Archives: Morning Breakouts

In an article examining recent developments at the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria, the Wall Street Journal interviews Gabriel Jaramillo, the Colombian-born Brazilian citizen and former CEO of Sovereign Bank who will become the fund's new general manager this week. Following "disclosures of misused funds and a slowdown in global donations," the "new chief ... plans a major overhaul of operations following an assessment urging improved management," according to the newspaper.

The NIH is expected on February 1 to release a statement explaining how the U.S. National Science Advisory Board for Biosecurity (NSABB) reached a decision in November to recommend "that two scientific papers describing research that created strains of bird flu potentially transmissible in humans should be published only if key details are omitted," for fear "that terrorists or hostile nations could learn how to cause a pandemic," a New York Times editorial by Philip Boffey, Times science editorial writer, states.

Speaking on Saturday at the African Union Summit, UNAIDS Executive Director Michel Sidibe said huge advances in HIV treatment and prevention have been made over the past decade in Africa, "[b]ut these gains 'are not sustainable,' ... because they are heavily dependent on foreign aid," the Zimbabwean reports (1/30). "An estimated two-thirds of AIDS expenditures in Africa come from international funding sources, according to a new UNAIDS issues brief titled "AIDS dependency crisis: sourcing African solutions" (.pdf), Xinhua writes (1/29).

Here is the first round of reader-contributed health policy haikus.

Newt Gingrich says because of the Mass. health reform, Mitt Romney would be ineffective at debating President Obama.

A new report says despite efforts to digitize health records, big gaps in implementation persist.

A new study shows that heavier doctors are less likely to discuss obesity with their patients.