KFF Daily Global Health Policy Report
In The News
- Physicians Work To Dispel Myths That Migrants To U.S. Carry Disease
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NBC News: Vectors or Victims? Docs Slam Rumors That Migrants Carry Disease
“Doctors say they are concerned about false rumors and ‘hysteria’ that the unaccompanied children coming across the border from Mexico into Texas are carrying diseases such as Ebola and dengue fever. The rumors have been carried on anti-immigration websites but have made it onto some mainstream media sites and they’ve even caught the eye of a member of Congress…” (Fox, 7/9).
- Guinea Worm Nears Extinction
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NPR: Going, Going, Almost Gone: A Worm Verges On Extinction
“…The world is closer than ever to wiping the [Guinea worm] parasite off the face of the Earth. There were only 17 cases of Guinea worm in the first five months of this year, the Carter Center reported Monday. That’s a 75 percent reduction from this time last year, when 68 people reported infections…” (Doucleff, 7/8).
- Basic Hygiene Can Help Prevent Spread Of MERS In Saudi Arabia, WHO Says
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Associated Press: WHO: Basic hygiene can help prevent MERS spread
“A World Health Organization official on Thursday urged millions of Muslims making the pilgrimage to Mecca, Saudi Arabia, to exercise basic hygiene as mass gatherings pose risks of spreading the Middle East Respiratory Syndrome…” (7/10).
- Health Workers In Sierra Leone Hit Hard By Ebola Outbreak, IRIN Reports
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IRIN: A Sierra Leone hospital battles Ebola
“…[Sierra Leone], alongside neighboring Guinea and Liberia, is currently experiencing the worst outbreak of Ebola on record, with 481 people having died from the incurable disease in the three countries as of 2 July. Seven health workers infected with Ebola at the hospital have died…” (7/9).
- World's Least Developed Countries Seek Inclusion In Post-2015 Agenda
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Inter Press Service: World’s Poorest Nations Seek Presence in Post-2015 Agenda
“The 48 least developed countries (LDCs), described as the poorest of the world’s poor, want to be an integral part of the U.N.’s post-2015 development agenda currently under discussion. An Open-ended Working Group (OWG), which will continue its 13th round of negotiations next week, is expected to come up with a set of new Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) to replace the eight Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), which reach their deadline by the end of next year…” (Deen, 7/8).
- Displaced Persons, Those Living With HIV Face Challenges In South Sudan
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News outlets report on the challenges people living with HIV face in accessing treatment in South Sudan, as well as worsening living conditions among persons displaced by the nation’s ongoing violence.
Key Correspondents: South Sudan: huge drop in treatment rates for people living with HIV
“South Sudan’s Ministry of Health says only 6,800 people living with HIV are currently receiving treatment, less than half the number of people who enrolled for treatment a year ago. Around 16,000 patients registered for free antiretroviral therapy in 2013, which is low compared to the 150,000 people believed to be living with the disease in the world’s newest nation…” (Galli, 7/8).VOA News: Displaced S. Sudanese Face Worsening Conditions in Camps
“Floods, malaria and malnutrition are making life worse for internally displaced people staying at camps in South Sudan. In Malakal, the country’s second largest city, most people prefer to face difficulties at the U.N. camp rather than return home, where the security situation remains fragile…” (Iob, 7/9).
- SciDev.Net Interviews Hans Rosling On Teaching, Addressing Global Trends
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SciDev.Net: Q&A: Hans Rosling on depicting global trends accurately
SciDev.Net interviews Hans Rosling — professor of global health at the Karolinska Institute and co-founder and chair of the Gapminder Foundation — about teaching demography and other issues to high school and college teachers and depicting global trends to the public (Janowski, 7/9).
- IRIN Discusses New Report On TB Control
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IRIN: TB drug resistance signifies failure
“…A new report by the Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU) points out that the reduction in TB correlates far more closely with a country’s score on the Human Development Index than it does with the intensity of the effort it puts into disease control. The report puts its finger on what it calls a lack of focus by those working on the disease…” (Blunt, 7/9).
- Malaria Parasite Infects Bone Marrow, Researchers Show
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VOA News: Researchers Confirm Presence of Malaria Parasite in Bone Marrow
“Researchers say they have evidence the malaria parasite lurks in bone marrow, a spongy tissue inside bones where blood cells are produced. The discovery offers hope that new treatments can be found to fight the disease, which kills an estimated one million people each year…” (7/9).
