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World leaders rehearse for a pandemic that will come ‘sooner than we expect’
That scenario was part of a pandemic simulation held during the World Bank’s annual meeting in Washington this month. It’s not the kind of event that people would typically associate with the World Bank. But it’s the fourth such exercise the bank has helped organize in the past year, reflecting what experts say is the growing awareness outside the traditional global health sector of the increasing threat and economic disruption posed by a global pandemic.
- Categories
- Health Care
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What India can learn from Africa’s fight against Ebola, via a health summit in Sweden
While science and data must drive global health policies, making the messages relatable is equally vital.
India, which is facing its own communication challenges when dealing with both infectious and chronic health threats, needs lessons in cultural contextualization.- Categories
- Health Care
- Region
- South Asia
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Drug-resistant malaria is spreading, but experts clash over its global risk
The outspoken head of the Mahidol group, Nicholas White, has urged the World Health Organization (WHO) in Geneva, Switzerland, to declare a Public Health Emergency of International Concern, a designation reserved for the most serious outbreaks that pose a global threat.
- Categories
- Health Care
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More trees help water sanitation, reduce child deaths: study
The study examined the health of 300,000 children and the quality of watersheds across 35 countries including Bangladesh, Nigeria and Colombia, and found that having more trees upstream led to healthier children.
- Categories
- Environment, Health Care
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WHO launches bold plan to slash cholera deaths by 90 percent
The challenge is daunting. Three million people get cholera every year, in Asia, Africa and Haiti, and increasing urbanization and temperatures will put more people at risk. In Yemen, the biggest epidemic in modern times is now approaching 800,000 cases, and is growing. Emergency experts say a “catastrophic” outbreak looms in Rohingya refugee camps in Bangladesh.
- Categories
- Health Care
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Gates Foundation and PATH wire up health data in Africa using a novel approach
The partnership is digitizing and connecting Tanzania’s healthcare system, linking a fragmented array of databases and information sources. A unified system could dramatically improve efficiency, accountability and cost savings for a country of 45 million people that struggles with infectious diseases including HIV/AIDS.
- Categories
- Health Care, Technology
- Region
- Sub-Saharan Africa
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Forget the Sexy ‘Innovations’: Build (and Monitor) More Water Pipes
Annie Feighery is CEO of mWater, an M&E and data management platform that is used in 147 countries to track water sources. In this insightful Q&A, she says, "The only way it is feasible to achieve global access to safe water is through systems" such as piped infrastructure and small-scale water treatment and distribution units. "The majority of the water-stressed (people) on the planet live within a kilometer of a piped network. They don’t need wells, they need to be part of the infrastructure."
- Categories
- Health Care, Technology
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Making WASH Sexy: An Often Neglected Sector Comes Into Its Own
In a social business landscape littered with apps and accelerators, WASH doesn’t come across as the sexiest of sectors. So when NextBillion launched its August focus on WASH, we editors weren’t expecting words like “hope” and “innovation” and “opportunity” to be thrown around a lot. But they were. And as the month ends, we’re feeling – dare we say it – excited about the long-term future of water, sanitation and hygiene, and about the businesses focused on improving them.
- Categories
- Health Care, Social Enterprise, WASH