Tropical Disease News and Research

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Tropical diseases encompass all diseases that occur solely, or principally, in the tropics. In practice, the term is often taken to refer to infectious diseases that thrive in hot, humid conditions, such as malaria, leishmaniasis, schistosomiasis, onchocerciasis, lymphatic filariasis, Chagas disease, African trypanosomiasis, and dengue.

Recent releases in Global Health

The WHO's March Bulletin is a special themed issue focusing on communicable diseases in Southeast Asia. The publication addresses tuberculosis, cholera, neglected tropical diseases and family planning in the region (March 2010).

6 Mar 2010

Combating liver fluke: Queen's University Belfast heads international research effort

Queen's University Belfast is spearheading a £1 million international research effort to combat liver fluke - a parasite which causes disease in livestock, resulting in billions of pounds in losses every year to farmers around the world.

5 Mar 2010

NanoViricides signs research and development agreement with Dr. Eva Harris’s laboratory at UC Berkeley

NanoViricides, Inc. (the "Company"), reports that it has signed a research and development agreement with Dr. Eva Harris’s laboratory at the University of California, Berkeley (UC Berkeley).

17 Feb 2010

New research suggests closantel drug may be useful in combating river blindness

Scientists at The Scripps Research Institute have discovered a potential new use for the drug closantel, currently the standard treatment for sheep and cattle infected with liver fluke. The new research suggests that the drug may be useful in combating river blindness, a tropical disease that is the world's second leading infectious cause of blindness for humans.

10 Feb 2010

Breakthrough research could lead to new potential treatments for malaria

Groundbreaking research done at Singapore's Nanyang Technological University's (NTU) School of Biological Sciences (SBS) could lead to the development of more potent drugs or a vaccine for malaria, which is transmitted to humans by infected mosquitoes and kills up to three million people each year.

6 Feb 2010

Recent releases in Global Health

A Lancet study examines childbirth practices and the relationship between these practices and maternal and perinatal outcomes in nine Asian countries, as assessed by a WHO global survey. Based on the analysis of over 107,000 deliveries, the authors conclude, "To improve maternal and perinatal outcomes, caesarean section should be done only when there is a medical indication" (Lumbiganon et al., 2/6). These findings "should help us to prioritise our strategies to reduce unnecessary interventions in childbirth," write the authors of a Lancet comment.

5 Feb 2010

Elephantiasis and river blindness: MSU researcher receives $2M for reformulating flubendazole

In an effort to eliminate the tropical diseases elephantiasis and river blindness, a Michigan State University researcher has been awarded $2 million to reformulate an existing drug that could stop the debilitating diseases in their tracks.

5 Feb 2010

Drug company CEOs under pressure

Dow Jones Newswires/The Wall Street Journal on Severin Schwan, chief executive of Swiss pharmaceutical company Roche Holding AG: "'It is difficult to gauge the impact of the planned U.S. healthcare reform on the pharmaceutical industry,' Schwan told reporters at a media conference to detail 2009 earnings. 'On the one hand, more U.S. citizens will be getting access to healthcare, which is positive. At the same time, pressure on drug prices will certainly increase,' he added." The wire service adds that he also said "decisions on generic biosimilars will be key" (Greil, 2/3).

3 Feb 2010

Obama's FY 2011 budget gives global health funding boost

President Barack Obama's FY 2011 budget request for global health totals $9.6 billion and includes funding for global health activities within the State Department, USAID and HHS, the Wall Street Journal reports

3 Feb 2010

More details on Obama's global health strategy expected along with budget release, Wall Street Journal reports

"The Obama administration is expected to propose in its fiscal 2011 budget Monday new funding to combat preventable and tropical diseases, malnutrition and other conditions afflicting the world's poor, as part of a strategy to broaden its approach to global health," the Wall Street Journal reports.

2 Feb 2010

First Edition: February 1, 2010

As President Obama's proposed budget heads to Congress, analysis of the breakdown of health reform -- and whether it may still have a chance -- continues.

1 Feb 2010

Opinions: Clean water; oversight of U.N. bookkeeping; Obama's global health goals; maternal mortality

"Long before the earthquake, Haiti was mired in a crisis that only a few experts noticed - a severe lack of clean drinking water," writes Joseph Treaster, editor of the University of Miami's Internet magazine on global water issues and the environment, in a Miami Herald opinion piece that examines the interconnectedness between water and health problems in Haiti, as well as other countries around the world.

