Archives: Morning Breakouts

Wednesday, April 25, marks World Malaria Day, which this year has the theme "Sustain Gains, Save Lives: Invest in Malaria." The following opinion pieces address the fight against malaria.

Ahead of World Malaria Day on April 25, Medecins Sans Frontieres (MSF) in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) on Tuesday said the number of malaria cases it has treated in the country "more than tripled to 155,000 last year from two years previous," Reuters reports (Hogg/Felix, 4/24). "In 2009, MSF's teams treated more than 45,000 people with malaria" in DRC, with the total increasing to more than 158,000 in 2011, the Guardian notes, adding, "So far this year, more than 85,000 people have been treated." According to the newspaper, "The agency said the rise was particularly alarming because of a high number of severe malaria patients requiring hospital care and urgent blood transfusions due to anemia. It has deployed additional emergency medical teams in four provinces but is unable to respond in all affected areas."

The Centre for Global Non-Communicable Diseases, which "brings together researchers, policy makers, funders and patient advocacy groups worldwide to focus research and expertise on this growing global health challenge," was launched Wednesday at the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine, an LSHTM press release states. According to the press release, LSHTM Director Peter Piot "said: 'The emerging epidemic of non-communicable diseases has potentially catastrophic consequences for global health. However, with co-ordinated intervention, we can successfully prevent and treat these diseases, saving millions of lives worldwide. This is a vital strategic priority, and we are working with our partners to establish this new center as a focus for research that can translate into effective action'" (4/25).

"PEPFAR has said it will use" nearly $1.5 billion in unspent aid "to invest in commodities (condoms, HIV rapid test kits and voluntary medical male circumcision kits), systems and institutions, and program strengthening," Suzanne Ehlers, president of Population Action International, writes in this post in the Huffington Post's "Impact" blog. "Here's one idea that would offer a huge return on investment and save the lives of millions: voluntary contraception for women," she continues, adding, "Voluntary contraception has been called 'the best kept secret in HIV prevention' and has a proven evidence base."

Ron Fouchier of Erasmus Medical Center, "[t]he Dutch scientist at the center of the controversy over recent bird flu experiments, says that his team applied for government permission today to submit a paper describing their research to a science journal," NPR's health blog "Shots" reports, adding, "The Dutch government has asserted that the studies, which describe how to make bird flu virus more contagious, fall under regulations that control the export of weapons technology." According to the news service, "He feels the government's actions amount to censorship and has previously has said he did not want to apply for an export permit, because it would set a precedent" (Greenfieldboyce, 4/24). "Fouchier says that by conceding to the government's request while continuing to contest the need for an export permit, he hopes to have found an acceptable compromise," Nature writes.

At an event on Monday launching USAID's "Every Child Deserves a Fifth Birthday" social media campaign, USAID Administrator Rajiv Shah described how $30 worth of materials contained in a backpack he carried onto stage, including zinc to prevent diarrhea and vaccines to prevent pneumococcal diseases, "can lead to a massive reduction in preventable child death in the developing world," GlobalPost's "Global Pulse" blog reports. Though the backpack and the campaign's use of 5th birthday photographs from celebrities, lawmakers, and policymakers "made for powerful symbols," the event "dug a little deeper" to "highligh[t] numerous challenges facing the major U.S. government advocacy effort on child survival, which includes a gathering of world health leaders in Washington in June to push a new plan aimed at reducing preventable child deaths to zero," the blog says.

"South Africa's science minister, Naledi Pandor, has called for increased efforts by African nations to build both a greater ability to carry out research relevant to their specific health challenges, and the capacity to put such research to use," SciDev.Net reports. "'It is essential that African researchers become involved in finding solutions for the problems of Africa,' Pandor told the opening of Forum 2012, a three-day meeting on health research which opened in Cape Town" on Tuesday, the news service writes, noting that the forum, "held under the title 'Beyond Aid,' ... identifies research and innovation as 'key drivers for health, equity and development.'"

"This week, a Senate panel is investigating biological security in the wake of" controversial "potentially dangerous research" on H5N1 avian influenza, "with good reason," Rep. Jim Sensenbrenner (R-Wisc.) writes in a Washington Times opinion piece. He says "the U.S. government should not have been caught by surprise" by the two research papers describing how genetic mutations to the virus could make it transmissible between ferrets, because the National Science Advisory Board for Biosecurity (NSABB) "was created in 2004 and charged with the specific responsibility of reviewing this type of research and offering guidance to all federal agencies that conduct biological research." Sensenbrenner says the NSABB's initial recommendation against publishing the studies and its subsequent reversal of that decision has left him with "suspicions that the U.S. government is woefully unprepared for dealing with dual use research of concern -- research that, while conducted for a legitimate scientific purpose, could be dangerous if misused."

Meanwhile, news outlets report on criticism aimed at Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., and action in congressional races in Arizona and Pennsylvania.