Full Coverage: Disease

30.03.2005 The phase out of generic drug manufacturing by India in order to comply with international trade rules may satisfy the mighty pharmaceutical industry, but it could spell doom for poor nations struggling to provide affordable treatment for HIV/AIDS, reports Nicolien den Boer.

29.03.2005 Sans un test rapide et simple d’utilisation permettant de diagnostiquer rapidement la tuberculose, le personnel soignant dans les pays en développement va continuer à occulter près d’un malade sur deux. Et, pour MSF, tous les efforts pour contrôler la tuberculose seront vains.

28.03.2005 Pakistan launches an aggressive nationwide campaign to raise awareness about tuberculosis and access to free treatment at public health centres.

25.03.2005 To commemorate World Tuberculosis Day on Thursday, the Pan American Health Organization celebrated health care providers everywhere who are vital to the successful treatment of tuberculosis, which still kills 5,000 everyday worldwide. While cure rates in the Americas increase yearly, in other regions of the world TB continues to be a deepening challenge for health systems.

24.03.2005 The Marburg virus, a cousin of Ebola, is normally lethal in 30 percent of cases, but 96 of the 107 infected in the northern Angolan province of Uige since October have died, owing primarily to the area's dilapidated and underfunded health system. International teams are en route to help stem the epidemic, but with an incubation period of 21 days, sufferers could travel and spread the virus.

24.03.2005 Doctors still test for tuberculosis with a test developed 123 years ago, which is less than 50 percent accurate. While 99 percent of all TB deaths occur in developing countries, however, research to develop a new test is focused on more lucrative, technology-driven western markets. A simple and accurate test is needed that can be used far away from a laboratory, says the medical aid group Doctors Without Borders.

23.03.2005 Indian lawmakers adopted a new patent law Tuesday that would ban domestic firms from making low-cost generic versions of patented drugs. Health campaigners warned that as a consequence, millions of people around the world would be denied access to cheap life-saving medicines, including those used to treat AIDS in poor African countries.

23.03.2005 WASHINGTON, D.C., Mar 23 (OneWorld) - Indian lawmakers adopted a new patent law Tuesday that would ban domestic firms from making low-cost generic versions of patented drugs. Health campaigners warned that as a consequence, millions of people around the world would be denied access to cheap life-saving medicines.

23.03.2005 This is the 8th WHO annual report on global TB control. It includes data on case notifications and treatment outcomes from all national TB control programmes that have reported to WHO, together with an analysis of plans, budgets, expenditures, and constraints on DOTS expansion for 22 high-burden countries.

• Author/Publisher: World Health Organisation
• Area Focus: Global
• Type: Report
• Year Published: Mar 2005

07.03.2005 Deaths due to measles have come down by 40 per cent since 1999 and the world is on the track to reduce the mortality by half by year-end, says a UN report.