A new report showing that early screening of newborns for HIV could save the lives of scores of children has attracted only a small amount of news coverage.
Children and AIDS: Third Stocktaking Report, prepared jointly by UNICEF, UNAIDS, the World Health Organization and the UN Population Fund, was released on December 1, World AIDS day.
The study found that newborns tested and treated for HIV within their first three months of life have a significantly better chance of surviving the virus than those who are not tested.
Some American health industry trade journals carried this exciting news, but coverage in American newspapers seems to have been scant. Voice of America, Reuters and Agence France Presse
My son’s birth was wondrous, awesome and terrifying. Because of a complication, my wife had to undergo an emergency cesarean section. I remember the moment when nurses wheeled her into an operating room and instructed me to take off my shoes, put on some scrubs and wait. “We’ll come and get you,” one of them said, “when we’re ready to begin.”
I stood for a moment, paralyzed by fear, unable even to begin untying my shoes. Would the baby be OK? Did the doctors know what they were doing? And my wife
In 1912, a French newspaper personified cholera as a shrouded, scythe-wielding skeleton.
Cholera probably killed U.S. President James K. Polk in 1849, shortly after he left office. This fierce water-borne disease was a major public health menace during the 19th and early 20th centuries, causing widespread death
The pledge of UNICEF and other parties to intensify the push to eliminate malaria today, World Malaria Day 2008, drew a wide sampling of news coverage.
Voice of America, Reuters and the BBC, among many other news organizations, reported on the steep challenges remaining and on calls to further contain the disease.
In October 2005, UNICEF, along with UNAIDS and other partners, issued a call to place children center stage in the fight against HIV/AIDS. The Unite for Children, Unite Against AIDS campaign set out four key program areas and urged all stakeholders to strive for an ambitious target: an AIDS-free generation.
Thirty years ago, only one out of five children were immunized against killer diseases like measles and polio. Throughout the developing world, millions of children were dying of illnesses that had all but disappeared in the world’s wealthier countries. Since then, a near miracle has taken place. Now, four out of five children are protected by vaccines. Polio is on the verge of elimination. Measles and tetanus deaths have been reduced dramatically. This miracle did not happen by itself.
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