At the launch of the Campaign to End Pediatric HIV/AIDS (CEPA) on Thursday, advocate Graca Machel urged African leaders to redirect state spending to prevent and treat HIV infections among women and children, Agence France-Presse reports. An estimated “1.8 million of the world’s two million [HIV-positive] children” live in Sub-saharan Africa, where “[m]other-to-child prevention and treatment coverage currently averages 30 to 40 percent against a target of 80 percent,” the news service writes (10/22).

The Observer examines the recent appeal by some health experts for an “overhaul of health spending in Africa,” which, they say, focuses on HIV/AIDS and overlooks other deadly diseases, such as diarrhea.

Boston Globe Examines ‘Positive Deviance’ Approach To Improve Health The Boston Globe examines “‘positive deviance,’ an approach to behavioral and social change. Instead of imposing solutions from without, the method identifies outliers in a community who, despite having no special advantages, are doing exceptionally well. By respecting local ingenuity, proponents…

The New York Times looks at how aid is distributed to children who have lost parents in Malawi and other parts of sub-Saharan Africa and examines differing views on orphanages.

A Lancet study published online Tuesday validates the safety of administering first-line antiretroviral therapy (ART) to patients with HIV without routine toxicity and efficacy lab tests, “[b]ut tests of immune-system function might still be a good idea to monitor the progression of the disease and guide the second year of treatment,” HealthDay/U.S. News & World Report reports. Patients in Africa “often receive [HIV] drug treatment … without routine laboratory monitoring,” according to the article.

West African Group Calls For Governments To Vaccinate Children Against Rotavirus The West African Rotavirus Advisory Board is calling on governments to vaccinate children against rotavirus, IRIN reports. At a recent meeting in Dakar, Senegal, which was “financed by GlaxoSmithKline, makers of one of two rotavirus vaccines” the board issued…

Forbes examines the ongoing discussions between aid groups and drug manufacturers over the formation of an HIV/AIDS drugs patent pool to help drive down costs for developing countries.

Abdolreza Abbassian, an economist with the U.N. Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), on Friday “warned of a ‘worrying rise’ in food prices which will affect millions of people following unexpected shortfalls in major cereals owing to bad weather in 2010,” Agence France-Presse reports.

On the sidelines of the African Union Summit in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, on Monday, the General Assembly of the Organization of African First Ladies Against HIV/AIDS (OAFLA) gathered to discuss the continent’s progress against HIV/AIDS, Walta Info reports.

Health Officials To Press For National Insurance Policy For People Living With HIV/AIDS “India could soon see a national medical insurance policy for people living with HIV,” Times of India reports. Though HIV coverage is currently “excluded from all insurance policies available in the country … Union health ministry officials…