Archives: Morning Breakouts

The Wellcome Trust reports on neglected tropical disease (NTD) research and awareness efforts in this feature story, writing, "In the past five years or so, wider attention has begun to fall on these other diseases, thanks largely to a campaign led predominantly by scientists and centered on a new name: 'neglected tropical diseases,' or NTDs." The article includes quotes from "some of the scientists who coined the new phrase to raise awareness of the continuing burden of these diseases, and ... Trust-funded researchers whose work is helping to develop better solutions for tackling them" (Regnier, 1/6).

"The BBC has done an extensive (40 minute) report on the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation titled 'Fortress Bill,'" which "is available for [four] more days online and will be rebroadcast on Sunday, Jan. 8," KPLU 88.5's "Humanosphere" blog reports. Commenting on the piece, KPLU's Tom Paulson writes, "Perhaps the BBC report indicates the mainstream media is poised to take a more critical tack examining the nature of philanthropy and global health. ... What's needed is a more open and realistic dialogue about how best to fight inequity and poverty -- one that can simultaneously hold the powerful to account while also accepting that some of the super-rich may actually also want to make the world a better place" (1/4).

"The Kenyan government has changed its HIV testing algorithm following the withdrawal of a widely used brand of HIV test [based] on warnings from" the WHO, PlusNews reports. "In November, WHO removed the Standard Diagnostics Bioline HIV 1/2 3.0 Rapid HIV Test Kit from its list of approved rapid test kits with immediate effect ... after Bioline failed quality assurance tests," the news service notes. There is "concern about the impact the recall will have on public confidence in HIV testing, especially as the country pushes for universal access to HIV counseling and testing," according to the news service (1/5).

Media outlets report on what Rick Santorum did after he left the Senate and what he would have on his to-do list if elected, the continuing "risks" Mitt Romney faces from the left and the right, and on an ethics group that is directing a challenge at Newt Gingrich.

Street News Service/Inter Press Service examines how Senegal is addressing HIV/AIDS among prisoners in a Dakar maximum-security facility. "Prisons are high-risk environments for the transmission of the disease, due to the prevalence of hard drugs, violence and sexual relations," the news service writes and discusses how addressing such issues can present challenges in the majority-Muslim country. "There is no mandatory testing in prison, and for those prisoners who, either knowingly or unknowingly, are living with HIV, the stresses of living in prison -- including overcrowding, unsanitary conditions, and poor nutrition -- mean their health is even more compromised."

USA Today reports that some workplaces are refusing to hire people who test positive for nicotine use.

"About 200 million people around the world use illegal drugs every year, and that may be taking a toll on health and death rates in various countries, says a report released Thursday in the Lancet," the Los Angeles Times' "Booster Shots" blog reports. According to the blog, "[t]he study, part of a series the journal is doing on addiction, offers a plethora of information about [the] use of opioids, amphetamines, cocaine and marijuana worldwide" (Stein, 1/5).

The WHO on Thursday "announced the deaths of two men from H5N1 avian influenza, one from Egypt and another from China whose death was reported earlier in the media," CIDRAP News reports. Both men are suspected to have contracted the virus from avian sources, although an investigation into the man from China's exposure to the virus is ongoing, according to news service. "The two infections and deaths push the WHO global H5N1 count to 576 cases and 339 deaths. According to WHO records, the number of H5N1 cases and deaths reported in 2011 so far are modestly higher than 2010 (60 cases versus 48, and 33 deaths versus 24)," CIDRAP writes (Schnirring, 1/5).

Jose Graziano da Silva, director-general of the U.N. Food and Agriculture Organization, writes in a Huffington Post opinion piece, "My top priority for 2012 will be to make a renewed push towards [achieving the first millennium development goal of halving the proportion of people living in hunger and extreme poverty by 2015], but also to look beyond it, to the final, total eradication of hunger from this planet. Obviously, it is not something that FAO can do alone. It needs a new international mobilization, the support of decision-makers everywhere, and a concerted effort by the entire U.N. family and other development partners."