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). This is the first consolidated WHO report on viral hepatitis epidemiology, service coverage and product access, with improved data for action. …
The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation today introduced The Art of Saving a Life project, a new initiative that brings together more than 30 world-renowned musicians, writers, filmmakers, painters, sculptors and photographers to demonstrate how vaccines continue to positively change the course of history. The Art of Saving a Life …
The flu slipped just below epidemic levels over the holidays but spread even farther across the USA and took the lives of six more children. Twenty-one children have been killed by the flu this season, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Almost all flu cases this season …
Researchers investigated a Kyasanur Forest disease outbreak in Karnataka, India during December 2013–April 2014. Surveillance and retrospective study indicated low vaccine coverage, low vaccine effectiveness, and spread of disease to areas beyond those selected for vaccination and to age groups not targeted for vaccination. To control disease, vaccination strategies need …
With 40 per cent children still out of its immunisation coverage, the Union Health Ministry on Thursday launched “Mission Indradhanush” depicting seven colours of the rainbow with an aim to cover all those children by 2020 either unvaccinated for shots against or are partially vaccinated seven preventable diseases.These include diphtheria, …
The government’s efforts to check the spread of encephalitis and Japanese encephalitis, which include a vaccination drive started in 2006, have not shown the desired results. The Centre has disclosed that not only have the cases gone up in the last few years, epidemiological data shows that many adults are …
Assuring full immunisation coverage by 2020, the health minister on Thursday said that unvaccinated districts will be targeted in a phase wise manner. “About 201 high focus districts in the country have been identified in the first phase which have nearly 50 per cent of all unvaccinated or partially vaccinated …
China on Thursday said it has developed a vaccine to combat the spread of deadly Ebola virus that has killed more than 7,000 people in three West African countries, and the test of the drug on humans would begin this month. Defence ministry spokesman Yang Yujun told reporters that the …
The World Malaria Report 2014 summarizes information received from malaria-endemic countries and other sources, and updates the analyses presented in the 2013 report. It assesses global and regional malaria trends, highlights progress towards global targets, and describes opportunities and challenges in controlling and eliminating the disease.
Killed, oral cholera vaccines have proven safe and effective, and several large-scale mass cholera vaccination efforts have demonstrated the feasibility of widespread deployment. This study uses a mathematical model of cholera transmission in Bangladesh to examine the effectiveness of potential vaccination strategies.
Islamabad - For the eradication of polio, the government of Japan, Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) and United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) signed agreements on Monday to make sure that children are vaccinated in Pakistan. Amir Sheikh, joint secretary ministry of national health services, regulations and coordination (MoNHSRC), witnessed the …
A high-level emergency meeting, convened by the World Health Organization at the request of several governments and representatives of the pharmaceutical industry, was held on 23 October to look at the many complex policy issues that surround eventual access to experimental Ebola vaccines. Ways to ensure the fair distribution and …
KARACHI: The Sindh Board of Revenue has been directed by Qaim Ali Shah to declare Kachho, Kohistan and parts of Thatta district calamity hit. He directed Sindh Food, Revenue, Relief and concerned Commissioner/Deputy Commissioners to distribute wheat among 34,000 identified drought affected families with 50 kilogrammes to each family for …
PANAJI: Forty-three cases of hepatitis C have been detected among 700-odd injecting drug users, also called IDUs, in Goa. NGO, Positive People, who works with IDUs, started testing for the disease two years ago and members say they come across at least one case of hepatitis C every month. In …
The cumulative population of sheep and goat in Chhattisgarh stood at 33.91 lakh as per the 18th cattle census which is 17 per cent more than the previous year, Animal Husbandry Department officials here informed. The State Government’s Animal Husbandry Development Department conducted a state-wide vaccination drive last month to …
TORONTO – An experimental Canadian-made Ebola vaccine that has shown promise in tests on primates is beginning clinical trials on humans in the U.S. The vaccine will be tested on healthy individuals Monday to see how well it works, whether there are side effects and what the proper dosage is, …
A vaccine for parasitic intestinal worms has been shown to be safe in Brazilian clinical trials, according to its US developer. The trials were carried out in the city of Belo Horizonte, and the rural settlement of Americaninhas in eastern Brazil where there is a high risk of hookworm infection. …
KATHMANDU, Oct 8: Children across the country will be immunized with three new vaccines within the current fiscal year, thanks to the Ministry of Health and Population (MoHP) that has included additional shots in the regular immunization list. Child Health Division (CHD) under the Department of Health Services (DoHS) stated …
PESHAWAR, Pakistan—When Salma Iqbal developed a high fever in July, her family didn’t think it was anything to worry about. Within two days, however, the alert, playful 9-month-old’s legs had gone limp. The family rushed her to a clinic in the Bakhshu Pul area, a dusty suburb of Peshawar in …
ISLAMABAD: The National Institute of Health’s Polio Virology Laboratory confirmed another five polio cases on Tuesday night, taking the number of cases reported this year to 171. Two cases have been reported in the Federally Administered Tribal Areas (Fata) and one each in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Sindh and Balochistan. Also read: …
The UN will formulate ambitious Sustainable Development Goals for 2030, including one for health. Feasible goals with some quantifiable, measurable targets can influence governments. We propose, as a quatitative health target, “Avoid in each country 40% of premature deaths (under-70 deaths that would be seen in the 2030 population at …
