World Health Organization Archives - Page 3 of 3

January 25, 2011April 1, 2011

Protection of Pregnant Women Against Malaria Remains Inadequate

Methods to protect pregnant women from malaria are still underutilised in sub-Saharan Africa, according to a study published today in ‘Lancet Infectious Diseases’.

A review of national control strategies by a team of international researchers, led by the Malaria in Pregnancy Consortium and funded by the Consortium and the Wellcome Trust, has concluded that despite major efforts, coverage is still inadequate in many areas and needs to be scaled up.

Malaria infection in pregnancy can lead to devastating consequences for both mother and child. The World Health Organization’s recommended policy for malaria prevention and control is a package of intermittent preventive treatment – therapeutic doses of a drug at defined intervals to provide protection in young children and pregnant women – and insecticide-treated bednets. These interventions have the potential to substantially reduce the disease burden and adverse outcomes of malaria in pregnancy.

The Roll Back Malaria initiative aimed to ensure that all pregnant women could receive the drugs and that at least four out of five people at risk from malaria were using the nets in areas of high transmission by 2010.

Researchers from the Malaria in Pregnancy Consortium examined specific strategies for malaria control in pregnant women from national malaria policies and calculated the number of protected pregnancies using the most recent national household cluster sample surveys. They were able to compare this to levels of malaria risk by comparing them to maps generated by the Malaria Atlas Project.

The study found that 45 of 47 countries in sub-Saharan Africa had an bednet policy for pregnant women and that estimated coverage was 17 per cent among the nearly 28 million pregnancies at risk of malaria in the 32 countries for which information was available. Among 39 countries with a policy on intermittent preventive treatment, just one in four pregnant women had received some treatment, despite more than three-quarters visiting an antenatal clinic.

Professor Feiko ter Kuile, leader of the Malaria in Pregnancy Consortium and co-author of the study, said: “Ten years after the Abuja declaration, it is encouraging that the majority of malaria endemic countries in sub-Saharan Africa have now adopted insecticide-treated nets and intermittent preventive treatment and the number of countries with nationally representative coverage data has increased to 40 out of 47.

“However, very few countries have reached either the Abuja targets or their own policy ambition, and countries are even further away from the more recent Roll Back Malaria targets set for 2010. In addition, coverage was lowest in areas with high malaria transmission, where the need is greatest.

“Whilst most countries have adopted national policies aimed at reducing and controlling malaria in pregnancy, it is clear that, with some notable exceptions, not enough progress has been made towards the new Roll Back Malaria goals or the policy ambitions of each country.

“Greater effort to fully understand the reasons why coverage is so low and to develop strategies to combat this is urgently needed to protect the tens of millions of pregnancies in sub-Saharan Africa threatened by malaria every year.”

(The Wellcome Trust)

Reference

Van Eijk, AM. Mapping coverage of malaria protection among pregnant women in sub-Saharan Africa: a synthesis and analysis of national surveys. Lancet Infectious Diseases; e-pub 26 Jan 2011.

December 27, 2010January 19, 2011

Yello fever outbreak in Uganda

Yellow fever is transmitted by a type of mosquito that is active only during the day

Yellow fever vaccines are being imported for the north of Uganda to inoculate people against the disease which has killed about 45 people.

People began falling ill about a month ago in nine northern districts, the country’s health ministry says.

A health official in Kitgum told the BBC the outbreak was confirmed as yellow fever on Christmas Eve.

The disease, transmitted by infected mosquitoes, was last recorded in Uganda almost 40 years ago, officials say.

Task forces have been put in place in the affected districts and isolation units set up.

Bosco Ochola, chairman of the Kitgum task force, said his staff were treating about 65 infected patients.

“This morning we got a phone call from the Ministry of Health that arrangements are being made from WHO (World Health Organization) to bring vaccines to cover the population,” he told the BBC’s Focus on Africa programme

Yellow fever, unlike malaria, is transmitted by a type of mosquito which is active only during the day.

