AP: It’s World Children’s Day and anniversary of child rights
“It was World Children’s Day on Wednesday, and British teenage actress Millie Bobby Brown and former England soccer star David Beckham urged people everywhere to listen to youngsters and ensure their rights and their futures. Celebrating the 30th anniversary of the U.N. adoption of the U.N. Convention on the Rights of the Child, the General Assembly held a high-level meeting at which Brown and Beckham, who are both goodwill ambassadors for the U.N. children’s agency UNICEF, spoke along with youngsters and U.N. officials…” (Lederer, 11/20).

U.N. News: Young activists do the talking as U.N. marks World Children’s Day
“…The anniversary of the child rights convention provides an opportunity for adults and children to work together to build that brighter future, U.N. Deputy Secretary-General Amina Mohammed told the gathering. Although important markers have been achieved since its adoption, including the fact that more children are now in school, millions of the world’s poorest children are still being left behind…” (11/20).

Link to individual story

IPS: As Donors Ramp up Polio Funding, Worries of Comeback Persist
“…Donor governments and philanthropists pledged $2.6 billion on Tuesday in Abu Dhabi to immunize 450 million children against polio each year — further beating back a bug that is only endemic nowadays in Pakistan and Afghanistan. Some global health experts say mankind is walking its ‘final mile’ towards a polio-free world, but others warn that so-called polioviruses could re-emerge and spread swiftly, as was witnessed to deadly effect in the Philippines earlier this year…” (Reinl, 11/20).

The Telegraph: Bill’s billion-dollar polio pledge: Gates funds final push on eradication
“Philanthropist Bill Gates has urged countries to keep fighting polio as he pledged more than $1 billion to chase down the last few cases of the fatal childhood disease. Mr. Gates’ donation makes up half of $2.6 billion promised by international donors and affected countries at the Reaching the Last Mile Forum in Abu Dhabi, which is dedicated to fighting the world’s most intractable killers. Other funders to make significant pledges were the U.K., which promised £400m ($514m)…” (Gulland, 11/20).

Link to individual story

CNN Philippines: Polio cases in PH rise to 7 — Health dept.
“The number of polio cases in the Philippines has risen to seven, the Health department said on Wednesday. In a statement, the department said the new cases were all from Mindanao…” (Rola, 11/20).

Xinhua: 3 more confirmed polio cases reported in southern Philippines
“…On Nov. 25, the government will start another round of door-to-door vaccination activities in Metro Manila and entire Mindanao in the southern Philippines. This will be expanded to the rest of the country next year…” (11/20).

Link to individual story

CIDRAP News: Ebola continues decline, but mobile patients still pose a risk
“A steady decline in the number of Ebola cases in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) outbreak continued last week, with just nine new cases reported from three health zones, but a new illness was reported from Oicha, which recently passed 30 days with no new cases, according to the latest update from the World Health Organization (WHO). In other developments, the DRC reported 2 more cases, lifting the outbreak total to 3,298, according to the WHO’s online Ebola dashboard…” (Schnirring, 11/20).

The Telegraph: Congolese doctor honored for game-changing ‘Ebola Cube’
“…Dr. Richard Kojan, an intensive care specialist for French non-governmental organization Alima, was recognized with an innovation award during the Reaching the Last Mile forum in Abu Dhabi. He came up with the concept of the Cube — a biosecure emergency treatment unit — after his experiences responding to the Ebola epidemic in West Africa in 2014-15, which killed more than 11,000 people…” (Gulland, 11/20).

Link to individual story

Xinhua: China, Gates Foundation sign MoU on tuberculosis prevention, control
“China’s National Health Commission (NHC) and the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation on Wednesday signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) on the prevention and control of tuberculosis. Aiming to promote new tools, technologies, and strategies to counter the epidemic, the deal was made at a seminar in celebration of the 10th anniversary of the cooperation program of the two sides…” (11/20).

Link to individual story

AFP: Europe’s prisons failing to monitor inmates’ health: WHO (11/21).

The BMJ: Doctors criticize Indian government’s advice to delay oxytocin at childbirth (Mudur, 11/20).

Devex: Food system transformation needs everyone at the table, experts say (Morgan, 11/20).

The Guardian: U.N. warns Burkina Faso could become ‘another Syria’ as violence soars (McVeigh, 11/20).

Homeland Preparedness News: Reps. Eshoo, Diaz-Balart honored by Global Health Technologies Coalition (Kovaleski, 11/20).

New Humanitarian: Vaccine refusals drive measles emergency in Samoa (Loy, 11/20).

Reuters: Greener, longer life: More trees reduce premature deaths in cities (Bacchi, 11/20).

Science: Bangladesh could be the first to cultivate golden rice, genetically altered to fight blindness (Stokstad, 11/20).

STAT: Gilead CEO Daniel O’Day says company is in an ‘acquisitive mode’ (Garde, 11/20).

Xinhua: Laos steps up fight against antimicrobial resistance (11/21).

