KFF Daily Global Health Policy Report
In The News
- U.N. Expected To Approve Sustainable Development Agenda During Weekend Summit
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Nature: U.N. approves global to-do list for next 15 years
“On 25 September, Pope Francis will address the United Nations just before a three-day meeting that will set the agenda for international development efforts over the next 15 years. At the Sustainable Development Summit in New York, global leaders will adopt 17 goals that are meant to improve the lives of the world’s poorest people by 2030, without jeopardizing the health of the planet…” (Tollefson, 9/22).New Scientist: World set to embark on U.N. sustainable goals to eradicate poverty
“…Critics say there are too many goals and that many targets lack rigor. Nevertheless many experts — including those working on marine biology, agriculture, terrestrial ecosystems, and climate science — are cautiously rejoicing…” (Irwin, 9/22).
- Weaker Global Economic Growth Challenges Efforts To Meet SDGs, IMF's Lagarde Says
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Reuters: IMF’s Lagarde: weaker global growth complicates development goals
“Downside risks to global growth have increased and the weak economic outlook will make achieving world development goals more difficult than in the past, the head of the International Monetary Fund said on Tuesday. … ‘It would be a lot easier if the world was cruising at 5.5 (percent), six percent global growth than it is at the moment,’ [Christine Lagarde] said at a Brookings Institution event. The IMF, which is due to release updated economic forecasts in October, in July forecast global growth of 3.3 percent this year and 3.8 percent in 2016…” (Hughes, 9/22).
- Some In Global Development Community Calling For More Integrated Approach To Achieve SDGs
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Devex: Pivoting to post-2015: Proving the promise of integrated development
“As the Millennium Development Goals come to a close at the end of the year, many in the global development community say that historic top-down development approaches have missed the mark and need a big overhaul. … When it comes to achieving the closely connected Sustainable Development Goals, they believe an integrated approach may hold the key for success. And, many are calling for building more evidence around the approach…” (McGlyn, 9/22).
- Social Scientists Can Work With Policymakers To Formulate, Implement, Measure SDG Targets, Conference Hears
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SciDev.Net: Social scientists urged to help with development goals
“Policymakers and social scientists must team up to help achieve the global development agenda and help measure progress towards the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), a meeting has heard. Social scientists can help formulate the goals, implement policies, and measure their effects, heard the World Social Science Forum 2015 in Durban last week (13-16 September)…” (Owing, 9/22).
- Guinea Officials Expect Country's Ebola Epidemic To Be Declared Over By November
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Bloomberg Business: Guinea’s Government Expects an End to Ebola Epidemic by November
“…One confirmed and one suspected case of the hemorrhagic fever were being treated as of Sept. 17, Guinean National Ebola Response Coordinator Sakoba Keita said in an interview in the capital, Conakry, on Sept. 18. The authorities will count 42 days — twice the incubation period for the disease — from the last infection to declare the country free of the epidemic…” (Camara/Wild, 9/21).
- USA TODAY Examines U.S. Outbreak Preparedness After Ebola, Effectiveness Of Airline Passenger Screening
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USA TODAY: Some health experts say the USA hasn’t learned key lessons from Ebola experience
“One year after doctors diagnosed the first Ebola patient in the USA, some experts question whether the country is prepared to deal with the next outbreak of a serious infectious disease…” (Szabo, 9/22).USA TODAY: Year of airport screening doesn’t catch Ebola
“Federal authorities, who screened more than 30,000 travelers for Ebola as they arrived at airports from West African countries over the past year, never detected a case of the often fatal disease…” (Jansen, 9/22).
- UNFPA Stresses Need For Reproductive Health Care Among Migrant, Refugee Women In Europe, Appeals For $4.2M In Aid
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U.N. News Centre: Thousands of women on the move in Europe need reproductive health care — U.N.
“The United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) today stressed the need to ensure women refugees and migrants moving across Europe have access to life-saving sexual and reproductive health care, as it appealed for $4.2 million for humanitarian assistance…” (9/22).
