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Independent research & practical ideas for global prosperity
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Independent research & practical ideas for global prosperity
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Global Health Policy
Maternal Mortality: We Already Know What Works…Or Do We?September 9, 2010By Nandini Oomman
This is a joint post with April Harding. In a recent pitch for the $63 billion Global Health Initiative (see my post on the event), U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton responded to a question about measuring progress in women’s health. “We are focusing on maternal mortality because that is so measurable. We know where we have a better idea of what works and what it will take to have more women deliver babies successfully. There’s all kinds of interventions from the very simplest, like a safe birthing kit, which is a piece of twine and a clean razor blade and a bar of soap and a piece of plastic to put under the women, all the way up to tertiary care for complicated pregnancies…” Is this true? What do we (the global health community) know? What more do we have to learn? Read More… 1 Comment »Secretary Clinton on the Global Health Initiative: More on the WHAT and the WHO, but Not the HOWAugust 17, 2010By Nandini Oomman
Secretary Hilary R. Clinton spoke yesterday at SAIS on the objectives of the Global Health Initiative (GHI). The webcast of the event provided a forum for an interesting and interested set of tweeters (I participated) to point out what we heard and did not hear during the talk. My overall impression, echoed by several others (see here and here for two round ups of the discussion) was that while it was encouraging to hear Secretary Clinton reiterate the administration’s commitment to global health and its vision to transform the way in which global health is designed, delivered and managed, we did NOT hear anything new about the GHI: for example, no specifics on HOW the U.S. will “do” the GHI and apply all its commendable principles, metrics for success, and global leadership? Read More… 2 Comments »A Refreshingly Open Debate on the Value of Universal Access to AIDS Treatment for U.S. Foreign PolicyAugust 9, 2010By Mead Over
The Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) hosted a debate last Friday with the provocative title “Resolved: That the US commitment to universal HIV/AIDS treatment is unsustainable and decreases US leverage in the nations’ foreign policy.” (Note: This resolution which you will hear debated is edgier and has more foreign policy content than the one you will see when you click on the above link.) Moderated by Susan Dentzer, the Editor-in-Chief of Health Affairs, the debate featured Ambassador Princeton Lyman, of the Council on Foreign Relations, for the affirmative position and Todd Summers, formerly of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and now at ONE, for the negative. Stephen Morrison, Director of CSIS’ Global Health Policy Center, hosted the event and added comments to the discussion. Read More… 3 Comments »Right Hearing, Wrong Message on Neglected Pediatric DiseasesJuly 29, 2010By Tom Bollyky
Last week, the U.S. Senate Health, Education, Labor, & Pensions (HELP) Committee held a hearing that had all the elements of an important event for global health. It was the right topic – the lack of effective treatments for rare and neglected pediatric diseases. It was the right venue – particularly in an environment of tightening global health budgets and spiraling R&D costs, Congress can be a potential source of breakthrough ideas and essential resources. It was the right audience – the hearing was well-attended by senators from both sides of the aisle, senior officials from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and National Institutes of Health, and biopharmaceutical industry representatives. This combination of subject matter, venue, and audience is all too rare; HELP committee members and staffers deserve congratulations for putting it together. Unfortunately, the hearing conveyed the wrong message on neglected diseases in two important respects. Read More… 2 Comments »Microbicide Study: Important for Science and Global Development Partnerships (Postcard from Vienna)July 26, 2010By Nandini Oomman
The biggest news from the 2010 AIDS Conference was no doubt the encouraging results from the Centre for the AIDS Programme of Research in South Africa’s (CAPRISA) trial of a female microbicide gel to block the transmission of HIV. As my colleague Mead Over describes, this possible prevention technology offers us new hope after a series of failed microbicide trials, but further testing is needed to determine how and how often women can use the new gels. The other big takeaway for me is the ideal partnership between South African researchers and donors—including USAID—that helped create a potentially game-changing product to prevent the spread of HIV/AIDS. Read More… Comment »Does the Global Fund Reach the Most Marginalized and At-Risk Populations? (Postcard from Vienna)July 22, 2010By Christina Droggitis
Under the banner “Rights Here, Right Now,” the International AIDS Conference currently taking place in Vienna is committed to translating funding for human rights-based programming for HIV to address the stigma and discrimination that often impede an effective response. On Wednesday, Global Fund executive director Michel Kazatchkine and others participated in a session titled “The Global Fund: Proving Impact, Promoting Rights.” The majority of their discussion focused on how the Global Fund can better address the most vulnerable and marginalized populations—those living with and most at-risk of acquiring HIV/AIDS—rather than the successes of the Global Fund. Read More… 4 Comments »Incentives Offer New Hope for Preventing HIV Infections (Postcard from Vienna)July 21, 2010By Mead Over
Just as the 2000 AIDS conference in Durban, South Africa was a watershed for AIDS treatment, the AIDS conference taking place now in Vienna is a watershed for HIV prevention. For the first time since our naïve optimism of the 1990s, we have some of the tools to effectively reduce the annual incidence rate of HIV (i.e. the number of new infections per 100 uninfected adults) through the application of government policy. This hope comes from a combination of new technology and a new appreciation of the power of incentives. Read More… Comment » |
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