News: India on the verge of wiping out polio

India marks one year without a single polio case

The second most populated country in the world hasn’t had a polio case in one year. Today marks the exact day. The SMH reported: “If pending test results return absent of the virus in coming weeks, India will be removed from the list of endemic polio countries, leaving only Afghanistan, Pakistan and Nigeria as countries where the virus has never been eradicated. But India still remains at serious risk of fresh outbreaks if the virus is brought back into the country from overseas, and polio experts say the country’s massive immunisation regimen must be maintained.

”This has been a monumental effort,” said Hamid Jafari, head of the World Health Organisation’s National Polio Surveillance Project in India. ”From a global perspective, India was a major source of the international spread of wild polio virus over past decades … but, also, there is no longer an excuse that polio cannot be eradicated. If it can be eradicated in India, it can be done anywhere. The global polio eradication program was now being set up on an ”emergency operations framework”, Dr Jafari told the Herald. ”The progress in India had given impetus to that. Now very few countries remain and within that emergency operations framework, they are really looking at interrupting transmission within 18 to 24 months, certainly within 2013.”

Just two years ago, experts were stating polio could never be eradicated from India. In 2009, India accounted for half the world’s polio cases with 741 reported.

Hangover cure on the horizon … really?

The Chinese might have had a 500-year headstart on a hangover cure and kept it a pretty well hidden secret all this time. But now scientists are investigating whether a natural compound helped curb the results of being drunk. The compound, DHM, which works by stopping alcohol from accessing the receptors in the brain, is extracted from an oriental raisin tree and has already proved its worth as an alcohol antidote in a series of experiments on rats. Scientists want to try and put it into a pill. It’s doubly useful as the compound can also sober someone up at great speed, while reducing the hangover effects in the morning. The former use could see it become a ‘direct antidote’ to help treat those at dangerous levels of intoxication.

Miranda Kerr named new Qantas Ambassador

Just a week after it was announced Qantas had three of the top ten PR disasters of 2011 under its belt, the airline has announced supermodel Miranda Kerr would be its new ambassador. Kerr said she was honoured to be chosen. “I grew up with Qantas which is such an iconic Australian brand. I’m proud of my Australian heritage and I’m so excited that I will now be able to represent Australia’s premium airline around the world. I travel frequently and from the moment I step onboard a Qantas flight I feel at home.” Kerr joins John Travolta, Cathy Freeman, Mark Webber, Greg Norman, Mark Schwarzer and John Eales as Qantas ambassadors.

Need to ‘avoid a ghetto’? Just ask your phone.

Microsoft has developed a phone feature that uses a combination of the latest crime statistics and your phone’s GPS to advise travellers which areas of a city or place to avoid. It works for areas of ‘extreme weather’, too, but that’s not attracting all the attention. The patent states: “A route can be developed for a person taking into account factors that specifically affect a pedestrian such as being in an unsafe neighborhood or in an area subject to harsh temperatures.” The feature has been dubbed ‘avoid ghetto’ and critics have said it will simply allow entrenched stereotypes about neighbourhoods to become even greater. CNET wrote: “What is unclear, at least from my reading of the patent — which isn’t written by anything resembling a human hand or mind — is what kind of crime statistics the GPS might choose to use.” So, would you use it? What do you think?

Has Dan been sighted in Brisbane?

The family of missing man Daniel O’Keeffe have relocated to Brisbane after a promising sighting on the city’s outskirts. You might remember Mamamia ran a heartfelt post from his sister Loren in the hopes it would remind Australians to keep an eye out. The reward for information leading to his location is now at $50,000. News.com.au reported: The man the family believe to be Daniel walked into a shop in a town on the fringes of Brisbane on November 30. Ms O’Keeffe has viewed CCTV footage in the shop and combined with the description provided by the woman is confident the man is Daniel. “There were things about his mannerisms and the way Dan is, that this woman was able to convey very clearly in her report. I wouldn’t have flown up here if it was just a generic report. She gave specific details.” Are you in Brisbane? Pass this on to your friends.

State Governments picking a fight on pokie reform

The three biggest states in the country, population wise, have each told the Prime Minister that her pokie reform won’t work. But they would say that, because they stand to lose the most money from gambling revenues. Queensland’s Attorney-General Paul Lucas said: “Further research is required before other solutions, such as those proposed by the federal government, can be considered. The Queensland government has made it clear it supports voluntary pre-commitment.” Victoria said Ms Gillard was ‘arrogant’ and had to mandate for her reforms. NSW said the scheme would ‘sound the death knell’ for clubs. Some

Molly Meldrum to leave hospital ‘within days’

He won’t be heading home straight away, but it’s welcome news nonetheless. The music industry icon will be off to a rehabilitation clinic to continue his recovery. His brother Brian Meldrum said: ”They [doctors] are starting to look at the time where he will go into private rehabilitation. They are really happy with his progress and that day is fast approaching. It’s a step in the right direction and I am really pleased.”

What else has caught your attention in the news?