CNN: How Trump’s abortion gag rule policy impacts the global AIDS crisis
“New findings presented last week at the 22nd International AIDS Conference reveal how President Donald Trump’s expansion of the so-called global gag rule — which restricts U.S. health assistance funding to non-U.S. NGOs that offer abortion services — is likely to have widescale negative effects on the fight against the HIV/AIDS epidemic. … ‘The expansion of the policy to encompass almost all of U.S. global health funding, including PEPFAR, means that the amount of money and the number of organizations that are affected is much greater than before,’ [Jen Kates, vice president and director of global health and HIV policy at the Kaiser Family Foundation,] told CNN…” (Smith, 7/31).

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Devex: Long Story Short #23: Inside the global HIV/AIDS response
“…Live from AIDS 2018, this conversation covers the top stories to watch in the HIV/AIDS response — from youth engagement to integration of programming with tuberculosis, sexual and reproductive health, and more…” (Midden, 7/30).

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The Guardian: 60% of babies ‘at risk due to breastfeeding delay after birth’
“Almost 60 percent of babies around the world are not breastfed within the first hour after their birth, putting them at risk of sickness and even death, a new report has revealed. Current guidelines from the World Health Organization and UNICEF recommend babies should be breastfed within an hour of their birth and fed only by breastfeeding until they are six months old…” (Davis, 7/30).

Healio: WHO, UNICEF: 78 million newborns not breastfed within first hour after birth
“A report issued by WHO and UNICEF before the start of World Breastfeeding Week on August 1 revealed that approximately three in five newborns around the world waited more than one hour before being breastfed in 2017. Authors noted that although improvements have been made in the number of infants breasted in low- and middle-income countries — 37 percent in 2005 vs. 42 percent in 2017 — there is significant room for improvement…” (Bortz, 7/30).

U.N. News: When it comes to breastfeeding, ‘timing is everything’ in saving newborn lives — UNICEF chief
“… ‘When it comes to the start of breastfeeding, timing is everything,’ said Henrietta Fore, the U.N. Children’s Fund’s (UNICEF) executive director, on the eve of World Breastfeeding Week. ‘In many countries, it can even be a matter of life or death,’ she added. In the report, Capture the Moment, UNICEF and the World Health Organization (WHO) note that while newborns who breastfeed in the first hour of life are significantly more likely to survive, they estimate that 78 million newborns are excluded…” (7/30).

VOA News: WHO: Breastfed Newborns Get Best Start in Life
“…The report warns that formula or other drinks must not be given to newborns unless absolutely necessary. It says formula can be dangerous because it sometimes is mixed with contaminated water and delays the infant’s first critical contact with his or her mother” (Schlein, 7/30).

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CBS News: Global Goalscast: Who’s making progress on their development goals?
“For 10 days in July, global delegates met at the United Nations in New York to discuss their progress on the Sustainable Development Goals, and the news was not all good. … But according to Rajesh Mirchandani, chief communications officer at the United Nations Foundation, there are still positive stories of change. And in order to meet the SDGs’ ambitious goals, innovation is key…” (7/30).

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The Guardian: Book lifts lid on litany of mistakes in Ebola outbreak that killed 11,300 people
“The World Health Organization and other global agencies have failed to learn sufficient lessons from the 2014 Ebola outbreak that killed more than 11,300 people in West Africa, a British doctor at the center of the battle in Sierra Leone has said. Although the response to the most recent Ebola outbreak in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) was swift and effective, the international community’s long-term strategies have only marginally changed, said Oliver Johnson, who in a book with Irish diplomat Sinead Walsh lifts the lid on the extraordinary behind-the-scene failures four years ago…” (O’Carroll, 7/30).

POLITICO: World’s doctor gets second chance on Ebola
“…The World Health Organization’s Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus this month declared an end to an Ebola outbreak that started in May in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, four years after the agency’s high-profile failure to contain the spread of the virus throughout West Africa. It’s a notable win for an organization struggling to regain momentum after major institutional shortcomings in handling disease outbreaks — from Ebola to avian flu to the respiratory virus SARS. … As its member countries and in particular the United States take an increasingly isolationist approach to global health, the Geneva-based agency is desperate to show it’s still worthy of bankrolling…” (Jennings/Wheaton, 7/29).

