Health
Toxic Waste on Par with Malaria as a Global Killer
Image: A child at a lead-contaminated site. Credit: Blacksmith Institute
ipsnews.net - May 9th, 2013 - Stephen Leahy
Toxic waste sites in 31 countries are damaging the brains of nearly 800,000 children and impairing the health of millions of people in the developing world, two new studies have found.
Toxins and pollutants in the environment are major sources of illness and reduced lifespans globally. The impacts on health in some countries are on par with malaria, said Kevin Chatham-Stephens, a pediatric environmental health fellow at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai.
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Chinese Researchers Pinpoint Origins Of H7N9 Avian Flu
Chinese researchers have identified the origins of the novel H7N9 influenza virus
asianscientist.com - April 29, 2013
In March 2013, a novel H7N9 influenza virus was identified in China as the source of a flu-like disease in humans. A group of scientists, led by Professor Chen Hualan of the National Avian Influenza Reference Laboratory at the Harbin Veterinary Research Institute, investigated the origins of this novel H7N9 influenza virus.
“We suggest that strong measures, such as continued surveillance of avian and human hosts, control of animal movement, shutdown of live poultry markets, and culling of poultry in affected areas, should be taken during this initial stage of virus prevalence to prevent a possible pandemic. Additionally, it is also imperative to evaluate the pathogenicity and transmissibility of these H7N9 viruses, and to develop effective vaccines and antiviral drugs against so as to reduce their adverse effects upon human health,” say the authors.
The Grand Decade for Global Health: 1998–2008
chathamhouse.org - April 2013 - Jon Liden
The decade 1998-2008 was a period of rapid growth in the resources devoted to global health problems and of unprecedented innovation in the way these resources were delivered.
The innovation was principally manifested in new forms of partnerships which included in their governance the private sector, foundations and civil society alongside governments.
This institutional innovation was driven forward by dynamic new leadership at the World Health Organization under Dr Gro Harlem Brundtland and by political leaders in the G8 countries seeking to give globalization a human face, who were themselves heavily influenced by the moral and political force of AIDS activists and protestors.
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Emerging Infections in Perspective: Novel Coronavirus and H7N9 Influenza
Professor David L. Heymann, CBE
chathamhouse.org - by David L. Heymann - April 15, 2013
Since the outbreak of Severe Acute Respiratory infection (SARS) ten years ago, efforts to detect unusual severe respiratory disease have intensified. At the same time, there have been major advances in the development of diagnostic tests. This is a result of a major increase in the research and development budget for tests to diagnose unknown disease, and this investment was driven by the perception that anthrax and other organisms such as the smallpox virus will continue to be a bioterrorism threat.
When disease detection efforts are intensified, surveillance systems often become better at picking up illness that would have otherwise gone undetected until enough people developed the disease that an outbreak occurs and is noticed. Throughout history, mysterious severe respiratory infections that have resulted in death have emerged, but with new diagnostic tests it is also now possible to determine the cause of such disease, often soon after it is detected.
H7N9 Map
View H7N9 map in a larger map
Click on each balloon for more information on individual patients infected with the avian flu virus: blue, patients infected with the H7N9 virus under treatment; red, those infected with H7N9 who have died; and pink, those infect with the H1N1 avian flu virus.
http://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/article/1208847/hong-kong-standby-new-bird-flu-cases-revealed-shanghaiH7N9 Bird Flu
CLICK HERE - WHO - Global Alert and Response - Disease Outbreak News
CLICK HERE - ProMED-mail updates on H7N9 Bird Flu (Avian Influenza) - www.promedmail.org
ALSO SEE ADDITIONAL INFORMATION IN LINKS BELOW:
China reports nine bird flu cases amid allegations of cover up on social media
xinhuanet.com - China reports 2 more H7N9 bird flu cases
National Health and Family Planning Commission of the People's Republic of China
China's deadly new H7N9 bird flu virus may be harder to track than predecessors, scientists say
Is This a Pandemic Being Born?
foreignpolicy.com - by Laurie Garrett - April 1, 2013
China's mysterious pig, duck, and people deaths could be connected. And that should worry us.
Here's how it would happen. Children playing along an urban river bank would spot hundreds of grotesque, bloated pig carcasses bobbing downstream. Hundreds of miles away, angry citizens would protest the rising stench from piles of dead ducks and swans, their rotting bodies collecting by the thousands along river banks. And three unrelated individuals would stagger into three different hospitals, gasping for air. . .
. . . the facts delineated are all true, and have transpired over the last six weeks in China.
Sonaar Luthra: Meet the Water Canary
submitted by D. Ofelia Mangen
ted.com - January 2012
After a crisis, how can we tell if water is safe to drink? Current tests are slow and complex, and the delay can be deadly, as in the cholera outbreak after Haiti's earthquake in 2010. TED Fellow Sonaar Luthra previews his design for a simple tool that quickly tests water for safety -- the Water Canary.
(WATCH VIDEO ON TED.COM)
The Benefits of Mobile Health, on Hold
opinionator.blogs.nytimes.com - March 13th, 2011 - Tina Rosenberg
The world now has 5 billion mobile phones – one for every person over 15. Africa has a billion people and 750 million phones, and mobile is growing so fast there that in a few years there will be more phones than people. In some countries this is already true — South Africa has 47 million people, but 52 million SIM cards.
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CSIS - Global Health Policy in the Second Obama Term
Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS)
Global Health Policy Center
by Stephen Morrison
February 23, 2013
Dear Friends,
I am pleased to share with you a new report and video series from the CSIS Global Health Policy Center, Global Health Policy in the Second Obama Term.
This volume analyzes seven important dimensions of a complex, widening U.S. global health agenda: HIV/AIDS; malaria; polio eradication; women’s health; health security; health diplomacy; and multilateral partners. Each chapter strives to catalog and interpret the past four years’ developments in their respective focal area, charting the measurable health impacts for which the United States can claim at least partial credit, and highlighting persistent problems and challenges. The essays conclude with concrete recommendations on how the United States can achieve the best results in the next four years in promoting the improvement of health, especially among the world’s most vulnerable citizens. Coupled with each essay is an author video interview.