- South Africa Expected To Release White Paper Outlining National Health Insurance Plan, CNN Reports
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CNN: After a 70 year wait, is universal health care finally coming to South Africa?
“…South Africa is on the brink of overhauling its health care system — and it’s a plan 70 years in the making. … [W]ith the imminent release of a government white paper outlining a new National Health Insurance (NHI) scheme, there is new hope for millions that they will now be able to access far greater primary health care…” (Page, 9/22).
- Europe On Track To Meet Reduction In Premature Mortality Goal But Tobacco, Alcohol Use, Obesity Mar Progress, WHO Report Says
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News outlets highlight findings from the WHO’s European Health Report 2015.
Deutsche Welle: Smoking, alcohol, and obesity blemish Europe’s progress in reducing premature mortality
“The World Health Organization (WHO) reported its European region to be on track to hit targets set in 2012 to reduce premature mortality by 2020. But the organization said much more could be done to reduce major risk factors, addressing smoking and drinking habits…” (9/23).Reuters: Europe has ‘alarming’ rates of smoking, drinking, and obesity: WHO
“…Just under 60 percent of people in the WHO’s European region are either overweight or obese, and 30 percent use tobacco. Some 11 liters of pure alcohol is drunk per person per year…” (Kelland, 9/22).
- With Food Shortage Expected To Affect 17% Of Population, Malawi President Appeals For International Aid
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VOA News: Malawi’s President Appeals for International Food Aid
“Malawi’s President Peter Mutharika has appealed for international help to cope with an expected food shortage that could affect 17 percent of the country’s population during the coming months. In his national address on the food situation on Monday, Mutharika said people in 25 of the country’s 28 districts are at risk of hunger…” (Masina, 9/22).
Editorials and Opinions
- World Must 'Think Big, Act Audaciously' For Development Success, Bono Says; Melinda Gates Reinforces Important Role Of Women
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Medium: Solar Fields, Sexist Poverty, and a Modern Marshall Plan
Bono, lead singer of U2 and co-founder of ONE and (RED)“…Our ultimate goal is the end of aid — growing economies, shared prosperity, self-sufficiency. But the way we’re going to get there — if you can handle the cognitive dissonance – is actually to increase the aid, for now, to the countries that need it the most. … The Marshall Plan should be a model but it needn’t be our only inspiration. … Partnership, not paternalism, is required here – and was the key to the success of the previous edition of the Global Goals, the Millennium Development Goals. It should egg us on to consider the role the MDGs played in increasing the number of children in schools and dramatically reducing child deaths, maternal mortality, and the most degrading, debilitating sort of poverty. … [S]ometimes, when a situation demands it, we think big, act audaciously, and we get it right – or at least partly right, which is no small thing. Now needs to be one of those times…” (8/22).
Medium: Three things stick out to me about this excellent piece, Bono.
Melinda Gates, co-chair of the Bill & Melinda Gates FoundationIn a response to Bono’s piece, Gates writes, “…The first, of course, is your usual flair, including a reference to ‘projectile vomiting.’ … The second is your argument that the global refugee crisis underscores the need for long-term investments in development … If we can help people in poor countries build thriving societies in which they are healthy and fulfilled, we can prevent many crises before they happen. … The third thing that stuck out is the pull quote about halfway down that says, ‘Poverty is sexist: it hits women and girls the hardest, which is doubly ironic, because investing in them is the best way to end poverty.’ I want to reinforce this point. It is impossible to understand poverty – both what it really is and how to fight it – without understanding the plight of women and girls around the world. … Investing in women and girls is indeed the best way to end poverty for everyone” (9/22).
