KFF Daily Global Health Policy Report
In The News
- U.N.'s Annual MDG Report Shows Progress On Poverty, Calls For More Efforts On Child Health, Sanitation
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News outlets discuss the U.N.’s annual report on progress toward meeting the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), released on Monday.
Agence France-Presse: More Africans in extreme poverty than in 1990: U.N.
“More sub-Saharan Africans are living in extreme poverty now than in 1990, said a major United Nations report Monday, warning the region will miss most of its development goals…” (7/7).Christian Science Monitor: U.N. Millennium Development goals: World cuts extreme poverty in half
“For those who see little reason for optimism about global poverty and social trends, here’s something to cheer about: The world has made impressive progress towards meeting a set of development goals set by world leaders in 2000. One stand-out example: The goal of cutting global extreme poverty in half by 2015 has already been met…” (LaFranchi, 7/7).The Guardian: Reducing child deaths: the Millennium Development Goal that is slipping away
“Achieving global targets to reduce maternal and child deaths and increase access to improved sanitation facilities by 2015 is ‘slipping away,’ despite significant progress in the past 14 years, the U.N. has said…” (Ford, 7/7).Inter Press Service: Amid Skepticism, U.N. Trumpets Successes in Cutting Poverty
“With 17 months before the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) reach their targets by the December 2015 deadline, the United Nations is trumpeting its limited successes — but with guarded optimism…” (Deen, 7/7).New York Times: Report on Development Goals
“Nearly one billion people worldwide defecate in the open, and such bad sanitation practices can endanger the health of children who live and play nearby, the United Nations said in a report released Monday…” (Sengupta, 7/8).SciDev.Net: U.N. urges bold action to turn around off-track MDGs
“Significant global action is still required to reach several key targets set for the 2015 deadline of the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), says a U.N. report published [Monday]…” (Kemeny, 7/7).
- Public-Private Partnerships Can Further Global Health Efforts, Says Shah
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GlobalPost: Public-private partnerships: A ‘win-win’ for global health?
“When USAID Administrator Rajiv Shah announced more than $600 million in new partnerships with private organizations last month, including giant multinationals Coca-Cola and Johnson & Johnson, the news was heralded in Washington as another stride in the agency’s path to ending preventable child and maternal mortality. Shah’s June 25 announcement was another dramatic example of the administration’s signature embrace of private enterprise to help solve some of the most pressing global health crises…” (Miley, 7/8).
- Uganda Says Donors Who Withheld Aid 'Misinterpreted' Anti-Gay Law
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Reuters: Uganda says anti-gay bill misunderstood by donors who halted aid
“International donors who withheld aid over Uganda’s anti-gay bill ‘misinterpreted’ the law whose main focus was to stop promotion of homosexuality to children and others, the government said on Tuesday. Widely condemned by donor countries, the law imposes jail terms of up to life for ‘aggravated homosexuality,’ which includes homosexual sex with a minor or while HIV-positive…” (7/7).
- WFP, UNHCR Launch Appeal To Close Funding Shortfall Causing Food Aid Cuts
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IRIN: New thinking needed on food aid for refugees in Africa
“The World Food Programme (WFP) and the U.N. Refugee Agency (UNHCR) have launched an urgent appeal to address a funding shortfall that has already resulted in food ration cuts for a third of all African refugees. As of mid-June, nearly 800,000 refugees in 22 African countries have seen their monthly food allocations reduced, most of them by more than half…” (Sigfried, 7/7).
- Devex, Partners Launch Conversation Surrounding Future Of Food Security
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In partnership with several companies and organizations, Devex on Monday launched a conversation about the future of food security.
Devex: Global food security: Why it affects us all
“Devex is pleased to launch a new campaign, ‘Feeding Development,’ to shine a light on new ways to feed our planet’s growing population, new ways to think about what a food-secure planet would look like and what it will take to get there. We’re partnering with ACDI/VOCA, Chemonics, Fintrac, the Global Alliance for Improved Nutrition, Nestle, and Tetra Tech, and we’ll be rolling out news, analysis, commentary, and interactive online events beginning July 8 and extending through the month of July…” (Igoe, 7/7).Devex: Let’s rise to the challenge of global food security
Kimberly Flowers, director of communications for Fintrac, “stopped by the Devex office in Washington to preview Feeding Development, an online conversation that reimagines solutions for a more food-secure future…” A video of the conversation is available online (Igoe, 7/7).
- Somali Capital Facing Imminent Hunger Crisis, U.N. Warns
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Agence France-Presse: Somali capital one step short of famine: U.N.
“War-torn Somalia is sliding back into an acute hunger crisis with parts of the capital facing emergency levels just short of famine, the United Nations warned Monday…” (7/7).
- Afghan Taliban Announces Polio Vaccination Ban In Southern Region
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Wall Street Journal: Afghan Taliban Bans Polio Vaccination in Southern Province
“The Afghan Taliban announced Monday a ban on polio vaccinations in a southern Afghan province, a move that sets back efforts to eradicate the crippling disease…” (Standcati, 7/7).
- Health Experts Call For TB Public Health Emergency Declaration In Papua New Guinea
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News outlets report on the findings of a study on tuberculosis in Papua New Guinea that prompted health experts to call for a public health emergency declaration.
