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Examining malaria data methodologies

In this post in the Center for Global Development's (CGD) "Global Health Policy" blog, Victoria Fan, a research fellow at the Center for Global Development (CGD), and Felix Lam, a malaria research analyst, examine the discrepancies between the WHO's estimated number of malaria deaths worldwide and the data recently released by the Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation.

13 Feb 2012

Censorship of public health websites by Russian drug agency an 'assault' on HIV prevention

"Amidst pro-democracy protests, the Russian authorities have taken what is an ongoing assault on HIV prevention to the next level by moving to silence public health advocates whose only infraction has been to spread lifesaving information online and to criticize the government for its own failures," Eka Iakobishvili, a human rights analyst at Harm Reduction International, and Claudia Stoicescu, an analyst on Harm Reduction International's public health research team, write in this Huffington Post opinion piece.

13 Feb 2012

BIO President issues statement on FDA guidance for biosimilars

Biotechnology Industry Organization (BIO) President and CEO Jim Greenwood issued the following statement regarding the newly released U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) guidance for the review and approval of biosimilars.

13 Feb 2012

Recognizing Global Fund's integration of reproductive health into focus on AIDS, TB, malaria

Noting the successes of the first 10 years of the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria, as well as the funding challenges it faces moving forward, Elisha Dunn-Georgiou, vice president of advocacy at Population Action International, writes in an opinion piece in GlobalPost's "Global Pulse" blog that the Fund "has always upheld the idea that their work contributes to achievement of all of the health-related Millennium Development Goals (MDGs)" and "always accepted and considered proposals that include reproductive, maternal, and child health interventions, when countries could demonstrate that they would have an impact on AIDS, tuberculosis, and malaria."

13 Feb 2012

WHO convening meeting in one week to explore opinions surrounding H5N1 bird flu research

NPR's health blog "Shots" previews an upcoming WHO-convened meeting to discuss the recent news that two research teams have created H5N1 bird flu strains that are easily transmissible among ferrets, which are used as lab models for humans.

13 Feb 2012

Benin's government fighting malaria with free treatment, cadre of community health workers

The Guardian's "Poverty Matters Blog" examines how the government of Benin "is making headway in attempts to reduce deaths from malaria" by cracking down on counterfeit treatments, offering malaria treatment free-of-charge in public clinics and hospitals, and creating "an army of ordinary citizens in the battle against preventable diseases like malaria."

13 Feb 2012

Grand Challenges Canada, Gates Foundation announce grants for innovative Global Health projects

"Grand Challenges Canada on Thursday announced 15 grants valued in total at more than $1.5 million awarded to some of Canada's most creative innovators from across the country in support of their work to improve global health conditions," according to a press release from the Sandra Rotman Centre for Global Health, which hosts Grand Challenges.

13 Feb 2012

Proposed intellectual property agreement between E.U., India could affect generic drug exports, advocacy groups say

The Independent examines how "the cheap supply of antiretroviral drugs to people with AIDS across the world could be choked by an 'intellectual property' deal ... being negotiated on Friday at the 12th E.U.-India summit in New Delhi between the President of the European Commission, José Manuel Barroso, and the Indian Prime Minister Dr. Manmohan Singh."

13 Feb 2012

Donor fatigue, funding cutbacks could mean another 50 years of AIDS epidemic, UNAIDS deputy executive director says

"With enough money spent in the right way, the world could soon reduce new HIV infections to zero, but global apathy and the financial crisis mean it might take another 50 years to stop the AIDS epidemic, a U.N. expert has said," AlertNet reports.

13 Feb 2012

Study reveals how SAMHD1 works to protect dendritic cells from HIV virus

A novel discovery by researchers at NYU Langone Medical Center and colleagues reveals a mechanism by which the immune system tries to halt the spread of HIV. Harnessing this mechanism may open up new paths for therapeutic research aimed at slowing the virus' progression to AIDS. The study appears online ahead of print today in Nature Immunology.

12 Feb 2012

Study investigates how cytokine IFN-λ release is regulated

In new research appearing in this month's issue of the journal Nature Immunology, Roy Curtiss, director of the Center for Infectious Diseases and Vaccinology at the Biodesign Institute at Arizona State University, along with international collaborators, investigates the coordination of a particular type of immune response, involving the release of of IFN-λ- a cell-signaling protein molecule known as a cytokine.

10 Feb 2012

Scientists discover ferocity of immune system after viral infection

A scientific team led by researchers at the University of Geneva (UNIGE) and the Charité Berlin Medical University has made a completely unprecedented discovery showing how much our immune system is provoked into action when confronted by viral intruders.

