Information and stories on health topics.

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Avian Flu Outbreak in Mexico

Avian Flu Outbreak in MexicoGuanajuato, a state in the center of Mexico, is proud of its agricultural sector. However, a recent outbreak of avian flu has forced the Mexican Government to slaughter nearly 500,000 fowl to prevent further damage.

Senasica, Mexico’s National Food Health, Safety, and Quality Service, has vaccinated nearly 200,000 other birds to protect them from infection. This strain of avian flu was called “highly pathogenic” by Mexican health authorities. As a result, intense inspections are being carried out in nearby areas, with experts analyzing over 2,500 recently taken samples from more than 20 farms.

Mexico has seen a few outbreaks of avian flu over the past few years. In March 2012, 22 million hens had to be slaughtered, which resulted in economic instability due to the shortage of some staple goods like chicken and eggs.

This strain of avian flu is called AH7N, a different type of the disease than the one which has received much world attention in recent years (H5N1). Senasica will continue to provide vaccinations, even for “areas with no presence of the virus in an effort to prevent the spread of the disease.”

– Jake Simon

Sources: Global Post, Washington Post
Photo: HowStuffWorks

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Russia Institutes Public Smoking Ban

Russia Institutes Public Smoking Ban
Russian President Vladimir Putin signed a bill into law that has created Russia’s first public smoking ban. People will no longer be allowed to smoke in restaurants, trains or entranceways into public housing. Additionally, beaches, children’s playgrounds and other public places are now off-limits to smokers.

The measure had been a significant part of the government’s plan for bettering overall public health. Its effects include rolling prohibitions on where people can smoke, as well as new limits on marketing and selling tobacco products. All but one member of the State Duma voted in favor of the bill.

Lung cancers are the fourth-biggest cause of death in Russia, and more than 40 percent of Russians smoke cigarettes. The World Health Organization (WHO) conducted a study of smoking in Russia in 2011, and the results pointed out many of the deficiencies which this bill solves. For example, “the retail price of a pack of 20 of the cheapest brand of cigarettes in 2010 was 11 roubles.” This is the equivalent of 36 US cents or roughly one-third of the cost of a bottle of water in Moscow.

Russia’s new smoking laws on public smoking ban increase the minimum price allowed to be charged for a pack of cigarettes, hoping to reduce the amount people spend on tobacco while increasing the tax revenue for each pack sold.

– Jake Simon

Sources: BBC, World Life Expectancy, Numbeo

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5 Critical Factors In Rwanda’s Healthcare Success

5 Critical Factors In Rwanda’s Healthcare SuccessJust in the last ten years in Rwanda, deaths from HIV, TB, and malaria have dropped by 80 percent, annual child deaths have fallen by 63 percent, maternal mortality has dropped by 60 percent, and life expectancy has doubled. All at an average annual healthcare cost of $55 per person.

Normally, after horrific national traumas, like Rwanda’s genocide of almost a million people in 1994, countries fall into a cycle of poverty and economic stagnation. Poor health and disease cripple workers and then the national economy, leaving the country ineffective to break out of depression.

A recent article in BMJ, led by Dr. Paul Farmer, Chair of the Department of Global Health and Social Medicine at Harvard Medical School, examined data from the World Health Organization (WHO) and attempted to identify why Rwanda was able to make such dramatic progress when so many other nations have failed before them.

They identified 5 critical factors In Rwanda’s healthcare success:

1. The government formed a centralized plan for economic development, with one of the pillars being health care; knowing that, without improving health, poverty would persist. There were heavy research and reliance on facts and data to formulate their health metrics.

2. Aid allocation was controlled and monitored; the government insisted that all aid agencies meet transparency and accountability standards consistent with the national development plan.

3. A treatment plan addressing all the associated issues around AIDS was implemented:  tuberculosis, malnutrition, need for in-home care, community health workers, “psychosocial” support, primary and prenatal care.

4. Financial incentive was given to coordinate care; a performance-based financing system was set up to pay hospitals, clinics and community health workers to follow-up on patients and improve primary care.

5. Universal health insurance for all citizens, with particular attention to providing for the most vulnerable populations. The average, annual out-of-pocket health spending was cut in half, and households experiencing health care bills that force them into poverty were significantly reduced. (Half the funding came from international donors and a half from annual premiums of less than $2 per person.)

Access to healthcare for ALL citizens is a prerequisite for controlling diseases and thus allowing for economic growth to lift people, and nations, out of poverty. The medical advances in Rwanda have pushed their economic growth, the GDP per person has tripled, and millions have been lifted from poverty over the last decade. Rwanda offers a replicable model for the delivery of high-quality healthcare and effective oversight, and even with limited resources.

– Mary Purcell

Source: The Atlantic

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US Military Exercise to Aid Belize

US Military Exercise to Aid Belize
A collaboration between the U.S. military and Belize will extend supplies and human capital to the country in a program called New Horizons 2013. The exercise will show the military’s capacity for nation-building efforts in construction as well as health care, with supplies slated to arrive in Belize this spring.

