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Kenya implements international standards for tuberculosis care

Kenya on Monday implemented the International Standards for Tuberculosis Care, Public Health and Sanitation Minister Beth Mugo said at the biennial five-day planning meeting of the health ministry's Division of Leprosy, TB and Lung Diseases in Mombasa, Kenya, the Daily Nation reports.

2 Sep 2008

WHO says inequities around the world are killing people on a "grand scale"

According to a report by the World Health Organization (WHO) inequities around the world are responsible for killing people on a "grand scale".

1 Sep 2008

Social injustice is killing people on a grand scale reports WHO's Commission

A child born in a Glasgow, Scotland suburb can expect a life 28 years shorter than another living only 13 kilometres away. A girl in Lesotho is likely to live 42 years less than another in Japan. In Sweden, the risk of a woman dying during pregnancy and childbirth is 1 in 17 400; in Afghanistan, the odds are 1 in 8. Biology does not explain any of this. Instead, the differences between - and within - countries result from the social environment where people are born, live, grow, work and age.

28 Aug 2008

U.S. spinach and lettuce to be irradiated to stop outbreaks of foodborne bacteria

Following an increasing number of outbreaks of foodborne illnesses over the last few years, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) in the United States is about to allow food producers to irradiate spinach and iceberg lettuce to kill foodborne bacteria.

25 Aug 2008

2.5 billion live with poor sanitation, 1.2 billion practise open defecation

Every day, over 2.5 billion people suffer from a lack of access to improved sanitation and nearly 1.2 billion practise open defecation, the riskiest sanitary practice of all, according to a report issued today by the WHO/UNICEF Joint Monitoring Programme for Water Supply and Sanitation. The programme is the official UN mechanism tasked with monitoring progress towards the Millennium Development Goals (MDG) Target 7c on drinking water supply and sanitation.

17 Jul 2008

Worsening malnutrition and the threat of disease add to crisis in Ethiopia

Worsening malnutrition and the threat of disease outbreaks are compounding Ethiopia's humanitarian crisis. WHO is working with the Government of Ethiopia and health partners to support the 4.6 million people needing urgent emergency food relief nationwide.

13 Jul 2008

Red Cross says African AIDS epidemic equates to a disaster

According to a new study by the Red Cross the AIDS epidemic in southern Africa is so severe that it should be classed as a disaster comparable to floods or famine.

26 Jun 2008

Public health agencies call on G8 leaders to allocate increased resources to health programs worldwide

The heads of several organizations involved in public health issues worldwide on Tuesday called on the Group of Eight industrialized nations to invest more resources in health and disease programs, the AP/USA Today reports.

11 Jun 2008

Kenyan Health Ministry launches HIV, TB communication campaign to reduce stigma, discrimination among health workers

The East African on Monday examined how a campaign recently launched in Kenya to increase awareness about HIV/AIDS and tuberculosis will affect health care workers in the country.

8 Jun 2008

Role of breastfeeding in preventing infant death, HIV infection in developing countries

In many poor countries, mothers with HIV face a stark choice: to nurse their infants, and risk passing on HIV through their breast milk - or to formula feed, and deprive their infants of much of the natural immunity needed to protect against fatal diseases of early infancy. Now, two studies supported by the National Institutes of Health offer insights into preventing early death and HIV infection among breastfeeding infants of mothers with HIV in these countries.

5 Jun 2008

Delegates agree to focus on HIV/AIDS, other issues hindering African development at close of Tokyo conference

Delegates at the close of the fourth Tokyo International Conference on African Development in Yokohama, Japan, on Friday agreed to focus on health issues, including HIV/AIDS, on the continent, the Kyodo News/TMCnet reports. In the Yokohama declaration, delegates also pledged to pay "special attention" to issues -- such as health, poverty and food insecurity -- that are hindering African development.

2 Jun 2008

Nasal gel to fight superbug MRSA

British scientists are well on the way to developing a new drug to fight the 'superbug' Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA).

19 May 2008

Disease outbreak prevention crucial in China earthquake aftermath

Preventing communicable disease outbreaks is the key public health issue now facing the People's Republic of China in the aftermath of the earthquake that struck the country's south-western region on 12 May.

18 May 2008

Population affected by cyclone in Burma/Myanmar

As many as 3.2 million Burmese are estimated to be affected by the devastation caused by Cyclone Nargis, according to geographic risk models developed by researchers from the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health and Lehman College, CUNY.

14 May 2008

IRIN/PlusNews examines efforts to increase access to safe drinking water among HIV-positive people in Sudan

IRIN/PlusNews on Monday examined efforts to increase access to safe drinking water among HIV-positive people living in Sudan.

13 May 2008

Kenya launches campaign to increase tuberculosis screening among HIV-positive people

The Kenyan government on Tuesday launched a 60 million shilling -- or about $975,000 -- campaign to increase the number of HIV-positive people who are screened for tuberculosis at public hospitals, Kenya's Nation reports. The campaign also aims to educate health workers to test people with TB for HIV.

11 May 2008

Impact of environment and social gradient on Leptospira infection in urban slums

A study conducted in an urban slum setting in Salvador, Brazil has found that open sewers, accumulations of refuse, and inadequate floodwater drainage are acting as sources for transmission of the disease leptospirosis. The study is published in this week's PLoS Neglected Tropical Diseases.

23 Apr 2008