UN launches trial Mobile Health campaign in Uganda

The UN launched a ten-day initiative on July 1, 2009 intended to reach out to 10,000 people in Uganda through mobile phones to demonstrate the reach and potential use of mobile phones in health information and promotion.
Mobile health, or mHealth, takes advantage of the broad adoption of mobile telephones to reach the public with health [...]

WHO set to declare flu pandemic

The BBC reports that UN health officials are expected to declare the first global flu pandemic in 40 years, after holding emergency talks on the swine flu crisis.

WHO poised to declare first flu pandemic in 40 years
Flu experts expected to recommend move to phase 6
Expected to urge finishing seasonal flu vaccine production
Spread of virus in [...]

Counterfeits and drug resistance: the global concern of malaria

Many health experts are concerned that the growing resistance to artemisinin drugs in western Cambodia could result in a repeat of the fate of chloroquine, which became largely ineffective. Counterfeit drugs can contain insufficient amounts of active ingredient, failing to cure the disease parasite and allowing it to mutate and resist the drug.  With half [...]

A historical view of flu pandemics: a reason to remain vigilant

Global H1N1 fears are subsiding, but as a recent Wall Street Journal article pointed out this may be premature.  The article illustrates how the number of countries with confirmed H1N1 cases has risen from four on April 27th to 48 as of Wednesday, with the number of individual cases increasing from 73 to 13,398.  However, [...]

WHO raises global alert for swine flu outbreak

Dr. Margaret Chan, WHO’s Director-General, yesterday raised the current level of influenza pandemic alert from phase 4 to 5, warning that a pandemic is likely imminent.
Listen to the Audio statement by WHO Director-General, Dr Margaret Chan – 29 April 2009 
Swine flu is suspected of killing 160 people in Mexico and making about 2,500 ill.  The [...]

World Malaria Day – recognizing health progress and ongoing challenges

 World Malaria Day  (April 25) is a day of unified commemoration of the global effort to provide effective control of malaria around the world.  This year’s World Malaria Day marks a critical moment in time.  The international malaria community has merely two years to meet the 2010 targets of delivering effective and affordable protection and treatment [...]

New Partnership aims to deliver affordable, effective malaria drugs to the poor

A new international partnership, backed by the United Nations, hopes to put affordable malaria drugs within reach of millions of people, especially children, in sub-Saharan Africa and Asia.
The rationale behind The Affordable Medicines Facility for malaria, as the new initiative is known, will be to reduce the price of effective new therapies (artemisinin combination therapies [...]

WHO Releases new Tuberculosis Report

The World Health Organization released its’ thirteenth report on Tuberculosis control this week, which provides information and statistics related to the numbers of cases and numbers of deaths due to TB in 196 countries.   The report stresses the link between HIV and TB, suggesting that roughly 25% of people who died from TB in 2007 were [...]

Multi-Sector Partnerships in Global Public Health

Following a full day of meetings at the United Nations’ Economic and Social Council’s Special Event on Philanthropy and the Global Health Agenda (see the previous posting), ECOSOC’s President H.E. Sylvie Lucas hosted a reception (co-sponsored by CARE and the Global Health Progress initiative).  Leaders from various nations, the global health community, biopharmaceutical companies and international non-governmental [...]

Bill Clinton on Global Public Health

Former United States President Bill Clinton offered closing remarks at the UN Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) event (February 23, 2009) that was convened as a special Preparatory meeting for the 2009 High-level Segment on the theme of Philanthropy and Global Public Health. The meeting discussed and explored collaborative opportunities in advancing progress in maternal [...]