Archives: Morning Breakouts

"With almost 17,000 cases reported in the latest nationwide cholera outbreak, the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) must rethink its preparedness strategy to curb future outbreaks, health experts told IRIN," the news service reports. "According to Kossi Ayigan of the WHO, the health cluster coordinator, the emergency response phase of the current cholera outbreak is drawing to a close and should be followed by firm action on proper sanitation and provision of safe drinking water by the government and its development partners," according to IRIN.

In the GOP presidential primary fray, Jon Huntsman challenged former New Hampshire Gov. John Sununu for backing Mitt Romney because Romney, according to Huntsman, is not his equal in conservative credentials. Meanwhile, Romney pushes back on a Mass. program which allowed illegal immigrants to have access to safety net health care services. Lastly, NPR profiles Ron Paul.

Speaking at a World Food Programme (WFP) awards ceremony in Washington, D.C., on Monday, Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton said the U.S. "is increasing food aid to drought-hit and strife-torn Horn of Africa nations where millions of people are at risk of starvation and malnutrition," Reuters reports (Allen, 10/24).

The campaign, which is based in Colorado, will highlight the law's benefits.

In his BBC News column, medical correspondent Fergus Walsh examines maternal health, fertility, myths surrounding contraception, and gender equality in Zambia, which "has one of the world's fastest growing populations." With the nation's population expected to triple to 39 million people by 2050 and reach 100 million by 2100, "[t]he potential problem for Zambia is that the population increase is so rapid that the government may struggle to keep pace. Those under 16 need education, healthcare and homes but they are not yet contributing to the economy. Zambia can barely feed 13 million people so how will it cope in the future?" Walsh writes (10/24).

In an interview with Reuters, Bill Gates, co-chair of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, said Monday "he would tell G20 leaders at a summit in France next month ... it was critical that rich donors continue to fund health and agriculture projects in developing countries despite budget cuts in the United States and Europe," the news agency reports. "He said there was ample evidence that agricultural and health programs in developing countries made a big difference in the livelihoods of the poor and boosted economic stability," Reuters writes.

Pharmaceutical firm Eli Lilly and Co. is expected to announce on Tuesday it "is pledging $30 million to help fight multidrug-resistant tuberculosis [MDR-TB] in developing countries, a disease that kills more than 150,000 people a year," according to the Indianapolis Star. The funds, part of the company's eight-year-old, $165 million Lilly MDR-TB Partnership, will help to "provide training for nurses, doctors and community volunteers; conduct studies on how to combat the disease; and provide access to medicines," the newspaper notes. The campaign will focus on China, India, Russia and South Africa, "the four countries with the highest burden of MDR-TB, Lilly said," the Indianapolis Star writes (10/25).

"India has not had a case of polio in nine months, raising hopes the country is on the verge of defeating the disease, health officials said Monday," the Associated Press reports. "India remains one of only four countries in the world where polio is still endemic, and the nine months that it has been without a case is the longest since eradication efforts were launched nearly two decades ago," the AP writes, adding, "A country is declared polio free when no cases of the disease are reported for three years, according to the World Health Organization."