Devex: U.S. pressure could make U.N. TB declaration less forceful, MSF says “The United States’ amendments to a forthcoming ministerial document on preventing and treating tuberculosis will likely result in a text that is not ‘actionable,’ Médecins Sans Frontières is warning. Pressure from the United States on BRIC nations and…

STAT: U.S. succeeds in removing language in global declaration on TB drugs, upsetting patient advocates “As talks wrap up at the United Nations over ways to address a global tuberculosis epidemic, the U.S. has succeeded in removing language from a policy document that patient advocacy groups claim will make access…

The Wire: Exclusive: Draft U.N. Text on TB No Longer Carries Provisions on Affordable Medicines “Officials from around the world have been debating for two months now, the text of the final declaration which will be released at the first-ever U.N. General Assembly High-Level Meeting on Ending Tuberculosis, in September…

U.N. News: U.N.-backed treaty against illicit tobacco trade set to take effect in September “A United Nations-backed treaty aimed at stopping the illicit trading of tobacco products, is set to enter into force on 25 September, marking a diplomatic breakthrough in efforts to protect public health and strike back against…

STAT: U.S. pushes back on global declaration for TB drugs, a move advocacy groups say will restrict access “Amid growing frustration over the cost and development of tuberculosis medicines, the U.S. government is pushing changes in global policy at a United Nations meeting this week that patient advocacy groups claim…

U.N. News: Poorer countries set to be ‘increasingly dependent’ on food imports, says U.N. food agency report “Poorer countries with rising populations and scarce natural resources are likely to be ‘increasingly dependent’ on imports to feed their people, according to an annual report jointly compiled by the United Nations food…

Devex: What the WTO decision on plain packaging means for developing countries “…Tasked with delivering findings on whether plain packaging impedes intellectual property rights or creates a technical barriers to trade, [a panel of World Trade Organization judges] delivered their ruling on June 28, saying that the health outcomes of…

PLOS Blogs’ “Global Health”: Antimicrobials & international law: Join the resistance! Susan Rogers Van Katwyk, managing research fellow of the Global Strategy Lab, and Steven J. Hoffman, director of the Global Strategy Lab, a professor in the faculty of health, political science, and Osgoode Hall Law School at York University,…

Intellectual Property Watch: The Myth Behind Health And Trade Agreements — Q&A With Othoman Mellouk (6/18). News Deeply: Doctors Without Borders: Undernutrition Is a Community Health Issue (Green, 6/18). Newsweek: What is Disease X? Deadly bird flu virus could be next pandemic (Andrew, 6/15). NPR: As Carbon Dioxide Levels Rise,…

EURACTIV: The E.U. is no progressive free trader: It’s exporting chronic diseases to Latin America George Thurley, policy officer on Healthy Trade at European Public Health Alliance (EPHA) “…[T]rade deals bring trade-offs, and the E.U. has apparently chosen to put the trade goals of European tobacco companies ahead of their…