An accomplishment worthy of praise: Paraguay has been declared malaria-free by the World Health Organization. As a result of policies and programs implemented by the government since 1950, the South American country registered its last case of Plasmodium falciparum malaria in 1995, and P. vivax malaria in 2011. Good news indeed. http://bit.ly/2y2Jhq2
Late to the party: Here is a staggering statistic. “UNAIDS calculates that between 2010 and 2015, Russia accounted for more than 80% of the new HIV infections in the entire Eastern European and the Central Asian region.” These two Science articles take sober, personal, and heartbreaking looks at the continuing HIV/AIDS crisis in Russia. Missteps and missed chances by government bodies are largely to blame. Now they are starting to see the crisis for what it is — a self-inflicted wound. http://bit.ly/2t41a2d and http://bit.ly/2y7aO9Z
Babies born with HIV: Nigeria has more HIV-infected babies than any other country in the world. The country accounts for 37,000 of the world’s 160,000 new cases of babies born with HIV in 2016. 1 in 4 children are born HIV-positive due to uneven access to proper medications, lack of screening for pregnant mothers (many of whom deliver at home and don’t see doctors), and rampant poverty share a major portion of the blame. http://bit.ly/2tajYNl
Don’t blame me: A few months back, biotech company Celgene filed a new multiple sclerosis drug, ozanimod with the FDA. They ran into some problems with the paperwork and the government agency called them out on it. Substandard, apparently. Celgene was hit with an embarrassing refusal-to-file notice. However, there’s a twist. According to the company, the blame lay with Receptos, the biotech company they acquired for $7.2 billion three years prior. http://bit.ly/2y4GnRL
IMAGE SOURCE: NAIAD
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