Tag Archives: Epidemic

18 February 2014

27 states launch Global Health Security Agenda to prevent and contain infectious diseases

Twenty-seven states, the World Health Organization (WHO), the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), and the World Organization for Animal Health (OIE), have launched an effort to improve the ability to prevent, detect, respond to and contain outbreaks of dangerous infectious diseases.

The Global Health Security Agenda aims to prevent avoidable epidemics by, for instance, keeping to a minimum the number of labs worldwide that store dangerous microbes and by extending vaccination programs. Another goal is to detect threats early, such as by promoting faster sharing of biological samples. (more…)

Source: CBS News | U.S. announces global partnership to fight infectious diseases
Source: Infection Control Today | Nations Commit to Accelerating Progress Against Infectious Disease Threats

25 February 2013

UN invokes immunity in response to compensation claims in relation to cholera believed to be caused by peacekeepers

The United Nations (UN) has invoked its immunity to deny claims for compensation from 5.000 victims of the Haiti cholera epidemic, believed to have been caused by UN peacekeepers that imported the infection into the country.

The reigning scientific theory about the origin of the epidemic is that peacekeepers from Nepal imported the cholera and, through a faulty sanitation system at their base, infected a tributary of the country’s largest river. The cholera epidemic has killed almost 8.000 people and has stricken hundreds of thousands more.

 

 

Source: The New York Times | U.N. Rejects Claim for Direct Compensation to Victims of Cholera Epidemic in Haiti
Source: The Guardian | UN will not compensate Haiti cholera victims, Ban Ki-moon tells president

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