global health

Neglected Tropical Diseases - live Q&A with Eduardo Pisani

On May 7, 2013 at 9am EST (3pm CET), Global Health Progress will host a live Q&A focused on neglected tropical diseases with Eduardo Pisani, Director General of the International Federation of Pharmaceutical Manufacturers & Associations (IFPMA). We encourage those interested to submit questions in advance (send a message to @GlobalHealth using #NTDsQA or comment on the FaceBook post).

New report offers insights into the threats posed by falsified medicines and highlights need for better coordinated global approaches to protect public health

Geneva, 11 December 2012 - A study released today highlights opportunities for a better coordinated international response to the threat of falsified, or counterfeit, medicines. The prevention of pharmaceutical falsification should be seen as an integral part of the global health community’s effort to improve access to effective, good quality medicines and protect public health worldwide.

Landmark Summit Puts Women at Heart of Global Health Agenda

Global leaders unite to provide 120 million women in the world’s poorest countries with access to contraceptives by 2020. Voluntary family planning services will reach an additional 120 million women and girls in the world’s poorest countries by 2020 thanks to a new set of commitments announced today by more than 150 leaders from donor and developing countries, international agencies, civil society, foundations and the private sector.

Merck Announces Collaboration to Improve Maternal Health through Expanded Access to Family Planning

Merck, known as MSD outside the United States and Canada, and the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation today announced that they will work together to expand access to family planning, a critical step in improving the health of women around the world. Merck intends to pledge up to $25 million over eight years as part of Merck for Mothers – the company’s 10-year initiative to reduce maternal mortality around the world. This pledge will be matched by the Gates Foundation as part of its commitment to family planning. These contributions will advance efforts to help reach United Nations Millennium Development Goal 5, which calls for a 75 percent reduction in maternal mortality and universal access to reproductive health by 2015.

7 pharmaceutical companies join academic researchers to speed TB drug discovery

Seven pharmaceutical companies and four research institutions, working with the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, have launched a groundbreaking partnership that aims to speed the discovery of essential new treatments for tuberculosis (TB). The partnership, known as the TB Drug Accelerator (TBDA), will target the discovery of new TB drugs by collaborating on early-stage research. The long-term goal of the TBDA is to create a TB drug regimen that cures patients in only one month.

Alvos Biotecnologia, a company created by Biominas Brasil, had an effective participation in the development of a Brazilian vaccine against schistosomiasis

Brazil has created and will produce a vaccine against Schistosomiasis, a chronic illness caused by the Schistosoma parasite found in areas that lack basic sanitation. On June, 12 in Rio de Janeiro, Fundação Oswaldo Cruz (Fiocruz) issued the results of clinical safety testing for the vaccine developed by the Experimental Schistosomiasis Laboratory of Instituto Oswaldo Cruz (IOC/Fiocruz). Based on the antigen Sm14, developed and patented by the IOC, the vaccine puts Brazil at the forefront of knowledge in a field of high technological complexity.

New Partnership Brings Key Leaders in Maternal, Newborn and Child Health Together to Improve Quality of Care in Low-Income Countries

WASHINGTON, June 14, 2012 -- Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton today announced the establishment of a unique and historic global development alliance (GDA) -- Survive and Thrive: Professional Associations, Private Sector and Global Health Scholars Saving Mothers, Newborns and Children -- to improve survival rates for women and children around the world. The new alliance will mobilize U.S. obstetric, pediatric and midwifery professional associations alongside the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), private sector and civil society organizations in a first-of-its-kind partnership to improve the quality of facility-based maternal, newborn and child health services to reduce preventable maternal and child deaths.

Case Studies Focus on Role of Multi-Sector Collaborations to Address Global Health Challenges

Online Collection Illustrates Efforts of Productive Partnerships

May 18, 2012 – Chicago, IL – Successful multi-sector global health programs engage partners and policymakers early, communicate openly and frequently with relevant stakeholders, and empower and involve communities, according to a website relaunched this week, Case Studies for Global Health, www.casestudiesforglobalhealth.org.

More than a third of anti-malarial drugs in SE Asia fake, finds study

Radio Australia
May 24, 2012

A new American study has found that fake malaria drugs are threatening the gains made in the fight against the deadly disease.

Researchers at the US National Institute of Health have found that more than one third of the anti-malarial drugs in Southeast Asia are fake and that a third of samples in sub-Saharan Africa don't contain the right ingredients.

Dr Margaret Chan appointed to a second term as Director-General

The World Health Assembly today appointed Dr Margaret Chan for a second five-year term as Director-General of the World Health Organization (WHO). In her acceptance speech to health ministers and representatives of WHO’s Member States, Dr Chan pledged her continued commitment to improve the health of the most vulnerable. In addition she said that the biggest challenge over the next five years will be to lead WHO in ways that will help maintain the unprecedented momentum for better health that marked the start of this century.

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