UN protects millions of children in DR Congo with anti-measles vaccination

Some 3.1 million children in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) have been vaccinated against measles in a United Nations-coordinated campaign to combat the disease outbreak which has claimed the lives of 1,145 children since the start of this year. The measles epidemic affected a total of 115,600 children between January and June, the [...]

WIPO to support innovation in Nigeria

World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) has announced plans to strengthen Nigeria’s technology innovation centres with particular reference to the Intellectual Property and Technology Transfer Offices (IPTTOs) established by the National Office for Technology Acquisition and Promotion (NOTAP) in tertiary institutions and research centres across the country. WIPO will help strengthen existing national capacities through the [...]

Polio vaccination campaign aims to reach 14m children

With a polio outbreak spreading rapidly in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), UN Daily News reports that the Executive Director of UNICEF will visit the country to help support a mass campaign to vaccinate over 14 million children. The DRC has witnessed a sharp resurgence of polio as conditions in the country continue to [...]

New malaria vaccine shows long-lasting protection

(From Reuters) An experimental malaria vaccine from GlaxoSmithKline provides African children with long-lasting protection, though its effectiveness declines slightly over time, according to recently published trial data.  Scientists conducting the mid-stage trial at the Kenya Medical Research Institute said results showing the shot offered 46 percent protection for 15 months meant it had “promise as [...]

mPedigree awarded $200,000 in Global Security Challenge

mPedigree was recently announced as the Best Security Start-up in 2010 by the Global Security Challenge.  mPedigree from Ghana is the first system in the world which enables consumers and patients to verify the authenticity of their medicines by sending a free text message of the unique, product-embossed codes. Across the developing world, especially in [...]

Polio outbreak in Congo kills nearly 100

Polio has killed nearly 100 people, mainly young adults, in the Republic of Congo and paralyzed more than twice as many in the past six weeks, according to the World Health Organization (WHO) and a report from Reuters. The crippling viral disease normally strikes children under five years of age, making the acute, fast-spreading outbreak [...]

Polio outbreak in Angola – UN launches mass immunization campaign

A polio immunization campaign targeting 5.6 million children was launched in Angola yesterday as the United Nations World Health Organization (WHO) warned that the southern African country was quickly becoming the greatest threat to continent-wide eradication efforts. (UN News) Only three African countries have recorded cases of the highly infectious and potentially lethal disease in [...]

New study highlights the importance of partnerships in improving public health.

The Cameron Institute – a Canadian not-for-profit public policy think-tank – released a report highlighting the importance of public-private partnerships and of intellectual property protections to improving global health.  The evidence in this report (Pharmaceutical Access in Least Developed Countries: on-the-ground barriers and industry successes) strongly supports North-South, public-private partnerships as the preferred means by [...]

Eradicating malaria: UN sets goal for 2015

African leaders and global health experts rallied at the United Nations today to boost access to life-saving bednets and medicines as part of the fight against malaria, aiming to reach the goal of near-zero deaths by 2015. “Partnership is absolutely essential to making progress against malaria, and Africa’s heads of State are fully committed to [...]

Sub-Saharan countries are leading the way in HIV prevention

Between 2001 and 2009, 22 countries in sub-Saharan Africa have seen a decline of more than 25% in new HIV infections.  According to new UNAIDS data, the number of new HIV infections is steadily falling or stabilising in most parts of the world. The data shows that countries with the largest epidemics in Africa—Côte d’Ivoire, [...]