KFF Daily Global Health Policy Report

In The News

Mali Confirms First Case Of Ebola

News outlets report that Mali has confirmed its first case of Ebola, making it the sixth West African country to be hit by the outbreak.

The Atlantic: Ebola Reaches Mali
“Less than a week after two West African countries successfully rid themselves of Ebola, another has announced its first case of the disease. In a television address on Thursday, Mali’s health minister, Ousmane Kone, revealed that a two-year-old girl has tested positive for the virus…” (Romm, 10/23).

New York Times: Ebola Crosses New Border as Mali Confirms a Case
“Mali on Thursday became the sixth West African country to confirm an Ebola case, indicating again the disease’s barely controlled spread across porous regional borders…” (Nossiter, 10/23).

Reuters: Mali becomes sixth West African nation hit by Ebola
“…Mali’s Health Minister Ousmane Kone told state television that the patient in the western town of Kayes was a two-year-old girl who had recently arrived from neighboring Guinea, where the outbreak began…” (Diarra/Diallo, 10/23).

Agence France-Presse: First case of Ebola confirmed in Mali: health ministry (10/23).
Associated Press: 1st Ebola case in W. African nation of Mali (Paye-Layleh/Roy-Macaulay, 10/23).
BBC News: Ebola crisis: Mali confirms first infection case (Soy/Diawara, 10/24).
Reuters: WHO sending Ebola experts to Mali, 43 people monitored for virus (Nebehay, 10/23).
Washington Post: Health minister: Mali confirms its first Ebola case (Ohlheiser, 10/23).

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Doctor Who Worked In Guinea Diagnosed With Ebola In New York City

News outlets report on the case of Craig Spencer, a physician who treated Ebola patients in Guinea with Médecins Sans Frontières and was diagnosed with the disease at Bellevue Hospital in New York City on Thursday after returning from Africa one week earlier.

The Hill: New York doctor tests positive for Ebola
“A New York City doctor who recently treated Ebola patients in West Africa has tested positive for the disease, city and state officials announced Thursday…” (Sullivan/Ferris, 10/23).

New York Times: Doctor in New York City Is Sick With Ebola
“…The doctor, Craig Spencer, was rushed to Bellevue Hospital Center and placed in isolation at the same time as investigators sought to retrace every step he had taken over the past several days…” (Santora, 10/23).

Reuters: Doctor with Ebola in New York hospital after return from Guinea
“…Mayor Bill de Blasio and Governor Andrew Cuomo sought to reassure New Yorkers they were safe, even though Spencer had ridden subways, taken a taxi, and visited a bowling alley between his return from Guinea and the onset of his symptoms…” (Wulfhorst/Malo, 10/24).

Wall Street Journal: New York Doctor Tests Positive for Ebola
“…Dr. Spencer had come into close contact with only four people since he returned from Africa on Oct. 17 through John F. Kennedy International Airport, authorities said. All four — two friends, a cabdriver, and his fiancée — are healthy, officials said, but the friends and fiancée are being quarantined though they showed no symptoms…” (Dawsey et al., 10/24).

Washington Post: New York physician who worked in Guinea tests positive for Ebola
“President Obama pledged federal support to New York on Thursday night after a New York physician tested positive for Ebola days after returning to the United States from the epicenter of the epidemic in West Africa…” (Dennis et al., 10/24).

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WHO Emergency Committee Says Focus Should Remain On Containing Ebola In West Africa

Media sources report on a meeting of the WHO International Health Regulations Emergency Committee on the Ebola outbreak in West Africa.

Agence France-Presse: Ebola still of ‘great concern’ in West Africa epicenter: WHO
“…The World Heath Organization said after an emergency meeting on the deadly hemorrhagic fever that the situation in the worst-hit countries of Guinea, Liberia, and Sierra Leone ‘remains of great concern’ as cases increase exponentially…” (Fowler, 10/23).

The Hill: WHO: Ebola screenings will have ‘limited effect’
“The entry screenings for Ebola imposed in the United States are not a cost-effective way to keep out the virus, leaders of the World Health Organization (WHO) warned Thursday…” (Ferris, 10/23).

Reuters: WHO wary of screening arriving passengers for Ebola, but no ban
“Screening passengers for Ebola on their arrival may have ‘a limited effect’ in stopping the virus spreading but whether it adds anything to exit screening from affected countries is a decision for governments, the World Health Organization said on Thursday…” (Miles/Nebehay, 10/23).