Editorials and Opinions
- Adolescents' Access To Reproductive Health Services 'Will Transform Their Lives'
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Huffington Post: We Can’t Ignore Adolescent Reproductive Health
Kathy Calvin, president and CEO of the United Nations Foundation“…We need to ensure that every girl can fully realize her sexual and reproductive health and rights. One simple and cost-effective way to help do this is to expand access to voluntary family planning. … To make sure we are meeting the needs of girls, we must listen to them and include them in decision-making processes. We also need to improve data collection and analysis by gathering more data from girls and disaggregating more data by age and gender to ensure we understand the unique needs of different population segments. Addressing the sexual and reproductive health needs of adolescent girls will transform their lives and the lives of future generations…” (7/9).
- World Bank Can Help Migrants Send Money Home For Families' Needs, Including Health
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New York Times: Migrants and the Middlemen
“…Last year alone, migrants in rich countries sent an estimated $404 billion to their families in developing countries. The money pays for daily needs, as well as for health, education, and emergencies. But the cost to transfer those billions is likely to rise soon, resulting in more money for middlemen and less for the poor, while reversing years of progress toward lower money-transfer fees. … If banks can’t profitably transmit remittances — and won’t do so as a low-margin courtesy — then other secure, low-cost options must be found. One solution would be for the World Bank to become a remittance center. It has the expertise. And it would not take business away from the big banks, which have thrown in the towel on reasonably priced cash transfers. What it would do is ensure that more of migrants’ hard-earned money reaches their families, and, in that way, advance the mission of the World Bank to alleviate poverty” (7/9).
- Solutions For Food Security, Environmental Challenges Needed To Feed Hungry, 'Save The Earth'
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Devex: How to feed our planet without devastating the environment
Catherine Cheney, special projects editor at NationSwell“…The international community has a major challenge on its hands when it comes to figuring out how to provide 70 percent more food to feed nine billion people by the year 2050 while still protecting the planet. Rising temperatures are placing new strains on farmers at the same time that a growing population is placing new strains on the land, with climate change leading to food insecurity and environmental damage that will be difficult to reverse. Solutions at the nexus of food security and the environment are necessary both to feed the hungry and save the earth…” Cheney discusses five ways to drive this process (7/8).
- Renewed Focus On Long-Term Food Aid Solutions Will Help More People Worldwide
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Baltimore Sun: U.S. food aid still needed around the world
Mike Gesker, a writer at Catholic Relief Services“…Today, 60 years after the launch of [President Dwight D. Eisenhower’s] Food for Peace program, it is still bringing vital food to hungry children, women and men overseas. This is a testament to the hard work not just of U.S. farmers, but also business people, grain elevator operators, truck drivers, freight movers, port operators, as well as our federal government, and relief agencies like Baltimore-based Catholic Relief Services. But even as we celebrate six decades of success, much work remains to be done … Improved water management — including wells, irrigation and earthen dams — drought resistant crops; improved crop storage techniques, linking farmers to markets, and more education will help hungry communities help themselves…” (7/9).
From the Global Health Policy Community
- USAID Committed To Helping South Sudanese Build 'Peaceful And Secure Future'
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USAID’s “Impact”: Responding to Dire Needs in South Sudan Three Years after Independence
Linda Etim, deputy assistant administrator for Africa who oversees the Office of Sudan and South Sudan Programs and the Office of East African Affairs, discusses USAID’s efforts in conflict-ridden South Sudan, writing, “As we reflect on South Sudan’s third anniversary of nationhood, USAID remains more committed than ever to the people of South Sudan and we will continue to help them build the peaceful and secure future they deserve” (7/9).
- Innovation, Collaborative Leadership Can End Malaria
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Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation’s “Impatient Optimists”: Out of Collaborative Leadership Comes Innovation — How We Will Beat Malaria
James Whiting, executive director of Malaria No More U.K., discusses the importance and power of collaborative leadership and innovation in ending malaria (7/9).
- USAID Releases 'Maternal Health Vision For Action'
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USAID: Maternal Health Vision for Action
USAID “is working with the global community to End Preventable Maternal Mortality (EPMM). The USAID Maternal Health Vision for Action outlines how USAID will help achieve a maternal mortality rate of fewer than 50 deaths per 100,000 live births…” (6/25).
- FDA Publishes Guidance For Industry On NTD Drug Development
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FDA: Guidance for Industry: Neglected Tropical Diseases of the Developing World: Developing Drugs for Treatment or Prevention
“The purpose of this guidance is to assist sponsors in the development of drugs for the treatment or prevention of neglected tropical diseases (NTDs) of the developing world. Specifically, this guidance addresses the Food and Drug Administration’s (FDA’s) current thinking regarding the overall drug development program for the treatment or prevention of NTDs…” (July 2014).