Experts Predict Polio Will Be Eradicated Soon

Polio is one of the many diseases that affect people all around the world and today a group of top medical professionals announced a major plan to completely eradicate polio from the human population in as little as 5 years. The prediction is that the mission should be successful and polio will be a thing of the past by 2018 but it all depends on what sort of budget is provided for the eradication efforts.

Polio used to affect hundreds of thousands of people per year around the world but as medical research advanced it became easier and easier to treat or prevent polio outbreaks. A vaccine for polio has been available and common in much of the world for many years now as well but unfortunately there are still developing countries where polio vaccines are not common. Despite all of this the number of polio outbreaks hit a record low with only 223 last year. This is great news considering that just over 20 years ago the disease was incredibly widespread around most of the world.

Given enough funding experts say that the 2018 goal of eradication is very feasible. The plan is being proposed to the World Health Organization sometime soon and should be a big step forward for medicine all around the world.

Bill Gates Wants to Build a Better Condom

Condoms are not a new technology, they are already available pretty much everywhere in the world and according to many experts they’ve helped millions of people in a number of ways. Obviously condoms are important in the worldwide fight against STDs but now Bill Gates and his foundation are hoping to improve on them once again. Bill Gates apparently started this program because he feels it could have a significant impact worldwide, currently there are millions of people dying from STDs because they do not use condoms for one reason or another.

The overall goal of Gates’ challenge is to create a condom that is not only effective but will also be used. In order to achieve this he insists that the condoms must be very cheap and should also be as minimal as possible in order to get past the current stigma many condoms have. Gates is hopeful that someone will step up to his challenge and if someone is successful he had pledged to provide significant funding to make it a reality.

This is great news because it could save millions of lives and put an end to the unnecessary spread of various diseases. Third world countries in particular are Gates’ target but he also hopes that the improved condoms will help in America and other developed countries as well.

Sharks Receive International Protection

This week the CITES conference, a major conference on protecting and preserving ocean wildlife, officially added five shark species to the international protection program. This is a big deal because the 5 species in question have been fighting for the protection for nearly 20 years and now it has finally been granted.

Due to the popularity of shark fin many sharks are caught simply for their fins, then thrown back into the ocean. Thanks to the new protection policies for these 5 species marine activists are hopeful that the deadly process will finally be put to a stop. There was significant opposition to the new protected status but experts at the conference decided that the threat is sever enough to warrant international protection. This is absolutely great news because it will keep millions of sharks from being senselessly killed around the world.

Following the addition of international protection, a task force will likely be created to actually enforce the law as well. Shark fishing and shark fin harvesting is expected to become a major international fight in the coming year due to social issues and the CITES conference group hopes that they will be able to police the oceans and cut down on the amount of illegal killing which is absolutely great news.

World Health Organization Calls for Drug Safety Improvements

This week a major committee from the World Health Organization announced that they’re working on developing a number of much needed improvements for the healthcare industry. As of now there isn’t really any sort of drug quality tracking system or screening system and that could lead to large quantities of tainted or incorrect drugs making it onto the open market.

This is exactly what the World Health Organization committee plans to resolve through some sort of new system. The details are still being worked on but they are committed to getting it setup and ready to be implemented sometime in the coming year. This is great news for everyone because it will finally put a much needed safety check on the drug manufacturing and distribution system worldwide.

The world is being done largely with help from the United States Food and Drug Administration, since they already operate a very similar system in the United States. Hopefully with the FDA’s help there will be an effective and efficient worldwide system to help keep consumers safe. It is only a matter of time before the system is completed and once it is the World Health Organization plans to implement it completely to help protection billions of people worldwide.

YouTube Unveils Face Blurring System

Today YouTube announced a revolutionary new feature which will definitely be a much appreciated change to the popular video sharing site. Currently millions of people around the world live in fear of being exposed in the videos they upload and for many this exposure could bring stiff legal repercussions, YouTube now has a solution to this problem.

The new system is basically an automated face blurring technology that gives uploaders the option of blurring any and all human faces present in a video. The goal is that the feature will be used by protesters, vigilantes, political activists, and more, all around the world to spread news and information around through the internet.

Many of these individual activists already upload videos to YouTube to show the world what is happening but for a number of reasons they’re in fear of political retaliation, now that YouTube is going to provide a simple means to block out their face these people will finally be free to upload their informative videos without any threat of political attack.

YouTube has not officially made the feature available yet but it expected to be available in the coming days all around the world. Millions of people around the world will finally be free to upload their opinions and news to YouTube without any fear of being arrested, attacked or punished by governments and regimes in their area.

Google Stands Against Censorship

Censorship has been around forever and now that newer and more robust forms of communication are available many countries and governments are being forced to work even harder to enforce censorship. Obviously censoring the internet has become a big deal for some countries and while they are able to effectively sensor some information they are unable to do so without the help of sites like Google.

The good news is that this week Google reported seeing a very significant increase in the number of censorship requests they’ve received and still continued to ignore them. Google has always been a supporter of providing information without censorship and they have once again continued to do just that. Despite the fact that Google is now receiving thousands of censorship requests from hundreds of countries, governments, and government agencies but is still remaining open and transparent for the world to view is absolutely great news.

The minute a major website like Google begins to play into world censorship is the minute the internet will lose its information and communication methods. Google has made it clear that they will continue to share the information to the world and will continue to fight against censorship which is absolutely amazing news for anyone and everyone online. Google will likely keep getting censorship requests, but at this time it doesn’t look like they’re going to do anything of the sort.

New Test May Save Millions

This week a group of researchers came out with what could be a lifesaving test for babies and infants. Health experts agree that syphilis is a significant risk for newborns in many under developed countries and for a variety of reasons they have never been able to effectively test for or treat the disease. Fortunately the new test is not only more accurate and more readily available, it is also significantly cheaper.

The entire purpose of the research program was to find or develop a cheaper alternative to current syphilis testing and that is exactly what they did. The new syphilis test is expected to cost no more than a dollar per test which means millions of them could quickly and easily be distributed to pregnant women in under developed countries. By effectively testing in these areas doctors would be able to at least begin some sort of treatment which many analysts say would likely be able to save the lives of millions of babies each and every year.

At this point the test is completely finished and the design is finalized so it all comes down to actual manufacturing. It will likely be at least a few months before the tests are being produced or distributed but experts are hopeful that in a relatively short time period the test will be available to those that so desperately need in all around the world.

Japan Earns World Cup Victory

For the past few months the entire country of Japan has been suffering from numerous setbacks, tragedies, and natural disasters so the amazing outcome of yesterday’s women’s World Cup final match comes as much needed support for the country. Japan successfully defeated the United States in the FIFA Women’s World Cup final after the match went into multiple extended periods of play.

It is estimated that hundreds of thousands of Japanese fans watched the game either on television or at the game in Germany and millions more found the results immediately upon waking up the morning after the game. The results are quite surprising to many as the United States was expected to win but for a country in need this powerful victory will likely have a major affect on the morale around the country and around the world.

Analysts say that perhaps the most amazing and inspiring part of the entire game for the Japanese is that despite trailing by one goal at multiple times the Japanese women continued to keep cool under pressure and perform when it was needed. The Japanese team performed admirably well during the entire match and when it counted they were able to connect and eventually secure the win. Overall the entire country of Japan has been celebrating the outstanding victory; it is nice to see some good news coming to a country that has been hit by so many negative and depressing things in the past 12 months.