Reuters: WHO voices confidence no wider spread of Ebola in Africa
“…Asked whether countries such as Guinea Bissau, Mali, and Ivory Coast might have cases of the disease crossing their borders without knowing about or reporting them, WHO assistant director general Keiji Fukuda said he considered that unlikely…” (Nebehay/Kelland, 10/23).

U.N. News Centre: Primary focus of response must be to halt spread of Ebola in West Africa — U.N.
“…Reporting on the outcome of the third meeting of the International Health Regulations Emergency Committee on the Ebola outbreak in West Africa, which wrapped up [Wednesday] in Geneva, the experts stressed that focusing on the countries at the epicenter of the outbreak, including through reinforcing high-quality exit screening procedures at airports, ‘is the most important step for preventing international spread’…” (10/23).

USA TODAY: WHO says Ebola outbreak continues to spread in West Africa
“…Ebola has now reached every district in Sierra Leone and all but one district in Liberia, with ‘intense transmission’ in these countries’ capital cities, according to the WHO. West Africa today is nowhere near goals set by the United Nations to get the outbreak under control, according to the WHO…” (Szabo, 10/24).

WHO: Statement on the 3rd meeting of the IHR Emergency Committee regarding the 2014 Ebola outbreak in West Africa
“…The primary emphasis must continue to be stopping the transmission of Ebola within the 3 affected countries with intense transmission. This action is the most important step for preventing international spread. Specific attention, including through appropriate monitoring and follow-up of their health, should be paid to the needs of health care workers. This will also encourage more health care staff to assist in this outbreak…” (10/23).

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E.U. Commits 1B Euros For West African Ebola Efforts; Appoints Coordinator To Manage Response

News outlets report on new pledges from the E.U. for Ebola efforts in West Africa.

Agence France-Presse: E.U. boosts Ebola aid for West Africa to 1.0 billion euros
“European Union leaders agreed Friday to boost aid to combat the deadly Ebola virus in West Africa to one billion euros ($1.26 billion), EU president Herman Van Rompuy said…” (10/24).

Associated Press: Cameron: E.U. secures $1.25 billion for Ebola fight
“British Prime Minister David Cameron says that the European Union and its 28 member nations have secured one billion euros ($1.25 billion) to fight the Ebola crisis in West Africa…” (10/24).

The Guardian: U.K. pledges £80m more aid to tackle Ebola epidemic in Sierra Leone
“David Cameron pledged a further £80m aid for Sierra Leone to combat the Ebola epidemic as he told European leaders they should commit more resources to containing and eradicating the virus. The prime minister announced the aid at an European council summit in Brussels, bringing Britain’s pledge to £205m, about a third of the amount pledged by the E.U. as a whole…” (Traynor, 10/23).

New York Times: Britain Pledges Millions to Fight Ebola and Chides Others to Spend More
“…The scale of the health crisis pushed Ebola to the center of a gathering of European Union leaders in Brussels that was focused on trying to reach a deal on cutting greenhouse gases and bolstering cleaner forms of energy after 2020…” (Kanter/Higgins, 10/23).

Reuters: E.U. names coordinator to step up response to Ebola
“The European Union appointed a coordinator on Thursday to lead its drive to fight Ebola in West Africa following criticism that European efforts so far to contain the world’s worst recorded outbreak of the disease have been inadequate. Christos Stylianides, who takes over on Nov. 1 as the E.U.’s commissioner for humanitarian affairs and crisis management, will also be the 28-nation bloc’s point man on Ebola…” (Croft, 10/23).

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U.S. Military, Administration, Congress Make Moves To Better Respond To Ebola Domestically, In West Africa

Media sources report on U.S. military, administration, and congressional actions to address Ebola domestically and internationally.

DoD News: Health Chief Outlines Precautions for Ebola Response Troops
“Fighting the West Africa Ebola epidemic is immediately and strategically important to the United States, and the Defense Department is taking every precaution to minimize risk to deployed troops, the assistant secretary of defense for health affairs said in a recent interview…” (Pellerin, 10/23).

The Hill: Dempsey video aims to calm troops’ Ebola fears
“…Army Gen. Martin Dempsey, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, released a video on YouTube Tuesday, assuring troops that the Defense Department would do everything it can to protect the health of service members ‘before, during, and after deployment’…” (Matishak, 10/22).

