Roll Call: White House keeping foreign aid spending on a tight leash

“The White House is slowly releasing its previous hold on State Department and U.S. Agency for International Development funds that lapse after Sept. 30, according to sources familiar with the move. But the agencies still could face difficulty spending it all before the deadline. The Office of Management and Budget has required that the remaining funds in 10 accounts be ‘apportioned,’ or parceled out, in one-quarter increments on the first four Sundays in September. … The new apportionment is a change requested by State officials, according to a senior administration official. It provides more flexibility than an earlier apportionment allowing State and USAID to obligate roughly 2 percent of the remaining funds per day for the remainder of the fiscal year…” (Krawzak, 9/11).

Roll Call: Senate appropriations process continues to devolve

“Senate appropriators have abandoned plans to mark up two spending bills Thursday that have become mired in a partisan dispute over abortion policy. The Appropriations Committee announced it will postpone consideration of its fiscal 2020 Labor-HHS-Education bill and its State-Foreign Operations bill. As of Wednesday evening, the panel still planned to take up its Defense and Energy-Water bills at a full committee markup, along with a measure that would divvy up total discretionary spending among the 12 subcommittees…” (Lerman/Shutt, 9/11).

 

Additional coverage of the budget negotiations is available from The Hill, POLITICO, and Reuters.

U.N. News: SDG progress ‘in danger’ of going backwards without change in direction, new U.N. report reveals

“The current worldwide sustainable development model is threatening to reverse years of progress, if strategies don’t drastically change, an independent group of scientists has concluded in a major new report launched on Wednesday. The U.N. report will be at the center of discussions during the U.N. summit on the SDGs later this month…” (9/11).

 

Xinhua: U.N. report calls for new relationship between people, nature

“…According to the report, achieving human well-being and eradicating poverty for all of Earth’s people by 2030 is still possible, but only if there is a fundamental and urgent change in the relationship between people and nature, and a significant reduction in social and gender inequalities between and inside countries…” (9/12).

International Business Times: Is Disease X Here? New Superbugs And Infectious Diseases Discovered

“Fears over a new pandemic emerged after a health agency in the U.K. reported that it has discovered 19 new drug-resistant superbugs and 12 infectious diseases in the last decade. The discovery of the superbugs and other pathogens has led medical experts to call on more effective health measures to prevent a possible Disease X outbreak…” (Monzon, 9/11).

 

The Telegraph: Revealed: Public Health England ‘hot on the trail’ of Disease X

“…At the launch of its first-ever strategy on infectious diseases on Wednesday, Public Health England (PHE) revealed that 12 ‘novel’ infections and viruses have been identified in the U.K. in the last 10 years. The diseases include tularemia, a life-threatening infection found in the U.S. that is spread by rabbits and rodents; Crimean-Congo hemorrhagic fever, an Ebola-type illness that is prevalent in Africa and is spread by ticks; and monkeypox, a rare virus which is similar to human smallpox, three cases of which were identified in the U.K. last year…” (Gulland, 9/11).

DW: Obesity in Africa: A looming health catastrophe

“In the past, Africa has often been portrayed as a starving and hungry continent. That seems to be changing rapidly. Obesity is now becoming a huge health challenge especially among the low- and middle-class in Africa’s urban cities. Eight out of the 20 fastest rising countries with adult obesity are found in Africa…” (Mwakideu, 9/12).

Devex: Strengthening frontlines: Empowering health workers to deliver quality care (Donback, 9/12).

 

The Guardian: Hundreds of children die in Philippine dengue epidemic as local action urged (Fonbuena, 9/12).

 

IPS: ‘Conference Emphasizes Need for Partnerships to Create a World Without Leprosy’ (Paul, 9/11).

 

New Humanitarian: In Yemen, one nurse’s fight against hunger (Mannocchi/Romenzi, 9/11).

 

New York Times: Horrid Conditions in Syria Camp Where ISIS Families Fled Risk Fostering Extremism (Cumming-Bruce, 9/11).

 

The Telegraph: Thousands fall ill as Nepal becomes latest country to be hit by dengue outbreak (Wallen, 9/11).

 

Xinhua: Brazil dengue cases surge sevenfold (9/12).

 

Xinhua: U.N. warns 1.3 mln children to face acute malnutrition in South Sudan in 2020 (9/12).

 

Xinhua: Ghana launches vaccination campaign against polio (9/12).

