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UNICEF Highlights Child Survival On The Day Of The African Child
Several African countries have made impressive gains in child survival in recent years but much more needs to be done, UNICEF said today in marking the International Day of the African Child. This year"s theme is "Africa Fit for Children: A Call for Accelerated Action Towards Child Survival".

Gene Evolution Process Discovered
One of the mechanisms governing how our physical features and behavioural traits have evolved over centuries has been discovered by researchers at the University of Leeds.
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What Are Gallstones? What Causes Gallstones?
Gallstones are lumps or stones that develop in the gallbladder or bile duct. Some of the chemicals which exist in the gallbladder, such as cholesterol, calcium bilirubinate, and calcium carbonate, harden into either one large stone or many small ones. According to Medilexicon"s medical dictionary, a gallstone is "A concretion in the gallbladder or a bile duct, composed chiefly of a mixture of cholesterol, calcium bilirubinate, and calcium carbonate, occasionally as a pure stone composed of just one of these substances". An article describes a gallbladder in the bile duct similar to trying to squeeze a golf ball through a straw.
Nutrition

Also In Global Health: Text Messages For Health; Chagas Disease; Infant, Maternal Mortality In Botswana; Community Health Progs In Africa; Swaziland

UN Launches Pilot Study In Uganda That Uses Text Messages To Promote Public Health The U.N. has launched a ten-day pilot project in Jinja, Uganda, that uses mobile phones to educate the public about health, the Monitor reports. As part of the Texting4Health initiative, an estimated 10,000 people will receive "a short health quiz using text messages," according to the Monitor (Luggya, Monitor, 6/11). CNN Examines Chagas Disease In Latin America CNN examines Chagas disease, a "parasitic illness carried by a particular Latin American bug," which affects about 16 to 18 million people each year and kills 50,000 people annually. The vinchuca bug carries the infection, which is transmitted when they bite or are "unknowingly eaten in uncooked food, or rubbed in the eye," according to CNN. Although it is treatable in its early stages, people often do not know when they have been infected and the disease can cause fatal heart problems years later. The article examines other challenges related to the disease, including effective testing and a lack of high-quality drugs (CNN, 6/10). Progress On Infant Mortality Rates, Maternal Mortality Still High In Botswana Although Botswana has made progress in infant health care, maternal mortality rates remain high and could prevent the country from achieving U.N. Millennium Development Goal targets, Sheenaz El- Halabi, the country"s director of public health, said on Tuesday, Mmegi reports. She said the health ministry has a strategy "to deliver high impact interventions at large scale in order to reduce the deaths of children and mothers" (Baputaki, Mmegi, 6/10). Nigerian Minister Calls For Expanded Community Health Program Nigerian Minister of State for Health Aliyu Idi Hong called for expansion of the Community-Directed Interventions (CDI) program in health worker training programs at a "three-day meeting of health experts and senior academics from 12 African countries," in Abuja, Nigeria, Afrique en ligne reports. The CDI approach is currently used in more than 120,000 communities throughout Africa for the treatment for river blindness (Afrique en ligne, 6/10). Economic Downturn Compromises Health Programs In Swaziland Inter Press Service News Agency examines the impact that the global economic downturn is having on Swaziland"s health system. One-third of Swaziland"s "national health budget which comes directly from donor agencies is abruptly drying up," even as inflation in the region has increased, according to IPS. The impacts are forcing changes to tuberculosis, malaria and HIV/AIDS programs (Phakathi, IPS, 6/9). This information was reprinted from globalhealth.kff.org with kind permission from the Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation. You can view the entire Kaiser Daily Global Health Policy Report, search the archives and sign up for email delivery at globalhealth.kff.org. © Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation. All rights reserved.


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