Poor Grain Harvest To Worsen Food Shortages In N. Korea
A poor grain harvest in 2009 is likely to exacerbate North Korea's severe food shortages, Agence France-Presse reports (2/9). "The North is estimated to have produced 4.1 million tons of grain last year, a drop of about 200,000 tons compared to 2008, the [South Korean] Unification Ministry official said on condition of anonymity," Yonhap News reports. "The amount falls about 1.3 million tons short of what the impoverished country needs this year to feed its 24 million people, the official said" (2/10).
Zimbabwe's Health System Shows Some Improvement, Health Minister Says
ZimOnline examines Zimbabwe's health system, which the country's health minister, Henry Madzorera, says has improved, but is still in need of additional progress. The article examines some of the factors contributing to difficulties in further improving the country's health care, including funding. The newspaper also reports that Zimbabwe's government was better able to contain a cholera outbreak in the country this rainy season compared to the previous year (Nyamhangambiri, 2/10). In related news, the Herald/allAfrica.com examines how Zimbabwe's government is trying to contain a measles outbreak that has affected over 1,200 people since October 2009 (2/10).
Scientists Report Analysis Of Malaria Parasite Genome
A team of researchers recently completed an in-depth study of a malaria parasite's genome, United Press International reports. In a study published in the journal Nature Biotechnology in January, researchers describe how they used a technique known as transcriptional profiling to measure the activity of thousands of Plasmodium falciparum's genes at once, "to create a global picture of cellular function," according to the news service. The scientists, from Singapore's Nanyang Technological University (NTU) and Germany's Bernhard Nocht Institute for Tropical Medicine, "said their findings could lead to the development of more potent drugs or even a vaccine for malaria, which is transmitted to humans by infected mosquitoes and kills up to three million people each year," the news service writes (2/9).
India Introduces Alternative Medical Ed Program To Train Rural Health Care Providers
BMJ News examines a recent move by the Indian government to introduce a medical education program to train rural health care workers to provide services in health centers where doctors are unavailable. The "alternative model of medical education that would be open only to students who have completed all their school education in villages," the journal writes. "Graduates from the programme would be allowed to practise medicine only in rural areas and would be prohibited from offering services in urban areas." The piece examines the challenges the country has faced in trying to get doctors to serve rural communities and reactions to this plan (Mudur, 2/9).
Report Analyzes Myanmar Rebuilding After Cyclone Nargis