UGANDA: Sanitary pads keep girls in school
While other children head home after school, some pupils in Uganda’s northern Amuru and Gulu regions stay behind to make sanitary pads using cheap, locally available materials, to ensure girls do not miss school during menstruation.
Pakistan polio campaign struggles in CIA aftermath
Recent revelations about a fake CIA vaccination program used in the hunt for Osama bin Laden added to the myriad of challenges facing Pakistan’s latest polio-vaccination program. Mobile migrant populations, infrastructure gaps and public fears over vaccines have contributed to Pakistan’s state as the only country in the world where polio cases are rising.
Sex selection in India dramatically cuts number of girls
The number of girls in India has fallen precipitously because of illegal sex-selective abortions, coupled with a disparity in medical care that favors boys, who are more likely to be vaccinated and given vitamin supplements. “This is the age of ‘missing women’ — an estimated 30 to 70 million of them,” writes one observer.
Time to increase measles-vaccination efforts
Measles outbreaks have hit several European countries, the U.S., and New Zealand this year despite the relative ease of preventing infection. A two-dose vaccination protects an individual from measles and the disability or death it can cause.
Report: Polio-eradication deadline is “off track”
Efforts to eradicate polio by 2012 are unlikely to succeed as vaccination efforts continue to be plagued by funding gaps, ineffective administration, and political considerations, according to an assessment from the Independent Monitoring Board of the Global Polio Eradication initiative. Afghanistan, Pakistan, Nigeria and the Democratic Republic of Congo have all been battling an increased number of polio cases in 2011.
Complacency is blamed for resurgence of polio in Nigeria
A drop-off in vaccinations against polio in six states in northern Nigeria has resulted in a resurgence of the disease, threatening to reverse last year’s near-eradication of the disease countrywide. “We have come too far in our fight against polio to contemplate a relapse. Complacency is probably the biggest danger that might jeopardize success in eradicating polio,” deputy head of UNICEF for Nigeria, Jacques Boyer, told a gathering of traditional and religious leaders Tuesday.
Recruitment of child soldiers is rising in Somalia
The exodus of tens of thousands of Somalis escaping drought and violence has heightened the danger to children of recruitment as soldiers by Islamic insurgents. Amnesty International says the methods used by the armed groups — targeting children between 10 and 17, but sometimes as young as 8 — include luring children with promises of money and cellphones, and abduction and raids on schools.
AIDS priority is in supplying drugs
Recent studies have shown that antiretroviral drugs have made AIDS more preventable than ever before, but global health advocates say more needs to be done to provide the drugs to the estimated 9 million poor children and adults who need them. “We have to remember that history will judge us not by our scientific breakthroughs, but how we apply them,” Michel Sidibe, executive director of UNAIDS, said at the International Aids Society conference in Rome.
Study links China birth defects to chemical exposure
Exposure to coal smoke and pesticides significantly increases the likelihood a baby will be born with birth defects, according to a study from Chinese researchers published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. Brain, spinal cord and other serious birth defects are four times more likely in babies born to mothers exposed to the chemicals, researchers found.
Women’s health revolution in Sierra Leone
Sierra Leone has eliminated fees for pregnant women and children at public health clinics, leading to a rush for services now that it is no longer necessary to give birth at home, risking the death of a newborn and its mother. The new approach to care, which is heavily subsidized by international donors, means trained medical staff are overseeing many pregnancies for the first time — potentially kick-starting a revolution in health care on the continent
Measles strikes some 18,000 East African children
At least 125 children have died, and some 18,000 were sickened, from measles outbreaks in Ethiopia and Kenya during the first six months of this year, according to UN officials. The risk of such an outbreak has been heightened because of mass migration due to drought in East Africa, and poor sanitation in overcrowded refugee camps, the World Health Organization said.
ICRC: Somali malnutrition soars
The number of children facing death by starvation in Somalia has almost doubled since March and the country’s child malnutrition rate is now the highest in the world, the International Committee of the Red Cross warns. Aid agencies have struggled to reach Somalis affected by drought due to security concerns across the conflict-ravaged country.
Girls in Jordan learn science at camp
Dozens of young Jordanian girls from poor families are participating SciGirls, a two-week science camp aimed at increasing participants’ knowledge and confidence for university-level studies. Yara Sifri, a 17-year old Palestinian-Canadian girl who started SciGirls, hopes to make the summer camp an annual event.
