The media could potentially play a huge part in providing the public with advice on infectious diseases. Nevertheless, much of the media’s health coverage is inappropriate and sometimes misleading.

It is good to see a relevant and practical article in Uganda’s Daily Monitor. “What could affect your results?” describes what happens when a person with suspected malaria provides a blood sample for testing. Testing for other conditions is also discussed. A central issue in providing a sample is timing, the article explains.

It has been said that yaws is not a ‘neglected’ infection but a condition that has been entirely forgotten. This disease, which can cause serious damage to skin and bone, has not gone away and may indeed be increasing in parts of Africa, but it seldom receives a mention even from organizations focusing on the infectious diseases of poverty.

It is therefore encouraging to note that UNICEF, in its media releases for this year’s Day of the African Child is featuring a ten-year-old Congolese boy who is receiving yaws treatment.

It is not clear whether UNICEF has any plan to attempt to restart yaws eradication efforts but anything which highlights the disease is a step in the right direction.

A recent review article on yaws has been highlighted on TropIKA.net.

Tuberculosis specialist Professor Madhu Pai, of Canada’s McGill University, is interviewed in an eight-minute podcast on the Speaking of Medicine blog. He focuses on the position of researchers in developing countries and the role of open-access publishing in meeting their information needs.

Madhu Pai explains that his own enthusiasm for open-access publishing came as a result of his experience as a student in India and later as a researcher unable to get access to the PDF of his own published work.

Speaking of Medicine is run by the open-access journal PLoS Medicine.