KFF Daily Global Health Policy Report

In The News

U.N. Reaffirms Commitment To Ebola Response, Sends Advance Team To Liberia

The U.N. News Centre reports on U.N. actions in response to the Ebola outbreak.

U.N. News Centre: U.N. General Assembly underlines ‘strong commitment’ to bolster response to Ebola outbreak
“As an Ebola outbreak of ‘unprecedented nature and scope’ continues its spread through Guinea, Liberia, and Sierra Leone, the United Nations General Assembly [on Friday] underlined it strong commitment to responding to the emergency in a timely, effective and coordinated manner and to support the affected countries in tackling the virus…” (9/19).

U.N. News Centre: Ebola: joint U.N. assessment response team heads to Liberia
“Hours after the United Nations decided to establish an emergency health mission to tackle the West African Ebola outbreak, a joint disaster team is heading to Liberia to assess the response to the virus, while a senior U.N. health official said that a vaccine could be ready by the end of this year…” (9/19).

U.N. News Centre: Ban launches U.N. Ebola response mission; advance teams to arrive in West Africa on Monday
“Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon has officially established the United Nations Mission for Ebola Emergency Response and has instructed the advance teams for the first-of-its-kind operation to head to its base in Accra, Ghana, by Monday, 22 September…” (9/20).

Link to individual story

WHO Experts Advise Against Travel, Trade Bans On Ebola-Affected Countries

Reuters: WHO experts advise against travel or trade bans on Ebola-hit Africa
“Independent health advisers to the World Health Organization (WHO) have assessed that there should be no general ban on travel or trade with countries reeling from an Ebola epidemic in West Africa, the U.N. agency said on Monday…” (Nebehay, 9/22).

Link to individual story

U.S. Senate Passes Resolution Recognizing Ebola Threat

The Hill: Senate passes resolution on Ebola threat
“The Senate passed a resolution Thursday recognizing the threat of an Ebola outbreak. Sen. Chris Coons (D-Del.) introduced S.Res. 541, which aims to help address the global risk that the Ebola outbreak in West Africa poses if not properly contained. The resolution also expresses support for those affected by the epidemic…” (Cox, 9/19).

Link to individual story

President Obama To Discuss Ebola During U.N. Meeting This Week

VOA News: Obama Goes to U.N. With Islamic State, Ebola on Agenda
“President Barack Obama will head to the United Nations General Assembly this coming week with two missions: to rally international support for a coalition against Islamic State militants in Iraq and Syria and to back his plan to fight the Ebola virus in West Africa…” (Ramirez, 9/20).

Link to individual story

CDC Prepares To Announce 'Worst-Case Scenario' Ebola Projections

The Hill: Report: CDC considers 550K Ebola cases a worst-case scenario
“The U.S. government is preparing to announce new Ebola projections that include a worst-case scenario of 550,000 cases by January, according to a report. The estimates are currently in development at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and would help provide a baseline to measure the effectiveness of the ramped-up American response to the outbreak…” (Viebeck, 9/19).

Link to individual story

U.S. Sen. Murray Wants New Budget Deal To Bolster U.S. Public Health R&D

CQ HealthBeat: Ebola Outbreak Shows Need for New Budget Deal, Murray Says
“For Sen. Patty Murray [D-Wash.], the Ebola crisis has served as a stark reminder that Congress will soon need another major budget deal of the type that she negotiated last year to protect medical research and public health from possible cuts…” (Young, 9/19).

Link to individual story

White House CIO Steps Down To Coordinate Ebola Efforts At USAID

News outlets report on Steven VanRoekel’s move from the White House to USAID to help lead the U.S. Ebola response.

The Hill: USAID seeks to bring high-tech fight to Ebola
“The White House’s chief information officer is being dispatched to improve the government’s use of technology and data to respond to the Ebola crisis, an administration official said Friday…” (Sink, 9/19).

