10 Global Health Achievements in 2011

Source: Huffington Post

The year 2011 brought with it a number of milestones for the global health community. Despite real economic pressures and many competing priorities, across the world, governments, private companies, foundations, doctors, and individualvolunteers worked to create a world where opportunity and hope are not crippled by poor health.

In Ethiopia, bringing child pneumonia deaths down to zero

Source: Reliefweb

One-year-old Kedir Mudi and his mother, Alemnesh Gerefa, play in the waiting area of thehealth post in Derer Ebija, a rural village in Oromia Region. Only three months ago, this happy toddler came dangerously close to death after contracting pneumonia, one of the leading killers of children in Ethiopia.

Pentavalent vaccination begins

Source: The Hindu

The five-in-one Pentavalent vaccination, including the vaccine against Haemophilus Influenzae Type B (Hib), began in Dharmapuri district on Wednesday, as part of the Universal Immunisation Programme.

CDC Outlines HPV and Hep B Vaccine Recommendations

Source: MDNews

Vaccination against human papillomavirus (HPV) in young males and hepatitis B in adultswith diabetes mellitus is recommended by the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP) for infection control, according to two reports published in the Dec. 23 issue of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's Morbidity & Mortality Weekly Report.

Mary Robinson calls for greater access to cervical cancer vaccines

Source: The Journal

Former Irish President Mary Robinson has called on pharmaceutical companies to lower the prices charged for cervical cancer vaccines so more girls can be immunised in low income countries.

Mary Robinson - protecting all women against cervical cancer -- a question of justice

Source: British Medical Journal

Every two minutes a woman dies of cervical cancer. Not surprisingly, 90 percent of these deaths occur in the poorest countries where women often do not have access to screening tests and treatment, or they are simply too expensive. Because of the lack of these services, vaccines against the human papillomavirus (HPV) that causes 70 percent of cervical cancer cases can mean the difference between life and death.

India to introduce pentavalent vaccine today

Source: The Hindu

Based on the recommendations of WHO and the National Technical Advisory Group on Immunisation (NTAGI), the pentavalent vaccine will be introduced in these two States with the Global Alliance for Vaccines and Immunisation GAVI and will be provided free vaccine for three years following which the Centre will take over the programme. 

Government to launch aggressive immunisation programme

Source: eKantipur

In what seems to be one of the best moves by the Ministry of Health and Population to protect thousands of newborns in the country from many childhood diseases, the ministry is launching an aggressive routine immunisation programme in 2012,also the Immunisation Year. All the vaccines are procured by the government except the pentavalent vaccine,which has been provided by the Global Alliance for Vaccines and Immunisation.  

PATH and Company to Develop Next Generation Pneumococcal Vaccine

Source: Market Watch

Liquidia Technologies today announced it has entered into a collaborative agreement with PATH, a global health nonprofit organization, to conduct preclinical proof-of-concept studies on a next generation pneumococcal vaccine that could potentially allow for broadened efficacy and manufacturing efficiencies andresult in greater access of such a vaccine to a global population.

Nigeria, Cameroon, Chad to use new meningitis vaccine

Source: Pana

The World Health Organization (WHO) said that Nigeria, Cameroon and Chad, who are in the 'meningitis belt' stretching across Africa, will this month introduce a new vaccine designed to eliminate a particular strain of the often deadly disease. The countries will vaccinate millions of their citizens with 'MenAfriVac', which was created to target Group A meningitis, responsible for millions of cases in sub-Saharan Africa over the past century.

5-in-1 vaccine to debut in Tamil Nadu

Source: Times of India

Tamil Nadu is set to become a pioneer in the use of the pentavalent vaccine when it is launched in the state on December 17. The vaccine, which will provide protection from diphtheria, pertussis, tetanus, Hepatitis B and hib (haemophilus influenzae type b), will replace the DPT and Hep B vaccines that are part of routine immunization inIndia.

The art of making vaccines more affordable - Seth Berkley

Source: Global Health Magazine

Finding innovative ways to deliver vaccines to children in developing countries is at the heart of our work at the GAVI Alliance, which brings together governments, UNICEF, WHO, the World Bank, vaccine manufacturers, civil society, the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and private corporations working toward a common goal: saving lives and improving health by expanding access to immunization in developing countries. GAVI long has relied on innovative finance tools to find new and better ways to raise and apply resources, andbroaden the base of participants in development.

Access to the Power of Vaccines

Source: The Huffington Post

Several major announcements have been made in recent weeks about the expansion of vaccine access to the world's poor. This progress and the "Power of Vaccines" are the subject of a high level discussion in Washington convened by the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS), featuring USAID Administrator Raj Shah and speakers from NIH, CDC, the GAVI Alliance and Johns Hopkins University. To appreciate how far we've come you need to remember where we started. Vaccine access is a leading challenge for the Decade of Vaccines. Only with universal access will we have truly harnessed their power. 

Pentavalent vaccine to be launched in Kerala from December 14

Source: The Hindu

Kerala will become the first State in India to roll out pentavalent vaccine as part of the Universal Immunisation Programme on December 14. The Global Alliance for Vaccines and Immunisation (GAVI) is supplying the vaccine free of cost to the Union Health Ministry for the first three years. Six other States apart from Kerala and TN have also demanded that they be provided Hib vaccination under UIP. 

Malaria vaccine to get human trial

Source: UPI

PATH MVI, the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases and the JHBSPH Center for Immunization Research will collaborate to conduct a Phase 1 clinical trial in healthy adults to assess the safety and effectiveness of the Pfs25 vaccine,which aims to block transmission of malaria from mosquitoes to humans by preventing the malaria parasite from developing in the mosquito. 

Rotavirus vaccine effective in Latin America

Source: UPI

The FP Interview: Bill and Melinda Gates

Source: Foreign Policy

The greatest market failure is the lack of investment in innovation, particularly innovation that would be of particular value to the poorest. We've been big on funding disease and agricultural innovations; why governments tend to fund delivery more than they fund upstream innovation, I don't know. In deliverysystems, it wouldn't be typical for us to take on that kind of funding other than in pilot mode because when you're talking about delivering incentive payments to an entire country, it's not something that philanthropic means are going to be able to have the scale to do.

World AIDS Day: More US support for AIDS programs

Source: New York Times

On World AIDS Day, US President Obama won plaudits from AIDS groups that have criticized him in the past with his announcement on Thursday that he is seeking additional federal money for efforts to prevent and treat the disease. While UN officials say end to the epidemic is within reach, more prominent voices warn against cutting funds for HIV/AIDS and undoing hard won victories (UNITAID). The good news is: nearly 90 medicines and vaccines are in development for HIV/AIDS. China has pledged to fill its HIV resource gap by increasing domestic investments.