Nigeria is fighting a rare outbreak of a vaccine-derived form of polio, says the UN's World Health Organization (WHO). It says 69 children in the north have caught the paralyzing disease from others who had already been immunized. The WHO says such rare outbreaks have occurred where immunization campaigns did not reach enough of the population. In 2003 Islamic leaders brought a temporary halt to the vaccine campaign in the north saying it was a Western conspiracy to sterilize Muslim women. (BBC)
The first 100 Palestinian families returned on Oct. 10 to Nahr al-Bared, a refugee camp which was largely destroyed in 15 weeks of fighting between Lebanese troops and Islamist militants, witnesses said. The army took control of the camp in northern Lebanon in early September after defeating al Qaeda-inspired Fatah al-Islam militants. A convoy of buses took the families from Beddawi to Nahr al-Bared, where they were given relief packages containing bottled water, canned food, bread and dates. (Reuters)
A factory producing low-cost drugs to treat HIV/AIDS and malaria has opened in Uganda. The factory is a 50-50 partnership between privately owned local manufacturer Quality Chemicals and Indian pharmaceuticals giant Cipla. Quality Chemicals’ marketing director George Baguma said the drug may cost less than USD 15 a month. Baguma said the factory was an entirely private sector initiative and is expected to turn a modest profit. But he added that it would seek support from the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria. (Reuters)
