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Apr 2, 2015
Study: Zambia’s malaria success story masks basic health failures
A new study reveals that while Zambia has made great progress against malaria over the past decade or so it was losing ground on many other health needs like basic child immunizations and maternal health care.
Mar 27, 2015
Infant immune systems may strengthen with HBV exposure
A recent Duke-National University of Singapore (NUS) study suggests that exposing infants’ immune systems to Hepatitis B Virus Infection (HBV) increases the maturity of infants’ immune systems, potentially increasing the chances of infants surviving bacterial infections throughout early life.
Mar 27, 2015
Using Bar Codes to Track Vaccines
A pilot program employing GS1 Data Matrix codes yields “positive results.” Bar codes are being used to transform the vaccine supply chain in Tanzania. In 2011, the World Health Organization’s Vaccine Presentation and Packaging Advisory Group (VPPAG) created a bar code subgroup to develop a plan for bar coding vaccines to enable tracking throughout supply chains in developing countries
Mar 23, 2015
Three Simple Rules For Building Data Products That People Will Actually Use
Building data products is not easy. Many people are uncomfortable with numbers, and even more don’t really understand statistics. It’s very, very easy to overwhelm people with numbers, charts, and tables – and yet numbers are more important than ever.
Mar 20, 2015
Vaccination must be scaled up in Ebola-affected countries
A growing risk of outbreaks of measles, pertussis, and other vaccine-preventable diseases in countries affected by Ebola must be countered by urgent scaling up of routine immunization activities, according to the World Health Organization (WHO).
Mar 19, 2015
Reflections on the International Association of Immunization Managers Inaugural Conference
I had the great honour to speak at the Inaugural Conference for the International Association of Immunization Managers (IAIM) last week. As the Global Director for PATH’s Better Immunization Data (BID) Initiative, I presented our best practices in implementing information systems for immunization programs.
Mar 19, 2015
The Unfinished Health Agenda in Sub-Saharan Africa
In his testimony before the Senate Foreign Relations Subcommittee on Africa and Global Health Policy, Thomas J. Bollyky argues that continued U.S. and private sector leadership on the unfinished health agenda in Africa is as important now as it has been in the past and for the same reasons: a peaceful, inclusive economy presupposes healthier, more productive lives.
Mar 18, 2015
Share the risks of Ebola vaccine development
There are hundreds of infectious diseases out there that people could catch. More than 300 such conditions were discovered in the second half of the twentieth century alone. And how many of these diseases can scientists and clinicians protect against with a licenced vaccine? Fewer than 30.
Mar 18, 2015
How to Fight the Next Epidemic
The Ebola epidemic in West Africa has killed more than 10,000 people. If anything good can come from this continuing tragedy, it is that Ebola can awaken the world to a sobering fact: We are simply not prepared to deal with a global epidemic.
Mar 13, 2015
Can One-Shot Syringes Save The World?
Marc Koska has had a shot at saving the world; a single shot that has taken him 31 years.