The program will run for 90 days and will include collaboration between medical personnel from both countries in providing care for the citizens of Belize. The U.S. and Belize are also working together on several construction assignments, including improving local school buildings. The military will use this exercise to aid Belize for valuable training in completing a deployment “from start to finish,” coordinator Chris Donovan said. Donovan also stated that these exercises provide experience for the military that can be used in a future “real-world humanitarian need or crisis-type situation.”

U.S. Air Force Captain Richard Hallon said that one of the most vital parts of the exercise is the training that military personnel receive from transporting the necessary supplies needed for the project. This builds personnel experience in preparing, storing, and transporting equipment and materials properly, which requires planning and collaborating with parties outside of the military and from within the participating states.

The New Horizons program is not new, having originated in the 1980s, and has since operated in Central America, South America, and the Caribbean. This year, the military will work closely with the Belize Defence Force, who will receive, store, and guard the supplies until military personnel arrive in the spring to start the exercise. The U.S. is no stranger to the Belize Defence Force, having partnered with them often throughout the last 20 years on various emergency relief exercises and scenarios.

– Christina Kindlon

Source: U.S. Dept. of State

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The Sanitary Importance of Toilets

The Sanitary Importance of ToiletsHow is poverty fought? Well, there are many different approaches that are currently being tried and some may seem more self-explanatory than others. For example, there are micro-lending, education aid, anti-corruption efforts, and attempts to create jobs and industry. But what about sanitation? Specifically, what about the toilets?

Toilets, and the access to toilets and established sanitation standards, are actually a very, very important issue in much of the developing world. The World Health Organization (WHO) estimated in 2010 that 2.5 billion people worldwide didn’t have access to a toilet. The lack of toilets can lead to many serious sanitation problems; exposed fecal matter can lead to any number of a long list of diseases and can cause infection, lead to dysentery, and provided a breeding ground for many parasites.

More than reducing levels of infection and disease, however, the sanitary importance of toilets offers an increased sense of dignity. The people living without toilet access are not all living in rural areas. Many live in city slums and must go about their business without the luxury of privacy. The availability of toilets is even shown to increase the school attendance of teenage girls, who may not go to school during their menstrual cycle. The non-governmental organization Charity Water works to provide clean water and sanitation in the developing world. Increased access to toilets has been one of their goals for years. Check them out here!

– Kevin Sullivan

Source: Charity Water
Photo: The Guardian

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US AID to Detoxify Da Nang Airport

US AID to Detoxify Da Nang Airport
Earlier this week, the US Agency for International Development (USAID) announced that they will be initiating a program to detoxify Da Nang Airport of any remaining dioxin.

Da Nang Airport, located in the largest city in central Vietnam, has a long military history and was used as a US military airbase for a period of years during the Vietnam War. Dioxin is a highly toxic substance that was used in Agent Orange – used by the US military as a defoliant during the war. Da Nang was a storage and handling facility for Agent Orange, and the airport was previously identified as one of three dioxins “hot spots” throughout Vietnam.

Locals who live near the airport were tested by the Hatfield Consultants Company in 2006, and the tests confirmed that 24 of the 62 residents tested positive for dioxin contamination. According to the World Health Organization (WHO), dioxin contamination has been linked to numerous types of cancers, impairment of the nervous system and reproductive system, and diabetes.  A local villager, whose husband succumbed to cancer in 2008, said, “On days when it floods dark, contaminated water from lakes on the airport’s ground flows into my land that is used for vegetable cultivation.” The plants then die, she continued, although the stems are still used for food.

USAID has been collaborating with the Vietnamese government and several other agencies for the detoxification project, which will run through 2016. The company TerraTherm will use the In-Pile Thermal Desorption process to rid approximately 73,000 cubic meters of airport soil of dioxin. This process uses the long-term heating of soil in above-ground structures to rid the soil of contaminants. The technique has been used successfully on various other decontamination projects.

With well over 1 million passengers annually passing through Da Nang Airport, USAID’s efforts to eradicate dioxin will be beneficial for the expansion of the airport and especially for the health of the local inhabitants.

– Christina Kindlon

Source: Tuoi Tre News

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Oscar Nominated Film Documents Children’s Heart Surgery


Filmed in 2012, ‘Open Heart’ documents the journey of eight patients going through surgery at the Salam Center in Khartoum, Sudan. Salam is Africa’s only state-of-the-art, free-of-charge cardiac hospital offering children’s heart surgery and has been operating since 2007.

‘Open Heart’ follows Dr. Gino Strada, a surgeon at Salam and features Angelique Tuyishimere, the six-year-old daughter of a Rawandan farmer. Close to a third of the patients at Salam are under 14 making children’s heart surgery a common occurence at Salam.

Salam employs four cardiac surgeons  and is set up for 1,500 operations per year. However, due to funding issues, last year only 600 patients were operated on. Dr. Strada is forward about admitting the need in Africa is more than Salam can aid, but is still very happy with the progress that has been made and optimistic about the future.

