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American voters say U.S. support for WHO important, poll shows

"Nine in 10 U.S. voters say it's important for the United States to support the global health efforts of the U.N.'s World Health Organization, according to a United Nations Foundation/Better World Campaign poll released Thursday," The Hill's "Global Affairs" blog reports.

5 May 2012

Parents can have significant impact in reducing children's sedentary behaviors

Parents can have a significant impact in steering young children away from too much time spent in sedentary pursuits. This new study, in the American Journal of Health Promotion, found this effect in Hispanic families, whose children are more likely to be sedentary than non-Hispanic white children and who are also especially vulnerable to becoming overweight or obese.

5 May 2012

Guardian examines launch of GAVI-sponsored immunization campaign in Ghana

Ghana's recent "rollout of the rotavirus vaccine and, to much acclaim, a new vaccine against pneumococcal infections, makes it the first country in sub-Saharan African to introduce two new vaccines at the same time," the Guardian reports.

5 May 2012

CCA receives $7,500 Standard Charitable Foundation grant

The Standard Charitable Foundation, the philanthropic arm of Standard Insurance Company, has awarded a $7,500 grant in support of the Children's Cancer Association.

5 May 2012

Sierra Leone has made progress in improving maternal, child health care, but 'much more to do'

"Just two years ago, our country had one of the worst maternal and infant death rates in the world," Sierra Leone President Ernest Bai Koroma writes in a Huffington Post U.K. "Impact" blog post, adding, "We knew something had to be done." So in September 2009, the government announced "that all health user fees would be removed for pregnant and lactating women and children under the age of five" and "introduced the Free Health Care Initiative [FHCI] in April 2010, which would give around 460,000 women and a million children a much better chance of having a longer and happier life," Koroma writes.

5 May 2012

TCFC completes two in-utero fetal cardiac interventions to treat HLHS

The team at Texas Children's Fetal Center, a national leader for treating fetal anomalies, has successfully completed two in-utero fetal cardiac interventions to treat hypoplastic left heart syndrome (HLHS), a congenital heart defect that is one of the most complex heart defects to treat.

5 May 2012

Copenhagen Consensus report argues for expanding family planning programs in 'high-fertility' countries

As part of a series of Slate articles highlighting issues being examined by the Copenhagen Consensus Center, Bjorn Lomborg, director of the center, examines the implications of population growth on development indicators.

5 May 2012

DTT releases ditto dental electronic device

Diversionary Therapy Technologies (DTT) is pleased to announce the release of ditto dental, an interactive electronic device containing augmented reality content to prepare children for dental procedures, resulting in reduced stress and anxiety for the pediatric patient and increased clinical productivity.

5 May 2012

Research roundup: Chronic disease interventions could save states money; Drilling into childhood cancer disparities; National heart emergency care system proposed

Urban Institute: Potential Savings Through Prevention Of Avoidable Chronic Illness Among CalPERS State Active Members -- California is one of many states in financial crisis, and according to this report, it could save millions of dollars on state employee health benefits by preventing chronic disease.

5 May 2012

Center for the Promotion of Maternal Health and Infant Development opens

On May 3, 2012, Rady Children's Hospital-San Diego and the UC San Diego School of Medicine launched the Center for the Promotion of Maternal Health and Infant Development.

5 May 2012

U.N.-sponsored report finds 1 in 10 infants born prematurely worldwide

Fifteen million infants, or nearly one in 10 worldwide, "are born premature every year, and 1.1 million of those infants die, according to a U.N.-sponsored report released Wednesday," Agence France-Presse reports.

4 May 2012

Presence of fetal cells is a double-edged sword for women

For the first time, scientists have found what could be a causative link between the concentration of circulating Y-chromosome fetal cells in women who gave birth to children of either sex and their risk of later developing breast cancer and colon cancer.

4 May 2012

In global study, U.S. ranks very low in preventing premature births

A World Health Organization/United Nations/March of Dimes report ranks countries on their premature birth rates.

4 May 2012

UNFPA Director urges India to address family planning needs

India "has to actively and aggressively address the issue of family planning" in order to improve human development indicators, including health, education and living standards, UNFPA Executive Director Babatunde Osotimehin said Wednesday, Reuters reports.

4 May 2012

Researchers discover two defective genes that cause auriculocondylar syndrome

Researchers at Seattle Children's Research Institute and their collaborators have discovered a pair of defective genes that cause a rare congenital malformation syndrome that can make it impossible for the child to breathe or eat properly without reparative surgery.

4 May 2012

Reuters profiles GAVI Alliance CEO Seth Berkley

Reuters profiles GAVI Alliance CEO Seth Berkley, recounting his childhood and early career, providing a brief history of GAVI since its inception in 2000, and discussing Berkley's goals and vision for the alliance.

4 May 2012

Blog posts respond to report on premature births

The March of Dimes Foundation, the Partnership for Maternal, Newborn & Child Health, Save the Children, and the WHO on Wednesday released a new report, titled "Born Too Soon: The Global Action Report on Preterm Birth," showing that 15 million infants are born prematurely each year, 1.1 million of those infants die, but 75 percent of those deaths are preventable.

4 May 2012

Without funding, thousands of malnourished Somali children at risk of death, UNICEF warns

UNICEF on Wednesday "warned that thousands of acutely malnourished children in Somalia are at risk of death because little money is available to help them," VOA News writes, adding, "UNICEF said it has received only 12 percent of its $289 million emergency appeal for humanitarian operations this year."

4 May 2012

Scientists identify first gene associated with congenital asplenia

Researchers at Weill Cornell Medical College and Rockefeller University have identified the first gene to be linked to a rare condition in which babies are born without a spleen, putting those children at risk of dying from infections they cannot defend themselves against. The gene, Nkx2.5, was shown to regulate genesis of the spleen during early development in mice.

4 May 2012

At least 1M children at risk of death in Sahel drought crisis; European Commission donates over $20M to UNICEF appeal

"At least one million children are at risk of dying of malnutrition in the central-western part of Africa's Sahel region due to a drought crisis, the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) said Wednesday, adding that more resources are urgently needed to help those in need," the U.N. News Centre reports.

4 May 2012