December 13, 2013
A roundup of news on drug resistance and other topics in global health.
The Lancet Commission on Investing in Health, of which CDDEP serves as Secretariat, will be hosting a launch event for its report Global Health 2035: A World Converging within a Generation in San Francisco on Tuesday, December 17. Lawrence H. Summers, president emeritus of Harvard University and chair of the commission, will provide an overview of the report s findings. The event is now full, but you can click here to be added to the waitlist.
The Million Death Study (MDS), which surveyed more than one million Indian households to document approximately one million deaths from 1997-2013, helps assess the true health burdens in the context of developing countries like India and has already led to policy changes. [Nature News]
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) on Wednesday announced guidelines to help phase out the use of antimicrobials in food animals. However, many U.S. legislators and policymakers believe the guidance doesn t go far enough, with Rep. Louise M. Slaughter (D-NY) calling it “an inadequate response to the overuse of antibiotics on the farm with no mechanism for enforcement and no metric for success.” [FDA, House.gov]
In partnership with the Against Malaria Foundation, Emmy-winning production company Psyop has created a game to raise awareness about malaria. Nightmare: Malaria tracks the spread of the disease as it travels through the bloodstream of a young girl, teaching players about the effects of malaria and providing facts about prevention. [Wired]
A new study published in ACS Chemical Biology has identified a way to target human cells to make them less vulnerable to invading bacteria. This could help to interfere with the attacks of drug-resistant bacteria on the human body, offering a new possibility for addressing rising levels of superbugs . [Nanowerk]
A new project run by the WHO Malaria Program seeks to reduce deaths in remote rural areas through a community-based training initiative. Through the program, which is run in five African countries, local volunteers are selected and trained to identify and treat malaria, pneumonia and diarrhea, which combined account for 80% of child deaths in these areas. [WHO]
The landscape of global health funding could be changing with a new approach called results-based financing, in which major donors pay providers or recipients of health financing after agreed-upon goals have been met. [Science Codex]
Cholera can be prevented for five years through a new oral vaccine, according to results from a trial carried out in India. [SciDevNet]
Better hygiene practices are necessary to prevent bacteria from spreading via doctors smartphones, new research in Dutch medical magazine Medisch Contact shows. [DutchNews]
Biophysicist and incoming NASA synthetic biology fellow Josiah Zayner believes crowdsourcing could help spur progress in antibiotic development. [The Verge, Indie Gogo]
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