Copyright 2009 Medical News Today Latest Aid / Disasters News From Medical News Today. http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/sections/aid-disasters/ admin@medicalnewstoday.com (MNT Admin) editors@medicalnewstoday.com (MNT Editors) en-us Mon, 23 Nov 2009 01:00:00 PST http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/171823.php http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/171823.php A Lancet World Report examines how a small group of village volunteers trained in basic health care are helping to improve the health of Ugandan children. Pediatrics / Children's Health Fri, 20 Nov 2009 05:00:00 PST http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/171650.php http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/171650.php The U.N. World Summit on Food Security ended Wednesday in Rome with Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) head Jacques Diouf calling for the global community to shift the fight against global hunger from "words to action," Agence France-Press reports. Water - Air Quality / Agriculture Thu, 19 Nov 2009 06:00:00 PST http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/171508.php http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/171508.php The U.S. is interested in potentially using more locally-produced food aid rather than U.S. grown food as a way to expand investment in agricultural development in the developing world, said Alonzo Fulgham, acting head USAID, "on the sidelines of a World Food Summit in Rome" on Tuesday, Reuters reports. Aid / Disasters Thu, 19 Nov 2009 06:00:00 PST http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/171514.php http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/171514.php Lancet Infectious Diseases Examines Hold-Ups In Implementation Of Sleeping Sickness Therapy Tropical Diseases Thu, 19 Nov 2009 02:00:00 PST http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/171433.php http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/171433.php At a time when funds to feed the hungry are hard to come by, the United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) today urged ordinary people to put food on the table of the world's hungry by supporting the "Billion for a Billion" online campaign. "The challenge of feeding a billion people may seem huge, but now you can fill the cup of a hungry child with a simple click of a mouse," said Josette Sheeran, Executive Director of WFP. Nutrition / Diet Thu, 19 Nov 2009 01:00:00 PST http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/171425.php http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/171425.php Many people are cutting back on gift-buying, parties and travel this holiday season, but support for charitable giving remains strong as people believe it is more important this year to give to charities because of the economy, according to a new national survey for the American Red Cross. Aid / Disasters Wed, 18 Nov 2009 06:00:00 PST http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/171343.php http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/171343.php Jacques Diouf, head of the U.N. Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), "is not satisfied" that the World Summit on Food Security's final declaration excludes "exact targets to reduce hunger," the BBC reports. Diouf "said he was not in the room when negotiators finalised the statement. But he said he regretted the absence of a deadline for the total eradication of world hunger," according to the BBC. Aid / Disasters Wed, 18 Nov 2009 06:00:00 PST http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/171346.php http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/171346.php The Senate Foreign Relations Committee is set to "mark up the Kerry-Lugar foreign aid reform bill Tuesday," Foreign Policy's blog, "The Cable" reports. Aid / Disasters Wed, 18 Nov 2009 01:00:00 PST http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/171243.php http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/171243.php As delegates at the World Summit on Food Security discuss urgent measures to counter the forward march of hunger, we must mobilise all world citizens - not just global leaders -to feed the more than one billion hungry people around the world. Today, almost one in every six people on earth wakes up not knowing whether they will have enough to eat. Aid / Disasters Tue, 17 Nov 2009 04:00:00 PST http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/171161.php http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/171161.php African leaders concluded the Second Africa Water Week on Friday, with an appeal for "concrete actions to meet the water and sanitation needs in the continent," Xinhua reports. Water - Air Quality / Agriculture Tue, 17 Nov 2009 03:00:00 PST http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/171163.php http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/171163.php Health System Funding Can Address 'Silent Killers' "For too long, global health funding has gone to diseases like AIDS with the most vocal lobby groups and not to the diseases with the greatest need," Philip Stevens, a senior fellow at International Policy Network, writes in a Business Daily opinion piece. HIV / AIDS Mon, 16 Nov 2009 02:00:00 PST http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/171012.php http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/171012.php PBS' Online NewsHour explores the recent nomination of Rajiv Shah as USAID administrator and the outlook for the agency. "While Shah still needs to be confirmed by the Senate, there has been high anticipation for a successor to be named. Aid / Disasters Mon, 16 Nov 2009 01:00:00 PST http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/171003.php http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/171003.php Robert Wood Johnson Foundation: The Secrets of Massachusetts' Success - "By the summer of 2008, less than two years after Massachusetts' health reform law became effective, only 2.6 percent of state residents were uninsured - the lowest proportion ever recorded for any state. Medicare / Medicaid / SCHIP Mon, 