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McClatchy series examines Africa's population

"Although it's frequently portrayed as a continent decimated by epidemics, starvation and war, Africa is gripped by one of the greatest population explosions ever recorded.

14 Dec 2009

GAA calls on Obama to fund for PEPFAR

International Human Rights Day -- At his Nobel Peace Prize acceptance speech in Oslo, Norway, this morning, President Barack Obama emphasized the importance of health and access to medicines for all people as a prerequisite to security. The President said:

11 Dec 2009

Washington Post, New York Times examine PEPFAR

The Washington Post examines the Obama administration's goal "to get the 'emergency' out of the President's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief" and integrate HIV/AIDS programs more into the health infrastructure of recipient countries. A five-year strategy for PEPFAR was released last week.

9 Dec 2009

Opinions: ARV access; global health promotion; climate change; under-nutrition; Ethiopia

In an Intellectual Property Watch column, Daniele Dionisio, of the Italian Network for International Fight against AIDS, examines how trade rules and policy directions by governments and institutions may help to improve countries' access to antiretrovirals.

8 Dec 2009

Recent releases in Global Health

Ahead of the U.N. Climate Change conference in Copenhagen next week, a Lancet comment examines the health consequences associated with climate change and the case for linking climate and health goals. "The issue now is not whether climate change is occurring, but how we can respond most effectively. ... Responding to climate change is not a distraction from the business of protecting health: it is part of the same agenda," the author writes (Chan, 12/5).

4 Dec 2009

Also in global health news: U.S. aid to Philippines, Swaziland, Guyana; Uganda Bills; Botswana HIV/AIDS

U.S. Ambassador to the Philippines Kristie Kenney said the U.S. will give the country an additional $10 million worth of food aid for people affect by the recent typhoons, the Manila Bulletin reports. This brings "the total amount of its disaster relief and recovery assistance to US$30 million" (Sabater, 12/3).

3 Dec 2009

U.S. unveils 5-year PEPFAR strategy

U.S. Global AIDS Coordinator Eric Goosby on Tuesday "unveiled a five-year strategy for fighting AIDS worldwide, shifting the focus from emergency response to sustainable programs in countries worldwide," Agence France-Presse reports.

3 Dec 2009

World AIDS Day: IAC to be held in D.C.; examination of Obama's HIV/AIDS efforts; UNICEF report

During a briefing on the eve of World AIDS Day Monday, Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton said that the International AIDS Society (IAS) has chosen Washington, D.C., to host the 2012 International AIDS Conference (IAC) now that the "decades-old ban on HIV-positive visitors" to the U.S. has been lifted, Agence France-Presse reports (11/30).

2 Dec 2009

Op-eds on World AIDS Day: Research, funding, hunger, Uganda

The "National Institutes of Health - perhaps our best hope for funding a cure for AIDS - has been underfunded since 2003," Kate Krauss, director of the AIDS Policy Project, writes in a Philadelphia Inquirer opinion piece.

1 Dec 2009

Global community once again recognizes World AIDS Day

On December 1, the global community once again recognizes World AIDS Day and the 33 million people living with HIV/AIDS worldwide. This is also a time to renew our commitment to work together to fight against this epidemic and pay homage to the millions of people who have lost their lives because of it.

1 Dec 2009

GAA urges Obama to reflect on AIDS epidemic

On World AIDS Day 2009 the Global AIDS Alliance (GAA) calls on President Obama and his advisors to reflect on two recent alarming reports from the World Health Organization (WHO) showing that the AIDS pandemic continues to be of catastrophic proportion, affecting shockingly high numbers of people around the globe.

1 Dec 2009

News outlets examine global response to HIV/AIDS ahead of World AIDS Day

The Associated Press explores how PEPFAR funds are being used to help connect patients living with the disease to treatment, provide support for families and educate the public about the disease in Vietnam.

1 Dec 2009

Despite gains, HIV/AIDS remains public-health priority, UNAIDS, WHO say

"The U.N. report said 'AIDS continues to be a major public-health priority' and called for more funds to support efforts to curb the epidemic and to distribute lifesaving drugs," the Wall Street Journal reports.

25 Nov 2009

Opinion: China forced abortions; U.S. work in Africa; foreign aid; Uganda legislation

"One of the few incontrovertible assertions one can reasonably make is that no one supports forced abortion," syndicated columnist Kathleen Parker writes in a Detroit News opinion piece that examines reports of "coerced abortions" and involuntary sterilizations in China.

23 Nov 2009

Goosby says PEPFAR remains among 'highest priorities' of Obama administration, welcomes partnership with South African president Zuma

Eric Goosby, head of PEPFAR, on Wednesday reemphasized the U.S. commitment to fighting HIV/AIDS globally, the Associated Press reports. Despite concerns by international aid groups that the current economic climate might force HIV/AIDS funding to be scaled back, "Goosby said President Barack Obama and Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton have assured him his program remains among 'the highest priorities,'" the news service writes.

19 Nov 2009

Kenya to launch MSM survey to help control spread of HIV

TIME examines the Kenyan government's upcoming survey of gay men and other men who have sex with men (MSM) in the country's "three biggest cities" in an effort to fight the spread of HIV/AIDS.

10 Nov 2009

Publications examine U.S. funding for global HIV/AIDS

In light of a Medecins Sans Frontieres (MSF) report calling for sustained HIV/AIDS funding, VOA News writes: "Many AIDS-related groups and activists have been calling on U.S. President Barack Obama to fulfill his funding pledges made during the presidential campaign. But are they asking too much, considering the economic downturn?" Sharonann Lynch, an HIV policy advisor for MSF, said, "PEPFAR has the opportunity to save six million lives and it shouldn't settle for three."

6 Nov 2009

PEPFAR expands efforts to improve health services worldwide through use of mobile devices

Fierce Mobile reports on the recent announcement that PEPFAR is teaming up with the United Nations Foundation, Rockefeller Foundation and Vodafone Foundation to be a founding member of the mHealth Alliance, "a group seeking to bring health services to the most remote corners of the globe using mobile networks and technologies." U.S. Global AIDS Coordinator Eric Goosby announced the partnership during a keynote address last week at the inaugural mHealth Summit in Washington, D.C., according to the news service (Versel, 11/3).

4 Nov 2009

Also in Global Health News: Undernutrition in Afghanistan; Namibia's HIV clinics, outreach programs

A Lancet World Report examines the deadly toll undernutrition is having on the people of Afghanistan, where the "issues of poverty and undernutrition have received curiously little attention: about a third of the population, more than 7 million people, are food insecure, according the U.N. World Food Programme (WFP).

2 Nov 2009

AHF praises Obama for lifting travel ban on HIV-infected people

AIDS Healthcare Foundation (AHF) today lauded President Barack Obama for lifting a 22 year-old ban prohibiting HIV-positive foreigners from traveling to the US. The US was one of only twelve countries with such a travel ban. Obama announced repeal of the ban after signing the legislation renewing the Ryan White CARE Act, the federal law that authorizes the primary source of funding for AIDS care and services nationwide.

31 Oct 2009