Cholera cases have soared in the Democratic Republic of Congo in recent weeks, the UN said on Friday, bringing the number of people infected in the year-long outbreak to 22,000 with 584 deaths.

Aid agencies have been trying to halt the spread of the water-borne disease that has ravaged eight of the country's 11 provinces since January 2011.

"There has been a spike in cases" since mid-December, with figures on the rise in the capital Kinshasa in particular, the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) said.

Karachi—Ambassador for Polio Eradication, Ms Aseefa Bhutto Zardari, has called for stepped up efforts to completely eradicate the crippling disease of Polio from the country and to once again achieve the status of Polio free country as was achieved during the government of Shaheed Mohtarma Benzir Bhutto in mid 90s.

She said this during a briefing given to her on the incidence of polio and plans for its eradication in the country at Bilawal House here on Sunday.

Absence of preventive measures and affordable and accessible health care leads to nearly 500 encephalitis deaths in Uttar Pradesh.
IT is a strange paradox. In a country that aspires to be a superpower and boasts of rapid economic growth, 488 children died in a State, Uttar Pradesh, from encephalitis alone this year. It is nothing less than a national shame and tragedy. In six districts of Bihar, close to 200 children died this year. These are deaths that occurred in hospitals and hence were reported; the actual toll could be far higher.

A remarkable improvement has been witnessed in the condition of malnourished children in Madhya Pradesh. A national survey conducted by an independent agency has found that the number of malnourished children in the State has come down by 50 per cent and those of underweight children by 25 per cent. This information was given during a quarterly review meeting of Woman and Child Development Department taken by Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan here on Monday.

Calling for urgent measures to provide sanitation facility across the country, Union Minister of Rural Development Jairam Ramesh has pointed to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh that in addition to malnutrition another distressing national shame which India can't live with is open defecation.

The top US health official administered polio vaccination drops to children in New Delhi on Friday as India marked one year since its last case of the crippling disease. The milestone is a major victory in the global effort to eradicate polio. If no previously undisclosed cases are uncovered in the coming weeks, India will be removed from the list of endemic countries, leaving only Pakistan, Afghanistan and Nigeria.

The United Nations and leading world organizations celebrated India’s first polio free year and termed it as a major milestone in their fight against this dreaded disease.

The World Health Organisation (WHO) Director-General Margaret Chan, termed it as the “greatest public health achievement” of India, the Bill Gates, of Bill and Milinda Gates Foundation described it as a major milestone in the global fight against polio.

Jaipur: Malnutrition among children in Rajasthan has taken ominous proportions. The Hungama (Hunger and Malnutrition) survey carried out recently by Naandi Foundation indicates that the situation in many districts has worsened when compared to what it was about a decade back.

The Hungama Survey, released on Tuesday by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, mentions 10 districts in Rajasthan. These districts are among a sample size of 112 districts in the country.

The UNICEF executive director, Anthony Lake, on Wednesday said that government needed to work more for the children at risk to reduce deprivation among them in low-performing rural areas and urban slums. Lake, during his three-day visit to Bangladesh, visited a drop-in centre supported by UNICEF for the protection of children who are homeless and neglected by society, a press release said.
He said that food security did not mean nutrition security for the children and around the world, 1, 80,000 million children are stunted, including 40 per cent of the children in Bangladesh.

A report on hunger and malnutrition in 112 districts across nine states of the country has revealed that 42.3 per cent children under the age of five years are underweight, 58.8 per cent are stunted and 11.4 per cent are “wasted”. Releasing the report prepared by Hyderabad-based Naandi Foundation here today, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh termed malnutrition a “national shame”.

The HUNGaMA (Hunger and Malnutrition) report covered 106 worst-performing districts as per the UNICEF child development index and six best-performing districts across three states.