The World Health Organization has discovered that the "AIDS virus is the leading cause of death and disease among women between the ages of 15 and 44." Indeed, "women enjoy a biological advantage because they tend to live six to eight years longer than men," WHO chief Dr. Margaret Chan pointed out. "But in many parts of the world they suffer serious disadvantages because of poverty [and] poorer access to healthcare:. The 91-page report by the organization "lays out the hurdles women face in getting the healthcare they need at various stages of life." The report said that "accidental injuries take a toll on girls and younger women," while "chronic diseases account for almost half of the deaths among older women." Dr. Chan noted, however, that the "obstacles that stand in the way of better health for women are not primarily technical or medical in nature." Rather, "they are social and political, and the two go together." Thus, the world "will not see significant progress as long as women are regarded as second-class citizens," Dr. Chan argued.
Recently in International Health Category
A new study of women’s contraceptive use around the world finds that sexually active 15-19-year-olds are more likely than their 20-49-year-old counterparts to use contraceptives inconsistently and, on average, experience a 25% higher rate of contraceptive failure. The study’s authors, Ann K. Blanc of EngenderHealth et al., believe that compared with adult women, adolescent women face more obstacles to consistent contraceptive use—including feeling embarrassed about seeking out contraceptives, not being able to afford them and not knowing how to use them correctly—and may be more likely to abandon a method and try another if they experience side effects, which often leads to gaps in contraceptive use.
Researchers are pioneering the use of DNA "barcodes" to map menacing mosquito species in West Africa that spread lymphatic filariasis, commonly known as elephantiasis. The ability to precisely identify mosquito species is a promising advance in the battle against LF, an often disfiguring disease that today threatens 1 billion people across roughly 80 countries.[ JRS Biodiversity Foundation (2009, May 4). DNA Barcoding Of Mosquito Species Deployed In Bid To End Elephantiasis. ScienceDaily.]
Global elimination of this disease appears to be possible, according to a team which includes scientists from McMaster University, Britain and the United States. During a rabies outbreak in northern Tanzania, the team of scientists was able to directly trace case-to-case transmission of rabies. From this data, they generated a detailed analysis of rabies transmission biology and found evidence for surprisingly low levels of transmission. "Achieving vaccination coverage of 60 per cent or more in dog populations in Africa is both logistically and economically feasible through annual vaccination campaigns," the scientists said in the PLoS paper. The cost of rabies both in terms of the 55,000 deaths a year and post exposure vaccination treatments is very significant, Dushoff said. "If it really is a disease that can be eliminated, our group believes we should go and get it.
According to a report from the Howard Hughes Medical; Institute Rajesh Gokhale has created a compound in his lab in India that stops tuberculosis in its tracks. In a test tube, the molecule hits four of the bacterium's crucial metabolic pathways at the same time, weakening and ultimately destroying the pathogen. While a drug based on Gokhale's ideas is still years away from human testing, it offers a measure of hope that researchers may one day have more modern pharmaceutical "weapons" that can slow down the tuberculosis (TB) pathogen's relentless assault. According to the World Health Organization, TB remains one of the world's top-ten leading causes of death, killing nearly two million people each year. In Gokhale's native India, it kills roughly 1,000 people each day.
A report published on line in the Journal. "Health Affairs" compares the US and 7 other developed countries, focusing on chronic diseases the article noted that outcome in the US was worse than in any of the other countries studied. Karen Davis, PhD, president of the Commonwealth Fund, said the data were collected before the US economy went into a tailspin last fall. "In a downturn, more people will be unemployed and more will lose their medical insurance," she said. "With the election of the new president and Congress, we have a window of opportunity to change directions and move on a path to a high-performance health system."
The findings from Rwanda and Ethiopia are the first to show a greater than 50 percent reduction in malaria mortality nationwide in "high burden" countries.
Malaria is responsible for 2 percent of all deaths worldwide and 9 percent of deaths in Africa. Each year, about 1.1 million deaths -- almost all in children -- are directly attributable to the disease, and at least a million more occur from complications such as severe anemia. In Africa, where most cases occur, malaria costs $12 billion a year in medical expenses and lost productivity.
Two key items in the current "tool kit" are bed nets treated with insecticide that lasts as much as five years, and treatment with at least two drugs, one of them artemisinin, a compound derived from a Chinese herbal medicine.
Editorials in several journals today: Global health is too important to be left to global health experts. That is why a new initiative announced by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation in Cape Town on Oct 9 is welcome. The initiative, a 5-year US$100 million grant programme called Grand Challenges Explorations, will provide hundreds of small start-up grants to researchers who come forward with promising new ideas to tackle key problems in global health. The initiative is modelled on the investment strategies favoured by venture capitalists. Initial grants will be about $100 000 but more funds will become available if projects show progress.
The renewed worldwide commitment to the reduction of maternal and child mortality, if translated into effective action, could help to provide the systemic changes needed for longterm elimination of maternal and neonatal tetanus. These are the conclusions of authors of a Seminar published early Online and in an upcoming edition of The Lancet. Dr Jos Vandelaer, World Health Organisation, Geneva, Switzerland, and colleagues, say: "Although easily prevented by maternal immunisation with tetanus toxoid vaccine, and aseptic obstetric and postnatal umbilical-cord care practices, maternal and neonatal tetanus persist as public-health problems in 48 countries, mainly in Asia and Africa."
