Tajikistan steps up child polio immunization
Medical staff in Tajikistan have scrambled to vaccinate against polio some 95% of children under the age of 15, up from prior levels of about 87%, after a sudden outbreak of the disease last year caught health officials off guard, killing and paralyzing dozens of children.
Chronic disease is a “2-punch blow” to developing countries
Deaths from chronic, noncommunicable disease such as cancer and heart disease are the bane of the developing world, just the same as malaria and HIV. “Thereis a huge gap in the chance of survival [of cancer] if you are born in a poor country and get this disease versus if you are born in a rich country. The opportunity to survive … should not determined by income, yet all over the world it is,” said Felicia Knaul, head of the Harvard Global Equity Initiative.
Awareness, access are key to helping child brides
Child marriage not only increase risks to young women but damages the development of communities as a whole, photographer Stephanie Sinclair says in this interview about her work on the issue. Increased awareness and programs to help child brides access education and health care should be part of efforts to help bring an end to underage marriage and help those young women who have already been married.
More money sought from world leaders for child vaccines
Countries are being asked to pledge $3.7 billion for vaccines for the world’s poorest children through 2015 at a summit in London, where the United Kingdom already has promised $1.3 billion toward the goal. The summit’s host, the Global Alliance for Vaccines and Immunization, says the extra money could save 4 million lives over the next five years — possibly leading to the eradication of polio over the next two to four years.
Making the case for vaccines
Access to vaccines could save millions of lives a year, and more must be done to develop and deliver immunization to developing countries, health experts from around the word said in a series of articles published in the journal The Lancet. Lack of funding, diminishing public confidence and costs are among the key reasons vaccines for disease such as smallpox, polio and the measles are not used more widely in 72 of the world’s poorest countries.
Vaccinations of poor children save lives, and money
The lives of some 6.4 million children could be saved if vaccines were more widely available in 72 of the world’s poorest countries, studies show. Moreover, greater immunization of children would save billions of dollars over the coming decade: more than $151 billion in treatment costs and lost productivity. A study from Global Alliance for Vaccines and Immunization found that poorer countries need assistance in funding vaccination programs, and that such programs provide strong return on investment in terms of future health care costs.
Malnutrition soars in Yemen as fighting rages on
The violence tearing at the seams of daily life in Yemen is turning a pre-existing humanitarian crisis into a catastrophe, according to the UN children’s agency. Widespread shortfalls in food and water, as well as fuel — which is necessary to transport food, as well as pump water — mean the “country is absolutely in dire need of humanitarian assistance,” said a UNICEF representative.
Gender-based violence in DR Congo continues
Sexual and gender-based violence continues unabated in the Democratic Republic of Congo despite the passage five years ago of laws intended to protect civilians and deter would-be perpetrators. Inaction by judges, combined with indifference by the country’s legal system are being blamed for the law’s irrelevance in daily life.
Vaccine deal could save lives of 4 million children
For the first time ever in many of the world’s poorest countries, the rotavirus vaccine, among others, will be made available to children under an agreement between several drug companies and the GAVI alliance — which over the next five years aims to vaccinate 50 million children, potentially saving up to 4 million lives. “This tremendous milestone means that we’ll be able to save the lives of millions of children regardless of how poor they are,” writes Melinda Gates, of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, a GAVI partner.