Australia Network News: Experts call for tuberculosis to be named public health emergency in Papua New Guinea
“Health experts are calling for tuberculosis (TB) to be declared as a public health emergency in Papua New Guinea after a seven-month study into TB infection rates found that many people in rural areas are dying from the disease without ever being diagnosed…” (7/8).Radio Australia: TB in PNG being neglected
“Health experts are calling for tuberculosis to be declared as a public health emergency in Papua New Guinea.” Radio Australia speaks to Suparat Phuanukoonnon, a medical researcher who is “part of a team from the PNG Institute of Medical Research that conducted a seven-month study [on TB] in three regions [of Papua New Guinea]” (Graue, 7/8).
- Field Tests For Chagas Disease Show Success In Study
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New York Times: New Field Tests May Curb Kissing Bug Disease
“Six different rapid diagnostic tests have proved reliable in detecting Chagas disease without having to wait for laboratory confirmation, according to a study by the medical charity Doctors Without Borders and the World Health Organization…” (McNeil, 7/7).
Editorials and Opinions
- Public-Private Partnership Brings Drugs, Essential Medical Supplies To Remote Areas
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Huffington Post: Going the Extra Mile for Health
Wendy Taylor, director of the Center for Accelerating Innovation and Impact at USAID, and Michael Goltzman, vice president of international government relations & public affairs at the CocaCola Company“…Five years ago, the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria turned to the private sector for expertise and support to deliver essential medicines and medical products to far-flung locales. In 2010, the Coca-Cola Company took up the challenge, announcing a pilot project in Tanzania. The public-private partnership that ensued transfers expertise in supply chain management from Coca-Cola to the public health sector… [bringing] drugs and essential medical supplies to the hardest to reach areas of the East African country. … By tapping into the strength of our diversity, bringing together our best qualities, we can make a transformative difference in the lives of millions of people” (7/7).
- Building Health Systems' Capacity Can Prevent Future Health Emergencies
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The Guardian: Ebola cannot be cured but West Africa’s epidemic may have been preventable
Lisa Denney, research fellow in the politics and governance program at the Overseas Development Institute“…[Ebola] is plaguing three of the countries least equipped to cope with it [– Guinea, Liberia, and Sierra Leone]. … To bring the virus under control, countries need more help from external partners. In the immediate term, emergency humanitarian support is needed to treat those infected and prevent further cases … In the longer term, support must focus on building the capacities of national health and sanitation systems to respond to emergencies and prevent such unnecessary loss of life. … Prevention might be better than cure, but it is also much harder to build capacity to do this. … Building this capacity to prevent future health emergencies is a long-term endeavor that becomes more critical with each epidemic in the region” (7/8).
- U.N. Should Include NCDs In Post-2015 Development Agenda
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Inter Press Service: Fighting Killer Diseases Is Essential in the Post-2015 Agenda
Laurent Huber, director of the Framework Convention Alliance“…[T]he Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) that will replace the MDGs in 2015 must expand the list of health goals to include non-communicable diseases (NCDs) — the world’s #1 killer. … The largest burden — 80 percent, or 28 million deaths — occurs in low-middle-income countries (LMICs), making NCDs a major cause of poverty and an urgent development issue. … Tobacco is the leading risk factor for NCDs. … In 2003, the world’s governments adopted the WHO Framework Convention on Tobacco Control [FCTC], the first modern-day public health treaty. … Including NCDs and the FCTC in the development goals that will be announced by the U.N. General Assembly in 2015 will also ensure that battling the tobacco epidemic becomes a national priority, and prevent millions of premature deaths” (7/7).
- 'DR-TB Manifesto' Demands More Action Against Drug-Resistant TB
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The Guardian: Meet the 23-year-old TB survivor taking on South Africa’s patent laws
Phumeza Tisile, co-author of the DR-TB Manifesto and XDR-TB survivor“…The DR-TB Manifesto makes three demands: first, everyone should have access to testing and treatment for drug-resistant TB. Even though new rapid diagnostics are becoming more available, less than 20 percent of people with DR-TB are diagnosed — and in many countries, including South Africa, fewer than half of those diagnosed start treatment. Second, we need better treatments that have higher cure rates and are easier on patients. And finally, we need the international community to fully fund the fight against DR-TB. … Drug-resistant TB needs to be recognized as a public health emergency. We have demanded that governments take action, but there is much more work to be done. Until the situation improves, I will keep speaking out about the challenges that DR-TB patients face” (7/7).
From the Global Health Policy Community
- Blog Post Discusses Private Financing In Uganda's Health Sector
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USAID’s “Impact”: Can Private Financing Answer Uganda’s Health Care Woes?
Daryl Martyris, a health development officer in USAID Uganda’s Office of Health, HIV/AIDS and Education, discusses private financing for health in Uganda (7/8).
- Review Examines HIV Among Injection Drug Users In Middle East, North Africa
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Center for Global Health Policy’s “Science Speaks”: HIV among people who inject drugs emerging, growing, largely unaddressed, and often uncounted in Middle East and North Africa
Antigone Barton, writer and editor of “Science Speaks” and senior communications officer at the Center for Global Health Policy, discusses a review published in PLOS Medicine that examines HIV among people who inject drugs in the Middle East and North Africa (7/7).
- Ghana Making Strides To Reduce NTDs
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END in Africa: Ghana launches NTD master plan, mass drug administration campaign, celebrates billionth NTD treatment
“On Thursday, July 3, 2014, the Government of Ghana launched both its Ghana Neglected Tropical Diseases (NTD) master plan and its 2014 strategic mass drug administration (MDA) campaign, while also celebrating the One Billionth NTD Treatment delivered globally with USAID support…” (7/3).