science wire

A new report highlights an alarming range of health risks in Europe due to climate change and the benefits of a rapid phase out of fossil fuels. The report entitled "The imperative of climate action to protect human health in Europe" was published yesterday by the European Academies' Science Advisory Council (EASAC).

A nationwide systematic survey of 97 organisations carried out by Swiss TPH shows that authorities, hospitals, institutions and organisations in Switzerland have long been committed to efforts against the flu.

On World Malaria Day 2019, Swiss organizations look back on a long history of successful public-private collaboration for new malaria medicines.

Fondation Botnar has awarded CHF 7 million to researchers from Lausanne for further deployment of electronic diagnostic and treatment tools based on algorithms, which will help clinicians to manage febrile children.

The European Medicines Agency's Committee for Medicinal Products for Human Use has adopted a positive opinion of fexinidazole, the first all-oral treatment that has been shown to be efficacious for both stages of sleeping sickness.

To supplement medicines and supplies that are out of stock at the Medical Stores Department (MSD) in Tanzania, Swiss TPH developed the Jazia Prime Vendor System (Jazia PVS).

Today, the University of Basel and ETH Zurich co-founded the Botnar Research Centre for Child Health (BRCCH) in Basel.

The Papua New Guinea Institute of Medical Research (PNGIMR), a long-standing partner of Swiss TPH, celebrates its 50th anniversary. Swiss TPH will take part in the anniversary colloquium from 28 to 31 August to highlight the fruitful collaboration between the two institutes and to further strengthen efforts towards malaria elimination.

Since 2000, the research productivity in Côte d'Ivoire has grown steadily above the regional and global rate, despite recurring economic pressures and socio-political unrest.

A workshop was held on 16 to 20 July in Basel, Switzerland, bringing together over 60 Swiss TPH employees including 37 from 14 countries in West and Central Africa and the Middle East.

The University of Basel appointed Claudia Daubenberger, Head of Clinical Immunology at Swiss TPH, as professor of Infection Biology and Immunology within the Faculty of Science.

The updated global research agenda for malaria eradication, 'malERA Refresh,' calls for new medicines and tools as well as integrated approaches to address current challenges and ultimately eradicate malaria.

The educational animation film 'Koko et les lunettes magiques' aims to strengthen the awareness of school-aged children and their families in Côte d'Ivoire against parasitic worm infections by showing them simple, but effective preventive hygiene practices. The animation film is the key element in an intervention study in western Côte d'Ivoire conducted by Swiss TPH, the Centre Suisse des Recherches Scientifiques en Côte d'Ivoire and the Université Félix Houphouët-Boigny, Côte d'Ivoire.

Countries have saved more lives over the past decade according to the annual Global Burden of Diseases (GBD) study published yesterday. In Switzerland, life expectancy has increased to 85 years for women and to 81 years for men. The Swiss Tropical and Public Health Institute contributed to the GDB, the world's largest scientific collaboration on population health.

Millions of people worldwide are infected with parasitic worms, most of them in tropical low-income settings.

To fall ill from tuberculosis remains a great danger. A research team led by cell biologist Sébastien Gagneux at the Swiss Tropical and Public Health Institute (Swiss TPH) examines the antibiotic resistance mechanisms of Mycobacterium tuberculosis.

1.5 billion people worldwide are infected with soil-transmitted helminths, a parasitic worm infection. In the past, only two drugs have been used, increasing the risk of drug resistance. New drugs and combination therapies are thus urgently needed to fight soil-transmitted helminth infections.

Apart from an upsurge in violence, a series of studies published on 4th August in the International Journal of Public Health indicates a sharp increase in non-communicable diseases and mental health conditions in the Middle East.

Despite substantial reduction in prevalence over the past decades, leprosy remains endemic in over 120 countries. Approximately 200,000 new cases of leprosy still occur every year as diagnosis is difficult and often delayed. In an article published on July 7, 2017 in the Lancet Infectious Diseases, the Swiss Tropical and Public Health Institute (Swiss TPH) and its partners reviewed innovative tools and approaches to help end leprosy transmission.

Which contraceptives are used in Switzerland and by whom? The first Swiss report on contraception describes contraceptive trends, frequency and methods in Switzerland from 1992 to 2012.

Transportation noise increases risk for cardiovascular diseases and diabetes. This is shown by the first results of the SiRENE study under the lead of Swiss TPH, which was presented today in the framework of the ICBEN Congress (International Commission on Biological Effects of Noise) in Zurich. How transportation noise affects the health of people remains in many aspects unexplained.