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Interim Haiti Recovery Commission approves 29 rehabilitation projects for Haiti worth $1.6B

The Interim Haiti Recovery Commission (IHRC), led by Haitian Prime Minister Jean-Max Bellerive and former President Bill Clinton, recently announced more than $1.6 billion in projects to rebuild Haiti, "including a $200 million plan to create 50,000 new jobs in agriculture," Reuters reports.

21 Aug 2010

Recent releases in Global Health

In view of World Humanitarian Day, a Huffington Post blog discusses the "lessons" of disaster response and the global "proliferation of humanitarian crises." First, the authors write that "the number of people affected by disasters is on the rise," mostly due to conflict and natural disasters. "Second, and in spite of these trends, U.S. humanitarian assistance is a sound investment. Though only about one-tenth of one percent of the federal budget, our aid not only saves lives, but promotes security and well-being where despair and misery threaten."

21 Aug 2010

Wis. pushes to expand Medicaid funding for contraceptives, Minnesota encourages 'medical homes,' Md. settles nursing home payment case

"Wisconsin is pushing to expand a controversial program that uses federal Medicaid funds to provide free birth-control pills, vasectomies and other forms of contraception to low-income people, an effort made possible by the federal health-care overhaul. It and 26 other states already provide free contraception and other reproductive-health services through a Medicaid pilot project to lower-earning women who otherwise wouldn't qualify."

19 Aug 2010

FACES receives grant to expand care for HIV/AIDS people in Kenya

A joint project of UCSF and the Kenya Medical Research Institute has received $7 million-the first award of a five year grant that will total about $35 million to expand its care and support of people affected by HIV/AIDS in Kenya.The project is named Family AIDS Care and Education Services, known as FACES, and it provides a comprehensive program of HIV treatment, care, prevention and support. The grant is awarded by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention from funding provided through the President's Emergency Plan for HIV and AIDS Relief.

18 Aug 2010

FDA approves ellaOne for emergency contraception

HRA Pharma announced today that the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) granted approval for ella(R) (ulipristal acetate) as a prescription-only emergency contraceptive indicated for use within 120 hours (five days) of unprotected intercourse or a known or suspected contraceptive failure. ella is not intended for routine use as a contraceptive.

16 Aug 2010

Mass. docs will soon track patients who abuse prescription drugs; Wis. Catholic Church employees now eligible for birth control

The Boston Globe: "With a few computer keystrokes, Massachusetts physicians will soon be able to identify patients who travel from clinic to clinic in pursuit of potent prescription drugs that feed lethal addictions. State health regulators yesterday unanimously approved the new detection system designed to stop 'doctor shopping' by addicted patients who try to dupe doctors into prescribing narcotics. The practice, specialists said, has fueled a surge in drug-related deaths in Massachusetts" (Smith, 8/12).

13 Aug 2010

Oral sex becomes common activity among young women: Study

University of Alberta researcher Brea Malacad says results from a study on oral sex indicate there is little doubt that oral sex is becoming a more common activity for young women. Study results show the act has become a fundamental part of what Malacad calls the "sexual revolution of the 21st century". And she concludes that researchers, sex educators and marketers of safer-sex paraphernalia need to catch up with the trend.

12 Aug 2010

Lancet World Report examines how U.N. Women agency will work to address global health issues

A Lancet World Report article examines how many are looking to the new U.N. agency tasked with advancing women's equality and rights to help improve the health of women in developing countries.

10 Aug 2010

Bloomberg Businessweek explores growing trend in pharma to license, donate HIV drugs

"Pharmaceutical companies, once blasted as uncaring or downright greedy for charging thousands of dollars for a year's worth of AIDS medicines … in poor countries, lately have been slashing prices and licensing their drugs for free or nominal cost to nonprofits or local manufacturers in the developing world," Bloomberg BusinessWeek writes in an analysis piece that examines how this trend, combined with a growing capability among aid agencies to distribute drugs, has the potential to increase access to HIV/AIDS drugs worldwide.

7 Aug 2010

MOM Project increases access to maternal health care services for internally displaced woman

A community-based maternal health delivery strategy known as the MOM Project dramatically increased access to maternal health care services for internally displaced woman in eastern Burma, according to a study led by researchers at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health. Among the findings, the study showed a ten-fold increase in the proportion of women assisted at delivery by workers skilled in providing emergency obstetric care, including preventing and treating hemorrhage, injectable antibiotics and anticonvulsants, and community-based blood transfusion.

4 Aug 2010

Sen. Appropriations Committee approves $54.1B FY2011 foreign ops spending bill, including $8.2B for global health programs

The Senate Appropriations Committee on Thursday approved a $54.1 billion FY 2011 spending bill for the State Department and related agencies "that includes potentially controversial abortion language," CQ reports.

