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World population projected to reach 9.6 billion by 2050 – UN report

The current world population of 7.2 billion is projected to increase by 1 million over the next 12 years and reach 9.6 billion by 2050, according to a United Nations report launched today, which points out that growth will be mainly in developing countries, with more than half in Africa. The report, World Population Prospects: the 2012 Revision, notes that the population of developed regions will remain largely unchanged at around 1.3 billion from now until 2050. In contrast, the 49 least developed countries are projected to double in size from around 900 million people in 2013 to 1.8 billion in 2050.

Patient Solidarity Day - 30 October 2013

On 30 October 2013, patients in countries across Africa will come together to mark the first ever regional Patient Solidarity Day. They will call on all Ministers of Health and all healthcare stakeholders to “Improve lives through patient-centred healthcare.”

#PSD2013

China develops world's first vaccine for enterovirus

The world's first vaccine against a strain of enterovirus has now been developed by Chinese researchers. The enterovirus that can cause hand, foot and mouth disease, especially in small children can also lead to deadly infections of the brain and spinal cord membranes.

AmeriCares Honors Merck with Power of Partnership Award

AmeriCares has presented its annual Power of Partnership Award to Merck & Co. Inc. in recognition of the company's outstanding commitment to helping disaster survivors and improving health in the developing world.

Research-based pharmaceutical industry launches ‘Do You Mind?’ campaign

On 20 May 2013, the International Federation of Pharmaceutical Manufacturers and Associations (IFPMA) launched the ‘Do You Mind?’ campaign to focus attention and to prompt action on MNDs. The campaign launch takes place at the start of the 66 th World Health Assembly, where health ministers meet to consider a global mental health action plan.

WHO statistics show narrowing health gap between countries with best and worst health status

The world has made dramatic progress in improving health in the poorest countries and narrowing the gaps between countries with the best and worst health status in the past two decades, according to the World Health Statistics 2013. The WHO annual statistics report highlights how efforts to meet the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) have reduced health gaps between the most-advantaged and least-advantaged countries.

GlaxoSmithKline, Save The Children Form Partnership To Save Children’s Lives

“GlaxoSmithKline [GSK] is giving Save the Children $23 million and entering into a five-year partnership with the charity to try to save the lives of one million children,” the Associated Press/Bloomberg Businessweek reports. GSK “said the partnership would set a new standard for how companies and charities could work together,” according to BBC News.

Drugmakers, health groups bring poor girls vaccine

Two multinational drugmakers are teaming up with top global health groups to protect millions of girls in the world's poorest countries from deadly cervical cancer. Starting with pilot programs in eight Asian and African nations, the ambitious project ultimately is intended to inoculate more than 30 million girls in more than 40 countries by 2020. Given that most women killed by cervical cancer live in developing countries, the project could have a huge impact.

Sanofi launches large-scale production of artemisinin for malaria

On April 11, the pharmaceutical company Sanofi will launch the large-scale production of a partially synthetic version of artemisinin, a chemical critical to making today's front-line antimalaria drug, based on Keasling's discovery. The drug is the first triumph of the nascent field of synthetic biology and will be, Keasling hopes, a lifesaver for the hundreds of millions of people in developing countries who each year contract malaria and more than 650,000, most of them children, who die of the disease.

Japanese pharma companies to help medicine research in developing countries

Five Japan-based pharmaceutical companies are forming a public-private partnership with the Japanese government to help developing countries fight infectious diseases. Called the Global Health Innovative Technology (GHIT), the fund will be composed of Takeda, Astellas, Daiichi-Sankyo, Eisai and Shionogi plus the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and the Japanese government to develop medicine, vaccines and diagnostics for these countries.

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