Global Health Progress

The humanitarian air service run by the UN World Food Programme (WFP) is struggling to keep its planes flying in parts of Africa due to a dramatic shortage of funds. The flights carry aid workers to remote locations where they provide vital assistance for hundreds of thousands of people – many of whom have been driven from their homes by conflict.

Teaching new mothers how to breastfeed could save 1.3 million children’s lives every year, but many women get no help and give up trying, the World Health Organization said on Friday.

Less than 40 percent of mothers worldwide breastfeed their infants exclusively in the first six months, as recommended by the WHO. Many abandon it because they don’t know how to get their baby to latch on properly or suffer pain and discomfort.

Several African governments have launched a drive to strengthen the continent’s laboratories to a standard that will enable them to gain accreditation from the United Nations World Health Organization (WHO).

The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation is increasing its commitment to an HIV/AIDS prevention program it founded in India by $80 million.

The program, called Avahan, was launched in 2003 by the Seattle-based foundation and since then has $258 million in funding. Total funding will now be $338 million.

The blogosphere has been abuzz this week with news about global pandemic influenza H1N1 (popularly referred to as “swine flu”). Most notably, bloggers have focused on the news that pregnant women may be at increased risk from the virus.

In a daring experiment in Europe, scientists used mosquitoes as flying needles to deliver a “vaccine” of live malaria parasites through their bites. The results were astounding: Everyone in the vaccine group acquired immunity to malaria; everyone in a non-vaccinated comparison group did not, and developed malaria when exposed to the parasites later.

The study was only a small proof-of-principle test, and its approach is not practical on a large scale. However, it shows that scientists may finally be on the right track to developing an effective vaccine against one of mankind’s top killers. A vaccine that uses modified live parasites just entered human testing.

The U.S.-based PATH Malaria Vaccine Initiative (MVI), the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) Malaria Vaccine Development Program (MVDP) and Dutch biopharmaceutical company Crucell N.V. (Euronext, Nasdaq: CRXL; Swiss Exchange: CRX) today announced a collaboration to accelerate development of a promising type of malaria vaccine. Through funding from the USAID MVDP, the partners will conduct studies to determine the effectiveness of Crucell’s novel prime-boost vaccine approach against the malaria parasite, Plasmodium falciparum. This approach uses Crucell’s proprietary recombinant adenoviruses (a type of virus associated with the common cold and other mild respiratory infections) to deliver a malaria antigen to the immune system.

Dr. Jaap Goudsmit, Chief Scientific Officer at Crucell commented: “This agreement is a strong validation of Crucell’s malaria vaccine. We are excited to have the MVI as our partner and the support of USAID. The fact that MVI is backing our program testifies to the importance of our efforts to further progress the development of Crucell’s malaria vaccine”

As the Kenyan health authorities continue to trade accusations with independent health monitors over the accuracy of the confirmed cases of swine flu, a preliminary study indicates that hundreds of expectant mothers could suffer from poor surveillance of the disease.

According to the study conducted by the US’ Centre for Disease Control (CDC), pregnant women infected with swine flu have a much higher risk of severe illness and death, confirming a trend that has worried global health experts.

Slowly the great World Bank tanker has been redirected to a new course. As much of sub-Saharan Africa faces drought, a failed harvest and hunger, the organisation has come to recognise the urgency of investment in global agricultural productivity and, after two decades of neglect, the importance of governments in delivering it. At the same time, this month’s G8 summit promised $20bn specifically to support food security. Sceptics wonder how much is new money and look at the foot-dragging on the Gleneagles promises of 2005 to boost aid in order to reach next year’s millennium development goals.The question now, as world recession eats into aid budgets, is how to get the most out of the money that is available.

The US-based PATH Malaria Vaccine Initiative (MVI), the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) Malaria Vaccine Development Program (MVDP), and Dutch biopharmaceutical company Crucell N.V. today announced a collaboration to accelerate development of a promising type of malaria vaccine. Through funding from the USAID MVDP, the partners will conduct studies to determine the effectiveness of Crucell’s novel prime-boost vaccine approach against the malaria parasite, Plasmodium falciparum. This approach uses Crucell’s proprietary recombinant adenoviruses (a type of virus associated with the common cold and other mild respiratory infections) to deliver a malaria antigen to the immune system.