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Texas Tech Professor receives NIH grant to research on leishmaniasis

A Texas Tech University biology professor received a five-year, $1.6 million grant from the National Institutes of Health to study the biochemistry of a microscopic parasite responsible for the tropical disease leishmaniasis in the hope of finding a cure.

2 Apr 2013

Study: Two-thirds of asthmatics also have allergy

Asthma is becoming an epidemic in the United States. The number of Americans diagnosed with asthma grows annually, with 26 million currently affected. And according to a new study, nearly two-thirds or more of all asthmatics also have an allergy, which can make this spring season particularly bothersome.

2 Apr 2013

WFP director says food security crisis in Sahel is not over

The World Food Programme (WFP) "is helping feed more than 10 million people in eight countries" in the Sahel, but WFP Executive Director Ertharin Cousin "stressed the crisis was not over," AlertNet reports.

30 Mar 2013

Diarrhea incidence higher in dry seasons, study shows

"Diarrhea, killer of 1.5 million children annually, is likely to become more prevalent in many developing countries as the climate changes, a report says,"

29 Mar 2013

Guardian examines African environmental outlook report

The Guardian highlights the African Environment Outlook-3, a report released last month by the United Nations Environment Programme that examines "[t]he multifaceted connection between environmental and human health."

27 Mar 2013

International support rising for adopting universal water security

Amid changing weather and water patterns worldwide and forecasts of more severe transformations to come, calls have been growing for the UN Security Council to include water issues on its agenda.

25 Mar 2013

Climate change could worsen global hunger; Upcoming conference to explore links

"The links between climate, hunger and poor nutrition are becoming increasingly clear: a recent report for the Committee on World Food Security warned that climate change could significantly change the amount and quality of food consumed -- with potentially devastating consequences for those most at risk of hunger," Irish Deputy Prime Minister Eamon Gilmore; Mary Robinson, president of the Mary Robinson Foundation Climate Justice; Ertharin Cousin, executive director of the World Food Programme; and Frank Rijsberman, CEO of the CGIAR Consortium, write in the CGIAR blog.

19 Mar 2013

Studies uncover impacts of contaminants on Arctic inhabitant's health

People living in Arctic areas can be more sensitive to pollutants due to their genetics, says researcherArja Rautio at the Centre for Arctic Medicine in theUniversity of Oulu, Finland.

16 Mar 2013

Developing countries making gains in life expectancy, education, other markers, Human Development Index says

The U.N. Development Programme on Thursday in Mexico City launched the Human Development Index 2013, which "combines measures of life expectancy, literacy, school enrollment and gross domestic product per capita," the U.N. News Centre reports.

16 Mar 2013

Stakeholder associations offer limited support for 'Enroll America' efforts

CQ HealthBeat reports that insurers, hospitals and trade groups are offering only "limited interest" in the campaign to educate Americans about the health law's coverage expansion. Meanwhile, other supporters are backing the grassroots effort to keep the Obama administration's agenda -- including the Medicaid expansion -- on track.

15 Mar 2013

International conference examines critical link between urbanization and food security

Food Security in a Rapidly Urbanizing World, the first international conference examining the critical link between urbanization and food security, will be held at the University of Pennsylvania from Wednesday, March 13, through Friday, March 15, 2013.

14 Mar 2013

First Edition: March 14, 2013

Today's headlines include reports that compare and contrast how the two budget blueprints released this week -- one by House Republicans, the other from Senate Democrats -- would treat Medicare, Medicaid and other entitlement programs.

14 Mar 2013

Examining importance of global health governance

In a New England Journal of Medicine review article, Julio Frenk and Suerie Moon of the Harvard School of Public Health write that the world faces "a trio of threats: first, the unfinished agenda of infections, undernutrition, and reproductive health problems; second, the rising global burden of non-communicable diseases and their associated risk factors, such as smoking and obesity; and third, the challenges arising from globalization itself, such as the health effects of climate change and trade policies, which demand engagement outside the traditional health sector."

12 Mar 2013

Link between outdoor heat and hospitalization for respiratory disease in the elderly

Outdoor heat is associated with a significantly increased risk of emergency hospitalization for respiratory disorders in the elderly, according to a large epidemiological study of more than 12.5 million Medicare beneficiaries.

8 Mar 2013

Southeast Asia's commercial trade plays a central role in spread of amphibian pathogens

A team of scientists led by the Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS) and the National University of Singapore (NUS), revealed in a new study, for the first time, the presence of the pathogenic chytrid fungus (Batrachochytrium dendrobatidis) in amphibians sampled in Singapore. And the American bullfrog may be a central player in the spread of the disease.

8 Mar 2013

New tool can accurately forecast malaria epidemics in northwestern India

Sea surface temperatures in the tropical South Atlantic Ocean can be used to accurately forecast, by up to four months, malaria epidemics thousands of miles away in northwestern India, a University of Michigan theoretical ecologist and her colleagues have found.

5 Mar 2013

Researchers to discuss health issues at Society of Toxicology's Annual Meeting and ToxExpo

Researchers will meet at the Society of Toxicology's Annual Meeting and ToxExpo March 10-16 to discuss a number of health concerns that have received growing public attention over the past several months.

27 Feb 2013

DNDi receives 2013 BBVA Foundation Frontiers of Knowledge and Culture Award

Today in Madrid, Spain, the Drugs for Neglected Diseases initiative (DNDi) received the BBVA Foundation 'Frontiers of Knowledge and Culture Award for Development Cooperation'. This EUR 400,000 award will be presented at a ceremony in Madrid, Spain, in June of this year.

27 Feb 2013

Princeton metabolic model can predict how parasites would fare in altered climates

Knowing the temperatures that viruses, bacteria, worms and all other parasites need to grow and survive could help determine the future range of infectious diseases under climate change, according to new research.

27 Feb 2013

'Cap-and-trade system' proposal for global health funding

In a PLoS Medicine "Policy Forum" article, Luis Carrasco, Richard Coker, and Alex Cook of the National University of Singapore propose "a cap-and-trade system" for global health funding that is based on "global carbon permit markets to mitigate climate change."

21 Feb 2013