KFF Daily Global Health Policy Report

In The News

Trump Administration Notifies U.N. Of U.S. Withdrawal From WHO; Move Draws Concern, Criticism From Lawmakers, Global Health Experts

AP: U.S. notifies U.N. of withdrawal from World Health Organization
“The Trump administration has formally notified the United Nations of its withdrawal from the World Health Organization, although the pullout won’t take effect until next year, meaning it could be rescinded under a new administration or if circumstances change. Former Vice President Joe Biden, the presumptive Democratic presidential nominee, said he would reverse the decision on his first day in office if elected. The withdrawal notification makes good on President Donald Trump’s vow in late May to terminate U.S. participation in the WHO, which he has harshly criticized for its response to the coronavirus pandemic and accused of bowing to Chinese influence. The move was immediately assailed by health officials and critics of the administration, including numerous Democrats who said it would cost the U.S. influence in the global arena…” (Lee, 7/7).

Devex: U.N. chief reviewing whether U.S. has met conditions for WHO withdrawal
“United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres is currently reviewing whether the U.S. has met the conditions for withdrawal from the World Health Organization, after the White House submitted its formal notification to do so on Monday, according to the U.N. chief’s spokesperson. … The U.S. has been party to the World Health Organization since June 21, 1948, and its participation was accepted by the World Health Assembly — the organization’s decision-making body — with ‘certain conditions set out by the US for its eventual withdrawal from the World Health Organization,’ Stéphane Dujarric, spokesperson for the secretary-general, wrote to Devex. Those conditions include giving a one-year notice of intent to withdraw and fully meeting the payment of assessed financial obligations, he added…” (Igoe, 7/7).

Newsweek: Top Republican Breaks with Trump on WHO Exit, Says it Could Harm Vaccine Trials
“Senator Lamar Alexander, a top Republican who chairs the Senate health committee, broke with Donald Trump on Tuesday to criticize the president’s decision to withdraw the United States from the World Health Organization amid a global pandemic. ‘I disagree with the president’s decision,’ the Tennessee lawmaker said in a statement. ‘Certainly, there needs to be a good, hard look at mistakes the World Health Organization might have made in connection with coronavirus, but the time to do that is after the crisis has been dealt with, not in the middle of it’…” (Touchberry, 7/7).

STAT: Trump administration submits formal notice of withdrawal from WHO
“…The withdrawal of the United States would plunge global health governance into the unknown, creating questions about the economic viability of the WHO, the future of the polio eradication program, the system for reporting dangerous infectious disease outbreaks, and myriad other programs that are as pertinent to the health of Americans as they are to people from countries around the world, such as efforts to combat the spread of antibiotic-resistant bacteria…” (Branswell, 7/7).

Wall Street Journal: Trump Moves to Pull U.S. Out of World Health Organization in Midst of Covid-19 Pandemic
“…The U.S. is the single largest donor to the WHO, giving about $450 million a year, much of it earmarked for specific diseases such as polio, which has nearly been eradicated. A U.S. exit would eliminate that funding going forward and leave the WHO more dependent on private donors, such as the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, its second-largest contributor. It would accelerate a shift in which global health increasingly relies on a handful of billionaire donors and charities, with national governments reluctant to offer more taxpayer funds, public health experts have said. The withdrawal would also reinforce a sense among Western leaders that the U.S. is retreating from the U.N. system while China grows in influence. Authorities in France, Japan, and Australia shared Mr. Trump’s frustration that the WHO was too quick to praise China in the early weeks of the Covid-19 pandemic, and in May more than 150 governments backed a proposal to audit the agency’s perceived failures…” (Hinshaw/Armour, 7/7).

Washington Post: Trump administration sends letter withdrawing U.S. from World Health Organization over coronavirus response
“…A group of more than 700 experts on global public health and law on June 30 called on Congress to push back against the plan, warning that ‘cutting funding to the WHO during a global pandemic would be a dangerous action for global health and U.S. national interests.’ The letter, which was signed by former directors of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the executive director of the American Public Health Association, the president of the National Academy of Medicine, and university presidents and deans, said a U.S. pullout ‘will likely cost lives, American and foreign’…” (Rauhala et al., 7/7).