Slate: White House Chief Information Officer Will Run U.S. Ebola Response
“…VanRoekel, who worked at Microsoft for 15 years before transitioning into government work in 2009, will coordinate Ebola programs at the U.S. Agency for International Development…” (Newman, 9/19).

Wall Street Journal: U.S. CIO Steven VanRoekel Steps Down to Join Ebola Fight
“…The spread of the Ebola virus is a multi-dimensional crisis that involves people, culture, and logistics and it is essential that we have real time data that points to gaps, trends, and outcomes, said an administration official, in an e-mail. ‘Steve’s unique talents and experiences will help up elevate our response at a critical juncture,’ said the official…” (King, 9/19).

Washington Post: CIO VanRoekel steps down, returns to USAID to work on Ebola response
“…In his new role, VanRoekel is expected to advise USAID’s leadership on supporting its Ebola response with technology and data: tracking trends and outcomes in recovery, for instance. VanRoekel could also help USAID make use of mobile technology to disperse life-saving information to communities affected by the outbreak, USAID Administrator Rajiv Shah said in a statement…” (Ravindranath, 9/19).

Link to individual story

World Bank's Jim Kim Says Ebola 'Surprised Everyone'

Agence France-Presse: World Bank chief says Ebola took the world by surprise
“The devastating Ebola outbreak caught the world off guard, World Bank President Jim Yong Kim said Friday as he questioned the international community’s readiness to respond to other pandemics. ‘This has surprised everyone. None of us thought that Ebola would be looking like it’s looking right now,’ he told reporters in Sydney of the disease which has so far killed more than 2,600 people in West Africa…” (9/19).

Link to individual story

Bill Clinton Calls For Increased Global Efforts In Ebola Fight

News outlets report on Bill Clinton’s call on Saturday for increased global efforts to fight Ebola.

The Hill: Bill Clinton calls for aggressive response to Ebola outbreak
“Bill Clinton called Saturday for the nations of the world to get more aggressive in the fight against the Ebola virus. The former president said steps by Western powers like the United States to help infected countries in West Africa treat the deadly disease are a good start, but fall shy of the effort needed to bring the problem under control…” (Lillis, 9/20).

Reuters: Bill Clinton says must ‘do whatever it takes’ to fight Ebola
“New initiatives from the United States, Britain, France, and other countries to help fight the Ebola epidemic that has been spreading exponentially in West Africa marked a ‘good beginning,’ former President Bill Clinton said on Saturday, but said the world will need to do more…” (Bohan/Begley, 9/20).

Link to individual story

Western Militaries Respond To West African Ebola Outbreak

News outlets report on Western nations’ military responses to the Ebola outbreak in West Africa.

Agence France-Presse: More U.S. troops in Ebola-hit Liberia: airport source
“A second deployment of United States troops arrived in Liberia on Sunday as part of an eventual mission of 3,000 soldiers helping its beleaguered health services battle the Ebola outbreak…” (9/21).

Agence France-Presse: Western militaries scramble to aid Ebola-hit west Africa
“Western militaries readied aid missions Friday to help Africa’s Ebola-hit nations battle an epidemic which has sparked killings in panicked southern Guinea and forced a nationwide shutdown in Sierra Leone…” (Mac-Johnson, 9/19).

Associated Press: Germany, France to provide airlifts in Ebola fight
“Germany says it plans to work with France to establish airlifts to Ebola-affected countries. The foreign ministry said late Friday that 100 soldiers and two military planes will initially be provided for the operation, which might use Dakar in Senegal as a hub…” (9/19).

Link to individual story

Sierra Leone Ends 3-Day Ebola Lockdown; Authorities Identify More Than 150 Cases

News outlets report on a three-day nationwide lockdown that ended on Sunday night, with authorities identifying more than 150 Ebola cases.

BBC News: Ebola outbreak: Sierra Leone lockdown declared ‘success’
“A three-day curfew aimed at containing the Ebola outbreak in Sierra Leone has been declared a success by authorities. The wide-ranging curfew ended at midnight on Sunday (GMT) and will not be extended, authorities said…” (9/22).

