November 02, 2012
A roundup of news on drug resistance and other topics in global health.
New independent research published in The Lancet finds that the Affordable Medicines Facility-malaria (AMFm), a groundbreaking global subsidy for malaria treatment, was able to substantially reduce the cost of effective medications over a short period of time. A linked Comment co-written by CDDEP director Ramanan Laxminarayan warns of threats to the program s continuation. [CDDEP, BBC]
Debates surrounding AMFm s future are also covered in The Washington Post, BBC News, and The Guardian s global health blog.
CDDEP researcher Nikolay Braykov attended the inaugural IDWeek conference, where he presented recent work on drug resistance trends and antimicrobial stewardship. Read his post on a session exploring whether pay-for-performance incentives have helped hospitals reduce infection rates. [CDDEP]
Widespread use of outdated anti-malaria drugs due to the unavailability of artemisinin-combination therapies (ACTs) continues to cost hundreds of thousands of lives each year in Nigeria. [Voice of America]
An article in Business Day explores strategies to decrease the amount of counterfeit malaria drugs in Nigeria, including some that utilize mobile phone networks. [Business Day]
Researchers at the Sanger Institute find that faecal transplant of a cocktail of six bacteria, including three previously unidentified species, can treat Clostridium difficile infections in mice. [BBC]
Research presented at the American College of Gastroenterology s 77th Annual Scientific Meeting suggests a shift in the way Clostridium difficile-associated diarrhea (CDAD) is acquired. [Science Codex]
According to research published in the journal Angewandte Chemie, scientists have been able to increase the potency of a compound that make antibiotics more effective in treating Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) infections. [Science Blog]
At the Challenges in Malaria Research Conference held in Switzerland, experts discuss the future of malaria research and control. [PLOS Blogs]
Newly published research in the journal Ecology Letters challenges the existing ideas on optimal temperature for malaria transmission and predicts a different pattern of malaria s spread with rising temperatures. [New Scientist]
Two U.N. agencies, the World Meteorological Organization and the World Health Organization, have published a document titled Atlas of Health and Climate that maps health risks linked to climate change and extreme weather conditions. [Huff Post]
At the Malaria 2012: Saving Lives in the Asia-Pacific conference in Sydney, experts warn that the spread of drug-resistant malaria could be catastrophic to public health. [AFP, Radio Australia]
In a new study, scientists develop a technique to detect malaria infections in blood by using cheap magnets and pocket lasers. [Physics World]
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