Chronic malnutrition worse in west than in Chad's conflict zoneWith a massive aid operation under way in the east of Chad, where armed conflict has displaced hundreds of thousands of people, little attention is being paid to the west of the country which has the highest chronic malnutrition levels.
Kenya: Rape on the rise in post-election violenceAmid the violence that engulfed several residential areas of the Kenyan capital following the declaration of controversial results of the presidential elections, women in particular have been targeted, with at least one hospital reporting a rise in the number of rape victims seeking treatment.
Zimbabwe doctors, nurses strike over payJunior doctors and nurses at Zimbabwe's major state hospitals have gone on strike to press for higher pay and improved working conditions, their spokesperson said on Sunday.
It's safer to run a marathon than to drive the roadsOrganised marathons are not associated with an increased risk of sudden death, contrary to general perceptions.
Treating often-ignored non-cancer health issues after cancer diagnosis prolongs survivalReceiving treatment for non-cancer health issues while being treated by specialists for cancer improves cancer survival rates according to a study published in the December 20 issue of the Journal of Clinical Oncology.
Kenya: Post-poll violence a ‘national disaster', says Red CrossKenya is in the throes of a humanitarian “national disaster” amid post-election violence that has left scores dead, tens of thousands displaced beyond reach of immediate assistance and many more destined to be dependent on aid for several months to come, according to the Red Cross.
Nigeria: New treatment plant leaves Kano short of waterA new ultra-modern US$58 million water treatment plant outside Kano, Nigeria's most populous city, came on line in December but experts say that the city's basic water needs will still not be met.
Wishing you a prosperous 2008To all our readers, www.bizcommunity.com wishes you a prosperous and successful 2008. We look forward to seeing you again throughout the year. Thank you for your support in 2007. Thanks to you, we have grown in leaps, bounds and we will continue to grow and develop in 2008, and beyond – bringing you news and information on the medical industry and related sectors, worldwide.
Great news! No need for reduced alcohol consumption in later lifeProvided you stick to the same guidelines about alcohol consumption as younger adults, regular moderate drinking poses no additional risks to you over-65s, and may even bring health benefits, according to two studies from the Peninsula Medical School in the South West of England.
Medical notesThe following quotes were taken from actual medical records as dictated by physicians...
Drinking 8 glasses of water a day and other medical mythsA lighthearted look at medical myths from the British Medical Journal
Global: Tomorrow's crises today… the humanitarian impact of urbanisation – overviewSomewhere, some time this year, a baby will be born on the 25th floor of a city hospital or the dirt floor of a dark slum shack; a first-year college graduate will rent a cramped apartment in lower Manhattan or a family of five will finally concede their plot of farm land to an encroaching desert - or sea - and turn towards Jakarta or La Paz or Lagos in search of a new livelihood and a new home.
Detection of intracellular bacterial communities in human urinary tract infectionUrinary tract infections (UTIs) are one of the most common bacterial infections and are predominantly caused by uropathogenic
Escherichia coli (UPEC).
Senegal: Disabled students conquer daily challengesOn the campus of Cheikh Anta Diop University in the Senegal capital Dakar, physically handicapped students can often be seen crawling unaided up concrete staircases or across dirty bathroom floors.
West Africa: Slight drop in malnutrition but food remains scarceWith levels of malnutrition in West Africa slightly lower in 2007 than the previous year, the overall amount of money aid organisations are requesting from donors for the 2008 Consolidated Appeal Process (CAP) for the sub-region is also lower, UN officials say.
NIGER: Rape and beatings of women seen as “normal”The news that 70 percent of women in parts of Niger find it normal that their husbands, fathers and brothers regularly beat, rape and humiliate them came as no surprise to human rights experts in Niger.
LEBANON: Funds dry up for hospital in impoverished campA desperately needed hospital in Lebanon's largest and most violent Palestinian refugee camp has been unable to open on time because funds to buy beds and other basic medical equipment have dried up.
Healthcare workers are sick of their salaries -
Atmosphere CommunicationsMore than half of South Africa's healthcare professionals earn less than the market related average.
World Medical Association appoints its first advocacy advisor -
Magda NaudeThe World Medical Association has appointed its first advocacy adviser to increase its work with other organisations.
Study determines costs of breast and cervical cancer detection among low-income womenA new study has estimated the costs of providing comprehensive screening and diagnostic services to under-or uninsured, low-income women to identify those with breast or cervical cancer for treatment.
New treatment for advanced melanomaUniversity of Illinois at Chicago researchers are participating in a multi-centre research trial to evaluate the safety and effectiveness of Allovectin-7, an investigational treatment for advanced melanoma. Allovectin-7 is a gene-based immunotherapy for certain types of cancer.
Burkina Faso: Cancer and respiratory diseases worseningA World Bank funded study shows that increased air pollution caused by motorbikes and dust is causing some 200 new cancer cases in the Burkina Faso capital, Ouagadougou, every year.
Saudi charities boost health, education projects in YemenYemeni businessmen of Saudi origin and Saudi charities are having an impact on the health and education sectors in some of the poorest parts of Yemen, thanks to the various aid projects they fund.
The cost of pushing pills[Marc-André Gagnon and Joel Lexchin] A new estimate of pharmaceutical promotion expenditures in the United States indicates that pharmaceutical companies spend almost twice as much on promotion as they do on R&D.
Testing without treatment – Guinea-Bissau's dilemmaSaico Djau is deeply frustrated. He is a laboratory technician and HIV counsellor at the Marcelino Banca hospital on Bubaque Island, the second largest in Guinea Bissau's Bijagos Archipelago.
