Bill Gates hails UK 'commitment' to fight poverty

Source: The Independent

Microsoft billionaire Bill Gates today praised the UK for its "fantastic" commitment to fighting extreme poverty across the world. 

Bill Gates aims for ultimate goal in 30 years

Source: Channel4

Microsoft billionaire Bill Gates tells teenagers in London he hopes to reach his ultimate goal - making sure all children are protected from life-threatening diseases - within 30 years. 

A Cost-Benefit Analysis of Vaccines

Source: The Atlantic

Vaccines have helped transform health and health care around the globe. It's hard to believe that diseases like polio, smallpox, diphtheria, and whooping cough were common ailments within the last century. Today, these diseases are virtually or totally eradicated largely due to the development vaccines.  

Nanoparticle trick 'boosts body's vaccine response'

Source: BBC News

Tiny capsules engineered to mimic part of the body's immune system could strengthen its response to vaccines, say researchers. The researchers said it would be possible to add different immune system chemicals to the nanoparticles to tailor the response to exactly the type of vaccine involved. 

Can a businessmen’s club eradicate polio from the world?

Source: The Economist

It is a year since the last case of polio was diagnosed in India. That is not enough to pronounce the country polio-free - three clear years are the conventional period required for that to happen. But it is a good start. 

Heart and Soul: For Global Health, Prescriptions of Medicine and Morality

Source: RAND

An uplifting message delivered at RAND by William Foege, a world-renowned epidemiologist who helped devise and implement the successful strategy for eradicating smallpox in the 1970s and who continues to serve in international health policy leadership positions.

Philippines introducing rotavirus vaccination into EPI

Source: Phil Star

The Philippines made history on Tuesday by being the first country in SoutheastAsia to vaccinate newborns against rotavirus. Dr. John Wecker, director for Vaccine Access and Delivery of the Washington-based Path, said the inclusion of rotavirus vaccination in the Expanded Program on Immunization (EPI) is a “good decision for the children of the Philippines.” 

Moving beyond aid to set the global health agenda

Source: SciDev.Net

This year, a well-known international meeting on global health research will adopt a provocative new theme. The subtitle of Forum 2012, the successor to the conferences organised by the former Global Forum for Health Research, will be 'Beyond Aid'.

Melinda Gates on families’ health, Bangladesh and making a difference

Source: New York Times

Ms. Gates, of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, recently returned from athree-day trip to Bangladesh. She, along with Nick, agreed to answer readers' questions about development issues focusing on that part of the world. Here is the second of three installments.

Battle to eradicate polio reaches critical endgame

Source: Chicago Tribune

The long campaign to eradicate polio faces a crucial turning point this month. On Monday, Jan. 16, the 34 countries represented on the World Health Organization's executive board will be asked to ditch the vaccine that has cut polio cases by 99 percent since 1988. The aim: to prevent the vaccine itself from defeating the whole effort. As yet unpublished research also suggests that reduced IPV dose delivered into skin instead of muscle can be effective.

The Philippines begin to vaccinate children against rotavirus

Source: RotaFlash

Another rotavirus vaccine milestone was reached today, as the Philippines became the first country in Southeast Asia to implement the World Health Organization's (WHO) recommendation to introduce life-saving rotavirus vaccines through its national immunization program.

PAIN Relief: India on Track to Be Declared Polio-Free Next Month

Source: Scientific American

In the mid-2000s, when scientists questioned whether the campaign to rid the world of polio could succeed, skeptics pointed to a problem that some called PAIN. That stood for Pakistan, Afghanistan, India and Nigeria -- the four countries that were stubbornly standing in the way of success. Now it appears someone's going to need to craft a new mnemonic. The last child paralyzed by polio in India got sick on January 13, 2011, and surveillance for wild polioviruses in sewage has not turned up the pathogen in more than a year. A statement hailing that will be issued by the GPEI on the one-year anniversary of the last case later this week. But it may be mid-February before there is official word.

Search for AIDS Vaccine Advances

Source: Wall Street Journal

The quest for a vaccine against AIDS is gaining momentum, with research published Wednesday identifying promising new candidates that protected monkeys against a powerful strain of the virus and that soon could be tested in humans. The new vaccines, combining two different technologies to generate an immune response, reduced the chances that a monkey would be infected by the virulent SIV strain in each exposure by 80% to 83%. The protection was only partial--most of the vaccinated monkeyseventually became infected after multiple exposures. While monkey models are considered highly reliable in HIV research and the findings resemble those of the Thai trial in humans, HIV researchers cautioned that it won't be known whether these vaccines work in humans until they are tried. 

Hepatitis C vaccine: Oxford researchers' trial 'promising'

Source: BBC News

An early clinical trial of a hepatitis C vaccine has shown "promising" results, according to researchers at Oxford University. Designing a vaccine has been difficult as the virus changes its appearance, making it hard to find something to target. In the UK, up to 500,000 people may be infected with the virus. The World Health Organization believes the global figure could be as high as 170 million people. Forty-one healthy patients were given the vaccine. Scientists said it produced a "very strong" immune response, which lasted for at least a year and had no major side-effects.  

Immunisation push propels India towards victory in war against polio

Source: The Guardian

Moradabad is a nondescript and scruffy city, 110 miles north of the Indian capital Delhi. Few have heard of it, despite its population of nearly five million. But it is about to become the site of an astonishing victory against a terrible disease.

Health Sector Developments in 2011 – Rotavirus vaccine in Sudan

Source: Sudan Vision

The health sector saw many important changes, starting from the appointment of the minister who is a leading figure at Liberation and Justice Movement (LJM) as stipulated in the Doha Peace Agreement Document. Another important event is the introduction of a new vaccine in addition to vaccines given to children who are less than 5-year old. The new vacant, called rotavirus vaccine protectschildren from diarrhea caused by rotavirus. The new vaccine is now in use since July 17, 2011.