The Hill: HHS reshuffles amid Ebola crisis
“The Department of Health and Human Services is shuffling its decks amid the fight against the Ebola virus. On Thursday, the agency tapped Karen DeSalvo to become the acting assistant secretary for health, a position that oversees the surgeon general’s office — among a long list of others — and plays a heavy role in issues of global health and disaster response…” (Lillis, 10/23).

Reuters: U.S. security agency ill-prepared to deal with pandemic: audit
“The U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS), which protects sites ranging from land borders and airports to the White House, may not be able to maintain operations in a pandemic due to inadequate supplies of protective gear and drugs for its staff, according to a government report on Thursday…” (Morgan, 10/23).

Wall Street Journal: Lawmakers Push for Increased Funding for Biomedical Research
“A bipartisan pair of senators is putting together a proposal to significantly increase federal funding for biomedical research, an issue that has taken on greater urgency in light of the Ebola outbreak…” (Peterson/Armour, 10/23).

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African Nations To Send More Health Care Workers To Ebola Hotspots

News outlets report on increased efforts by African Union member states to send more health care workers to Sierra Leone, Guinea, and Liberia.

Agence France-Presse: African nations to send 1,000 health workers to Ebola hotspots
“African countries on Thursday pledged to send more than 1,000 health workers to Ebola-ravaged Sierra Leone, Guinea, and Liberia, where the World Health Organization says the spread of the killer virus ‘remains of great concern’…” (Johnson, 10/23).

Reuters: Nigeria pledges 600 volunteers as Africa steps up Ebola fight
“Nigeria pledged on Thursday to send a contingent of 600 volunteers to help fight the worst-ever outbreak of Ebola on record which has killed nearly 5,000 people in West Africa. With financial pledges flowing in from around the world but trained doctors and nurses scarce in the three worst effected countries — Liberia, Guinea, and Sierra Leone, the African Union appealed last week to member states to urgently fill the gap…” (Onuah/Fofana, 10/24).

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Microsoft Co-Founder Pledges At Least $100M For West African Ebola Efforts

News outlets report on Microsoft co-founder Paul Allen’s pledge of at least $100 million for Ebola efforts in West Africa.

CNBC: Paul Allen pledges $100 million to fight Ebola (Mangan, 10/23).
Fortune: The tech exec who’s trying to destroy Ebola (Snyder, 10/23).
Los Angeles Times: Billionaire Paul Allen pledges at least $100 million to fight Ebola (La Ganga, 10/23).
Seattle Times: Billionaire Paul Allen pledges $100 million in Ebola fight (Welch, 10/23).
USA Today: Microsoft co-founder Allen to give $100M to fight Ebola (Molina, 10/23).

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News Outlets Report On Ebola Outbreak In Sierra Leone, Liberia

News outlets report on the Ebola outbreak in West Africa, particularly in Liberia and Sierra Leone.

Agence France-Presse: Sierra Leone leader says Ebola ‘contained by end-2014’ (10/23).
Agence France-Presse: Ebola-hit Liberia unveils strict border checks (10/23).
Wall Street Journal: Liberian Slum Takes Ebola Treatment Into Its Own Hands (Vogt, 10/23).

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News Outlets Report On Issues Surrounding Ebola Vaccine Development

News outlets report on various issues surrounding the development and testing of Ebola vaccines.

Financial Times: Industry response to Ebola quickens (Ward, 10/23).
Forbes: Head of GSK Ebola Vaccine Research: “Can We Even Consider Doing A Trial?” (Munro, 10/23).
New York Times: Ebola Vaccine, Ready for Test, Sat on the Shelf (Grady, 10/23).
New York Times: Vaccine Trials for Ebola Are Planned in West Africa (Pollack, 10/23).
Reuters: Fixing ‘Ebolanomics’ in pursuit of vaccines and drugs (Kelland/Hirschler, 10/23).
ScienceInsider: Leaked documents reveal behind-the-scenes Ebola vaccine issues (Cohen/Kupferschmidt, 10/23).
Wall Street Journal: Study to Look at Blood Products From Ebola Survivors as Treatment (Loftus, 10/23).
Washington Post: As researchers develop Ebola vaccine, early human clinical trials show promise (Dennis, 10/23).

