The Guardian: Historic change to aid rules allows use of funding when lives are at stake
“Aid money can now be used to deal with humanitarian crises in wealthy countries after changes to the existing international rules were agreed at a meeting in Paris on Tuesday. … Under the new system, ratified by the Development Assistance Committee of the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), middle-income countries may now be reinstated as eligible if they suffer a long-term economic decline, providing that no aid is diverted from existing recipients…” (Lamble, 11/1).

BBC News: U.K. territories eligible for development aid
“…The OECD’s development assistance committee (DAC) rejected a U.K. plan for small island states to be allowed to waive the rules in emergency. But instead the 30 member countries backed a different plan to use official aid in temporary emergencies but on the crucial condition that no ODA is diverted from existing recipients in the process. The DAC also agreed to establish a new mechanism for middle-income countries to be reinstated on to the list of ODA-eligible recipients if they suffer a long-term economic decline…” (Landale, 10/31).

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Reuters: Exclusive: Congressional committee questions operation of WHO cancer agency
“Two influential U.S. Congressmen have asked the World Health Organization’s cancer agency to get ready to testify about its work assessing if substances cause cancer, citing concerns about its ‘scientific integrity.’ Their letter to the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC), seen by Reuters and sent on Wednesday, is part of ongoing investigations by two Congressional committees into IARC that were fueled by the agency’s review of glyphosate, the primary ingredient of Monsanto Co.’s weedkiller Roundup…” (Kelland, 11/1).

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Reuters: U.S. experts set research agenda to meet ‘Cancer Moonshot’ goals
“It will take a major shift in the way cancer research is done in the United States to meet the ambitious goals set out by the U.S. Cancer Moonshot, researchers said on Tuesday. In a report published in Lancet Oncology, cancer researchers outlined a new model for cancer drug discovery and development…” (Steenhuysen, 10/31).

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Science: U.S. oversight of risky pathogen research has flaws, report finds
“The program that keeps watch over the management of dangerous pathogens at research laboratories still isn’t up to snuff, according to a new report from the U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO)…” (Servick, 10/31).

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NPR: UNICEF Report: 300 Million Cases Of Violence Against Children Ages 2 To 4
“A new report from UNICEF says that violence against children knows no boundaries. Among the statistics that back up that statement: Approximately 300 million children around the world between the ages two and four are subject to physical punishment or verbal abuse from their parents or caregivers…” (Cole, 11/1).

Thomson Reuters Foundation: Millions of girls forced into sex yet only 1 in 100 seek help: U.N.
“At least 15 million teenage girls worldwide have been forced into sex — often by partners, relatives, or friends — yet only one in 100 sought help, the United Nations said on Wednesday. Cameroon had the highest rate of sexual violence, with one in six teenage girls experiencing forced sex, the U.N.’s children’s agency (UNICEF) said in a report which examined data from more than 40 countries…” (Mannion, 11/1).

U.N. News Centre: Violence against children pervasive in homes, schools, and communities — UNICEF
“…To end violence against children, UNICEF is calling for governments to take urgent action and support such measures as adopting well-coordinated national action plans; changing adult behaviors; limiting access to firearms and other weapons; educating children, parents, teachers, and community members to recognize violence in all its many forms and report it safely; and collecting better disaggregated data to track progress through robust monitoring and evaluation” (11/1).

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The Guardian: Gasping for breath: pneumonia’s deadly toll among the hungry children of Kenya
“…Pneumonia kills two children under five every minute, or almost one million a year worldwide: more than malaria, diarrhea, and measles combined, according to research published by Save the Children on Thursday. Yet it can be treated with antibiotics, such as amoxicillin, costing as little as 30p. The report, Fighting for Breath, shows that fewer than 60 percent of health facilities in Kenya, Tanzania, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, and Mauritania have amoxicillin available. In Uganda and Nepal, the figure falls to a quarter of facilities. The charity is calling for cheaper vaccines and action plans by governments to ensure universal access to health care…” (McVeigh, 11/2).

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Intellectual Property Watch: New WHO 5-Year Program Is Out. In The Recipe? SDGs, Access To Medicines, Innovation, Better Health For All
“The new leadership of the World Health Organization [Wednesday] issued its draft new program of work for the next five years. The program depicts new orientations for the global health actor, starting with the alignment of the program with the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals and universal health coverage…” (Saez, 11/1).

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Quartz: It’s going to take 217 years to close the global economic gender gap
“…Each year, the WEF ranks 144 countries in its Global Gender Gap Index to see how they compare on four ‘pillars’: economic participation and opportunity, education, political empowerment, and health and survival. The WEF crunches numbers from the world’s most respected institutions, such as the International Labour Organization, the U.N. Development Programme, and the World Health Organization, as well as WEF’s own perceptions survey. Overall, the 2017 index showed a decrease in parity over the previous year for the first time…” (Brinded, 11/1).

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Devex: Development work should start at home, says Direct Relief CEO Thomas Tighe
“The development community should seek to bridge the divide between relief work in developed and developing countries, the CEO of Direct Relief has said — and dropping the jargon that can often drive development work is a good place to start. Speaking to Devex during an interview in New York, Thomas Tighe, the CEO and president of the international humanitarian aid nonprofit, said: ‘I don’t see much difference between international development and what we call social support spending in the United States’…” (Lieberman, 11/1).

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Miami Herald: U.N. is committed to partnership with Haiti that works
António Guterres, secretary general of the U.N.

