Archives: Morning Breakouts

Washington Gov. Chris Gregoire has asked government workers to consider health care benefit cuts. Meanwhile, Calif. Gov. Jerry Brown is proposing an overhaul of the structure of benefit packages.

GlobalPost's "Global Pulse" blog interviewed Ambassador Jan Eliasson, former president of the U.N. General Assembly and Sweden's former minister for foreign affairs, on how water and sanitation play a part in family planning, as the world's population approaches seven billion. Eliasson discusses his interest in women's reproductive health issues, strategies for increasing attention on these issues, and difficulties faced by policymakers on the issues surrounding family planning, among other topics. "We don't realize when you look at the issues of child mortality, women's health, or education, all the MDGs (Millennium Development Goals) are affected by water and sanitation. I see a real need for a horizontal approach to health. Population issues and family planning are an integrated part of solving that problem," he said (Donnelly, 10/26).

The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and China's Ministry of Science and Technology (MOST) on Wednesday signed a Memorandum of Understanding to form a partnership to support new research and development (R&D) and production of new products for global health and agriculture, Agence France-Presse reports (10/26).

GOP presidential hopeful Mitt Romney is not just haunted by the similarities between the federal health law and the state health overhaul he signed while governor of Massachusetts, but also by the fact that despite this state measure, Massachusetts continues to have the highest health costs in the country.

"Thousands of vaccination teams have traversed the vast Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) on foot, by motorbike, boat and car, in a campaign to immunize at least 14 million children against polio, the U.N. Children's Fund (UNICEF) said," IRIN reports. The campaign, which was run over three days beginning October 20 by the government with support from UNICEF, also provided vitamin A supplements and deworming, IRIN notes.

"Seasonal rains cause massive damage and disease throughout Nigeria each year, and this year's onslaught comes as international experts warn West Africa is suffering from its worst cholera outbreaks in years," the Associated Press/ABC News reports. According to UNICEF, Nigeria "had recorded more than 21,000 cholera cases this year by the end of September" and "[a]t least 694 people have died from the disease," the news agency writes. Twenty-five of Nigeria's 36 states have reported cholera cases, with most coinciding with local flooding, the AP notes, adding that "almost half of Nigeria's 150 million people lack access to clean water and proper sanitation, according to the World Health Organization" (Gambrell, 10/26).

Women living with HIV in Swaziland "fight a tireless tripartite battle against HIV, the stigma it places on them, and their inferior status in Africa's last absolute monarchy," freelance journalist Gary Nunn writes in the Guardian's "Poverty Matters Blog." Nunn recounts the story of Siphiwe Hlophe, who founded Swaziland for Positive Living (Swapol) in 2001, and writes, "Women operate at grassroots level in tackling HIV because they're rarely trusted with real responsibility. But they are increasingly making their voices heard."