Category: Archive
World Birth Defects Day Raises Global Awareness of Birth Defects
Every year, an estimated 3%–6% of infants worldwide are born with a serious birth defect. Birth defects can affect an infant regardless of birthplace, race, or ethnicity. In some countries, birth defects remain one of the leading causes of death for infants and young children. Those who survive and live with these conditions are at Read More >
Posted on byMalawi’s Approach to Treating Pregnant Women With HIV Shows Success
Malawi is a place where good news can be hard to find, especially when the topic is improving people’s health. That’s why recent news from Malawi, detailed Tuesday at the Conference on Retroviruses and Opportunistic Infections in Boston, is both noteworthy and promising. As outlined in a paper presented at the prestigious conference by CDC Read More >
Posted on byPresident Obama’s Call to Accelerate Battle Against Malaria Builds on Impressive Gains
Malaria is a public health issue that has always been one of our highest priorities. Tweet This President Obama’s call to arms to end malaria worldwide as announced during his recent State of the Union address and the Administration’s request to increase resources for malaria control, underscore the remarkable progress made in the fight against Read More >
Posted on byThe challenge of global antibiotic policy: Improving access and preventing excess
Antibiotic resistance has been making headlines lately, and for good reason: the identification of new resistance genes, rising resistance rates and widespread public misunderstanding of the problem are all causes for concern about the growing proliferation of drug-resistant “superbugs.” But in many low- and middle-income countries, millions of people lack access to antibiotics and common Read More >
Posted on byCDC director: What we’re doing about the Zika virus
This blog was originally posted on CNN.com on February 1, 2016 (CNN) Vaccines and antibiotics have made many infectious diseases a thing of the past; we’ve come to expect that public health and modern science can conquer all microbes. But nature is a formidable adversary. And Zika is our newest threat, particularly to pregnant women. New, unfamiliar Read More >
Posted on byCDC Poised to Answer President Obama’s Call to End Malaria
In his State of the Union address January 12, President Obama issued an emphatic call to arms to end malaria worldwide. Here, at CDC, we know that attacking malaria and moving aggressively to eliminate a disease that killed 438,000 people last year worldwide is a goal worthy of its mention in the State of the Read More >
Posted on by 1 CommentWe can stop drug-resistant TB – if we act now
With a half million new cases each year, multidrug-resistant tuberculosis (MDR-TB) is spreading around the globe. The world must act decisively. There can be no delay. That is why on Dec 22 President Obama announced the National Action Plan for Combating Multidrug-Resistant Tuberculosis. It is a strong, unambiguous call for doctors, nurses, scientists, and health Read More >
Posted on by 4 CommentsPeople. Pathogens. Protection.
Solving challenges to save people The biggest challenges are always the unknowns–the things we can’t predict, which seem to come out of nowhere and command our attention. I was called to Vietnam in 2003 when SARS struck. Of course, we didn’t yet call it SARS. It didn’t have a name then. All I knew was Read More >
Posted on byWorld AIDS Day is Dec. 1
On World AIDS Day, we remember the millions who have died tragically and before their times; we celebrate the remarkable scientific achievements that have given us tools to fight back and to envision a brighter future; and we recommit to taking the next actions needed to bring about the end to HIV as a Read More >
Posted on by 2 CommentsBringing Clean, Safe, and Innovative Sanitation Services to East Africa
Have you ever stopped to think about how many times you use a toilet each day? We often take it for granted that when we “need to go,” a toilet will be nearby. However, throughout the world, an estimated 2.5 billion people lack basic sanitation—which means they do not have access to toilets or safe Read More >
Posted on by