SciDev.Net

A new data kit for mobile phones allows users to quickly collect, analyse and transmit a wide variety of data in infrastructure-poor areas.

MRI scans could transform scientists' understanding of cerebral malaria but the technology is barely used, say researchers

Pork tapeworm is responsible for almost a third of epileptic fits, researchers say.

Deaths from diarrhoea in over-five-year-olds far exceed established estimates, according to a new study.

A pilot programme aiming to reduce mother-to-child transmission of HIV has reduced infection in babies from 27 to nine per cent.

Rural health workers will get advice via mobile phones as part of a project in Ghana — just one of a growing 'health hotlines' movement.

A quarter of TB deaths occur in HIV patients, says the WHO — double the previous estimate.

Health institutions in China and Mexico are among those benefiting from new funding from the US National Institutes of Health.

South Africa is set to approve a change to its medicines approval process that opponents fear will circumvent evidence-based evaluation.

Lebanon has launched an awareness campaign on counterfeit drugs, but commentators say the move doesn't go far enough.

Researchers have found that Chinese rabies cases have risen dramatically in recent years, matched by inadequate treatment.

The southern states of Mexico have the highest mortality rates and 'poverty diseases', says a WHO study.

Clinical examination can provide as reliable a guide to patient progress in HIV treatment as laboratory testing, a study finds.

Countries should follow Tanzania and invest in health systems, rather than projects, to meet the MDGs, say researchers.

Uganda is close to eradicating Hib meningitis among young children as a result of consistent immunisation programmes.

A round-up of news from or about South Asia for the period 1–15 March 2008.

The stigma associated with HIV/AIDS is on the wane in Africa, reports a new study, but concerted strategies are still needed to fight it. 

Poor implementation of the new malaria policy means that Kenyan health workers are continuing to prescribe old drugs, say researchers.

Preventive rather than recuperative nutrition programmes are best for tackling child malnutrition, a study has found.

Researchers looking into social and health implications of Malawi's abortion laws have called for their liberalisation.