Top stories from DAWNS Digest
Polio on the Comeback….The World Health Organization held an emergency meeting yesterday in response to a wave of new polio cases popping up in countries that had defeated the disease. Where’s the Polio? Says the WHO: “Between January and April 2014, in what is usually the low season for poliovirus transmission, three new international wild poliovirus importation events have been detected, one each in Asia (Pakistan to Afghanistan), the Middle East (Syria to Iraq) and central Africa (Cameroon to Equatorial Guinea).” In all, there are 10 countries considered to have active transmissions in the past six months. What’s next? The WHO is deciding whether to formally declare this a “public health emergency of international concern,” which would trigger a host of protocols, ranging from travel restrictions to emergency funding to contain the spread of the disease. Deeper dive: Reuters http://reut.rs/1iya1PA
It Gets Worse…Uganda edition: A new draft law that would bar NGOs from promoting homosexuality, tightening rules further after anti-gay legislation in February was widely condemned as draconian. (Reuters http://yhoo.it/QVa5hh)