health
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2014 a year of progress, challenges for PAHO
The Pan American Health Organisation (PAHO) says 2014 was marked by progress as well as significant challenges for public health in the Americas, including the Caribbean. In its end-of-year report, PAHO said the region's countries advanced toward goals, including universal health coverage, expanded access to vaccination, and ensuring that fewer babies are born with HIV. PAHO said the region also…
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Health officials investigating two suspected Chikungunya deaths
KINGSTOWN, St. Vincent, Monday December 29, 2014, CMC – Health officials are investigating the deaths of two people to determine whether they were as a consequence of the mosquito-borne illness Chikungunya, which causes fever and severe joint pain, muscle pain, headache, nausea, fatigue and rash. Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Health, Wellness and the Environment, Luis de Shong, said the two…
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Haiti – Health : $2M partnership, USAID – Zanmi Lasante
Sunday, U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) Administrator Rajiv Shah visited the Mirebalais Hospital and announced USAID is finalizing a $2 million partnership with the Partners in Health (PIH) local affiliate, Zanmi Lasante. USAID and PIH will collaborate on a three-year program, to be implemented by Zanmi Lasante along the Cerca la Source/Savanette border, to provide and reinforce integrated services…
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Faster HIV Testing Process Coming To Nevis Soon
NIA CHARLESTOWN NEVIS (December 02, 2014) – Persons unaware of their HIV status, will soon have the opportunity to test at select health care providers on Nevis for same day results. The service to be introduced shortly, is a new initiative planned by the Ministry of Health on Nevis. The disclosure came from Medical Officer of Health/HIV Clinical Coordinator…
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Caribbean Public Health Agency aims to reduce child obesity by 2025
San Juan, (EFE).- The Caribbean Public Health Agency, or CARPHA, published a Plan of Action for Promoting Healthy Weights: 2014 – 2019, part of a push to reduce obesity among children and adolescents by 2025. CARPHA has an integrated strategy to address nutrition-related diseases in Caribbean countries, where the proportion of overweight or obese people is in the range of 28 percent to 35…
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Ebola vaccine from Glaxo passes early safety test
(Reuters) – An experimental Ebola vaccine made by GlaxoSmithKline caused no serious side effects and produced an immune response in all 20 healthy volunteers who received it in an early-stage clinical trial, scientists reported on Wednesday in the New England Journal of Medicine. The trial, which began on Sept. 2 and will monitor the volunteers for 48 weeks, is primarily…
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Chikungunya vaccine successful in clinical trial
VIENNA, Austria I November 23, 2014 I The Austrian biotech company Themis Bioscience GmbH in collaboration with the Institut Pasteur (Paris, France) have developed a prophylactic vaccine against chikungunya.The vaccine appears to be safe, and produced an immune response that researchers suspect would protect people against infection. The Vienna-based biotech company Themis Bioscience GmbH (‘Themis’) has received final results of…
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New strain of Chikungunya in Brazil could spur North American outbreak
BAHIA, Brazil, Wednesday November 12, 2014 (AMG) — The Chikungunya outbreak which continues to affect thousands of Caribbean residents since it first appeared in St. Martin last year has been relatively self-limiting in the United States, due to the fact that the current strain only spreads through the Aedes egypti mosquito vector, which is uncommon on the US Eastern seaboard.…
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CACRICOM, UNFPA framework aims to reduce adolescent pregnancy in region
ADOLESCENT pregnancy in the Caribbean could decline by 20 per cent between 2015 and 2019 if an initiative by the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) and the Caribbean Community (CARICOM) succeeds. Last year, UNFPA and Caricom unveiled a strategic framework aimed at reducing the number of unwanted pregnancies in countries of the English and Dutch-speaking Caribbean. Dr Babatunde Osotimehin, executive…
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Drugs and tourism combine to raise HIV risk in Caribbean
New research shows how drugs in the Dominican Republican’s touristy areas present barriers to preventing HIV. The Caribbean has the second highest global HIV prevalence in the world outside of Sub-Saharan Africa, with HIV/AIDS as leading cause of death among people aged 20–59 years within the region. Particularly hard-hit are the Dominican Republic (DR) and Haiti, on the island of…
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