Vaccines: 2018 immunization coverage estimates

WHO

New data from WHO and UNICEF reveals that 20 million children worldwide – more than 1 in 10 – missed out on life-saving vaccines such as measles, diphtheria and tetanus in 2018. Most of these children, over 40 per cent, live in 16 countries that are fragile or affected by conflict. These latest estimates of … Continued

First Maternal Azithromycin Meeting in the Gambia

LSHTM MARCH Centre Gambia HNN Admin

This article was originally published on the LSHTM MARCH Centre webpage here. The MAR meeting was organized and chaired by Dr Anna Roca, PregnAnZI-2 Principal Investigator, and included other investigators from the MRC Unit The Gambia at LSHTM, the University of Maryland Medical School, University of Alabama, Research Triangle Institute International, the University of Melbourne, … Continued

AMR: Design Tomorrow’s Solutions for Antimicrobial Stewardship

Johns Hopkins University Bloomberg School of Public Health HNN Admin

This article originally appeared on the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health website here. Innovate4AMR invites student teams from around the world to design innovative solutions for antimicrobial stewardship in resource-limited, healthcare settings. The global online competition seeks to engage student teams to propose strategies to tackle the underuse, overuse and misuse of antibiotics, … Continued

AMR: The awful toll of superbugs in India’s hospitals

SciDev.Net India HNN Admin

This article was originally published on SciDev.Net here. By: Ranjit Devraj The vigil for multidrug-resistant bugs is tight at the Holy Family Hospital, a charitable institution in the Indian capital known for its dedication to neonatal care. “We cannot afford to have newborns falling prey to difficult-to-treat bugs,” says Sumbul Warsi, medical director of the … Continued

With Help From UNICEF and Partners, Chad Eliminates MNT

UNICEF Chad HNN Admin

Wonderful news for newborns and mothers in Chad, and everyone who cares about them: Maternal and neonatal tetanus (MNT) has been declared eliminated in Chad. On behalf of the World Health Organization (WHO), Dr. Jean-Bosco Ndihokubwayo, WHO Representative in Chad, presented the official certificate of merit to Chad’s Minister of Public Health, Mahamet Aziz Saleh, … Continued

Portable kit to treat babies with jaundice goes on trial in Peru

The Guardian Peru HNN Admin

Health workers in a remote province high in the Peruvian Andes are trialling a revolutionary method to treat babies with jaundice – with nothing more than a colour-coded ruler, blood reader and carrycots. Their goal is to screen, diagnose and treat jaundice in 12,000 newborns over the next two years in a country where 90% … Continued

Kenya’s first human milk bank finally ready to save babies’ lives

Daily Nation Kenya, South Africa, Brazil HNN Admin

Had Alice Onyango given birth at another time, things would have been different. She would have had to express milk from her aching engorged breasts – the milk that her preterm baby had no energy to suckle – and pour it down the drain. But the mother of three gave birth last week at Pumwani … Continued

Most Pregnancies Last 9 Months. Why Is the Deadliness of Childbirth Still Taking Us by Surprise?

Global Citizen Ethiopia, Haiti, Philippines, Liberia HNN Admin

Vaccines help to dramatically reduce maternal and neonatal deaths. Article by Anuradha Gupta, Deputy CEO of Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance Measles, cholera, and diphtheria can kill quickly and without any warning. Yet with childbirth we get nine months’ notice, and it still kills more people every year than these three diseases combined. It’s not just … Continued

Pneumonia: how the world’s biggest killer of children became a neglected disease

Telegraph UK Ethiopia, Nepal HNN Admin

When two-year old Sienna Wilson suddenly developed a fever in the middle of the night the first thing her parents, Kate and David, suspected was malaria. When the doctor arrived in the morning he agreed. He began treating her accordingly. Hours later, unconscious and in a critical condition, Sienna was airlifted to a private hospital … Continued

WHO publishes new estimates on congenital syphilis

World Health Organization HNN Admin

Global decrease but cases remain high, causing 200 000 stillbirths and newborn deaths every year 27 February 2019: New estimates published today show that there were more than half a million (around 661,000) total cases of congenital syphilis in 2016, resulting in over 200,000 stillbirths and neonatal deaths. Syphilis is one of the most common … Continued