Irresponsible pharmaceutical companies fuel the proliferation of superbugs through supply chain pollution, the European Public Health Alliance (EPHA) reports. The advocacy group uncovered lapses such as dirty production and inadequate waste disposal in the production of antimicrobials in China and I...ndia, which supplies most of the antimicrobials consumed in Europe. In a briefing detailing the pollution, the EPHA urges major purchasers of antibiotics to blacklist irresponsible pharmaceutical companies, demand that the industry clean up its supply chain, introduce greater transparency on the origin of antibiotics, and review and revise procurement policies from an ethics perspective.
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UNAIDS report on the global AIDS epidemic shows that 2020 targets will not be met because of deeply unequal success; COVID-19 risks blowing HIV progress way off course. Missed targets have resulted in 3.5 million more HIV infections and 820 000 more AIDS-related deaths since 2015 than if the world w...as on track to meet the 2020 targets. In addition, the response could be set back further, by 10 years or more, if the COVID-19 pandemic results in severe disruptions to HIV services.
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Almost 30 countries vulnerable to a new Ebola-style Epidemic, jeopardising the future of millions of Children. The report ranks the world’s poorest countries on the state of their public health systems, finding that 28 have weaker defences in place than Liberia where, alongside Sierra Leone and Gu...inea, the current Ebola crisis has already claimed 9,000 lives, and provoked an extraordinary international response to help contain it.
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INEE pocket gu ide to inclusive education.
This guide is aimed at anyone working to provide, manage or support education services in emergencies and complements the INEE Minimum Standards.
The Pocket Guide to Inclusive Education outlines useful principles for an inclusive education approach in... emergencies and provides advice for planning, implementing and monitoring. The guide also looks at the issue of resistance to inclusion, and highlights ways in which organisations can support their emergency staff to develop more inclusive education responses. Available in Arabic, English, Indonesia, French, Spanish
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How safe is our hospital sanitation? An example from a public hospital
BUKO Pharma-Kampagne has investigated the causes and consequences of antibiotic resistance in India, South Africa, Tanzania and Germany. Together with our partners we collected data and did interviews with numerous stakeholders. The outcome is presented in a brochure that is now available in English...
Resistant bacteria are spreading worldwide. In collaboration with partners in India, Tanzania, South Africa and Germany, we have investigated the causes and consequences of this spread.2 This Pharma-Brief Special presents the results. It examines the risks for humans, animals and the environment. It focuses on local problems and approaches, international interactions and the re-sponsibility of doctors, farmers and consumers.
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Inerim Guidance. These guidelines have been developed in recognition that infection with Zika virus may present a risk to blood safety, and in consideration of the declaration on 1 February 2016 by the WHO Director-General of a Public Health Emergency of International Concern with regard to clusters... of microcephaly and other neurological disorders, potentially associated with Zika virus. Currently there is limited knowledge of Zika virus biology and lack of definitive evidence of a link between infection and potential complications
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Cochrane Database Syst Rev. 2016 Jul 1; (6): 1–61 -Published online 2016 July 1
Hindawi Publishing Corporation
Tuberculosis Research and Treatment
Volume 2015, Article ID 752709, 7 pages
Funded by CBM: www.cbm.org
Chinese Medicine, (2016) 11:37
Medicinal plants are globally valuable sources of herbal products, and they are disappearing at a high speed. This article reviews global trends, developments and prospects for the strategies and methodologies concerning the conservation and sustainable use of me...dicinal plant resources to provide a reliable reference for the conservation and sustainable use of medicinal plants. We emphasized that both conservation strategies (e.g. in situ and ex situ conservation and cultivation practices) and resource management (e.g. good agricultural practices and sustainable use solutions) should be adequately taken into account for the sustainable use of medicinal plant resources. We recommend that biotechnical approaches (e.g. tissue culture, micropropagation, synthetic seed technology, and molecular marker-based approaches) should be applied to improve yield and modify the potency of medicinal plants.
https://doi.org/10.1186/s13020-016-0108-7
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South Africa reported it fist case of COVID-19 on 5 March 2020. While the first cases were imported, local transmission has led to a rapid increase in the number of cases. As of 21 April 2020, more than 3,400 cases and 58 deaths had been confirmed. On 15 March, President Cyril Ramaphosa declared a n...ational state of disaster, and the government has since taken several measures to curb the spread of the virus, including closing borders, implementing strict social distancing measures and a 35-day nation-wide lockdown. These measures, along with the global economic shock caused by the pandemic, are expected to generate rising needs requiring an immediate and urgent response. Although South Africa is considered an upper-middle-income country, the amount of disparities—social, economic, and gender—make the country particularly vulnerable during this emergency.
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