Additional coverage of the Trump administration’s withdrawal from WHO is available from ABC, AP, Axios, Bloomberg Law, CIDRAP News, CNN, Fox News, The Guardian, The Hill (2) (3), NBC News, NPR (2), The Telegraph, USA TODAY, VOA News, Wall Street Journal.

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Birx Discusses WHO, U.S., China Responses To COVID-19 Pandemic At Atlantic Council Panel

POLITICO: Birx touts global cooperation as Trump makes WHO exit official
“White House coronavirus coordinator Deborah Birx on Tuesday touted U.S. investment in global public health and praised international efforts to contain the Covid-19 pandemic just as the Trump administration formally withdrew from the World Health Organization. Birx, appearing at an Atlantic Council panel discussion, pointed to U.S. investments in global efforts to combat HIV and tuberculosis and praised the international community for sharing information early in the pandemic that she said reduced U.S. deaths…” (Ehley, 7/7).

Reuters: China could have done more to aid world’s COVID-19 response, top U.S. health official says
“…At a panel held by the Atlantic Council, a U.S. think tank, Birx said the United States would have been more focused on identifying COVID-19 patients without symptoms if China has shared information about the frequency with which COVID-19 patients, particularly young people, are asymptomatic. … Birx said that public health officials had originally assumed that only 15 to 20% of COVID-19 patients are asymptomatic when in fact that number is at least 40%…” (O’Donnell, 7/7).

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U.S. Commits $2B For Coronavirus Vaccine, Treatment Research, Products Through Operation Warp Speed; House Funding Bill Would Provide Increase For NIH, DOE Coronavirus Research

Science: House spending panels give NIH big increase to deal with COVID-19 impacts
“This week, spending panels in the U.S. House of Representatives began voting on bills to fund the government, and a few of them made use of an emergency mechanism to beef up research budgets. The National Institutes of Health (NIH) and the national laboratories funded by the Department of Energy’s (DOE’s) Office of Science were the big winners, receiving a combined additional $11.25 billion. But to date, the other federal research agencies have come away empty-handed…” (7/7).

Wall Street Journal: U.S. Commits $2 Billion for Covid-19 Vaccine, Drug Supplies
“The federal government awarded $2 billion to two drugmakers to support development and manufacturing of an experimental drug and a potential vaccine against Covid-19. Novavax Inc. said it would receive $1.6 billion from the federal government to fund clinical studies of its experimental coronavirus vaccine and establish large-scale manufacturing of doses. With the funding, Novavax said it would deliver 100 million doses of its vaccine for use in the U.S., possibly by the end of this year. Regeneron Pharmaceuticals Inc. said it has received a $450 million federal contract to manufacture thousands of doses of its experimental Covid-19 treatment that the government will distribute at no cost to the public if the drug is authorized for use by regulators. … Operation Warp Speed is a federal initiative to accelerate the development and manufacturing of drugs and vaccines for Covid-19. The government also is backing vaccines developed by Moderna Inc., AstraZeneca PLC, and Johnson & Johnson…” (Loftus/Walker, 7/7).

Additional coverage of federal funding for coronavirus vaccines, treatments, and diagnostics is available from The Hill and Wall Street Journal.

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Democratic Presidential Candidate Biden Releases 3-Part Plan To Rebuild U.S. Supply Chains To Rely Less On Foreign Markets

Axios: Biden releases plan to strengthen coronavirus supply chain
“Joe Biden’s campaign released a three-part plan Tuesday to rebuild U.S. supply chains in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic, and it’s centered around the idea that the country is more vulnerable to global disruptions in spite of President Trump’s ‘America First’ rhetoric…” (McCammond, 7/7).

Additional coverage of Biden’s plan is available from ABC News, Los Angeles Times, and VOA News.

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COVID-19 Pandemic Continues To Accelerate, WHO DG Says; 'New Dynamic' Needed To Address Global Impacts, ECOSOC President Says

France 24: Covid-19 pandemic accelerating and global peak still to come, WHO says
“Some 400,000 new cases of Covid-19 were reported over the weekend and the new coronavirus pandemic shows no sign of slowing down, the World Health Organization said Tuesday. ‘The outbreak is accelerating and we’ve clearly not reached the peak of the pandemic,’ WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus told a virtual press conference…” (7/7).

