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4 million extra health workers needed worldwide

Authors of a public-health article in this week’s issue of THE LANCET are calling for urgent international action to address the chronic lack of investment in human resources which is limiting the chance of tackling diseases such as HIV/AIDS, malaria, and TB.

29 Nov 2004

Shortages of health workers threaten health initiatives

A new study has for the first time quantified the dangerous scarcity of health care workers around the globe, ensuring future failures of most developing country health initiatives without the effective addition of 4 million health workers to stave off catastrophic health, economic and political consequences.

24 Nov 2004

Effective research could prevent half of the world's deaths

Health systems research has the potential to produce dramatic improvements in health worldwide and to meet some of the major development challenges in the new millennium.

11 Nov 2004

New $22 million dollar scholarship program to recruit the next generation of public health leaders

The Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health has established a new $22 million dollar scholarship program to recruit the next generation of public health leaders to devise new, effective interventions to improve global health.

25 Oct 2004

A new general medical journal launched this week with a non-traditional publishing model

A new general medical journal launched this week with a non-traditional publishing model is the latest top-tier venue for publishing important, peer-reviewed biomedical research, and is being called the first major, international journal to be introduced in more than 70 years.

22 Oct 2004

Every minute of every day, at least one woman in developing countries dies in childbirth

Today, WHO and the Partnership for Safe Motherhood and Newborn Health are intensifying support to countries around the world to ensure that a woman does not die while giving birth to her child.

29 Sep 2004

Allow genomic information to be freely available on the internet

This week’s lead editorial in THE LANCET discusses the benefits and potential risks of allowing genomic information to be freely available on the internet

23 Sep 2004

Asia must tackle HIV in injecting drug users

Asian countries must adopt strategies to slow the spread of HIV among injecting drug users, urge researchers in this week's BMJ.

23 Sep 2004

Global health is recurrently being threatened by new and re-emerging infectious diseases

Global health is recurrently being threatened by new and re-emerging infectious diseases. Examples of new and re-emerging infectious diseases include SARS (Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome), new variant CJD (Creutzfeldt-Jakob Disease), avian flu and Ebola.

20 Sep 2004

World Health Organisation's strategy to control the worldwide rise of tuberculosis has not worked

The World Health Organisation's (WHO) strategy to control the worldwide rise of tuberculosis (TB) has not worked, say Harvard researchers in the Journal of Epidemiology and Community Health. It is time to go beyond simply treating people with active disease, which has been the cornerstone of its strategy, they say.

12 Sep 2004

Stopping bacteria from talking to each other could help prevent serious infections

Stopping bacteria from talking to each other could help prevent serious infections say scientists from Aberdeen, in new research presented Monday at the Society for General Microbiology’s 155th Meeting at Trinity College Dublin.

7 Sep 2004

Researchers unravel genetic makeup of ticks to tackle disease

Ticks as small as a freckle can transmit a number of illnesses for which there is no vaccine and, in some cases, no cure. These creatures even could become bioterrorism weapons.

4 Sep 2004

Risk of thyroid cancer rises with increasing radiation dose

The risk of thyroid cancer rises with increasing radiation dose, according to the most thorough risk analysis for thyroid cancer to date among people who grew up in the shadow of the 1986 Chernobyl power-plant disaster.

2 Sep 2004

U.S. plan for influenza pandemic response

The U.S. Department of Health & Human Services has unveiled the draft Pandemic Influenza Response and Preparedness Plan, which outlines a coordinated national strategy to prepare for and respond to an influenza pandemic.

26 Aug 2004

Development of plant-derived topical medications to prevent HIV/AIDS and other STD's

Researchers at the Biodesign Institute at ASU have been tapped to lead development of plant-derived topical medications that would prevent HIV/AIDS and other sexually-transmitted diseases.

21 Aug 2004

One of the largest causes of death and disability worldwide

A new series of 5 seminars about one of the largest causes of death and disability worldwide - COPD (chronic obstructive pulmonary disease) - starts in this week’s issue of the Lancet.

15 Aug 2004

Support of humanitarian organisations to refugees in developing countries may inadvertently be creating a two-tier health system

With the host population having to cope with poorer health facilities than that provided by aid agencies to refugees.

15 Aug 2004

Vaccine trial shows promising results for streptococcal infection protection

A study published in the current issue of JAMA reports that a streptococcal vaccine trial has shown promising results for protection against streptococcal infections.

11 Aug 2004

Current estimates have cardiovascular disease (CVD) accounting for 17 million deaths annually

Renowned public health specialist, Professor Stephen Leeder, will present the central findings of a report highlighting the disturbing trend towards a growth in cardiovascular disease in developing countries, at a special colloquium to be held at The University of Sydney.

5 Aug 2004

Malaria mortality rate in Africa and Asia could double in a few decades as the drug used most frequently is rendered useless

Within the next five years, international organizations and world leaders should begin collectively to contribute $300 million to $500 million annually to create a global subsidy that would make new combination malaria treatments available to the world's poor for as little as 10 cents per treatment course

23 Jul 2004