Revolutionizing immunization campaigns? New technology keeps vaccines stable at tropical temperatures

British scientists have found a cheap and simple way of keeping vaccines stable, even at tropical temperatures, which could transform immunization campaigns in the developing world (Reuters).

The ability to transport vaccines at normal temperatures would reduce cost and greatly improve access to vaccines.

The newly discovered method involves mixing the vaccine with the sugars trehalose and sucrose and leaving it to dry out on a filter or membrane.  As the water evaporates, the vaccine mixture turns into a syrup and solidifies on the membrane, preserving the active part of the vaccine in a kind of suspended animation and protecting it from harm even at high temperatures.  Flushing the membrane with water rehydrates the vaccine in a few seconds,

The researchers managed to store two different virus-based vaccines on sugar-stabilized membranes for 4 to 6 months at 45 degrees Celsius (113F) without the medicines being damaged.

The next step in the research is to demonstrate that the process can be scaled up for large production with standard or newly-licensed human vaccines.  The work was funded by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation and the Wellcome Trust.

Meeting of UN and NGO’s to focus on global health

Global health will be the focus of this year’s annual United Nations conference with non-governmental organizations (NGOs). The conference will examine global health as it relates to the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), the set of social and economic targets, which world leaders agreed in 2000 to try to reach by 2015. Those goals include reducing child mortality, boosting maternal health and combating HIV/AIDS, malaria and other diseases.

The UN DPI/NGO conference – now in its 63rd year – will be held in Melbourne from 30 August to 1 September.  Hundreds of NGOs and civil society groups are expected to participate in the conference, which has only been held outside of UN Headquarters on two occasions.

Chronic conditions on the rise – new health challenges facing children

More than a quarter of all U.S. children have a chronic health condition, according to research recently published in the Journal of the American Medical Association.  Over the past 30 years, the prevalence of chronic conditions in children and adolescents has increased, particularly for asthma, obesity, and behavior/learning problems.

Other research shows that one in three people (in Ontario, Canada) can expect to be diagnosed with asthma at some point in their life.

The growing prevalence of chronic conditions is not limited to rich countries, as data shows that cases of diabetes, asthma and other conditions are on the rise in many developing countries.

Interestingly, the JAMA report doesn’t suggest that children are less healthy, but rather that the health conditions themselves have changed.  Thanks in large part to advances in medical science (vaccines, medicines, devices, etc) fewer children today are affected by infectious diseases, congenital defects or other conditions common 50 years ago.

Billions spent on fake medicines in Europe – survey

Western Europeans spend an estimated 10.5 billion euros ($14.3 billion) a year on illicitly sourced medicines, many of them counterfeit, according to a recent survey.  Overall, 21 percent of 14,000 people surveyed in 14 states said they had bought medicines illicitly, with the rate ranging from 38 and 37 percent in Germany and Italy, respectively, to 12 and 10 percent in Britain and the Netherlands.

Tests conducted by the European Alliance for Access to Safe Medicines indicated that 62 percent of medicines purchased online were fake or substandard.  Counterfeit medicines often contain the wrong or even toxic ingredients and are a growing health threat worldwide, especially in poor countries, according to the World Health Organization.

Critics argue that the industry is keen to play up the issue in order to back its demands for tighter controls on medicine supply and packaging, thereby protecting its brands.

“Does industry have a vested interest in this? Absolutely. But I think society should have an even bigger interest in getting this stopped,” said Jim Thomson, chairman of the European Alliance for Access to Safe Medicines.  “Counterfeit medicine is costing the industry a huge amount of money but it’s costing healthcare providers a lot more.”

An Ally for the Poor – NY Times article on Pharma Investments in Global Health

The New York Times recently published an interesting profile on Andrew Witty, CEO of the research-based pharmaceutical company GlaxoSmithKline.  The article, entitled Ally for the Poor in an Unlikely Corner, highlights some innovative approaches GSK is taking to help improve global health.

These include:

• Reducing the prices of all Glaxo drugs in poor countries to no more than 25 percent of what was charged in rich ones, and to donate one-fifth of all profits made in poor countries toward building their health systems;
• Lending young executives to the governments of poor countries and to the partnerships fighting various diseases;
• Donating medicines.  Since 1998, it has donated one billion doses of albendazole, a worm-killing drug, to prevent the grotesquely swollen legs and scrotums of elephantiasis, or lymphatic filariasis.
• Allowing malaria researchers access to their library of 13,500 compounds which have shown some promise in attacking the disease.

While this article focuses on Andrew Witty and the contributions of GSK, many other pharmaceutical companies have shown similar commitments to improving global access to healthcare.

Read more – Ally for the Poor in an Unlikely Corner.

Global cancer deaths predicted to rise to 17 million by 2030: WHO report

The World Health Organization (WHO) recently warned that without urgent action, global cancer deaths would increase from 7.6 million this year to 17 million by 2030.

Each year, over 12 million people are diagnosed with cancer.  WHO warned that the worldwide cancer burden is projected to grow significantly, with the most rapid increases occurring in low- and medium-income countries.

Cancer accounts for one eighth of deaths worldwide; more than AIDS, tuberculosis and malaria combined.  According to the WHO, more than 30 percent of all cancers can be prevented through simple measures such as eliminating tobacco use, maintaining a healthy diet and exercise, limiting alcohol consumption, and protecting against cancer-causing infections.  Some cancers can be detected early, treated and cured.

U.S. adults opting out of routine vaccines

Tens of thousands of American adults die each year from pneumonia, influenza and other infectious diseases that could be prevented by routine vaccinations, according to a recent report.  Even when not fatal, vaccine-preventable diseases add an estimated $10 billion a year to U.S. healthcare costs (U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention).

Overall, adult vaccination rates are particularly low for minority groups, according to the report released by the Trust For America’s Health, the Infectious Diseases Society of America and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation.

“Despite the evidence of safety and effectiveness of vaccines, many adults are unaware that they need certain vaccinations or are misinformed about vaccines,” the report said.

Millions of American adults go without routine vaccinations every year, leading to as many as 50,000 preventable deaths and thousands of preventable diseases, the report said.

Vaccines not cause of autism — Lancet journal admits study never should have been published

The Lancet, one of the world’s leading medical journals, recently issued a retraction of an article published in 1998 that suggested a link between childhood vaccinations and autism.  Ten of the study’s 13 authors have signed a formal retraction and The Lancet has said that it should not have published the study in the first place.

The study has since been discredited, and the MMR vaccine deemed to be safe, but now medical authorities in the U.K. have also ruled that the manner in which Wakefield (lead researcher) carried out his research was unethical.  Wakefield  was being paid separately by lawyers for parents who claimed their children were harmed by the immunizations. Some of the children involved in the lawsuit were also involved in the study.

The study undermined public confidence in the triple vaccine for measles, mumps and rubella by suggesting it might be linked to autism.

MMR vaccination rates fell dramatically in Britain and several other European nations and have yet to recover, leading to subsequent outbreaks of infectious disease.

News Coverage from CNN