Morning Breakouts

FDA To Reconsider Diet Drug That Failed To Get Approval In 2010

February 17, 2012 Morning Briefing

With the obesity crisis, many patients are eager for medication help, but the FDA is wary.

WHO Confirms Recommendations Regarding HIV, Female Hormonal Contraceptives After Review Of Studies

February 17, 2012 Morning Briefing

“A stakeholder consultation convened by the World Health Organization (WHO) in Geneva has reviewed recent epidemiological studies related to HIV transmission and acquisition by women using hormonal contraceptives,” a UNAIDS press statement reports (2/16). In a technical statement (.pdf), “[t]he Geneva-based United Nations health agency confirmed its existing recommendations [Thursday] after a study published last year found using contraceptive injections doubles the chance women will catch HIV and transmit it to a male partner,” Bloomberg Businessweek reports (Hallam, 2/16). The WHO “concluded that hormonal contraception — whether the pill or injection — was safe for women at risk of HIV to use if they wanted to prevent pregnancy,” the Guardian notes (Boseley, 2/16).

Webinar Examines Sexual Rights Of HIV-Positive Women

February 17, 2012 Morning Briefing

“On Tuesday the U.S. Positive Women’s Network (PWN) hosted a webinar to discuss HIV-positive women’s sexual rights and to commemorate Valentine’s Day as a day to uphold the rights of HIV-positive women to have safe and satisfying sexual lives,” the Center for Global Health Policy’s “Science Speaks” blog reports. According to the blog, “Presenters discussed various ways in which HIV-positive women can gain sexual and reproductive rights, from using a human rights-based approach, to implementing new biomedical prevention technologies through U.S. health care reform, to how to advocate for women-centered care” (Aziz, 2/16).

Global Health Technologies Coalition Blog Responds To President’s FY13 Budget Request

February 17, 2012 Morning Briefing

In this post in the Global Health Technologies Coalition’s (GHTC) “Breakthroughs” blog, Ashley Bennett, senior policy associate at GHTC, responds to the release of President Obama’s FY 2013 budget request, writing, “In his introduction to the overall budget request, Obama emphasized that research and development (R&D) programs are essential to the U.S. economy and the country’s future. … When looking at the budget numbers for global health, Obama’s emphasis on R&D in his introduction played out in various ways, with some good and bad news.” She notes that while “Congress has the authority to change the funding levels as it sees fit, … it could be difficult to justify spending above what the Administration views as appropriate, especially given the current fiscal crisis and the shortened election-year appropriations process” (2/16).

Flooding Leaves Millions In Pakistan At Risk Of Malnutrition, Disease, Aid Groups Warn

February 17, 2012 Morning Briefing

“A feeble international response to Pakistan’s second major flooding crisis in two years has left millions of people at serious risk of malnutrition and disease, aid groups warned Thursday,” Agence France-Presse reports. “The Pakistan Humanitarian Forum (PHF), a network of the 41 largest international charities in the country, called on the international community and Pakistan to take urgent steps with the next monsoon season months away,” the news service adds. “At least 2.5 million people are still without food, water, shelter, sanitation and health care, putting them at serious risk of malnutrition, disease and deepening poverty, said the coalition of international charities,” AFP writes, adding, “Around 43 percent of affected people are severely short of food and malnutrition levels were already well above the emergency threshold in the southern provinces of Sindh and Baluchistan before the floods struck” (Gilani, 2/15).

Proposed Sustainable Development Goals Need Greater Health Focus

February 17, 2012 Morning Briefing

In this SciDev.Net opinion piece, journalist Priya Shetty writes that the Sustainable Development Goals — a successor to the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) proposed to begin in 2015 — “need more focus on health to continue the progress achieved with MDGs.” She continues, “[A]lthough early drafts of the SDGs address issues that the MDGs neglected, such as food security, they are light on health and many social issues (education, for example, or gender equity). This should be of major concern to public health experts.”

Cyclone Kills At Least 16 In Madagascar; UNICEF Responds With Medicines, Mosquito Nets

February 17, 2012 Morning Briefing

“At least 16 people have been killed this week when a category four cyclone lashed Madagascar’s eastern shores, rescue authorities said on Wednesday,” Reuters reports, adding, “Some 65 people were injured and about 11,000 people left homeless after Cyclone Giovanna pummeled the country’s eastern seaboard causing power shutdowns in parts of the island’s port city of Tamatave, rescue officials said” (Iloniaina, 2/16). UNICEF “will start distributing medicines and mosquito nets [Thursday] to the parts of eastern Madagascar hardest hit” by the cyclone, the U.N. News Centre writes.

