Archives: Morning Breakouts

In this post in her Global Health Blog, Guardian Health Editor Sarah Boseley examines the potential impact of reform within the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria on the organization's future. She writes, "It's been only seven weeks since banker Gabriel Jaramillo took over as general manager of the [fund], but it is already clear the worthy organization set up by Kofi Annan to channel money to treat and prevent diseases in poor countries is a leaner, meaner machine." She continues, "Jaramillo, former chair and chief executive of Sovereign Bank, brings a tougher attitude to the organization."

The April issue of USAID's "PRH Connect" e-newsletter features a round-up of top news articles; a partnership profile of the Alliance for Reproductive, Maternal and Newborn Health; notes from the field highlighting the DELIVER Project's new photo blog, and links to various resources, publications and research. Lastly, USAID provides a link to an interactive map of high-impact practices in family planning (HIPs), requesting that readers add information regarding their own programs (April 2012).

"A major milestone was achieved on April 12, when Honduras became the first country in the Latin America and the Caribbean (LAC) region to officially launch an integrated national plan to combat neglected tropical diseases (NTDs)," the the Global Network for Neglected Tropical Diseases' "End the Neglect" blog reports. "Mirian Yolanda Paz, vice minister of health, led the activities and laid out the path to end nine NTDs endemic to Honduras (soil-transmitted helminths, Chagas disease, leishmaniasis, leptospirosis, cysticercosis, neonatal and nonneonatal tetnus, congenital syphilis and rabies)," the blog writes, noting, "The plan includes a budget for proposed activities and is estimated at $20 million over a five year period" (4/17).

The Catholic Church hierarchy cracks down on the Leadership Conference of Women Religious, a group of nuns who supported the 2010 health reform.

The Washington Post reports that this health insurer is the latest target in an aggressive campaign to force corporate disclosures regarding lobbying and political expenditures.

The measure, which was introduced in the Senate and has a House companion, would permit generic drug companies to update safety information about the drugs they manufacture, enabling patients to sue the companies for failing to issue warnings about risks. It aims to address a gap in the law that allows people to sue brand-name drug makers for insufficient warnings, but not generics manufacturers.

In the Senate, a "voteless" markup was held on Budget Committee Chairman Kent Conrad's, D-N.D., presentation of the Bowles-Simpson plan. Meanwhile, Sen. Pat Toomey, R-Pa., says he will bring the House GOP budget plan advanced by Rep. Paul Ryan, R-Wis., up for a vote by the full Senate later this year.

In this post in the Center for Global Development's "Views from the Center" blog, Charles Kenny, a senior fellow at the Center, responds to an article published in the Washington Post on Monday, which highlighted the results of a recent MIT/Harvard study on the public health benefits of clean cookstoves. He writes that "the results of the MIT study will come as a disappointment to the clean cookstove movement," but "they shouldn't come as a surprise." He highlights several previous studies on the issue and writes, "[T]he record of limited impact does suggest that we've got a long road ahead before we figure out what works and where when it comes to reducing indoor air pollution" (4/18).

The Center for Global Health Policy's "Science Speaks" blog examines a memorandum (.pdf) from the Foundation for AIDS Research (amfAR), distributed "to a targeted list of congressional leaders with jurisdiction over PEPFAR or the appropriations committees that fund it," "that makes the case for continued funding for the U.S. President's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR) program at least at fiscal year (FY) 2012 funding levels." The blog uses the "HIV/AIDS funding summaries [.pdf] of the Department of State Congressional Budget Justification for Foreign Operations" and a recent report from Medecins Sans Frontieres (MSF) to examine how budget cuts and a funding shortfall for the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria may affect funding for the Democratic Republic of Congo, Ethiopia, and Kenya (Mazzotta, 4/18).

"The World Bank plans to strengthen its social safety net to help the 60 percent of people in the developing world who lack adequate protection from the impact of global financial volatility and rising food and fuel prices," Bloomberg reports. "Expanding cash transfers, food assistance, public works programs and fee waivers to help nations respond to crises and fight persistent poverty will be the center of the agenda for the World Bank-International Monetary Fund Development Committee meeting on April 21, the bank said [Wednesday] in Washington," according to the news agency (Martin, 4/18). "Safety nets can transform people's lives and provide a foundation for inclusive growth without busting budgets. ... Effective safety net coverage overcomes poverty, and promotes economic opportunity and gender equality by helping people find jobs and cope with economic shocks, and improving the health, education, and well-being of their children," World Bank President Robert Zoellick said, the Guardian notes (Elliott, 4/18).

NewScientist reports on the U.S. National Science Advisory Board for Biosecurity's (NSABB) recommendation that revised versions of two controversial studies on H5N1 avian flu be published in scientific journals, reversing its previous recommendation that the studies only be published if certain details were withheld. According to the news service, dissent among the board members over the issue has prompted the committee to "propos[e] talks to draft global guidelines for doing and communicating work involving dangerous pathogens."