Now, Davidson and the doctors – Rusingiza and Strada – will be attending the Oscars. If passport and visa issues are resolved, six-year-old Angelique and her dad will also be attending. Although he stands the chance of being honored at the Oscars, documentarian Kief Davidson still has not lost sight of the original problem being addressed – the lack of affordable healthcare in Africa, especially concerning the preventable diseases fought at Salam.

– Pete Grapentien

Source ABC News

The Link Between Volunteering and Happiness Levels in the Elderly

The Link Between Volunteering and Happiness Levels in the ElderlyFor many seniors, the act of volunteering at a local mission or community outreach center is simply a chance to give back to those less fortunate than themselves. However, based upon the results of a recent study, seniors might also want to consider the little known correlation between altruism, helping, volunteering, and happiness levels that result as an added bonus to their commitment to serve.
Researchers at Case Western Reserve University in Cleveland, Ohio conducted a longitudinal study in which they followed a group of 585 community living seniors over the course of three years. During the study, the research participants’ psychosocial well-being outcomes were measured in two waves; this included life satisfaction, positive effects, negative effects, and depressive symptoms. The results of the study – though expected – was nevertheless important in regards to quantifying the positive outcomes of certain behaviors in the elderly population. Subsequently, evidence emerged that overwhelming supported the link between seniors exhibiting higher traits of altruism, informal helping, and volunteering and happiness levels.
This research is great news for national and community service and can act as even more of an incentive for seniors to get involved in organizations such as The Borgen Project for the long term benefits of increased volunteering and happiness levels. Simply stated, by giving a little of their time and/or financial resources whenever possible, retired seniors can help win the war on global poverty.
– Brian Turner

Source: Journal of Aging and Health
Photo: New York State Senate

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US AIDS Efforts Have Surpassed Goals

US AIDS Efforts Have Surpassed GoalsOn the 10th anniversary of the American President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR), a new study released by a panel at the Institute of Medicine (IOM) shows that PEPFAR efforts have surpassed goals which were initially proposed to provide medical care for those who are HIV positive and suffer from AIDS. The PEPFAR program also includes prevention measures in communities affected by the disease.

Initiated in 2003 under President George W. Bush, PEPFAR’s initial goal was to provide medical care for 12 million people and to provide 6 million people with HIV antiretroviral treatments. Today, around 5 million people have received the medication through PEPFAR, and the program is providing care to over 15 million people – well surpassing the original goal. At least 4.5 million of those receiving support are children. The care of children was a high priority when the program was initiated, as many children have become orphans because of the AIDS epidemic. The report states that PEPFAR has “provided unprecedented support” for these children since it began.

A decade ago, PEPFAR began with $15 billion in funding from the U.S. government – the largest project in history aimed at tackling a single health issue. Today, funds dedicated to AIDS relief amount to over $37 billion, with an additional $7 billion donated to help eradicate tuberculosis and malaria.

The IOM report went on to praise the U.S. for its role in drastically scaling back the number of people worldwide affected by the disease. The Obama Administration has also vowed to continue support for AIDS relief, announcing plans for an “AIDS-free generation” by putting a heavy emphasis on prevention. The study also takes the stance that prevention is a crucial component to continue exceeding goals and that “long-term success in keeping disease at bay will depend on countries making a transition,” where the mindset of healthcare systems shifts from that of an aid recipient to a medical institution that cultivates proper treatment and prevention methods.

– Christina Kindlon

Source: All Africa

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Trust Needed to Spread Polio Vaccine

Polio Vaccine
Nine public health workers were recently killed by gunmen in Nigeria, according to The New York Times. The women were giving the polio vaccine to patients as part of a drive to eradicate the disease. The United Nations Children’s Fund and the World Health Organization both have a hand in funding and running the aid effort. No group has claimed to have committed the murders but local militant groups are suspected.

Polio has not been an epidemic in the developed world for quite a long time. The polio vaccine is easily found and administered in most areas of the world. Nigeria is one of the few countries in which polio continues to cause a real threat to the population. A large factor in this deadly situation is a high level of mistrust of the vaccine. Rumors about the CIA and Western governments using the vaccine to spread AIDS and sterilize women have both been spread.

It is surprisingly easy to believe that such things would be happening since such things have indeed been done before. Building trust on both personal and international levels is important to defeating the last holdouts of polio. The absence of the disease from the rest of the world can’t be the only proof that health workers can bring to their communities, there needs to be greater trust and less fear.

To combat the myths about the polio vaccine and the fear of receiving it, Bill Gates of  The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation has begun to address those issues head-on. Bill Gates recently gave a lecture outlining the importance of the vaccine’s availability and dispelling the popular myths about what it does.

The presence of a big name like Gates will go a long way in getting rid of these misconceptions that are putting people’s lives in danger. Watch Bill’s lecture here.

– Kevin Sullivan

Sources: The New York Times, BBC
Photo: Vaccine Truth