MSF Warns Health, Living Conditions Of Refugees In Dadaab Camp Deteriorating

February 17, 2012 Morning Briefing

The medical aid group Medecins Sans Frontieres (MSF) on Thursday said the conditions for hundreds of thousands of refugees living in Kenya’s Dadaab refugee camp are worsening and people there “are experiencing a ‘humanitarian emergency’ because of the scaling back of aid work,” Deutsche Presse-Agentur/M&C reports (2/16). MSF “said the health of refugees at the complex is deteriorating, with recent outbreaks of measles, cholera and acute diarrhea,” and said an estimated one in 12 children is malnourished, VOA News writes. “Most of the refugees at Dadaab are Somalis who fled last year’s severe drought or Somalia’s chronic conflict,” the news agency notes. MSF “called on the Kenyan government, international aid groups, and the U.N. Refugee Agency (UNHCR) to provide ‘continuous support’ to the Dadaab camp, saying thousands of refugees are relying on their support,” according to the news agency (2/16).

Clinton Holds Press Conference Marking International Day of Zero Tolerance to FGM

February 17, 2012 Morning Briefing

Speaking at a press conference on Thursday marking the International Day of Zero Tolerance to Female Genital Mutilation, recognized on February 6, U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton “said … that there is no cultural justification for female genital cutting, a practice that is sometimes referred to as female circumcision,” and that “governments and non-governmental organizations are making progress toward ending female genital mutilation, or FGM, by reaching out to those who still practice it,” VOA News reports (Stearns, 2/16). “The press conference was intended to highlight the continuing need for policy changes and new strategies to end FGM and promote support for women who have undergone the procedures,” ABC News writes (Conley, 2/16).

Two-Day WHO Meeting On Bird Flu To Release Statement As Soon As Possible, WHO Official Says

February 17, 2012 Morning Briefing

Researchers of H5N1 bird flu virus “are set to wrap up a two-day meeting on the issue Friday with international experts at the World Health Organization in Geneva” with the aim of settling controversy over the work of two research teams that created genetically altered viral strains that are easily transmissible among ferrets, a laboratory model for humans, the Associated Press reports (Mason, 2/17). “The meeting may reach some consensus on a few immediate issues, such as what parts of the studies should be published, and who might qualify for access to the full papers on a ‘need-to-know’ basis,” according to the Nature News Blog (Butler, 2/16).

Shah Says ‘Difficult Choices’ Made In FY13 International Affairs Budget Request

February 17, 2012 Morning Briefing

In this post on USAID’s “IMPACTblog,” USAID Administrator Rajiv Shah says the FY 2013 International Affairs budget request “showcases President Obama’s commitment to making smart, efficient investments to help those in the greatest need while helping to create economic opportunity and safeguarding American security.” Despite “important results” from investments made last year in humanitarian assistance, HIV/AIDS, malaria and agriculture, “we’ve had to make difficult choices this year, consolidating some programs and eliminating others. Our 2013 budget shows a willingness to focus on countries and programs where we believe we can make the greatest impact,” Shah writes and outlines those efforts. “The investments included in the FY13 budget will improve the lives of people throughout the world. For millions, this assistance can literally mean the difference between life and death,” he concludes (2/16).

Millions Of North Koreans Face Malnutrition Despite Recent Food Aid, Relief Agencies Warn

February 17, 2012 Morning Briefing

“Relief agencies have warned that millions of North Koreans are malnourished, with the most vulnerable facing starvation in the coming months, despite reports that the impoverished state has received food aid from China and South Korea,” the Lancet reports. “The warning comes after the sudden death of the North Korea’s former leader, Kim Jong-Il, put on hold a possible deal in which it was preparing to accept 240,000 tons of food aid from the U.S. in return for suspending its uranium enrichment program, which would give it a further means of developing nuclear weapons,” the journal writes. “The recent donations aside, U.N. agencies say that three million of North Korea’s 24 million people will require food aid this year, adding that children are particularly vulnerable to malnutrition,” the Lancet notes, adding, “According to a report by [World Food Programme] and the U.N. Food and Agriculture Organization, North Korea faces a food deficit of 414,000 tons this year” (McCurry, 2/18).

Contraception Battle Flares On Two Fronts

February 16, 2012 Morning Briefing

Democratic women representatives walk out of a hearing in protest of an all-male panel; House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi blasts the committee. Meanwhile, Foster Friess, a major donor to Rick Santorum’s campaign, makes an aspirin-as-contraception comment to MSNBC’s Andrea Mitchell.