Also in Global Health News: Global Fund in El Salvador; World Bank investment in Nepal; Bed nets in Africa; Ukraine caps grain exports

Global Post Examines How Global Fund Impacts HIV Care, Human Rights In El Salvador

Global Post examines how the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria is impacting HIV/AIDS care and human rights in El Salvador. The article profiles Carla, a Salvadorian transvestite who tested positive for HIV in jail and was able to receive anti-retroviral (ARV) treatment through a program supported by the Global Fund, which the article calls a "revolutionary model."   

"To avoid corruption, the aid money is not simply handed over. Enough money is granted to get a project started, but before additional funds are released, the project must achieve clearly identified benchmarks that are independently audited. If the project is not working, the funding is suspended," Global Post writes. The author also notes that Global Fund grants are "also helping orphanages for children whose parents died from HIV/AIDS" in El Salvador (Dowell, 8/18).

World Bank Provides $178M To Nepal To Improve Health Services, HIV/AIDS Care and Food Security

The World Bank will provide $178 million to the government of Nepal for two projects that will address health delivery, system strengthening, and food security, NepalNews.com reports. "The main aim of [one] project is to increase access to primary health care for the poor and those living in rural areas," as well as to expand HIV/AIDS services and improve prenatal and child nutrition. The second project will "assist vulnerable and highly food insecure populations by improving their access to nutritious foods through" a variety of different initiatives, the news service reports (8/18).

Study Examines Relationship Between Bed Net Distribution In Africa And Development Assistance

"African countries who have received major support for bed net distribution are using them as intended and many more children are being protected from malaria," KPLU's "Humanosphere" blog reports, citing a study by the Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation published in PLoS Medicine (Paulson, 8/18). In the study, researchers looked at "ownership coverage" of insecticide-treated bed nets (ITNs) and usage of nets among children under 5 in 44 African countries. After excluding four outlier countries, the authors of the study concluded, "each US$1 per capita in malaria [development assistance for health] DAH was associated with a significant increase in ITN household coverage and ITN use in children under 5 coverage of 5.3 percentage points (3.7 to 6.9) and 4.6 percentage points (2.5 to 6.7), respectively" (Flaxman et al., 8/17).

Ukrainian Officials Announce Plan To Cap Grain Exports

"Ukraine, one of the world's largest grain producers, is set to impose quotas on its exports in order to protect national food supply after poor weather damaged crops, government officials said on Tuesday," Financial Times reports. The quota comes two weeks after Russia imposed a similar ban. The Times reports that the country will limit exports of wheat to 500,000 tons, which "would mark a sharp drop from the 9.3m tonnes of wheat and 6.2m tonnes of barley the country exported in 2009-10," but that "[w]heat prices were little moved by the news" (Olearchyk, 8/17).