The News Review:
- Tackling malnutrition in Malawi
- India needs political will to reduce maternal mortality: WHO
- Health Highlights: April 3, 2008
Tackling malnutrition in Malawi
Reuters AlertNet – Apr 3, 2008
0: inline article box end –> Walk into any child health clinic in Nsanje, you are likely to hear mothers discussing the benefits of the. You will hear them exchange stories of what they heard about the programme, either from other mothers whose children are now well and healthy, from community health workers or indeed from their own chiefs. While these mothers chat, health workers weigh and measure the children, ensuring that every child is putting on weight and growing at the rate he or she should be. These children are also checked for signs of other illnesses should they need to be treated at the district hospital… During our stay in Malawi, we have visited health centres and are able to work alongside our Malawian counterparts. This gives us greater practical experience on what to do when we return home. ”Maternal and child health coordinator for Mzimba, Zefton Disi, has been involved in using this approach in his district. “We are extremely proud that this conference has taken place in Malawi. At first, we had no idea how far ahead Malawi was in implementing this approach, but now I see how much we have already done. It has been great to share experiences, and be an important part of the learning process for other countries that are planning to do this,” Disi says. He also states that this international training would bring renewed enthusiasm to pressing ahead to ensure that CTC was fully integrated into the Malawian Health Care Package.
India needs political will to reduce maternal mortality: WHO
RxPG NEWS – Apr 3, 2008
9 percent of GDP, while a large percentage of the budget is spent on defence, un-targeted subsidies and non-vital infrastructure. No political party has maternal health on its priority agenda. ‘In 1992, India launched the Child Survival and Safe Motherhood programme – followed by a five-year programme – called Reproductive and Child Health-I in 1997. ‘Although EmOC was one of the strategies, it was not implemented due to lack of focus and limited management capacity. Even today the government does not systematically monitor how many EmOC facilities are fully functional,’ the WHO magazine said. ‘In spite of rhetoric from the National Rural Health Mission, changes on the ground to improve maternal health care are slow and lack focus. ‘In the 1960s, India created a cadre of two-year trained rural midwives called ‘auxiliary nurse midwives’ – to provide maternal and child health services.
Health Highlights: April 3, 2008
Washington Post – Apr 3, 2008
correction {margin-top:8px;padding-top:10px;margin-bottom:8px;border-bottom:1px solid #CCCCCC;padding-bottom:10px;font-family:arial,sans-serif;font-size:11px;color:#333333;}. correction strong {color:#CC0000;text-transform:uppercase;}Health Highlights: April 3, 2008Thursday, April 3, 2008; 12:00 AMHere are some of the latest health and medical news developments, compiled by editors ofHealthDay:Two Million Children Were Living With HIV in 2007In 2007, more than 2 million children worldwide were living with HIV (the virus that causes AIDS), about 290,000 children under age 15 died of AIDS, and 12. 1 million children in sub-Saharan Africa lost one or both parents to AIDS, says a joint study released Thursday by the World Health Organization, UNICEF and UNAIDS. “Today’s children and young people have never known a world free of AIDS,” said UNICEF executive director Ann Veneman, who added that children “must be at the heart of the global AIDS agenda,”Agence France-Pressereported. The authors of the “Children and AIDS” study said children listed four major areas that need to be addressed to combat the epidemic: prevention of HIV transmission from mothers to children; prevention of infection among adolescents and young people; providing pediatric treatment; and protecting and supporting children affected by AIDS. While there are significant challenges, progress is being made in some areas, the study said. For example, 21 countries are now on track to reach 80 percent coverage to prevent mother-to-child HIV transmission by 2010, compared to only 11 countries in 2005,AFPreported… The authors of the “Children and AIDS” study said children listed four major areas that need to be addressed to combat the epidemic: prevention of HIV transmission from mothers to children; prevention of infection among adolescents and young people; providing pediatric treatment; and protecting and supporting children affected by AIDS. While there are significant challenges, progress is being made in some areas, the study said. For example, 21 countries are now on track to reach 80 percent coverage to prevent mother-to-child HIV transmission by 2010, compared to only 11 countries in 2005,AFPreported. From 2005 to 2006, the number of HIV-positive children in low- and middle-income nations receiving retroviral drugs climbed from 75,000 to 127,000 — a 70 percent increase. —–No Health Benefit From Drinking Eight Glasses of Water a Day: StudyA new study pours cold water on the popular belief that drinking eight glasses of water a day provides a range of health benefits ranging from improving skin tone to keeping organs healthy and preventing weight gain. Researchers at the University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia reviewed published clinical studies and found no evidence that average, healthy people need to drink that much water,United Press Internationalreported. The review authors did find evidence that increased water intake improves kidney function, but there was no indication of any sort of clinical benefit.
