Presidential support for global health critical in next administration

"It's not much of a surprise that Monday night's presidential debate, which focused on foreign policy, was consumed by a discussion of defense spending, and security and trade policies," but "it's still disappointing that both [President] Barack Obama and [Republican presidential nominee Gov.] Mitt Romney were relatively silent on issues like global health, research, and international aid," Global Health Technologies Coalition (GHTC) Communications Officer Kim Lufkin writes in the GHTC's "Breakthroughs" blog. She summarizes some "brief mentions during the debate season of the role of science and technology," including some media coverage of the lack of mention of global health. "With the election now less than two weeks away ... it seems increasingly unrealistic that either candidate will offer up much on global health, research, or other development topics soon," she writes, concluding, "But no matter what the outcome is in two weeks, the next president must demonstrate more support for global health and foreign aid than the candidates displayed during Monday night's debate" (10/24).