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Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation's initiative to transform health in developing countries

The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation today announced 76 grants of US$100,000 each to pursue bold ideas for transforming health in developing countries. The grants support researchers across 16 countries, including nine in Europe and Africa with ideas as diverse as using the power of sunlight to kill malaria-causing mosquito larvae and developing a device that repels mosquitoes without insecticides.

21 Oct 2009

School-age children most vulnerable to malaria infection in Africa, study says

Children and adolescents between the ages of 5 and 19 in malaria-endemic African countries are "the most vulnerable group to malaria following the successful distribution of the free bednets to protect children under five and pregnant women against the killer fever," according to a study published in the journal BMC Public Health, the East African reports.

19 Oct 2009

Genetic diversity thwarts the usefulness of malaria vaccine

Researchers at the University of Maryland School of Medicine Center for Vaccine Development (CVD) have charted the extreme genetic differences that occur over time in the most dangerous malaria parasite in the world. While there is no approved vaccine for malaria, various experimental vaccines are in development.

15 Oct 2009

Haiti, Dominican Republic leaders aim to eradicate malaria, lymphatic filariasis by 2020, funding unclear

Leaders from Haiti and the Dominican Republic "agreed Thursday to cooperate in a campaign aimed at eradicating the last vestiges of malaria from the islands of the Caribbean by 2020," but funding sources for the estimated $250 million effort are "uncertain," the Associated Press reports.

9 Oct 2009

Also in Global Health News: Carter promotes malaria eradication; India to educate tribal populations about HIV/AIDS; WFP feels impact of global recession

Former President Jimmy Carter is traveling to Haiti and the Dominican Republic in hopes of encouraging the country "leaders to forge a pact to rid the island of Hispaniola of malaria," the Associated Press/Los Angeles Times reports.

8 Oct 2009

India's effort to combat poverty set back by years due to floods and droughts

Massive food shortages are now impacting hundreds of millions of Indians with floods and droughts, setting back efforts to combat poverty by years, warns World Vision.

7 Oct 2009

Inviragen, SingVax merge their complementary vaccine pipelines

Inviragen and SingVax have merged their complementary vaccine pipelines and their international product development capabilities to create a company that is developing a wide range of vaccines for infectious diseases prevalent in emerging economies.

6 Oct 2009

Also in Global Health news: World Bank budget concerns; Ethiopia prepares for malaria surge; malnutrition in Yemen; malaria prevention in Africa

Before the start of the annual meetings of the World Bank and International Monetary Fund World Bank on Friday, World Bank President Robert Zoellick warned that the international lender expects to "face serious constraints" by the middle of next year unless developed nations provide the bank with more resources, the Associated Press reports.

5 Oct 2009

Also in Global Health news: U.S. food aid declines; agriculture in Zimbabwe; U.S.-backed ITN network; reducing maternal mortality; DNDI expands; healthcare in Congo

Although U.S. food aid funding has increased by 53 percent over the last two years, a Government Accountability Office report on Wednesday said that during the same time period, the "amount of food delivered to address emergencies abroad fell 5 percent," the Washington Independent reports.

3 Oct 2009

Bacteria could be used to control mosquitoes, prevent disease, study says

New findings, published in the journal Science, about the bacteria Wolbachia could be used to control mosquito populations and prevent malaria, dengue fever and other mosquito-borne diseases, Discovery News reports.

2 Oct 2009

Children and adolescents over five are at risk from malaria

Insecticide treated mosquito nets reduce the chances of developing life-threatening malaria in Africa, however recent research shows that older children are the least well protected by nets in the community. The research, published in the open access journal BMC Public Health, has found that parents and their young children were much more likely to have malaria nets than older children.

1 Oct 2009

Protection of front-line healthcare workers compromised

According to George Kappler, "If hospitals were subjected to the same protection standards as factories, many would have been shut down a long time ago." Those are tough words for healthcare workers to hear as they brace for an onslaught of H1N1 patients, but the CEO of Kappler, Inc., a 33-year veteran in the protective garment business, knows of what he speaks.

29 Sep 2009

Virginia Tech student granted fellowship for research study on LaCrosse Virus disease

Camille Harris of Ridgeland, Mississippi, a graduate student in biological sciences at Virginia Tech, has been awarded a National Institutes of Health (NIH) Graduate Research Fellowship for her study of forest disturbance and its ecological impacts on LaCrosse Virus, a mosquito-borne disease that can cause seizures, coma, paralysis, and permanent brain damage in severe cases.

26 Sep 2009

Researchers find fungi effective for controlling malaria mosquitoes

In areas where malaria mosquitoes have become resistant to chemical pesticides, mosquito-killing fungi can be an effective tool. Fungal spores can effectively infect and kill malaria mosquitoes, even those that are resistant to pesticides.

25 Sep 2009

Study reveals that daily commuting may lead to mosquito-borne diseases

University of Hawaii at Manoa assistant researcher Durrell Kapan recently published a paper, Man Bites Mosquito: Understanding the Contribution of Human Movement to Vector-Borne Disease Dynamics, in PLoS One. Published August 26, the paper highlights how daily commuting patterns in mega-cities may be a critically overlooked factor in understanding the resurgence of mosquito-borne diseases such as dengue fever, infecting 50-100 million people annually.

21 Sep 2009

US NetMark project helps build African and international businesses

The NetMark project, a $67 million, USAID-funded public-private partnership to prevent malaria, ends September 30, but the bed net market continues to thrive in seven countries where it operated-Nigeria, Senegal, Mali, Ghana, Uganda, Ethiopia, and Zambia. Not only did the U.S. investment help spur major spending by private companies-for every $1 in public funds, African and international businesses spent $1.30-the new commercial sector now exists.

17 Sep 2009

Under-five mortality rate continues to decline

UNICEF today released new figures that show the rate of deaths of children under five years of age continued to decline in 2008.

11 Sep 2009

UNICEF data shows global child mortality now below 9m, progress not enough to achieve MDG in most regions

The annual number of deaths among children younger than five worldwide "has fallen below nine million" compared with 12.5 million in 1990, according to new data from UNICEF, the New York Times reports. "That's 10,000 less children dying per day," Ann Veneman, UNICEF's executive director, said.

10 Sep 2009

Adding screens to homes can cut malaria risk, study says

A study conducted in the Republic of The Gambia found that adding screens to the windows and doors of houses can help reduce the number of malaria-carrying mosquitoes inside and prevent anaemia in children, CBCnews.ca reports (9/2).

4 Sep 2009

Mosquito screens prevent malaria

Trials of a screen-based malaria prevention programme in 500 homes in The Gambia, Africa, have led to a 50 per cent reduction in malaria transmission and anaemia in children. A child dies from malaria in Africa every 30 seconds and infection can lead to an increased risk of anaemia, which can also prove fatal. Yet to date, screens have often been ignored in favour of using drugs and insecticides.

3 Sep 2009