September 13, 2013
A roundup of news on drug resistance and other topics in global health.
Researchers report in The Lancet Infectious Diseases two new quick tests, along with the results of their application in Cambodia, that enable quick diagnosis of artemisinin resistance and help pinpoint artemisinin-resistant malaria parasites and map their spread. [NPR, CIDRAP]
Three new tests to quickly and accurately detect extensively drug-resistant tuberculosis, a form of TB that is resistant to almost all anti-TB drugs, have been reported. (The study describing these tests is yet to be published in a peer-reviewed journal.) [MedPage Today]
Research published in the journal Nature shows that a potential HIV/AIDS vaccine tested in monkeys infected with simian immunodeficiency virus (SIV), a primate form of the HIV, has successfully treated 50% of the cases. [OHSU News]
Responding to the World Economic Forum s Global Risks 2013 Report that listed antibiotic resistance as one of the most significant threats to human health, PwC writes about resilience practices and a basic framework to tackle the threat of drug resistance. [PwC]
To address the growing challenge of drug resistance, the UK recently published its five-year antimicrobial resistance strategy for 2013-2018 that outlines the necessary steps and the cross-governmental and cross-sectoral approaches needed to combat antimicrobial resistance. [Gov.UK, RUSI]
In a TEDGlobal 2013 talk, Sonia Shah, a science historian and investigative journalist, discusses the three major challenges in eradicating malaria. [TED Blog]
According to a new report released yesterday by the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, TB and Malaria, the agency will require $87 billion USD in 2014-2016 to provide services to all the vulnerable populations in eligible countries and to avoid millions of unnecessary deaths and much higher investments in the future.
An article in EurActiv writes that the austerity measures implemented on public health expenditures in many European countries have resulted in a decline in access to healthcare for vulnerable groups and a rise in xenophobia. [EurActiv]
A new study on 154,000 adults from 17 countries across four continents published in The Lancet Respiratory Medicine finds a wide variation in lung function that might be genetically determined, but more likely most relate to the socio-economic, nutritional and environmental exposures of people in the different regions. [Science Daily]
An article in BMJ Blogs explores the reasons and harms associated with overdiagnosis and overtreatment of diseases. [BMJ Blogs]
Did you know that today is the World Sepsis Day? Read more about this life threatening infection.
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Image via Novartis AG/Flickr