U.N. News: ‘New dynamic’ needed to overcome negative impacts of COVID-19 worldwide
“The dramatic impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic, have laid bare ‘weaknesses in our systems and societies,’ a top official told the U.N.’s key international forum on sustainable development which began on Tuesday, warning that ‘a new dynamic’ is needed to overcome the negative shocks. ‘The COVID-19 pandemic, while primarily a health crisis, also quickly became the worst human and economic crisis in decades,’ Mona Juul, president of the Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC), told the inaugural meeting of the High-level Political Forum (HLPF) on sustainable development, which will run until 16 July…” (7/7).

Additional coverage of the WHO’s comments on the pandemic is available from The Hill and Reuters.

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WHO Plans To Issue New Brief On Novel Coronavirus Modes Of Transmission Following Consultation With Scientists

U.N. News: WHO to issue new brief on airborne transmission, following ‘active engagement’ with scientists
“The World Health Organization (WHO) is set to issue a brief on the modes of transmission of the new coronavirus, a senior official said on Tuesday. Epidemiologist Dr. Maria van Kerkhove, WHO technical lead on COVID-19, was responding to a journalist’s question about an open letter signed by hundreds of scientists urging the U.N. agency to update its recommendations on airborne transmission. Dr. van Kerkhove said WHO welcomes interaction with the scientific community…” (7/7).

Additional coverage of the expected brief is available from CNBC and New York Times.

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COVID-19 Pandemic Damaging Economic Global Economic Growth, Could Push Nearly 50M More Africans Into Extreme Poverty, Reports Show

Devex: The pandemic could push nearly 50 million more Africans into extreme poverty, AfDB says
“In January, the African Development Bank projected that the growth rate of extreme poverty would decline slightly both this year and next. But now as COVID-19 grips the continent, the bank has upwardly revised its estimates to predict up to 37.5 million additional people entering extreme poverty in 2020, and that this could reach 49.2 million by 2021. This is the first time in the bank’s history that it has revised its flagship annual African economic outlook report…” (Jerving, 7/8).

New York Times: The Pandemic’s Economic Damage Is Growing
“It will take years for the global economy to recover from the jobs taken away by the pandemic, and in Europe the recession will be significantly deeper than forecast just two months ago. Those were the findings on Tuesday in two reports, from the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development and the European Commission, that provided the latest readings on how widespread and deep the economic impact of the coronavirus will be…” (Alderman/Stevis-Gridneff, 7/7).

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Africa Passes 500K Confirmed Coronavirus Cases; Americas Near 6M Cases, Half In Latin America, Caribbean; African Immigrants Hit Hard In France; Israel's Public Health Leader Resigns Amid Resurgence

AFRICA

AP: Africa’s confirmed COVID-19 cases now above a half-million (Anna, 7/8).

AP: Zimbabwe’s health minister fired over COVID-19 graft scandal (Mutsaka, 7/7).

BBC News: Coronavirus: Kenyan schools to remain closed until 2021 (7/7).

New Humanitarian: In Burkina Faso, violence and COVID-19 push children out of school and into harm’s way (Mednick, 7/7).

Reuters: Free ambulance helps save mothers and babies in Kenya lockdown (Mersie, 7/7).

Thomson Reuters Foundation: Kenya orders probe into rise in violence against women and girls during pandemic (Bhalla, 7/6).

ASIA

AFP: Mumbai opens new hospitals as India virus deaths top 20,000 (7/7).

Washington Post: Japan faces uptick in coronavirus cases but no political will for new shutdowns (Denyer, 7/8).

Xinhua: Peace operations should assist countries’ response to COVID-19, says Chinese envoy (7/8).

EUROPE

AP: In France, study shows virus hit African immigrants hardest (Leicester, 7/7).

Financial Times: Jeremy Hunt says Sage gave ‘wrong’ advice at start of pandemic (Payne, 7/7).

New York Times: Sweden Has Become the World’s Cautionary Tale (Goodman, 7/7).

LATIN AMERICA & CARIBBEAN

Reuters: COVID-19 cases hit 5.9 million in Americas, half in Latin America, Caribbean: WHO (Boadle, 7/7).

