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Wall Street Journal reports on building epidemiological capacity in developing countries

The Wall Street Journal examines programs funded partly by the U.S. government that are helping "Nigeria, Vietnam and dozens of other countries" to expand "efforts to respond to disease threats, as epidemics add to the burden on their health-care systems and new pathogens spread around the globe."

23 Sep 2010

Opinions: Genetically-modified crops can improve vaccines; MDG focus on women and girls; U.S. leadership for MDGs; Boosting access to drugs; Merits of bilateral development assistance

"The U.N. estimates that diarrheal diseases kill 1.8 million people every year. … So you might take it as good news that American company Ventria Bioscience says it has hit on an improvement to existing rehydration therapies, which could mean another tool in the fight against diarrhea," according to a Wall Street Journal editorial examining the delays the company has experienced since it first sought to have its product approved by the FDA back in 2004, even "[a]fter a panel of food, medicine, immunology, child nutrition and health experts had declared its product safe."

23 Sep 2010

Immunization is critical to reduce child deaths

Immunising children against preventable diseases is critical to achieving United Nations-led goals to reduce child deaths, global health and development chiefs said in New York today.

22 Sep 2010

Senate approves global clean water legislation

"The U.S. Senate Monday approved a bill intended to help 100 million people around the world gain access to clean water and sanitation," United Press International reports (9/20).

22 Sep 2010

Clinton Global Initiative meeting kicks off, U.S. will commit to Clean Cookstove project

"World leaders, CEOs, non-governmental organizations and philanthropists" are gathering this week at the Clinton Global Initiative (CGI) annual meeting, "[t]imed to coincide with the beginning of the United Nations General Assembly," WNYC News reports (Herman, 9/20).

22 Sep 2010

USAID, GAIN announce $1 million to reduce malnutrition burden

The United States Agency for International Development (USAID) and the Global Alliance for Improved Nutrition (GAIN) announced today $1 million to expand efforts to reduce the growing burden of malnutrition. The announcement will be made today at a historic gathering of the First Ladies of Africa, who convened to declare nutrition as a critical priority for eliminating poverty, improving health and advancing food security in their nations.

21 Sep 2010

U.N. MDG summit begins; UNAIDS data shows 22 African countries see drop in new HIV infections

"Ten years after world leaders set the most ambitious goals ever to tackle global poverty, they are meeting again to try to spur action to meet the targets by the 2015 deadline - which the U.N. says will be difficult, if not impossible, in some cases," the Associated Press reports. More than 140 world leaders are scheduled to participate in the three-day U.N. Summit on the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), which kicks off Monday.

21 Sep 2010

U.N., IMF release reports on how global economic crisis 'dealt critical blow' to aid for poor countries

Ahead of next week's U.N. Millennium Development Summit, "[t]he United Nations and International Monetary Fund said Thursday that the global financial crisis has dealt a critical blow to aid for poor countries with billions of dollars needed to meet shortages," Agence France-Presse reports. "Both institutions said that the world must return to sustainable growth to hope to reach global poverty and health targets" (Donnet, 9/16).

18 Sep 2010

U.N. Secretary-General taps former Chilean president to head U.N. Agency for Women

Michelle Bachelet, famous for breaking gender barriers by becoming the first woman elected president of Chile, will head the new global United Nations agency created to advance women's rights, Secretary General Ban Ki-moon announced Tuesday.

16 Sep 2010

U.N. General Assembly opens 65th session with a look ahead to next week's MDG Summit

The U.N. General Assembly opened its 65th session on Tuesday in New York with the incoming Assembly President Joseph Deiss, former Swiss foreign minister, calling for the focus of the upcoming year to be prioritizing efforts to achieve the U.N. Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), reaffirming the role of the U.N. in global governance and promoting sustainable development, Xinhua reports (9/15).

16 Sep 2010

Health insurance mandate essential for expanding access of health care reform

The most politically charged feature of the health reform law is the mandate that legal residents have health insurance. Within weeks of the law's passage, twenty states had filed lawsuits charging that the mandate is unconstitutional because it gives the federal government more power than it actually has. The state lawsuits are widely expected to reach the Supreme Court next year. Legal scholar Lawrence O. Gostin writes that the health insurance mandate rests on firm legal ground.

15 Sep 2010

Aspirin can prevent stroke and heart attacks: Study

In a large scale Australian study, researchers have found that Aspirin can save lives and drastically reduce rates of stroke and heart attack.

