Archives: Morning Breakouts

GM Mosquitoes For Dengue Prevention; Polio In Haiti; Malnutrition In Pakistan; Pharma's Interest In India.

During the inaugural meeting of U.N. Women's executive board this week, Executive Director Michelle Bachelet laid out a 100-day action plan for the newly-launched agency, Inter Press Service reports.

Bill Gates, co-chair of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, and Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed al-Nahayanm, the crown prince of Abu Dhabi, "pledged $100 million Wednesday to deliver vaccines to children in Afghanistan and Pakistan," Reuters reports.

The hearings represent the first of what will likely be a long list of hearings and new legislation designed to question and denounce the new health law. With the measure in the spotlight, the debate surrounding its fiscal impact also is a "hot topic." Meanwhile, some Democrats who last year opposed the health overhaul are starting to find value in it.

"The cholera bacterium has undergone important mutations in recent years, causing longer outbreaks of the disease with increased fatalities, researchers reported on Wednesday," Reuters reports. "In a package of papers published in the journal PLoS Neglected Tropical Diseases, they said mass vaccinations should be considered as a solution even after outbreaks have begun," the news service writes (Lyn, 1/26).

Also In Global Health News: Germany To Withhold Global Fund Contribution; Protecting Pregnant Women From Malaria; FAO Food Price Warning; Polio In Angola.

"Southeast Asia's 600 million people are facing a raft of new health challenges as the disaster-prone region undergoes some of the world's fastest social change," according to a series of papers and commentary pieces, published Tuesday in the Lancet, Agence France-Presse reports (1/25). "Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam were among the countries surveyed by the journal, which called for universal health coverage especially to protect the poor," Reuters writes (Lyn, 1/25).

Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper and Tanzanian President Jakaya Kikwete were in Geneva on Wednesday to open a meeting aimed at "developing a framework" to monitor the implementation of a $40 billion U.N. maternal and child health initiative, according to CBC News. Harper and Kikwete are co-chairs of a commission that is charged with ensuring accountability for the pledges.

President Barack Obama's State of the Union address on Tuesday "focused on jobs, budget trimming, and investment, but he also underscored foreign policy concerns and outlined an approach to international relations with 'a new level of engagement,'" CBS News' "Political Hotsheet" blog reports.

In the House, Republicans begin their committee-level efforts to dismantle the health law today. Meanwhile, GOP senators continue to push for a repeal vote in the upper chamber.