Breakthroughs Blog: Child health

Malaria is one of the world’s oldest and deadliest diseases. For generations it has devastated families, communities, and countries. Thanks to international efforts to develop and scale up prevention tools and treatments, significant gains have been made over the past few decades in fighting this dangerous disease. But challenges, such as growing drug and insecticide resistance, continue to hamper control efforts—underscoring the need for continued research and development of new tools. In recognition of #WorldMalariaDay, test your knowledge of this deadly foe and the innovations being advanced to #EndMalaria: Loading... (function(i, s, o, g, r, a, m) { var ql = document.querySelectorAll('A[quiz],DIV[quiz],A[data-quiz],DIV[data-quiz]'); if (ql) { if (ql.length) { for (var k = 0; k

Prior to COVID-19, tuberculosis (TB), another airborne disease, was the world’s leading global infectious disease killer, claiming the lives of around 1.5 million people annually. Insufficient and inadequate tools and treatments, as well as the growth of drug resistance, have challenged global efforts to bring this epidemic to an end. But scientists hope that tide will turn as more new technologies and innovations advance to market. In recognition of #WorldTBDay, test your knowledge of innovations to #EndTB with GHTC’s quiz below: Loading... (function(i, s, o, g, r, a, m) { var ql = document.querySelectorAll('A[quiz],DIV[quiz],A[data-quiz],DIV[data-quiz]'); if (ql) { if (ql.length) { for (var k = 0; k

Interested in more global health innovation news? Every week GHTC scours media reports worldwide to deliver essential global health R&D news and content to your inbox. Sign-up now to receive our weekly R&D News Roundup email.Several recent news articles have claimed that new strains of COVID-19 have appeared that are more virulent or transmissible. These claims, however, should be highly scrutinized. Though some forms of COVID-19 with specific mutations have spread more widely, this is more likely due to chance and the movement and interactions of their human hosts, rather than evolutionary changes impacting the virus’s transmissibility or virulence.The National Institute of Health (NIH) launched a longitudinal study this week to investigate the impact of COVID-19 on children. The study will enroll 6,000 children from 2,000 families in 11 cities across the United States. Since only a fraction of COVID-19 patients to-date have been children, the study aims to assess whether children are more resistant or less likely to develop symptoms from SARS-CoV-2 infection. It will also investigate whether people with asthma or allergies are more resistant to COVID-19. Researchers will collect bi-weekly nasal swabs and questionnaire data on social distancing practices and potential exposures. For family members that indicate potential infection, researchers will collect blood and stool samples.The COVID-19 pandemic has caused labs across the country to shutter, disrupting countless research programs and threatening the careers of young academics. In particular, researchers' work that requires long start-up times—such as when animals are involved—could be set back by months or even years. This is especially worrisome for early-career academics who were planning to finish their graduate programs or who are losing critical work that would have laid the foundation for future projects.

To celebrate Valentine’s Day, GHTC staff embraced our health policy wonkiness by participating in the time-honored beltway tradition: #HealthPolicyValentines.For those who are unfamiliar, this tradition started in 2012 when a former staffer and Twitter aficionado at the US Department of Health and Human Services, Emma Sandoe, became inspired to “tweet one ‘health policy valentine’ every day until Valentine’s Day.” Other health policy experts soon joined in with their own poems and puns related to health care, and an annual tradition was born.Now every February, health policy wonks tweet out their most creative #HealthPolicyValentines. This year, GHTC staff joined in on the fun to share our passion for global health research and development (R&D). Here are our favorites: Please be my valentine 💕Be “mon amour” 💑To defeat diseases like #AIDS, #TB & #malaria 🦠We need R&D for #vaccines, #diagnostics & cures. 💉 🔬 💊#HealthPolicyValentines #innovate4health @GHTCoalition— Jamie Bay Nishi (@JBayNishi) February 13, 2020 I love your guts ❤️Yet diarrheal diseases impact many worldwide 🌍Thankfully, with ORS, Zinc & #vaccines 💉 💊We’re helping more children survive. 🧒🏽 🧒🏼 🧒🏿#HealthPolicyValentines— Marissa Chmiola (@MarissaChmiola) February 13, 2020 Roses are red 🌹Violets are blue 💙With a universal vaccine 💉 We can take on the #flu 🦠#HealthPolicyValentine— Julien Rashid (@Julien_Rashid) February 13, 2020 Hey girl. My love for you is like biomedical research 🔬: complex, lengthy, & life-altering. #HealthPolicyValentines— Ansley Kahn (@ansleykahn) February 13, 2020 Roses are red 🌹Please be my honey 💑If we proactively develop vaccines to #outsmartepidemics 💉We’ll save lives & money 👩‍👩‍👧‍👧💰#HealthPolicyValentines— Philip Kenol (@Phil_kenol88) February 13, 2020 Getting in the #Valentines spirit a day early...Hey girl. Someone should alert @CDCgov because what you're doing to my heart is a health emergency. #HealthPolicyValentines pic.twitter.com/R8udCacb4d— Emily Conron (@thatNTDgirl) February 13, 2020 Hey girl, my love for you is like antimicrobial resistance.🦠🧫 Constantly evolving and growing every day (because we lack the right tools to stem its rise.)#HealthPolicyValentines #globalhealth #AMR pic.twitter.com/jstQXWIzFk— Marissa Chmiola (@MarissaChmiola) February 14, 2020 I’ve been bitten by your love 🥰You make my temperature rise 🌡️Is it #malaria or #dengue fever? 🦟We need diagnostic tests to surmise. ⁉️#HealthPolicyValentines— Ansley Kahn (@ansleykahn) February 14, 2020 Find yourself someone as committed to you as @NIAIDNews Director Tony Fauci is to infectious disease & #globalhealth R&D 😍🔬 His 36 years of leadership have earned him a spot in the Hall of Fame of my heart 💕 #HealthPolicyValentines pic.twitter.com/4ONP15XhNS— Emily Conron (@thatNTDgirl) February 14, 2020 I love you. You love me.Thanks to new technologies, we are reducing child mortality. #HealthPolicyValentines #Innovate4health pic.twitter.com/BRcv7G3Wh0— Jamie Bay Nishi (@JBayNishi) February 14, 2020 Roses are red 🌹Violets are blue 💙We can’t achieve #HealthForAll 🌍⚕️👩‍👩‍👧‍👦Without investing in R&D too! 🔬#HealthPolicyValentines pic.twitter.com/araErSTv2N— Philip Kenol (@Phil_kenol88) February 14, 2020 Feeling passionate about sexual & reproductive health (#SHRH) with my #HealthPolicyValentines:A woman deserves love 💕 She deserves gratification 🥰But she also deserves a healthy & bright future 👩‍🔬👩‍🎓‍Which is why we need more contraceptive innovation. 🤰🏽— Marissa Chmiola (@MarissaChmiola) February 14, 2020 Find someone that loves you the way @DrTedros loves #UHC.#HealthPolicyValentines pic.twitter.com/AFNBvOc42r— Julien Rashid (@Julien_Rashid) February 14, 2020