Health Policy Watch: CDC Head Redfield: Long-Term Investment In Global Health Security Most Critical
“Recently named director of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) Robert Redfield told a gathering of global health experts this week that the most critical investment that can be made is in global health security, with the recent fast response to the Ebola outbreak in the Democratic Republic of the Congo setting the example. Redfield addressed a reception at international health organization PATH on 11 June. … On his global health vision, he said Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Alex Azar was at CDC a few days ago and talked about the importance of the global health security agenda…” (New, 6/14).

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Miami Herald: U.S. Congress to U.N.: What are you doing to compensate Haiti’s cholera victims?
“More than 100 members of Congress are sounding the alarm over Haiti’s deadly cholera epidemic and the victims of the waterborne disease who are still awaiting compensation from the United Nations. … ‘We are concerned that the U.N.’s 2016 plan … to eliminate cholera and provide redress for victims is not meeting victims’ rights and needs,’ the letter stated. … In the letter, congressional lawmakers say they want to know what steps the U.N. has taken to make direct compensation payments to victims because it appears that it is ‘unwilling to provide compensatory payments to cholera victims or engage directly with those affected about their needs’…” (Charles, 6/15).

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Washington Post: Under pressure from Pence, U.S. aid is directed to Christian, Yazidi communities in Iraq
“The premier U.S. aid agency is poised to send millions of dollars directly to Christian and Yazidi communities in Iraq under a rarely used, streamlined funding arrangement after coming under pressure from Vice President Pence. … The aid push also underscores the priority the Trump administration has placed on helping Christians, even in an era of steep cuts proposed for foreign aid…” (Morello, 6/16).

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Devex: Samantha Power: ‘There is no option B after multilateralism’
“Former United Nations Ambassador Samantha Power has spoken out about a backsliding on multilateralism, saying it is ‘mindless and self-defeating’ to refuse to work with other nations when confronted with global problems. Responding to a question from Devex during the Aurora Dialogues summit in Yerevan, Armenia, last weekend, she said ‘it’s very hard to think of a single problem that one can deal with without a multilateral solution in 2018,’ including climate change, peace and security, and humanitarian crises…” (Abrahams, 6/15).

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The Guardian: U.N. in advanced talks to take over besieged Yemen port
“Talks are at an advanced stage for the United Nations to take over the administration of the vital port of Hodeidah under siege from a Saudi-led coalition, the U.N. Humanitarian Coordinator Lise Grande said on Sunday. The Red Sea port is the main distribution point for commercial and humanitarian supplies into Yemen…” (Wintour, 6/17).

New York Times: Battles Rage Around International Airport in Strategic Yemeni City
“…The battle for Al Hudaydah is shaping up to be the biggest and possibly most consequential of a war that started in 2015 when the Saudi-led coalition attacked the Houthis, who had seized the Yemeni capital a year earlier…” (Kalfood/Walsh, 6/16).

NPR: U.N. Reportedly In Talks To Take Over Major Port In Yemen
“… ‘Twenty-two million people in Yemen depend on humanitarian assistance. If we can’t provide what they need, they’re going to be in terrible trouble,’ Grande told NPR’s David Greene. ‘We have to keep that port open, we have to make sure that people get the supplies that they need.’ In a statement released Saturday Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, director-general for the World Health Organization called on both sides of the conflict to protect the port…” (Davis, 6/17).

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Agence France-Presse: After tests, WHO rules out return of polio to Venezuela
“Tests carried out by the World Health Organization following a suspected case of polio in Venezuela have ruled out any return of the crippling childhood disease, the U.N. agency has said…” (6/16).

CNN: Polio has not returned to Venezuela, WHO says
“… ‘Final laboratory analysis received [Friday] has confirmed that the [acute flaccid paralysis (AFP)] symptoms are not associated with wild or vaccine-derived poliovirus,’ [a WHO] statement said…” (Goldschmidt et al., 6/15).

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CNN: Would-be Indian child bride fights back and helps others (Ahuja, 6/18).

Devex: How family planning can help save cheetahs (Edwards, 6/18).

Devex: Alarm bells sounded over new E.U. aid instrument proposals (Chadwick, 6/15).

Devex: DRC bordering countries begin Ebola preparedness training (Roby, 6/15).

New York Times: Video Game Addiction Tries to Move From Basement to Doctor’s Office (Hsu, 6/17).

Reuters: HK scientists say new research points to “functional cure” for HIV (Solum/Master, 6/15).

Reuters: U.N. special envoy Jolie visits Syrian refugees in Iraq (Laessing, 6/16).

