-The Indian Express In Gorakhpur, small successes in understanding - and conquering - the killer disease of children are undercut by a wily virus and administrative bottlenecks Gorakhpur: On August 18, five-year-old Vishal spent the evening playing with friends in Vanjhai village in Gorakhpur district's Bhathat block. He came home irritable, with a slight fever. His mother and grandmother gave him a little milk and sent him to bed. They were not...

-IANS Bangalore: A leading journal of medical ethics has charged the World Health Organization (WHO) with promoting the Pentavalent vaccine in countries, including India, though it is known to have caused adverse reactions and deaths in children. In a hard-hitting editorial, the latest issue of the Indian Journal of Medical Ethics (IJME), has accused the WHO of promoting the vaccine "by stating falsely that no adverse event following immunisation (AEFI) has ever...

Health activists say new policy may not address the weaknesses in ongoing routine immunisation programmes and would flood poor countries with new vaccines When the global health leaders meet in Geneva from May 21 to 26 for the World Health Organization's 65th General Assembly, introducing new vaccines in the low- and middle-income countries would be high on their agenda. A “global draft vaccine action plan”, available on WHO's website, details the implementation...

-The Economic Times   Vaccines are a true gift of science to humanity. In developing countries, prevention is better than cure. Vaccines have a great track record of safety and efficacy and they are amongst the most cost-effective products, which even the poor have access to due to effective systems of procurement and delivery. India's contribution in the vaccine arena is noteworthy. The primary reason behind the country's vaccine success story is...

-The Hindu   When the World Health Organisation published its revised guidelines for malaria treatment in March 2010, just four years after it came out with its maiden version, an editorial in the British Medical Journal (BMJ) was quick to highlight its significance. It was a “testament of how quickly malaria control” had developed and a “marked reduction in the global burden of malaria” had been achieved. A WHO report now confirms...