Morning Breakouts

Aid Agencies Warn April’s Steep Increases In Grain Prices Will Affect Sahel Nations During Lean Season

May 29, 2012 Morning Briefing

“Unexpectedly sharp price rises in April for local cereals like millet, rice, and maize in parts of Mali, Burkina Faso, Niger, and Chad mean many vulnerable people in the drought-hit Sahel could find it even harder to get enough to eat,” IRIN reports. “Prices are expected to keep rising until the end of August — during the lean season — but the size of recent hikes has surprised food price analysts and humanitarian aid personnel,” the news service writes (5/25). In an article detailing the situation in Senegal, the Associated Press notes, “More than one million children under five in this wide, arid swath of Africa below the Sahara are now at risk of a food shortage so severe that it threatens their lives, UNICEF estimates” (Larson, 5/27).

Widespread Cholera Vaccination Needed In Haiti While Improvements Made To Water, Sanitation Systems

May 29, 2012 Morning Briefing

“As the world’s worst outbreak of cholera continues to ravage Haiti, international donors have averted their gaze,” a Washington Post editorial writes. The editorial notes that a “pilot project to vaccinate Haitians against the disease … reached only one percent of the population, with no immediate prospect of expansion,” and “[o]f the 100 or so cholera treatment centers that sprang up around the country after the disease was detected 19 months ago, fewer than a third remain.” The solution to the epidemic is “equally well known and costly,” the editorial states, adding, “Haiti needs modern water and sanitation infrastructure, an undertaking that might cost $1 billion. But while donors tend to respond generously to emergencies, such as the earthquake that devastated Haiti in early 2010, they lose interest in long-term fixes of the sort that would deal decisively with cholera.”

Paper Examines Global Health And Climate Change

May 29, 2012 Morning Briefing

In paper published online by the journal Globalization and Health, Kathryn Bowen and Sharon Friel of the National Centre for Epidemiology and Population Health at the Australian National University examine how global health fits into climate change adaptation activities. According to the abstract, “The aim of this paper is to provide an overview of adaptation and its relevance to global health, and highlight the opportunities to improve health and reduce health inequities via the new and additional funding that is available for climate change adaptation activities” (5/27).

First Edition: May 29, 2012

May 29, 2012 Morning Briefing

Today’s early morning highlights from major news organizations, including articles on higher drug costs for some consumers and both parties’ efforts to influence voters with claims about Medicare.

Blog Examines Kaiser Family Foundation Survey On Americans’ Views Of U.S. Global Health Efforts

May 25, 2012 Morning Briefing

Highlighting the findings of a Kaiser Family Foundation survey released on Monday that examines Americans’ views on U.S. global health efforts, journalist Tom Paulson writes in KPLU’s “Humanosphere” blog, “The news media … largely ignored this but it deserves more attention.” He briefly summarizes the findings by writing, “[M]ost Americans don’t know how little we spend on foreign aid,” but “once Americans know how little we spend on foreign aid many say we should spend more.” Finally, he says the report found that “most Americans think we should work with others internationally … rather than try to do things on our own.” He concludes that the survey “includes some critical analysis and not always good news. But on the whole, it’s evidence that Americans do want to play a big role in making the world a better place — and evidence, if we needed it, of how disconnected the political dialogue has become from reality” (5/24).

Senate Appropriations Committee Approves FY13 State And Foreign Operations Appropriations Bill

May 25, 2012 Morning Briefing

The Senate Appropriations Committee on Thursday approved a $52.1 billion appropriations bill to fund U.S. state and foreign operations in FY 2013, Devex reports. “The committee voted 29-1 to send the … bill to the full Senate floor for consideration,” the news service writes, adding, “It is still unclear when the bill will be scheduled for a full Senate vote” (Mungcal, 5/25). “The Senate bill would provide $8.5 billion to the [Global Health Initiative (GHI)], which is approximately $600 million more than the President’s FY13 request ($7.9 billion) and $500 million more than the House FY13 appropriations bill [.pdf] ($8.0 billion),” the Kaiser Family Foundation’s “Policy Tracker” writes, noting, “It is also approximately $300 million above the FY12 amount ($8.2 billion)” (5/24).

Commentary Addresses Status Of The U.S. Global Health Initiative

May 25, 2012 Morning Briefing

In this Lancet opinion piece, Jennifer Kates, vice president and director of global health and HIV policy for the Kaiser Family Foundation, and Josh Michaud, principal policy analyst at the Foundation, examine the U.S. Global Health Initiative (GHI), which “represents the bulk of the U.S. global health budget and bilateral activities in more than 80 countries.” Kates and Michaud provide a brief overview of the initiative, identify the principles upon which it was founded and say that four years into the GHI, “The picture is one of both successes and challenges.”

Editorial, Opinion Piece Examine Future Of World Health Organization

May 25, 2012 Morning Briefing

As the World Health Assembly draws to a close in Geneva this week, and Margaret Chan accepts her appointment to a second five-year term as director-general of the World Health Organization (WHO), an editorial and an opinion piece examine the future of the U.N. health agency. Summaries of these pieces appear below.