aidsmap: U.S. HIV funding decisions on PEPFAR in 2017 will have critical effect on ability to reach 90-90-90 goals
“A [complete] withdrawal of United States funding for HIV treatment and prevention in sub-Saharan Africa could lead to 7.9 million additional HIV infections and almost 300,000 AIDS deaths between now and 2030, according to modeling of the impact of U.S. funding carried out by Imperial College, London, and presented last week at the 9th International AIDS Society Conference on HIV Science (IAS 2017) in Paris. … The modeling also showed that maintaining funding only at existing levels will lead to a flatlining of the proportion of people living with HIV who are on treatment and virally suppressed. On the other hand, if expansion of U.S. funding is accompanied by increases in domestic funding and more efficient allocation of funding within each country, there could be rapid progress towards the 90-90-90 target by 2022…” (Alcorn, 8/1).

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The Guardian: Insult to injury: how Trump’s ‘global gag’ will hit women traumatized by war
“If the first victim of war is the truth, the second is often female. And the people who pick up the pieces are usually aid workers, as it is their health centers and ‘safe spaces’ and camp programs that help women to work through the trauma of loss, displacement, and sexual violence. Funding for this work quite often features the U.S. government. … But all that is now at risk, after President Donald Trump’s decision[s] to reinstate the so-called global gag rule [and withhold funding for UNFPA]…” (Sutton et al., 8/1).

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Fast Company: Can Encouraging Breastfeeding Around The World Boost The Global Economy?
“…[T]he Global Breastfeeding Collective, a philanthropic coalition that includes the World Health Organization, UNICEF, and 20 related heath and nutrition nonprofits like 1,000 Days and Alive & Thrive, has launched a $5.7 billion fundraising campaign to get more [mothers to breastfeed]. The goal is to convince potential donors, including foundations, various NGOs, and government making health investments, to boost the current rate of those who ‘exclusively breastfeed’ — meaning just that and nothing else — for their first six months from 40 percent to 50 percent by 2025 by investing things like public health campaigns and prenatal counseling, and better medical facilities with trained staff to encourage the practice…” (Paynter, 8/1).

U.N. News Centre: Breastfeeding is ‘smartest investment’ families, communities, and countries can make — U.N.
“…The [Global Breastfeeding Scorecard] was released at the start of World Breastfeeding Week alongside a new analysis, Nurturing the Health and Wealth of Nations: The Investment Case for Breastfeeding, demonstrating that an annual investment of only $4.70 per newborn is required to increase the global rate of exclusive breastfeeding among children under six months to 50 percent by 2025…” (8/1).

USA TODAY: Breastfeeding: Not a single country in the world meets WHO, UNICEF standards
“…Fewer than 44 percent [of countries] report moms breastfeed infants within the first hour of birth. Only 23 countries report exclusive breastfeeding rates at six months above 60 percent: Bolivia, Burundi, Cabo Verde, Cambodia, Democratic People’s Republic of Korea, Eritrea, Kenya, Kiribati, Lesotho, Malawi, Micronesia, Federated States of Nauru, Nepal, Peru, Rwanda, São Tome and Principe, Solomon Islands, Sri Lanka, Swaziland, Timor-Leste, Uganda, Vanuatu, and Zambia…” (May, 8/1).

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U.N. News Centre: Interview: Head of U.N. drug body urges greater access to treatment for women
“Women continue to be disproportionately affected by drug use and face obstacles in accessing treatment, compared to men, according to the president of the United Nations International Narcotics Control Board (INCB). Viroj Sumyai, who recently presented the board’s annual report to the U.N. Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC), urged member states to integrate gender perspectives in the elaboration of their drug policies to address this discrepancy…” (8/1).

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BBC News: Yemen conflict: Cholera risk for more than a million children
“More than a million children in Yemen are at high risk of dying from cholera, says Save the Children. The charity warns that the children are severely malnourished and living in some of the areas of the country worst hit by the disease…” (Mazumdar, 8/2).