31 Jul 2010

Recent releases in Global Health

A Center for Global Development memo offers suggestions for the U.S. to improve its commitment to policies that benefit poor countries after it ranked 17th out of 22 wealthy in the 2009 Commitment to Development Index. Among a set of 20 recommendations, the authors suggest the U.S. "[i]ncrease foreign aid, especially through such vehicles as the Millennium Challenge Corporation (MCC), which gives to relatively well-governed countries, or a global 'Cash on Delivery' fund that would pay countries after making confirmed progress toward agreed-upon outcomes, thereby reducing the proliferation of aid projects," the authors write(Prieto/Roodman).

31 Jul 2010

Life-saving interventions can save 11 million African women, children over next five years: Countdown report

In the next five years, 11 million African women and children could be saved by creating near-universal availability of key life-saving interventions, according to The Partnership for Maternal, Newborn & Child Health and the Countdown to 2015 Decade Report (2000-2010).

27 Jul 2010

New guidelines for care of heart transplant recipients from ISHLT

Since the dawn of heart transplantation in the 1960s, medical care of heart transplant recipients has varied from center to center and been guided by the experience of individual clinicians. The International Society for Heart and Lung Transplantation (ISHLT) has made an unprecedented commitment by convening experts in all areas of heart transplantation to develop practice guidelines for the care of heart transplant recipients.

26 Jul 2010

Organizations highlight plight of HIV-positive Haitians, call for donors to support 'whole of society' health system strengthening

Organizations attending the International AIDS Conference-AIDS 2010 highlighted the plight of HIV-positive earthquake survivors in Haiti who are "still waiting for aid promised to them before" the quake as rebuilding efforts slowly move along, Agence France-Presse reports.

23 Jul 2010

Waiting times for abortions in New Zealand need to be reduced

Women in New Zealand wait an average of 25 days to get a termination of pregnancy, from the date of their first visit to the doctor. Researchers writing in BioMed Central's open access journal Reproductive Health studied the timeliness of services provided at nine New Zealand clinics, finding that efforts need to be made by clinics and referring doctors to reduce the waiting times.

23 Jul 2010

AU Pre-Summit on Gender concludes

The African Union (AU) Pre-Summit on Gender concludes Wednesday after three days of discussion about how African countries could improve progress towards the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) targeting women and children's health, the Independent reports.

22 Jul 2010

AIDS 2010 studies, releases: PMTCT, treating children, male circumcision; National prevention programs; IDUs

"In parts of Africa, only about half of babies born to mothers with HIV receive the HIV prevention drug nevirapine," according to a study published Wednesday, HealthDay News/U.S. News & World Report reports.

22 Jul 2010

Also in Global Health News: India's food security; ASEAN to address disaster preparedness; Iraqi food aid; Why fistula plagues Kenya

A Reuters article discusses the implications of an Indian bill that would "subsidise grains for the poor, a move that will impact government finances as well as political support." According to the news service, the proposal "aims to partly shield a substantial voter base from surging inflation in a country where about 40 percent of the 1.2 billion population lives below the U.N. estimated poverty line."

22 Jul 2010

WHO, UNAIDS and PSI call for scale up of male circumcision in Eastern, Southern Africa

The U.S. Global AIDS Coordinator Ambassador Eric Goosby and the World Health Organization's Director of HIV, TB, and Malaria, Africa Regional Office, Dr. David Okello, joined PSI (Population Services International) today in calling for greater efforts to rapidly and efficiently scale up male circumcision service delivery in Eastern and Southern Africa.

21 Jul 2010

Reproductive Health News and Research

Interim Haiti Recovery Commission approves 29 rehabilitation projects for Haiti worth $1.6B

Recent releases in Global Health

Wis. pushes to expand Medicaid funding for contraceptives, Minnesota encourages 'medical homes,' Md. settles nursing home payment case

FACES receives grant to expand care for HIV/AIDS people in Kenya

FDA approves ellaOne for emergency contraception

Mass. docs will soon track patients who abuse prescription drugs; Wis. Catholic Church employees now eligible for birth control

Oral sex becomes common activity among young women: Study

Lancet World Report examines how U.N. Women agency will work to address global health issues

Bloomberg Businessweek explores growing trend in pharma to license, donate HIV drugs

MOM Project increases access to maternal health care services for internally displaced woman

Sen. Appropriations Committee approves $54.1B FY2011 foreign ops spending bill, including $8.2B for global health programs

Recent releases in Global Health

Life-saving interventions can save 11 million African women, children over next five years: Countdown report

New guidelines for care of heart transplant recipients from ISHLT

Organizations highlight plight of HIV-positive Haitians, call for donors to support 'whole of society' health system strengthening

Waiting times for abortions in New Zealand need to be reduced

AU Pre-Summit on Gender concludes

AIDS 2010 studies, releases: PMTCT, treating children, male circumcision; National prevention programs; IDUs

Also in Global Health News: India's food security; ASEAN to address disaster preparedness; Iraqi food aid; Why fistula plagues Kenya

WHO, UNAIDS and PSI call for scale up of male circumcision in Eastern, Southern Africa

Achieving and maintaining ISO 27001 and BS 10012 certifications

Expanding research and clinical options for children with cancer

Examining how pain could play a direct protective role in the gut

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