CNN: Sierra Leone ends 3-day nationwide Ebola lockdown
“…Under the plan, no one was allowed to leave their homes for three days, allowing volunteers to go door-to-door educating people on the deadly virus. More than 75 percent of the targeted 1.5 million households were contacted, according to the Health Ministry…” (Ford, 9/22).

NPR: 3-Day Ebola Lockdown Ends In Sierra Leone
“…Now the lockdown is over, but the emergency is not. And as part of its broader effort to contain the disease, the country launched a new ambulance dispatch center. It’s in the capital, Freetown, and NPR’s Anders Kelto went there…” (9/22).

Reuters: Sierra Leone burial team attacked despite lockdown
“A team burying Ebola victims was attacked in Sierra Leone’s capital on Saturday, a member of parliament said, as a small group defied a three-day lockdown aimed at halting the worst outbreak of the disease on record…” (Fofana, 9/21).

TIME: Ebola Lockdown in Sierra Leone Finds 150 New Cases
“A three-day lockdown meant to contain the Ebola virus in Sierra Leone ended late Sunday night with officials hailing it as a ‘huge success’ after health workers found almost 100 victims who perished from the disease and another 56 who have been infected…” (Bajekal, 9/22).

Link to individual story

Liberia Plans To Increase Hospital Beds For Ebola Patients While General Health Care System Suffers

News outlets report on Liberia’s plans to increase the number of hospital beds for Ebola patients, while the general health care system continues to weaken.

Agence France-Presse: Liberia to provide 1,000 Ebola beds in overwhelmed capital
“Liberia announced plans Sunday for a four-fold increase in beds for Ebola patients in its overwhelmed capital Monrovia, as U.S. troops arrived to help tackle the deadly epidemic…” (Dosso, 9/21).

Washington Post: With Ebola crippling the health system, Liberians die of routine medical problems
“While the terrifying spread of Ebola has captured the world’s attention, it also has produced a lesser-known crisis: the near-collapse of the already fragile health care system here, a development that may be as dangerous — for now — as the virus for the average Liberian…” (Bernstein, 9/20).

Link to individual story

Despite New Clinics In W. Africa, Shortage Of Health Workers Threatens Ebola Efforts

Thomson Reuters Foundation: New Ebola clinics useless without more trained staff
“A shortage of volunteers to staff the new Ebola clinics and hospitals the international community is building in West Africa threatens efforts to bring the deadly virus rapidly under control, aid agencies have warned…” (Dawson, 9/20).

Link to individual story

Ebola Educators' Murders Show Mistrust Of Authority In Rural West Africa, WHO Says

Reuters: Killings in Guinea show mistrust in Africa Ebola fight: WHO
“The killing in Guinea of eight people trying to educate locals about Ebola showed how much rural populations in West Africa mistrust authorities after years of instability and conflict, the World Health Organization (WHO) said on Friday…” (Nebehay/Miles, 9/19).

Link to individual story

U.S., World Leaders To Attend U.N. Climate Summit This Week

News outlets discuss issues surrounding the U.N. Climate Summit, which takes place Tuesday in New York, including a climate-related march and reports released ahead of the meeting.

NPR: All Eyes On Obama, World Leaders At Climate Change Summit
“The forecast calls for picture-perfect weather Tuesday in New York City as world leaders gather to discuss the challenge of a changing climate. More than 120 leaders, including President Obama, are expected to attend the one-day climate summit, sponsored by the United Nations. They’ve been instructed to arrive with ‘bold ideas’ to slow the rise in global temperatures…” (Horsley, 9/22).

USA TODAY: Companies to make climate pledges at U.N. summit
“…Major companies, including Big Oil, will make pledges to help fight global warming by cutting their heat-trapping carbon dioxide emissions, protecting the world’s forests, and reducing methane leakage from fossil fuel production…” (Koch, 9/22).

U.S. Department of State: Secretary Kerry Elevates Climate Change at U.N. General Assembly
“Secretary of State John Kerry will participate in several high-level events to reinforce U.S. leadership on climate change action this coming week during the U.N. General Assembly in New York…” (9/21).

