POLIO WORLD: 9/1/12

Sep 26, 2012

Karachi police arrest suspected attacker of anti-polio medics.

KARACHI – Police September 24 arrested a suspect in the July 17 shooting of a World Health Organisation (WHO) doctor and the July 20 slaying of a polio vaccinator.

Zahidullah alias Junaid, reportedly a member of the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), was arrested in the Zia Colony area of Korangi town, said Muhammad Ishfaq, an official of Korangi Police Station, adding that police recovered unlicensed weapons from him.

Under interrogation, the suspect admitted to both crimes, Ishfaq told Central Asia Online. Both attacks took place in the Sohrab Goth area of Gadap Town, Karachi.

http://centralasiaonline.com

Sep 25, 2012

Letters: Fight polio, farm benefits, Asian trade and butts on the beach.

Final effort needed to defeat polio.

Many Canadians are old enough to remember the horror of polio. In the1950s and ’60s, polio killed thousands of children and left countless others living in iron lungs or with life-long paralysis. With the development of effective vaccines, we thought we had seen the end of this terrible disease. We were wrong.

The World Health Organization recently predicted a global polio emergency in Pakistan within three months. In 2011, 73 new cases were reported there, nearly equal to all the cases in the previous five years. Polio is now 99 per cent eradicated globally, but without immediate action, the number of children paralyzed each year is expected rise to 200,000 in a decade. We are failing at the very moment of our victory over this terrible crippler of children.

Experts fear four polio cases in Tharparkar.

MIRPURKHAS: The WHO and the provincial health department rushed to a village in Tharparkar the area to collect samples as they feared at least four children have been apparently detected with polio virus.

Sources in health department said that the children aged between three to six years residing in Jinan Junejo village, UC Mahrano of district Tharparkar, have apparently signs and symptoms of polio and feared that the water being consumed by villagers was contaminated. The suspected polio patients were identified as Majeedan, 3, Uzma, 4, Shahjahan, 4 and Hakim Ali, 6. All belong to Junejo tribe in the village. As the report about the suspect polio cases spread, the officials of health department as well WHO reached the area and collected samples from blood of affected children and sent the same to Islamabad laboratories for final confirmation of the polio disease.

Pendle MP Andrew Stephenson keen to raise polio awareness.

PENDLE MP Andrew Stephenson is joining Parliament’s bid to raise awareness of polio.

Members of the House of Commons and House of Lords will gather on October 22 to discuss combating the disease.

It was eradicated in the UK in the 1980s, but it is still endemic in some countries, including Afghanistan, Nigeria, and Pakistan.

Mr Stephenson said it was important to support dedicated charities in their work across the developing world.

He said: “This kind of event is vital in raising awareness of polio.

SIAD in high-risk areas to be launched today Confirmed polio case still controversial.

The district health department is launching a three-day anti-polio Short Interval Additional Dose (SIAD) campaign in as many as over 13 selective union councils of town from Tuesday (today) to administer anti-polio drops to children below five years of age.

The union councils selected for the SIAD activity are considered as the high-risk areas in town on the subject of prevalence of poliovirus. The SIAD has been planned after a three-day anti-polio drive that was carried out last week in the district.

We have set a target of eliminating polio virus from environment of the district while planning for the SIAD activity, said District Health Officer Dr. Khalid Randhawa while talking to ‘The News’ on Monday.

Read more www.thenews.com.pk

Ban on Polio Vaccination in Tribal Areas.

Emergence of 22 new polio cases in Pakistan, out of which, 50 per cent were reported from the country’s northern tribal belt during the last eight months has sent shock waves to the national and international health experts, who were almost sure about global eradication of this disease.

The local and international health agencies’ efforts to eradicate polio from Pakistan, had received another setback, when the pro-Taliban groups operating in restive Waziristan announced a ban on polio vaccination in the region until the United States halted its drone attacks that have killed over 3,000 people so far, including women and children.

Health of a polio-endemic country.

INTRODUCTION: Events since 2005 earthquake, floods of 2010-11; Dengue fever outbreak; deaths due to spurious cardiac drugs; demands of health workers for better job conditions led to bring health on the agenda of broader political spectrum. Thus, health has become one of the most discussed subjects. Recently, Pakistan also became the focus of the world's attention for being one of the last three remaining polio endemic countries.

ICC T20 World Cup 2012: India, Afghanistan players raise awareness about polio.

With an aim to increase awareness about polio among parents of the region, India cricket stars Virender Sehwag, Suresh Raina, Harbhajan Singh and Rohit Sharma, met with Afghanistan captain Nowroz Mangal and few of his team-mates and exchanged bats signed by both the sides.

