The Kathmandu Valley in South Asia is considered as one of the global "hot spots" in terms of urban air pollution. It is facing severe air quality problems as a result of rapid urbanization and land use change, socioeconomic transformation and high population growth.

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The news that a promising vaccine has been tested against Ebola is very welcome. But, as we in Nepal know only too well, the development of a vaccine is no guarantee that it will be used. Back in 1987, a successful trial of a typhoid vaccine here in Kathmandu gave the world a new and highly effective way to protect against one of its oldest killers. Yet, ironically, while the tourists and trekkers who have flocked in recent decades to Nepal — one of the countries where typhoid is still endemic — use the vaccine to protect themselves, most local people are denied it.

In developing countries, mortality in children with very severe pneumonia is high, even with the provision of appropriate antibiotics, standard oxygen therapy, and other supportive care. We assessed whether oxygen therapy delivered by bubble continuous positive airway pressure (CPAP) improved outcomes compared with standard low-flow and high-flow oxygen therapies.