Cuba has a lung cancer vaccine - and America wants itFrom Wired: "How did Cuba end up with a cutting edge immuno-oncology drug? Though the country is justly famous for cigars, rum, and baseball, it also has some of the best and most inventive biotech and medical research in the world."
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Image: Flickr: Md saad andalib
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Administration of oral polio vaccine. Image: Flickr/RIBI Image Library
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Pakistan and Israel hit by polio setbackDespite extensive worldwide efforts to eradicate polio, new cases have recently been reported in northern Pakistan, where Taliban militants have banned vaccination workers. The virus has also been discovered in the sewage system in Israel, although no cases have yet been found.
In both countries, there has been controversy and mistrust about the administration of the vaccine - though Israel immediately began a mass inoculation program once the virus was discovered. Israel and Pakistan are not alone in fighting the disease. This year, 181 cases have been reported so far, primarily in Afghanistan, Nigeria, and Pakistan, where the disease is endemic. Will the virus continue to spread? To find out more, see this related article in National Geographic: |
In France, Seeking Sexual Surrogates for the Disabled
“Sex helps the disabled to reincarnate themselves and recover their human aspect.” |
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In 2012, the movie "The Sessions" sensitively portrayed the quest of a disabled man to lose his virginity with a sexual surrogate.
In France, the issue of sexual surrogacy recently came under debate after a report issued earlier this year condemned the practice as the “unethical use of the human body for commercial purposes.” Although currently illegal in France, sexual surrogacy is legal in other countries such as Switzerland and Germany - and some advocates are now pushing to change the law in France. |
The High Toll of Car Accidents: A Global Health Problem
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 Image: Flickr/Joelk75
Via Humanosphere:
You may think of car accidents as rare or random events - but a recent study in PLOS Medicine found that 1.2 million people worldwide lose their lives in car accidents, and 20 million survivors suffer disabilities. By 2030, the authors project that car accidents will be the fifth leading cause of death around the world. As the interactive infographic "Road Kills Map" from the Pulitzer Center on Crisis Reporting graphically shows (left), this poses a significant public health issue. |
Health News in China
Despite tainted baby formula, Chinese women still shun breastfeedingChina is one of the largest global consumers of baby formula - and has one of the world's lowest rates of breastfeeding for infants younger than six months.
But recently, a leading formula supplier to China from New Zealand had to recall 1000 metric tons of formula, due to botulism-causing bacteria, leaving many parents with difficult feeding choices. Will this recent crisis shift cultural attitudes toward breastfeeding? |
Image: Flickr/John & Rochelle
“There is no cultural experience of breastfeeding...Thanks to decades of advertising, there’s a belief that “formula is better for your baby." Not just as good -- but better.” |
China "Catastrophe" Hits 114 Million as Diabetes SpreadsFrom Bloomberg News:
"The most comprehensive nationwide survey for diabetes ever conducted in China shows 11.6 percent of adults, or 114 million, has the disease. The finding, published recently in the Journal of the American Medical Association, adds 22 million diabetics, or the population of Australia, to a 2007 estimate and means almost one in three diabetes sufferers globally is in China." Read full story here. |
Image: Flickr/eggrole
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Global trendsetter? Uruguay moves to legalize marijuana |