Radio talk shows and dramas were trying to inform people of this, he said.

The health ministry says at least 2.5 million people will be vaccinated when the vials arrive, Uganda’s state-owned New Vision newspaper reports.

The disease has a wide array of symptoms from nausea and vomiting to kidney failure, jaundice and bleeding.

About half of those who develop severe symptoms and are untreated die from the disease.

(Story by BBC)

December 19, 2010January 19, 2011

Eradication of malaria is within reach, WHO reports

The World Health Organization, the UN agency which over ten years ago started a campaign to cut the number of malaria cases and deaths in half by 2010, reports that Malaria is fast declining in countries where it had been endemic.

Just five years ago, the anti-malaria campaign was in such poor shape that this news from the UN agency is surprising and gladdens the hearts of both researchers and residents of regions prone to malaria.

Even though experts agree that the campaign will fall short of meeting the goals it set over a decade ago, significant progress has been made over the past few years in distributing the means to prevent and treat malaria and in bringing down death rates in many countries.

As a result, malaria-related deaths have also fallen globally from 985,000 in 2000 to 781,000 in 2009, with most of the deaths registered in children under five. In short, the anti-malaria campaign efforts are saving around 204 000 lives per year right now over the baseline in 2000.

In Uganda, for instance, the report shows that the number of households owning at least one insecticide-treated mosquito net has increased over the last two years from 42 to 47 per cent.

Over the past three to four years, millions of insecticide-treated bed nets have been delivered to sub-Saharan Africa. The number of people whose houses were protected by insecticide spraying jumped to 75 million in 2009, protecting another 10 percent of the population at risk.

The most encouraging news is that experts say that with continued effort, the number of malaria deaths could be halved by the end of 2011 and practically eliminated by 2015.

We posted an article here on November ^7th 2010 with the title ‘Eradicating malaria in Sub-Saharan Africa, Yes We Can’

How ‘prophetic’ we were.

We actually can.

December 16, 2010January 8, 2011

Text messaging to combact malaria

Mobile phones could soon be helping re-assure Nigerians and Ghanaians they are getting genuine medicine.

A pilot scheme in the two nations has begun putting unique scratch codes on more than 500,000 medicine bottles and packets of pills.

When the code is texted to a free phone number, a return message will reveal that a drug is genuine.

The scheme hopes to boost efforts to tackle diseases such as malaria and combat the rise in fake medicines.

Security alert

About 700,000 people suffering from malaria and tuberculosis die every year around the world because of fake drugs, suggest statistics from think tank International Policy Network

Globally, about 10-15% of all drugs are believed to be fake but in some parts of Africa this rises to 50%. The problem is made more acute in Africa because some fake medicines being offered to the sick are watered down versions of the real thing and dent the efficacy of the full strength drug.

“Some genuine medicines have lost their potency because of the counterfeiting,” said Gabriele Zedlmayer, a spokeswoman for HP which is a partner in the labelling scheme.

Fake pills are a big problem in Africa where diseases such as malaria are endemic

This can be a particular problem with malaria as the disease is so widespread in sub-saharan Africa where it is the leading cause of death.

The scheme is being backed by governments and drug companies who have pledged to publicise how it works in pharmacies, surgeries, hospitals and community centres.

Painkillers, anti-malaria drugs and amoebicides from pharmaceutical firms May & Baker in Nigeria and Kama in Ghana will be the first to get the scratch-off labels.

Such a scheme was very important in Africa where about 80% of medicines are generic, said Bright Simons, founder of mPedigree which developed some of the technology to underpin the pilot.

By using the codes, people would get to know pharmacies, hospitals and other outlets they can trust, he said.

Mobiles were the best way for people in Nigeria and Ghana to find out about their medicines because they were so ubiquitous said Mr Simon, adding that even those who do not own a handset themselves can get access via friends and family.