Other coverage includes:

Agence France-Presse/GlobalPost: All the people march for climate change (9/21).
The Guardian: Scientists reveal ‘fair system’ for countries to tackle climate change (Vidal, 9/21).
The Guardian: Poor nations’ climate change budget puts health and education funds at risk (Vidal, 9/21).
International Business Times: Oxfam-Sponsored Report Tracks Impact of Extreme Weather Events on Food Security (K, 9/20).
New York Times: Taking a Call for Climate Change to the Streets (Foderaro, 9/21).
Reuters: New York climate march draws hundreds of thousands (Goldberg/Sheriff, 9/21).
Xinhua/GlobalPost: Interview: “Climate change is undermining rights of every child”: UNICEF official (Parker, 9/20).

Link to individual story

U.N. Urged To Renew Women's Rights Focus In Post-2015 Agenda

News outlets report on a special session of the U.N. General Assembly being convened to mark the 20th anniversary of the International Conference on Population and Development (ICPD) held in Cairo in 1994.

The Guardian: Activists urge renewed women’s rights focus as U.N. meets in New York
“A landmark conference in Cairo 20 years ago that sought to put women’s rights, empowerment, and well-being at the center of discussions about population growth and development has brought some change, but has not lived up to its promise, according to women’s rights campaigners…” (Ford, 9/22).

The Guardian: Cairo+20: what progress has been made on women’s rights?
“…The outcome of the International Conference on Population and Development, held in Cairo in 1994, moved away from the prevailing view that population could be controlled solely through family planning, and instead emphasized the importance of women’s social and economic empowerment to bring about change. Leaders are now meeting in New York to discuss progress since the Cairo agreement. But what do women’s rights campaigners think? They share their thoughts…” (Galatsidas/Ford, 9/22).

Inter Press Service: U.N. Urged to Reaffirm Reproductive Rights in Post-2015 Agenda
“The U.N.’s post-2015 development agenda has been described as the most far-reaching and comprehensive development-related endeavor ever undertaken by the world body. But where does population, family planning, and sexual and reproductive health rights (SRHR) fit into the proposed 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), which are an integral part of that development agenda?…” (Deen, 9/19).

U.N. News Centre: World leaders head to U.N. General Assembly session on population, development
“As the United Nations General Assembly begins its annual high-level session on Monday, world leaders are set to reaffirm their commitments to a U.N. action plan aimed at placing people at the center of development, and to consider new population challenges…” (9/21).

Link to individual story

Innovative Financing Puts Oil Revenues Toward Child Nutrition In Congo

Reuters: Interview: U.N. entrepreneur taps African oil for child health
“Republic of Congo has become the first country to agree to divert part of its oil revenues towards childhood nutrition, a victory for ‘innovative financing’ to help the world’s poorest, [UNITAID] creator Philippe Douste-Blazy said in an interview…” (Miles, 9/19).

Link to individual story

Broader Efforts Could Reduce Premature Deaths By 40% Over Next 20 Years, Study Says

News outlets report on a study published in The Lancet showing a 40 percent reduction in premature deaths is possible over the next 20 years.

TIME: Early Deaths Could Fall By 40% in the Next 20 Years
“According to researchers writing in The Lancet, we’re doing a good job of reducing the number of premature deaths — those occurring in people under 70. And if current trends continue with some improvements, such early deaths should drop by 40 percent over the next two decades…” (Oaklander, 9/19).

VOA News: Renewed International Efforts Could Prevent Premature Adult Deaths
“…A paper by [University of Oxford epidemiologist Richard Peto] and 16 international co-authors found that other development goals — reducing maternal mortality and fighting AIDS, malaria, and other infectious diseases — cut premature death among adults by one-sixth [from 2000 to 2010]. Now, he said, if the world begins an intense effort to further eliminate preventable causes of death, including injuries, we could see a steeper decline…” (Berman, 9/19).