Link to individual story

Atlanta Journal-Constitution: Opinion: Candidates, help Atlanta, world end HIV, other pandemics
Jonathan Colasanti, assistant professor of medicine at Emory University and associate medical director in the Infectious Disease Program of Grady Health System

“…[A] critical issue overlooked thus far [by Democratic presidential candidates] is how the next President will tackle today and tomorrow’s infectious disease epidemics … Renewed U.S. leadership in the fight against HIV/AIDS globally is our best strategy for ending this epidemic for good. Beyond HIV, pandemics due to tuberculosis and malaria surge on and the next infectious disease pandemic looms around the corner with ongoing outbreaks around world, such as Ebola. … I join many other scientists, doctors, health and environmental activists, and faith groups around the country in this call to the candidates: commit to ending the pandemics of AIDS, tuberculosis, and malaria around the world — including here in Atlanta — by doubling U.S. investment in a transformative whole-of-government effort to both end these pandemics and ensure low- and middle-income countries can detect diseases and advance the health of their people before outbreaks become pandemics. Protecting American lives depends on lifting up the health of the most vulnerable, globally, through strategic investments in health workforce, infrastructure, laboratories, and data systems…” (11/20).

Link to individual story

Foreign Policy: Warren’s Plan to Rebuild the State Department Doesn’t Go Far Enough
Dan Spokojny, doctoral student at the University of California, Berkeley and former U.S. foreign service officer

“Sen. Elizabeth Warren’s plan to ‘rebuild the State Department,’ released on June 28, is the boldest commitment to diplomacy by any U.S. presidential candidate so far. With the nation enthralled by the spectacle of career diplomats bravely standing up against corruption, Warren’s proposal to end the practice of appointing campaign donors to ambassadorships and double the size of the foreign service should be lauded. … Doubling the number of bureaucrats drafting cables, issuing demarches, and holding the door for political appointees will do little to empower U.S. diplomacy if their hard-earned expertise is not seen as valuable in the policy process. … There are three ways new diplomats should be utilized: Warren should invest in training, widely adopt state-of-the-art policymaking techniques, and reserve the majority of leadership positions for career diplomats. … Merely adding 8,000 new staff into a stale bureaucracy is insufficient. Instead, an influx of new staff must transform the State Department into a 21st-century organization capable of meeting the complex challenges of a rapidly changing world” (11/20).

Link to individual story

Global Health NOW: Watered-Down Words Jeopardize Women and Girls
Tanvi Monga, senior technical manager for community engagement at Ipas

“In the push to advance universal health coverage, certain governments have advocated for watered-down language surrounding sexual and reproductive health rights to dilute international declarations. But UHC cannot be comprehensive without strong language defining sexual and reproductive health care as an integral part of health and well-being — including abortion care. … At Ipas, we and our partners envision a world where every woman and girl has the right to determine her own sexual and reproductive health, including the right to end an unwanted and unintended pregnancy. And the world can’t afford to separate abortion from overall health care. … Although the U.N. declaration [on UHC] is watered down, it can actually serve as a potent rally cry for advocates of sexual and reproductive health and rights. The time for action is now. … At the Nairobi Summit [on ICPD25], the conversation continued. With the summit’s end, it is time keep it going and keep advocating for women’s rights to have control over their own future” (11/20).

Link to individual story

UNFPA: As Nairobi Summit ends, time to focus on accountability
“The Nairobi Summit on ICPD25 wrapped up last week with more than 1,200 concrete commitments to help ensure sexual and reproductive health and rights for all by 2030. … As the Summit closed, participants looked ahead towards the necessary next step: making sure that partners make good on their commitments. … The Nairobi Statement calls on partners to ‘report periodically on the progress towards fulfilling these commitments through transparent means and/or in appropriate public fora.’ UNFPA is now working with partners to develop a mechanism to hold all commitment-makers to account…” (11/20).

Link to individual story

Plan International: Millions of Children at Risk as Governments Fail to Protect Their Rights (11/14).

UNICEF: 30 years of child rights: Historic gains and undeniable achievements, but little progress for the world’s poorest children (11/18).

UNICEF: UNICEF Executive Director Henrietta Fore’s remarks at World Children’s Day 2019 (11/20).

Link to individual story

UNICEF: Novo Nordisk and UNICEF announce new partnership to help prevent childhood overweight and obesity
“Novo Nordisk and UNICEF announced a new partnership [Wednesday] to help prevent childhood overweight and obesity worldwide with an initial focus on interventions in Latin America and the Caribbean. Under this partnership the United Nations children’s agency and the global healthcare company will combine efforts to enhance knowledge and awareness on how to prevent overweight and obesity and address their root causes. The partnership will initially cover a period of three years…” (11/20).

Link to individual story

UNDP: Antimicrobial resistance; an emerging crisis
In this post, Tenu Avafia, manager of Human Rights, Key Populations and Treatment Access at UNDP, and Otto Cars, senior professor of infectious diseases and founder and senior adviser of ReAct — Action on Antibiotic Resistance in the Department of Medical Sciences at Uppsala University, discuss antimicrobial resistance and UNDP’s and ReAct’s strategic plans to address the issue. The authors also discuss the importance of a One Health approach to preventing AMR, citing efforts in Vietnam as an example of successful cooperation (11/20).

Link to individual story

National Institutes of Health: Exposure to HIV drug in the womb may increase risk of microcephaly, developmental delays in children
“Children born to women on HIV therapy containing the drug efavirenz were 2 to 2.5 times more likely to have microcephaly, or small head size, compared to children born to women on regimens of other antiretroviral drugs, according to an analysis funded by the National Institutes of Health. The children with microcephaly also had a higher risk for developmental delays, compared to children with normal head size…” (11/18).

Link to individual story