Thomson Reuters Foundation: More than 1 million malnourished children in Yemen at risk of cholera: charity
“…The … cholera epidemic that started in April 2015 has infected more than 425,000 people and killed almost 1,900. Save the Children said children under the age of 15 are now accounting for about 44 percent of new cases and 32 percent of fatalities in Yemen where a devastating civil war and economic collapse has left millions on the brink of starvation…” (Kubzansky, 8/1).

U.N. News Centre: Deadly combination of cholera, hunger, and conflict pushes Yemen to ‘edge of a cliff’ — senior U.N. official
“Describing the situation in Yemen as ‘very bleak,’ with ‘no end in sight,’ a senior United Nations official envoy [Tuesday] said the war-torn country, already reeling from malnutrition and dwindling health care, is plummeting into further distress amid a deadly cholera outbreak and looming famine…” (8/1).

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Philippine Star: ‘National emergency’: Philippines urged to address HIV epidemic
“Human Rights Watch has called on the Philippine government to implement low-cost interventions after a 2017 UNAIDS report found that the country has the fastest growing HIV epidemic in Asia-Pacific…” (Matsuzawa, 8/2).

Philippine Star: Report: Philippines has fastest growing HIV epidemic in Asia Pacific
“…The UNAIDS report showed a 140 percent increase in the number of new infections in the Philippines for the past six years from an estimated 4,300 in 2010 to around 10,500 in 2016. The Philippines has become one of the eight countries accounting for more than 90 percent of new HIV infections in Asia and the Pacific…” (Viray, 8/1).

Reuters: Philippines has highest HIV infection growth rate in Asia-Pacific: U.N.
“…The country can still end the public health threat by 2030 if the government can re-direct its focus on the people and locations most at risk, said Eamonn Murphy, UNAIDS regional support team director for Asia-Pacific. He said 83 percent of new HIV cases occurred among males who have sex with males and transgender women who have sex with males…” (Mogato, 8/1).

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IRIN: Somalia’s impossible fight against cholera
“…This is Somalia’s worst cholera outbreak in five years. So far, 71,663 cases have been counted, including more than 1,098 deaths, according to Doctor Ghulam Popal, the World Health Organization representative. … The extent of Somalia’s cholera crisis is likely to be a good deal worse than the official numbers suggest… (Sperber, 8/1).

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The Hill: Trump’s nominee to lead USAID has the right philosophy on international aid
Lester Munson, vice president, international, at BGR Group and adjunct faculty at Johns Hopkins University

“…[President Trump’s nominee for USAID administrator, Mark Green,] is trying to put himself out of a job. … Creating the conditions under which foreign assistance is no longer necessary puts both American compassion and pragmatism to work. … I offer four ideas for country-specific engagement that I believe are required to help create the conditions under which foreign assistance can put itself out of business, turn aid to trade, make all of us safer, and free up and focus our resources where they are needed most. First, we must encourage meaningful, country-specific engagement from the beginning of the process. … Second, we need to build up the capacity of local governments and institutions. … Third, we must factor in a transition strategy that ensures a strong commitment to partnership with the U.S. … [Finally, a]ll of the above must be part of a coherent global development strategy with clear goals and metrics, so that we learn more about what we are doing right, based upon goals, data, and experience…” (7/31).

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Quartz: Health security is as important to America’s future as border security
Dan Stinchcomb, chief scientific officer at Infectious Disease Research Institutes

“…As the Trump administration and the Republican-led Congress begin discussing their next fiscal year federal budget, they have an opportunity to either reduce or increase the risk of infectious diseases. We can’t eliminate all disease, but through a combination of preventive care and long-term preparedness, we could dramatically lower the cost in both money and lives. Here are five of the biggest current threats from infectious disease: 1. Zika … 2. Flu epidemic … 3. The unexpected epidemic … 4. Drug-resistant bacteria … 5. Under-vaccination … Protecting our borders is an important goal for our new government. But, even if the United States completely halted immigration, we’d still be at risk for epidemics and health crises … Just as we provide funding to secure our population from terrorism, we need to find ways to secure our health, through continued funding of research and public health programs, both here and abroad” (8/1).

