Full Coverage: Health

28.04.2005 Médecins Sans Frontière augmente considérablement ses capacités de prise en charge de la malnutrition sévère au Niger. Le nombre d’enfants malnutris a atteint un niveau anormalement élevé pour cette période de l’année. Cette situation déjà alarmante en janvier se dégrade rapidement. MSF appelle les autres acteurs de l’aide à se mobiliser.

27.04.2005 There are fears that the annual pilgrimage of over a million Muslims to Touba, a town affected by a serious cholera outbreak, may cause the disease to spread to neighbouring countries.

27.04.2005 The Pan American Health Organization on Monday launched a week-long initiative to prevent measles, polio, rubella and other diseases in the Americas through immunization. The focus this year is on indigenous groups especially those living in rural border areas.

27.04.2005 Reports that the death rate of women in childbirth is on the rise in Nepal as the result of the conflict have prompted the United Nations to call for both sides to respect basic human rights. It is estimated that maternal deaths due to lack of access to health care outnumber those killed in the fighting.

27.04.2005 The control of rural areas of Nepal is largely in the hands of Maoist insurgents, leading to a grave shortage of effective rural healthcare in those regions. Health officials are afraid to visit such areas through fear of reprisals from both sides while medical supplies are reported to be regularly hijacked by the rebels

25.04.2005 L'épidémie de fièvre de Marburg continue de se propager dans la province de Uige en Angola. Le bilan officiel, au 11 avril, est de 203 morts pour 221 cas recensés. Depuis que des tests biologiques réalisés par l'OMS ont confirmé le 22 mars qu'il s'agissait bien de fièvre de Marburg, 114 nouveaux cas ont été identifiés, et 107 patients sont morts.

23.04.2005 Maternal and child mortality rates in Eritrea are improving but health service infrastructure remains poor and further progress is needed to meet the Millennium targets.

21.04.2005 Skin diseases and infections are not uncommon in African children as in children from other parts of the world. A recent study conducted in a public primary school in Ibadan, Nigeria concluded that fungal infections and scabies were the
most common skin diseases in children. Several other studies from Mali, Malawi, Tanzania and Sierra Leone also point to scabies as one of the common skin problems in Africa.

21.04.2005 A suspected outbreak of dengue fever has hit the Somali capital of Mogadishu, medical workers say.

19.04.2005 Le Canada risque de perdre sa capacité de faire des tests indépendants et la capacité d’inspection dont il a besoin pour protéger la santé et la sécurité des Canadiens si le projet de loi C-27 sur l’Agence canadienne d’inspection des aliments devait être adopté, affirment d’éminents scientifiques du Canada et des États-Unis.

15.04.2005 Grammy-nominated Congolese singer and womenÂ’s advocate Zap Mama will compliment screenings of the documentary "Love, Labor, Loss" at select venues in the U.S. in April. The film, about poor African women who are debilitated because of childbirth, is being shown around the United States to build momentum for Fistula Awareness Day on MotherÂ’s Day, May 8.

15.04.2005 CHERNOBYL, Ukraine, Apr 14 (IPS) - Almost 20 years have passed since the world's worst nuclear accident, but Chernobyl continues to bring back traumatizing memories for many Ukrainians.

14.04.2005 The Christian Medical Association of India (CMAI) brings out Health Dialogue, which is a forum for exchanging news and views on primary healthcare in India. Access the October-December 2004 issue in a PDF format, which is on Affirmative Parenting.

12.04.2005 Visit the new internet site, the database of NGOs working on Public Health Issues which offers detailed information on all organizations active in the field, a variety of publications and abstracts, links and other information on public health in the Republic of Macedonia.

12.04.2005 India is among the 51 countries which have shown poor progress in improving maternal and child healthcare says a recent report by the World Health Organisation. The WHO has warned that the number of untimely deaths of mothers and children could shoot up if India doesnÂ’t act within the next 10 years.

12.04.2005 If aid donors would promise to buy 200 million doses of any new malaria vaccine for $15 a pop, pharmaceutical companies would have incentive to develop one and people in poorer countries would get protection from the deadly disease at a bargain cost, says a report from a panel of experts released last week. This approach could work for many diseases afflicting poor countries and save millions of lives, they argue.

11.04.2005 The book examines IndiaÂ’s family planning programme and maintains that neo-liberal economic policies have dealt a huge blow to ideas of the universal provision of health services.
Author : Mohan Rao
Publisher : Sage Publications Pvt. Ltd
Pp : 287
Price : $59.95

07.04.2005 World Health Day tends to focus on life-threatening issues such as malaria and child mortality. We should also remember the sight-saving work of organisations like the ORBIS Flying Eye Hospital. Here an eye surgeon is interviewed about his first visit to India.

07.04.2005 Marking World Health day, the World Health Organisation has launched the World Health Report, which calls for greater access to life-saving interventions and a "continuum of care" approach to start before pregnancy and extend into the baby's childhood. Every year, 10.6 million children die before the age of five and over half a million women die in pregnancy.

07.04.2005 "Make every mother and child count" is the slogan of World Health Day 2005. This year's World Health Report calls for a new momentum to address and improve maternal, neonatal and child health. Every year 10 million children die, 4 million of these in the first four weeks of life (the neonatal period). Yet, simple cost-effective interventions exist which could save up to 3 million of these newborns. These interventions are explored in a new Key Issues page on maternal, newborn and child health now available on the HRC/Eldis Health Resource Guide. This clear and concise guide highlights the key policy debates, and examines what action is needed to achieve the Millennium Development Goals on maternal and child health.