The Daily Dose: The world welcomes its first malaria vaccination campaign

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Kenya has launched the world’s first malaria vaccine campaign. They are joined by Kenya and Malawi in taking the bold step with the pilot program. According to the World Health Organization, “The vaccine, known as RTS,S, will be available to children from 6 months of age in selected areas of the country in a phased pilot introduction. It is the first and only vaccine to significantly reduce malaria in children, including life-threatening malaria.” http://bit.ly/2O0PuJD

The burden of non-communicable diseases have been on the rise around the world, including in places like sub-Saharan Africa. A recent study published in the Lancet examined the changes in burden between 1990 and 2017, and differences across age, sex, and regions. The authors conclude that “Although crude DALY rates for all NCDs have decreased slightly across sub-Saharan Africa, age-standardised rates are on the rise in some countries (particularly those in southern sub-Saharan Africa) and for some NCDs (such as diabetes and some cancers, including breast and prostate cancer).” http://bit.ly/301HhvQ

Federal prosecutors in the United States have charged with stealing secrets from a children’s hospital — yes, you read right — and then using the information to market their own biotechnology companies in China and the United States. As per Stat, “Yu Zhou, 49, and his wife, Li Chen, 46, worked for Nationwide Children’s Hospital in Dayton, Ohio, until just under two years ago, prosecutors said Monday. The couple worked at the hospital in separate research labs for a decade, and founded a biotech company in China in 2015 that relied on many of the same technological and scientific advances.” Pretty classy kids. http://bit.ly/308Ia64

IMAGE SOURCE: Creative Commons

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