“The United Nations was created to live up to the highest standards of humanity. To meet those ambitious ideals, the organization must continually seek to improve the way we work. There is perhaps no better place to demonstrate that commitment than in Haiti, where the U.N. has done much good, but, unfortunately, also has fallen short. This week, I am sending a high-level U.N. delegation to the country. … As a core part of our new partnership, the U.N. is resolved to continue addressing Haiti’s cholera challenge. … The U.N. simply did not do enough at the onset of the crisis and should have responded more effectively and more quickly. We have a moral responsibility to the victims of cholera and for supporting Haiti in overcoming the epidemic. … The United Nations is determined to learn from mistakes and put in place new policies and procedures to ensure we employ the best practices of the world in our work. … The United Nations is committed to working with the Haitian government and rallying the international community to live up to that promise” (11/1).

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Center for Strategic & International Studies: From AIDS to Zika
Katherine Bliss, senior associate (non-resident), and Chris Millard, associate fellow, both of the CSIS Global Health Policy Center, write about this report, “In May 2017, a small team from the CSIS Global Health Policy Center visited Brazil to better understand the country’s approaches toward issues of global health security. … Based on our conversations in Brazil and in the United States, the team concluded that the history of U.S.-Brazil engagement on health, as well as Brazil’s recent experiences addressing the 2015-2016 Zika outbreak and preparing for the 2016 Olympics in Rio de Janeiro, offer important lessons for the U.S. government to consider, both as it rethinks its relationships on health with other middle-income countries and as it advances its health security agenda in the years to come” (10/10).

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ONE: Aid donors met to discuss how to change the rules; here is what happened
Sara Harcourt, policy director for development finance at the ONE Campaign, discusses three “noteworthy” outcomes from the OECD Development Assistance Committee’s (DAC) high-level meeting, where members discussed the mandate of the DAC, its role in the Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) era, and potential rule changes as to what counts as aid. The three outcomes include “1. Clearer rules on ‘in-donor refugee costs’ … 2. No decision on private sector instruments, but one to watch … 3. Plans to review country graduation criteria, particularly for small island states” (11/1).

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Center for Strategic & International Studies’ “Take as Directed”: Reflections from Global Health Sage Michael Merson
Sara Allinder, deputy director and senior fellow at the Global Health Policy Center at CSIS, speaks with Michael Merson, Wolfgang Joklik professor of global health and vice president and vice provost for global affairs at Duke University, about “his career in global health, the evolving role of the WHO over time, and the main recommendations that came out of the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine’s committee on global health and the future of the United States” (10/26).

Center for Strategic & International Studies’ “Take as Directed”: The New Barbarianism — A CSIS Original Documentary Film
Steve Morrison, senior vice president and director of the Global Health Policy Center at CSIS, speaks with Justin Kenny, owner of Small Footprint Films, and Paul Franz, Andreas C. Dracopoulos chair in creativity and innovation at CSIS, about a CSIS Global Health Policy Center original documentary that examines the danger that health care and humanitarian workers face in emergency and conflict situations. The film “examines the crisis, its causes, the limited international response, and possible ways forward through over 30 on-camera interviews and original footage obtained from inside Syria, Yemen, and Afghanistan” (10/13).

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U.N. Dispatch: Tuberculosis is easily treated. So Why Is It Still The Most Deadly Infectious Disease in the World?
Alanna Shaik, an international development professional, discusses findings from the WHO’s 2017 Global Tuberculosis Report, including global trends in incidence, mortality, treatment, and funding (11/1).

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International Organization for Migration: Clean Water, Sanitation Vast Challenges as Bangladesh Copes with 607,000 New Refugees
“…IOM, the U.N. Migration Agency, is providing vital WASH services to both the Rohingya and the communities hosting them, while scaling up its work to meet the needs of new arrivals. In total, some 100,000 people already directly benefit from IOM’s WASH activities in the makeshift settlements [in Cox’s Bazar]. … Although, many thousands of refugees now have access to water and sanitation, far more remains to be done to prevent disease outbreaks. Poor road access and insufficient drainage in the displacement sites also make it difficult to reach new arrivals with the urgent support and services they need, including WASH” (10/31).

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Health Affairs Blog: In Nepal, Health Insurance For All
Gagan Thapa, former member of Parliament and former minister of health of Nepal; Amit Aryal, health policy adviser and the co-chair of Nepal’s National Committee of the Lancet Global Health Commission on High Quality Health Systems in the Sustainable Development Goals era; and Duncan Maru, assistant professor at Brigham and Women’s Hospital and Harvard Medical School and co-founder of Possible, discuss Nepal’s passage last month of its National Health Insurance Act and the history behind the law. The authors note, “Nepal’s new act adds the nation to the list of countries with a solid national health insurance foundation. … [The] features of the new act providing health insurance to all in Nepal will hopefully lay the groundwork for future policies aimed at regulating health care on the basis of outcomes, quality, and cost efficiency” (11/1).

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U.S. Department of State’s “DipNote”: Looking Ahead to World AIDS Day 2017
Deborah L. Birx, U.S. global AIDS coordinator and U.S. special representative for global health diplomacy, announces the theme for World AIDS Day 2017 as “Increasing Impact Through Transparency, Accountability, and Partnerships,” and discusses the U.S. role in the global HIV/AIDS response (11/1).

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PMI: President’s Malaria Initiative at ASTMH 2017
This post highlights PMI-supported symposia, scientific sessions, and poster presentations scheduled for the 66th annual meeting of the American Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene (ASTMH), which will take place November 5-9 in Baltimore (10/27).

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Kaiser Family Foundation: The U.S. Government and Global Health Security
This brief examines U.S. global health security efforts and funding, including U.S. engagement in the Global Health Security Agenda (GHSA), and highlights key issues going forward (11/1).

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