H5N1

WHO: A narrowing health gap between rich and poor nations

WHO has issued a news release about its newly published World Health Statistics 2013: WHO statistics show narrowing health gap between countries with best and worst health status. Excerpt:

As the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) approach the 2015 deadline, this year’s World Health Statistics shows the considerable progress made in reducing child and maternal deaths, improving nutrition and reducing deaths and illness from HIV infection, tuberculosis and malaria. 

“Intensive efforts to achieve the MDGs have clearly improved health for people all over the world,” says Dr Margaret Chan, Director-General of WHO. “But with less than 1000 days to go to reach the MDG deadline, it is timely to ask if these efforts have made a difference in reducing the unacceptable inequities between the richest and poorest countries.” 

This year, the World Health Statistics compares progress made by countries with the best health status and those with least-favourable health status at the MDG baseline year of 1990 and again two decades later. 

Impressive health progress for countries in lowest health status category 

It shows that, in absolute terms, countries in the lowest 25% category of health status have made impressive health progress. 

For example, the absolute gap in child mortality between the top and bottom countries was reduced from 171 deaths per 1000 live births in 1990 to 107 deaths per 1000 live births in 2011. Some countries that were among those with the world’s highest child mortality rates in 1990 – including Bangladesh, Bhutan, Lao People’s Democratic Republic, Madagascar, Nepal, Rwanda, Senegal and Timor-Leste – have improved child survival to such an extent that they no longer belong to that group. 

However, despite the fact that 27 countries have reached the MDG target already, the current rates of progress will not be sufficient to reach the global target of a two-thirds reduction in 1990 levels of child mortality by 2015.

100,000 Ugandans die of malaria every year: Health minister

Via New Vision: 100,000 Ugandans die of malaria every year - minister. Excerpt:

Uganda records an estimated 100,000 malaria related deaths per year with children being the majority, the minister of health, Dr. Christine Ondoa, has said. 

Ondoa says in terms of the burden to our health system, clinically diagnosed malaria is the leading cause of morbidity and mortality, accounting for approximately 30-50% of outpatient visits at health facilities, 15-20 of all hospital admissions, and 9-14% of all inpatient deaths. 

"Malaria remains one of the greatest public health problems in Uganda," Ondoa said. 

She said this is due to the country's tropical climate and seven months of rainfall allowing perennial malaria transmission across 95% of the country. 

Ondoa said malaria is also responsible for significant economic losses suffered by the people of Uganda through; direct costs of medical care, reduced productivity of malaria sufferers and their caretakers, poor child development and educational performance resulting from absenteeism by both pupils and teachers. 

She said malaria is also discouraging foreign direct investment and hurting trade and tourism. 

Ondoa was on Friday giving her remarks during the National launch of long lasting insecticide treated nets universal campaign and commemoration of World Malaria day presided over by President Museveni at Soroti Sports Grounds in Soroti town. 

Ondoa said Government has prioritised the prevention and control of communicable diseases like malaria in order to reduce the high national disease burden as outlined in the health sector strategic and investment plan of the ministry of health. She appealed to the people to sleep under insecticide treated mosquito nets.

Climate changes could bring malaria to the UK

Via The Observer: Climate changes could bring malaria to the UK. Excerpt:

Leading health experts are urging the government to take action against the growing threat that mosquito-borne diseases, including potentially fatal malaria, could soon arrive in the UK. 

The disturbing recommendation to "act now before it is too late" is being made as a growing body of evidence indicates that what were once thought of as tropical diseases are being found ever closer to the UK. 

Health experts meeting at the annual public health conference of the Chartered Institute of Environmental Health later this week will hear that rising incidences of a growing list of pest-borne diseases are now a "serious" cause for concern in the UK. 

The conference will be told that it would be complacent to think that diseases such as dengue fever, malaria and Crimean-Congo haemorrhagic fever, now present on the European continent but once considered "exotic and confined to faraway places", will not emerge in the UK. 

"With predicted changes to climate in the UK, characterised by warming and wetter summers providing perfect breeding grounds for a number of pest-borne diseases, we need to consider some robust public health measures to minimise the potential outbreaks," said Julie Barratt, director of the CIEH. 

The government's Health Protection Agency commissioned research, published last year, which claimed that "it is likely that the range and activity of many ticks and mosquitoes will increase across the UK by the 2080s". 

However, experts are now warning that there is a risk that the threat to the UK is more imminent. Dengue was detected in France and Croatia in 2010 and malaria was reported in Greece in 2011.

