Jason Beaubien

Saving Newborns: 'Kangaroo Care' Could Go A Long Way

Jason Beaubien — Tue, 07 May 2013 13:08:00 +0000

In the developing world, a baby's first day of life is often the most perilous.

Roughly 3 million newborns die each year, the nonprofit Save the Children reported Tuesday.

A $5.5 Billion Road Map To Banish Polio Forever

Jason Beaubien — Fri, 26 Apr 2013 07:00:00 +0000

Polio isn't going easily into the dustbin of history.

The world needs to push it in, throw down the lid and then keep an eye out to make sure it doesn't escape.

That's the gist of a new plan released Thursday by the World Health Organization and other foundations at a vaccine meeting in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates.

It's a six-year, $5.5 billion program, and its goal is to wipe out polio for good.

The plan calls for attacking the their new method for mass-producing the key ingredient for the herbal drug artemisinin, the most powerful antimalarial on the market.

Dengue Fever Cases Have Been Seriously Underestimated

Jason Beaubien — Mon, 08 Apr 2013 15:38:00 +0000

A new paper in the journal Nature says scientists have been seriously underestimating the amount of dengue around the globe.

The study says there could be as many as 400 million dengue infections worldwide each year making it more prevalent than malaria. This is four times higher than the current dengue prevalence estimate of the World Health Organization.

One reason for the huge increase in estimated infections is that dengue has been spreading far and wide.

How To Get Rid Of Polio For Good? There's A $5 Billion Plan

Jason Beaubien — Tue, 02 Apr 2013 22:20:00 +0000

Polio is on the verge of being eliminated.