In this month's Bulletin
WHO 60th anniversary commemorative volume
This month’s cover shows a classic public health poster on immunization, a topic also covered in several items in this issue. Jane Parry (425–426) reports on the anxieties about vaccines and the baseless scares that can dent public trust in immunization campaigns. In an interview, Julian Lob-Levyt (427–428) explains how the GAVI Alliance funds vaccines for 73 poor countries.
Mandip Jheeta & James Newell (420–421) discuss the effects of parents’ attitudes on childhood vaccination in Africa and Asia. Melissa Leach & James Fairhead (418) also present some cultural and social perspectives on vaccination from west Africa. Scott Wittet & Vivien Tsu (488–489) argue that cervical cancer screening and vaccination against the human papillomavirus could contribute to attaining some of the Millennium Development Goals. These issues are taken up by Stephen Peckham, Alison Hann and Jacques Milliez (489–491) in a round table discussion.
Call for papers: Charles Mock et al. (419) invite contributions to the upcoming Bulletin theme issue on child injury and violence.
Making progress in AIDS treatment
Musinguzi Bamuturaki (423–424) reports how a new manufacturing facility could improve affordability and access to antiretroviral drugs.
A standard for world mental health
Hamada Hamid et al. (467–473) evaluate the WHO Assessment Instrument for Mental Health Systems.
Combining infant vaccines
Maria Rosario Capeding et al. (443–451) trial the immunogenicity and safety of giving a diphtheria-tetanus-pertussis /polio/ Haemophilus influenzae type b combination vaccine with hepatitis B vaccine.
Measuring antiretroviral therapy success in low-resource settings
Eugène Messou et al. (435–442) test whether weight gain and CD4 count are reliable predictors of virological success after 6 months of antiretroviral treatment.
Minh Van Hoang et al. (429–434) analyse the cost of the Expanded Programme on Immunization.
Using National Immunization Day to monitor children’s health
Leonor Maria Pacheco Santos et al. (474–479) demonstrate the feasibility of implementing large-scale health checks in conjunction with immunization days.
Primary health care: back to basics
Rivonala Razafison (421–423) reports on the challenges faced and progress made in achieving the primary health care goal of health for all in this island nation.
Improving newborn survival rates
Zulfiqar A Bhutta et al. (452–459) investigate the feasibility of implementing community-based interventions for improving perinatal care.
A case for screening
Bernadette Modell & Matthew Darlison (480–487) recommend that screening and genetic counselling for haemoglobin disorders should become an intrinsic part of health-care systems.
Public health classic
J Anthony G Scott (494–496) comments on a major study into childhood pneumonia 20 years after its publication.
Access for all
Davina Ghersi et al. (492–493) call for the findings of clinical trials to be made publicly available.
Trends in stillbirth
Robert Woods (460–466) discusses the problems of defining and measuring stillbirths and uses evidence from developed countries to predict trends for developing countries.