15 Sep 2010

Opinions: Global nursing; U.S. funding of Global Fund; Global demands for water; Food security

"Almost every nation, regardless of its wealth and resources, faces a continuing shortage of nurses and an acute lack of nursing faculty available to educate more nurses. This dearth of practicing nurses and nurse educators is particularly critical in countries like Haiti and other developing high-risk, low-resourced nations," Martha Hill, dean of Johns Hopkins School of Nursing, writes in a Baltimore Sun opinion piece encouraging the expansion of global nursing.

15 Sep 2010

AMIA launches new online publication for health professionals in global informatics community

A new online publication, targeted to health professionals working in the global informatics community, has been launched by AMIA, the professional association for informatics professionals. The Standards Standard provides a single online destination for healthcare information, communications, and technology experts who require a reliable periodic update on the activities and initiatives of the world's major biomedical and healthcare standards- setting organizations.

14 Sep 2010

Experts warn dip in antibiotic R&D could lead to treatment challenges

The 50th annual meeting of the Interscience Conference on Antimicrobial Agents and Chemotherapy (ICAAC) kicked off in Boston on Sunday with experts warning that a "slowdown" in research on antibiotic development could result in treatment challenges.

14 Sep 2010

Six California-based institutions collaborate to guide CDU

Six California-based institutions specializing in health, hospital, university and nonprofit health announced today the formation of a new and unprecedented collaboration effort to rescue, restructure, reinvigorate and guide Charles R. Drew University of Medicine and Science (CDU) towards a new, resurgent and financially viable future.

13 Sep 2010

BPA detectable in saliva of children for up to three hours after completion of dental work

Researchers from Mount Sinai School of Medicine have found that bisphenol A (BPA) released from some plastic resins used in pediatric dentistry is detectable in the saliva after placement in children's mouths. BPA is a widely used synthetic chemical that has been associated with changes in behavior, prostate and urinary tract development, and early onset of puberty. The findings are published in the current issue of Pediatrics.

10 Sep 2010

WHO regional meeting in South-East Asia addresses antimicrobial resistance, developing country access to medical devices

During the WHO's 63rd Regional Committee Session for South-East Asia in Bangkok on Wednesday the WHO called for enhanced "efforts at the national and international level to preserve the efficacy of antimicrobial agents through the rational use of antibiotics," Indian Express reports (Thacker, 9/9).

10 Sep 2010

Gates Foundation 2009 annual report released

The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation on Tuesday released its 2009 annual report (.pdf) highlighting some of the foundation's work over the last year, the Puget Sound Business Journal reports (Holtzman, 9/7).

10 Sep 2010

People to gather for CUGH annual conference to discuss critical role of universities in global health

More than 600 people will gather for the Consortium of Universities for Global Health annual conference being held at the University of Washington in Seattle on September 19-21 to discuss the critical role of universities in global health. The conference is the largest university-based global health conference ever held.

10 Sep 2010

Global Health News and Research

Wall Street Journal reports on building epidemiological capacity in developing countries

Opinions: Genetically-modified crops can improve vaccines; MDG focus on women and girls; U.S. leadership for MDGs; Boosting access to drugs; Merits of bilateral development assistance

Immunization is critical to reduce child deaths

Senate approves global clean water legislation

Clinton Global Initiative meeting kicks off, U.S. will commit to Clean Cookstove project

USAID, GAIN announce $1 million to reduce malnutrition burden

U.N. MDG summit begins; UNAIDS data shows 22 African countries see drop in new HIV infections

U.N., IMF release reports on how global economic crisis 'dealt critical blow' to aid for poor countries

U.N. Secretary-General taps former Chilean president to head U.N. Agency for Women

U.N. General Assembly opens 65th session with a look ahead to next week's MDG Summit

Health insurance mandate essential for expanding access of health care reform

Aspirin can prevent stroke and heart attacks: Study

Opinions: Global nursing; U.S. funding of Global Fund; Global demands for water; Food security

AMIA launches new online publication for health professionals in global informatics community

Experts warn dip in antibiotic R&D could lead to treatment challenges

Six California-based institutions collaborate to guide CDU

BPA detectable in saliva of children for up to three hours after completion of dental work

WHO regional meeting in South-East Asia addresses antimicrobial resistance, developing country access to medical devices

Gates Foundation 2009 annual report released

People to gather for CUGH annual conference to discuss critical role of universities in global health

Designing fluidic architecture for scalable diagnostic platforms

Evaluating new approaches for rare disease genomics

Expanding access to NMR with the Fourier 80 Duo

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