UK hikes tropical disease spending
26 January 2012 08:54
International Development Minister Stephen O'Brien announced Britain is to raise spending by a factor of five to eliminate infectious tropical diseases
Britain will raise its spending five times to help the international effort to wipe out infectious tropical diseases, with an increase from £50 million to £245 million.
The rise will take effect from 2011 to 2015 with the extra funding helping to protect more than 140 million people, said the Department for International Development (DFID). The magnitude of the problem emphasises the need for travellers to always ensure they are covered with
medical travel insurance.
Funding for the worldwide effort of the Neglected Tropical Diseases (NTDs) project is part of a move to eliminate such diseases as river blindness and elephantiasis, said International Development Minister Stephen O'Brien.
Each year, NTDs affect a billion people and kill half a million. Now the extra cash will go towards supplying more than four treatments every second for people in the developing world for the next four years.
The extra aid from Britain largely concentrates on lymphatic filariasis (elephantiasis), onchocerciasis (river blindness), schistosomiasis (bilharzia) and dracunculiasis (Guinea Worm).
A London conference on January 30 will see the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation join forces with other bodies such as governments and NGOs in making commitments to tackle NTDs.
-
Pollution levels were raised to Health Watch status around tourist hotspots in Arizona after smoke from wildfires was blown into...
[more...]
-
Cruise holidays are finding a new appeal among younger tourists, according to research.
[more...]
-
A new survey has revealed a lack of planning among British holidaymakers, with 70% running out of money five days into a week-long...
[more...]
-
Scores of visitors were taken ill with suspected food poisoning after a tour bus visit to a Buddhist monastery in New York.
[more...]
-
A man from Devon has become one of the UK's oldest type-1 diabetes patients, it has been reported.
[more...]
-
Two golf courses on Vietnam's central coast are locking horns to be named the country's best, which can only be good news for...
[more...]
-
Monarch has stepped up to the plate to replace services normally provided by dying airline bmibaby.
[more...]
-
A clean-up drive is under way across all areas of Zamboanga City following an outbreak of dengue in the Philippines.
[more...]
-
Princess Anne is to set sail to celebrate 175 years of P&O Cruises this July.
[more...]
-
Nurses are being urged to learn a breathing technique for asthma so they can teach it to sufferers.
[more...]
-
Two-thirds of young tourists who get tattoos while on holiday end up regretting it, travel agent sunshine.co.uk found in a poll....
[more...]
-
Tourists at a New Orleans restaurant will be glad they had
medical travel insurance after 14 people fell ill from eating...
[more...]