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Huffington Post: Breaking Breastfeeding Barriers
Lucy Martinez Sullivan, executive director at 1,000 Days

“…[W]hile women have the ability to improve the health and vitality of their children, their communities, and the world at large, they face innumerable barriers in doing so. … [I]n addition to the cognitive losses in children, poor breastfeeding rates cost countries in two other critical ways: first, in terms of higher health care costs to treat diseases that could have been prevented with better breastfeeding and second, the potential future income that is lost to maternal and child deaths due to low rates of breastfeeding. … [I]t will take a collective effort to clear the path to better enable women to breastfeed and unlock massive gains in health, cognitive potential, and economic productivity. It is why I am excited that my organization, 1,000 Days, is part of the new Global Breastfeeding Collective, a partnership of 20 prominent international agencies and organizations led by UNICEF and WHO that are committed to increasing investment policies and actions to help women to successfully breastfeed…” (8/1).

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Devex: Opinion: Nurses are coming out of retirement to fight HIV
Margarite Nathe, senior editor and writer on the communications and advocacy team at IntraHealth International

“…[Pamela McQuide, IntraHealth’s country director in Namibia,] and her team have three recommendations for other countries working to creatively build fit-for-purpose health workforces in the midst of health worker shortages. They have learned to first review policy, which may be unintentionally holding the health workforce back. In Namibia, the mandatory retirement age may be keeping plenty of nurses who are eager to keep working out of the workforce, even as the country desperately needs them. Interventions should also look locally first. Homegrown health workers are crucial to maintaining trust within their communities and are the most sustainable solution to the shortage. Finally, find creative ways to put experience to work. In Namibia, the team has found that many clients immediately trust and respect older nurses, whose age and experience are unparalleled assets when it comes to HIV care — and health services of all kinds” (8/1).

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Guttmacher Institute: The Benefits of Investing in International Family Planning — and the Price of Slashing Funding
Sneha Barot, senior policy manager at the Guttmacher Institute, discusses the benefits of international family planning assistance, including health, economic, social, and environmental benefits, as well as the potential impacts of U.S. cuts to family planning assistance (8/1).

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Woodrow Wilson Center’s Environmental Change and Security Program’s “New Security Beat”: Observing Earth: Using Satellite Data for International Development
Graham Norwood, an intern with the Wilson Center’s Environmental Change and Security Program, discusses “the Wilson Center’s recent panel discussion of the earth observation data program known as SERVIR, which included insights from USAID’s soon-to-be-released evaluation of the program. First conceived in 2005, SERVIR is a joint initiative of USAID and NASA that partners with regional technical institutions around the world to get earth observation information into the hands of decision-makers to improve development outcomes…” (8/2).

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Center for Global Health Policy’s “Science Speaks”: IAS 2017: Hold the phone — mobile “health wallet” could make prevention, care, and treatment cheaper, better, and accessible
Antigone Barton, senior editor and writer of “Science Speaks,” discusses a session at the IAS 2017 conference on the impact of mobile technology on health care (7/31).

Center for Global Health Policy’s “Science Speaks”: IAS 2017: Pioneering HIV researchers tell how public health leadership started with Fogarty fellowships
Antigone Barton, senior editor and writer of “Science Speaks,” discusses a session at the IAS 2017 conference during which HIV researchers discussed the impacts of the Fogarty International Center’s research fellowships on their work and broader global health efforts (8/1).

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FHI360’s “Research for Evidence”: The science of beating HIV and AIDS
Timothy Mastro, chief science officer at FHI360, discusses themes from presentations made at the International AIDS Society 2017 conference, including “1) using science to improve the use of the powerful treatment and prevention tools we have on hand to save lives and prevent new infections, thereby controlling the [HIV] epidemic; and 2) better understanding how HIV and humans interact in hopes of learning how to prevent, treat, and cure HIV and one day having a safe and effective preventive vaccine…” (8/1).

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WHO: Bulletin of the World Health Organization
The August 2017 WHO Bulletin includes editorials, news, and research and policy articles on various issues, including care and testing for tuberculosis, antimicrobial resistance, diabetes, and malaria (August 2017).

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USAID: GH Newsletter — Global Health Financing
USAID’s July 2017 Global Health Newsletter focuses on global health financing and USAID’s efforts to draw “in a greater mix of sources of financial resources to reduce costs, improve access to patient-centric quality care, and provide sustainable solutions” (July 2017).

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