News outlets discuss the launch of a new initiative by British Prime Minister David Cameron to develop a new generation of antibiotics.

Agence France-Presse: Britain launching global superbug fight
“Britain is to lead a global effort to combat antibiotic-resistant superbugs that threaten to knock medicine ‘back into the dark ages,’ Prime Minister David Cameron said Wednesday…” (7/2).

Financial Times: David Cameron calls for action to fight antibiotic resistance
“David Cameron has appointed former Goldman Sachs chief economist Jim O’Neill to lead a team of experts to spur the development of a new generation of antibiotics to prevent a return to ‘the dark ages of medicine’…” (Aglionby/Ward, 7/2).

Reuters: Cameron enlists ex-Goldman economist in global superbug fight
“…Cameron said he had discussed the issue at a G7 summit of leaders in Brussels last month and won specific support for the initiative from U.S. President Barack Obama and German Chancellor Angela Merkel…” (Hirschler, 7/2).

Link to individual story

News outlets report on cuts to food rations for 800,000 refugees in Africa due to a lack of funding.

Reuters: African refugees face cuts in rations as funding runs low: U.N.
“African refugees who have fled wars or persecution face cuts in their daily rations because of a $225 million shortfall for vital food programs, the United Nations said on Tuesday…” (Nebehay, 7/2).

Agence France-Presse: Food rations slashed for 800,000 African refugees: U.N.
“Nearly 800,000 refugees in Africa have had their food rations slashed due to a lack of global aid funding, threatening to push many to the brink of starvation, the U.N. warned on Tuesday…” (Larson, 7/1).

U.N. News Centre: U.N. relief officials issue urgent appeal as food shortages hit 800,000 refugees in Africa
“The heads of two United Nations humanitarian agencies today issued an urgent appeal as food shortages hit nearly 800,000 refugees in Africa, threatening to worsen already unacceptable levels of acute malnutrition, stunting, and anemia, particularly in children…” (7/1).

Link to individual story

News outlets continue coverage on the Ebola outbreak in West Africa, where the death toll has risen to 467 people.

Agence France-Presse: W. African nations in crisis talks as Ebola spreads
“Health ministers from across western Africa will meet on Wednesday to plan ‘drastic action’ against the deadliest-ever Ebola epidemic as dozens of new cases continue to emerge. There have been 759 confirmed or suspected cases of the hemorrhagic fever in Guinea, Liberia, and Sierra Leone, the World Health Organization (WHO) said on Tuesday, with 467 people dead…” (Boakye-Yiadom, 7/1).

Agence France-Presse: Ebola death toll rises to 467 in West Africa: WHO
“The death toll from the Ebola outbreak in West Africa has risen to 467, the World Health Organization said Tuesday…” (7/1).

Reuters: Ebola toll jumps to 467 as ministers mull response
“The number of deaths attributed to an epidemic of Ebola virus in Guinea, Liberia, and Sierra Leone stood at 467 by Monday, out of 759 known cases in total, the World Health Organization (WHO) said on Tuesday…” (Miles, 7/2).

Reuters: Red Cross suspends Ebola operations in southeast Guinea after threats
“The Red Cross in Guinea said on Wednesday it had been forced to suspend operations tackling Ebola in the country’s southeast after staff there were threatened by a group of men armed with knives…” (Hussain, 7/2).

Link to individual story

News outlets highlight two new reports, one from the CDC and another from the U.N., that discuss the threats from foodborne illnesses, including those resistant to antibiotics.

HealthDay News: Antibiotic Resistance Among Foodborne-Illness Germs a Mixed Bag: CDC
“There’s good news and bad news about antibiotic resistance among the germs that cause foodborne illnesses, a new U.S. government report released Tuesday shows. … Each year, antibiotic-resistant infections from foodborne germs cause about 430,000 illnesses in the United States, according to the CDC…” (Preidt, 7/1).

U.N. News Centre: New U.N. report outlines top 10 food-borne parasites of greatest global concern
“A new report released [Tuesday] by two United Nations agencies identifies a ‘top 10’ of foodborne parasites with the greatest global impact, including those found in pork, fish, fresh produce, fruit juice, and milk, among other foods…” (7/1).

Link to individual story

Associated Press: Jill Biden on weeklong tour of 3 African countries
“Jill Biden, the wife of Vice President Joe Biden, is spending part of her summer vacation in Africa this week, highlighting female empowerment, education, and leadership during stops in three countries…” (Superville, 7/1).

Link to individual story

Yemen News Agency (Saba): Yemen, USAID discuss health cooperation
“[Yemen’s] Minister of Public Health and Population Dr. Ahmed al-Ansi met on Monday with the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID)’s Polio Eradication Coordinator, Ellyn Ogden. The two sides discussed the cooperation relations in the health sector, especially in the areas of immunizations and the fight against polio…” (7/1).

Link to individual story

BBC News: Anti-terrorism laws ‘hinder aid operations’
“Anti-terrorism laws around the world are preventing aid agencies reaching people in desperate need, the U.N. humanitarian chief has warned. Valerie Amos said more people would die in Syria because charities feared prosecution if they worked in areas controlled by the jihadist group ISIS…” (Whewell, 7/1).

Link to individual story

U.N. News Centre: Child rights being violated in conflict situations with total impunity, says U.N. official
“The rights of children are being violated in conflict situations with total impunity, a United Nations official said today, as she presented a report on grave abuses committed against children in places such as Iraq, Syria, South Sudan, Nigeria, and the Central African Republic (CAR)…” (7/1).