Will there ever be an AIDS vaccine?One Step Forward, Two Steps Back — Will There Ever Be an AIDS Vaccine?
Mozambique: Orphans deprived of their inheritanceOn a farm in the district of Bárue, in the central province of Manica, 16-year-old Helena Ivan hurries home with a small bundle on her head. After hours packaging potatoes, she's allowed to take a few for herself and the two brothers she has been supporting since her parents died of AIDS-related diseases in 2005.
Calling African journalistsApply for the 2008 Kaiser Family Foundation Award for Excellence in HIV/AIDS Reporting in Africa.
Zambia: Abuses against women obstruct HIV treatmentThe Zambian government is failing to address the life-threatening obstacles facing Zambian women living with HIV who experience domestic and gender-based violence, Human Rights Watch said in a report released today. Gender-based violence and insecure property rights are preventing Zambian women from accessing life-saving antiretroviral treatment.
South Africa: How much free water is enough?South Africa's High Court is poised to rule whether Johannesburg's decision to introduce a multimillion-dollar prepaid water system in the country's largest township, Soweto, southwest of the city, is in violation of the residents' right to free water.
Netcare appointed as preferred bidder for large PPP in Lesotho -
Martina Nicholson Associates (MNA)Network Healthcare Holdings Limited (Netcare), South Africa's foremost private hospital and healthcare group, has been awarded its third major Public Private Partnership (PPP).
Netcare's GHG acquires nine UK hospitals -
Martina Nicholson Associates (MNA)Friday, 14 December, 2007 - Network Healthcare Holdings Limited (Netcare), South Africa's foremost private hospital and healthcare group, today announced that its subsidiary in the United Kingdom (UK), General Healthcare Group (GHG), has acquired nine hospitals with 346 licensed beds from the Nuffield portfolio for a cash amount of £140 million, excluding transaction costs.
No bird flu pandemic despite recent deaths - Egyptian health officialsFour humans have died of bird flu in Egypt in the past week but health officials deny the country is gripped by an influenza pandemic.
Microbes don't know geography - WHO reportRegardless of capability or wealth, no country is immune to the increasing risk of disease outbreaks, epidemics, industrial accidents and other health emergencies, according to a new World Health Organisation (WHO) report.
Egypt: Another death highlights avian flu threatAnother human victim of bird flu - the 16th in Egypt - has been registered in the country, underlining the fact that the deadly H5N1 strain of avian flu, which was first detected in Egypt in February 2006, has not disappeared.
Cote d'Ivoire: River blindness is backThe parasitic disease river blindness, once thought to have been eradicated from Côte d'Ivoire, has re-emerged in some regions following years of armed conflict that wiped out mechanisms for surveillance and control, health officials say.
Uganda-DRC: Ebola under control but experts fear re-emergence in CongoUgandan health officials said they had an outbreak of a rare Ebola strain under control in their country but expressed concerns that the disease could resurface in the neighbouring Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC).
Nigeria: "Hundreds” dead in measles outbreakA measles outbreak has killed at least 200 children in Nigeria in recent weeks according to health workers and the International Federation of the Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies.
The cucumber cureSea cucumber protein might prevent mosquitoes from transmitting malaria to humans, study says.
Southern Africa: WHO warns of high levels of malaria
The World Health Organisation (WHO) is warning of the possibility of above average malaria transmission levels in the region this season prompted by unusually high wet conditions because of the climate phenomenon called La Niña.
Z-shaped incision inside the stomach enhances minimally invasive surgeryA novel surgical technique allowing doctors to operate on patients by making a Z-shaped incision inside the stomach could potentially replace certain types of conventional surgery in humans, according to Penn State medical researchers who have successfully demonstrated the procedure in pigs.
Cancer stem cells may be at the root of brain tumoursStem cells – popularly known as a source of biological rejuvenation – may actually play harmful roles in the body, specifically in the growth and spread of cancer.
Preventing transfusion-transmitted infections through improved blood screening methodsThe blood transfusion community should consider pathogen inactivation methods as an alternative way to assure the safety and availability of the nation's blood supply, a pathologist wrote in the December issue of the American Journal of Clinical Pathology (AJCP).
Brisk walking routine eases menopausal anxiety, stress and depressionWith more menopausal women seeking natural therapies to ease symptoms, a new study has found that simply adding a brisk walking routine can reduce a variety of psychological symptoms such as anxiety, stress and depression. The research is published in the January issue of
Medicine and Science in Sports and Exercise.
Safer, more accurate, and more effective radiation therapy for pregnant womenDeveloping foetuses are extremely sensitive to radiation, which poses an impossible dilemma for expecting mothers in need of screening or treatment for cancer. However…
Mauritania: Fistula - a medical and cultural problemEfforts to reduce cases of obstetric fistula in Mauritania have been slowed by local customs and beliefs.
Malawi: Malnutrition still a threatDespite two years of bumper harvests, malnutrition, partly a consequence of Malawi's famine in 2005, still lingers. "The scale of the malnutrition problem in Malawi is clearly very large and, given its consequences for economic development and child survival, calls for immediate and large-scale action," said Aida Girma, UNICEF Resident Representative.
Paradigm shift in TB: virulence factors, not antibioticsOver the course of the 20th Century, doctors waged war against infectious bacterial illness with the best new weapon they had: antibiotics.
Well 2008 is here and it's been a turbulent start to the year, with disruption in Kenya after the elections and the fall out from Benazir Bhutto's assansination in Pakistan at the end of last year threatening to continue well into the new year. But, this is medical, and after spending the holidays catching up on some other reading, I thought that I would start with a medical wish list for 2008.