- Global Fund's 2016 Replenishment Crucial To Achieving SDGs
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Huffington Post: Why Every Dollar Counts for Global Health
Deborah Derrick, president of Friends of the Global Fight Against AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria“…With an eye toward continued success under the SDGs, the Global Fund’s upcoming replenishment in 2016 is crucial. These ambitious goals aim to accomplish a broad spectrum of worthy achievements, but many of those achievements will prove elusive unless they can be carried out by healthy populations. It will be more important than ever to call attention and resources to global health amid so many priorities. Every dollar in the 2016 replenishment will count in the Global Fund’s efforts to create a healthy environment, which in turn will serve as a building block for so many other improvements to our society” (9/22).
- For SDGs To Succeed, Goals Must Receive 'Consistent Attention,' Countries Must Collect Accurate Data
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The Conversation: New development goals on health need more work to be realistic
Erica Penfold, research fellow at South African Institute of International Affairs“…The power of the original Millennium Development Goals was in their simplicity and clarity. By contrast, the drafts proposed by negotiating committees for the new goals are complicated and lack focus. This suggests that the post-2015 goals will have comparatively limited value and impact. … Ideally, each Sustainable Development Goal target should receive consistent attention if there is to be a universal focus on successfully attaining all 17. There also needs to be accurate collection of data which developing countries don’t have the resources to gather. If these two things are done there is definitely potential for success. But considering the limited progress made over the last 15 years, this remains to be seen” (9/21).
- Global Community Must Address Malnutrition In All Forms Without Losing Gains On Reducing Stunting
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The Guardian: There is no place for malnutrition in the 21st century
Lawrence Haddad, Corinna Hawkes, and Emorn Udomkesmalee, all co-chairs of the Independent Expert Group of the Global Nutrition Report“One of the welcome and surprising headline findings from the 2015 Global Nutrition Report is that 39 out of 114 countries with data are on course to meet the World Health Assembly goals for under-five stunting. … The challenge for countries now is to expand the commitment to tackle malnutrition in all its forms, and to do so without diluting the progress made against stunting. … We believe three things have to happen. … First, we have to reframe malnutrition. … Second, we need to apply what is working for stunting to other areas. … Third, we need to identify ‘double duty’ actions that work to prevent or reduce multiple forms of malnutrition. … Of course, it will require changes in institutional organization, in developing solutions, and in capacity, training and research. … It is time to bring malnutrition into the 21st century — and end it” (9/22).
From the Global Health Policy Community
- U.S. Committed To African Growth Through Improving Health Systems, Human Rights, National Security Adviser Rice Says
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Center for Global Health Policy’s “Science Speaks”: Strong health systems, human rights essential for Africa’s growth, says Susan Rice
Rabita Aziz, policy research coordinator for the Center for Global Health Policy, discusses remarks made by U.S. National Security Adviser Susan Rice on Friday at the Africa Braintrust, part of the Congressional Black Caucus Foundation’s Annual Legislative Conference. “Improving Africa’s health is an essential part of the U.S. commitment to driving Africa’s growth, and accelerating progress against HIV is a part of that commitment, along with ending preventable child and maternal deaths, and providing millions of children with nutritional services, Rice said…” (9/22).
- Community Activism Needed In Global HIV Response
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Open Society Foundations’ “Voices”: Yes, Strengthen the Health System — But Strengthen It for All
Christine Stegling, executive director of the International Treatment Preparedness Coalition (ITPC), discusses the importance of community activism in continuing to improve HIV treatment access, writing, “There is a need for community activists to monitor service provision at a time when national governments increasingly take responsibility for the delivery of HIV services. We need to repoliticize the AIDS movement to counter the complacency and bureaucratization of community engagement” (9/22).
- Aidspan Publishes New Issue Of 'Global Fund Observer'
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Aidspan: Global Fund Observer
Aidspan, an independent watchdog of the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria, published Issue 271 of the “Global Fund Observer.” The newsletter features articles on various global health topics, including the fund’s Results Report 2015, the launch of the fund’s replenishment campaign, and performance-based financing in the DRC (9/23).