MIDDLE EAST

NPR: Amid New Surge In Virus Cases, Israel’s Top Public Health Official Resigns (Estrin, 7/7).

Reuters: UAE says it will test 2 million people for COVID-19 as cases rise (Cornwell, 7/7).

Washington Post: Why Israel is seeing a coronavirus spike after initially crushing the outbreak (Hendrix, 7/7).

NORTH AMERICA

AP: Protective gear for medical workers begins to run low again (Mulvihill/Fassett, 7/7).

Bloomberg Law: Birx Says States Mandating Masks Can Change Course of Pandemic (Edney, 7/7).

Financial Times: U.S. launches mass testing in virus hotspots (Wells, 7/7).

The Hill: Why the U.S. is falling behind in COVID-19 fight (Sullivan, 7/8).

Washington Post: It’s America vs. world as coronavirus spreads and hospitalizations rise (Partlow, 7/7).

Xinhua: New COVID-19 model projects over 200,000 U.S. deaths by November if masks aren’t worn: media (7/8).

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European Commission Funds New Online Tool To Inform Public Of Pandemic's Threats To Democracy, Human Rights

Devex: E.U. launches another tool on pandemic’s threat to human rights
“As governments claim exceptional powers to deal with the coronavirus pandemic, the European Commission is spending €350,000 ($400,000) on a new platform to monitor the consequences for democracy and human rights. The online tool, prepared by the International Institute for Democracy and Electoral Assistance — or International IDEA — is intended as a one-stop shop to allow policymakers, journalists, civil society groups, and the public to track the impact of the pandemic…” (Chadwick, 7/8).

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Brazil President Bolsonaro Tests Positive For Novel Coronavirus; Foreign Affairs Examines Country's Public Health System Amid Pandemic

Financial Times: Brazil’s president Jair Bolsonaro tests positive for coronavirus
“Brazil’s president Jair Bolsonaro has tested positive for coronavirus, days after he celebrated the July 4 weekend with the U.S. ambassador and a host of his top ministers in Brasília. The 65-year-old said he started feeling weak on Sunday, and ‘it worsened on Monday, with malaise, tiredness, muscle pain, and fever of 38 degrees.’ He said doctors treated him with the controversial antimalarial drug chloroquine…” (Harris et al., 7/7).

Foreign Affairs: Bolsonaro Made Brazil a Pandemic Pariah
“…[Brazil’s universal public health system, called the SUS (Sistema Único de Saúde),] belongs to the whole of the country, but only a handful of cities and states have mobilized it effectively during the pandemic. The vast differentials across Brazil show that a public health system alone is not enough. Such a system’s success depends on good management—something the country has sorely lacked. President Jair Bolsonaro greeted the pandemic by attempting to disarm the SUS, spread disinformation about the virus, and undermine international health collaboration…” (Osborn, 7/7).

Additional coverage of Bolsonaro’s diagnosis and treatment is available from AP, The Hill, New York Times, Reuters, and Washington Post.

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Trump Administration's Commission On Unalienable Rights To Release Report Next Week; Human Rights Activists Raise Concerns

POLITICO: Pompeo to release human rights report in person, drawing pandemic fears
“Secretary of State Mike Pompeo already had activists on edge over an upcoming report on human rights. Now they’re arguing his decision to unveil the report at an in-person, public event amid a pandemic is revealing the explicitly political nature of the work. The Commission on Unalienable Rights, a panel established by Pompeo to rethink how the U.S. — and possibly other nations — approaches human rights, is set to release a draft of its long-awaited report on July 16. The draft document will be presented during an event held that afternoon at the National Constitution Center in Philadelphia…” (Toosi, 7/7).

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Meeting On U.K. DFID, FCO Merger Scrutinized, Raises Concerns Among Aid Experts

Devex: Foreign Affairs Committee criticized over DFID merger session
“The Foreign Affairs Committee’s first evidence session on the Department for International Development’s merger demonstrated the importance of specialized parliamentary scrutiny of aid and development policy, according to aid experts. The session — held by the parliamentary committee responsible for scrutinizing U.K. foreign policy on Tuesday — heard unchallenged inaccuracies about U.K. development policy, along with ‘distasteful remarks’ about DFID, development observers said. The quality of witnesses, who were not experts in development or DFID, was also criticized…” (Worley, 7/8).