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Ebola Efforts In West Africa Must Increase To Bring Outbreak Under Control, Study Says

News outlets report on a study published in The Lancet Infectious Diseases that says the world’s response to the West African Ebola outbreak must be bolstered to prevent tens of thousands of deaths.

The Guardian: Response to Ebola epidemic in West Africa too slow, say scientists
“The international response to the Ebola epidemic in West Africa is too slow and providing too few beds for the sick to stop the soaring number of cases and deaths, scientists say. A paper in the Lancet Infectious Diseases medical journal models the response in Montserrado, Liberia, against the spread of the virus and warns that current efforts will not bring the outbreak under control…” (Boseley, 10/23).

VOA News: Yale Researchers Project 90,000 Ebola Deaths In Monrovia Alone
“…[A] new study from Yale University shows that, even if all the aid already pledged came through, it would not be enough to control the epidemic in Liberia’s Montserrado County, where a quarter of Liberia’s people live and which includes Monrovia. The research shows that, without greater efforts, more than 170,000 people will get Ebola and, of that number, more than 90,000 will die by mid-December in just this one area…” (Pearson, 10/23).

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Travel Restrictions Delay Efforts Of Medical Staff To Fight Ebola

Wall Street Journal: Travel Restrictions Hamper African Medical Staff in Ebola Fight
“Scores of African doctors and nurses — many of them with experience treating Ebola — have experienced delays getting to affected regions because of flight bans and travel restrictions, an African Union official said on Thursday…” (Vogt, 10/24).

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Mobile Phone Records Can Help Combat Ebola Epidemic

The Economist: Ebola and big data: Waiting on hold
“In the battle against Ebola, mobile phones could be invaluable — not just in themselves, as devices that can be used to send people public health information or let them call helplines, but also because of the data they generate…” (10/25).

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Global Efforts To Eradicate Polio Continue On World Polio Day

News outlets report on various aspects of polio in recognition of World Polio Day, marked annually on October 24.

Inter Press Service: Asia: So Close and Yet So Far From Polio Eradication
“The goal is an ambitious one — to deliver a polio-free world by 2018. Towards this end, the multi-sector Global Polio Eradication Initiative (GPEI) is bringing out the big guns, sparing no expense to ensure that ‘every last child’ is immunized against the crippling disease…” (Aryal et al., 10/24).

The Lancet Global Health: Polio: is the end in sight?
“World Polio Day, on October 24, is an annual opportunity to revitalize attention and efforts towards the global eradication of this now rare but still fatal and devastatingly disabling infectious disease. 2014 has not felt like a good year for infectious disease control, yet just three months from now, a major date in the Polio Eradication and Endgame Strategic Plan 2013-18 will be reached. The first objective of the plan, launched in April last year, was ‘to stop all [wild poliovirus] transmission by the end of 2014.’ Given all that has happened this year, is this target still realistic?…” (Mullan, November 2014).

U.N. News Centre: Ahead of World Day, U.N. hails landmark global polio eradication campaign
“Every day, a thousand or so children are being protected from disability as part of a 26-year global effort to eradicate polio through a worldwide campaign that has immunized millions of previously unreached children across the globe, the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) said on the eve of World Polio Day…” (10/23).

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Court Hears Arguments Over U.N.'s Claim Of 'Absolute Immunity' In Haiti Cholera Lawsuit

News outlets report on a lawsuit filed against the United Nations by a group of Haitians who are seeking compensation from the organization after U.N. peacekeepers allegedly caused a cholera outbreak in Haiti after the 2010 earthquake.

Associated Press: Haitians’ lawyer asks N.Y. judge to nix U.N. immunity
“An attorney for Haitians seeking compensation from the United Nations for victims of a deadly cholera outbreak asked a judge Thursday to set aside the U.N.’s immunity and let a lawsuit proceed, but a U.S. lawyer said doing so would open up the United Nations to many more lawsuits…” (Neumeister, 10/23).

Bloomberg News: U.N. Claims Immunity From Haiti Post-Quake Cholera Lawsuit
“The United Nations can’t be sued for a cholera outbreak in Haiti because the organization has ‘absolute immunity’ from such claims, a lawyer for the U.S. said, urging a judge to throw out a lawsuit. A group of Haitians and Haitian-Americans earlier this month sued the U.N. and U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-Moon for negligence, claiming the outbreak that killed more than 8,000 people was caused by U.N. peacekeepers sent to the Caribbean nation after an earthquake in 2010…” (Hurtado, 10/23).

