KFF Daily Global Health Policy Report

In The News

World Leaders To Convene To End Sexual Violence At Global Summit

News outlets report on this week’s upcoming Global Summit to End Sexual Violence In Conflict, which will take place in London from June 10-13.

The Guardian: Rape summit in London sparks charge of ‘hypocrisy’
“The [U.K.] government has been accused of hypocrisy for hosting this week’s Global Summit to End Sexual Violence in Conflict in London, while failing victims of rape on its own doorstep…” (McVeigh, 6/7).

Reuters: World leaders face pressure to act against sexual violence at U.K. summit
“The kidnapping of 200 Nigerian girls and several recent horrific murders of women is expected to raise pressure on the world community to take concrete action to punish those responsible for sexual violence at a global summit in London this week. Invited by Hollywood actress Angelina Jolie and British Foreign Secretary William Hague, government ministers, military and judicial leaders, and aid workers from about 150 nations will join the first Global Summit to End Sexual Violence in Conflict…” (Goldsmith, 6/9).

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G7 Leaders Reach Consensus On Global Development Priorities

Devex: G7 leaders ‘keep the ball rolling’ on global development
“Leaders of seven of the world’s major industrialized nations — France, Germany, Italy, Japan, the United Kingdom, United States, and Canada — gathered on Wednesday and Thursday for a two-day G7 summit, hosted for the first time by the European Union in Brussels…” Devex outlines “10 highlights from an official G7 outcome document, released on Thursday…” (Donelli/Jones, 6/6).

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At U.N. General Assembly, Officials Call For Greater Efforts To End AIDS Epidemic

U.N. News Centre: U.N. officials urge greater commitment, investment, innovation to end HIV/AIDS epidemic
“Despite significant gains, the HIV/AIDS epidemic is far from over, United Nations officials said [Friday at a U.N. General Assembly meeting], calling for greater political commitment, investment, and innovation to end the global scourge…” (6/6).

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Rights Groups, Advocates Condemn Use Of Child Soldiers In S. Sudan

New York Times: In South Sudan, a Ghost of Wars Past: Child Soldiers
“…The United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) estimated last month that 9,000 children had been recruited into armed forces or other groups to fight in the South Sudan conflict. … A growing concern now is the impact of the conflict on the children of South Sudan. The recruitment or use of children as soldiers is just one violation of six that international child protection advocates have established to indicate that children are in harm’s way during an armed conflict…” (Kushkush, 6/7).

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Uganda's AIDS Commission Calls Bill Criminalizing HIV Transmission 'Nonsensical'

Agence France-Presse: Ugandan HIV bill ‘nonsensical,’ says health body
“Uganda’s AIDS commission on Friday called an HIV bill passed by parliament ‘nonsensical,’ and urged the country’s president not to sign it into law. … Uganda’s parliament passed new legislation criminalizing the deliberate transmission of HIV — the virus that can lead to AIDS — in May…” (6/6).

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Drought Compounds WASH, Health Problems In Syria, U.N. Says

New York Times: Syria: Drought Adds to Woes, U.N. Says
“The supply of safe water in Syria is now one-third of the level it was before March 2011 when the civil war began, UNICEF said Friday in a report that warns of new levels of suffering because of a worsening regional drought…” (Gladstone, 6/6).

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Yemen Presents Multiple Challenges For Humanitarian Aid Groups

IRIN: The challenge of delivering aid in Yemen
“Humanitarian needs in Yemen are huge, but it is also recognized as one of the most difficult places in the world for aid workers to operate in…” (Blunt, 6/9).

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Lapses In Infection Control Measures Helped MERS Spread In UAE; Virus Found In Camel Milk

News outlets report on the ongoing Middle East Respiratory Syndrome (MERS) outbreak in the Middle East.

Reuters: WHO experts find hospital breaches worsened MERS outbreak in UAE
“Lapses in hospital infection control measures exacerbated an outbreak of a deadly new viral disease which has infected more than 60 people and killed at least 10 in the United Arab Emirates, health investigators said on Friday…” (Kelland, 6/6).

Science: MERS Virus Found in Camel Milk
“The virus that causes Middle East Respiratory Syndrome (MERS) has been found in camel milk. Scientists don’t know whether infected milk can sicken people, but experts say the results are reason enough to warn against drinking raw camel milk, a widespread tradition in the Middle East…” (Enserink, 6/6).

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As World Cup Comes To Brazil, Health Officials Examine Risk Of Dengue Outbreak

Financial Times: Science: Brazil’s dengue risk
“Football fever may be reaching a peak but public health officials in Brazil are worrying about a less metaphorical malaise. This year’s World Cup is the perfect crucible for outbreaks of dengue fever, one of humankind’s nastiest illnesses…” (Ahuja, 6/6).

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Prophylactic Therapy With TB Drug Effective In HIV Patients, Study Shows

Bloomberg News: Combining Tuberculosis Treatment With HIV Therapy Cuts Disease
“The use of tuberculosis drug isoniazid in conjunction with antiretroviral therapy to prevent the disease among HIV-infected patients is safe and cuts the incidence of TB by 37 percent, according to a study…” (Kew, 6/6).