10 Feb 2012

Researchers call for collective effort to halt increases in drug-resistant gonorrhea

Researchers are continuing to sound the alarm on the growing threat of multi-drug resistant gonorrhea in the United States, according to a Perspective commentary in the Feb. 9 issue of the New England Journal of Medicine.

10 Feb 2012

Water and sanitation sector must speak up to be included in NTD eradication efforts

Applauding the signing of the so-called "London Declaration on NTDs" by a consortium of public and private partners last week, Ned Breslin, CEO of Water For People, writes in this Huffington Post "Impact" opinion piece, "I am saddened by the emphasis on vaccines and medicines as the seemingly only vehicles to eradicate NTDs by London Declaration signatories. And I wonder where water, sanitation and hygiene are in this mix, as by all accounts it is not anywhere to be seen in the NTD eradication initiative."

10 Feb 2012

Malawi faces cholera outbreak after floods lead to declining sanitary conditions

Inter Press Service reports on a cholera outbreak in Malawi's Nsanje and Chikhwawa districts, located on the southern border with Mozambique, noting that government officials have attributed the outbreak to declining sanitation conditions as a result of flooding in late January.

10 Feb 2012

UofL to receive Grand Challenges tuberculosis biomarkers grant

The University of Louisville announced today that it will receive a tuberculosis (TB) biomarkers grant through the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation's Grand Challenges in Global Health program, an initiative which seeks to overcome persistent bottlenecks in creating new tools that can radically improve health in the developing world. James E. Graham, Ph.D., associate professor of microbiology and immunology at the UofL School of Medicine, will pursue an innovative research project to identify and validate TB biomarkers, titled "Disposable Sampling Plate and Breath Test to Identify Patients with Active Tuberculosis."

10 Feb 2012

Administration officials announce new initiatives to promote innovations in global development

In a White House briefing on Wednesday, "senior Administration officials announced a series of new initiatives to promote game-changing innovations to solve long-standing development challenges" in response to President Obama's "call to harness science technology, and innovation to spark global development," Gayle Smith, special assistant to the president, and Tom Kalil, senior adviser for science, technology, and innovation, write in this post in the White House Blog.

10 Feb 2012

Forsyth Institute to receive TB biomarkers grant from Gates Foundation

The Forsyth Institute announced today that it will receive a tuberculosis (TB) biomarkers grant through the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation's Grand Challenges in Global Health program, an initiative which seeks to overcome persistent bottlenecks in creating new tools that can radically improve health in the developing world.

10 Feb 2012

Health status of indigenous populations across Asia unknown, putting them at risk, experts say

"The health of millions of indigenous people across Asia is at risk, experts say, as lack of recognition of their legal status hinders data collection, making their medical problems invisible in most national health surveys," IRIN reports.

10 Feb 2012

Study investigates concept of 'additionality' in domestic health spending amid foreign donations

In this study published in Health Affairs this month, researchers investigated the concept known as "additionality," where donor nations and philanthropic organizations "require that funds provided for a specific health priority such as HIV should supplement domestic spending on that priority."

10 Feb 2012

Disease/Infection News

Examining malaria data methodologies

Censorship of public health websites by Russian drug agency an 'assault' on HIV prevention

BIO President issues statement on FDA guidance for biosimilars

Recognizing Global Fund's integration of reproductive health into focus on AIDS, TB, malaria

WHO convening meeting in one week to explore opinions surrounding H5N1 bird flu research

Benin's government fighting malaria with free treatment, cadre of community health workers

Grand Challenges Canada, Gates Foundation announce grants for innovative Global Health projects

Proposed intellectual property agreement between E.U., India could affect generic drug exports, advocacy groups say

Donor fatigue, funding cutbacks could mean another 50 years of AIDS epidemic, UNAIDS deputy executive director says

Study reveals how SAMHD1 works to protect dendritic cells from HIV virus

Study investigates how cytokine IFN-λ release is regulated

Scientists discover ferocity of immune system after viral infection

Researchers call for collective effort to halt increases in drug-resistant gonorrhea

Water and sanitation sector must speak up to be included in NTD eradication efforts

Malawi faces cholera outbreak after floods lead to declining sanitary conditions

UofL to receive Grand Challenges tuberculosis biomarkers grant

Administration officials announce new initiatives to promote innovations in global development

Forsyth Institute to receive TB biomarkers grant from Gates Foundation

Health status of indigenous populations across Asia unknown, putting them at risk, experts say

Study investigates concept of 'additionality' in domestic health spending amid foreign donations

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