Link to individual story

500K Chikungunya Cases Detected In Dominican Republic

Associated Press/ABC News: Virus Tally Nears 500,000 in Dominican Republic
“The mosquito-borne virus known as chikungunya has sickened nearly 500,000 people in the Dominican Republic, including 109 newborn babies, an official with the Caribbean country’s health ministry said Friday…” (9/19).

Link to individual story

Somalia Facing New Threat Of Famine Amid Violence

Reuters: Three years after Somali famine, new hunger crisis looms
“…The United Nations said this month more than a million people in this war-ravaged country were struggling to meet daily nutritional needs. The roughly 130,000 people displaced from their homes this year alone are bearing the brunt of the crisis…” (Sheikh, 9/19).

Link to individual story

Editorials and Opinions

Opinion Pieces, Editorial Discuss Issues Surrounding Ebola Outbreak

The following opinion pieces and editorial discuss issues surrounding the West African Ebola outbreak.

Los Angeles Times: To fight Ebola, create a Health Workforce Reserve force
Michele Barry, senior associate dean for global health and director of the Center for Innovation in Global Health at Stanford University, and Lawrence Gostin, a professor and director of the O’Neill Institute for National & Global Health Law at Georgetown University

“…Taking as our model the U.S. military reserve forces, we propose the formation of a Global Health Workforce Reserve, in which trained physicians and nurses with experience in low-resource settings enlist for a period of time…” (9/18).

Washington Post: The West ignores the stories of Africans in the middle of the Ebola outbreak
Ishmael Beah, author

“…[T]he way Western media framed the [Ebola] crisis to the world hasn’t helped. While of course precautions must be taken, the hysteria and hyperbole have led to an unnecessary isolation that is making the outbreak more difficult to address…” (9/19).

Forbes: The Dire Need For A Rapid Diagnostic Ebola Test In West Africa
Bill Frist, former U.S. Senate Majority Leader and a physician

“…A very rapid test would be game-changing for Ebola. … The benefit here is threefold: fast and early quarantine to separate patients at risk for infecting others making the rest of the hospital safer; replacing fear and anticipation with knowledge; and a more efficient use of quarantine resources because they are saved for people with known Ebola infections…” (9/19).

The Lancet Global Health: Ebola: the missing link
Zoë Mullan, editor of The Lancet Global Health

“…[W]hat must not be forgotten is the responsibility of the national authorities to direct and communicate in a way that protects the human rights of those they have been elected to lead. The people of Liberia, and those of other affected countries, must be able to rely on the commitment, transparency, and cohesion of their own governments in times of national crisis” (9/18).

Boston Globe: After Ebola: Rebuilding Liberia’s health care infrastructure
Michael Murphy and Alan Ricks, co-founders of MASS Design Group

“…When Ebola is all over, the international community will have an important opportunity to consider how and what to invest in to ensure such a devastating outbreak does not occur again. We must choose to build better buildings. Only then will health infrastructure systems finally be strong enough to resist such formidable challenges to their resilience…” (9/17).

Wired: How Ebola Can Teach Us to Prepare for the Next Great Pandemic
Franklyn Prendergast, Steven Reed, and Darrick Carter of the Infectious Disease Research Institute

“…The rapid increase of Ebola and MERS point toward the need to be vigilant, to anticipate, and to prepare for the next outbreak. While we don’t know what or when, we do know one thing: there will be another disease outbreak, posing a threat to both health and economy…” (9/20).

Boston Globe: Containing Ebola: Better late than never
Editorial Board

“…The economic fallout [from Ebola], just like the disease, is something that can be anticipated and mitigated — but only if the United States and other powers recognize the value of promoting public health up front, in a world where the rapid movement of people also allows the rapid transmission of deadly viruses” (9/21).

New England Journal of Medicine: Ebola — An Ongoing Crisis
Editorial Board

“…We, as a global health care community, must move decisively to bring this dangerous epidemic under control and then to improve the health care systems in the affected region. This will require more resources and more health care workers on the front lines … It will also require communication and teamwork to win the trust of those in the affected communities…” (9/19).

