U.S. officials reported that the addition of another million doses H1N1 swine flu vaccine, brings the total so far to 23.2 million doses.  Janet Napolitano, secretary of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, said that they know people are frustrated by the inability to immediately get vaccine right now and also by waiting in lines and by uncertainty.Production delays have resulted in far fewer doses of the H1N1 vaccine than federal officials had hoped for by this time. The first estimates called for 40 million doses by the end of October and 190 million doses by year’s end.

Read the detailed report at US News

Shiloh Pepin, a 10 years old girl who was born with sirenomelia, has died last Friday in Maine. Sirenomelia is a condition most commonly known as mermaid syndrome.

Sirenomelia or mermaid syndrome is a condition in which one’s legs are fused together from the waist down. Pepin did not have any genital organs or a large intestine. Most children born with sirenomelia die soon after birth, but Pepin managed to live 10 years.

Poverty is the condition of lacking basic human needs such as nutrition, clean water, health care, clothing, and shelter because of the inability to afford them. This is also referred to as absolute poverty or destitution. The major cause of poverty is when the GDP (Gross Domestic Product) of the 41 Heavily Indebted Poor Countries (567 million people) is less than the wealth of the world’s 7 richest people combined.

Poverty is present in various age groups, and whether the poverty rate went up or down. The poorest people will also have less access to health, education and other services. Problems of hunger, malnutrition and disease afflict the poorest in society. Health insurance is insurance that pays for medical expenses. As we know that too many people dies due to unavailability of medical facilities.

Health insurance can play a vital role to save lives of peoples. So certain precautions should be made by government so that poor people can get medical facilities. NGOs or other public welfare institutions should also make certain steps to help people for health insurance. Health insurance companies should also give special relief to the poor people.

50% of the people do not respond well for H1N1 vaccination, reason being the fear of unsafe vaccination. Almost all of them have same question, that if H1N1 vaccine is safe!

According to Health Canada, based on the results of thousands of clinical trials around the world, it is satisfied the vaccine is safe. And the adjuvant, a chemical product that boosts the immune response, has been tested on thousands with the H5N1 avian flu drug and proven effective, the regulator says.

The vaccine confers more than 90-per-cent immunity in healthy adults, more than the seasonal flu vaccine. Researchers cannot do studies in millions of people before licensing a vaccine, which would be too time-consuming during a pandemic. Post-licensing surveillance, in which people report their side effects, will be conducted in Canada. Read the rest of this entry →