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Nepal Earthquakes: Survivors Face Years of Anxiety, Depression

nbcnews.com - by F. Brinley Bruton - May 14, 2015

Countless Nepalis face long battles with anxiety and depression after the country's devastating recurring earthquakes and hundreds of aftershocks, aid workers and mental health professionals warned.

Delilah Borja, Save the Children's country director in Nepal, said the organization was "extremely concerned about the emotional well-being" of kids who were caught up in the two major quakes.

"The second quake in particular has created a new level of terrifying uncertainty as those affected must now ask themselves if another deadly earthquake is coming," she said in a statement released on Wednesday.

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Diarrhoea Patients on Rise in Quake Hit Khokana

ekantipur.com

LALITPUR, APR 28 - With the lack of safe drinking water after the April 25 earthquake , people in Khokana village, the southern outskirt of the Kathmandu Valley, has begun suffering from diarrhoea.

Although the villagers initially got treatment at local health posts, the number of the sufferers increased. So, they were referred to better hospital and the health camps run by the Nepal Army, said a local social worker, Nepal Dangol.

Similarly, Shivaram Baniya from Adarshashaul Higher Secondary School said more than 100 diarrhoea patients have been provided treatment at health camps run by a joint team of Nepal Army and the Bangladesh Army. RSS

http://www.ekantipur.com/2015/04/28/national/diarrhoea-patients-on-rise-in-quake-hit-khokana/404576.html

http://np.ekantipur.com/2015/04/28/top-story/diarrhoea-patients-on-rise-in-quake-hit-khokana/404576.html

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Re: Diarrhoea patients on rise in quake hit Khokana | Health | National

Jim,

I agree. The question is whether we can alter the trajectory of disease with better assessment, surveillance, and rapid response. What we engaged in Haiti worked, but it was never scaled appropriately.

We can do better in Nepal. The monsoon season is only a couple months away. Efforts we need to be scaled immediately.

Mike

Dr. Michael D. McDonald

Coordinator
Global Health Response and Resilience Alliance

Chairman
Global Resilience Systems, Inc.

President
Health Initiatives Foundation, Inc.

Michael.D.McDonald@mac.com
202-468-7899

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Koubia-Guinea: Anthrax re-surfaced with several cases

A new outbreak of anthrax has been reported in Middle Guinea in a town in the prefecture of Koubia -- just when Guinea is still struggling to overcome the epidemic of the Ebola haemorrhagic fever.

Several members of the same family, who ate meat from an infected animal, have been contaminated. "They are 11 people, of which 2 developed the disease, with a death in the community. A woman died of the disease, and a 2nd patient is showing signs [of the disease]: a man who is about 25 is currently hospitalized in the prefecture of Koubia, where he is being supported," said Dr.

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WHO Director-General Addresses High-Level Meeting on Ebola R&D

                                                           

From crisis to sustainable development: lessons from the Ebola outbreak

who.int - May 10, 2015

. . . three changes will do the most to improve the world’s collective defence against the infectious disease threat.

First, invest in building resilient communities and well-performing health systems that integrate public health and primary health care. Ideally, health systems should aim for universal health coverage, so the poor are not left behind. This requires new thinking and a new approach to health development.

Second, develop the systems, capacities, and financing mechanisms needed to build surge capacity for responding to outbreaks and humanitarian emergencies.

Third, create incentives for R&D for new medical products for diseases that primarily affect the poor. A fair and just world should not let people die for what boils down to market failure and poverty.

These three things also fit well with the coming agenda for sustainable development that seeks to distribute the benefits of economic growth more evenly and respects our planet’s fragile resources.

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Ebola-Free, but Not Resilient

nytimes.com - by Judith Rodin and Bernice Dahn - May 10, 2015

. . . A resilient health system combines active surveillance mechanisms, robust health care delivery system and a vigorous response to disease. When the first signs of contagion appear, a system should be able to act quickly to stop it in its tracks — all without compromising its core functions. . . .

. . . Resilient systems share several characteristics. One is awareness, which in the case of health systems means, first and foremost, strong disease surveillance. A second characteristic is the ability to adapt to changing conditions. . . . 

. . . A third characteristic is diversity: the ability to address a broad range of challenges. . . .

. . . resilient systems are integrated: information is shared across different levels of government. . . .