16 Nov 2009 01:00:00 PST http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/171006.php http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/171006.php Next week's World Food Summit in Rome "is not likely to make more than token headway in the fight against hunger, with leaders merely pledging to boost aid to poor countries but setting no targets or deadlines for action," Reuters/New York Times reports. Nutrition / Diet Mon, 16 Nov 2009 00:00:00 PST http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/171013.php http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/171013.php Kaiser Family Foundation Looks At Views On The U.S. Role In Global Health As a follow-up to a survey conducted in May 2009, this poll examines Americans' attitudes toward U.S. global health investments and priorities. Aid / Disasters Fri, 13 Nov 2009 05:00:00 PST http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/170865.php http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/170865.php "A declaration to be made at next week's world food summit in Rome will not mention a target to eradicate hunger by 2025 nor a commitment to spend $44 billion a year in agricultural aid, according to a final draft," Reuters reports (Aloisi, 11/12). Those items "were the main points of conflict in behind-the-scenes talks before the summit. Aid / Disasters Fri, 13 Nov 2009 04:00:00 PST http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/170872.php http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/170872.php Bloomberg Examines Aid Shortfall In Philippines; Clinton Commits Additional $5.2M During Visit Bloomberg examines the U.N.'s continued appeal for aid for the people of the Philippines "after three tropical cyclones left almost 1,000 people dead" and an estimated 1.7 million people displaced or living in flooded areas. Aid / Disasters Fri, 13 Nov 2009 03:00:00 PST http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/170871.php http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/170871.php The Washington Independent examines the development community's response to the nomination of Rajiv Shah for USAID administrator. According to the publication, "some USAID program managers and contractors ... aren't happy. In a series of [anonymous] emails ... Aid / Disasters Fri, 13 Nov 2009 01:00:00 PST http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/170803.php http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/170803.php UNICEF's Deputy Executive Director, Hilde F. Johnson, urged for more action to be taken in Southern Sudan to stop severe food shortages in parts of the country escalating into a worse crisis. "Now is the time to act. Everybody needs to do their best to stop this humanitarian emergency, which is already affecting 1.5 million people across Southern Sudan," said Hilde Johnson, UNICEF's Deputy Executive Director, after a visit to the region. Aid / Disasters Fri, 13 Nov 2009 01:00:00 PST http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/170830.php http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/170830.php A new report from UNICEF suggests that malnutrition has stunted nearly 200 million children under 5 living in poor countries and that future generations are in jeopardy unless urgent efforts are made to tackle undernutrition. The UNICEF report Tracking Progress on Child and Maternal Nutrition was released on Wednesday and says that undernutrition is linked to nearly a third of all deaths in the under-5s. Aid / Disasters Thu, 12 Nov 2009 05:00:00 PST http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/170730.php http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/170730.php IRIN Examines Plumpy'Nut's Role In RUTF Market IRIN examines how a new ready-to-use therapeutic food (RUTF) from Tabatchnick Fine Foods could challenge the "12-year dominance" of Plumpy'nut. "The patents for Plumpy'nut … are owned by Nutriset, a French family-run business, and the Institute of Research for Development, a French public research institute. Nutrition / Diet Thu, 12 Nov 2009 04:00:00 PST http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/170724.php http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/170724.php President Barack Obama on Tuesday announced the nomination of Rajiv Shah - who is currently a senior official at the Department of Agriculture focusing on food security - to lead USAID, the Boston Globe reports (Smith, 11/11). Aid / Disasters Thu, 12 Nov 2009 03:00:00 PST http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/170712.php http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/170712.php Somali children and women received a high-impact life-saving health package during the Child health Days Campaign in the Afgoye Corridor, a 30 kilometer stretch of road west of Mogadishu and the world's most densely populated settlement for the displaced. At least 46,000 children under-five and 37,000 women of child-bearing age benefited during the five-day campaign. Aid / Disasters Thu, 12 Nov 2009 02:00:00 PST http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/170686.php http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/170686.php Novo Nordisk cannounced that it would extend the Changing Diabetes® in Children programme to include Bangladesh. This is the sixth country to get diabetes care, including free insulin, for children with type 1 diabetes under this programme. In Bangladesh, the five year project is a joint initiative between Novo Nordisk and the Diabetic Association of Bangladesh (DAB), supported by the World Diabetes Foundation (WDF). Diabetes Wed, 11 Nov 2009 05:00:00 PST http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/170582.php http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/170582.php Six universities have agreed to an effort to "encourage companies to give poor countries better access to drugs and medical products stemming from discoveries made on their campuses," Bloomberg reports (Lauerman, 11/9). For the effort - Boston University, Brown, Harvard, Oregon Health & Science University, the University of Pennsylvania and Yale - issued a Pharma Industry / Biotech Industry