AP Examines Iran’s Efforts To Curb Spread Of HIV/AIDS Among Drug Users

The Associated Press reports that health experts participating at this week’s International Harm Reduction Association conference in Liverpool are looking to Iran’s methadone clinics and needle exchange programs as a possible model for other countries looking to stop HIV/AIDS transmission. “For years, Iran had a hard-line drug policy, and it still executes people for certain drug trafficking crimes. … Experts say attitudes began to shift about a decade ago when doctors and academics managed to convince religious and governmental authorities that unless they helped drug users kick the habit, Iran would face a much bigger AIDS epidemic.” The AP explores how that shift led to more methadone clinics and needle exchange programs and an eventual change in drug treatment programs (Cheng, 4/27).

Guardian Reports On Controversy Over Increasing Price Of Water Around World 

“Major economies are pushing for substantial increases in the price of water around the world as concern mounts about dwindling supplies and rising population,” the Guardian reports in a piece that examines how price increases could affect the nearly one billion people worldwide who lack access to clean drinking water and more than 2 billion without access to sanitation. The article details the arguments of those in favor of raising water prices – as discussed last week during a World Bank meeting – and several measures that could help protect the poor from the impact of price changes (Jowit, 4/27).

Seminar Highlights Challenges To Global Malaria Control

BMJ News reports on a recent London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine seminar, which examined some of the major global challenges to malaria control. “Issues such as misdiagnosis and overprescription of treatments, counterfeit drugs, problems in supply and delivery, and emerging resistance to drugs ‘all hamper effective treatment.’ A lack of awareness among donors and the public of some these basic problems ‘threaten the success of global malaria control efforts,'” BMJ News writes. The article outlines what different malaria experts said at the seminar (Moszynski, 4/27).

U.N. Highlights Food Shortages In Niger

The U.N. is highlighting its growing concern over a developing food crisis in Niger, Reuters reports. Elisabeth Byrs, spokeswoman for the U.N. Office for Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), said less than one-third of a previously requested $190 million has been raised. “Erratic rainfall last year devastated crops and livestock herds, leaving millions of people hungry in the uranium producer nation and the broader Sahel region” (Fominyen, 4/27). On a visit to the country, John Holmes, the U.N. emergency relief coordinator, “said aid agencies had identified – and were dealing with – the problem early enough to make a difference,” the BBC reports. “We have sounded the alarm much earlier … so I hope that we can avoid the worst, and avoid the kind of scenes we’ve seen before in Niger or in Ethiopia in the 1980s” (4/28).

Bloomberg Businessweek Examines MBAs Who Work In Developing Nations

Bloomberg Businessweek looks at the different ways business school graduates “get experience in the developing world,” on health and other issues. According to the publication, “a growing number of MBA graduates turning to organizations … as a way to use their business skills to help nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) and explore whether they want to pursue careers in the developing world. In many ways, it’s the MBA version of the Peace Corps, offering graduates a chance to flex their business skills in supply-chain management, marketing, and financial analysis in far-flung regions that are as remote as business school students can get from Wall Street.” Several groups facilitate these partnerships, including MBAs Without Borders and CDC Development Solutions (Damast, 4/26).