A company involved in the production of artemisinine, an anti-malaria drug, is due to set up extraction plants in Kenya and Tanzania to make the drug easily and cheaply available to patients, an official for the company said. The factories would be established in East Africa because of the potential in the region for cultivating artemisia-annua, the plant from which the anti-malaria drug is extracted, the managing director of African Artemisia Limited, Geoff Burrell, said at a conference convened by the UN World Health Organization (WHO) in the northern Tanzanian town of Arusha.
Equity in Health
Kenya and Tanzania to start producing anti-malaria drug
MDGs to be missed in Africa
The United Nations Human Development Report Office released preliminary figures from the 2005 human development report projecting that the UN’s millennium development goals will be missed by a wide margin in Africa, reports the British Medical Journal. The UN undertook in 2000 to halve the number of people living on less than a dollar a day, to cut infant mortality by two thirds, and to give every child primary education by 2015. Ten African countries have worse infant mortality rates now than in 2000.
Modern food biotechnology, human health and development
This report presents the potential benefits and risks associated with GM foods. It finds that GM foods can increase crop yield, food quality and the diversity of foods which can be grown in a given area. This in turn can lead to better health and nutrition, which can then help to raise health and living standards. The report also recommends that in future, evaluations of GM foods should be widened to include social, cultural and ethical considerations, to help ensure there is no "genetic divide" between groups of countries which do and do not allow the growth, cultivation and marketing of GM products.
Tackling child malnutrition
Malnutrition can be dealt with, for less than $US 20 per child per year. This has always seemed like quite a lot of money, but the comparison with HIV/AIDS should inspire us to be more ambitious. Children have a right not to be brain damaged by malnutrition. But, in addition, not tackling malnutrition makes achieving the MDGs simply impossible: malnutrition is an indicator for the poverty MDG, but improving nutrition status is also an absolute requirement if the health and education MDGs are to be met.
“Organising People’s Power for Health”
Community Working Group on Health statement
The Community Working Group on Health will this year commemorate June 6th National Health and Safety day under the theme “Organising People’s power for health”, we do this in solidarity with the Trade Unions of Zimbabwe. The Community Working Group on Health is a network of 30 membership based civic/community based organisations that aim to collectively enhance health and community participation in health in Zimbabwe.
Further details: /newsletter/id/30980
Antioxidants for children with kwashiorkor
BMJ 2005;330:1095-1096 (14 May)
Protein energy malnutrition is the most deadly form of malnutrition. It is the primary or associated cause of around half of the nearly 11 million annual deaths among children under five, 30 000 each day. The reasons for this tragedy are quite clearly poverty, underdevelopment, and inequality, yet knowing this does not translate into finding correspondingly obvious or immediate solutions. The rest of this article is available at the British Medical Journal website.
ARV delays could derail national rollout plan in Malawi
A year after the Malawian government launched its HIV/AIDS treatment programme, the numbers of people awaiting treatment are stretching hospitals to their limits. In May 2004 the government began providing free antiretroviral (ARV) medication at public health facilities, hoping to reach 44,000 people living with the virus by June 2005.
SA holds key to 3x5 success, says Lancet
Lack of financial resources, staff, and commitment from key countries, including South Africa, may hamper the World Health Organisation's goal to provide life-long antiretroviral therapy to 3 million people with HIV/AIDS in developing countries by the end of 2005. An Editorial in this week's issue of the The Lancet states that though progress has been made with 720 000 people in developing countries receiving antiretroviral treatment and three times the target number of outlets providing anti-retrovirals, the financial resources allocated to 3 by 5 are below what are needed (US$ 163 million vs 174 million), and the number of WHO staff deployed to the initiative is well below what it should be (112 vs 400).
Unions to protest over alleged rights abuses in Botswana
The Botswana Federation of Trade Unions (BFTU) and the Public Service Workers Association (PWSA) are to embark on a series of demonstrations this weekend to press the government for labour legislation to protect workers from general victimisation, unfair dismissals and discrimination on the grounds of their HIV/AIDS status. According to the unions, the demonstrations will begin on Saturday and end on 4 June, when a petition will be handed over to President Festus Mogae.
World Development Report 2006 on Equity and Development
The World Development Report (WDR) 2006 explores the role of equity in development. Inequalities in incomes, in health and in educational outcomes have long been a stark fact of life in many developing countries. These are often accompanied by profound differences in influence, power and social status, whether at the level of individuals or groups. High inequalities matter for development and need to be addressed by domestic and international policies and institutions. The report will be published in September 2005 and a draft is now available.