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Malaria, AIDS, TB in
retreat |
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Geneva: Galaria could be eliminated as a
public health problem within a decade in most countries
where it is now endemic, an international organization that
funds the treatment and prevention of killer diseases said.
The elimination of mother-to-child transmission of HIV the
virus that causes AIDS is within reach by 2015, the Global
Fund To Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria said.
And the prevalence of tuberculosis is also declining in many
countries, the fund said in its 2010 report.
The fund says its programs have saved 4.9 million lives
since it was set up in 2002.
The fund’s report celebrates the advances against the
diseases, particular scourges in developing countries, since
it was set up as a public/private partnership to mobilize
resources for their prevention and treatment.
The three diseases are among the largest killers of women
and children, especially in Sub-Saharan Africa where 52
percent of deaths of women of childbearing age are due to
HIV, TB and malaria and malaria accounts for 16-18 percent
of child deaths.
But the report also comes with a call for more money.
SUCCESSES
Donors will discuss financial contributions for 2011-2013 at
a conference in New York in October, with an initial
replenishment review in The Hague on March 24, where the
fund will lay out what can be achieved for another $13-20
billion.
The bulk of the fund’s resources come from rich governments
such as the United States, the European Union and its big
member states, and Japan.
Private-sector donors such as the foundation set up by
Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates, provide about 6 percent of
funds.
Since 2002 the fund has raised $19.2 billion, of which it
has disbursed $10 billion. Half of this was delivered in
2008 and 2009, meaning even more results are due, and a
further $5.4 billion of financing has been approved to reach
countries this year and next, saving more lives in the
coming few years.
By the end of 2009, fund-supported programs had provided
antiretroviral treatment to 2.5 million with HIV-AIDS, out
of some 33 million HIV-positive people globally, provided
treatment to 6 million people with active tuberculosis and
distributed 104 million insecticide-treated nets to prevent
malaria. (Agencies) |
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Now, earth-friendly plastic
from plants |
San Francisco : IBM researchers have said that they have
discovered a way to make Earth-friendly plastic from plants
that could replace petroleum-based products that are tough
on the environment.
The breakthrough promises biodegradable plastics made in a
way that saves on energy, according to Chandrasekhar ‘Spike’
Narayan, a manager of science and technology at IBM’s
Almaden Research Center in Northern California. Almaden and
Stanford University researchers said that the discovery
could herald an era of sustainability for a plastics
industry rife with seemingly eternal products notorious for
cramming landfills and littering the planet.
“This discovery and new approach using organic catalysts
could lead to well-defined, biodegradable molecules made
from renewable resources in an environmentally responsible
way,” IBM said. The ‘green chemistry’ breakthrough using
‘organic catalysts’ results in plastics that could be
repeatedly recycled, instead of only once as is the case
with petroleum-based plastic made using metal oxide
catalysts.
Plant plastics could be made ‘biocompatible’ to improve the
targeting of drugs in bodies, such as cancer medicines aimed
at killing cancer cells but sparing healthy ones, IBM said.
(Media Watch) |
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