Morning Breakouts

Washington Post Examines Conditions Within Mogadishu Hospital

September 8, 2011 Morning Briefing

The Washington Post looks at the conditions within Banadir Hospital in the Somali capital of Mogadishu. “The scenes … reflect the immense challenge facing this Horn of Africa nation, already besieged by multiple woes, from civil war to radical Islamist militants to a weak transitional government incapable of governing effectively, despite massive support from the United States and its allies,” the newspaper writes (Raghavan, 9/7).

U.N. Member States Must Face Health, Economic Impacts Of NCDs

September 8, 2011 Morning Briefing

In this Huffington Post opinion piece outlining many facts and statistics surrounding non-communicable diseases (NCDs) worldwide, Susan Blumenthal, public health editor of the Huffington Post and former assistant surgeon general, along with Katherine Warren and Lauren Macherelli, who previously worked at the Center for the Study of the Presidency and Congress, where Blumenthal is director of the health and medicine program, write, “The world is at a crossroads when it comes to the chronic disease epidemic and its enormous health and economic impacts.”

U.N. Member States Reach Tentative Agreement On NCD Declaration

September 8, 2011 Morning Briefing

U.N. member state representatives recently reached an agreement “on a political declaration document for the 19 September U.N. high-level meeting on the prevention and control of on non-communicable diseases (NCDs),” although the document is “somewhat watered down from an original version,” ScienceInsider reports (Reardon, 9/7). “The process has hit delays and setbacks, including resistance from some member countries to setting hard targets for reducing disease,” according to the PBS Newshour blog “The Rundown” (Miller, 9/7).

Transitioning Lead Responsibilities From U.S. To South Africa In The Countries’ Partnership Against HIV/AIDS

September 8, 2011 Morning Briefing

In this CSIS “Smart Global Health” blog post, J. Stephen Morrison, senior vice president of CSIS and director of the Global Health Policy Center at CSIS, outlines “five key steps that the U.S. can take, in close partnership with South Africa, to reduce … risks and raise the prospects of success” as the countries undergo a transition in lead responsibilities from the U.S. to South Africa in their partnership against HIV/AIDS in South Africa, a transition that Morrison writes is “highly fraught with risks.”

Human Rights Watch Report Says Foreign Aid Indirectly Supporting Forced Labor In Vietnam’s Drug Rehabilitation Centers

September 8, 2011 Morning Briefing

In a report released Wednesday, New York-based Human Rights Watch “accused the United States government, the World Bank and other international donors of indirectly funding forced labor in Vietnam’s drug rehabilitation centers,” Inter Press Service reports. The report “said that Vietnam’s system of forced labor centers for people who use drugs has expanded over the last decade” and they “have been sustained by a variety of international donors, none of which has made objections,” the news service writes.

Family Planning, Contraceptives A National Priority For Saving Women’s Lives, U.N. Meeting Participants Say

September 8, 2011 Morning Briefing

First ladies, health and finance ministers, and parliamentarians from 12 developing countries participating in the U.N. Population Fund’s (UNFPA) Global Programme to Enhance Reproductive Health Commodity Security, which was launched in 2007, declared at a U.N. meeting held on Wednesday that “voluntary family planning, secured by a steady supply of contraceptives, is a national priority for saving women’s lives,” the U.N. News Centre reports. “More than 215 million women in developing countries want to avoid or space pregnancies but are not using modern methods of contraception, according to the UNFPA,” the news service writes.

Rich Countries Watering Down NCD Commitments To Appease Multinational Companies

September 8, 2011 Morning Briefing

In this Sydney Morning Herald opinion piece, Boyd Swinburn, a professor and director of the WHO Collaborating Centre for Obesity Prevention at Deakin University in Australia, examines how “rich countries, … particularly the U.S. and European Union but also Australia, Canada and New Zealand, … are joining forces with tobacco, food, alcohol and pharmaceutical corporations to water down commitments that might flow from” this month’s U.N. High-level Meeting on Non-Communicable Diseases (NCDs) in New York.

Cholera Epidemics Spread Through West And Central Africa Affecting Tens Of Thousands, OCHA Reports

September 8, 2011 Morning Briefing

“Cholera epidemics have hit tens of thousands of people and killed more than 1,400 others in seven West and Central African countries since the start of the year, the U.N. Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) said in a report on Tuesday,” AlertNet reports. According to the news service, affected countries include Cameroon, Chad, Democratic Republic of Congo, Mali, Niger, Nigeria and Republic of Congo (Fominyen, 9/7). The Red Cross, which said the outbreak was spreading, expressed concern that it could hit refugee camps along the Sudanese border, according to Agence France-Presse (9/7).

African Countries See Slow Progress In Reducing Maternal Mortality To Achieve MDG 5

September 8, 2011 Morning Briefing

Inter Press Service examines what some experts are calling a lack of commitment from health care workers, which they say is “among the reasons why Africa may not succeed in achieving Millennium Development Goal (MDG) 5 on improving maternal health by 2015 by reducing maternal mortality by three quarters.” According to IPS, “Studies conducted by the African Institute for Development Policy (AFIDEP) in East, West and Southern Africa found that most countries are struggling to provide universal access to reproductive health.”