTIOUS DISEASES HIV/AIDS http://gh.websedgemedia.com/articles/report_maps_parasite_movement/
The research, which is published in the Cell Host and Microbe journal, aimed to give a detailed overview of this process.

Carried out by a team of experts at Heidelberg University's department of infectious disease, the study found that plasmodia, the parasites that enter the body through mosquito bites and cause malaria, use active movements to travel through the bloodstream.

The parasites then spread to the liver, using a method which involves filaments travelling through the body, past numerous adhesion points.

Dr Friedrich Frischknecht, leader of the research, said: "The parasite can stretch forward while still attaching with its rear end - thus building up elastic energy. At the moment when the rear adhesion is detached, energy is released and the sporozoite glides forward rapidly."

Earlier this week, a study claimed that the use of a mating plug on mosquitoes could prevent the spread of malaria.

News brought to you by Global Health TV, connecting health communities]]> Thu, 24 Dec 2009 10:00:31 +0000 MALARIA OTHER TB http://gh.websedgemedia.com/articles/firm_showcases_tb_equipment/
The firm has showcased its Signature Mapping TBDx (SM TBDx) diagnostic solution to healthcare officials and researchers in India.

It is hoped that the product could help to detect cases of TB.

Dr Krishna Banaudha, biochemistry and molecular biology expert from the George Washington University - School of Medicine, and Guardian's India Advisor, commented that the talks went well.

She said: "Our meetings could not have gone any better. We were most fortunate to garner the interest of very highly placed government healthcare officials, who quickly embraced the concepts of the technology and were able to envision India's TB diagnostic program in the future."

SM TBDx is tended to act as an integrated part of Indian laboratories.

Last month, technology company Shazam joined the fight against TB by launching a new app for the iPhone in conjunction with charity group (PRODUCT) RED.

News brought to you by Global Health TV, connecting health communities]]> Wed, 23 Dec 2009 09:42:35 +0000 TB MALARIA OTHER