Archives: Morning Breakouts

"Executive Director of UNAIDS Michel Sidibe Wednesday called for the production of anti-retroviral drugs [ARVs] in Africa to make the life-saving medicines against AIDS accessible to patients and boost the medicines manufacturing sector on the continent," PANA/AfriqueJet reports. Speaking at the 16th West African Economic and Monetary Union (UEMOA) Summit in Lome, Togo, "Sidibe said it was time for the continent to negotiate strong partnerships with emerging countries, including India and Brazil, to support the local production of ARVs in Africa," the news service writes, adding, "According to [Sidibe], Africa accounts for only one percent of the medicine manufacturing sector that is expected to generate as much as $1 trillion by 2015" (6/7).

"Malawi's new president, Joyce Banda, has inherited an unenviable to-do list from former president Bingu wa Mutharika, and AIDS activists are hoping that bolstering the donor-dependent AIDS response will be one of her most urgent priorities," PlusNews reports. "An estimated 10 percent of the adult population is HIV-positive, with about 70,000 Malawians newly infected with HIV every year," the news service writes, adding, "Yet the country is almost entirely dependent on external funding for its AIDS programs, and ambitious plans to scale up treatment have been derailed after the Global Fund to fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria rejected a succession of funding proposals."

"The Kenyan government will begin distributing free syringes and needles to more than 50,000 [injection] drug users (IDUs) across the country in the next month," PlusNews reports, adding, "Policy-makers and experts said the decision was reached following concerns over the spread of HIV and other blood-borne illnesses through injection drug use." "[Injection] drug use is responsible for close to four percent of national HIV infections and 17 percent of new infections in Coast Province annually, according to government statistics," according to the news service. "The government aims to distribute some eight million needles and syringes to drug users countrywide once the program is rolled out and will also encourage HIV testing, provide antiretroviral drugs, condoms, and medication for tuberculosis, the most commonly found co-infection with HIV" the news service writes (6/7).

"Two years after some $22 million in donor funds were pumped into malaria control along the Cambodia-Thailand border to fight off suspected resistance to treatment, health workers say the battle is not over," IRIN reports, adding, "The government reported 103,000 malaria infections and 151 deaths nationwide in 2010. A year later, 85,000 reported infections led to 93 deaths -- a 38-percent decline in mortality." "'If you take your foot off the

The measure, which would repeal a nearly $30 billion excise tax on medical device manufacturers, would also repeal a health law provision that prohibits the use of funds from flexible health spending accounts and other health reimbursement arrangements to buy over-the-counter drugs without a prescription. The White House has threatened to veto the legislation.

News outlets report how issues and the upcoming Supreme Court decision are creating difficulties for President Barack Obama's presidential campaign. Meanwhile, the focus on women voters is becoming a boon for advocacy groups on both side of key related issues.

California voters narrowly defeated a $1-per-pack tax on cigarettes amid an advertising blitz by the tobacco industry that some predict could quash similar efforts in the future.

The "UNAIDS governing body, the Programme Coordinating Board (PCB), is holding its 30th Board meeting from 5-7 June in Geneva," the agency reports on its website. "This year's thematic segment will take place on the second day of the meeting and will focus on combination prevention or the urgent need to reinvigorate HIV prevention responses globally by scaling up and achieving synergies to halt and begin to reverse the spread of the AIDS epidemic" the agency writes (6/5).

"Delivering a speech at [Wednesday's] opening session of the 16th Conference of the West African Economic and Monetary Union (UEMOA), UNAIDS Executive Director Michel Sidibe congratulated leaders across the region for their personal commitment to the HIV response, specifically with regard to upholding human rights and protecting human capital," UNAIDS reports in an article on its website. "Addressing eight Heads of State and other high-level participants in Lome, Togo, he called on African leaders to reduce their 'triple dependency' on external sources for HIV drugs, commodities, and technologies," the agency writes, adding, "To ensure the health and security of their populations, African leaders should focus greater attention and resources on the local production of medicines, said the UNAIDS executive director" (6/6).

The June issue of the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria's email newsletter, the "Global Fund News Flash," was released on Thursday. The issue highlights the Global Fund's "Better Grants for Increased Impact" project, discusses malaria in Madagascar, notes the launch of the (RED) RUSH TO ZERO campaign, profiles Indonesia Fund Portfolio Manager Gail Steckley, and features a new cell phone application from Charity Miles, which "enables people to earn money for charity simply by walking, running or biking" (6/7).