Type O Blood Protects Malaria Victims

Dozens of countries poised to eliminate disease

(NEWSER) - Countries across the globe are making giant strides against malaria, the World Health Organization says: The number of deaths from the disease has dropped more than 20% over the last 10 years, and a third of the 108 countries where the illness is endemic could be rid of it in the next decade, the BBC reports. Some 15 million more deaths could be avoided by 2015 if health targets keep being achieved, experts say. More»

He contracted it during a visit to Sudan

(NEWSER) - Lots of celebrities do philanthropy, but George Clooney's actually suffering in the line of do-goodery—the actor contracted malaria while on a recent trip to Sudan, People reports. However, he's fully cured after a 10-day convalescence, said a spokesman. Clooney was in Sudan ahead of its vote on southern independence. More»

(NEWSER) - Diarrhea kills 1.6 million children under 5 every year—more than AIDS or malaria—and gets a fraction of the funding. But a deceptively simple new treatment may mark a breakthrough, Time reports. Zinc supplements appear to dramatically decrease diarrhea-related deaths—one afflicted village in Mali hasn’t had a single death since the pills arrived. Zinc “has totally taken off,” a researcher says. “It looks like real medicine and is not given out for free.” More»

We've made progress—now don't let economy destroy it

(NEWSER) - Carla Bruni-Sarkozy gets in the op-ed game today, urging G8 leaders who are converging on L’Aquila, Italy, to continue the commitment their predecessors made 8 years ago to fighting HIV/AIDS in Africa. The earlier initiative helped the Global Fund to Fight Aids, Tuberculosis and Malaria save some 4 million people, the French first lady says in a piece in the Guardian. Now, leaders must not let the economic crisis dismantle the life-saving program. “We have made inspiring and dramatic progress, but this journey has just begun.” More»

(NEWSER) - There’s a vampire resurgence in Chad, and no, it’s not because Twilight has swept the African country. Cost-conscious residents have resurrected a dish slyly known as “vampire”: cooked animal blood, the BBC reports. With global food prices soaring and meat increasingly expensive, traditional vampire is “actually an excellent source of nutrients, especially for children,” a local aidworker says. More»