Archives: Morning Breakouts

A new report from Advocates for Youth "analyzes youth policies within the President's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR), including its legislative authority, most recent five-year strategy, relevant guidance documents, and all 21 currently available PEPFAR country Partnership Frameworks" and includes "a set of recommendations for the U.S. Congress, [Office of the Global AIDS Coordinator (OGAC)], and Partner Country governments, to design and implement the bold policy needed to support youth sexual and reproductive health and rights, including promotion of comprehensive sexuality education and youth-friendly, integrated, HIV and family planning services," Advocates for Youth Executive Vice President Debra Hauser writes in an RH Reality Check blog post. She concludes, "In the end, it is young people who hold the key to ending this epidemic. That's why they should be at the center, not the periphery, of our programs and policies" (4/3).

The cause of malnutrition in India -- which "results in a loss of productivity, indirect losses from impaired cognitive development, and losses from increased long-term health care costs" -- is "not so much a lack of nutrient-rich food, but rather a weakness in the food supply chain," William Thomson, a research assistant at the U.S. Naval War College, writes in an opinion piece in The Diplomat. "Rather than correct supply chain issues, which would increase availability of food while reducing costs, the government" has passed a National Food Security Bill that would subsidize grain purchases "at a time when it can ill afford the expense associated with underwriting grain purchases for almost two thirds of the country's population," he continues.

Melinda Gates of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation writes in an opinion piece in Nigeria's Vanguard, "My top priority as a co-chair of the foundation I run with my husband is making sure that all families have access to safe and effective contraception tools that empower them to make a decision about what's best for them and their family. And that means encouraging aid donors and governments here in Nigeria and across Africa to make family planning a priority." Improved access to modern methods of contraception and child spacing would save millions of lives, "[b]ut family planning doesn't just save lives; it also makes life better for families and communities, becoming a key driver of economic development," Gates continues.

Commentators offer a wide variety of views as they look back on last week's case at the high court.

The April issue of the WHO Bulletin features an editorial on the WHO research agenda for influenza; a public health round-up; an article on influenza in Ghana; a research paper on population-based burden of influenza-associated hospitalization in rural western Kenya; and a policy paper on the integration of pneumonia prevention and treatment interventions with immunization services in resource-poor countries (April 2012).

"This week, urgently needed food -- 33,700 tons of sorghum from American farmers -- will depart the United States for West Africa, as a part of the U.S. Government's response to the drought in the Sahel," Dina Esposito, director of the Office of Food for Peace, writes in this post in USAID's "Impact" blog. She says that in addition to food aid, "USAID is also focusing on improving nutrition, increasing agricultural production, linking individuals to local markets through voucher programs, rehabilitating public infrastructure through cash-for-work schemes, and mitigating conflict, among other activities," with the aim of "alleviat[ing] poverty and build[ing] community resilience to withstand future shocks" (3/30).

The New York Times examines the global response to Haiti's cholera epidemic, writing that while "[m]any health officials consider the cholera response 'pretty remarkable,' as John Vertefeuille, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's director in Haiti, said ... [o]thers ... believe the bar for success was set too low and more lives could have been saved." The newspaper continues, "[A]s the deaths and continuing caseload indicate, the world's response to this preventable, treatable scourge has proved inadequate."

By a three-to-one vote, regulators approved Express Scripts' plan to purchase Medco, ending an eight-month inquiry into whether the deal would stifle competition in the pharmacy benefits industry.

Also in the news, President Obama talks about the health law while on the campaign trail, Vice President Joe Biden takes on GOP presidential hopeful Mitt Romney, and health law supporters begin to embrace the term "Obamacare."