Archives: Morning Breakouts

According to a Kaiser Family Foundation January tracking poll, a majority of Americans believe the Supreme Court's health law ruling will result from the justices' own ideology rather than legal analysis. The poll also found that the public believes the uninsured will benefit most from the overhaul.

The New Yorker on Monday published an in-depth look at previously unreleased White House documents, including some related to negotiations surrounding the development and passage of the health law. Republican members of the House Energy and Commerce Committee have been seeking such internal communications for more than two years.

This post in the Malaria Free Future blog reports on a study underway in Rwanda that aims to measure the prevalence of malaria in pregnancy (MIP). The research is supported by the U.S. President's Malaria Initiative (PMI) and is being carried out through its Maternal and Child Health Integrated Program (MCHIP) "so that the National Malaria Control Program (NMCP) can have data to design appropriate MIP interventions as the country moves towards malaria elimination," the blog notes. According to the blog, the study of more than 4,000 women "focuses on pregnant women during their first visit to focused antenatal care (FANC) for their current pregnancy" and is currently at the half way mark (Brieger, 1/25).

Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria Executive Director Michel Kazatchkine on Tuesday announced he will "step down in mid-March after leading the organization for five years," according to a Global Fund press release (1/24). In a message to staff, Kazatchkine said he "concluded that I should not continue as executive director" following a November decision by the Global Fund Board to "appoint a general manager to oversee implementation of the Consolidated Transformation Plan who will report directly to the Board." The statement continues, "I respect this decision and trust that it was made in the best interests of the Global Fund. ... I am committed to an orderly transition, and I will do all that I can to ensure that the Global Fund emerges from it as a stronger organization" (1/24). In a statement, Board Chair Simon Bland said, "I thank Michel for his remarkable contribution and I look forward to working with him to ensure an efficient transition" (1/24).

In a speech to the European Parliament on Tuesday, Bill Gates, co-chair of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, "told European lawmakers in Brussels not to cut aid to poor countries despite the economic and budgetary problems facing" European Union (E.U.) countries, Agence France-Presse reports. Gates "praised the [E.U.] whose support in health and development he said has been greater than that of the United States," AFP notes (1/24). On Wednesday, Gates "will be at the World Economic Forum meeting in Davos, Switzerland, where he plans to exhort wealthy donors -- especially governments -- to keep funding a range of crucial projects in the developing world, from tuberculosis drugs and antimalaria bed nets to maternal care and vaccines," the Wall Street Journal writes. Gates "plans to make his case by showcasing ideas, backed by his foundation, that have helped cost-effectively tackle problems in global health," according to the newspaper (Naik, 1/25).

The advertisement charges that GOP presidential hopeful Mitt Romney "invented government-run health care" based on his health care record while governor of Massachusetts.

The Washington Post's "In the Loop" blog reports that USAID has released a draft form of a plan to create research and development (R&D) teams at colleges and universities across the country aimed at tackling problems of global development. "USAID characterized the plan ... as a way of tapping into the collective wisdom of academia," according to the blog, which notes, "They've suggested setting up an unnamed number of centers -- some at individual colleges and universities, some comprised of several such institutions." The blog adds, "They say no budget has been set, but an individual college might get a million or so, while a collaborative center made up of a few schools could get $4 million to $5 million" (Heil, 1/24).

This post in the U.N. Foundation's "Shot@Life" blog examines how Honduras, "one of the poorest countries in the Western hemisphere," has achieved "one of the highest vaccination coverage rates in the world, averaging close to 99 percent." The blog writes, "We wanted to see firsthand how Honduras has achieved such amazing results, so last week Shot@Life traveled there with a U.S. Congressional staff delegation to learn more about their extremely effective immunization programs" and details the vaccination efforts of the rural town La Ca