New York Times: Hearing in Haitians’ Cholera Case
“A federal judge in Manhattan heard arguments on Thursday in the first court proceeding over Haitian cholera victims’ lawsuit against the United Nations. They contend that infected peacekeepers were responsible for the outbreak, which has killed more than 8,000 people since 2010…” (Gladstone, 10/23).

Reuters: U.S. urges judge to dismiss cholera lawsuit against United Nations
“The U.S. government urged a federal judge on Thursday to dismiss a lawsuit filed against the United Nations by a group of Haitians who claim peacekeepers caused the devastating cholera epidemic that followed their country’s 2010 earthquake…” (Ax, 10/23).

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Evidence Shows Giving Cash To Refugees Is Effective Form Of Aid

Reuters: Cash aid for refugees succeeds despite donors’ doubts
“For decades, aid groups have assumed they know what’s best for refugees and the poor; a growing body of evidence suggests they’re wrong. … Aid agencies are tentatively … giving away cash and letting refugees decide for themselves what they need. While the results may be unexpected, the money is being wisely spent and rarely wasted — contrary to old prejudices among donors…” (Holmes, 10/24).

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Despite Incremental Gains, Greater Efforts Needed To Eradicate Extreme Poverty In LDCs

U.N. News Centre: Far greater effort needed to eradicate extreme poverty in world’s poorest nations — U.N. report
“While the world’s 48 most vulnerable nations continue to make in-roads into poverty reduction, a far greater effort is needed if these countries are to eradicate extreme poverty by 2020, according to a new report launched at the United Nations today…” (10/23).

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UNFPA, Kenyan NGO To Improve Health Of Women, Children Through Partnership

Xinhua News: U.N. agency inks deal to improve health of African women, children
“The U.N. Population Fund (UNFPA) on Thursday expressed its commitment to a partnership with Amref Health Africa, a Kenya-based NGO, to improve the health of women and children in Africa. UNFPA Chief of Sexual and Reproductive Health Laura Laski stressed the importance of providing health services at the community level if Africa is to reduce maternal and child mortality…” (10/24).

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U.N. Urges Greater Support For Iraqis In Need Of Humanitarian Aid Ahead Of Winter

U.N. News Centre: As winter closes in, U.N. launches humanitarian appeal for Iraqis in need
“An estimated 2.8 million Iraqis lack food assistance while another 800,000 are in urgent need of emergency shelter, the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) warned [Thursday] as it launched an appeal for greater financial support to bolster its operations on the ground…” (10/23).

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Conflict Threatens South Sudan's Development Gains

VOA News: South Sudan Crisis Threatens Development
“…The South Sudanese government announced big plans to begin providing services for its own people after the country won independence in 2011, but the current conflict has changed all that. In December last year, a political dispute between President Salva Kiir and his former deputy Riek Machar descended into violence, leaving at least 10,000 people dead and displacing more than 1.5 million more. As a result, development in the country has been, more or less, put on hold…” (Joselow, 10/23).

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Editorials and Opinions

Editorials, Opinion Pieces Discuss Ebola Epidemic

The following editorials and opinion pieces address issues surrounding the Ebola epidemic.

New York Times: Beyond Screening for Ebola
Editorial Board

“The new monitoring rules to be placed on travelers coming into the United States from three Ebola-affected countries in West Africa form a smart and workable response to a complex public health question. The measures should be more effective than a misguided ban on all travelers from Guinea, Liberia, and Sierra Leone, which many in Congress have been demanding. … A ban would discourage volunteers from joining the fight against Ebola and make it harder to bring the epidemic under control, the surest way to protect this country from imported cases” (10/23).

Wall Street Journal: Ebola in New York
Editorial Board

“…[Ebola’s] arrival in Manhattan heightens the potential risks to public health given the crowded nature of the city. … The good news is that health officials appear to have learned from the failures in Dallas, where an Ebola patient was sent home without being diagnosed and quarantined. … One immediate question is why Dr. [Craig] Spencer was allowed to decide for himself whether he should be isolated upon his return from Africa. … [A] mandatory quarantine for 21 or more days for health workers returning from Ebola hot spots seems reasonable given the costs of a wider breakout…” (10/23).

