Archives: Morning Breakouts

Health officials attending last week's World Health Assembly "failed to come to an agreement on a binding convention on stimulating research and development [R&D] focusing on the health problems of developing countries," BMJ reports. The negotiations focused on an April report by the WHO Consultative Expert Working Group (CEWG) on R&D, which included a recommendation "that all countries -- developing and developed -- should commit around 0.01 percent of their gross domestic product to research into and development of treatments for the health problems of developing countries," the news service notes. However, "[t]he United States (despite the fact that it already meets this target), the European Union, and Japan blocked this recommendation, and instead member states agreed on the final day of the assembly that the report would be discussed at regional committee meetings in the next few months," BMJ writes, noting that "WHO will hold a global meeting later in the year that will report back to WHO's executive board meeting in January" and that "[n]ew proposals will be put on the agenda for next year's assembly" (Gulland, 5/28).

Al Jazeera's "Counting the Cost" program on Saturday focused on the fight against malaria and the "business behind its treatment and prevention." According to the program, progress against malaria "is being threatened in these tough economic times. There is a $3 billion shortfall in funding for malaria treatment and prevention." The program reports on drug-resistant malaria strains in South-East Asia; examines a vaccine candidate under development by GlaxoSmithKline; speaks with Jo Lines of the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine and Christoph Benn of the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria about the impact of the international financial crisis on the fight against the disease; and discusses a mobile phone app developed by a group of medical students that would help people receive a quicker diagnosis and treatment (Santamaria, 5/26).

In a two-part series in his Slate blog "The Reckoning," author Michael Moran examines the "silo" effect of Western aid to improve health in Africa, writing in the first part, "Charities know that raising money for exotic disease eradication in the West is a good deal easier than, say, funding upgrades to substandard cardiac facilities. Yet the later is the real win in the long run." He references an article published recently in Foreign Affairs by Thomas Bollyky, which Moran summarizes by saying, "Bollyky argues coordinated action to confront communicable crises like HIV/AIDS, malaria or tuberculosis must be part of the world's approach to global health. But by ignoring far greater, non-communicable problems, he says, we doom Africans to low life expectancies and fail to create the impetus for reform and behavioral changes that could be transformational" (5/28).

"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).

"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."

The two bills would repeal a tax on medical devices and ease restrictions on health savings accounts, and leaders plan to have the votes before the Supreme Court decision on the law.

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).

A selection of opinions and editorials about the health law -- what it's doing and where it's going.

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.

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).

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).