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Experts Highlight HIV Treatment Affordability, Accessibility, Report Brazil Man Free Of Virus After Drug Combination, Say Injectable Antiretroviral Better Than Pill For PrEP, Call For Better Prevention, Treatment For Children With HIV At AIDS 2020 Meeting

Devex: Confronting missed targets, HIV/AIDS experts emphasize drug delivery
“The conversation at AIDS 2020 is focusing not just on developing new technologies to fight HIV/AIDS — but also ensuring the tools that already exist realize their potential for impact. As the world falls short of 2020 targets for progress on HIV/AIDS, global health experts are highlighting the need to make testing, prevention, and treatment affordable and accessible…” (Cheney, 7/8).

New York Times: Patient Is Reported Free of HIV, but Scientists Urge Caution
“A 36-year-old man in Brazil may be the first to experience long-term remission from HIV after treatment with only a specially designed cocktail of antiviral drugs, researchers said on Tuesday. Just two people have been confirmed cured of HIV so far, both after risky treatments involving bone-marrow transplants for their cancers. The Brazilian patient, who was not identified, has not shown signs of lingering HIV infection in blood tests that detect the virus, according to investigators at the Federal University of Sao Paulo, a prestigious research institution. He also does not seem to have detectable antibodies to the virus. … But outside experts greeted the report with skepticism…” (Mandavilli, 7/7).

U.N. News: World must do better to prevent children ‘dying needlessly’ from AIDS-related illnesses
“Despite progress in the global battle against HIV, the response on behalf of children has fallen behind, the U.N. agency leading the fight to stamp out the virus said on Tuesday. UNAIDS reports that children are ‘dying needlessly’ from AIDS-related illnesses, even though simple and cheap treatments could save their lives…” (7/7).

Washington Post: Injectable drug more effective at blocking HIV than daily pills
“A long-acting drug injected every two months is more effective at preventing HIV than the pills most commonly used by people at risk of acquiring the infection, according to research released Tuesday at an international AIDS conference. The drug cabotegravir was tested on more than 4,500 cisgender men who have sex with men and transgender women who have sex with men in 43 countries. While Truvada, the pill used most often to block the virus, is also highly effective, the injectable drug proved to be even better, the research shows…” (Bernstein, 7/7).

Additional coverage of the studies presented at AIDS 2020 is available from AP, Devex, Financial Times, New York Times, Science, The Telegraph, and VOA News.

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Malnutrition Costs Businesses In Poorer Countries Up To $850B Annually, Economic Model Shows

AFP/France 24: Malnutrition in poorer nations costs firms up to $850 bln: study
“Hunger, poor nutrition, and obesity not only present a health burden in developing countries but carry a hidden economic penalty that costs businesses up to $850 billion a year, according to a new report published Wednesday. Researchers said malnutrition reduces the resilience of populations to risks such as infectious disease outbreaks and extreme climate events, as well as causing a reduction in productivity and earnings. With the coronavirus pandemic expected to drive millions more into hunger and poverty, they called for governments and businesses alike to focus on nutrition as part of recovery efforts…” (7/8).

The Telegraph: Malnutrition costs businesses in developing countries up to $850bn a year, report finds
“…The economic model, developed by think tank Chatham House and Vivid Economics, found that lost productivity from employees being underweight costs companies up to $38 billion (0.9 percent of GDP) in the 19 countries modeled, and is a particular problem for businesses relying on manual labor, such as the agricultural sector and construction. Laura Wellesley, a senior research fellow at Chatham House and one of the authors of the report, said that being underweight or having micronutrient deficiencies can mean workers are tired and have and lower stamina, impacting their productivity…” (Hayes, 7/8).

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More News In Global Health

AP: Russia and China veto cross-border aid to Syria’s northwest (Lederer, 7/7).

AP: WHO says Sri Lanka and Maldives eliminate measles, rubella (Mallawarachi, 7/8).

HealthDay News: Zika May Have Damaged More Infants’ Brains Than Expected (Gordon, 7/7).

IPS: Non-formal Education Helps Senegalese Women Combat FGM and Harmful Practices (Paul, 7/7).