Link to individual story

U.S. Begins To Focus Attention On Antibiotic Resistance

Washington Post: The challenge of fighting antibiotic-resistant superbugs
Editorial Board

“When some of the best science minds in the United States say a problem has become ‘dire,’ requires ‘urgent attention,’ is growing at an ‘alarming rate,’ and has become ‘a crisis’ that threatens medicine, economic growth, public health, agriculture, and national security, it might be wise to listen. … [President Obama] and his science advisers have wisely focused attention on this long-neglected public health issue. Now they, and Congress, must act on it” (9/20).

Link to individual story

Investments In Reproductive Health Will Save Lives

The following opinion pieces discuss the importance of investments in reproductive health.

Wall Street Journal: How Investing in Reproductive Health Could Pay Off
Pamela Barnes, president and chief executive officer of EngenderHealth

“Every day, 800 women and girls around the world die of pregnancy and childbirth complications. … Access to quality reproductive health care and family planning services are critical to preventing maternal mortality, and this is precisely where the need for increased investment comes into play. … Investing in access to reproductive health services unequivocally saves lives — and it’s an issue we can no longer afford to ignore” (9/19).

Huffington Post: Where Is the Family Planning?
Pamela Barnes, president and chief executive officer of EngenderHealth

“…[I]f all women who wanted family planning could get it, we could prevent millions of deaths every year. … A number of factors can limit a woman’s access to contraception, including: price, availability of supplies, cultural norms, and misinformation about side effects, to name just a few. Yet every day, we are making progress to overcome these challenges and expand access to contraception for women everywhere…” (9/19).

Devex: The future we want
Nana Taona Kuo, senior manager of Every Woman Every Child

“…Every Woman Every Child, with its strong accountability mechanism and focus on innovation, including financing, is a pathfinder for the next development agenda. U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon continues to make women’s and children’s health one of his top priorities, both because of its moral validity, but also because it is a smart investment…” (9/19).

Link to individual story

Global Health Community Must Act Now To Reduce Impacts Of Climate Change

The Lancet published an opinion piece and editorial on the impacts of climate change on global health.

The Lancet: Health risks of climate change: act now or pay later
Andy Haines, Kristie Ebi, Kirk Smith, and Alistair Woodward, all members of the U.N. Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change

“There is growing scientific consensus that climate change is happening, is largely human induced, and will have serious consequences for human health. … The prospect of extreme climates beyond mid-century… should impel the health community to promote deep cuts in emissions of climate-active pollutants now for the long-term protection of human welfare, starting with co-benefit actions that protect both health and climate” (9/20).

The Lancet: Climate change and health — action please, not words
Editorial Board

“Last year, the U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon expressed concern that the world’s commitment to mitigate climate change was insufficient. … In 2009, a Commission report published by The Lancet in collaboration with University College London (UCL) stated that ‘climate change is the biggest global health threat of the 21st century.’ Five years later, we still believe this conclusion to be true. In 2015, we will be publishing the second UCL-Lancet Commission on climate change and health and also the first Commission on Planetary Health, which will examine the health and sustainability of human civilizations in the face of multiple environmental threats. Together, we hope these reports will help to build confidence among decision makers to act — and act urgently” (9/20).

Link to individual story

Climate Experts Must Consider Role Of Population Growth

New York Times: On the Path Past 9 Billion, Little Crosstalk Between U.N. Sessions on Population and Global Warming
Andrew Revkin, New York Times columnist

“The United Nations and the streets of Manhattan are going into global warming saturation mode, from Sunday’s People’s Climate March through the Tuesday climate change summit convened by Secretary General Ban Ki-moon and on through an annual green-energy event called Climate Week. Largely missed in much of this, as always seems the case with climate change discussions, is the role of population growth in contributing both to rising emissions of greenhouse gases and rising vulnerability to climate hazards in poor places with high fertility rates (think sub-Saharan Africa)…” (9/20).