. . . When a resilient system is in place, cities and countries alike are prepared to yield what we call a “resilience dividend” — benefits that are independent of crises. Building trust with the public, enhancing access to quality care, and investing in public health are all wise investments at any time, helping to increase productivity and growth. . . .

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Tents, Tarpaulins and Tigers: Mountain Communities in Nepal Struggle to Cope After the Earthquake

Red Cross voluntaries hand out tarpaulins and put up tents in the village of Khalckok in Nepal. Palani Mohan/IFRC

ifrc.org - by Patrick Fuller
May 6, 2015

To the casual observer, the busy highway between Kathmandu and the town of Kavere, gives a misleading impression of the extent of the destruction caused by the 25 April earthquake. Life goes on as normal and homes and shops are untouched. It’s not until you turn off the road at the town of Sangha and travel three kilometres up a bumpy dirt track into the surrounding hills, that the true picture of this disaster unfolds.

A team of young Nepal Red Cross Society volunteers is delivering tents and tarpaulins to households in the remote village of Khalchok, perched high on a ridge traversing a series of hill-tops. 115 of the 135 homes in the community are either totally destroyed or uninhabitable. The higher you travel, the worse the damage becomes. When the track ends,  the volunteers disembark from the 4-wheeled drive vehicle and start to carry the first of the family tents on a half hour trek up a narrow path to what remains of the home of Subash Lama.

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Home > Health Ebola Is Found in Doctor's Eye Months After Virus Left Blood

ASSOCIATED PRESS by MARILYNN MARCHIONE AP Chief Medical Writer                                      May 7. 2015

(Scroll down for full study and American Academy of Ophtalolgy statement.)

For the first time, Ebola has been discovered inside the eyes of a patient months after the virus was gone from his blood.

Ebola has infected more than 26,000 people since December 2013 in West Africa. Some survivors have reported eye problems but how often they occur isn't known. The virus also is thought to be able to persist in semen for several months.

The new report concerns Dr. Ian Crozier, a 43-year-old American physician diagnosed with Ebola in September while working with the World Health Organization in Sierra Leone.

He was treated at Emory University Hospital's special Ebola unit in Atlanta and released in October when Ebola was no longer detected in his blood. Two months later, he developed an inflammation and very high blood pressure in one eye, which causes swelling and potentially serious vision problems.

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Plans need funding from the beginning, not when outbreak occurs

EKANTIPUR.COM by Manish Gautam and Pranaya SJB Rana      April 20, 2015
 
Nepal -- More than two weeks later, the mystery disease in Jajarkot has finally been identified as swine flu. With 24 people dead and thousands infected in a number of remote VDCs in Jajarkot, the disease has made national headlines. Yet, many have criticised the government for its lackluster response to the outbreak.

A team led by Health Minister Khaganath Adhikari visited the outbreak sites only after a dozen people had died. The team returned with inadequate samples for testing, prolonging the diagnosis period. Since then, a medical team of roughly 40 medical personnel from the Epidemiology and Disease Control Division (EDCD), the World Health Organisation, and the Nepal Army have been deployed to the outbreak sites.

Yet, there is little sign of the disease abating. Manish Gautam and Pranaya SJB Rana spoke to Dr Baburam Marasini , the harried director of the EDCD, on the state’s response to the outbreak, the EDCD’s complaints of a lack of funding, and the state’s preparedness for such epidemics.

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Ebola Virus Lives on Hospital Surfaces for Days

LIVESCIENCE  by Rachel Rettner                                                          May 6, 2015

The Ebola virus can live on surfaces in hospitals for nearly two weeks, a new study suggests.

Researchers tested how long the Ebola virus could survive on plastic, stainless steel and Tyvek, a material used in Ebola suits. The researchers also simulated different environmental conditions, including a climate-controlled hospital at 70 degrees Fahrenheit (21 degrees Celsius) and 40 percent humidity, and the typical environment of West Africa, at 80 F (27 C) and 80 percent humidity.

In general, the virus survived on surfaces for a longer time when in the climate-controlled conditions than in the West African environment, the study found. Under hospital-like conditions, the virus lived for 11 days on Tyvek, eight days on plastic and four days on stainless steel. The longest the virus was able to survive in the tropical conditions of the West African environment was three days, on Tyvek.

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http://www.livescience.com/50758-ebola-virus-survival-surfaces.html

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