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'Science Speaks' interviews director of multilateral diplomacy at OGAC

In the second in a series of interviews with staff members of the Office of the U.S. Global AIDS Coordinator (OGAC), which is responsible for PEPFAR, the Center for Global Health Policy's "Science Speaks" blog speaks with Winnie Roberts, director of multilateral diplomacy at OGAC.

21 Sep 2011

Matrix receives FDA's tentative approval for novel co-packaged version of HIV/AIDS therapy

Mylan Inc. today announced that its subsidiary Matrix Laboratories Limited has received tentative approval from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) through the President's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR) for its New Drug Application (NDA) for Lamivudine / Tenofovir Disoproxil Fumarate Tablets, 300 mg/300 mg, co-packaged with Nevirapine Tablets, 200 mg.

21 Sep 2011

'ScienceSpeaks' interviews director of technical leadership at OGAC

The Center for Global Health Policy's "ScienceSpeaks" blog features an interview with Caroline Ryan, director of technical leadership at the Office of U.S. Global AIDS Coordinator (OGAC), where she has worked for seven years. Ryan discusses PEPFAR program implementation, circumcision as an HIV prevention tool and balancing efficiency with the realization of new, but potentially costly, prevention tools.

20 Sep 2011

GlobalPost examines GHI in Kenya

As part of its special report "Healing the World," GlobalPost examines how the Obama administration's Global Health Initiative (GHI) is affecting U.S. health-related work in Kenya.

20 Sep 2011

PEPFAR shows how working across 'political spectrum' can prove successful

"Thirty years since the first case of AIDS was diagnosed in the United States, the world finds itself at a tipping point in the fight against this deadly disease," U.S. Global AIDS Coordinator Ambassador Eric Goosby and George W. Bush Inaugural Global Health Fellow Ambassador Mark Dybul, who served as global AIDS coordinator from 2006 to 2009, write in a Huffington Post opinion piece.

16 Sep 2011

PEPFAR announces $45M, four-year initiative to study combination HIV prevention

PEPFAR on Wednesday "announced awards for a new initiative totaling $45 million over four years to examine the effectiveness of combination approaches to HIV prevention. These evaluations of combination prevention will be the largest and most robust to date. Data gathered will help partner countries to strengthen their efforts to prevent new infections and save lives," according to a State Department press release.

16 Sep 2011

U.S. HIV/AIDS policy and funding should be guided by science, policy statement recommends

The IDSA Center for Global Health Policy and the HIV Medicine Association recently released a policy statement responding to the results of the HPTN 052 study sponsored by the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) at NIH, which found that people with HIV who received immediate antiretroviral therapy (ART) were more than 96 percent less likely to sexually transmit the infection to their uninfected partners.

16 Sep 2011

George W. Bush Institute forms public-private partnership to combat cervical, breast cancers in developing world

The George W. Bush Institute is forming a public-private partnership to use PEPFAR's existing infrastructure of doctors, nurses and clinics to expand screening and treatment of women for cervical cancer and perform breast cancer education in the developing world, the Wall Street Journal reports.

13 Sep 2011

Transitioning lead responsibilities from U.S. to South Africa in the countries' partnership against HIV/AIDS

In this Center for Strategic & International Studies "Smart Global Health" blog post, J. Stephen Morrison, senior vice president of CSIS and director of the Global Health Policy Center at CSIS, outlines "five key steps that the U.S. can take, in close partnership with South Africa, to reduce risks and raise the prospects of success" as the countries undergo a transition in lead responsibilities from the U.S. to South Africa in their partnership against HIV/AIDS in South Africa, a transition that Morrison writes is "highly fraught with risks."

9 Sep 2011

Human Rights Watch report says foreign aid indirectly supporting forced labor in Vietnam's drug rehabilitation centers

In a report released Wednesday, New York-based Human Rights Watch "accused the United States government, the World Bank and other international donors of indirectly funding forced labor in Vietnam's drug rehabilitation centers," Inter Press Service reports.

