Global Health Briefs - December 2014

November / December 2014 | Volume 13, Issue 6

More TB cases than expected, WHO says

Improved data collection reveals about a half million more tuberculosis cases exist than previously estimated, according to the WHO's annual global TB report. About 1.5 million people died of TB last year and 9 million became newly infected, WHO says. People with HIV accounted for nearly a quarter of the deaths and 1.1 million of the new infections.

• Access the Global tuberculosis report 2014 from the World Health Organization (WHO).

NIH, Gates expand global collaboration

The NIH and Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation have announced they are expanding their collaboration to improve health in developing countries, for instance on vaccines against viral diseases, new tuberculosis drugs and ways to improve maternal and infant nutrition.

• Access the full October 8, 2014 announcement from NIH Director Dr. Francis S. Collins, New phase of cooperation between NIH and the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation.

WHO sees deaths rising with climate shift

Climate change will cause about 250,000 deaths globally each year from 2030-2050, via heat exposure in the elderly, diarrhea, malaria, childhood under-nutrition and other impacts, according to a new WHO risk assessment study.

• Access the full report, Quantitative risk assessment of the effects of climate change on selected causes of death, 2030s and 2050s, from the World Health Organization (WHO).

Africa doubles scientific output

African scientists more than doubled their output of research papers during 2003-2012, with most focusing on the health sciences and agriculture, according to an analysis by the World Bank and publisher Elsevier. However, Africans produced only 1 percent of total global research, the report said.

• Access the full September 30, 2014 article, Improving the quality and quantity of scientific research in Africa, from the World Bank.

Study details African research capacity

The volume of research funding for poverty-related and neglected infectious diseases has grown but sub-Saharan African countries are still heavily dependent on external support. A study commissioned by the European and Developing Countries Clinical Trials Partnership provides a landscape analysis of research capacity.

• Access information about the current state of health research on poverty-related diseases in sub-Saharan Africa from the European and Developing Countries Clinical Trials Partnership (EDCTP).

Scientists reveal four new cancer hazards

Researchers have added four substances to the list of cancer-causing metals, pesticides, drugs and natural and synthetic chemicals found in the environment, bringing the total to 243, a U.S. toxicology report showed.

• Access the 13th report on carcinogens from the National Toxicology Program (NTP) at the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences (NIEHS).

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