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High family income, hygiene habits can increase risk of peanut allergies in children

Peanut allergies are rising among American children and one reason might be due to economic status. According to a new study presented at the American College of Allergy, Asthma and Immunology (ACAAI) Annual Scientific Meeting, greater rates of peanut allergy are found in families with higher economic status. This supports the "hygiene hypothesis" of many allergists.

9 Nov 2012

International community must continue to support cholera treatment, prevention in Haiti

Since its arrival in Haiti two years ago, "cholera has sickened more than 600,000 people and killed more than 7,500," and "[t]his year the epidemic is on track to be among the world's worst again, with nearly 77,000 cases and 550 deaths, according to the Haitian Ministry of Health," Ralph Ternier and Cate Oswald of Zanmi Lasante/Partners in Health in Haiti write in the Huffington Post's "Impact" blog.

8 Nov 2012

Researchers divided over effects of climate change on NTD transmission, IRIN reports

IRIN examines the relationship between climate change and neglected tropical diseases (NTDs), writing, "Many researchers are concerned changes in rainfall patterns could result in a loss of 'endemic stability' for diseases carried by mosquitoes, ticks, and other disease hosts, and that environmental conditions could become favorable for disease transmission." However, "many researchers believe there is simply not enough information available to warrant alarm," the news service adds.

7 Nov 2012

Nigeria experiences worst flooding in 50 years; Officials fear disease outbreaks, food shortages

"Nigeria's worst flooding in at least half a century has killed 363 people since the start of July and displaced 2.1 million people," according to the country's National Emergency Management Agency, Reuters reports.

7 Nov 2012

Reducing malnutrition among refugees in South Sudan

"A combined effort by health, water, sanitation and nutrition partners, including the World Food Programme (WFP), to reduce alarming malnutrition rates amongst Sudanese refugees who have settled in Maban County of South Sudan, is beginning to yield fruit," WFP reports in an article on its webpage, adding, "Parents say they have seen dramatic improvements in their children's health."

6 Nov 2012

Allergies and hygiene: an interview with Sally Bloomfield

Allergies occur when the body overreacts to substances in our environment, such as pollen, dust mites and so forth. What happens is that when we are exposed to these potential threats, the immune system should react, deal with it, and then shut down.

26 Oct 2012

NPR examines efforts to eradicate polio in Nigeria

NPR's "Shots" blog reports on efforts to eradicate polio in Nigeria. "[N]orthern Nigeria is the only place in the world where polio cases are increasing," the blog writes, noting, "As of Sept. 1, it had recorded 90 polio cases in 2012 -- or nearly three times as many as in the same period last year."

18 Oct 2012

Peace Corps, USAID, Coca-Cola Company announce WASH training initiative

"The Peace Corps has announced a strategic partnership with the Water and Development Alliance (WADA) -- a long-standing public-private partnership between the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) and the Coca-Cola Company (Coca-Cola) -- to improve local capacity to deliver sustainable water supply, sanitation and hygiene (WASH) services for the reduction of waterborne disease around the world," a Peace Corps press release reports.

17 Oct 2012

Public-private partnership will promote handwashing to help reduce child mortality in Africa

Though the number of children dying of preventable and treatable diseases worldwide has dropped significantly since 1990, there is "realistic hope for much more" progress, particularly if "improved hygiene and sanitation ... play a key role in the next stage," Jeffrey Sachs, director of the Earth Institute at Columbia University, and Paul Polman, CEO of Unilever, write in the Huffington Post's "Global Motherhood" blog.

17 Oct 2012

U.N. SG says eliminating discrimination, providing nutrition, health care will help women care for families

"Highlighting the role in women in producing much of the world's food and caring for the environment, [U.N.] Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, in his message marking the International Day of Rural Women, Monday said that eliminating discrimination that prevents rural women from realizing their full potential is crucial to ending global hunger and poverty," the U.N. News Centre reports.

17 Oct 2012

U.K. announces $56M to assist Yemen with nutrition

"The U.K. has announced that £35 million ($56 million) in aid over the next three years will be aimed at improving nutrition for mothers and children in Yemen amid fears that a hunger crisis will derail fragile gains in the Middle East's poorest country," the Guardian reports.

11 Oct 2012

‘Hygiene hypothesis’ updated to ‘Old Friends’ hypothesis

A new scientific report out today from the International Scientific Forum on Home Hygiene (IFH) dismantles the myth that the epidemic rise in allergies in recent years has happened because we’re living in sterile homes and overdoing hygiene.

