Also In Global Health News: Kenya Donor Fund Management; Malaria In Afghanistan; Pneumococcal Vaccine In Rwanda; Female Condom

Main Category: Infectious Diseases / Bacteria / Viruses
Also Included In: Tropical Diseases;  Women's Health / Gynecology;  Sexual Health / STDs
Article Date: 09 Jul 2009 - 6:00 PDT

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Kenya Seeking Agents To Manage Health Donor Funds

Kenya's health ministry is looking to appoint agents to manage funds from the CDC - "a key donor to the health sector" - and other donors, Business Daily/allAfrica.com reports. The move by the government comes after "revelations that some key health institutions" are facing "severe cutbacks by donors who have held back funding following allegations of corruption," according to Business Daily/allAfrica.com (Kimani, 7/8).

Malaria Cases In Afghanistan Expected To Increase This Year

There is an anticipated increase in the number of malaria cases in Afghanistan this year, Najibullah Safi, director of the National Malaria and Leishmaniasis Control Programme, said, IRIN reports. He said the rise is expected because of "ample rainfall." Floods between January and June affected more than 21,000 households and caused extensive damage in about 15 of the country's 34 provinces, according to reports by the U.N. Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (7/7).

Pneumococcal Vaccine Available Throughout Rwanda, Official Says

The pneumococcal vaccine has reached all health centers in Rwanda, two months after the Ministry of Health first made it available at a hospital in the Eastern Province, said Fidele Ngabo, the manager of the Expanded Programme of Immunisation, New Times/allAfrica.com reports. Ngabo said the vaccine is being administered to all children under the age of one (Nambi, 7/7).

The Female Company's Female Condoms Examined

Fortune Small Business/CNNMoney.com examines The Female Health Company's efforts to create and sell a female condom. When the current CEO joined the company in 1985, the "very notion of a female condom had a rough road ahead," Fortune Small Business/CNNMoney.com writes, adding, "To sell one would mean building a global market for it." After overcoming various obstacles, 2008 was a "great" year for the company. While this year "looks good as well," Female Health has "only made tiny inroads into the market. In 2007, more than 11 billion male condoms were delivered around the world, in contrast to 27 million female ones," writes Fortune Small Business/CNNMoney.com (Grant, 7/7).

This information was reprinted from globalhealth.kff.org with kind permission from the Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation. You can view the entire Kaiser Daily Global Health Policy Report, search the archives and sign up for email delivery at globalhealth.kff.org.

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