Washington Post: The world is in denial about Ebola’s true threat
Michael Gerson, opinion writer

Huffington Post: How the War Against Ebola Will Be Won
Darius Mans, president of Africare

The Hill: Stop Ebola in Africa
Paul O’Brien, vice president for policy and campaigns at Oxfam America

The Guardian: Fatalistic forecasts aren’t helping Ebola efforts — greater positivity is needed
Robtel Neajai Pailey, a Liberian writer and PhD researcher at the University of London’s School of Oriental and African Studies

Project Syndicate: Ebola’s Next Frontier
Hrishabh Sandilya and Dany Shoham, visiting fellows at the Institute of Defense Studies and Analyses (IDSA)

Wall Street Journal: There’s Plenty of Money to Fight Ebola
Tommy Thompson, former governor of Wisconsin and former U.S. Health and Human Services secretary

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Rotary's 'This Close' Campaign Aims To End Polio

Roanoke Times: We’re “this close” to ending polio
Nancy Agee, president and CEO of Carilion Clinic; Jon Barlett, CEO of LewisGale Medical Center and president of LewisGale Regional Health System; Cynda Johnson, president and founding dean of the Virginia Tech Carilion School of Medicine; and Bertram Spetzler, president of the Salem Rotary Club

“…World Polio Day is Friday, and a massive coordinated vaccination program is planned. … Through … joint efforts, by 1994 polio was eliminated from the entire Western Hemisphere of the globe, and most recently India was declared polio free in 2012. Our ‘This Close’ campaign is the last effort being coordinated to finish the job in 2015 and have the world be declared polio free in 2017. … This is a challenge not just for Rotary, but for our whole community. What a truly gratifying experience it would be if we could all come together and participate to take away the worry of polio and make this scourge an historical anecdote” (10/23).

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Focus On Health During Birth, Of Newborns Needed To End Preventable Child Deaths

The Lancet: Ending preventable child deaths: addressing the high-risk days after birth
Colin Mathers, senior scientist at the WHO

“…For the post-2015 Sustainable Development Goals, WHO and other U.N. agencies are discussing a goal to ‘end preventable child deaths’ with a proposed 2030 target of 25 or fewer under-five deaths per 1,000 live births. Achievement of this target will require acceleration of current efforts to prevent child deaths, with scale-up of existing interventions, introduction of new vaccines for pneumonia, diarrheal diseases, and possibly even malaria, and increased attention to reducing prematurity, preterm birth complications, and other neonatal causes of death. In this context, it will be crucial to focus increased attention on the high-risk period around and immediately after the day of birth, and to ensure that existing simple and cost-effective interventions are increasingly implemented as part of a more comprehensive approach to obstetric and improved newborn care…” (November 2014).

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From the Global Health Policy Community

Blog Posts Discuss Various Aspects Of Ebola Crisis

The following blog posts discuss various aspects of the Ebola epidemic.

Center for Global Development’s “Global Health Policy”: What Can Donors Learn from HIV in Responding to Ebola?
In a joint blog post, Karen Grépin, assistant professor of global health policy at the Robert F. Wagner Graduate School of Public Service at New York University and non-resident fellow at the Center for Global Development (CGD), and Alan Whiteside, CIGI chair in global health policy at BSIA and professor emeritus at the University of KwaZulu-Natal, discuss how lessons from HIV can be applied to the current Ebola epidemic (10/23).

ONE: Pregnant women face double threat in Ebola crisis countries
Babatunde Osotimehin, U.N. under secretary general and executive director of the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA), discusses the need for “urgent funding to meet the reproductive health needs of women and mothers in Guinea, Liberia, and Sierra Leone” (10/23).

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Blog Post Discusses Inefficiencies In U.S. Food Aid Program

Humanosphere: United States wastes billions of dollars to ship food aid
Development blogger Tom Murphy discusses the U.S. food aid program, Food for Peace, writing, “…A comprehensive investigation by USA Today and Northwestern University’s Medill School of Journalism confirms what has long been said about U.S. food aid — it is inefficient and in need of reform. … The United States stands alone with its out-of-date food aid rules. Other countries, NGOs and the United Nations are using more innovative and cost-effective solutions to providing food assistance…” (10/23).

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