Beer yeast turned into cheap malaria drug in Gates-funded study

Via The Star: Beer yeast turned into cheap malaria drug in Gates-funded study. Excerpt:

Baker’s yeast, commonly used to make beer and bread, can be engineered to produce a key ingredient for malaria drugs, according to researchers who say the method offers a new way to boost needed supplies. 

Anti-malarial medications save millions of lives, yet the supply of the sweet wormwood tree, the source of the most effective treatment, artemisinin, can fluctuate year to year, creating shortages. The study published Wednesday by the journal Nature, and funded by the Seattle-based Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, describes how the new process boosts production of artemisinic acid by almost 16 times the amount of previous approaches. 

“Prior to this, nobody had been able to get a high level production of artemisinin,” Chris Paddon, a study author, said in an interview. “This is a big genetic engineering breakthrough.” 

Paddon, principal scientist for Amyris Inc., an Emeryville, Calif.-based renewable chemicals and fuels company, said the intellectual property rights for the process described in the paper have been donated for nonprofit use in order to boost production. 

The process resulted in 25 grams of commercially usable artemisinic acid concentration per litre, compared with previous methods that led to 1.6 grams per litre. Artemisinic acid is then converted into the drug artemisinin, which is combined with other anti-malarial treatments to ensure the parasites that cause the disease are cleared. 

Sanofi, the Paris-based maker of Lantus insulin, will start using this method beginning tomorrow to produce semi-synthetic artemisinin, Paddon said. 

Malaria kills a child in Africa every minute, according to the Geneva-based World Health Organization. The disease is spread through mosquitoes infected with the Plasmodium parasite, which multiply in the human liver, attacking red blood cells. It strikes about 216 million people each year and kills about 655,000.

CIDRAP: News scan for April 11

Via CIDRAP, a reminder of the non-H7N9 world: NEWS SCAN: H5N1 in Nepal, grant for multi-vaccine delivery, chicken pox death, polio declaration, semi-synthetic artemisinin. Click through for all the reports and many links. Excerpt:

Nepal has confirmed nine outbreaks of H5N1 avian flu involving more than 10,000 poultry in February and March, according to a report today from the World Organization for Animal Health (OIE). The outbreaks ranged from 6 birds killed by the virus in a backyard flock of 15, to 1,800 dead birds in a commercial flock of 4,000. 

All told, 3,982 poultry died from the disease and the remaining 6,919 birds were culled to stop H5N1 spread, for a total of 10,901 poultry dead or destroyed, according to the report. The onset of the outbreaks ranged from Feb 12 to Mar 30. Affected premises are being disinfected and other control measures implemented, the report said.

Uganda: Prisons adopt residual spraying against malaria

Via allAfrica.com, a report from The New Vision: Uganda: Prisons Adopt Residual Spraying Against Malaria. Excerpt:

The Government has introduced indoor residual spraying in prisons in order to eradicate malaria infection in detention facilities across the country. 

During an interview with New Vision on Wednesday, the Medical Superintendent of Murchison Bay Hospital, Dr. Joseph Andama, said there is an alarming rate of malaria infection. 

"Malaria infection in prisons is much higher than the national prevalence rate due to the fact that prison's department previously did not have access to control measures, yet detention facilities have all the ingredients favourable for vector breeding," Andama observed. 

He said out of the 221 prison units countrywide, Prisons department has so far carried out indoor spraying within three units. These include Gulu, Fort Portal and Luzira. 

Currently, the prison's department data management system, however, cannot quantify the burden of the disease. 

Andama said previously, the hospital used to admit more than 100 prisoners suffering from malaria, but after the intervention, it only admits an average of 15-20 prisoners daily.

Ghana: Free nets cause decline in malaria

Via GhanaWeb.com: Free nets cause decline in malaria. Excerpt:

The prevalence rate of malaria is declining in Ghana owing to the free distribution of long-lasting, insecticide-treated mosquito nets. 

Mr Kwame Dzudzorli Gakpey, Communications Officer of the National Malaria Control Programme of the Ministry of Health, who spoke in an interview with the Ghana News Agency in Accra on Tuesday, said in-patient death cases from malaria nationwide dropped from 3,259 in 2011 to 2,815 in 2012. 

"Malaria deaths among children under five years for the same periods were 1,539 for 2011 and 1,129 for 2012, whereas death among pregnant women due to malaria was 918 for 2011 and 476 for 2012," he said, attributing the decline largely to the successful distribution of long lasting insecticide treated mosquito nets. 

Ghana in 2012 embarked on a universal coverage of two persons per long lasting insecticide treated mosquito net campaign during which 12 million people were covered, which represents a coverage of [half of Ghana's] 24 million population. 

