1. Maternal and infant mortality falling sharply in Bangladesh
Bangladesh attains huge success in reducing infant and maternal mortality — "Bangladesh has achieved a huge success in reducing infant and maternal mortality rates in the last five decades, securing the top position in South Asia."
"According to the World Bank's estimation, the current infant mortality rate for Bangladesh is 21 deaths per 1000 live births making 85% decline from 1971 as the rate was 141 deaths during Bangladesh's independence.
The country's story has been that of success in the face of adversity and an example of what is possible for improvements in living standards for one of the world's poorest developing countries. The maternal mortality ratio and the child mortality rate have plummeted, while life expectancy has increased dramatically, from 38 years in 1950 to 73 years in 2022, overtaking even the global average. Driving many living standards has been the country's economic growth and a per person (GDP/capita, PPP$ inflation-adjusted) increase from $1,000 in 1950 to $4,990 in 2021.
"Bangladesh has the lowest rate of infant and maternal mortality in south Asia. The maternal mortality rate has fallen from 269 per 100,000 live births in 2009 to 165 per 100,000 today, and child mortality has declined by 63% since the turn of the century." "It's the eighth-most populated country in the world - millions of lives have been saved." — H/T Future Crunch
2. Highly effective new drug may clear sleeping sickness from the body
With one dose, new drug may cure sleeping sickness. Could it also wipe it out? - Max Barnhart for NPR, December 2nd, 2022
"In 2004, when physician Dr. Wilfried Mutombo began treating patients diagnosed with sleeping sickness, the available treatments were themselves horrific and sometimes deadly."
"The widely available treatment then was an arsenic-based drug, and it was toxic. It could kill up to 5% of patients," he says. "I lost two of my patients. They were young, and that was a very bad experience."
"Now, a new oral drug has emerged that is 95% effective at curing sleeping sickness with just one dose. The results of clinical trials for this new drug, acoziborole, were published in The Lancet Infectious Diseases on Nov. 29."
Root Source: The Lancet Infectious Diseases November 29th, 2022, DOI: "Efficacy and safety of acoziborole in patients with human African trypanosomiasis caused by Trypanosoma brucei gambiense: a multicentre, open-label, single-arm, phase 2/3 trial"
3. Vaccine prompts HIV antibodies in 97 per cent of people in small study
Vaccine prompts HIV antibodies in 97 per cent of people in small study — "An experimental HIV vaccine led to antibodies against the virus in 35 out of 36 volunteers, but whether this offers protection against the infection is unclear"
"A two-dose HIV vaccine generated antibodies against the virus in 35 out of 36 people (97 per cent), with no severe side effects."
"The early-stage trial was designed to demonstrate safety and a proof-of-concept for a relatively novel approach to HIV vaccination. It is unclear whether the vaccine protects against HIV. Based on the antibody levels generated by the two-dose regimen, booster doses are expected to be required."
The good news is that innovations in HIV/AIDS, early intervention, and treatment are helping drive down the prevalence of new infections and deaths while improving the quality of life for millions. Deaths from HIV/AIDs peaked in 2004 at 1.8 million people globally; by 2019, that number has fallen by 52%, to roughly 863,000, and continues to decline slowly. Dive into the full data on the Our World in Data page on HIV/AIDS.
While it's still early days for the development of an effective, inexpensive, and safe vaccine to prevent the spread or decrease the virulence of HIV/AIDS, continued progress and incremental innovation is a promising cause for continued optimism in our global fight against the disease.
Source:
American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS)
Journal reference:
Leggat, D.J., et al. (2022) Vaccination induces HIV broadly neutralizing antibody precursors in humans. Science. doi.org/10.1126/science.add6502. Journal reference: Science, DOI: 10.1126/science.add6502
4. Vaccine prompts HIV antibodies in 97 per cent of people in small study
A drug for Alzheimer’s disease that seems to work — "It is not perfect. And it has side-effects. But it may be the real deal"
"After 18 months, it had slowed the progress of symptoms by a quarter."
"It is easy to be cynical about announcements of drugs that claim to slow the progress of Alzheimer’s disease, the most common form of dementia. Lecanemab, however, may be the real deal."
Oh, a paywall, eh? Jump it here: https://archive.ph/2NMIr#selection-665.2-665.71