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U.S. lawmakers introduce resolution condemning Uganda's anti-gay bill

U.S. lawmakers on Wednesday introduced a congressional resolution condemning an anti-gay bill before Uganda's parliament, "calling it an attack on human rights and an obstacle to battling HIV/AIDS," Agence France-Presse reports.

5 Feb 2010

New African Union chair's focus to include food security; First Ladies discuss HIV/AIDS

The African Union (AU) Summit concluded in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, on Tuesday with newly elected AU chairman Bingu Wa Mutharika, of Malawi, encouraging African leaders to make agriculture and food security a top priority, Angola Press reports (2/2).

4 Feb 2010

Obama's FY 2011 budget gives global health funding boost

President Barack Obama's FY 2011 budget request for global health totals $9.6 billion and includes funding for global health activities within the State Department, USAID and HHS, the Wall Street Journal reports

3 Feb 2010

HHS appoints new members to Presidential Advisory Council on HIV/AIDS

Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius announced today the appointment of 24 new members to the Presidential Advisory Council on HIV/AIDS (PACHA). The PACHA’s chair, Dr. Helene Gayle, was appointed in August 2009.

2 Feb 2010

Global AIDS Alliance calls for Congress to fully fund the Global Health Initiative

President Obama's budget, transmitted to Congress this morning, includes $8.5 billion for a Global Health Initiative. Based on projections to continue supporting robust U.S. programs to fight AIDS, TB and malaria and implement GHI priorities -- $16.4 billion is required in FY2011.

2 Feb 2010

More details on Obama's global health strategy expected along with budget release, Wall Street Journal reports

"The Obama administration is expected to propose in its fiscal 2011 budget Monday new funding to combat preventable and tropical diseases, malnutrition and other conditions afflicting the world's poor, as part of a strategy to broaden its approach to global health," the Wall Street Journal reports.

2 Feb 2010

Recent releases in Global Health

Rajiv Shah's appointment as USAID administrator "comes at a crucial time of challenge and opportunity for the Agency to improve the nutritional well-being of impoverished societies," write the authors of a Lancet Comment that examines the U.S. Global Hunger and Food Security Initiative. Though the initiative "sends a clear message to the world about U.S. intent to partner with poor nations to achieve their national food and nutrition goals … the Initiative's nutrition plan, unlike its detailed agricultural blueprint, currently lacks a comprehensive set of aims, activities, research needs, and programme benchmarks," the authors write.

29 Jan 2010

Report highlights challenges facing Obama in Africa

A new report highlights challenges facing the Obama administration in Africa, including HIV/AIDS, poverty and climate change, VOA News reports.

27 Jan 2010

Recent releases in global health

"Picture the situation in Haiti: families living on top of sewage-contaminated rubbish dumps, with no reliable sources of food and water and virtually no access to health care. This scenario depicts the situation in Haiti before the earthquake that catapulted this impoverished and conflict-ridden country into the international headlines,"

23 Jan 2010

PEPFAR's second five-year phase will strengthen healthcare systems

BD (Becton, Dickinson and Company) (NYSE: BDX), a leading global medical technology company, has praised the recent announcement that the U.S. President's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR) will increase its emphasis over the next five years on strengthening health systems in developing countries.

From BD (Becton, Dickinson and Company) 9 Jan 2010

Opinions: Uganda anti-gay bill; Clinton's foreign policy speech; PEPFAR

A Washington Post editorial calles anti-gay legislation currently under consideration in Uganda "an atrocity." The authors of the editorial write that under the legislation, "anyone convicted of 'aggravated homosexuality,' which could mean someone who is HIV-positive and is intimate with another person of the same sex, could 'suffer death.'"

7 Jan 2010

America Abroad Media examines global response to HIV/AIDS epidemic

America Abroad Media examines the HIV/AIDS policies of some countries and NGOs as well as efforts to prevent the spread of HIV.

7 Jan 2010

Goosby outlines PEPFAR's strategy to strengthen health systems in Reuters interview

U.S. Global AIDS Coordinator Eric Goosby on Tuesday in an interview with Reuters discussed how as part of its new strategy PEPFAR will aim to "to transform healthcare in some of the world's poorest countries," the news agency writes.

7 Jan 2010

NPR examines future of U.S. global AIDS strategy

NPR's "All Things Considered" examines the Obama administration's global HIV/AIDS policy. "Instead of relying on one program, such as the President's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief or PEPFAR, [U.S. Global AIDS Coordinator Eric] Goosby says the U.S. has a new five-year strategy that would help low and middle income countries build their own health care systems that incorporate international health programs," according to NPR.

5 Jan 2010

American Medical News examines PEPFAR five-year strategy

American Medical News examines the future of PEPFAR, as outlined in a five-year strategy released Dec. 1. "The plan's five-year strategy report calls for strengthening other countries' abilities to lead [a] response to the AIDS epidemic and other health issues, and expanding prevention, care and treatment,"

27 Dec 2009

Matrix Laboratories receives FDA tentative approval for Efavirenz NDA under PEPFAR

Mylan Inc. today announced that its 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 Tablets, 50 mg, 100 mg and 200 mg. These innovative pediatric dosages in tablet form were developed by Matrix for use in treating pediatric HIV/AIDS.

22 Dec 2009

Recent releases in Global Health

A Scientific American article examines recent efforts to tackle neglected tropical diseases (NTDs). The author writes "NTDs have plagued humankind for thousands of years. … What is new, however, is that donors, drugmakers, health ministries in low- and middle-income countries, the World Health Organization (WHO), and public-private partnerships are linking their efforts to combat the NTDs in a more coordinated and systematic way."

18 Dec 2009

PEPFAR decisions to be grounded in scientific evidence, Goosby says

U.S. Global AIDS Coordinator Eric Goosby "said future programmes to prevent HIV infection would be those supported by the best scientific evidence," reports the Financial Times. Goosby told the Financial Times in an interview: "I will always wrap myself in the science as the justification of decision-making. I will not factor in an ideological rationale."

17 Dec 2009

Opinions: HIV prevention; PEPFAR; H1N1 vaccine donation; developing country R&D; climate change

"For nearly 30 years scientists have been trying to break the back of the AIDS epidemic," but the recent microbicide gel study and an AIDS vaccine trial in Thailand "show just how difficult and how distant that goal is," according to a Washington Post editorial. "While scientists continue searching for a vaccine or a cure, prevention remains paramount," the Washington Post concludes (12/16).

16 Dec 2009

Opinions: Future of PEPFAR; family planning

A Washington Post editorial examines the future of PEPFAR under the Obama administration, as outlined in a five-year strategy released earlier this month. Though "[m]any organizations, including Doctors Without Borders, continue to worry that Mr. Obama is 'flat-lining' funding for the vital program," this "ignores Mr. Obama's move to make PEPFAR the center of a larger $63 billion global health initiative to develop more comprehensive and integrated approaches to care," the editorial writes.

15 Dec 2009