The Communications Officer said that a study by the University of Ghana in Ashanti, Central and Upper West Regions showed that in 2008 and 2012, 38 per cent and 86 per cent respectively of households had ownership of long lasting insecticide treated mosquito nets. 

He said the Ministry would ensure that the gains so far made were sustained in 2013 and beyond; adding that this year the Ministry would be targeting schools, antenatal and child welfare clinics for the distribution of free long lasting insecticide treated mosquito nets. 

Mr Gakpey stated that although Ghana was a hyper malaria endemic country, the nation would have witnessed more decline in malaria cases but for the incidence of over diagnoses. “Not all fever symptoms are malaria cases”, he added.

Nigeria: Nine wild polio cases so far in 2013

Via allAfrica.com, a NAN report: Nigeria Records Nine Wild Polio Cases in Abuja, Three Other States in 2013. Excerpt:

The National Primary Health Care Development Agency, NPHCDA, has said nine cases of wild polio virus have been recorded in four states and Abuja in the last three months. 

Ado Mohammed, the Executive Secretary, told journalists in Sokoto shortly after the 2013 First Quarter meeting of Northern Traditional Leaders Committee on Primary Health Care delivery that the cases were recorded from January this year to date. 

He listed the affected states as Nasarawa, Bauchi, Borno, Yobe and Abuja. 

He said that there was, however, a remarkable reduction in the number of the cases compared to the 29 recorded during the same period in 2012. 

"Even in the hitherto sanctuaries of the cases, progress had been achieved. This is courtesy of the involvement of the traditional rulers actively in the fight against polio. 

"Efforts are on also to provide plausible solutions to some of the formidable security challenges affecting the polio campaign in some parts of Nigeria. We are engaging the traditional rulers and religious leaders as well as all the stakeholders in finding solutions to the problem," Mr. Mohammed said. 

According to him, the agency is strengthening routine immunisation while other ailments like measles and malaria will be included in its activities.

US: Drug may be major advance against malaria

Via ScienceBlog.com: Drug may be major advance against malaria. Excerpt:

Scientists at Oregon Health & Science University and the Portland VA Medical Center have developed a drug that may represent one of the world’s best hopes for treating and preventing malaria — a disease that kills more than one million people each year. 

The scientists have described the drug, and its effectiveness against mice infected with malaria, in the March 20 issue of Science Translational Medicine, an interdisciplinary journal of the American Association for the Advancement of Science. 

The drug — called ELQ-300 — “is an exciting compound as it ticks a number of boxes necessary in a next-generation antimalarial,” said Dr. Timothy Wells, the chief scientific officer for Medicines for Malaria Venture, a Swiss non-profit that is leading the scientific fight against malaria and that helped fund the research leading to ELQ-300. 

“It has potential to become part of a combination therapy that could cure patients, prevent infection and block the transmission of malaria — all at low-doses — which means fewer and smaller pills for patients, at a lower cost. Provided a formulation can be developed, ELQ-300 holds great promise to become a tool to help shrink the malaria map.”

Zimbabwe: 55 malaria deaths so far this year

Via The Zimbabwean: More malaria deaths recorded. Excerpt:

At least 55 deaths and 123,969 cases of malaria have been recorded this year countrywide – a two fold increase in prevalence of the disease compared to last year, says a government official. 

“We have experienced a surge of both malaria incidents and deaths this year. In 2012, by week nine we recorded 67,000 cases and 49 deaths while this year over the same period the figure is 123,696 and 55 deaths,” said National Malaria Case Management Focal Person in the Ministry of Health and Child Welfare, Staneford Mashaire, in an exclusive interview. 

In week nine 124,000 cases of malaria and four deaths were recorded nationally, compared to 10,000 cases and nine deaths last year. Mashaire attributed the outbreak to recent floods that hit many areas. 

“There is one confirmed outbreak in Mutasa while Goromonzi and Chiredzi are not yet confirmed. We received a petition from Mashonaland East requesting inside door residual spraying as cases of malaria were on the increase. We have since deployed reaction teams to assess the ground for further assessment in both areas,” he said. 

Mashaire added that out of the country’s 63 health districts, spraying was done in 45 districts – but Goromonzi was not included. Mosquito net distribution is carried out in 30 districts prone to malaria. 

“Of the 30 districts, 23 have received their nets including Mutasa where we have just distributed 90,000 nets to 37,433 households. We also conducted public awareness programmes, recruited and trained 150 village health workers to offer rapid tests and treat patients in the community in order to curb the outbreak,” said Mashaire. 

In Matabeleland South the department is doing a pre-elimination exercise, whereby if a person presents him/herself with malaria the whole family or community is traced for treatment. “In other provinces we are in control exercise where we just treat an individual who is reportedly ill,” he said.