It is one of the most remarkable success stories of the pandemic: the unproven technology that delivered the Moderna and Pfizer/BioNTech vaccines in record time, helping to turn the tide on COVID-19. The vaccines are based on mRNA, the molecule that instructs our cells to make specific proteins.
Diverting the scarce healthcare resources of developing countries to the rapidly expanding COVID-19 pandemic could see a 45 percent jump in child and maternal mortality before the end of the year, an international health consortium warned Thursday (23 April).Unless poorer nations in Africa, Asia and Latin America get a rapid infusion of drugs, medical oxygen, protective equipment and on-the-ground assistance, the global South is likely see 1.2 million children and 57,000 mothers die over the
With malaria and tuberculosis (TB) screening out front and sacrifices to jungle gods out back, health worker Htan Pi and her shaman mother are an unlikely double-act in their isolated Myanmar village.Their family have been the local healers for generations in the northern community of Satpalaw Shaung near the Indian border. This is Naga territory, a tribal region of former headhunters with myriad languages and customs still largely based on animist beliefs.But trainee Htan Pi, 24, is
When it comes to fighting infectious diseases, progress cannot be gauged by the availability of resources; the most important metric is the number of lives saved. By this measure, the world is on the verge of losing its battle with malaria.After years of impressive gains, global efforts to combat the mosquito-borne illness have stalled.
Malaria, a dangerous disease transmitted by infected mosquitoes has recently taken a terrifying turn in the form of “super malaria”.“Super malaria” first emerged in Cambodia in 2008 as medical researchers identified a strain of malaria that is resistant to antimalarial drugs, artemisimin.
