<p>The number of lives lost due to viral hepatitis infections is increasing and already accounts for 3,500 deaths daily, according to this report by the World Health Organization (WHO).</p>
Atlanta: The U.S. government has announced it has said goodbye to one of the world's greatest lifesavers
The immunization service delivery support (ISDS) model was initiated in Andhra Pradesh, India, in November 2003 with the aim of strengthening immunization services through supportive supervision. The ISDS model involves a well-established supervision system built upon the existing health infrastructure. March 2008
With 1.67 million cases of malaria and around 1,000 deaths last year, the government has changed the drug policy and directed states from January this year to introduce the ACT (artesunate and sulpha pyrimethamine) combination as the first line of anti-malarial drug treatment in chloroquine-resistant areas. Dr G S Sonal, Joint Director, National Vector Borne Disease Control Programme (NVDCP), told The Indian Express that there has been concern over the increasing number of plasmodium falciparum (PF) cases of malaria. India contributes to 77 per cent cases of malaria in South East Asia. PF in the 70s amounted to less than 15 per cent of the malaria cases, but this has now gone up to 50 per cent of the total malaria cases. Moreover the dangerous PF has developed resistance to chloroquine in various parts of the country. Sixty-five per cent of cases of malaria in various pockets of Orissa, Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand and West Bengal are due to PF and drug resistance to chloroquine is high here. Chloroquine however is useful in states like Haryana, Punjab, Jammu and Kashmir and Himachal Pradesh. At least one million ACT course drugs will be supplied to the high endemic states. So far the government had supplied 20 crore tablets of chloroquine in the country. This quantum of drugs will be slightly reduced, Sonal said. According to Dr A P Dash, Director, National Institute of Malaria Research (NIMR), the PF species of malaria is spreading wider due to migration of population from endemic to non-endemic areas and drug sensitivity studies from various states have observed that there is resistance to the drug chloroquine - which is being used as the first line of treatment for malaria cases. The last time the policy was revised was in 2003. Vaccine for malaria Two sites have been selected for trial of a vaccine against malaria. Epidemiological and immunological data will be collected from the sites selected in Orissa and Madhya Pradesh to test the vaccine. The International Centre for Genetic Engineering and Biotechnology, Delhi, has developed the vaccine and will be tested at these two sites, Director, National Institute of Malaria Research Dr A P Dash said.
Novartis, the Swiss pharmaceutical group, is stepping up the case for use of its experimental pandemic flu vaccine even ahead of a new virus mutation that could trigger a future lethal outbreak in humans. Jorg Reinhardt, head of vaccines and diagnostics, said the company would publish scientific data showing that its H5 vaccine stimulates rapid protection with a second booster jab against pandemic flu strains for at least seven years. Many specialists believe two flu injections may be necessary to provide significant protection from a pandemic, but there is far less current global capacity than supply. Reinhardt said a single flu vaccine shot would normally only offer protection after four to six weeks, but an initial jab would allow a subsequent booster to become effective within two to three days. His remarks come at a time of fierce competition between vaccine companies, which have invested significantly in pandemic flu and are attempting to recover their costs as international concern wanes. Companies including Baxter, Sanofi-Aventis and Solvay are all making arguments for the advantages of their own products, and GlaxoSmithKline raised the profile of its H5N1 vaccine last year when it agreed to donate to a "solidarity' stockpile for poor countries. World Health Organisation officials caution against labelling such products "pre-pandemic' vaccines, because they will only be effective if it is a mutation of the current H5N1 bird flu strain that triggers a pandemic. Others remain cautious about any preventative vaccination because of the cost and strain on public health systems, and concern that widespread use could trigger side effects. Reinhardt stressed it was up to the governments to decide whether or not to buy and use his vaccine. "We will share the data with everyone who is willing to listen and make the scientific argument that it provides protection,' he said. His comments came as Novartis unveiled a new Institute for Global Health at its vaccines research office in Siena, which will attempt to develop non-profit vaccines to protect against three salmonella-based infections that cause diarrhoea, one of the leading causes of disease and death in young children around the world. He said the institute, mirroring its work in Singapore to find medicines to treat illnesses for which there is no commercial market, would employ 50 scientists within three years and seek support from funds such as the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and the Wellcome Institute by the end of this year.
Maverick physician Dr Dhani Ram Baruah today claimed to have invented a vaccine,
The Influenza Foundation of India (IFI), an advisory body to bring awareness on the disease as also its prevention and control, has issued several recommendations to curb the ill-effects of seasonal influenza, especially during the avian flu outbreak.
Brazil is battling an outbreak of yellow fever. The haemorrhagic illness, which is endemic to the region, has already killed eight people since the beginning of the year, the health ministry
Chandigarh, February 12 The Haryana Health Department has operationalised 5,086 village health sanitation committees (VHSC) to bridge the gap between demand and supply of quality and timely health care services and strengthen decentralised health planning. Haryana Commissioner and Secretary, Health, Navraj Sandhu said these committees have been operationalised by giving a grant of Rs 10,000 each. The bank account of each such committee is being operated jointly by the sarpanch and accredited social health activist (ASHA) or anganwari worker (AWW), she added.
In the wake of persistent severe cold weather, spread of viral diseases like chickenpox, measles, chest infection and influenza among children is on the increase. According to doctors, the extreme chilly weather has badly disturbed the immunity system of the young ones. Hence, the kids are more vulnerable to viral diseases. The doctors say that there is 20 per cent increase in viral infection among the kids this winter as compared to what was experienced in January and February last year.
In what could prove to be a setback to the pulse polio campaign in this district, an infant died after he was administered polio drops at Kulan today. However, the health authorities, while admitting that polio drops were administered to the victim, have maintained that the child died due to pneumonia. The authorities have begun investigation in to the matter and sealed the vial from which the polio drops were administered to him.
