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Oct72023 by GHealth NewsNo Comments

Weather disasters caused by climate change displaced 43 million children, says UNICEF

Climate Change

GHealth News - In a sweeping report on the issue, the United Nations agency detailed the heart-wrenching stories of some of the children affected, and co-author Laura Healy told AFP the data only revealed the "tip of the iceberg," with many more likely affected. "We moved our belongings to the highway, where we lived for weeks," recounts Sudanese child Khalid Abdul Azim, whose flooded village was only accessible by boat. In 2017, sisters Mia and Maia Bravo watched flames engulf their trailer in California from the back of the family minivan. "I was afraid, in shock," Maia says in the report. "I would stay up all night." Statistics on internal displacements caused by climate disasters generally do not account for the age of the victims. But UNICEF worked w...

Oct72023 by GHealth NewsNo Comments

Countries Reaffirm Commitment to ‘Global NCD Compact’ on Sidelines of UN General Assembly

NCDs

With lifestyle and diet risk factors for noncommunicable diseases (NCDs) exacerbated by climate change and air pollution, a group of national and global health leaders called for more intensive action on NCD prevention and control on the sidelines of the 78th UN General Assembly. “NCDs continue to be a public health threat that requires concerted efforts, great investments and prioritization to put countries back on course towards achieving global targets as we inch towards 2030,” said Kwaku Agyemang-Manu, Minister of Health of Ghana, who co-chaired the second annual gathering of the Global Group of Heads of State and Government for the prevention and control of NCDs. The gathering on September 21, coinciding with the UN High-Level Meeting on Un...

Oct72023 by GHealth NewsNo Comments

Japan-led team identifies how severe COVID-19 cases develop

COVID19

GHealth News - A Japanese-led research team has said it has identified how infections with the coronavirus can cause inflammation in blood vessels and blood clots, resulting in severe COVID-19 cases. In severe cases, blood clots form in blood vessels throughout the body, leading to multiple organ failure. The team, including researchers from Osaka University, Tokyo Medical and Dental University and Takeda Pharmaceutical, elucidated the mechanism by using vascular tissue made from induced pluripotent stem (iPS) cells. The research results, published Friday in the U.S. journal Cell Stem Cell, are expected to facilitate the development of drugs to prevent serious COVID-19 complications. Osaka University professor Takanori Takebe and other team members succeeded in producing vascul...

Oct62023 by GHealth NewsNo Comments

ROSE GANA AWARDED THE 2023 VIRCHOW PRIZE FOR GLOBAL HEALTH

Global Health

GHealth News - The Virchow Foundation for Global Health is honoured to announce Rose Gana Fomban Leke as the 2023 Virchow Prize for Global Health Laureate. With this award, Professor Leke’s distinctive and exceptional lifetime achievements comprising outstanding contributions to global health, pioneering infectious disease research towards a malaria-free world and relentless dedication in advancing gender equality are recognized. Rose Leke, a distinguished scientist and immunologist from the University of Yaoundé in Cameroon, has dedicated her life as a researcher to eradicating malaria, addressing health inequities and structural disparities, and combating communicable diseases, making her an internationally celebrated advocate for global health. The Virchow Prize Committee states that...

Oct62023 by GHealth NewsNo Comments

The Lancet: Funding for global health research in Germany

Global Health

GHealth News - Over the past 15 years, Germany has strategically expanded its role in global health against the backdrop of geopolitical developments, upheavals, and crises to become one of the largest political and financial contributors in the field. One of Germany's key priorities has been to fortify its strong but fragmented research landscape in global health. In January, 2020, a 5-year infrastructure programme from the Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF; costing approximately €3 million) culminated in the progressive establishment of the German Alliance for Global Health Research (GLOHRA), a national, interdisciplinary, and cross-institutional platform for global health research. Led by an interdisciplinary steering committee, the platform aims to foster innovative, equ...

Aug232023 by GHealth NewsNo Comments

CDC says new COVID lineage could cause infections in vaccinated individuals

COVID19

GHealth News - The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) said on Wednesday the new BA.2.86 lineage of coronavirus may be more capable than older variants in causing infection in people who have previously had COVID-19 or who have received vaccines. CDC said it was too soon to know whether this might cause more severe illness compared with previous variants. But due to the high number of mutations detected in this lineage, there were concerns about its impact on immunity from vaccines and previous infections, the agency said. Scientists are keeping an eye on the BA.2.86 lineage because it has 36 mutations that distinguish it from the currently-dominant XBB.1.5 variant. CDC, however, said virus samples are not yet broadly available for more reliable laboratory tes...

Aug172023 by GHealth NewsNo Comments

WHO asks countries to work towards unlocking the power of traditional medicine

Global Health

The World Health Organisation director-general Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus on Thursday urged countries around the world to work towards unlocking the power of traditional medicine and provide evidence and action-based suggestions that can be interpreted into a global strategy. He was speaking at WHO’s first global summit on traditional medicine, which is part of the ongoing G-20 Health Ministers’ meeting in Gandhinagar, the capital of Gujarat. “I hope that the Gujarat Declaration will integrate use of traditional medicines in national health systems, and help unlock the power of traditional medicine through science,” Dr. Tedros said at the event, which is being co-hosted by the Ministry of Ayush. Ancient wisdom, modern science Also addressing the meeting, Health Minister Mansukh Ma...

Jul212023 by GHealth NewsNo Comments

Global health leaders urge climate-friendly health care systems

Climate Change

By: Tony Capon Health leaders from the world’s biggest nations have expressed their concern about the rising impact of emissions from health care, but more urgent calls for change came from health and climate experts on the margins of the G7 Health Ministers summit. Health Ministers from Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, the United Kingdom and the United States met in Nagaski, committing to working together across three primary areas: global health architecture, universal health coverage, and health innovation. On global health architecture, their focus was on learning lessons from the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic, and support for the negotiation of a new instrument under the World Health Organization constitution to strengthen pa...

Jun282023 by GHealth NewsNo Comments

WHO outlines 40 research priorities on antimicrobial resistance

AMR

GHealth News - WHO has published its first global research agenda for the world’s scientists to address the most urgent human health priorities to combat antimicrobial resistance (AMR). It outlines 40 research topics on drug-resistant bacteria, fungi and Mycobacterium tuberculosis that must be answered by 2030, in line with the Sustainable Development Goals. The WHO Global Research Agenda for AMR in human health will catalyze innovation and implementation research, spanning the epidemiology, burden and drivers of AMR, context-specific and cost-effective strategies to prevent infections and emergence of resistance. It will also involve the discovery of new diagnostic tests and improved treatment regimens, the identification of cost-effective methods to collect data and translate it in...

Jun162023 by GHealth NewsNo Comments

CDC warns travelers of ‘high risk’ of polio if visiting these 31 countries

Communicable Diseases

GHealth News - The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is urging travelers to practice enhanced precautions when going to places such as Canada, the United Kingdom, Madagascar and Indonesia due to the circulating poliovirus. The agency identified 31 countries where travelers are at high risk for the disease in a recently updated advisory. The virus was eradicated in the western hemisphere in 1994 but exists in some polio-endemic countries, and it has been detected in other places worldwide. The following destinations have circulating poliovirus, according to the CDC: Afghanistan Algeria Benin Botswana Burundi Cameroon Canada Central African Republic Chad Côte d'Ivoire Democratic Republic of the Congo Djibouti Eg...