It is good to hear that global progress in both preventing and treating HIV emphasizes the benefits of sustaining investment in HIV/AIDS over the longer term. According to WHO, UNICEF and UNAIDS, increased access to HIV services resulted in a 15% reduction of new infections over the past decade and a 22& decline in AIDS-related deaths in the last five years. However, it is too early to satisfy with the progress we had been achieved that there are still many things to be done. The reports from WHO shows that more than half of the people who need antiretroviral therapy in low- and middle-income countries are still unable to access to it and even bigger problem is that many of them do not even know they have HIV. Another issue is that progress for children is too slow. According to Director of the UNICEF office in Geneva, there had been gains in treatment, care and support available to adults but they notice that progress for children is slower. Among many age groups regarding the HIV issues, children are the most important group we need to pay attentions because children are the group who will live the longest with HIV for rest of their lives and that will cost money for many developing countries. It is good news that there had been an improvement in both preventing and treating HIV in last five years. However, without solving issues with people living in low-income countries where people do not even know if they have HIV and an issue regarding children HIV, we cannot really make any further progress.
Friday, December 2, 2011
Unparalleled global progress in HIV response but sustained investment vital
http://www.who.int/mediacentre/news/releases/2011/hiv_20111130/en/index.html
Saturday, November 19, 2011
With an additional US $1 billion per year immunization could save ten million more lives in a decade
Global immunization experts had reported that ten million additional lives could be saved through child and maternal immunization at an average annual cost of US$ 1 billion, according to a new study by the World Health Organization (WHO) and UNICEF. According to Dr Lee, Director-General, Who, “Immunization is one of the best values for public health investment today: adequate resources and the right strategies lead to concrete results. We have achieved much progress already through immunization, but much more can and should be done.” By spending an average annual cost of US$ 1 billion, 70 million children who live in the world’s poorest countries will receive each year life-saving vaccines against the following diseases: tuberculosis, diphtheria, tetanus, measles, rubella, yellow fever, and Japanese encephalitis. The study shows that we can achieve a significant reduction in deaths due to vaccine-preventable diseases with a modest increase in funds, since 2.5 million children under five years old die every year from diseases that can be prevented with currently available or new vaccines.
As we see from the above, immunization is the most effective way to prevent people from infectious diseases that kill many people in developing countries. It is fact that in international health issue, preventing diseases is more cost effective way to save people than take an action after people have diseases. Since, it is the poorest countries that needs money for the immunizations, developed countries need to help these developing countries with aids for the immunizations. Helping these developing countries will also positively affect developed countries because in an interconnected global community like today, there is an increasing vulnerability to the spread of disease.
With an additional US $1 billion per year immunization could save ten million more lives in a decade
Global immunization experts had reported that ten million additional lives could be saved through child and maternal immunization at an average annual cost of US$ 1 billion, according to a new study by the World Health Organization (WHO) and UNICEF. According to Dr Lee, Director-General, Who, “Immunization is one of the best values for public health investment today: adequate resources and the right strategies lead to concrete results. We have achieved much progress already through immunization, but much more can and should be done.” By spending an average annual cost of US$ 1 billion, 70 million children who live in the world’s poorest countries will receive each year life-saving vaccines against the following diseases: tuberculosis, diphtheria, tetanus, measles, rubella, yellow fever, and Japanese encephalitis. The study shows that we can achieve a significant reduction in deaths due to vaccine-preventable diseases with a modest increase in funds, since 2.5 million children under five years old die every year from diseases that can be prevented with currently available or new vaccines.
As we see from the above, immunization is the most effective way to prevent people from infectious diseases that kill many people in developing countries. It is fact that in international health issue, preventing diseases is more cost effective way to save people than take an action after people have diseases. Since, it is the poorest countries that needs money for the immunizations, developed countries need to help these developing countries with aids for the immunizations. Helping these developing countries will also positively affect developed countries because in an interconnected global community like today, there is an increasing vulnerability to the spread of disease.
Thursday, November 10, 2011
New WHO report: deaths from noncommunicable diseases on the rise, with developing world hit hardest
Along with many infectious diseases that cause a problem in developing countries, noncommunicable diseases are one of the leading killers today and are on the increase. In 2008, 36.1 million people died from conditions such as heart diseases, strokes, chronic lung diseases, cancer and diabetes. Unlike people’s belief that noncommunicable diseases are developed countries disease, nearly 80% of these deaths occurred in low-and middle income countries. Even bigger problem is that unlike in developing countries, about 30% of people dying from noncommunicable diseases in low income countries are aged less than 60 years and are in their most productive period of life. However, millions of deaths can be prevented by stronger implementation of measures that exist today. These include policies that promote government – wide action against noncommunicable diseases: strong anti-tobacco control and promotion healthier diets, physical activity, and reducing harmful use of alcohol; along with improving people’s access to essential health care. As we see from the above, all these actions are possible without aids that even developing countries with not enough money can do it. For example, the country with high smoker rates, they can try to decrease these rates with raising tax on tobacco, banning tobacco advertising and legislation to curb smoking in public places. They can also try to prevent the noncommunicable diseases with reducing level of salt in foods, stopping the inappropriate marketing of unhealthy food and non-alcoholic beverages to children, and controls on harmful alcohol use. People had been care for the infectious diseases in developing countries too much that ignored the fact that noncommunicable is as big problem as infectious diseases. It is important for these developing countries to put effort to reduce the problem with noncommunicable diseases along with infectious diseases.
