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Examining how mobile gaming could improve sanitation practices

Ben Armstrong and Luis Arbulu of Hattery Labs, a collaborative design firm, write in this post in the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation's "Impatient Optimists" blog about how they are beginning "to explore how games might improve sanitation practices."

27 Jun 2012

Link between bacterial vaginosis and female-to-male HIV transmission risk

An investigation led by UCSF has found that the risk of female-to-male HIV transmission is increased three fold for women with bacterial vaginosis, a common disorder in which the normal balance of bacteria in the vagina is disrupted.

27 Jun 2012

Suicide leading cause of death among young people in India

Suicide has become the second-leading cause of death of young people in India, which has one of the highest suicide rates in the world, according to an Article published as part of the Lancet Series on suicide.

25 Jun 2012

First study to demonstrate that microbes are specific to their host species

Gut bacteria's key role in immunity is tuned to the host species, researchers have found, suggesting that the superabundant microbes lining our digestive tract evolved with us-a tantalizing clue in the mysterious recent spike in human autoimmune disorders.

23 Jun 2012

U.S. Senate Foreign Relations Committee passes Senator Paul Simon Water for the World Act

"In an exciting move for the water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH) community, the U.S. Senate Foreign Relations Committee passed the Senator Paul Simon Water for the World Act of 2011 (S 641), bringing the bill one step closer to becoming a law," PSI's "Healthy Lives" blog reports.

22 Jun 2012

Antimicrobial exposure may increase risk of allergies in children

Exposure to common antibacterial chemicals and preservatives found in soap, toothpaste, mouthwash and other personal-care products may make children more prone to a wide range of food and environmental allergies, according to new research from Johns Hopkins Children's Center.

20 Jun 2012

Allergy risk in children linked to antibacterials in personal-care products

Exposure to common antibacterial chemicals found in soap, toothpaste, mouthwash and other personal-care products may make children more prone to a wide range of food and environmental allergies, according to new research from Johns Hopkins Children’s Center.

19 Jun 2012

Opinion pieces address Child Survival Call to Action

The governments of the United States, India, and Ethiopia, in collaboration with UNICEF, on Thursday launched the Child Survival Call to Action in Washington, D.C., during a two-day event that brings together world leaders, public health experts, child health advocates and others in an effort to reduce child mortality to 20 per 1,000 by 2035 worldwide, with the ultimate goal of ending preventable child deaths.

16 Jun 2012

Blog responds to 'Policy Review' article calling for structural, philosophical shift in global health

In this globalhealthpolicy.net blog post, Andrew Harmer, a research fellow at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, responds to an article published last week in "Policy Review," a publication of Stanford University's Hoover Institution, by Mark Dybul, co-director of the Global Health Law Program and the inaugural global health fellow at the George W. Bush Institute; Peter Piot, director of the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine; and Julio Frenk, dean of the Harvard School of Public Health.

16 Jun 2012

First U.S. population prevalence study of mutations in the gene that causes fragile X

The first U.S. population prevalence study of mutations in the gene that causes fragile X syndrome, the most common inherited form of intellectual disability, suggests the mutation in the gene - and its associated health risks - may be more common than previously believed.

15 Jun 2012

Tooth scaling reduces CV disease risk

Taiwanese study results show that undergoing tooth scaling significantly reduces the risk for future myocardial infarction, stroke, and total cardiovascular events.

14 Jun 2012

Sabin initiates novel human hookworm vaccine Phase 1 clinical trial

Today, the Sabin Vaccine Institute, in partnership with the George Washington University and the Children's National Medical Center, began vaccinating participants for a Phase 1 clinical trial of a novel human hookworm vaccine.

14 Jun 2012

Omega-3 probably does not reduce cognitive decline in older people

Older people who take omega-3 fish oil supplements are probably not reducing their chances of losing cognitive function, according to a new Cochrane systematic review.

13 Jun 2012

Hospitalization rates in NYC for patients with CA-MRSA more than tripled between 1997-2006

Hospitalization rates in New York City for patients with community-acquired methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (CA-MRSA), a potentially deadly bacterial infection that is resistant to antibiotic treatment, more than tripled between 1997 and 2006, according to a report published in the July issue of Infection Control and Hospital Epidemiology, the journal of the Society for Healthcare Epidemiology of America.

13 Jun 2012

Premature cancer death risk may be increased by dental plaque

Persistent dental plaque may increase the risk of dying early from cancer, suggests an observational study published in the online journal BMJ Open.

12 Jun 2012

OOCE chooses eClinicalWorks comprehensive EHR solution

ClinicalWorks, a market leader in ambulatory clinical systems, today announced that Ohio Orthopedic Center of Excellence, has chosen eClinicalWorks comprehensive electronic health records (EHR) solution for its 59 providers across multiple locations. Use of this technology will help improve practice speed and efficiency.

11 Jun 2012

Policies aiming to improve health, promote sustainable development 'urgently needed'

In an article in the Lancet, Andy Haines of the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, and colleagues, write that, 20 years after the Earth Summit and as world leaders prepare to meet at the Rio+20 conference to advance sustainable development, "[i]mplementation of policies that both improve health and promote sustainable development is urgently needed."

8 Jun 2012

Pneumonia and diarrhoea remain biggest killers of East Asia-Pacific children

A new report from UNICEF has highlighted the huge child survival gap between the richest and the poorest children by focusing on pneumonia and diarrhoea – the two primary killers of children under the age of five.

8 Jun 2012

Blog examines WHO funding

In this globalhealthpolicy.net blog post, Andrew Harmer, a research fellow at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, examines funding for the World Health Organization, highlighting two documents circulated as background reading for the just-concluded World Health Assembly.

7 Jun 2012

Dengue fever vaccine 'may be in sight,' Reuters reports

Reuters reports on efforts to develop a vaccine for dengue fever, writing that "victory over ... the intensely painful 'breakbone fever' ... may be in sight." Paris-based firm Sanofi "hopes for positive results in September from a key trial among children in Thailand that would set it on course to market a shot in 2015, which would prevent an estimated 100 million cases of dengue infection each year," the news service writes.

7 Jun 2012