Indonesia Says To Launch Bird Flu Pandemic Plan INDONESIA: April 15, 2008 JAKARTA - Indonesia, which has the highest death toll from bird flu of any country, will launch a plan later this week to deal with a possible influenza pandemic, officials said on Monday. Heru Setijanto, head of surveillance and monitoring at the national commission for bird flu control, said the plan would be followed up a week later by a three-day pandemic simulation involving several villages on the resort island of Bali.

A NATIONAL campaign to combat obesity by using sports equipment to reward children who exercise for at least an hour a day will be discussed this week when state and federal education ministers meet in Melbourne. Under the plan, which is being introduced in the ACT this year, all schools would be invited to participate in a 10-week competition, with equipment given to children who successfully meet the challenge.

>> Governments of Burkina Faso and Ivory Coast have announced a joint health programme to tackle a meningitis epidemic, which has gripped the bordering area of the two countries. By the second week

Report>>Ensuring Universal Access To Health and Education in India, Wada Na Todo Abhiyan, Delhi

A recent national survey in Tanzania reported that mortality in children younger than 5 years dropped by 24% over the 5 years between 2000 and 2004. The researchers aimed to investigate yearly changes to identify what might have contributed to this reduction and to investigate the prospects for meeting the Millennium Development Goal for child survival (MDG 4).

Increasing the coverage of key maternal, newborn, and child health interventions is essential if Millennium Development Goals (MDG) 4 and 5 are to be reached. We have assessed equity and trends in coverage rates of a key set of interventions through a summary index, to provide overall insight into past performance and progress perspectives.

The Countdown to 2015 for Maternal, Newborn, and Child Survival initiative monitors coverage of priority interventions to achieve the Millennium Development Goals (MDG) for reduction of maternal and child mortality. We aimed to report on 68 countries which have 97% of maternal and child deaths worldwide, and on 22 interventions that have been proven to improve maternal, newborn, and child survival.

TB control plan being accelerated FOZIA AZAM ISLAMABAD - The Ministry of Health has accelerated tuberculoses (TB) control programme with an overwhelming assistance of the foreign donors, including the World Health Organisation, which has contributed almost three quarters of the overall project cost of Rs 6 billion.

Vaccination importance highlighted KARACHI, April 8 (APP) - Eradication of small pox and the marked decrease in cases of diphtheria, whooping cough, and polio are testimony to the role vaccines have played in preventing life-threatening illnesses. This was stated by Secretary-General Pakistan Pediatric Association Dr. M.A. Arif, at a forum to discuss importance and value of vaccination as a preventive measure against diseases, safeguarding the future of children in Pakistan.

New health policy in 3 months: adviser World Health Day today Staff Correspondent The government will formulate a new health policy within three months to ensure proper healthcare services for all, health and family welfare adviser AMM Shawkat Ali said on Sunday. The new policy will make major changes to the national health guidelines so far framed or proposed to facilitate modernisation of healthcare facilities, he said at a press conference on the eve of World Health Day.

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