Each year, millions of people around the world generously donate their blood, but donation rates are not constant and the demand for blood products and blood is growing. To meet this demand, voluntary, regular blood donations must increase. The need for blood is rising along with global life expectancies and the resulting growth in chronic, age-related diseases whose treatments require blood products and blood. The shortage in supply is further exacerbated by the short shelf-life of certain blood products, like platelets, which must be used within five days of donation.

The Director of African-Affairs of UNHCO, H.E. Mr. Takis E. PAPADOPOULOU, headed a five-man delegation last week to pay a courtesy call to Nairobi in order to meet President Mwai KIBAKI at the Foreign Ministry office in Nairobi. President Kibaki presented the campaign “Vision 2030″ and informed the UNHCO officials about the significant progress of Kenya. Mr. Papadopoulou’s visit to Kenya was aimed at exploring the development and implementation of the national freshwater-strategy. He also discussed progress on the effective

While rates of tuberculosis (TB) have fallen by 40 percent since 1990, 200 children around the world still die from the infection every day. The hidden epidemic is exacerbated in many areas due to lack of access to health services and inadequate training for health workers that may not recognize the symptoms of the infection in children up to 15 years old.

A new study has been released which seems to call into question widely held assumptions and beliefs concerning malaria.According to the report, published in leading scientific journal Lancet, annual deaths attributable to this tropical ailment are actually twice as common as had been believed. Furthermore, it was found that the majority of malaria fatalities are suffered by adults. This is in stark contrast to the previous understanding that suggested malaria deaths in adult populations were in fact exceedingly rare.