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Africa: Early Childhood Survival Improving Globally
More children are surviving their early years and maturing into adolescence than in the past, and the international community is celebrating the progress. The World Health Organization (WHO), UNICEF and the United Nations' Population Division report data September 13 showing that child deaths worldwide were down by almost half in 2012 as compared to 1990. More than 12 million children under age 5 died, mostly from preventable causes, in 1990. In 2012, the annual number of young deaths was down to 6.6 million.
- Categories
- Health Care
- Region
- Sub-Saharan Africa
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A ‘fishy’ way to prevent dengue
The Asian Development Bank and the World Health Organization have found their latest weapon against dengue-carrying mosquitoes: larvae-eating guppy fish. A recent trial study in select villages in Cambodia and Laos found out dengue cases can be significantly reduced by putting the fish in water tanks and containers near the stagnant water areas where the insects thrive especially during the rainy season.
- Categories
- Agriculture, Health Care
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Mortality rate in Latin America and Caribbean drops
With the exception of young men, most people in Latin America and the Caribbean are living much longer today than 40 years ago. The mortality rate has dropped by at least 80 percent for children 4 years old or younger and by more than 50 percent for women between the ages of 20 and 44. For men between the ages of 15 and 19, however, the mortality rate has increased by 1 percent, largely due to deaths from road injuries and rising violence.
- Categories
- Health Care
- Region
- Latin America
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Polio in Somalia: UN warns of ‘explosive’ outbreak
The UN has warned of a severe outbreak of polio in Somalia, days after a medical charity pulled out of the country, citing insecurity.
- Categories
- Health Care
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What went wrong with India’s TB control
The story today is a far cry from the 1960s, when we led the developing countries’ fight against the disease
- Categories
- Health Care
- Region
- South Asia
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Incredulity turns to praise as malaria vaccine posts positive PhI data
In the 1970s, experiments showed that volunteers developed immunity from malaria after irradiated infected mosquitoes bit them thousands of times.
- Categories
- Health Care
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An Extinction to Celebrate
The other month, in South Sudan, I sat with a nine-year-old named Nakal twice a day. She had come from the Mogos containment-care center, in Eastern Equatoria, where, for two weeks, she was tortured by a guinea worm emerging from her right knee.
- Categories
- Health Care
- Region
- Sub-Saharan Africa
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Africa: Response to Polio Outbreaks Shows Global Eradication Plan Is Working
Just as we were seeing record-low cases of polio worldwide and coming closer than ever to eradication, 105 new cases of wild polio have been identified in Kenya and Somalia, raising new concerns about low coverage and inaccessible populations in that area. While the outbreaks are undoubtedly a setback, the Global Polio Eradication Initiative (GPEI) had anticipated that sporadic cases would occur in vulnerable settings during the final push for polio eradication, and it's noteworthy that the situation has been met with one of the quickest and most effective emergency responses to date.
- Categories
- Health Care
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