Friday, November 4, 2011
Opportunities for Africa's newborns
Sub-Saharan Africa remains the most dangerous region in the world for a baby to be born. 1.16 million babies die each year in the first 28 days of life. Even more surprising news is that half a million African babies die on the day they are born. Half of Africa’s 1.16 million newborn deaths occur in just five countries – Nigeria, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Ethiopia, United Republic of Tanzania and Uganda. Among many countries in Africa, Liberia has the world’s highest newborn mortality rate at 66 deaths per 1,000 births compared to less than 2 deaths per 1,000 in Japan. From this data we can conclude that newborn deaths occur in developing countries. However, according to Dr Francisco Songnore, director of the partnership, we can decrease the newborn mortality rate even in developing countries with the existing programs. For example two-thirds of women in Africa attend antenatal care yet only 10% receive preventive treatment for malaria and a mere 1% of mothers with HIV receive the recommended treatment to prevent mother to child transmission of HIV/ AIDS. The report found that two-thirds of newborn deaths in Sub-Saharan Africa – up to 800,000 babies a year – could be saved if 90% of women and babies received feasible, low-cost health intervention.
It is important to count newborn deaths and make them count, instead of accepting these deaths as inevitable. As Dr Songnore pointed out, we can save many infants without spending lots of money but with just preventive treatment for malaria and women with HIV receiving the recommended treatment to prevent transmission of HIV. This is one of the reason why education is important in every international health issues that people cannot use what they can use without knowing what they are needed. We also need to care more about women who are pregnant and try to make better environment for those women, which will also decrease the infant mortality rates.
Friday, October 28, 2011
Aggressive TB control can yield big economic gains, says new study
http://www.who.int/mediacentre/news/releases/2007/pr64/en/index.html
A new World Bank research reported 22 countries with the world’s highest numbers of TB cases could earn significantly more than they spend on TB diagnosis and treatment if they signed onto a global plan to sharply reduce the number of TB-related deaths. The study says that the economic cost of TB-related deaths (including HIV co-infection) in Sub-Saharan Africa from 2006 to 2015 is US$ 519 billion when there is no effective TB treatment as prescribed by WHO's Stop TB Strategy. However, if these same countries in Sub-Saharan Africa were to offer such treatment to TB patients, in keeping with a global plan to halve the prevalence and death rates by 2015 relative to 1990 figures, countries could see their economic benefits exceed their costs by about nine times over. The Global Plan to Stop TB, devised by the Stop TB Partnership, would cost US$ 2 billion a year for TB diagnosis and treatment until 2015 in Africa, and US$ 5-6 billion worldwide. We have to spend on TB diagnosis even it does not benefit us economically, but if it can even help us economically; there are no reason to hesitate on spending money on TB diagnosis. All international health issues not only affect the one who has the disease but also affect families, communities, and countries. By solving a problem with disease that affects many people in developing countries, it is helping everyone in the communities. However, it is fact that these developing countries do not have enough funds to spend on TB diagnosis and treatment; therefore it is important many international health organizations and developed country to help these developing countries economically.
Friday, October 21, 2011
2.5 billion live with poor sanitation facilities
Sanitation is one of the most important factor to people’s health internationally. Without access to good sanitation, people will suffer from many diseases even we have a good medical treatment and an aids to developing countries. Over 2.5 billion people are suffering from a lack of access to improved sanitation and nearly 1.2 billion practice open defecation. It is good news that the number of people who do not have an access to an improved drinking water source has fallen below one billion for the first time since data were first complied in 1990. It shows that 87% of the world population has access to improved drinking water sources. However, it means that there are still 13% of the world populations who do not get access to improved drinking water sources. Poor sanitation affects people’s health in many ways, but among many factors, poor sanitation is a biggest threat to children’s survival. One of the biggest killers of infants under the age of five is a diarrheal disease, which is caused by a contaminated environment around children. To save children under five years old, we have to improve the environment of children living. Without improving the sanitation, we cannot change the situation even we provide these people aids and medical care. In order to solve the problem with most effective way, we have to know what causes the problem. As mentioned in every international health problems, it is much better to prevent the problem than solving the problem after problem became a problem.
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