Each packet or bottle has a scratch-off code that can be used only once, said Mr Simons. The security system behind the scenes flags any attempt to re-use codes. As well as letting people know they are getting genuine medicine, it will also alert people when fake medicines are being peddled.

If the pilot proves successful, the scheme will be extended to cover more than six million bottles and packets in the next 12 months.

“This is just the first step,” said Ms Zedlmayer. “It can be applied to any kind of medication.”

(Story by BBC)

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December 14, 2010January 2, 2011

Aggregated Health News

Malaria control ‘best in decades’, WHO

(AP) –

GENEVA (AP) — The World Health Organization says a massive malaria control program since 2008 has helped reduce infections across Africa and eradicate the disease in Morocco and Turkmenistan.

The U.N. health agency says the billions of dollars poured into the program have helped buy anti-malaria nets for almost 600 million people in sub-Saharan Africa.

It said this has contributed to a drop of over 50 percent in malaria cases in 11 African countries, and two-thirds of the 56 malaria-endemic countries outside Africa. Malaria cases, however, increased in parts of Rwanda, Sao Tome and Principe and Zambia.

S. African to double HIV patient treatment

(AP)

JOHANNESBURG — South Africa’s health minister says he has brought down the cost of HIV drugs by 53 percent, enabling the government to treat twice as many patients in the next two years.

Health Minister Aaron Motsoaledi said in a statement Tuesday that the government saved 4.7 billion rand ($689 million) by encouraging potential suppliers to participate in the bidding process, requesting a breakdown of costs from suppliers and monitoring price changes.

South Africa has the largest anti-retroviral distribution program in the world but pays significantly higher drug prices than other countries, Motsoaledi says. South Africa has more people living with HIV than anywhere else in the world, with 5.7 million of 50 million people infected

New UN partnership seeks to promote reproductive health in Africa

http://www.un.org

December 2010 – The United Nations has teamed up with the Millennium Villages Project (MVP) to promote universal access to reproductive health in sub-Saharan Africa, focusing mainly on young mothers.

The partnership between the UN Population Fund (UNFPA) and MVP will use the Project’s primary health-care provision strategy and the UN agency’s expertise to promote reproductive rights and sexual and reproductive health.

The MVP initiative seeks to reach the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) – eight anti-poverty targets with a 2015 deadline – in African countries within five years through community-led development.

Infant mortality rates are almost double among women who have children before the age of 20, compared to mothers in other age groups, a factor that makes it necessary to improve maternal and child health by providing voluntary family planning, medical supplies, training and education among younger women.

The UNFPA-MVP partnership will help local governments to provide supplies to clinics and hospitals in Millennium Village clusters. It will also identify trainers for health personnel.

“We look forward to joining forces with the Millennium Villages Project to widen the availability of sexual and reproductive health services – including family planning, skilled birth attendance, emergency obstetric care and prenatal and postnatal care – across sub-Saharan Africa,” said UNFPA’s Executive Director, Thoraya Ahmed Obaid.

“This partnership will go a long way in saving the lives of more mothers, and allowing more families to enjoy a life of prosperity and good health,” she added.

Jeffrey Sachs, the Director of the Earth Institute, said: “Many programmes such as those in the Millennium Villages show that scaling up primary health systems in rural and remote areas plays a decisive role in reducing child and maternal mortality.

“It is partnerships like these that will make a difference and enable us to achieve Millennium Development Goals 4 and 5 in the toughest parts of Africa,” Mr. Sachs added.

MVP, a partnership between the Earth Institute at Columbia University, Millennium Promise, the UN Development Programme (UNDP) and governments, provides a new approach to fighting poverty.

Currently covering approximately 500,000 people, the Project has shown that an integrated package of development interventions, supported by a modest financial investment, about $110 per person annually over 5 to 10 years, can facilitate the achievement of the MDGs.