9 Sep 2011

Continued funding from all countries needed to fight HIV/AIDS

"There is no doubt that" a 10 percent reduction in funding from donor governments for the AIDS response in low- and middle-income countries in 2010 from the previous year's levels "is linked to economic strain felt by countries across the globe," a VOA News editorial says.

7 Sep 2011

PEPFAR releases Guidance for the Prevention of Sexually Transmitted HIV Infections

"The Office of the U.S. Global AIDS Coordinator released the U.S President's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR) Guidance for the Prevention of Sexually Transmitted HIV Infections this week," a "50-plus page document intended to 'assist PEPFAR country teams in developing Country Operational Plans (COPs) that align activities to prevent sexual transmission of HIV with country-specific epidemiology and country-owned responses,' according to the introduction statement," the Center for Global Health Policy's "Science Speaks" blog writes.

3 Sep 2011

Showing PEPFAR effectiveness and value important in face of budget negotiations

With "looming budget cuts for FY2012 and recent reports about the decline in AIDS funding from the USG in FY2010 relative to FY2009 ... now, more than ever, PEPFAR needs to better demonstrate the effectiveness and value of its programs," Nandini Oomman, director of the HIV/AIDS Monitor at the Center for Global Development (CGD), writes in the CGD's "Global Health Policy" blog.

24 Aug 2011

PEPFAR releases 2012 Country Operational Plan Guidance

PEPFAR recently released its 2012 Country Operational Plan Guidance, "which highlights seven program priorities: increasing prevention of mother-to-child transmission coverage and effectiveness; improving and refining the country's approach to treatment; programming for prevention impact; TB/HIV integration; testing and counseling; training new health care providers; and capacity building," according to the Center for Global Health Policy's "Science Speaks" blog.

24 Aug 2011

Examining the use of the 'ABC safe sex' campaign in Botswana

In this World Policy Blog post, Julie Mellin, editorial assistant at the World Policy Journal, reflects on her experience as a Peace Corps volunteer in Botswana to examine the "ABC (Abstain, Be Faithful and Condomize) ... safe sex" campaign, "one of the campaigns most highly funded by the international community."

17 Aug 2011

Economic slowdown should not hamper global fund donations

With the new knowledge that providing antiretroviral treatment to people living with HIV would "contribut[e] to a sharp slowdown in the spread of the virus," "scaling up treatment now may prove to be the least expensive option if we want to bring this deadly pandemic, which still infects 1.8 million people every year, under control," Michel Kazatchkine, executive director of the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria writes in the Guardian's "Poverty Matters Blog."

6 Aug 2011

Kaiser Family Foundation updates Global Health Policy Tracker

The Kaiser Family Foundation's Global Health Policy Tracker has been updated to include a simpler, streamlined format to help users find and track the latest developments on U.S. global health policy issues, according to a press release.

5 Aug 2011

PEPFAR will continue to lead HIV/AIDS fight

With recent scientific advancements in HIV prevention "transforming the way we think about AIDS," PEPFAR's "task is to translate new science into policy to inform programs," Ambassador Eric Goosby, the U.S. global aids coordinator, writes in a post on the State Department's "DipNote" blog.

2 Aug 2011

Efforts to fight HIV/AIDS, NTDs should be integrated

"The neglected tropical diseases (NTDs) produce a devastating level of chronic disability in sub-Saharan Africa, with some estimates suggesting that the NTD disease burden exceeds tuberculosis and is one-half that of malaria," Julie Noblick and Richard Skolnick of George Washington University and Peter Hotez of the Sabin Vaccine Institute write in a PLoS Neglected Tropical Diseases editorial.

28 Jul 2011

U.S. will strengthen health work in Haiti

In a post on the AIDS.gov blog, Ambassador Eric Goosby, U.S. global AIDS coordinator, writes about a recent visit to Haiti and gives an update on U.S. work with Haiti.

16 Jul 2011