Apart from Mangal, the other Afghanistan players who were part of the noble cause were Mohammad Shahzad, Karim Sadeq and Mohammad Ashghar Stanikzai.

The bats were exchanged as symbols of both countries' commitment to end polio once and for all. On the teams' return to their home countries, UNICEF will present the bats to the Governments of Afghanistan and India to underline cricket's support in the fight against polio.

During the India vs Afghanistan clash, UNICEF, with the support of the ICC, will display polio eradication messages on the electronic advertising boards and on the electronic scoreboard.

Read more www.cricketcountry.com

Post-polio syndrome affects some who overcame polio in childhood.

Emanuel Poznanski dealt with polio for most of his childhood. He overcame it, but he now suffers from PPS, a disease that can take over his life.

Breakthrough in campaign: Polio drive reaches Tirah Valley – finally.

PESHAWAR: Immunisation teams have pulled off a major health coup in Tirah Valley, ensuring protection against polio for the first time since 2009.

Officials said on Tuesday that they have managed to vaccinate around 32,641 children against polio and other fatal illnesses, such as measles, in the valley, which had previously been inaccessible during polio drives.

Sep 10, 2012

Joanne Brooks, life after polio.

Life after polio, interview with Joanne Brooks, post polio syndrome, before and after, make a difference and share.

Sep 9, 2012

Nigeria: Four New Cases of Polio Reported in Yobe.

Four new cases of poliomyelitis have been reported in Damaturu, Karasuwa and Gulani Local Government Areas (LGAs) in Yobe.

The World Health Organisation (WHO) Coordinator in the state, Dr Isa Adamu, told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on Wednesday that "the two cases reported in Damaturu were in areas with high security risk.

"We can not risk sending anybody to that area because of the high security challenge in that location."

Isa expressed the fear that except there was improvement in the security situation and immunisation conducted, there might be more new cases of polio in the state.

The coordinator noted that about 80 rounds of immunisation had been carried out across the state from 1998 to date.

He commended the Yobe Government for prompt payment of its counterpart funds towards the eradication of polio in the State.

http://allafrica.com

77 new polio cases found in Nigeria.

SOKOTO, Nigeria, Sept. 8 -- At least 77 new cases of poliomyelitis have been recorded in 10 northern states in Nigeria, a top government official said on Saturday.

The executive director of the National Primary Healthcare Development Agency (NPHCDA), Ado Mohammed, disclosed this in northern Sokoto State at a polio sensitization meeting with 35 northern emirs.

The existing cases of the wild polio virus were prevalent in 209 wards of 30 local governments of the nation, Mohammed told his audience.

Continue reading http://english.eastday.com

Sep 4, 2012

Proteins could hold the key to future treatments for a wide range of chronic health problems including Motor Neuron Disease, myotonic dystrophy and a wide range of cancers, University of Sheffield scientists have revealed.

Proteins could hold the key to future treatments for a wide range of chronic health problems including Motor Neuron Disease, myotonic dystrophy and a wide range of cancers, University of Sheffield scientists have revealed.

Experts from the University's Department of Molecular Biology and Biotechnology, collaborating with scientists from Harvard Medical School in the USA, have revealed how a complicated set of proteins called TREX act as a passport for the transfer of cell blueprints which create proteins that are essential for life.

The researchers believe their better understanding will mean they can ultimately fix problems in the process which cause fatal health conditions like Motor Neuron Disease, myotonic dystrophy and a wide range of cancers.

Professor Stuart Wilson, who led the groundbreaking project, said: "Protein production is an essential part of life for all organisms. This process involves reading the code in genes and converting this to a message which is ultimately decoded to make a protein.

Continue reading www.sciencecodex.com

Sep 2, 2012

Hundreds protest outside Atos headquarters then blockade DWP.

More than 500 people rallied outside the offices of Paralympic sponsor Atos in central London this afternoon as part of a day of action called by Disabled People Against Cuts (Dpac) and UK Uncut.

Protesters included disabled people threatened with losing their benefits, Remploy workers recently made redundant, alongside trade unionists and Occupy London supporters who showed up in solidarity.

ATOS protests climax with ‘day of action’ against Paralympics sponsors‎.

In the heart of the city, in the middle of these office blocks, hundreds have gathered to protest.

This is the building where protesters want to disrupt; the non-descript head quarters of ATOS. Paralympics sponsor, but also the company contracted by the government to review - and in some cases cut - the help disabled people in Britain get.

The government has asked ATOS to reassess all 2.6 million people on disability benefit by 2014, in an effort to cut the welfare bill.