29 Jan 2010

WHO Director-General highlights global health gains, challenges at executive board meeting

During the WHO's recent executive board meeting, WHO Director-General Margaret Chan reflected on public health gains over the past decade and the challenges that lie ahead, Nigeria's Guardian reports. Chan commended the international community's response to H1N1 and global efforts to reduce child mortality, fight malaria and tuberculosis.

27 Jan 2010

GSK announces new initiatives for addressing healthcare challenges in the world's poorest countries

Andrew Witty, Chief Executive of GlaxoSmithKline, today announced a series of new initiatives targeted at further transforming the company's approach to diseases that disproportionately affect the world's poorest countries. His announcements build on commitments made in 2009 to work in partnership, expand access to medicines and encourage new research into neglected tropical diseases.

22 Jan 2010

Global health community to be engaged in using resources of GSK and Alnylam IP Pool

BIO Ventures for Global Health, GlaxoSmithKline (GSK), and Alnylam announced today that the organizations are partnering to engage the global health community in using the powerful resources of the GSK and Alnylam Intellectual Property (IP) Pool.

21 Jan 2010

GSK to offer scientists access to compounds, lab space to fight malaria

Drugmaker GlaxoSmithKline (GSK)'s Chief Executive Officer Andrew Witty on Tuesday unveiled the company's plans to allow "free access to its library of 13,500 potential malaria treatments and devote the profits from its experimental [RTS,S] vaccine to battling tropical illnesses that beset poor countries," Bloomberg reports (Randall, 1/20).

21 Jan 2010

NanoViricides outlines its technology and current drug programs at Biotech Showcase conference

NanoViricides, Inc. (the "Company"), reports that the Company has been invited to present on January 12th at the Biotech Showcase™, a conference designed to showcase promising companies and technologies for partnering and investment purposes.

12 Jan 2010

Recent releases in Global Health

A Lancet Comment examines the "grossly insufficient" progress towards meeting the Millennium Development Goal (MDG) of reducing under-5 child mortality. "Accelerated progress can be achieved, even in the poorest environments, through: integrated, evidence-driven, and community-based programmes that focus on addressing the major causes of death, including pneumonia, diarrhoea, newborn disorders, malaria, HIV, and undernutrition; reaching the unreached with a basic package of interventions at large scale and achieving coverage with equity; and using data for action and advocacy," the comment concludes (You et al., 1/9).

9 Jan 2010

IRIN series examines health, development issues in Kenya

In a special series, IRIN examines health and development in Kenya. "The vast arid lands of northern Kenya are generally drier, less fertile, poorer and rank lower in most humanitarian and development league tables than the rest of the country. ... Preventable and treatable diseases are often neither prevented nor treated for want of adequate healthcare. Attracting qualified doctors and nurses to the hinterland is a major challenge.

24 Dec 2009

Recent releases in Global Health

A Scientific American article examines recent efforts to tackle neglected tropical diseases (NTDs). The author writes "NTDs have plagued humankind for thousands of years. … What is new, however, is that donors, drugmakers, health ministries in low- and middle-income countries, the World Health Organization (WHO), and public-private partnerships are linking their efforts to combat the NTDs in a more coordinated and systematic way."

18 Dec 2009

Tropical Disease News and Research

Further Reading

Recent releases in Global Health

Combating liver fluke: Queen's University Belfast heads international research effort

NanoViricides signs research and development agreement with Dr. Eva Harris’s laboratory at UC Berkeley

New research suggests closantel drug may be useful in combating river blindness

Breakthrough research could lead to new potential treatments for malaria

Recent releases in Global Health

Elephantiasis and river blindness: MSU researcher receives $2M for reformulating flubendazole

Drug company CEOs under pressure

Obama's FY 2011 budget gives global health funding boost

More details on Obama's global health strategy expected along with budget release, Wall Street Journal reports

First Edition: February 1, 2010

Opinions: Clean water; oversight of U.N. bookkeeping; Obama's global health goals; maternal mortality

WHO Director-General highlights global health gains, challenges at executive board meeting

GSK announces new initiatives for addressing healthcare challenges in the world's poorest countries

Global health community to be engaged in using resources of GSK and Alnylam IP Pool

GSK to offer scientists access to compounds, lab space to fight malaria

NanoViricides outlines its technology and current drug programs at Biotech Showcase conference

Recent releases in Global Health

IRIN series examines health, development issues in Kenya

Recent releases in Global Health

Expanding research and clinical options for children with cancer

Examining how pain could play a direct protective role in the gut

From Puberty to Menopause: Clue’s CEO, Audrey Tsang on the Power of Femtech

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