BBC ENGLISH NEWS

20 October 2010 Last updated at 23:28 GMT

India malaria deaths hugely underestimated, says report

By Ania Lichtarowicz Health reporter, BBC News

Malaria can be cured easily if diagnosed and treated quickly The number of people dying from malaria in India has been hugely underestimated, according to new research. The data, published in the Lancet, suggests there are 13 times more malaria deaths in India than the World Health Organization (WHO) estimates. The authors conclude that more than 200,000 deaths per year are caused by malaria. The WHO said the estimate produced by this study appears too high. The research was funded by the US National Institutes of Health, the Canadian Institute of Health Research and the Li Ka Shing Knowledge Institute. The new figures raise doubts over the total number of malaria deaths worldwide. Difficult diagnosis Calculating how many people die from malaria is extremely difficult. Most cases that are diagnosed and treated do not result in fatalities.

People who die of extremely high fevers in the community can be misdiagnosed and the cause of death can be attributed to other diseases and vice versa. As most deaths in India occur at home, without medical intervention, cause of death is seldom medically certified. There are about 1.3 million deaths from infectious diseases, where acute fever is the main symptom in rural areas in India. In this study, trained field workers interviewed families, asking them to describe how their relative died. Two doctors then reviewed each description and decided if the death was caused by malaria. This method is called verbal autopsy. Some 122,000 premature deaths between 2001 and 2003 were investigated. The data suggests that 205,000 deaths before the age of 70, mainly in rural areas, are caused by malaria each year. 'Serious doubts' The WHO estimated that malaria caused between 10,000-21,000 deaths in India in 2006. Continue reading the main story

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Malaria kills not just children but adults too in surprisingly large numbers. End Quote Professor Prabhat Jha Centre for Global Health Research The UN health agency welcomed new efforts to estimate the number of malaria deaths. Dr Robert Newman, the director of its global malaria programme, said: "It is vital to evaluate cause of death correctly because different diseases require different strategies for control." He concedes that WHO current evaluation methods have their limitations, but has serious doubts about the high estimates from this study. Verbal autopsy, he said, was not a trustworthy method for counting malaria deaths because the symptoms of malaria are shared with many other common causes of acute fever. This, he said, along with what the WHO called "implausibly high case incidence rates", indicates that the findings of this study cannot be accepted without further validation. He added that the WHO is working closely with the Indian government in the fight against the disease.

Work needed The authors say these figures, as well as global estimates, require urgent revision. Professor Prabhat Jha, director of the Centre for Global Health Research in Toronto, Canada, is one of the study's lead authors. He told BBC News: "Malaria kills not just children, but adults too in surprisingly large numbers. "India is the most populous country where malaria is common, and it is a surprisingly common cause of death." He added that there is a real need to reconsider how malaria deaths are calculated and that similar analysis needs to be done in other highly populated malaria endemic countries. There may also be considerable under-reporting of malaria deaths in other highly populated countries like Bangladesh, Pakistan and Indonesia. The authors say that aggressive malaria control programmes are needed, as well as scaling up treatment - particularly in adult rural populations.

BBC ENGLISH NEWS

20 October 2010 Last updated at 21:06 GMT

Apple launches MacBook Air laptop

By Maggie Shiels Technology reporter, BBC News, Silicon Valley

The MacBook Air is 0.11 inches thick at its thinnest point Apple is cashing in on the popularity of its iPhone and iPad to boost demand for its oldest product, the Macintosh. The company launched a revamped MacBook Air at an event dubbed "Back to the Mac" at its Cupertino headquarters. The computer is seen as a marriage of what Apple has learned from desktop computing and mobile devices. Like the iPad, the Air will have no hard drive and rely on flash memory. "It's like nothing we've ever created before," said Apple boss Steve Jobs. "We see these as the next generation of MacBooks. We think all notebooks are going to be like this one day. We've been inspired by some of the work we have done on iOS and want to bring them back to the Mac," said Mr Jobs. Analysts said the new product sends out a clear signal to the industry. "This is a strong reminder to everyone out there that Apple is still in the PC business," said Michael Gartenberg, research director with Gartner. "They are still making a lot of money in the PC business and if anyone thinks they are getting out of that business given the money they are making they are very mistaken."

On sale The new MacBook Air is 0.11 inches thick at its thinnest point. Apple said the computer's battery life lets users surf the web for seven hours. In standby mode, the battery can last 30 days. Models start at $999 and are now shipping. The first Macintosh made its debut on 24 January 1984 In an overview, Apple said the Macintosh accounted for a third of the company's revenue or $22bn in the fiscal year that has just ended. They sold 13.7 million Macs last year, which is three times the sales they had in 2005. The firm also cited research figures that showed Apple now controls 20.7% of the US consumer market and accounts for one in every five computers sold. "The Mac company, if it were a standalone company, and we have no plans to do that, would be 110 on the Fortune 500 list," said Tim Cook, Apple's chief technology officer. Other features Apple also unveiled a new version of the Macintosh operating system, called Lion, to be released next summer. The new OS is designed to take advantage of some of the features of the mobile iOS by bringing them to the desktop. "Lion brings many of the best ideas from the iPad back to the Mac, plus some fresh new ones," said Mr Jobs. The company revealed that Macs will soon have an application store mirroring the one that exists for the iPhone and the iPad. A launchpad will make it easy to organise and launch apps in the new version of the operating system.The store will open in 90 days. FaceTime, which debuted on the iPhone 4 this summer, will bring video-chatting to Macs. Also being updated is Apple's flagship software suite iLife. The new edition includes updates to iPhotos, iMovie, GarageBand, iDVD and iWeb. With the refreshed iPhoto feature, it will be easier for users to email photos and turn pictures into books and cards.