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BRICS health ministers agree to improve access to low-cost medicines

Health ministers from Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa in Beijing "on Monday vowed to improve access to low-cost and high-quality medicine - and called on developed nations to shoulder responsibility in helping the poor," Agence France-Presse reports.

13 Jul 2011

Microneedle patches may target dentritic cells more efficiently and induce immunity against HIV

Applying a vaccine patch to the skin with thousands of tiny micro-needles could help boost the body's immune response and prevent the spread of life-threatening infections like HIV and TB, a major Cardiff University study aims to uncover.

11 Jul 2011

Unvented cooking indoors causes small-particle air pollution and raises blood pressure in women

An estimated two billion people in the developing world heat and cook with a biomass fuel such as wood, but the practice exposes people - especially women - to large doses of small-particle air pollution, which can cause premature death and lung disease.

8 Jul 2011

Mass administration of common anti-parasitic is possible new tool in fight against malaria

Ivermectin - an inexpensive, common medication already being used in Africa to treat roundworms that cause river blindness and parasites that cause elephantitis - could also be used to kill mosquitoes carrying malaria parasites, potentially "provid[ing] another useful weapon in the armory against a disease that kills around 800,000 a year, most of them small children and pregnant women," the Guardian's "Global Health Blog" reports (Boseley, 7/6).

8 Jul 2011

Next phase of HIV programming must focus on sustainable health systems response

"Now, we are in the Third-Generation of AIDS programming, in which the focus must be on a sustainable, health systems response, especially in the countries most affected by HIV & AIDS," Jonathan Quick, president and CEO of Management Sciences for Health, writes on the organization's "Global Health Impact" blog.

8 Jul 2011

Cash incentives for vaccination are ethical and economical

Orin Levine, executive director of the International Vaccine Access Center, and Amanda Glassman, director of global health policy and a research fellow at the Center for Global Development, in this CGD "Global Health Policy" blog post present their reasons as to why cash transfers for vaccinations are economically and ethically sound.

8 Jul 2011

New NIH program to identify nutritional status measures

The NIH in a press release said it will begin work on a "new program to discover, develop and distribute measures of nutritional status."

8 Jul 2011

Heartworm medication Ivermectin prevents malaria transmission in Africa

A cheap, common heartworm medication that is already being used to fight other parasites in Africa could also dramatically interrupt transmission of malaria, potentially providing an inexpensive tool to fight a disease that kills almost 800,000 people each year, according to a new study published in the July edition of the American Journal of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene.

7 Jul 2011

Study finds top grand challenges in global mental health

A Toronto-based researcher is at the helm of a massive, worldwide study that identifies the top global challenges in mental health. The paper resulting from the study appears in Nature today.

7 Jul 2011

The essential role of midwives

Mary Ellen Stanton, a senior maternal health advisor at USAID, and Chris Thomas, global health communications and policy advisor at USAID, outline the agency's work to promote better health outcomes for women and children in the developing world on GlobalPost's "Global Pulse" blog.

6 Jul 2011

Scientists, medical doctors propose integrated method for treating chronic disease

Chronic non-communicable diseases (NCD), such as cardiovascular disease, diabetes, arthritis, chronic respiratory disorders and cancer represent the major global health problem of the 21st century and affect all age groups.

6 Jul 2011

New GHI research examines conflicts between donor and recipient countries

In the early 2000s, the international aid community started to fund health programs through Global Health Initiatives (GHIs) which provide aid and support for tackling infectious diseases, and for implementing immunization programs against childhood diseases. However priorities set by GHIs and by governments are not always the same.

4 Jul 2011

Science should inform global AIDS policy

Thirty years have passed since the first reported case of AIDS, and "we now have an unprecedented opportunity, based on solid scientific data, to control and ultimately end the AIDS pandemic," after decades of the idea being "a distant aspiration because we lacked sufficient evidence-based tools to convert the hope to reality," Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, writes in a Science editorial.

2 Jul 2011

Global health funding should not create 'winners' and 'losers'

Andrew Harmer, a research fellow at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, in this globalhealthpolicy.net blog post lays out the global health "winners" and "losers" in terms of funding.

2 Jul 2011

MSF website lends voice to TB patients

"Medecins Sans Frontieres, whose volunteer doctors run TB clinics around the world, has launched a website called TB and Me, where patients are regularly blogging on their experiences," Sarah Boseley writes in the Guardian's "Global Health Blog."

2 Jul 2011

African health experts visit Capitol Hill to discuss family planning

The Global Health Council's "Global Health" blog published two articles on Wednesday examining family planning in West Africa.

1 Jul 2011

Improving health vital to good governance in Nigeria

In a Daily Independent opinion piece, U.S. Ambassador to Nigeria Terence McCulley writes that after "truly historic" elections in April, "the Nigerian Government faces complex challenges in the post-election environment. Security, electricity, good roads, education and reliable health care top most people's lists of immediate concerns."

30 Jun 2011

Rinderpest - fatal animal disease eradicated

Rinderpest, German for cattle plague, has finally met its match and does not exist anymore. It is the first animal disease to be eradicated and only the second disease ever, after smallpox in 1980. The United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization declared Tuesday that the world was rid of Rinderpest.

30 Jun 2011

Georgia residents strongly support investment in public and global health research

Nearly three-quarters (74%) of Georgia residents think spending money on research to improve health globally is important for economic development in Georgia, according to a new statewide poll commissioned by Research!America.

30 Jun 2011

GlobalPost examines GHI's work to address chronic malnutrition in Guatemala

Guatemala's "vast inequality" helped it land "on the list of eight 'plus' countries in the Global Health Initiative (GHI) that President Barack Obama is focusing on as part of his expansion and revision of how the U.S. is funding and rethinking global aid," GlobalPost's "Global Pulse" blog reports in an article examining malnutrition in Guatemala, the wealthiest of nations in the first round of GHI plus countries.

30 Jun 2011