Global Health

www.msf.org.au: Latest News

Latest News

• — Revolutionary new vaccine: winning the battle against meningitis A

     (Wednesday, 08 September 2010 22:18)

  

  Interview on impact of new meningococcal A conjugate vaccine with Australian Médecins Sans Frontières medical advisor, Dr. Cathy Hewison.

  This month sees the arrival of the first batches of a brand new vaccine against meningococcal meningitis in three African countries that could revolutionise the battle against a disease that claims so many lives each year in the so-called meningitis belt.
  
  Year after year, Médecins Sans Frontières vaccination teams launch vast reactive campaigns against this bacterial disease that kills up to half of those infected if not treated. Millions have been...

• — A new wave of violence causes death and trauma for people living in North Kivu Province, eastern Congo

     (Tuesday, 07 September 2010 02:21)

  A violent attack by men armed with hammers, and the burning of a village of internally displaced people are two in a series of violent events suffered by people living in the Kivu Provinces of eastern Congo recently. The number of gunshot and rape victims being treated by medical organisation Médecins Sans Frontières in its hospital in Mweso, North Kivu, has also risen in August, leading to heightened concern about the levels of violence suffered by people living in the conflict affected area.

  On Thursday 26th August, Médecins Sans Frontières was alerted to a brutal attack in a small village...

• — Pakistan: Boosting relief work in Sukkur

     (Monday, 06 September 2010 20:50)

  

  The battered sign reads: “Welcome to Sukkur: City of Rivers and Canals”. More than five weeks have passed since the floods first struck Pakistan, and some of the water has started to recede in provinces like Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP); but as it travels south, where fresh floods have hit Sindh recently, it forces hundreds of thousands to leave their homes.

  Fleeing Jacobabad, Kashmore, Shikarpur, Shadadkot- more than 500,000 people have arrived to Sukkur- this city of rivers and canals, in the North of Sindh province is now home for those displaced by...

• — Pakistan: Relieving malnutrition in Sukkur

     (Monday, 06 September 2010 19:24)

  

  “My daughter does not stop vomiting; she also has diarrhoea, and a very high fever. I took her to the hospital but she didn’t get better, so the doctor told me to bring her here,” said Nabila, holding on to her frail one year Suha. Like hundreds of other flood affected people, Nabila was forced to leave everything behind in Lori village, and she is now living with her family in a relief camp in Sukkur.

  Her severely malnourished daughter Suha is currently being treated at Médecins Sans Frontières’ recently...

• — DRC: Assisting thousands of displaced people

     (Monday, 06 September 2010 02:17)

  

  Thousands of people have been forced to flee their villages in the Shabunda area of South Kivu, in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), due to heavy clashes between the Congolese army (FARDC) and various armed groups. Médecins Sans Frontières is responding to the urgent needs of the displaced people in this isolated area by providing emergency medical care as well as treatment for cholera patients.

  Since the beginning of August, intense fighting has broken out in the northern part of South Kivu province. More than 20 villages have been burned and...

The Lancet Global Health Network

• — This week in medicine

     (Wednesday, 01 September 2010 05:30)

  The following will be published in the September 4 issue of The Lancet: Stem cell shock Scientists in the USA, including National Institutes of Health director Francis Collins, are in shock after a federal district court issued an injunction on President Barack Obama’s rules on embryonic stem cell research. Obama had lifted restrictions placed on a [...]

• — This week in medicine

     (Wednesday, 25 August 2010 05:18)

  The following will be published in the Aug 28 issue of The Lancet: Radiation risk Radiation exposure in medicine has risen substantially over the period 1997–2007, reports the UN Scientific Committee on the Effects of Atomic Radiation. In high-income countries, increased use of CT scanning and other procedures means that medical exposure to radiation is now [...]

• — This week in medicine

     (Wednesday, 18 August 2010 06:59)

  The following will be published in the Aug 21 issue of The Lancet: Oil spill effects The US Institute of Medicine has published the summary of a public workshop on how the health effects of the Gulf of Mexico oil spill could be monitored. The June 22–23 workshop was requested by the US Department of Health [...]

• — This week in medicine

     (Wednesday, 11 August 2010 04:17)

  The following will be published in the Aug 14 issue of The Lancet: Floodwater danger WHO is seriously concerned about the risk of waterborne diarrhoeal diseases in Pakistan, where the continuing monsoon floods affect nearly 14 million people. A disease outbreak early warning system has been activated, and efforts to distribute clean water have increased. WHO [...]

• — This week in medicine

     (Wednesday, 04 August 2010 05:33)

  The following will be published in the August 7 issue of The Lancet: Global warming A review by the US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Admini­stration confirms that the world is getting hotter. Data from ten key climate indicators provide evidence to support long-term warm­ing. “The temperature increase of one degree Fahrenheit over the past 50 years… [...]

Kaiser Daily Global Health Policy Report

Daily global health news summaries provided by the Kaiser Family Foundation.

• — Team Of Scientists Issues HIV Vaccine Strategy

     (Wednesday, 08 September 2010 11:37)

  The Council of the Global HIV Vaccine Enterprise on Tuesday released a new strategy for HIV vaccine research, which marked "the culmination of an 18-month effort that included the input of 400 scientists worldwide," VOA News reports (DeCapua, 9/7).

• — Opinions: U.S. Commitment To Global Fund; Innovative Financing; Global Food Security; Aid For Pakistan

     (Wednesday, 08 September 2010 11:36)

  

• — Focusing On Most Disadvantaged Children More Cost-Effective Than Current Strategies, UNICEF Reports Say

     (Wednesday, 08 September 2010 11:25)

  UNICEF on Tuesday said that by "comparing the effectiveness of different strategies for aid delivery, targeting the poorest and neediest children could save more lives per $1 million spent than the current path," Reuters reports (Charbonneau, 9/7).

• — World Bank Report Highlights Concerns, Potential Benefits Of Large-Scale Farm Deals In Developing Countries

     (Wednesday, 08 September 2010 11:19)

  Foreign purchases of agricultural land in developing countries "pose 'significant risks' to the livelihoods of farmers in countries with 'weak land governance,' the World Bank said in a report" (.pdf) on Tuesday, which also noted the potential benefits of these investments, Bloomberg Businessweek reports.

• — World Water Week: Urbanization, Irrigation, Global Food Security

     (Wednesday, 08 September 2010 11:16)

  "Global efforts to improve access to drinking water have been hampered by rapid urbanisation, with the proportion of people in urban areas with access actually declining, according to U.N. figures presented" at the World Water Week conference in Stockholm, Agence France-Presse reports.