Morning Breakouts

Scientists Halt Bird Flu Research For 60 Days Amid Safety Concerns

January 23, 2012 Morning Briefing

The head of the NIH National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), which funded “two projects that created a highly pathogenic [H5N1] flu virus mutation, has welcomed a two-month moratorium on further research while defending the value and safety of the experiments,” the Financial Times reports. NIAID Director Anthony Fauci “told the FT it was ‘right to get off the unnecessary fast track’ of a debate ‘played out in sound bites,’ and instead hold a serious international debate to determine future publication and practice in the field,” according to the newspaper (Jack, 1/22). “In a letter published in the journals Nature and Science on Friday, 39 scientists defended the research as crucial to public health efforts, including surveillance programs to detect when the H5N1 influenza virus might mutate and spark a pandemic,” Reuters writes, adding, “But they are bowing to fear that has become widespread since media reports discussed the studies in December that the engineered viruses ‘may escape from the laboratories’ … or possibly be used to create a bioterror weapon” (Begley, 1/20).

Drought Threatens Africa’s Sahel Region; Aid Agencies Worry About Donor Fatigue

January 23, 2012 Morning Briefing

“For the third time in the past decade, drought has returned to the arid, western shoulder of Africa, bringing hunger to millions,” and “[a]id agencies are warning that if action is not taken now, the region known as the Sahel could slip into crisis,” the Associated Press reports. “Aid workers also worry that donors are suffering from ‘famine fatigue,’ as the looming West African crisis comes just six months after Somalia’s capital was declared a famine zone,” the news agency writes.

Blog Covers Government Officials’ Comments At Country Ownership Roundtable

January 23, 2012 Morning Briefing

This post in the Ministerial Leadership Initiative’s (MLI) “Leading Global Health” blog “is the fourth of a series of perspective pieces on country ownership from the ‘Advancing Country Ownership for Greater Results’ roundtable organized recently by MLI, a program of Aspen Global Health and Development.” “This fourth piece covers the comments made by several senior U.S. government officials,” including Ariel Pablos-M

Asking Questions About Global Health Spending

January 23, 2012 Morning Briefing

Commenting on the latest data on global health spending from the Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation (IHME) in this post on the Global Health Council’s (GHC) “Blog 4 Global Health,” Craig Moscetti, a policy manager in the council’s policy and government relations department, writes “some of the latest tracking data shed light on some interesting trends, prompting many key questions.” He poses several questions, including, “Are developing countries stepping up?” and “Is health sector spending the more efficient and effective way to produce health?,” and answers each (1/19).

Settling Controversy Surrounding Bird Flu Research Will Not Be Easy

January 23, 2012 Morning Briefing

The WHO is expected to hold a meeting in February to discuss controversy over recent research on the H5N1 bird flu virus, after the U.S. National Scientific Advisory Board for Biosecurity (NSABB) in December advised the journals Science and Nature to withhold publishing two teams’ research on the virus for fear the information could “fall into the wrong hands,” a commentary in the Economist’s “Babbage” blog states. “In a statement sent to Science, the WHO says that research” into bird flu genetics is “an important tool for global surveillance efforts,” the commentary says.

Pakistan’s Polio Eradication Program Facing Challenges After Increase In Cases Last Year

January 23, 2012 Morning Briefing

IRIN examines several factors that could be contributing to an increase in polio cases in Pakistan, “despite the launch of a National Emergency Action Plan for Polio Eradication” at the beginning of 2011. In 2010, Pakistan recorded 144 cases of polio and 192 cases in 2011, the news service reports. According to IRIN, refusals by some households to vaccinate children; “administrative laxity” and “poorly run campaigns”; and malnutrition, vitamin deficiencies, and diarrhea among children could be contributing to the campaign’s lack of success (1/23).

China Releases Updated Statistics On HIV/AIDS

January 23, 2012 Morning Briefing

“A total of 28,000 people died of HIV/AIDS in China in 2011, and another 48,000 in the country were found newly infected by the virus, according to an official publication” released on Saturday by China’s Ministry of Health, UNAIDS, and the WHO, Xinhua/China Daily reports. “With about 780,000 people living with HIV/AIDS nationwide, including 154,000 AIDS patients, the total infection rate of the country stands at 0.058 percent, the report said,” according to the news service. “The report added that more than 136,000 AIDS patients had received anti-virus treatments by September 2011, bringing the treatment coverage rate to 73.5 percent, an increase of 11.5 percentage points compared to 2009,” Xinhua writes (1/21).