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World commemorates International Women's Day

Speaking at an event at U.N. Headquarters to commemorate International Women's Day, which is observed annually on March 8, "Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon on Wednesday joined other senior United Nations officials ... in highlighting the potential of rural women to improve the well-being of entire societies if given equal access to resources and set free from the discrimination and exploitation that hold them back," the U.N. News Centre writes, noting this year's theme is "Empower Rural Women -- End Hunger and Poverty."

9 Mar 2012

MEDVAMC initiates Aeterna Zentaris' AEZS-130 Phase 2A trial in cancer cachexia

Aeterna Zentaris Inc. today announced that the Michael E. DeBakey Veterans Affairs Medical Center, in Houston, Texas, has initiated a Phase 2A trial assessing the safety and efficacy of repeated doses of the Company's ghrelin agonist, AEZS-130 (macimorelin), in patients with cancer cachexia.

9 Mar 2012

Scientists believe that ageing can be programmed in the womb

Ageing is a complex process involving physical, psychological, and environmental factors. Scientists believe that ageing can be programmed in the womb. One example of stress during pregnancy is the administration of glucocorticoids, i. e. synthetic stress hormones to accelerate fetal lung maturation in premature labor to allow breathing after birth. Could exposure to these stress hormones have an effect on health later in life?

8 Mar 2012

Ordinary fat cells can be reengineered to burn calories

In the war against obesity, one's own fat cells may seem an unlikely ally, but new research from the University of California, San Francisco (UCSF) suggests ordinary fat cells can be reengineered to burn calories.

8 Mar 2012

U.S. Farm Bill has global implications for food security

In this ONE Blog post, Jennifer Wynn, an intern with ONE's policy team, reports on a recent panel discussion held at George Washington University that examined the U.S. Farm Bill and its implications for global hunger and food security.

7 Mar 2012

Sun-dried tomatoes may be contaminated with hepatitis A virus: Officials warn

The Health Protection Agency (HPA) said two confirmed cases of the infection had been found to have an identical strain to three cases reported in England and confirmed at HPA Colindale in 2010. Both people had recently eaten sun-dried tomatoes.

5 Mar 2012

Health Impact Project announces awardees of 15 new grants

The Health Impact Project, a collaboration of the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation and The Pew Charitable Trusts, announced the awardees of 15 new grants today. Selected following a nationwide call for proposals, the grantees will conduct health impact assessments (HIAs), a type of study that looks at potential health impacts of policies and projects in other sectors.

5 Mar 2012

Brain more flexible and trainable than previously thought

Opening the door to the development of thought-controlled prosthetic devices to help people with spinal cord injuries, amputations and other impairments, neuroscientists at the University of California, Berkeley, and the Champalimaud Center for the Unknown in Portugal have demonstrated that the brain is more flexible and trainable than previously thought.

4 Mar 2012

Aid agencies must implement long-term solutions in Horn of Africa to 'banish hunger'

With each of the three droughts in the Horn of Africa over the last decade, "the international community agreed that long-term measures were needed to prevent another tragedy. But each time, when the rains finally came, the world's good intentions melted away," Jose Graziano de Silva, director-general of the U.N. Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) writes in a Project Syndicate opinion piece.

2 Mar 2012

Clinton discusses GHI in testimony on FY13 USAID, state department budget request

"People look to the U.S. to protect our allies; stand by our principles; serve as an honest broker in making peace; to fight hunger, poverty, and disease; to stand up to bullies and tyrants everywhere," Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton said on Tuesday in testimony to the Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on State, Foreign Operations, and Related Programs, and she added that to do so "takes more than just resolve.

1 Mar 2012

Ruxolitinib boosts QOL and survival for patients with myelofibrosis

A drug that relieves the severe symptoms of a life-threatening bone marrow cancer called myelofibrosis also improves the survival of patients with the disease, according to a phase III clinical trial published in the March 1 edition of New England Journal of Medicine.

1 Mar 2012

NEJM publishes results from two Jakafi Phase III studies on MF

The New England Journal of Medicine (NEJM) today published results from two Phase III studies (COMFORT-I and COMFORT-II) of Jakafi (ruxolitinib), a JAK1 and JAK2 inhibitor recently approved by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for the treatment of intermediate or high-risk myelofibrosis.

1 Mar 2012

Obesity can decrease risk of mortality in people over 85 years of age

Obesity is considered the leading preventable cause of death worldwide - until you reach old age, that is. Though obesity increases the risk of an early death, shaving an average of six to seven years off a person's lifespan, Tel Aviv University researchers have found that this trend may reverse itself after the age of 85. In these people, excess fat seems to have a "protective" effect, decreasing the risk of death when compared to those who are considered at a normal body weight.

29 Feb 2012

Gates calls for greater coordination among U.N. food agencies, announces nearly $200M in grants for agricultural development projects

In a speech delivered at the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) in Rome on Thursday, Bill Gates, co-chair of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, told IFAD, the World Food Programme (WFP), and the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) that the "approach being used today to fight against poverty and hunger is outdated and inefficient" and asked the agencies "to unite around a common global target for sustainable productivity growth to guide and measure their efforts," a Gates Foundation press release states.

24 Feb 2012

South Asia makes little progress in meeting maternal, child mortality MDGs, U.N. report says

"South Asian nations are making the least progress in the Asia-Pacific region on meeting key development goals, which they pledged to achieve by 2015," Bindu Lohani, vice president for sustainable development at the Asian Development Bank (ADB), said on Friday at the launch of a U.N. progress report on the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), Reuters reports.

23 Feb 2012

FDA to review rejected weight loss drug Qnexa

The weight loss pill Qnexa has been once rejected by the FDA over safety concerns. But this Wednesday it will get a second chance before an FDA advisory committee. Qnexa maker Vivus Inc. hopes something might come out of this second chance. The company will be submitting new safety data from patients who took Qnexa for a second year after completing a one-year clinical trial.

21 Feb 2012

Defects in GPR120 protein may lead to obesity and liver disease

Defects in a protein that functions as a dietary fat sensor may be a cause of obesity and liver disease, according to a study published in the journal Nature, led by researchers at Imperial College London. The findings highlight a promising target for new drugs to treat obesity and metabolic disorders.

19 Feb 2012

Corcept receives FDA approval for Korlym to treat endogenous Cushing's syndrome

Today, Korlym (mifepristone) was approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration to control high blood sugar levels (hyperglycemia) in adults with endogenous Cushing's syndrome.

18 Feb 2012

Seven Sahel region nations declare emergencies with at least 12M people threatened by hunger

"Seven out of the eight governments in Africa's Sahel ... have taken the unprecedented step of declaring emergencies as 12 million people in the region are threatened by hunger," Inter Press Service reports.

16 Feb 2012

One quarter of young children worldwide suffer effects of malnutrition, Save the Children survey shows

"Malnutrition is the root cause of the deaths of 2.6 million children each year, and the bodies and brains of 450 million more will fail to develop properly due to inadequate diet over the next 15 years unless immediate action is taken, according to a survey published Wednesday by" Save the Children, the Guardian reports.

16 Feb 2012