“Developing countries are making efforts to improve the health of women and children but more needs to be done, U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said” at an awards ceremony in New York, United Press International reports. “‘As of today, more than 60 countries have committed to step up efforts to improve women and children’s health,’ Ban said,” the news agency writes (10/14).

“The world has become more vulnerable to outbreaks of disease caused by contaminated food because of growing global trade, the World Health Organization (WHO) said Thursday,” Agence France-Presse reports. WHO officials say that “[i]nvestigating these outbreaks has also become more difficult because food can contain ingredients from around the world and is transported through a complex global supply chain,” according to AFP. Speaking “at a conference in Singapore on improving preparedness against global health threats,” WHO Director-General Margaret Chan said, “Problems nowadays can arise from any link or kink in a convoluted food chain” and governments worldwide are faced with the challenge of how to “reduce the health and economic consequences of foodborne diseases,” the news service writes (10/13).

Newborn Resuscitation Innovation Breeds Additional Innnovation: In a USAID “Impact” blog post, Lily Kak, USAID senior maternal and newborn health advisor, writes about the the Global Development Alliance, which represents a “new way of doing business in the field of newborn health and has now become a key USAID strategy…

USAID Administrator Rajiv Shah, “in a speech on Wednesday, outlined steps USAID is taking to improve its balance sheet, including moving costly senior jobs from places such as Paris and Tokyo, reducing its real estate portfolio and doing more work with in-house experts rather than expensive contractors,” Reuters reports (Quinn, 1/19).

As part of a week-long meeting with U.S. diplomats from around the world taking place in Washington, D.C., this week, Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton on Wednesday gathered with 300 U.S. diplomats from around the world to discuss “strategies to energize diplomacy and streamline development,” the New York Times reports.

The Global Fund To Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria on Thursday announced “it is to launch a wide-ranging review of its procedures following concern over mismanagement of funds by countries receiving its money,” the Financial Times reports. The U.N.-backed organization “which channels $3bn [billion] a year in donor funds to developing countries, will restructure its auditing procedures and appoint outside officials to review its systems,” according to the news service (Jack, 2/3).

Here is a sampling of opinions about recent media reports of corruption and fraud in some Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria grants: The Lancet: Supporting the Global Fund to fight fraud (2/5). Nature: Tough on truth (2/3). Huffington Post: Why We Must Protect the Global Fund (Zeitz, 2/1).…

In her testimony before the House Foreign Affairs Committee on Tuesday about President Barack Obama’s FY12 budget request, Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton also defended the State Department’s FY11 budget request, Bloomberg reports. Clinton said the proposed budget cuts for FY11 would be “devastating” to U.S. national security, and U.S. programs in Afghanistan, Pakistan and Iraq would see “sharp reductions” if the proposed cuts are passed. Clinton “used the hearing to warn lawmakers against the impulse to withdraw from global engagement,” according to the news service.

The New York Times Magazine, as part of a special issue that focuses on women worldwide, published an interview with Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton who “staked her claim as an advocate for global women’s issues in 1995, when, as first lady, she gave an impassioned speech at a United Nations conference in Beijing.” The interview was conducted ahead of her 11-day seven country tour of Africa.

Lancet Infectious Diseases Features Reflection On Use Of HIV/AIDS Money In Mozambique A Lancet Infectious Diseases Reflection and Reaction piece says while PEPFAR’s “investment of over US$228 million into Mozambique in 2008 alone” resulted in “an exponential increase in the number of people on” ARVs and boosted prevention programs, “[t]here is more money…