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Business Insider Australia: A leading medical institution created a simulation that shows how a new disease could kill 900 million people — and it reveals how unprepared we are
“…On May 15th, when the [Johns Hopkins Center for Global Health Security] ‘Clade X’ simulation was played out real-time, the people acting out the scenario were the sorts of individuals who’d be responding to this situation in real life. The players included former Senate Majority Leader Tom Daschle, Indiana Representative Susan Brooks (R), former CDC Director Julie Gerberding, and others with extensive experience. Yet by the day’s end, representing 20 months after the start of the outbreak, there were 150 million dead around the globe, and 15 to 20 million deaths in the U.S. alone…” (Loria, 7/29).

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CNN: Rare two-day protest over China vaccine scandal reveals public anger
“A group of angry Chinese parents and activists have gathered twice in two days outside government buildings in Beijing to protest a recent scandal over defective vaccines, a rare display of public dissatisfaction in the tightly policed Chinese capital…” (Westcott/Xiong, 7/31).

CNN: Chinese company recalls tainted heart medicine from stores worldwide
“A medicine manufacturer in China is undertaking an international recall of active substances used in a commonly used heart medicine which were found to contain traces of a dangerous carcinogen, the government announced Sunday…” (Westcott/Xiong, 7/30).

New York Times: Chinese Parents Protest Bad Vaccines for Hundreds of Thousands
“More than two dozen Chinese parents, shouting phrases including ‘Justice for the victims,’ gathered outside a government building in Beijing on Monday to protest a vaccine scandal that has become one of the most visible public health crises in China in recent years. … While the children appear to be unharmed, the episode undermined President Xi Jinping’s vision of a newly resilient China and his vow to eliminate corruption and abuse in the nation’s food and drug industries…” (Hernández, 7/30).

Reuters: China widens vaccine scandal probe, vows tough penalties
“China’s drug watchdog published details on Tuesday of an investigation into a second firm found to have made inferior vaccines, after cabinet vowed tough penalties and fines over a vaccine safety scandal that has sparked widespread anger…” (Stanway/Goh, 7/30).

South China Morning Post: Fake data — the disease afflicting China’s vaccine system
“…While there are no official figures or reliable independent assessments about the full extent of the problems, past cases have pointed to fraud throughout the vaccine supply chain in China, from laboratories to vaccination centers. The head of one disease control center for about half a million people said problems with the quality of vaccines had existed for a long time and ‘everyone inside the loop knows it’…” (Huang/Xin, 7/30).

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CNN: Nigeria recalls 2.4 million bottles of cough syrup containing codeine to fight abuse (Adebayo, 7/30).

Devex: Video: Meeting the SDGs for maternal and child health (Behr/Jones, 7/30).

Devex: Aid sector ‘sluggish and delusional’ in responding to sexual abuse, MPs find (Edwards, 7/31).
Financial Times: Aid charities need new ombudsman to tackle sex abuse, say MPs (Mance, 7/30).

The Guardian: ‘Newborns were fed fish soup’: Papua New Guinea’s malnutrition crisis (Chandler, 7/31).

NPR: A Victim Of Sex Trafficking, Blessing Okoedion Now Works To Save Others (Columbus, 7/30).

U.N. News: Local aid workers in Syria are the ‘backbone of response,’ says top U.N. official, urging better protection as fighting rages (7/30).

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Deutsche Welle: Opinion: Don’t jeopardize progress in fight against AIDS
Astrid Prange, journalist at DW

“The main takeaway from the 22nd International AIDS Conference in Amsterdam is clear: Fighting the spread of the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) is a matter of political will. Those who oppose sexual education and the use of contraception, or propagate notions of the traditional family but refuse to help wives infected with HIV and their children, or ostracize drug addicts and scapegoat homosexuals are responsible for blocking progress in fighting the spread of HIV. … We have entered a crucial moment in the fight against AIDS. Whether and how we seek to prevent the spread of the HIV virus speaks volumes about the (in)competence and (in)humanity of our political and religious leaders, and reveals the caring — or uncaring — face of whole societies” (7/27).

