Archives: Morning Breakouts

Babatunde Osotimehin, executive director of the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) and under-secretary-general of the U.N., answers questions about his work from Forbes contributor Rahim Kanani in this interview excerpt. Osotimehin "discussed current trends in population growth, innovative approaches to tackling HIV/AIDS, leadership lessons in public health, challenges to safeguarding maternal health while encouraging family planning, and much more," according to Forbes (12/8).

Some women in African nations are "dangerously confused about the best nutritional path to protect their children from contracting [HIV]," a new report, based on research by community health workers from Cameroon, Cote d'Ivoire, Ethiopia, and Nigeria, shows, PlusNews reports. Though the most recent WHO guidelines (.pdf) on infant-feeding options for HIV-positive mothers in Africa have been adopted in many countries, the recommendation that infants be exclusively breastfed for their first six months has not reached local health care workers or policymakers, according to the report, which was launched this week at the 16th International Conference on AIDS and STIs in Africa (ICASA) in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. The report also "found that prevention of mother-to-child transmission programs were focused too narrowly on the provision of [antiretrovirals (ARVs)] to HIV-positive pregnant women, rather than more comprehensive approaches that involved family planning, maternal health care and exclusive breastfeeding," according to the news service (12/9).

An FDA panel decided Thursday that two popular birth control pills should come with stronger warning labels about the possibility of blood clots.

Presidential hopeful Rick Perry releases a new TV spot bashing frontrunner Newt Gingrich and rival Mitt Romney for supporting health care policies similar to those of President Obama, while Newark Mayor Cory Booker focuses on the health law's benefits for young people as he campaigns for the president in New Hampshire.

A selection of opinions and editiorials on health policy from around America.

"A new pediatric formulation developed in Brazil holds out hope for a cure for over 90 percent of newborn babies infected with Chagas disease, a parasitic infection endemic in 21 Latin American countries, where it kills more people every year than malaria," Inter Press Service reports. "The new pediatric dosage form of benznidazole, which has just been approved for registration by Brazil's National Health Surveillance Agency (ANVISA), was developed by the Pernambuco State Pharmaceutical Laboratory (LAFEPE) with the support of the Drugs for Neglected Diseases initiative (DNDi)," according to IPS.

Inter Press Service features excerpts from an interview with Jose Graziano da Silva, former Brazilian minister of food security, "who takes over as the new director general of the U.N. Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) on Jan. 1." Graziano da Silva "believes it is possible to eradicate hunger in the world" and "says that what is needed is an increase in political commitment, the mobilization of even modest resources, and the adoption of absolute rather than relative targets," according to IPS (Frayssinet, 12/8).

The 16th International Conference on AIDS and Sexually Transmitted Infections in Africa (ICASA) ended on Thursday in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, where "the final plenary session ... left the audience with a notion of hope and urgency that despite the Global Fund's cancellation of Round 11 disbursements, the organization will continue to campaign, raise funds and place pressure on governments in both the donor and recipient arenas," an ICASA news article reports (12/8). Speaking at the session, "Global Fund Deputy Executive Director Debrework Zewdie felt compelled to reassure those benefiting from the fund," saying, "'Everyone who is on treatment funded by the Global Fund will stay on treatment,'" according to Deutsche Presse-Agentur/M&C (Frentzen/Waswa, 12/8).

The U.N. Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) released its latest Food Price Index on Thursday, saying the Index "in November was virtually unchanged from its October level," an FAO press release reports, adding, "At the new level of 215 points, the Index was 23 points, or 10 percent, below its peak in February 2011 but remained two points, or one percent, above its level in November 2010" (12/8). The report "also pointed out that, despite some improvements in Somalia thanks to substantial humanitarian assistance and favorable rains, food insecurity is expected to remain 'critical' in drought-affected areas until the harvest of short-season crops in early 2012," the U.N. News Centre writes, adding, "In the Horn of Africa as a whole, food insecurity remained critical for some 18 million people" (12/8).

The New York Times, Washington Post and others analyze the president's support of his health secretary's decision to limit access to the Plan B pill.

The attorney general declined to turn over more information about Supreme Court Justice Elena Kagan's role in the formulation of the health care law when she was President Obama's solicitor general.

The Washington Post offers a compelling example of the challenges the White House faces in its efforts to get its message out about the benefits of the health law. Meanwhile, the Boston Globe offers insights from former Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services Administrator Donald Berwick about what the administration needs to do in order to have more success with this message.

IRIN examines how a ban on aid by an armed rebel group in northern Yemen is putting children's health at risk, writing, "Thousands of people under 'siege' by armed rebels in northern Yemen lack food and health care, which has already resulted in deaths and risks killing many more, local leaders and aid workers say." The news service discusses the ongoing sectarian conflicts and describes efforts by the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) to provide medical care and supplies (12/6).

UNAIDS Executive Director Michel Sidibe told Reuters in an interview on Wednesday that donors looking to fund the fight against AIDS "could raise funds through taxes," according to the news agency. Speaking on the sidelines of the International Conference on AIDS and Sexually Transmitted Infections in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, Sidibe said, "If we have a global financial transaction tax, say of 0.5 percent, we will have $226 billion. Ten percent of that resource is enough for financing the fight against HIV/AIDS, stopping the epidemic, because we can reduce by 96 percent the number of new infections by putting people early on treatment. We can have taxation on cigarettes and alcohol. We can find different ways to mobilize new resources," according to Reuters (Maasho, 12/7).