World Blood Donor Day

Today, June 14th, is World Blood Donor Day.

Every year, countries throughout every region of the world organize a huge variety of events and activities to celebrate the day, from football matches to free concerts, and from mobile blood donation clinics to monumental decorations.

The World Health Organization and partners have decided to focus the 2012 campaign on the idea that every one of us can become a hero simply by giving blood. The everyday hero responds to an immediate need, whatever the conditions, despite inconvenience, putting the needs of others above their own. Voluntary blood donors come from all walks of life, all regions, backgrounds, religions and ages. By choosing to donate blood without getting paid, these individuals commit an "heroic" act, a gesture of human solidarity with the power to save lives. Some of them do so dozens of times over several decades.

Find out more here.


(Text from www.who.int)

Save Lives : Clean Your Hands Day 5th May 2012

The World Health Organization (WHO) is dedicating the 5th May to its global campaign to improve hand hygiene in health care, led by WHO to support health-care workers. The WHO's website is packed with tools, resources, reports, case studies and even videos and podcasts to support institutions in eliminating diseases such as diarrhoea and influenza and tackling hospital-aquired infections caused by the bacterium MRSA (Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus). (Image from the WHO website).

World Leprosy Day 29th January

World Leprosy Day
is on the last Sunday in January, this year the 29th.
World Leprosy Day encourages prayer, fundraising, awareness and donations to aid those who have the disease. Over 100 countries are taking part and 2012's focus is transformation, focusing on Mozambique, one of the least developed countries in the world.
Leprosy, also known as Hansen's Disease, is caused by the bacillus, Mycobacterium leprae. Although spread by droplets from the nose and mouth - like colds and flu - it is not highly infectious.
It is curable by use of multidrug therapy (MDT). MDT consists of 3 drugs: dapsone, rifampicin and clofazimine.
The World Health Organization is aiming to eliminate leprosy from as many places as possible, by working to have leprosy care integrated into health services, committing resources and funding and removing the stigma of having the disease.
Leprosy was known in ancient civilizations as far back as 600 BC and it is very well documented in the Medical History of British India reports.

(Photo credit: www.idealeprosydignity.org)

Swine flu pandemic officially over

The influenza A H1N1 (swine flu) pandemic has been declared officially over by the World Health Organization. On 10th August the WHO announced that the world had moved out of phase 6 of the influenza pandemic alert. Entering into the post-pandemic phase does not mean that the virus has gone away, however. There are still localised outbreaks plus the usual mix of seasonal viruses.
As the WHO Director-General Dr Margaret Chan stated, "Pandemics, like the viruses that cause them, are unpredictable. So is the immediate post-pandemic period. There will be many questions, and we will have clear answers for only some. Continued vigilance is extremely important."
So the days of seeing some people in masks are over. For now....

(photo credit (swine flu in Japan): New Scientist)

Sick of football

With the 2010 World Cup football finals in full swing in South Africa there will be many - unlike myself! - who are already tired of football.
However, with around 350,000 people gathering in South Africa there is potential for being really sick because of football.
Mass Gathering Medicine is concerned with large groups of people exchanging diseases at sporting events, conferences and the Haj, and the World Health Organization has published World Cup advice on their website .
The resurgence of H1N1 A influenza and Rift Valley Fever is a particular worry, together with people not being immunised for the variety of infections which they may encounter. The fans will be exposed to more than the drone of vuvuzela horns and players may be swapping more than shirts. Germs cannot be given the red card, but the authorities can make spectators more aware of the health risks.

Shrinking the malaria map

25th April was World Malaria Day and today I was listening to the excellent Lancet podcast about the latest global programmes to control and eliminate malaria. Pam Das and Sir Richard Feacham discuss why, in the last 2 years, funding has made significant effect on controlling malaria particularly in the malaria heartland of tropical Africa and in other areas such as Sri Lanka, China and Latin America. Goals have been set to eradicate malaria by 2050. This involves a 3 pronged "Roll Back Malaria" programme: aggressive control in malaria heartlands; progressive elimination in endemic margins (also known as Shrinking the Malaria Map); intensive research.
World Malaria Day was the start of the Roll Back Malaria (RBM) partnership's "Counting Malaria out" campaign, which aims to provide effective intervention in 100% of the population of endemic countries by 2010. This will involve indoor spraying of 200 million homes annually, the installation of 700 million insecticide-treated bednets, 1.5 billion annual diagnostic tests and more than 200 million doses of treatment.
Online documents and multimedia resources are on the World Malaria Day website.
The WHO's World Malaria report 2008 is available in our Official Publications collection.