The Nation: Anthony Fauci: The Last American Hero? (Davis, 7/7).

Newsweek: Prince Harry Says People With HIV and AIDS Show the Resilience Needed Amid Pandemic (Royston, 7/7).

PRI: Social media misinformation is ‘growing threat’ to coronavirus vaccine efforts, survey shows (Oseran, 7/7).

STAT: A disease detective is thrust onto the frontlines of WHO’s Covid-19 response (Branswell, 7/8).

Thomson Reuters Foundation: Britain launches new inquiry into sex abuse by aid workers (Batha, 7/7).

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Editorials and Opinions

Opinion Pieces Address Various Aspects Of COVID-19 Pandemic, Including U.S. WHO Withdrawal, Japan's Response, Impact On Women

Bloomberg: Pandemic Aid Helps Make the Case for Basic Income
Noah Smith, Bloomberg opinion columnist (7/7).

Foreign Policy: Leaving the WHO Will Hurt Americans’ Health
Matthew M. Kavanagh, assistant professor of global health at Georgetown University and director of the Global Health Policy and Politics Initiative at the O’Neill Institute for National and Global Health Law, and Mara Pillinger, associate at the O’Neill Institute for National and Global Health Law at Georgetown University (7/7).

Nature: Women are most affected by pandemics — lessons from past outbreaks
Clare Wenham, assistant professor of global health policy at the London School of Economics and Political Science, and colleagues (7/8).

New York Times: Is the Coronavirus Killing the World Health Organization?
Spencer Bokat-Lindell, New York Times staff editor (7/6).

Wall Street Journal: How Japan Beat Coronavirus Without Lockdowns
Yasutoshi Nishimura, Japan’s minister of state for economic revitalization and minister in charge of COVID-19 response (7/7).

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From the Global Health Policy Community

Blogs, Releases Address COVID-19's Impact On School Re-Openings; Maternal, Child Health, Other Disease Efforts; Health Workforce; China's Air Pollution

American Academy of Pediatrics: COVID-19 Planning Considerations: Guidance for School Re-entry (6/25).

Global Polio Eradication Initiative: Polio eradication expertise backs Africa’s COVID-19 response (7/6).

Think Global Health: Mothers, Children, and the Terrible Choice Between COVID-19 and Other Infections
Chip Lyons, president and CEO of the Elizabeth Glaser Pediatric AIDS Foundation, and Chris Collins, president of Friends of the Global Fight Against AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria (7/7).

U.N.: Adaptation and teamwork, the lessons of the pandemic: health personnel (July 2020).

U.N. Dispatch: How Different Countries Have Handled COVID-19, Ranked
Joanne Lu, journalist (7/7).

World Economic Forum: China’s air pollution has overshot pre-pandemic levels as life begins to return to normal
Charlotte Edmond, senior writer for formative content at the World Economic Forum (7/7).

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Organizations Release Statements On U.S. Withdrawal From WHO

AMA: Statement on withdrawal of U.S. from the World Health Organization
In a statement on the withdrawal of the U.S. from the WHO, Sally Goza, president of the American Academy of Pediatrics; Gary L. LeRoy, president of the American Academy of Family Physicians; Susan R. Bailey, president of the American Medical Association; and Jacqueline W. Fincher, president of the American College of Physicians, say, “This dangerous withdrawal not only impacts the global response against COVID-19, but also undermines efforts to address other major public health threats. The American Academy of Pediatrics, American Academy of Family Physicians, American College of Physicians, and American Medical Association strongly oppose this short-sighted decision. We call on Congress to reject the administration’s withdrawal from the WHO and make every effort to preserve the United States’ relationship with this valued global institution. Now is the time to invest in global health, rather than turn back” (7/7).

AVAC: Global Health and Human Rights Organizations Say U.S. Withdrawal from WHO is Reckless Act that Could Delay Americans’ Access to COVID-19 Solutions and Prolong Global Pandemic
“AVAC, Health GAP, and the Treatment Action Group (TAG) strongly condemn the Trump administration’s withdrawal from the World Health Organization (WHO). … Global cooperation on public health policy, science, data, and information sharing is needed more urgently than ever before. The Trump administration makes a dangerous gamble in thinking that the U.S. can act alone in the response to COVID-19. … AVAC, Health GAP, and TAG call for the Trump administration to immediately reverse this disastrous decision, restore and protect funding to WHO, and work to ensure global cooperation in the pandemic response” (7/7).