STAT: Sanofi’s new dengue challenge: find a diagnostic that will make its vaccine safe to use (Branswell, 6/13).

Thomson Reuters Foundation: Nigeria urged to fix legal mess around female genital mutilation (Batha, 6/15).

Xinhua News: Zambia announces containment of cholera outbreak (6/16).

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STAT: Congress needs to back legislation supporting disaster preparedness
Nicolette Louissaint, executive director of Healthcare Ready

“…Aimed at reauthorizing an earlier law, [the Pandemic and All-Hazards Preparedness and Advancing Innovation Act of 2018] would ensure that the U.S. is poised to effectively prevent, detect, and respond to threats that could weaken public health. … To continue building on the progress the U.S. has made in disaster preparedness, we must foster partnerships across government and the private sector that can truly move the needle. … In recent disease outbreaks, mobilizing a rapid pathway to creating medical countermeasures, such as a vaccine that can prevent death from an Ebola infection or rapid diagnostics to earlier detect flu or other infections, has been possible because of the existence of the Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority. That program, and others like it, would cease to exist if the preparedness act is not reauthorized. … BARDA is essential for supporting the creation of countermeasures for a pandemic caused by a new or emerging infectious disease for which there is otherwise no market and therefore no incentive for companies to pursue development. … We need this legislation to build a 21st century public health infrastructure that can effectively respond to today’s threats, and tomorrow’s” (6/15).

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Thomson Reuters Foundation: New Ebola outbreak is being tackled by a stronger WHO in the African region
Matshidiso Moeti, WHO regional director for Africa

“…Currently, WHO in the African region is responding to the latest outbreak of Ebola Virus Disease, which began in the western part of [the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC)], in Equateur Province. This outbreak has been testing the internal reforms that WHO has implemented in response to the 2013-16 outbreak in West Africa. … Disease outbreaks and other emergencies often occur in areas where poverty intersects with a lack of provision of basic health care. When all citizens receive services — either in the cities, the countryside, or anywhere in between — they can have the dignity and security to live healthy productive lives. In Africa, we are not there yet, but we have made progress in this journey. Countries like Liberia, Guinea, and Sierra Leone, which were affected by the unprecedented Ebola outbreak, are putting in place stronger systems that not only address curative services but also preventive services with support from WHO and development partners. … [O]ne could say that the experiences of Liberia, Guinea, and Sierra Leone have revealed to us a new outbreak — an outbreak of confidence, that our continent has turned a corner and is, once again, ready to grow…” (6/15).

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Northwestern University Law Review: Challenging the Rhetorical Gag and Trap: Reproductive Capacities, Rights, and the Helms Amendment
Michele Goodwin, chancellor’s professor and director of the Center for Biotechnology & Global Health Policy at the University of California, Irvine, examines the Helms amendment and the Mexico City policy from a legal perspective, and discusses the impact of these policies on women (June 2018).

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Center for Strategic & International Studies: Feed the Future in Ghana
This CSIS report discusses key takeaways from a February 2018 visit to Ghana of a CSIS Global Food Security Project-led, bipartisan, bicameral delegation of U.S. congressional staff. According to CSIS, “The visit offered an opportunity to better understand Feed the Future’s diverse portfolio of investments in Ghana and to hear directly from Ghanaian partners — both in and outside of government — what they perceive as the initiative’s most important impacts and contributions. … The delegation … sought broadly to identify achievements, challenges, and questions that arise from Feed the Future’s experience in Ghana that can inform debates on U.S. global food security investments going forward” (Cooke, 6/6).

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IDSA’s “Science Speaks”: Peers speed HIV diagnosis to treatment start in country with world’s highest estimated prevalence
Antigone Barton, senior editor and writer of “Science Speaks,” discusses an analysis of a PEPFAR-funded HIV testing and treatment project in the Kingdom of eSwatini, formally known as Swaziland. Barton writes, “The findings, the authors write, indicate that the peer-driven project offers the potential for eSwatini to reach the goals of 90 percent of all people living with HIV knowing they have the virus, 90 percent of those diagnosed accessing treatment, and for treatment to be consistent and effective in 90 percent of those to suppress the virus, preventing illness and transmission… PEPFAR now is supporting a nationwide expansion of the project, the authors write” (6/15).

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FT Health: WHO chief on progress on Ebola and picks of the week
The latest issue of the Financial Times’ weekly global health newsletter was curated by WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, featuring commentary from Dr. Tedros on the current Ebola outbreak and a selection of global health articles. The newsletter also features an interview with Jean-Jacques Muyembe, director general of the Congo National Institute for Biomedical Research, on his experience with Ebola outbreaks (Tedros, 6/15).

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