3 Oct 2012

ONE blog interviews USAID nutrition chief

In the ONE blog, Kelly Hauser, ONE's policy manager focusing on agriculture, nutrition and U.S. food aid reform, interviews Anne Peniston, head of the nutrition division at USAID. Peniston discusses "her professional and personal experiences in the U.S. and abroad, her vision for USAID's nutrition strategy, and the role of NGOs in global nutrition," according to the blog.

2 Oct 2012

Women's eNews examines maternal health in Morocco

"Morocco has made great strides in improving maternal health in recent years, decreasing its maternal mortality ratio by over 60 percent since 1990," but "a wide maternal health gap" exists between women in urban and rural areas, where deliveries generally are attended by an experienced yet untrained family member, Women's eNews reports.

26 Sep 2012

Congress can help improve WASH, survival for children worldwide

David Winder, chief executive of WaterAid USA, highlights the findings of the recently released UNICEF report on child mortality in this Huffington Post "Impact" blog post, saying the decrease in annual number of child deaths "is great news, but is tempered by sobering statistics, especially for children in sub-Saharan Africa," who continue to face high rates of mortality.

19 Sep 2012

Bangladesh struggles to provide health care in urban slum areas, Guardian reports

As more people move into the urban slum areas surrounding Bangladesh's capital, Dhaka, basic services such as water, sanitation and health care are being stretched to capacity by "[n]ew residents who are increasingly pushed out to the city's fringes," the Guardian reports.

19 Sep 2012

New development goals should acknowledge health, education, aid, but focus on economic reform

Noting the 67th session of the U.N. General Assembly begins on September 25, Charles Kenny, senior fellow at the Center for Global Development and a Schwartz Fellow at the New America Foundation, writes in his Bloomberg Businessweek blog, "Small World," "Accompanying the usual podium speeches will be the start of backroom discussions as to what will replace the Millennium Development Goals [MDGs], a set of targets for global progress agreed to at the 2000 General Assembly meetings."

17 Sep 2012

Some Guinean residents seek cholera vaccine; Outbreak in Sierra Leone winding down

With nearly 6,000 reported cholera cases, including more than 100 deaths, Guinea is facing the worst cholera outbreak since 2007, and "some residents of the capital Conakry are clamoring to be vaccinated," IRIN reports.

15 Sep 2012

Humanitarian situation better, still tenuous, in Zimbabwe as E.U. scales down assistance, IRIN reports

Though the number of people in Zimbabwe in need of food aid has dropped from seven million in 2002-2003 to one million currently, the number could still rise by 600,000 in 2013, IRIN reports in an analysis of the humanitarian and political situation in the country.

14 Sep 2012

Policymakers agree to water monitoring initiative, U.N. official says

"Policymakers have agreed on an ambitious plan to create a global monitoring and reporting system to oversee water supply, sanitation and water resources management, a U.N. expert said," AlertNet reports.

7 Sep 2012

Sanitization News and Research

High family income, hygiene habits can increase risk of peanut allergies in children

International community must continue to support cholera treatment, prevention in Haiti

Researchers divided over effects of climate change on NTD transmission, IRIN reports

Nigeria experiences worst flooding in 50 years; Officials fear disease outbreaks, food shortages

Reducing malnutrition among refugees in South Sudan

Allergies and hygiene: an interview with Sally Bloomfield

NPR examines efforts to eradicate polio in Nigeria

Peace Corps, USAID, Coca-Cola Company announce WASH training initiative

Public-private partnership will promote handwashing to help reduce child mortality in Africa

U.N. SG says eliminating discrimination, providing nutrition, health care will help women care for families

U.K. announces $56M to assist Yemen with nutrition

‘Hygiene hypothesis’ updated to ‘Old Friends’ hypothesis

ONE blog interviews USAID nutrition chief

Women's eNews examines maternal health in Morocco

Congress can help improve WASH, survival for children worldwide

Bangladesh struggles to provide health care in urban slum areas, Guardian reports

New development goals should acknowledge health, education, aid, but focus on economic reform

Some Guinean residents seek cholera vaccine; Outbreak in Sierra Leone winding down

Humanitarian situation better, still tenuous, in Zimbabwe as E.U. scales down assistance, IRIN reports

Policymakers agree to water monitoring initiative, U.N. official says

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