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Editorials and Opinions

Education On Preventing Ebola Transmission Critical In West African Outbreak

New York Times: Ebola Gets Worse in West Africa
“…The [Ebola outbreaks in West Africa] will require a large educational effort to alert people to the dangers, to warn people not to eat ‘bush meat,’ to warn mourners not to touch the victims during burial ceremonies, and to protect health care workers from unwitting contamination, among other public health measures. Ebola is a frightening virus, but it is not an inevitable death sentence if medical care is sought promptly and steps are taken to prevent transmission” (6/8).

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Support Increasing For Population-Based Malaria Prevention Strategy But More Guidance Needed

New York Times: How to Beat Malaria, Once and for All
François Nosten, professor of tropical medicine at the University of Oxford and director of the Shoklo Malaria Research Unit

“…In pilot studies in Cambodia, Vietnam and here on the Thai-Myanmar border, we have begun testing one approach to rapid [malaria] elimination. … [E]liminating the parasites may require treating everybody in the village, an approach that is used for other parasitic diseases, like river blindness and filariasis. Because P. falciparum infects only humans, if we can treat entire populations, we should be able to eliminate this parasite from certain regions. … Some funding bodies — like the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, the Wellcome Trust and Britain’s Department for International Development, which also support our research unit — are moving in this direction already. But for now, governments and medical organizations need more evidence, and they need leadership from the WHO…” (6/7).

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Achieving SDGs Requires Private Sector Involvement

Foreign Policy: Make Money, End Poverty
Johan Bergenas, deputy director of the Managing Across Boundaries Initiative at the Stimson Center

“…[U]nless governments strategically leverage the private sector, the simple fact is that the world likely will not achieve the forthcoming Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), including the goal of eradicating extreme poverty. … The designers of the goals need to bring the private sector to the table and clearly communicate the nexus between the public interest and private profit. They also need to prepare ways to maximize the potential of that nexus, so the world can hit the ground running with the new development goals. If this can all be achieved, there will be winners all around: governments, the private sector, and — most importantly — people across the globe” (6/6).

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Prejudice Surrounding HIV Must End In Order To Effectively Prevent, Treat Infections

The Guardian: HIV remains a global health problem, thanks to ignorance and prejudice
Norman Fowler, author, former cabinet minister with Margaret Thatcher, and former chair of the Conservative party

“More than 35 million people are living with HIV but about half of those do not know they are infected. In other words, around 18 million live in ignorance of their condition. … Many of the 18 million will go on living in the way they always have; having sex and spreading the virus. Too many drug users will continue to share needles and too many sex workers will not take basic precautions. … The scandal is that one of the main reasons why people with HIV do not come forward for testing is that they know they will come up against a wall of discrimination and prejudice. … In my view, HIV will not be defeated until there is a vaccine. … A vaccine will not end the prejudice with HIV but it will give us the means to go around it…” (6/7).

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Conference Outlines Ways To Improve Maternal, Newborn, Child Health

Huffington Post: How to Save Women and Children
Stephen Cornish, executive director of Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) in Canada

“…The organizers and participants of last week’s conference [in Canada titled ‘Saving Every Woman Every Child: Within Arm’s Reach’] are to be commended for seeking concrete steps to improve maternal, newborn, and child health and save lives. Proven models exist — for young children, combining nutrition with basic health care; for mothers, providing skilled birth attendants along with key medicines and proper hygiene; and for newborns, better training for health care workers in managing the main causes of newborn deaths. These models need to be implemented — and sustained — on a broad scale. To support children as they grow into adulthood, it’s essential that we make lifesaving vaccines affordable for families in poor and middle-income countries [all over] the world. Only then will the world’s generosity truly be in line with its objectives” (6/6).

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From the Global Health Policy Community

Global Fund's Equitable Access Initiative Raising Concerns Among Civil Society Groups

Center for Global Health Policy’s “Science Speaks”: Global Fund ‘equitable access initiative’ doesn’t answer concerns first raised by tiered pricing task force plan
Antigone Barton, writer and editor of “Science Speaks” and senior communications officer at the Center for Global Health Policy, explores the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria’s Equitable Access Initiative and civil society’s concerns over the plan (6/6).

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BRICS Can Advance Efforts To Eliminate NTDs, Paper Says

Global Network for Neglected Tropical Diseases’ “End the Neglect”: BRICS in the Response to Neglected Tropical Diseases
Alex Gordon, communications associate for the Global Network and the Sabin Vaccine Institute, discusses a paper (.pdf) published in the WHO Bulletin titled, “BRICS in the response to neglected tropical diseases.” The paper “explains how the BRICS [(Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa)] could draw upon their own experiences tackling domestic global health challenges to further advance global efforts to control and eliminate NTDs by 2020” (6/6).

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Oxfam Official Speaks With Jamie Love About The WTO And Public Health

Oxfam’s “From Poverty To Power”: Jamie Love’s Next Big Idea: Making the WTO into a force for good in Public Health
Duncan Green, strategic adviser for Oxfam GB, recounts Jamie Love’s involvement in intellectual property (IP) activism and his ideas for a World Trade Organization Agreement on the Supply of Public Goods (6/6).

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