Print version ISSN 0042-9686 Bull World Health Organ vol.87 n.3
Genebra Mar. 2009 Recent news from WHO WHO said, on 30 January,
that Zimbabwe's cholera outbreak, one of the world's largest
ever recorded, was far from being under control. It said that an
enhanced response was needed to reverse the epidemic that has
infected more than 60 000 people and killed more than 3100 since
August 2008. It called for urgent action to increase awareness,
particularly at the grassroots level, with regard to prevention
and treatment measures and to make more medicines available,
particularly oral rehydration salts (ORS) and chlorine tablets,
at community level so that health-care workers and ordinary
people themselves have the means to quickly treat cases of
cholera that emerge. WHO said, on 21 January, that it had
received US$ 9.7 million in grants from the Bill & Melinda Gates
Foundation to work with UNICEF and partners to conduct crucial
research in children's medicines. The aim of this research would
be to increase the n