Global Health Progress

Fragile health services infrastructures, lack of health product research and development and have been identified as the major causes of high burden of infectious tropical diseases in Africa and developing countries.

Most of the around 1 million people that succumb to malaria annually still have no access to effective testing and drugs, international medical non-governmental organization, Doctors without Borders (Medecins sans Frontieres MSF), said Tuesday.

A discussion of recently emerging issues, the latest information and recent achievements in tropical medicine and malaria research.

Significant progress towards reducing child and maternal mortality is being made but to meet the Millennium Development Goals 4,5,6, strategies aimed at reaching the world’s most inaccessible, marginalized and vulnerable populations will be required, health leaders said today.

The 59th Session of the Regional Committee for the Western Pacific held in Manila ended Friday on a high note with all 37 Member States, including the Philippines, passing and adopting key resolutions on health issues that collectively affect the region.

Uganda is leading a $3 million initiative that will scale up private sector access to artemisinin combination therapy (ACT) in malaria endemic countries in Africa.
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Only 16 percent of TB patients in Kenya are reported with a laboratory confirmed diagnosis. Majority are misdiagnosed as not having TB at all…Only an estimated 45% of infections are detected and classified as patients with active pulmonary TB by sputum microscopy, one of two most widely used screening tools. But it is now centuries old.

With $3 billion in new pledges, world leaders say they believe that an ambitious goal to stop deaths from malaria by 2015 is finally within reach.

250 new commitments unveiled, valued at $8 billion to improve 158 million lives. This afternoon, former President Bill Clinton delivered the closing remarks at the Clinton Global Initiative’s fourth Annual Meeting, highlighting new statistics on the widespread impact CGI’s Commitments to Action will make worldwide.

Watch webcasts of important CGI events like the opening plenary session and the working group sessions, taking place September 24-26 in New York City.