The Nigerian military reports that Boko Haram militants in the north-east of the country are “in disarray” and leaving the country in large numbers as a result of its offensive against them.
Leaving the country in large numbers, hmm, I wonder where they will be going next?
On behalf of President Obama and the American people, I congratulate the people of Cameroon and offer my best wishes as you celebrate your national day on May 20.
The United States and Cameroon have enjoyed a positive relationship since we first established diplomatic relations in 1960. Our relationship has blossomed over the years as we have worked to achieve our common goal of peace and stability in central Africa. More recently, we have joined together to combat wildlife trafficking and improve maritime security in the Gulf of Guinea.
The United States values its increasing economic partnership with Cameroon, which exceeded $557 million in bilateral trade in 2012. We look forward to building on this momentum.
The United States welcomes Cameroon’s progress in expanding its democratic institutions and looks toward the upcoming municipal and legislative elections as an opportunity to further consolidate democratic gains through a free and fair electoral process.
I offer you my best wishes on the occasion of this 53rd anniversary of Cameroon’s independence, and look forward to continued cooperation to promote peace, democracy, and economic growth in Cameroon and the region.
Friday Night Lights
Has your Friday night football game ever ended because someone peed on the field? Probably not,…
This is a time to educate the public about promising HIV prevention research, including vaginal and rectal microbicides and pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP). Related events are being held nationwide.
For more info, click here.
The Guardian’s Sarah Boseley looks at the partnership between the charity Save the Children and drug firm GlaxoSmithKline aimed at improving children’s health in Africa:
“(D)oes the link-up of GSK and Save wash away the sins of Big Pharma? It will do GSK’s reputation no harm at all, but it won’t stop the criticism. It was muted yesterday, because NGOs do not want to throw mud at each other, but there were plenty who did not feel like throwing confetti. If GSK really wants to do good, says Médecins Sans Frontières, it should pledge truly low prices for all its HIV drugs in the developing world.”
What I find most interesting here is that such a partnership would hardly raise an eyebrow in the U.S. these days, with all the celebratory statements about public-private partnership. Why is this controversial in Britain but not the United States?
Toxic waste sites “fly under the radar” in terms of public health awareness and action. Little research has been done on the health impacts of chemical pollutants in developing countries.
Toxic waste sites in 31 countries are damaging the brains of nearly 800,000 children and impairing the health of millions of people in the developing world, two new studies have found.
Read more at: www.ipsnews.net
SciDev has pointed out this fascinating tool, the IR mapper for tracking drug resistance in malaria parasites worldwide (and yes, Nkongsamba does make the map).
An online mapping system to track insecticide resistance in malaria-causing mosquitoes around the world has been launched. The free interactive website identifies places in more than 50 malaria-endemic countries where mosquitoes have become resistant to the insecticides used in bed nets and indoor sprays.
The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation’s biggest, and arguably most successful, project in global health has announced a new deal with vaccine manufacturers aimed at combatting one of the biggest killers of women in the developing world, cervical cancer.
Seth BerkleyGAVI“This is a disease that is killing women in the prime of their life,” said Seth Berkley, CEO of the Global Alliance for Vaccines and Immunization (GAVI), an initiative launched by the Gates Foundation in 2000 which has in the last dozen or so years prevented millions of deaths in children by expanding access to new vaccines in poor countries.
Most cervical cancer is caused by a virus, human papillomoa virus or HPV, and the drug industry has developed a number of HPV vaccines. But these new vaccines are expensive (more than $100 per dose) and have been out-of-reach for most poor countries. Women in rich countries have access to cervical cancer screening (Pap tests) and curative treatment, but women in poor countries generally do not.
“As a result, we see an estimated 275,000 women dying from cervical cancer in these countries every year,” Berkley said. Girls and women in poor countries are hit by a ‘triple whammy,’ he said, of higher disease incidence, lack of diagnosis and lack of treatment. Without access to a preventive vaccine, Berkley said, that death toll will only increase.
Today, at the World Economic Forum on Africa meeting in Cape Town, South Africa, GAVI announced that two drug companies, Merck and GlaxoSmithKline, have agreed to provide their HPV vaccines to poor countries for $4.50 and $4.60, respectively, per dose. Continue reading
Is it okay to make money off poor people? Not only is it okay, says an entrepreneur who runs such a business, but it’s better than just giving them money. So you can read Paul Collier’s book The Bottom Billion or just digest this glib and simplistic article to arrive at the same conclusion.
Source: FASTCOEXIST
