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Lecture to focus on the increasing need to fund and develop methods of contraception

On October 2nd, 2009, Henry Gabelnick PhD, Executive Director of The CONRAD Program, will give the prestigious Alan F. Guttmacher lecture at the 2009 Association for Reproductive Health Professionals conference being held in Los Angeles, California.

29 Sep 2009

Living Proof Project showcases U.S. government's efforts to improve health around the world

The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation today launched the Living Proof Project: U.S. Investments in Global Health are Working, a multi-year awareness campaign to highlight the extraordinary success of the U.S. government's efforts to improve health around the world.

24 Sep 2009

Opinions: Reforming U.S. aid; delivering health care in developing countries

To change the U.S. foreign aid system, we must "[d]o what the U.S. President's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR) did: break the rules and then rewrite them," Mark Dybul, former U.S. global AIDS coordinator, writes in a Foreign Policy opinion piece examining the development and implementation of the program.

24 Sep 2009

Also in Global Health news: HIV/aids in Zambia; Ugandan medical workers; Obama administration officials' Q&A, speech; South African health care reform efforts; texting to combat drug shortages in Africa

The Post of Zambia examines the findings of a recent report revealing "the devastating effects" the HIV/AIDS epidemic in Zambia is having on the country's ability to meet the U.N. Millennium Development Goals. The article also looks at the relationship between HIV/AIDS and nutrition, maternal health and education (Chackwe, 9/21).

21 Sep 2009

President Obama's commitment to global AIDS and health is in doubt: GAA

Later today, Ambassador Eric Goosby will be sworn in as the U.S. Global AIDS Coordinator. "While we welcome Ambassador Goosby to his new post, and look forward to working with him on a broad range of issues that affect the health and well-being of the world's vulnerable populations, there are a number of as-yet unanswered questions about the true commitment of the Obama Administration to global AIDS and health, including PEPFAR [President's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief]," said Dr. Paul Zeitz, GAA executive director.

18 Sep 2009

Matrix Laboratories receives tentative FDA approval for its NDA

Mylan Inc. today announced that its privately held Indian subsidiary, Matrix Laboratories Limited, has received tentative approval from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) under the President's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR) for its New Drug Application (NDA) for Efavirenz, Lamivudine and Tenofovir Disoproxil Fumarate Tablets, 600 mg/300 mg/300 mg.

16 Sep 2009

Also in global health news: Polio in Afghanistan; Goosby interview; water shortages in Mexico City; clean water device

Agence France-Presse examines the re-emergence of polio in Afghanistan, which is one of four countries where the disease is endemic. According to AFP, "Health care, or the lack of it, is one of many problems facing Afghanistan, eight years after a war to topple the extremist Taliban regime and the arrival of billions of dollars in international aid." Although UNICEF recently launched a three-day immunization campaign in the country, the "ongoing Taliban insurgency, virulent in the south -- Helmand, Uruzgan and Kandahar provinces in particular -- has meant many children are not being reached," AFP writes (O'Donnell, 9/14).

14 Sep 2009

Also in Global Health news: PEPFAR in Swaziland; GSK HIV patent pool; Pediatric ARVs in Uganda; PNG declares health emergency; Israeli, ECOWAS agreement; Somali children

PEPFAR on Wednesday donated eight computers to Swaziland's Ministry of Health to aid in the country's ability to track the progress of the nation's HIV/AIDS programs, the Swazi Observer reports. According to the newspaper, the computers will be distributed to regional clinics across the country (Masilela, 9/10).

10 Sep 2009

Global AIDS Coordinator Goosby believes Zimbabwe's ailing health system can be strengthened

Concluding his recent trip to Zimbabwe, the Global AIDS Coordinator for PEPFAR Eric Goosby said the country can rebuild and strengthen its health care delivery systems, the Zimbabwean reports. "I have seen fatigue in health care delivery in the country. A fatigue that that has come out of sustaining the response (to HIV and AIDS) with diminishing resources, but at the same time a feeling of hope and anticipation that they have hit bottom and are now on the return," Goosby said (9/4).

9 Sep 2009

Opinion: Local drug production in developing countries; Obama's PEPFAR changes

The international community focuses on lowering drug prices as a means of improving access and "today its idea is local pharmaceutical production .

