News & Perspective

(CIDRAP News) – In the wake of recent killings of polio vaccinators in Pakistan, some questions are being raised about the all-out push to eradicate polio, but the World Health Organization (WHO) says the world can't afford to back off on the eradication drive now.

(CIDRAP News) – The number of reported H5N1 avian influenza outbreaks in poultry and wild birds has decreased since mid 2011 and was down sharply in the second quarter of this year, the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) said in a quarterly update on the ongoing situation.

(CIDRAP News) – A large, eight-nation study today reported worrisome levels of tuberculosis (TB) resistant to first- and second-line drugs, along with higher-than-expected levels of extensively drug-resistant (XDR) TB.

(CIDRAP News) – When the World Health Assembly (WHA) considers the fate of the remaining stocks of smallpox virus this week, the debate is likely to be framed in part by a report from a group of independent experts that says the only strong reason for keeping the virus is to satisfy strict regulatory requirements for new vaccines and antivirals.