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PAI: Access Denied: Ethiopia
This report documents the “preliminary impact of [the expanded Mexico City Policy] on women’s sexual and reproductive health and rights. At the time of publication, key populations who rely on the private sector — such as adolescents and youth, people living with HIV/AIDS, and sex workers — are directly being affected by the closure of previously U.S.-supported health clinics. Additional impacts include: the loss of key U.S. partners for service delivery; the dismantling of partnerships between compliant and noncompliant organizations; the undermining of other donors’ health programs and projects; and the uncertainty of securing future funding for sexual and reproductive health commodities” (7/18).

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R4D: Funding breastfeeding promotion in developing countries
Jack Clift, program director, Emily Thacher, senior program associate, and Mary D’Alimonte, senior program officer, all at R4D, write, “The controversy over the U.S. activities at the World Health Assembly prompted us to look at how much the U.S. is doing to promote breastfeeding around the world. … Based on this latest analysis, the U.S. has, in the past, played a very important financial role in supporting breastfeeding promotion programs in low- and middle-income countries, and in 2015 was making this a relatively high priority for donor aid. Nonetheless, in order to maximize impact, it is important that donors are consistently using all tools at their disposal to support breastfeeding: global-level political commitments should reinforce — and be reinforced by — the country-level programs funded through ODA finance…” (7/26).

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Oxfam America’s “Politics of Poverty”: Should women be considered a sector when it comes to humanitarian and development funding?
Aria Grabowski, policy adviser for Accountable Development Finance at Oxfam America, discusses whether and how development financiers are incorporating gender equality into their work. Grabowski writes, “If the development finance community, which is growing in importance, is serious about ensuring women are not continually left behind, at least half of a portfolio should be focused on investing in them. Not to mention, their entire portfolio should incorporate gender analyses to ensure projects are not harming women” (7/30).

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UNDP: Plans unveiled for biggest ever Global Goals week to accelerate progress on the Sustainable Development Goals
“Plans for Global Goals Week 2018 were announced [last week] for the third annual week of action where the United Nations and partners from around the world come together to drive action, raise awareness, and hold leaders to account in order to accelerate progress to the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), also known as the Global Goals. … Timed to coincide with the U.N. General Assembly, Global Goals Week will be held 22 to 29 September, with events taking place in New York and around the world. … The announcement comes as leaders concluded the sixth High-Level Political Forum (HLPF) … which saw 46 countries … report on their progress to the Global Goals…” (7/26).

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IntraHealth International’s “VITAL”: In Rural Uganda, One Trans Woman Fights for HIV Care for All
Irene Mirembe, knowledge management manager at IntraHealth International, discusses efforts in Uganda to advocate for inclusive high-quality HIV services for all members of key populations, including the LGBTI community. Mirembe describes the work of employees of the USAID Regional Health Integration to Enhance Services in Eastern Uganda (USAID RHITES-E) in Mbale district (7/30).

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USAID’s “IMPACTblog”: Building the Next Generation of Business-Minded Global Health Leaders
Rachel Fowler, program analyst at USAID’s Center for Innovation and Impact in the Bureau for Global Health, discusses the launch of a competition hosted by GlaxoSmithKline, Northwestern University’s Kellogg School of Management, and USAID “to build business-minded global health capacity across a vast network of universities to inspire more students to consider global health as a viable career option.” Fowler writes, “Looking forward, USAID will continue to partner with the likes of GlaxoSmithKline and Northwestern University to engage future global health leaders, build in-country capacity, tap into university talent, and entice the private sector. These are the types of partnerships where private sector expertise can amplify social impact” (7/30).

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U.S. Department of State’s “DipNote”: We Can All Do Our Part to End Human Trafficking
Kari Johnstone, acting director of the State Department’s Office to Monitor and Combat Trafficking in Persons, recognizes the World Day against Trafficking in Persons; discusses the release of the State Department’s 2018 Trafficking in Persons (TIP) Report, which highlights “the challenges governments and societies face in fighting human trafficking [and] effective responses to hold perpetrators accountable, protect victims, and prevent others from enduring this devastating crime;” and highlights a human trafficking awareness video (7/30).

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