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Blogs, Releases Address U.S. Aid Transparency, Call To Accelerate Antibiotic Development, Other Global Health Issues

Brookings Institution’s “Future Development”: The next transparency challenge for U.S. aid agencies: Moving from publication to engagement
George Ingram, senior fellow for Global Economy and Development at Brookings, and Sally Paxton, U.S. representative for Publish What You Fund (7/7).

Health Affairs: Increases In Women’s Political Representation Associated With Reductions In Child Mortality In Brazil
Philipp Hessel, associate professor in the Alberto Lleras Camargo School of Government, University of the Andes, and colleagues (July 2020).

Malaria No More: Malaria No More Applauds the U.S. President’s Malaria Initiative on 15 Years of Transformative Impact (6/30).

Médecins Sans Frontières/Doctors Without Borders: MSF responds to UNAIDS 2020 global report warning the world will miss its targets (7/6).

Pew Charitable Trusts: WHO and Pew Call for Acceleration of Antibiotic Development
Wes Kim, senior officer for the Antibiotic Resistance Project at Pew (7/7).

UNAIDS: UNAIDS welcomes decision by Gabon to decriminalize same-sex sexual relations (7/7).

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From the U.S. Government

U.S. Department Of State Updates Fact Sheet Outlining Efforts To Respond To Global COVID-19 Pandemic

U.S. Department of State: Update: The United State Continues to Lead the Global Response to COVID-19
This fact sheet provides an update on U.S. efforts to respond to COVID-19 globally, noting, “Since the outbreak of COVID-19, the U.S. Government has announced more than $1.3 billion in State Department and U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) emergency health, humanitarian, economic, and development assistance specifically aimed at helping governments, international organizations, and non-governmental organizations (NGOs) fight the pandemic…” (7/2).

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Investigational Long-Acting Form Of HIV Prevention Drug More Effective Than Daily Oral Pill Among MSM, Transgender Women, NIH Study Shows

NIH: Long-acting injectable form of HIV prevention outperforms daily pill in NIH study
“A pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) regimen containing an investigational long-acting form of the HIV drug cabotegravir injected once every 8 weeks was more effective than daily oral Truvada at preventing HIV acquisition among cisgender men who have sex with men and transgender women who have sex with men in a clinical trial sponsored by the National Institutes of Health…” (7/7).

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From KFF

KFF Provides Resources On Global, Domestic Aspects Of COVID-19 Pandemic

KFF: COVID-19 Coronavirus Tracker — Updated as of July 8, 2020
Data on country government actions in response to COVID-19 are included in the tracker (7/8).

Additional KFF COVID-19 resources on the global situation, as well as those focused on the response and impact within the U.S., are available here. KFF’s blog series “Coronavirus Policy Watch” is available here.

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KFF Fact Sheet On U.S. Government, World Health Organization Available

KFF: The U.S. Government and the World Health Organization
This fact sheet provides information about the World Health Organization (WHO) and U.S. government funding and engagement with WHO. In April, the White House first announced it would be suspending financial support for WHO pending a review of the organization’s activities related to the COVID-19 pandemic. Assessed contributions from the U.S. to the WHO have ranged from $107 to $119 million over the last decade. The U.S. also has made additional voluntary contributions, ranging from $102 to $401 million per year (4/16).

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KFF, UNAIDS Release Annual Analysis Of Donor Government Funding For Global HIV

KFF: KFF/UNAIDS Analysis Finds Donor Governments Spent US$7.8 Billion for HIV in 2019, Down Almost $200 Million From the Previous Year
“A new report from KFF (Kaiser Family Foundation) and the Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS) finds donor government disbursements to combat HIV in low- and middle-income countries totaled US$7.8 billion in 2019, a reduction from the US$8 billion in 2018 and nearly the same as the funding levels of a decade ago. Half of the 14 donor governments analyzed in the study decreased their spending on global HIV efforts from 2018 to 2019; six increased; and one held steady. Donor government funding supports HIV care and treatment, prevention, and other services in low- and middle-income countries…” (7/6).

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