[ti:Groups Seek 4 Billion for Child Vaccines ] [ar:Steve Ember] [al:Health Report] [by:www.51voa.com] [00:00.00]This is the VOA Special English [00:02.89]Health Report. [00:04.45]Vaccines and chest compressions [00:07.43]are both ways to save lives. [00:10.17]Now, separate new reports say [00:12.97]each could save more lives [00:15.21]if they were used more. [00:16.97]One report is from the International [00:19.95]Federation of Red Cross [00:22.00]and Red Crescent Societies [00:24.06]and the GAVI Alliance. [00:27.23]GAVI is the Global Alliance [00:29.84]for Vaccines and Immunization. [00:32.89]This alliance of public [00:35.38]and private groups finances vaccines [00:38.30]in poor countries. [00:40.29]Spokesman Jeffrey Rowland says [00:42.86]GAVI has done a lot [00:44.66]since it began ten years ago. [00:47.40]JEFFREY ROWLAND: "We have prevented [00:49.14]5.4 million premature deaths. [00:52.44]That means these children [00:54.55]will not die of these diseases, [00:55.80]5.4 million, and we hope to [00:57.79] prevent 4.2 million premature deaths [01:01.58]by keeping immunization rates high [01:04.69]over the next five years [01:05.62]for basic immunization [01:06.74]and rolling out vaccines [01:09.00]against pneumonia [01:10.00]and rotavirus diarrhea." [01:11.44]GAVI says these two diseases [01:13.36]cause more than one-third [01:15.42]of all deaths in children [01:17.42]under age five. [01:18.98]It says new vaccines against [01:21.90]the pneumococcal bacteria [01:23.53]and rotavirus could save more than [01:26.89]one million children each year. [01:29.13]But the group warns that a shortage [01:32.38]of four billion dollars [01:34.44]threatens these [01:35.80]and other immunization programs. [01:38.62]Some of these programs [01:40.80]have made great progress [01:42.41]against polio and other diseases [01:45.40]preventable by vaccines. [01:47.83]In other health news, [01:50.44]a new study compares ways [01:53.11]of saving patients with cardiac arrest. [01:56.97]Sudden cardiac arrest is when [02:00.14]the heart develops an abnormal [02:02.32]rhythm and stops beating. [02:04.50]An analysis of four studies [02:07.89]found no difference [02:09.50]in short-term survival [02:11.76]when rescuers followed current guidelines. [02:15.45]These call for defibrillation [02:18.31]as soon as possible. [02:19.74]A defibrillator is the device [02:23.28]used to shock the heart [02:25.58]back to normal rhythm. [02:27.65]But there was a small increase [02:30.02]in long-term survival among those [02:32.75]who received chest compressions [02:34.81]before defibrillation. [02:37.11]This was true one year [02:39.05]after cardiac arrest, [02:41.10]and especially if there [02:43.09]were delays in the arrival [02:44.77]of emergency medical services. [02:46.39]Doctor Pascal Meier of the University [02:50.19]of Michigan Health System [02:52.24]led an international study [02:54.48]of one thousand five hundred patients. [02:57.59]PASCAL MEIER: "What we wanted [02:58.58]to test is whether it would be better [03:00.76]to start first with good quality chest [03:03.99]compressions to prepare the heart [03:06.48]for this electrical shock [03:07.73]-- to get some blood circulation [03:09.84]to the brain and heart [03:10.96]before we apply the shock." [03:12.58]Dr. Meier says people should [03:14.45]start to give compressions immediately [03:16.95]if emergency help has not arrived. [03:20.39]He says good quality compressions [03:23.42]are done in the middle of the chest. [03:25.91]PASCAL MEIER: "On the breast bone, [03:27.40]usually about two fingers [03:28.64]above the lower end [03:30.09]of the chest bone, [03:31.02]you put your both hands and then [03:32.64]you have to straighten your arms [03:34.88]and do pretty strong compressions there." [03:38.74]A report on the findings [03:39.98]appeared in the online [03:41.35]journal BMC Medicine. [03:44.65]And that's the VOA Special English [03:48.01]Health Report. [03:48.88]You can read and listen [03:51.32]to our programs at 51voa.com. [03:55.49]I'm Steve Ember.