Archives: Morning Breakouts

The success of antiretroviral therapy for HIV/AIDS "has fooled us into believing HIV is under control. It is not.

"Access to treatment for drug-resistant tuberculosis (DR-TB) remains compromised, especially in developing countries, because too few pharmaceutical companies manufacture quality-assured drugs," Inter Press Service reports in an article examining how a lack of competition and a working mechanism to keep prices low "has led to skyrocketing prices."

The recent achievements in studies looking at treatment as prevention "were only made possible by the partnership between publicly funded scientists and private drug companies," Ward Cates, president of research at FHI; Salim Abdool Karim, director of the Centre for the AIDS Program of Research in South Africa; and Myron Cohen, director of the UNC Division of Infectious Disease and the UNC Institute for Global Health and Infectious Disease, write in an opinion piece in the Huffington Post.

Scott Radloff, director of the Office of Population and Reproductive Health, writes about involving men in family planning on USAID's "Impact Blog." He writes: "Involving men in international family planning programs is an uphill battle."

In a post on the State Department's "DipNote" blog, Krysten Carrera, a Presidential Management Fellow in the Bureau of International Organization Affairs, discusses why non-communicable diseases "represent an urgent and growing threat to global public health" (6/18).

Valerie Amos, head of the U.N. Office of Coordination for Humanitarian Affairs, on Friday "plead[ed] with international donors to overlook political difficulties in the face of a humanitarian crisis" in North Korea, where she said it is estimated six million people are in danger of not getting enough to eat, Agence France-Presse reports.

"According to a United Nations Population Fund study released Monday, more and better trained midwives could help save millions of lives in" 58 countries "identified as 'suffering from a crisis in human resources for health,'" the Associated Press/Washington Post reports.

Inter Press Service examines the changing scope of the U.N. Security Council. "[O]ver the years ... the political landscape has been changing, slowly but steadily, as the U.N.'s most powerful body has continued to take up several 'non-security' related issues, including children and armed conflict (Aug. 1999), women, peace and security (Oct. 2000), climate change (Apr. 2007) and for the second time last week, HIV/AIDS," IPS writes. The piece includes analysis from several experts affiliated with the U.N. (Deen, 6/17).

Former British Prime Minister Tony Blair called for increased investment in Sierra Leone during a trip to the country over the weekend, VOA News reports.

Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, president of Brazil from 2002 to 2010, outlines priorities in the battle to end global hunger in a Guardian opinion piece.

"U.S. first lady Michelle Obama left for Africa on Sunday, embarking on her second official solo journey abroad with a goal of advancing U.S. policies on education, health, and democracy," Reuters reports.

The Guardian examines how Africa is handling cervical cancer, which is the second most common cancer among women on the continent.