News Snap Shots
Tanzanian Bank Launches $1 Million Campaign to Fight Malaria
Standard Chartered Bank Tanzania on Thursday announced it was launching a $1 million (Sh 1.3 billion) campaign to distribute mosquito nets across the country, The Citizen reports (The Citizen, 4/17). The plan for community agents to go door-to-door handing out 66,000 nets and educate locals about the disease during community gatherings will kick off before Malaria Day on March 25 (Kiishweko, The Citizen, 4/17).
Mobile Technology Begins to Provide Answers to Health Needs in Developing Countries
The Economist on Thursday examined the growing use of cell phones in developing countries to: connect populations to information about nearby clinics offering HIV/AIDS services and medication reminders via text messages; provide doctors with a way to set up electronic health records during house visits in rural communities; track the spread of infectious diseases; and link villagers equipped with medical supplies to fully trained medical professionals. Nathan Wolfe, head of the Global Viral Forecasting Initiative said: "If the internet is humanity's planetary nervous system, we are now building our planetary immune system (The Economist, 4/16).
The Demand for Female Condoms in Developing Countries Exceeds Supply
AP/USA Today on Thursday explored the hurdles the new female condom, which received FDA approval in March, has yet to overcome (AP/USA Today, 4/16). Despite a growing interest in the female condom among thousands of women in developing countries, Bidia Deperthes, the Population Fund's HIV technical advisor for condoms said: "Accessibility is still minimal. There's a huge demand, and we're not meeting it" (Crary, AP/USA Today, 4/16).
Prices to Fall for Generic AIDS Drugs in Developing Countries
The Clinton Foundation HIV/AIDS Initiative and the international drug-purchasing consortium Unitaid on Friday announced they had worked out a deal to decrease the cost of generic AIDS medicines in developing countries, Reuters reports (Reuters, 4/17). The agreement brings 41 drugs down an average of 16 percent compared to 2008 (Hirschler, Reuters, 4/17).
Niger to Build 100 New Health Clinics
The Niger state government on Thursday announced its plans under the Millennium Development Goal (MDG) to construct 100 new clinics scattered throughout all 24 local state governments, reports Daily Trust/AllAfrica.com (4/16). Director General of Niger state MGD Alhaji Hassan Nuhu said the N1-billion(~$1.9 million) project will be put towards the "purchase 500 baby incubators, a hundred thousand treated mosquitoes nets and to train five hundred nurses on how to use the incubators we are about to acquire for effective service delivery" as well as other hospital equipment (Ebije, Daily Trust/AllAfrica.com, 4/16).
This is part of the Morning Briefing, a summary of health policy coverage from major news organizations. Sign up for an email subscription.