Link to individual story

The Lancet Publishes Series On Midwifery

The Lancet: The power of midwifery
Richard Horton, editor-in-chief of The Lancet, and Olaya Astudillo, assistant editor at The Lancet

“Midwifery is commonly misunderstood. The Series of four papers and five Comments we publish today sets out to correct that misunderstanding. … As governments slowly come to an agreement about development priorities post-2015, it is clear that maternal and newborn health will be essential foundations of any vision for sustainable development between 2015 and 2030. The work described in this Series offers a valuable guide to decision makers about how they can act now to protect the lives of a future generation of women and children” (9/20).

Link to individual story

From the Global Health Policy Community

Secretary Kerry Announces New Global Health Commitments

U.S. Department of State: Secretary Kerry Keynotes Frontiers in Development Forum — Announces New Health Commitments by PEPFAR and a Global Resilience Challenge by USAID
Secretary Kerry provided keynote remarks at USAID’s Frontiers in Development Forum last week and “announced two new initiatives by the U.S. government to mobilize new sources of financing and use data to deliver greater accountability and more effective development” (9/20).

Link to individual story

Save The Children Commends U.S. Senators For Introduction Of Maternal, Child Health Bill

Save the Children: Save the Children Action Network Applauds U.S. Senators Coons, Graham and Cardin for the Introduction of the Accelerating Action in Maternal and Child Health Act of 2014
“Save the Children Action Network applauds U.S. Senators Chris Coons (D-Del.), Lindsay Graham (R-S.C.), and Ben Cardin (D-Md.), all members of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, for the introduction of S. 2853, the Accelerating Action in Maternal and Child Health Act. … This legislation is a great step towards reaching the goal of ending preventable maternal, newborn, and child deaths, and we commend the bipartisan leadership on this very critical issue” (9/19).

Link to individual story

O'Neill Institute Pieces Discuss International Community's Ebola Response

The O’Neill Institute for National & Global Health Law published two pieces on Ebola.

O’Neill Institute for National & Global Health: O’Neill Institute Statement on the United Nations Security Council Resolution on the Ebola Outbreak
A statement discusses the importance of a U.N. Security Council resolution on Ebola (Phelan et al., 9/18).

O’Neill Institute for National & Global Health Blog: Eight Gaps in the International Response to the West African Ebola Crisis Following U.S. Troops and U.N. Needs Assessment
An analysis examines the responses by the international community to the Ebola outbreak and poses several questions (Friedman et al., 9/18).

Link to individual story

Podcast Interview Discusses Impacts Of Development Aid On Health Care Infrastructures

Humanosphere: How the aid and development industry helped cause Africa’s Ebola outbreak
In a podcast, Humanosphere correspondent Gabe Spitzer speaks with medical anthropologist James Pfeiffer, who discusses “how Western agencies devoted to reducing global poverty like the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank imposed policies on these countries (sometimes referred to as structural adjustment) that for decades has discouraged many African nations from investing in public infrastructure — such as basic health care systems…” (9/19).

Link to individual story

Trial Examines Method To Improve Maternal, Newborn Care

Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation’s “Impatient Optimists”: Saving lives in childbirth: do we have a game changer?
Mariam Claeson, director of the maternal, newborn, and child health team at the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation; Atul Gawande, surgeon, writer, and public health researcher; and Aparajita Ramakrishnan, deputy director of the Gates Foundation’s India Country Office, discuss the BetterBirth trial that is applying WHO’s Safe Childbirth checklist in real-world situations (9/19).

Link to individual story

KFF Headquarters: 185 Berry St., Suite 2000, San Francisco, CA 94107 | Phone 650-854-9400
Washington Offices and Barbara Jordan Conference Center: 1330 G Street, NW, Washington, DC 20005 | Phone 202-347-5270

www.kff.org | Email Alerts: kff.org/email | facebook.com/KFF | twitter.com/kff

The independent source for health policy research, polling, and news, KFF is a nonprofit organization based in San Francisco, California.