Experts pledge to eradicate "neglected" diseases

LONDON, 3 February 2012 (IRIN Global) - Ten little-known but debilitating diseases will be high on the agenda of the world's pharmaceutical chiefs, health ministers and donor governments after they pledged their support for a World Health Organization (WHO) initiative to wipe out guinea worm, river blindness, trachoma, leprosy, bilharzia and intestinal worms, among other "neglected" diseases. full report

HEALTH: Malaria mortality "underestimated"

 LONDON, 3 February 2012 (IRIN Global) - A new attempt to quantify malaria deaths over the past 30 years suggests the death toll, especially among adults, has been greatly underestimated. The figures also show the fragility of the gains made in fighting the disease. full report

HEALTH: The true burden of cancer

 LONDON, 26 January 2012 (IRIN Global) - Breast cancer continues to be misunderstood, under-diagnosed and fatal, particularly in developing countries, say researchers, despite more than one million official annual diagnoses and almost half a million recorded deaths annually. full report

Analysis: Coping with climate change

 JOHANNESBURG, 25 January 2012 (IRIN Global) - In the past five years, “resilience” (the ability to absorb shocks and recover) has become quite a buzzword in the aid community. Discussions on adapting to a changing climate are increasingly peppered with the “need to build resilience” of people, infrastructure and governments in the face of shocks such as soaring temperatures, rising sea levels, severe storms and flooding. full report

MIGRATION: Asylum-seekers in Australia suspend hunger strike

 BANGKOK, 25 January 2012 (IRIN Global) - About 150 asylum-seekers in Australia have suspended their hunger strike after accusing the government of reneging on a promise for community detention and bridging visas for long-term detainees who posed no risk, activists confirm. full report

Analysis: Agriculture in a changing environment

 JOHANNESBURG, 24 January 2012 (IRIN Global) - Agriculture has been seen either as a cause or victim of global warming at the UN climate change talks over the past few years - something that has thwarted efforts to attract the investment it needs, say scientists. full report

HEALTH: Learning from Saudi experience on risks of mass gatherings

 LONDON, 23 January 2012 (IRIN Global) - The world’s great mass gatherings - from religious pilgrimages like the annual Haj to Saudi Arabia and India’s huge Kumbh Mela, to major sporting events like the Olympic Games and the Football World Cup - present important health challenges to organizers and participants alike. full report

DISPLACEMENT: Governments falling short on R2P, says new study

 GENEVA, 20 January 2012 (IRIN Global) - The governments of 15 countries most affected by internal displacement have failed to adequately protect internally displaced persons (IDPs), and in many cases have themselves been perpetrators of violence or abuses that led to the displacements, according to a Brookings-London School of Economics study. full report

HEALTH: Unsafe abortions "on the rise"

 LONDON, 19 January 2012 (IRIN Global) - A new study by the New York Guttmacher Institute states that the number of women having induced abortions has stayed stubbornly high since the last such report in 2003, and that the marked reduction in the eight years before that has not been maintained. full report

HEALTH: How "totally drug-resistant" is a misnomer - for now

 BANGKOK, 17 January 2012 (IRIN Global) - The "totally drug-resistant" tuberculosis (TDR-TB) reportedly emerging in India is actually an advanced stage of drug-resistant TB, which researchers called totally drug-resistant for lack of a better term. full report

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