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November 11, 2010February 9, 2011

Female circumcision and Ugandan politics

(A comprehensive discussion of female genital mutilation is available here)

Although Female Genital Mutilation/Cutting (FGM) has been condemned by international bodies as an abuse of human rights, a vast majority of people from the Sebei tribe in Uganda still practice the dangerous tradition.

Despite the practice having been banned outright in the eastern African country since last year, some 200 young girls from the Sebei tribe have “willingly” registered to be circumcised in December this year.

The practice, which is common among people from the Sebei tribe of Bukwo and Kapchora districts at the foot of mountain Elgon, 400 kms east of Kampala, is categorized by World Health Organization as Female Genital Mutilation due to the damage it causes to circumcised women’s sexuality. It also leads to various complications.

After confirming that women in Sabiny tribe are among the most affected by the practice, anti Female genital mutilation advocate, Dr Betty Nalongo, explained how the bloody practice affects women: “FGM, refers to the removal of the external female genitalia. It is not only painful but also makes the victim never to enjoy sex after the mutilation.”

Notwithstanding its adverse effects, including childbirth related complications, a Sabiny man, Rogers Kyesang says that people from his tribe want their “girls and women to be circumcised because circumcised women are less interested in sex and therefore can not have extra-marital relationships while in marriage.”

But Cecilia Chemutai, 30, a woman who underwent the painful experience 10 years ago says: “I regret why I accepted to be circumcised. I feel much pain during sexual intercourse with my husband… and childbirth is very difficult”. She does not understand why girls voluntarily go for the exercise.

One of the girls who has decided to get circumcised in December this year, Gladys Ketrai, 19, says she wants “to be circumcised” in order for her to “fit well among the already circumcised women” of her “tribe.” “It is an old tradition which all women in the past underwent. Why should I avoid the exercise when my mother and grandmother went through it?” she argues.

Meanwhile, a government official in Sebei, Thomas Sakkwa has hinted that the decision from the girls are anything but voluntary. “Some of the young girls are teased into being circumcised… by elderly women. Whenever they they come across uncircumcised girls, they tease them that they are not fit to be within their company because they are not yet circumcised.”

But with all the government official’s concern, no politician has dared to remind the people of Sebei of the illegality of the practice due to the pending elections. They fear that any attack on the practice could cost them vital votes due to the fact that many local people there revere circumcision. A law against Female Genital Mutilation has been in place in Uganda for several months.

Uganda is to hold presidential and general elections in Febuary, 2011, and many people hope that the law against circumcision will be resurrected to save girls and young women from the blade after the elections.

(Afrik-News)

October 31, 2010January 22, 2011

Mass circumcision in South African Prisions

: South African prison ask to be circumcised

An incredible number of prisoners in South Africa’s KwaZulu-Natal province are calling upon the authorities to circumcise them to help combat the spread of HIV. Health authorities say they have had more people wanting to be circumcised than their resources can manage and are overwhelmed.

World Health Organization (WHO) studies show compelling evidence that male circumcision reduces the risk of heterosexually acquired HIV infection in men by approximately 60% and recommends that male circumcision should be considered an efficacious intervention for HIV prevention in countries and regions with heterosexual epidemics, high HIV and low male circumcision prevalence. Believe in circumcision varies widely in Sub-Saharan Africa as we reported here a couple of weeks ago. KwaZulu-Natal has one of the highest HIV infection rates in South Africa and the voluntary call by the prisoners to receive the service is an indication of the magnitude of the problem and also an encouraging sign that education makes an impact. Male circumcision provides only partial protection, and therefore should be only one element of a comprehensive HIV prevention package. Some figures on HIV in South Africa Number of people with HIV: 5.7 million Prevalence, ages 15 to 49: 18% Patients receiving anti-retroviral drugs: 460,000 (estimated in 2008) Deaths due to Aids: 350,000 (estimated in 2007) Number of Aids orphans: 1.4 million Source: UNAids/WHO/Unicef epidemiological fact sheet, 2008