Technology, Innovation In Health, Education, Agriculture Will Help Further Reduce Inequality Over Next 15 Years, Gateses Say In Annual Letter January 22, 2015 News Summary News outlets highlight the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation’s annual letter, released on Wednesday, as well as comments made by Bill and Melinda Gates in a related interview. Agence France-Presse: World’s poor headed for better lives in 2030: Gates “The lives of the poor will improve faster in the next…
U.N. Launches Appeal For Additional $1B To Stamp Out Ebola In West Africa January 22, 2015 News Summary Bloomberg News: Ebola Fight Needs $1 Billion More as Outbreak Wanes “Ebola remains a global health emergency, the United Nations said today as it sought another $1 billion in donations to fight the deadly outbreak in West Africa…” (Bennett/Kitamura, 1/21). Reuters: U.N. Ebola chief calls for final $1 billion to…
Ebola Continues To Be Public Health Emergency Despite Declining Case Numbers, WHO Says January 22, 2015 News Summary CIDRAP News: Ebola cases tumble as WHO extends public health emergency “Though Ebola cases in West Africa’s outbreak region continue to drop sharply, infections are still occurring in some hot spots and posing a threat to other countries, with the World Health Organization (WHO) announcing [Wednesday] that the situation is…
West Africa’s Food Security Likely To Become More Tenuous As Ebola Epidemic Continues, E.C. Report Says January 22, 2015 News Summary SciDev.Net: Ebola worsens food crisis in West Africa “The Ebola outbreak’s impact on household incomes has significantly damaged food security in Guinea, Liberia, and Sierra Leone, the West Africa countries most affected by the disease, says a report by the European Commission (E.C.). Assessing data from agencies including the World…
Pakistan Continues To Face Challenges In Polio Eradication Efforts January 22, 2015 News Summary Wired’s “Superbug”: A New Polio Case in Pakistan and an Unsolved Epidemic In her blog, Maryn McKenna, a journalist and senior fellow of the Schuster Institute at Brandeis University, discusses the challenges of eliminating polio in Pakistan and “the possibility of [the disease] surging back over the rest of the world”…
Western Nations Must Invest In Vaccines, Treatments To Prepare For Future Infectious Disease Outbreaks, Piot Says January 22, 2015 News Summary BBC News: Davos: Western world ‘vulnerable’ to epidemics, warns Ebola expert “The Western world is ‘vulnerable’ to epidemics such as Ebola, and must invest more in researching vaccines, a leading scientist has warned. Prof Peter Piot [who co-discovered the Ebola virus in 1976] told the BBC that developed nations would…
Polio Immunization Campaign Successful In Syria, As No New Cases Reported In Past Year, WHO Says January 22, 2015 News Summary Agence France-Presse: No new polio cases in Syria reported for a year: WHO “Syria has gone a year without a reported polio case, the World Health Organization said Wednesday, after a massive immunization campaign triggered by the disease’s appearance in the war-torn country…” (1/21).
MSF Resumes Humanitarian Operations In Myanmar’s Rakhine State After 9-Month Government Ban January 22, 2015 News Summary Reuters: MSF resumes work in Myanmar state after government ban “An international medical group has resumed work in an area of northwest Myanmar after a nine-month government ban on its presence in one of the poorest parts of the country over allegations of bias. Médecins Sans Frontières-Holland (MSF) said Tuesday…
Unfair Economic System, Not Large Families, To Blame For Poverty, Pope Clarifies After Contraception Comments January 22, 2015 News Summary Agence France-Presse: Pope rows back from ‘rabbits’ comments, praises large families “Pope Francis on Wednesday described large families as a ‘gift from God,’ just days after he said Catholics did not need to ‘breed like rabbits.’ In an apparent row back from comments he made on his way back from…
World Must Better Prepare For Future Pandemics January 22, 2015 News Summary Project Syndicate: Diseases Without Borders Jim Yong Kim, president of the World Bank Group “…The WEF’s [World Economic Forum] Global Risks report emphasizes the need for robust plans to face the threat of pandemics. This is especially urgent in light of the rapid growth of cities and informal settlements –…