Link to individual story

The following opinion pieces address how the U.S. Supreme Court’s ruling in Burwell v. Hobby Lobby that ‘closely held corporations cannot be required to provide contraception coverage for their employees’ might affect women’s right to contraception worldwide and policies surrounding religious objections to other health interventions.

Forbes: Could Hobby Lobby Affect Women Around The World?
Anushay Hossain, contributor

“…If women’s health and rights are being rolled back in America, it is just a matter of time before the ripple effects are felt around the world. Worse, rulings like this could make [their] way into programs the U.S. implements abroad. In a nutshell, bad news for American women is bad news for all women. How can the U.S. be considered a beacon for democracy, or even pretend to be, when women are still fighting for contraceptives in 2014? What is the difference between the five men who voted in favor of denying women contraception coverage, and the mullahs in the villages of Bangladesh who refuse women the same right?…” (7/1).

New Yorker: When the Taliban Meets Hobby Lobby
Steve Coll, staff writer and dean of the Graduate School of Journalism at Columbia University

“…If the Pakistani Taliban, aided by clever lawyers, organized a closely held American corporation, and professed to run it on religious principles, might its employees be deprived of insurance coverage to inoculate their children against polio? … [T]he impact on children, living and unborn, of the Taliban public policy on vaccines is not, arguably, different in category from the impact that the Hobby Lobby decision will likely have on the families of those who work at companies whose owners claim to run them on Christian principles, in one respect: the extrapolation of religious beliefs into public policy will damage the over-all health of affected families…” (7/2).

Link to individual story

Washington Post: Nigeria needs to confront another scourge: Tuberculosis
David Bryden, TB advocacy officer for Results

“…Nigeria’s frustratingly slow response to the Boko Haram abductions of more than 200 schoolgirls is mirrored by its apparent lack of attention to another crisis with deadly implications. Last year, a national survey showed that there are nearly five times as many people with smear-positive tuberculosis in Nigeria as were previously thought. … It is time Nigeria confronted the TB challenge head on to protect all of its people, including its children. As it does so, the United States should continue its TB support for Nigeria. Unfortunately, President Obama has requested a 19 percent cut in USAID’s TB program, which has been helping Nigeria respond to the crisis” (7/1).

Link to individual story

Huffington Post: Leadership to End AIDS — Cuomo’s Got It, Where’s Schumer? Leahy? Mikulski? Obama?
Matthew Kavanagh, AIDS and human rights researcher and activist

“This week leadership in the fight to end AIDS (and seemingly to do most things that take political will) has shown up outside our nation’s capitol. [New York] Governor Cuomo yesterday announced a credible, ambitious, and politically courageous plan to end the AIDS epidemic in New York. Meanwhile, in Washington, Mr. Cuomo’s fellow Democrats are flunking their leadership test … President Obama and former Secretary of State [Hillary] Clinton both backed this call to end the AIDS crisis, but national financial commitments have continued to lag — raising the: question where is the national Democratic leadership?…” (7/1).

Link to individual story

Huffington Post: Once We Make This Dream a Reality
Michelle Bachelet, president of Chile

“…Nearly 20 years on from the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action, we must recognize the significant progress that was made possible thanks to the commitment of international organizations, states and civil society. However, we still face many challenges. Building a fairer world requires more equality and equity between men and women. Only once we make this dream a reality will we have fully accomplished the Platform for Action’s mission” (7/1).

Link to individual story

ONE: Looking back on a decade of PEPFAR
ONE Fellow Michael Gerson, also a Washington Post columnist, discusses the history and successes of PEPFAR, writing, “PEPFAR existed because of a willing leader, a creative policy team, a vast need — and because of activists who both raised the profile of the AIDS issue and pushed for the program when it came…” (7/1).

Link to individual story

Global Health Technologies Coalition’s “Breakthroughs”: House and Senate support global health R&D in appropriations reports
Jenny Howell, senior policy and advocacy associate at the Global Health Technologies Coalition (GHTC), discusses House and Senate action on appropriations bills that include funding for global health research and development (7/1).

Link to individual story

Center for Global Health Policy’s “Science Speaks”: USAID Global Development Lab bill introduced in Senate
Rabita Aziz, policy research coordinator for the Center for Global Health Policy, discusses the USAID Global Development Lab bill that was introduced in the U.S. Senate in June and would authorize USAID “to expand public-private partnerships to deliver innovative health solutions for the developing world” (6/30).

Link to individual story

Center for Global Health Policy’s “Science Speaks”: HIV interventions will not reach those who need them without increased efficiencies, review says
Antigone Barton, writer and editor of “Science Speaks” and senior communications officer at the Center for Global Health Policy, discusses “a systematic review published in the July World Health Organization Bulletin [that concludes] more efficient use of existing resources will be critical to making meaningful reductions in [HIV] prevalence and infection rates…” (7/1).

Link to individual story

IntraHealth’s “Vital”: Zambia Could Be First Country to Distribute Pratt Pouch Nationally
Kate Stratten, senior program manager at IntraHealth International, writes about the Pratt Pouch, a simple antiretroviral delivery system designed to enable HIV-positive mothers to administer nevirapine to their newborns following birth, and IntraHealth’s partnership with “Duke University’s Pratt School of Engineering, which invented the Pratt Pouch, to conduct a 12-month pilot project to test the pouch at seven health facilities in Siavonga District, Zambia…” (7/1).

Link to individual story

WHO: Bulletin of the World Health Organization
The July 2014 WHO Bulletin includes an editorial on eliminating polio, a news article on reinventing the toilet, and several research and policy papers on various topics (July 2014).

Link to individual story