US Mission Geneva

Early childhood deaths due to malaria are in rapid decline, eight years after a U.S. campaign against the disease began in 15 high-risk countries.

The lives of 20 million people have been saved in recent years because the United States and other governments have scaled up their campaign against tuberculosis (TB), working to overcome one of the world’s most deadly diseases, the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) says.

Both U.S. and international health institutions use the month of February as an opportunity to raise awareness about diseases that are among the greatest causes of premature death.

U.S. medical researchers have developed a trial vaccine that holds promise for preventing dengue, a disease that sickens an estimated 50 million people or more each year.

The incidence of measles worldwide has decreased 65 percent from 2000 to 2011, according to a new survey. The number of estimated deaths from measles has also declined, by 71 percent, from 542,000 to 158,000.

Ambassador Bonnie Jenkins, Chair of the 2012 Global Partnership Against the Spread of Weapons and Materials of Mass Destruction (Global Partnership), hosted a celebratory event at the Centre International de Conferences in Geneva, Switzerland on December 17, 2012.

WHO members are meeting in Geneva Dec 6-7 for an Extraordinary Meeting of the Program Budget and Administration Committee.

Broadening global understanding about mental illness is the goal of the World Health Organization’s World Mental Health Day October 10 and National Mental Health Awareness Week October 7–13 in the United States.

Ambassador King welcomed the Aspen Institute to present the 2012 Resolve Award which recognized leaders for delivering on a promise of universal access to reproductive health.