Sanitization News and Research

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College students need a variety of messages to practice good hand hygiene

The path to poor hand sanitation is paved with good intentions, according to researchers from Kansas State and North Carolina State Universities.

5 Sep 2009

Mexico's response to H1N1 outbreak praised by Associated Press

The Associated Press praised Mexico's response to the swine flu, or H1N1 outbreak, in a recent article.

3 Sep 2009

Population growth in cities exacerbates transmission of dengue

"The rapid growth of crowded cities has helped spread and increase the transmission of dengue around the world, health experts said on Tuesday, warning up to 3 billion people were already at risk," Reuters reports.

2 Sep 2009

Asian Development Bank examines poverty, hunger in Asia

A report released by the Asian Development Bank Wednesday examines how the global economic crisis is exacerbating poverty and hunger in regions of Asia, the Associated Press/Forbes writes.

27 Aug 2009

Antimicrobial-resistant typhoid fever in U.S. patients is associated with international travel

Infection with an antimicrobial-resistant strain of typhoid fever among patients in the United States is associated with international travel, especially to the Indian subcontinent (India, Pakistan, and Bangladesh), according to a study in the August 26 issue of JAMA. The study also shows an increase in certain strains of typhoid fever that are resistant to the most commonly used medications for treatment.

26 Aug 2009

Gates Foundation awards $4.8M grant for improving sanitation systems in developing world

The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation recently awarded a $4.8 million grant to the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine to study and improve sanitation systems in the developing world, the Seattle Times' blog, "The Business of Giving" reports.

26 Aug 2009

Research reveals that diarrheal bacteria can cause colon cancers

Johns Hopkins scientists say they have figured out how bacteria that cause diarrhea may also be the culprit in some colon cancers. The investigators say that strains of the common Bacteroides fragilis (ETBF) dupe immune system cells into permitting runaway colon tissue inflammation, a precursor for malignant growth.

24 Aug 2009

Duke University Medical Center highlights importance of the appendix in human body

The lowly appendix, long-regarded as a useless evolutionary artifact, won newfound respect two years ago when researchers at Duke University Medical Center proposed that it actually serves a critical function. The appendix, they said, is a safe haven where good bacteria could hang out until they were needed to repopulate the gut after a nasty case of diarrhea, for example.

21 Aug 2009

Indian health service contemplates its role in health care reform

Indian Country Times reports on the Indian Health Service's role in national health care reform with IHS Director Dr. Yvette Roubideaux arguing that things are improving at IHS, but the agency must adapt to rapid changes in national health care reform and demonstrate willingness to improve.

11 Aug 2009

Plague in China; U.S. contribution to clean water initiatives; TB vaccine trial; HIV in Mozambique; New HIV strain

A third person died of pneumonic plague in China on Monday, local health authorities said, Xinhua reports. The outbreak began on July 30 and an additional nine people in the town of Ziketan are reportedly ill (8/3). "Pneumonic plague, which attacks the lungs, is closely related to bubonic plague," writes the New York Times.

4 Aug 2009

Nigeria, UNICEF launch first national child health week

UNICEF Executive Director Ann Veneman, who visited Nigeria to launch the country's first ever National Child Health Week, said an unacceptably high number of children in the country are dying from preventable diseases, and she called on Nigerian government officials to provide integrated healthcare, Xinhua reports (8/3).

3 Aug 2009

Increased fighting makes humanitarian work, health situation more difficult in Somalia, U.N. says

Despite increasing danger posed by "al Qaeda-linked militants," U.N. Emergency Relief Coordinator John Holmes said Tuesday U.N. aid workers "were not backing away" from the country, Reuters reports.

22 Jul 2009

Toronto Star columnist examines polio eradication in India

According a Toronto Star column, it is an "enormous challenge" for India's government to try to get all of its citizens immunized against polio. "It has used everything from elephants and camels to rickety boats and bikes to ferry the vaccine to remote regions where temperatures have topped 40C the past three months.

15 Jul 2009

G8, African leaders agree to strengthen water access partnership

G8 and leaders from Algeria, Angola, Egypt, Ethiopia, Libya, Nigeria, Senegal, South Africa and the African Union on Friday announced an agreement to strengthen their partnership to improve access to water in Africa, Ennahar Online reports (Oudina, 7/10).

13 Jul 2009

IPS examines need for new drugs to treat neglected tropical diseases

Inter Press Service News Agency examines the shortcomings of treatments for neglected tropical diseases - which, according to the Drugs for Neglected Diseases Initiative (DNDi), account "for 12 percent of the global disease burden," and 1.3 percent of the new drugs developed between 1975 to 2004.

8 Jul 2009

Climate change, hunger, economy G8 Summit top priorities; France's First Lady calls on G8 to expand on global health 'achievements'

President Barack Obama joined world leaders in Italy on Wednesday for "three days of intense talks on threats to global security and stability" at a G8 summit "where climate change, the continuing global economy crisis and world hunger got top billing," AP/Google.com reports (Babington, 7/8).

8 Jul 2009

Communicable disease epidemics in developing world not being adequately addressed, IFRC says

The "crippling" and "growing burden" of communicable diseases such as dengue fever, polio, or meningitis is not being sufficiently addressed in developing countries, according to "The Epidemic Divide," a report released Monday by the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC), AFP/Google.com reports. According to the report, resources to deal with existing epidemics are "scarce."

7 Jul 2009

International health experts hold two-day H1N1 meeting

WHO leaders and international health ministers met Thursday for a two-day meeting in Cancun, Mexico, to share the lessons learned from the spread of H1N1 (swine flu) (Xinhua, 7/3) and strategies for "battling the pandemic," the AP/Washington Post reports (Rodriguez, 7/2).

7 Jul 2009

Namibia close to reaching some MDGs

Namibia's recently released second MDG Report 2008 finds that the country is making progress toward achieving some of the U.N. Millennium Development Goal (MDG) targets. However, the Prime Minister says the global economic situation could reverse progress and notes that the country is behind on some health-related targets, New Era reports.

24 Jun 2009

UNHCR calls for world to do more to protect refugees

To mark World Refugee Day on June 20, the U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) urged the "international community to do more to protect and care for refugees around the world," VOA News reports (Schlein, VOA News, 6/20).

22 Jun 2009