Health e News
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Aeras, a non-profit organisation, advancing the critical search for a TB vaccine, has a produced a four-part series on TB and the search for a vaccine. Watch Chapters 1 – 3, including a focus on the trial site in Worcester, SouthAfrica, here. EXPOSED: The Race Against Tuberculosis Watch the four-part series of short films on the deadly global TB epidemic and the race to develop new tools to prevent it. Website: http://exposed.aeras.org/
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Exposure to anti-smoking messages help motivate smokers to quit, a recent survey found. The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s (CDC) Global Adult Tobacco Survey tracked attitudes in 17 countries across Europe, Asia and South America. Overall, exposure to anti-smoking messages in print media or on television, radio or billboards “significantly increased the odds that current smokers intend to quit” in 14 of the 17 countries included in the survey, the CDC said in a news release. These findings support previous research showing antismoking campaigns encourage smokers to quit. In concert with other proven tobacco control strategies tobacco education ad campaigns are needed to counter the millions of dollars spent every hour on marketing cigarettes around the world. The CDC notes that its own campaign, “Tips from Former Smokers” – in which people with serious health issues linked to smoking tell their stories – is one such outreach effort.
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MEDIA RELEASE: —The Executive Director of the Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS) Michel Sidibé today announced the appointment of South African scientist, Professor Salim S. Abdool Karim as Chair of the newly established UNAIDS Scientific Expert Panel. Mr Sidibe made the announcement in Durban, South Africa during his opening address at a UNAIDS Scientific Symposium on the implications of the “Mississippi baby” for public health programmes on mother-to-child transmission of HIV. The panel will advise UNAIDS on major new scientific discoveries, as well as gaps and strategic needs in AIDS research and on how UNAIDS can adjust its policies to address these needs and shape the AIDS response. “In the thirty years since HIV was identified, the progress made by science has been extraordinary and its benefits have been felt far beyond those directly affected by HIV,” said UNAIDS Executive Director, Michel Sidibé. “To reach the end of
OPINION: In development, there are lots of statistics. Sometimes, the digits start to cross in your head, but every once in a while a number jumps out at you because it expresses a complicated truth in simple terms. Here’s one that jumped out at me: 20 percent. That’s how much more likely it is that a child will survive when its family’s budget is controlled by the mother. By Melinda Gates Women know what’s best for their families. They invest in health care, nutritious food, and education. The tragedy is not just that most women don’t control household budgets; it’s that many don’t control the circumstances of their own lives. If women everywhere had the power to determine their futures, the world would be forever transformed. That’s why I’m proud to attend the Women Deliver conference this week in Kuala Lumpur. I’ll be joined by more than 3,000 people who
Health-e News Service is very proud to announce that our television producer, Fathima Simjee was named the Young Health Journalist of the Year last night, and our former radio reporter, Ayanda Mkhwanazi, was named Health Radio Reporter of the Year at the Discovery Health Journalism awards. “Fathima’s commentary is carefully thought out and easily digestible. She exploits the television medium to its fullest potential and delivers a succinct, hard-hitting piece of excellent journalism,” according to the judges. Fatz’s winning story focused on tuberculosis in children, and her award is sponsored by loveLife. Ayanda’s winning story was on cervical cancer, told through Mam Emily Monchonjana of Orange Farm who encourages young women to go for pap smears to detect this cancer. Describing the story as “a gripping piece of journalism”, the judges said: “As a piece of radio journalism, this story is evocative, well-researched and brings us the voices of women
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Dr Neliswa Gogela, a physician from the University of Cape Town, has become the first recipient of a R2-million grant that will enable her to study liver transplants at the world-renowned Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH) in Boston. Announcing the inaugural Discovery Foundation MGH Fellowship Award aimed at bolstering academic medicine yesterday, Discovery Health CEO Dr Jonathan Broomberg, said there was an urgent need to “boost our diminishing pool of medical academics and develop global experts in the academic healthcare field.” The average age of medical specialists in South Africa is 55, said Broomberg, which indicated an urgent need to develop a new generation. The 36-year-old Gogela specialises in hepatology (liver disease) and is working toward her PhD. There is a severe shortage of hepatologists trained in liver transplantation in South Africa, as the burden of liver disease and the complexity of available treatments have increased significantly. Gogela will spend a
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