The Guardian: Measles has now killed more people in DRC than Ebola — and almost all of them are children

Matshidiso Moeti, WHO regional director for Africa

 

“…All across the [Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC)], children are dying from measles in what is the world’s largest and fastest-moving outbreak — with the latest data showing that there have been 165,203 suspected cases already this year. … What scares me is the number of deaths from measles, at more than 3,200, now exceeds the deaths from Ebola. Nearly all of them are children. … In most African countries, coverage of the routine immunization remains sub-optimal, thus enabling large pockets of unimmunized children and adults. … This situation will replicate in other countries on the continent if nothing is done to, once and for all, reach every child. As the world’s largest outbreak is currently reminding us, we must stop aiming for this goal and hunker down to actually achieve it…” (9/11).

 

Project Syndicate: Sustainable Financing for Family Planning

Esenam Amuzu, member of the Women Deliver Young Leader class of 2018 and the Youth Advisory Board of the Ghana SRHR Alliance for Young People, and founder of the My Teen Life project

 

“…[O]rganizations protecting [sexual and reproductive health and rights (SRHR)] all over the world are facing … financing constraints. … Even existing funding is not guaranteed, owing to factors ranging from fluctuating exchange rates to changing political agendas. … Developing-country governments must urgently reduce their dependence on outside donors. And yet, so far, they have been slow to pick up the slack. … [R]esponsibility for upholding SRHR ultimately lies with national leaders, who must develop long-term strategies for ensuring sustainable financing for sexual and reproductive health, including family planning. Their countries’ development depends on it” (9/11).

The Guardian: History shows it will take more than technology and money to beat malaria

Jonathan Kennedy, lecturer in global health at Queen Mary University of London

 

“The Lancet Commission on Malaria Eradication received widespread attention this week with its claim that the disease could be eradicated by 2050. This would be a very welcome achievement, as malaria currently kills about 435,000 people — predominantly children — each year. The report argues that the key to eradicating malaria is the application of existing and new technology, coupled with £1.6bn extra annual funding. Unfortunately, this solution is unlikely to be successful because it fails to address the underlying causes of malaria: grinding poverty and state incapacity. … Even if advancements like gene-drive technologies are successful at eradicating malaria, without profound economic and political reforms to address extreme poverty and improve primary health care, sub-Saharan Africa will remain vulnerable to the emergence of new infectious diseases — as demonstrated by the Ebola outbreak in West Africa a few years ago and the current Ebola outbreak in DRC” (9/11).

Global Health NOW: Is Germany Really a New Leader in Global Health?

Mathias Bonk, medical doctor and co-founder and chair of the Berlin Institute of Global Health (IGGB)

 

“…In many ways, Germany has both the ability and responsibility to build diplomatic and scientific bridges to strengthen transnational and multidisciplinary efforts in the field of global health. … Is Germany truly a new leader in global health? Many would say so, but I am convinced that Germany could still do much more for global health. … I personally feel that Germany, with its difficult history and its current international image, should not really be aiming at a top leadership role. … With its growing economic power and increasing political influence, outside expectations are rising, but so is the skepticism. Overall Germany seems to be heading in the right direction as a team player and a role model in the global health arena…” (9/10).

World Health Organization: WHO Director-General urges world leaders to protect health from climate change

“Climate change is one of the defining issues of our time. It is also one of the world’s most urgent health threats. In less than two weeks’ time, I will join the U.N. Secretary-General and other world leaders at the Climate Action Summit at the United Nations General Assembly. This landmark summit will showcase the concrete commitments governments are making to address climate change and to secure and improve the health and well-being of their citizens. … The Climate Action Summit takes place on the same day as the U.N. High-Level Meeting on Universal Health Coverage. It is significant that these events will run in parallel. Taking steps to address and mitigate the impacts of climate change, and to ensure that everyone can access the health services they need, when and where they need them, are two of the top priorities in global public health…” (9/11). 

Brookings Institution’s “Future Development”: Are the multilaterals ready to act on pandemic prevention and other global public goods?

Kaci Kennedy McDade, policy associate with the Center for Policy Impact in Global Health at the Duke Global Health Institute, and Gavin Yamey, director of the Center for Policy Impact in Global Health and professor at the Duke Global Health Institute, discuss the pending launch of the Global Action Plan for healthy lives and well-being for all and a new policy analysis led by Duke University’s Center for Policy Impact in Global Health that aims to answer the question, “Are multilateral agencies ready to collaborate to scale up their support for [global public goods (GPGs)] for health in a truly joined-up way?” (9/11).

Aidspan: Global Fund Observer

Aidspan, an independent watchdog of the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria, has published Issue 363 of the “Global Fund Observer.” The newsletter features several pieces, including an article on funding request information for the next allocation period (2020-2022), a write-up on the Global Fund’s role in achieving universal health coverage, and an update on the fund’s sixth replenishment (9/11).

Kaiser Family Foundation: Key Global Health Positions and Officials in the U.S. Government

This updated fact sheet lists U.S. government positions and officials related to global health, including links to agencies and officials’ profiles, when available (9/11).