DEFEATDD.ORG

Could a vaccine be a wonder of the world?

Hope Randall — Thu, 02 Feb 2012 20:50:51 +0000

About the guest author

Eileen Quinn, Communications Director for the Vaccine Development program at PATH

Photo:

It was just a conference room in Delhi, not the Taj Mahal by any means. No lapis lazuli or other luxuries. (Although many would consider the flush toilets, hot water, and soap in the bathrooms down the hall as luxuries).

Back to basics: Water for the poor

Hope Randall — Wed, 25 Jan 2012 18:22:09 +0000

A child at a new water point in Rwanda.

About the guest author

Lisa Schechtman, Head of Policy and Advocacy, WaterAid in America

Last month, I joined the international development community in celebrating the bipartisan introduction of the Senator Paul Simon Water for the World Act of 2012 in the House of Representatives.

Developing a global vaccine action plan

Hope Randall — Wed, 18 Jan 2012 19:55:52 +0000

About the guest author

Laurie Werner, PATH, and Joan Tallada, IS Global, on behalf of the Decade of Vaccines Collaboration Secretariat

One of the tools that will help us defeat diarrheal disease is vaccines – both the rotavirus vaccines that are licensed and the vaccines against bacteria that cause diarrhea that are still in development.

A journey through Kenya's ORT corners

Hope Randall — Thu, 12 Jan 2012 18:47:36 +0000

About the guest author

Sara Watson, Safe Water Project, PATH

In November, while traveling for PATH’s Safe Water Project, I had the opportunity to link up with PATH’s Alfred Ochola in Kakamega to tour ORT corners in two area hospitals. Having never been to rural Kenya, nor to any medical facilities in the field, it was an exciting (albeit emotional) experience that gave me even further insight into the extreme importance of clean water.

There's a vaccine for that

Hope Randall — Wed, 04 Jan 2012 17:48:00 +0000

Reposted with permission of PATH

About the guest author

PATH

In 2003, vaccines against rotavirus were poised to reach the global market, but surprisingly few people knew the virus’ name, let alone that it was the leading cause of severe diarrheal disease. “We’ve never heard of it,” ministers of health would say when PATH staff members like Evan Simpson began meeting with them to spread the word about the virus and new vaccines against it.

Reader's choice: top 5 blogs of 2011

Hope Randall — Thu, 22 Dec 2011 21:11:35 +0000

About the guest author

defeatDD

A new year begins in just a few days! But before we plunge ahead into 2012, we'd like to take a look back at the most popular blogs of 2011, determined by you, our readers.

Flush This Book: How a Joke between Friends Turned into a Book about Poop

Deborah Phillips — Mon, 19 Dec 2011 17:01:57 +0000

About the guest author

Heidi R. Willis and S. Jane Gari

A mutual friend introduced us at a karaoke girls’ night in party, “You guys are both writers.”

Heidi was writing a screenplay, Jane was writing a family memoir.

Part of the action yet slightly apart: Witnessing DD control in Vietnam

Hope Randall — Wed, 07 Dec 2011 15:56:14 +0000

A young inpatient recovers from severe diarrhea, a bandage on his small hand the remnant of emergency IV rehydration.

About the guest author

Deborah Phillips, Communications Officer for defeatDD at PATH

Photo:

By the second open-air hospital, I knew better than to look for water fountains. The sealed plastic bottles conspicuously tucked into each cup-holder in our Ministry-provided, four-wheel-driven convoy were a pretty strong hint, too. Where we were headed, running water was a luxury. This was not my norm. I was a stranger here, warmly welcomed but still alien.

WHY WASH MATTERS TO PEOPLE LIVING WITH HIV

Hope Randall — Thu, 01 Dec 2011 14:48:15 +0000

A person living with HIV/AIDS uses a tippy tap.

About the guest author

Renuka Bery is WASH-HIV Integration Advisor for the WASHplus Project at FHI 360

You may think that water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH) is superfluous when addressing the needs of people living with HIV, but actually it is a critically important focus that has only recently gained recognition.

In Cambodia, rising flood waters bring rise in diarrheal disease

Hope Randall — Mon, 21 Nov 2011 16:29:21 +0000

About the guest author

Gizelle V. Gopez, Program Associate, PATH’s Cambodia Country Program

In September, on site to train village health support groups on childhood diarrhea and pneumonia, the PATH team in Cambodia met with Chea Yeksim. Ms. Yeksim isvice chief and a village health volunteer in Duan Tom village of Baray operational district in Kampong Thom province. She spoke with us about the severity of childhood illness in her village and the gap in knowledge among families on how to prevent and treat diarrhea and pneumonia.