July 28 is World Hepatitis Day. According to a recent study, viral hepatitis is now a leading cause of death worldwide, killing as many people annually as malaria, tuberculosis or HIV/AIDS.
The Zika virus headlines the news today, but dengue fever is viewed by many as a greater threat to the global population. The overall incidence of dengue has grown dramatically in recent decades with half of the world’s population now at risk.
WiRED International is pleased to announce the translation into Spanish of its rheumatic heart disease (RHD) animation video. A Portuguese version will be available soon. Awareness about RHD educates people about this completely preventable disease that currently affects at least 15.6 million victims.
The World Health Organization (WHO) has called for an emergency-driven campaign to vaccinate people in Angola, the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Uganda in response to yellow fever outbreaks in Africa.
The Zika virus continues to produce an ever-increasing number of unwelcome surprises for the global health community. A recent Scientific American article cites possible links between Zika and a new set of birth defects.
This June WiRED International Director Gary Selnow, Ph.D., and WiRED Armenia Director Sebouh Baghdoyan spent a busy week visiting facilities and attending meetings in Armenia.
Twenty-three-year-old Ochieng Wilbertforce lives in Obunga, one of the world’s poorest slums in the northwest part of Kisumu, Kenya. One day a friend told him about WiRED International’s Community Health Information Center in Kisumu. Feeling curious, he visited the Center and began his education in health.
The Zika virus is no longer a phenomenon found just in America’s Southern Hemisphere. On June 15 the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) reported that 234 pregnant women in the continental United States have been infected with the Zika virus.
The World Health Organization (WHO) has designated June 14 as World Blood Donor Day. This year’s theme is “Blood connects us all.” The campaign presents video stories of those whose lives have been saved through blood donation and seeks to encourage blood donation, especially from young people who have never given blood.
According to the World Heart Federation, rheumatic heart disease (RHD) currently affects an estimated 15.6 million people, causing more than 233,000 deaths each year. RHD often begins with a strep throat which, when treated, can completely stop this preventable disease.