5 Sep 2009

Recent releases: PEPFAR in Zimbabwe; dengue in Thailand; blogs on improving U.S. foreign aid; examining allocations of health aid

The U.S. plans to support efforts to develop a sustainable health system in Zimbabwe and increase its capacity to treat people, Eric Goosby, U.S. global AIDS Coordinator for PEPFAR, said on Wednesday after a visit to the country with USAID and CDC officials, according to a press release from the U.S. Embassy in Harare, Zimbabwe. Goosby said he is "optimistic" that the Zimbabwe PEPFAR team's experience will be used "to develop a response that fits the existing health infrastructure, supports it and reinforces it in a way that creates a durable and lasting response" (9/2).

5 Sep 2009

Members of Congress say they will advocate for more health funding in Rwanda

Five members of Congress who are visiting Rwanda said they will advocate for more funding for the country's health sector, New Times/allAfrica.com reports. The delegation includes Marcia Fudge (D-Ohio), Sheila Jackson Lee (D-Texas), Jack Kingston (R-Ga.), Gregory Meeks (D-N.Y.), and Melvin Watt (D-N.C.) (Musoni, 9/1).

3 Sep 2009

Also in global health news: Vietnam PEPFAR funding; remote village health care; HIV in India; UNICEF budget; mapping drug shortages

PEPFAR will continue to fund HIV/AIDS programs in Vietnam, Hoang Thanh Hai, a spokesperson, said on Tuesday at a memorial for 100 people who died as a result of complications from the disease, Bernama reports. "Since 2004, PEPFAR has provided $320 million to help Vietnam provide comprehensive services on taking precautionary measures against the disease and care and treatment of HIV" patients, the news service writes (9/2).

3 Sep 2009

TIME examines debate over using female condom to fight HIV/AIDS in Uganda

TIME examines the debate over the Ugandan government's recent decision to use money from the U.N. Population Fund to purchase and distribute 100,000 female condoms to stop the spread of HIV/AIDS. Supporters of the government's plan say female condoms increase a woman's ability to negotiate with her partner.

1 Sep 2009

Sebelius names Chair of Presidential Advisory Council on HIV/AIDS

HHS Secretary Kathleen Sebelius on Monday named Helene Gayle, president and chief executive of the charity CARE USA, as the chair the Presidential Advisory Council on HIV/AIDS, Reuters reports.

26 Aug 2009

Recent releases: limiting corruption; mental health; U.S. global health policies; non-physician administered ARV; African health ministers

A Lancet Infectious Diseases Reflection and Reaction piece says while PEPFAR's "investment of over US$228 million into Mozambique in 2008 alone" resulted in "an exponential increase in the number of people on" ARVs and boosted prevention programs, "[t]here is more money available for HIV/AIDS than can reasonably be spent, especially given Mozambique's poor infrastructure and large geographical area. Unfortunately, one side-effect has been an associated increase in corruption." To maximize aid money and limit corruption, "careful and creative resource management will be needed," the author concludes (Johnson, 9/09).

24 Aug 2009

NYT Magazine interviews Clinton on global women's issues

The New York Times Magazine, as part of a special issue that focuses on women worldwide, published an interview with Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton who "staked her claim as an advocate for global women's issues in 1995, when, as first lady, she gave an impassioned speech at a United Nations conference in Beijing." The interview was conducted ahead of her 11-day, seven country tour of Africa.

20 Aug 2009

Some HIV-positive Ugandans' not receiving antiretrovirals

Some HIV-positive people in Uganda "cannot be put on the national antiretroviral [ARV] programme because it is already saturated and funds for new patients are not available," the Independent reports. According to the newspaper, roughly 360,000 HIV-positive Ugandans are eligible for antiretroviral treatment because their CD4 counts are below the WHO's threshold of 350; however, about half of them currently do not have access to ARVs.

20 Aug 2009

PEPFAR partners with BD to improve blood collection safety in Africa

PEPFAR and the global medical technology company BD announced an iniative Tuesday that will work to improve blood collection safety in clinics and hospitals in sub-Saharan Africa – an issue that PANA/Afrique en ligne reports has "become more critical than ever in sub-Saharan nations and other developing countries severely impacted by the HIV/AIDS pandemic" (8/12).

16 Aug 2009

Clinton signs new $10 million agreement on HIV/AIDS with Angola, says U.S. 'stands ready' to work with South Africa on HIV/AIDS

Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton signed a new agreement with Angola aimed at controlling the spread of HIV/AIDS, the Associated Press reports. "The Obama administration will more than double funding for Angola to combat the disease, from $7 million to $17 million," the news service writes (Lee, 8/10).

10 Aug 2009