U.S. Congress’s Standstill On Zika Funding Continues As July 4th Recess Approaches June 30, 2016 News Summary CQ News: No Progress on Zika Funding Package Seen as Recess Beckons “Lawmakers are preparing to leave for recess with Zika talks at a standstill. Republicans insist the Senate must reconsider a vote to reject advancement of a $1.1 billion aid package, while Democrats want Republicans to work with them…
Zika Spending Package Fails To Garner Votes In U.S. Senate Needed To Break Filibuster; White House Calls On Congress To Fully Fund Emergency Request June 29, 2016 News Summary The Atlantic: Why the U.S. Senate Blocked Funding to Combat Zika “…The bill, which had already passed the House, failed to win the 60 votes it needed to break a filibuster as senators fell almost entirely along party lines in a 52 to 48 tally. Democrats opposed provisions restricting funding…
Zika Studies In Mice, Monkeys Show Promise, Concern; Cuba Reports No Zika Transmission Since March June 29, 2016 News Summary Reuters: Zika vaccines prove 100 percent protective in mice; monkey study shows promise “Mice given a single shot of one of two experimental Zika vaccines were completely protected when exposed to the virus one to two months later, a promising sign that similar vaccines under development for humans will protect…
WHO Appoints Chief Of New Health Emergencies Program June 29, 2016 News Summary Deutsche Welle: WHO elects new chief to beef up health emergencies unit “Peter Salama, an Australian epidemiologist who is currently UNICEF regional director for the Middle East and North Africa, has been tapped to head the WHO’s health emergencies unit and will take up his post in July…” (6/28). Reuters:…
World Food Prize Awarded To Researchers Who Developed Vitamin A-Enriched Sweet Potato June 29, 2016 News Summary NPR: How The Humble Orange Sweet Potato Won Researchers The World Food Prize “…Those orange-fleshed sweet potatoes [for sale] along the road that day represented the triumph of a public health campaign to promote these varieties — which, unlike their white-fleshed counterparts, are rich in Vitamin A. Today, that campaign…
U.N. 2016 Humanitarian Appeal Up To Record $21.6B Due To Natural Disasters, El Niño, Conflict June 29, 2016 News Summary Thomson Reuters Foundation: U.N. hikes 2016 humanitarian appeal to record $21.6 bln after new disasters “The United Nations has raised its 2016 humanitarian funding appeal to a record $21.6 billion from $19.7 billion, partly due to new disasters including a cyclone that battered Fiji and an earthquake that hit Ecuador,…
Smartphone Technology Could Improve Access To Cervical Cancer Screening For Women In Poor, Rural Areas June 29, 2016 News Summary Global Health NOW: In Cervical “Selfies,” A Solution “…[A new smartphone] innovation, by Israeli based firm MobileODT, is a compact medical device that comprises a powerful microscope and lighting. It incorporates an Android enabled mobile phone that takes a photograph of the cervix. This non-intrusive system enhances visual assessment (EVA)…
Devex Examines Terminology Surrounding Family Planning, Contraception June 29, 2016 News Summary Devex: Out with ‘family’ planning, in with ‘future’ planning “…Today, the two words that have so long acted as the umbrella term for women’s ability to choose the spacing and timing of their births are no longer serving young people who aren’t managing their reproductive health in the context of…
DRC Aims To Begin Yellow Fever Vaccination Campaign By July 20, Health Minister Says June 29, 2016 News Summary Bloomberg: Congo Plans Mass Vaccinations Against Yellow Fever in Late July “…The government will use reduced doses of the vaccine, of which there’s currently a shortfall, to immunize those at risk, [DRC Health Minister] Felix Kabange Numbi told reporters Monday in the capital, Kinshasa. The program could begin by July…