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Dear Colleagues,
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Obviously it’s not an entirely new phenomenon, but every superpower or aspiring superpower seems to have famous political prisoners nowadays: Liu Xiaobo (< ?xml:namespace prefix = st1 ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:smarttags" />
Yet, after a somewhat slow start, international pressure is mounting. Nobel laureates, commentators in journals and civil society organisations are among the many that have voiced their concern. These are some of the advocacy websites dedicated to freeing Dr. Binayak Sen: Free Binayak Sen Campaign @ http://www.binayaksen.net/; Free Binayak Sen @ http://www.freebinayaksen.org/ They also provide background material and updates. You can also sign a
petition.Elsewhere in the world, everybody is gearing up for New Year’s Eve, including the editors of this newsletter.
Never one to look back, Nicolas Sarkozy has some characteristically big new year’s resolutions, like radically overhauling the global financial system. Looks like he has to impress his wife again. Others are starting to reflect on the past ten years. CGD fellow and development optimist Charles Kenny reckons this was the best decade ever, but sounds a bit like a politician – apparently there’s a gap between reality and perception.
Nevertheless, happy new year to all of you! See you in 2011!
Enjoy your reading.
Don’t look back in anger
1. Lancet Offline: Revising our expectations
Richard Horton ;
http://www.lancet.com/journals/lancet/article/PIIS0140-6736(10)62311-2/fulltext
Richard Horton looks ahead to 2011. Being British, his mood is rather gloomy.
2. Foreign Policy Best. Decade. Ever
Charles Kenny;
In this (at least for Northern countries) increasingly dark era, the voluntarism of Charles Kenny is nothing less than heartwarming. You might not agree with what he says, but humanity definitely needs more of this, and needs it soon. It can be done, and it should be done. This is the guy’s assessment of the past decade.
Also worthwile reading is Tony Blair’s vision on
On the IRIN website, we found this article with an HIV/AIDS top 10 for 2010, and on the Blog4Globalhealth, the following blog post on “12 health solutions we would like to see more of in 2011″.
HIV/AIDS
3. Plos Medicine Scaling Up the 2010 World Health Organization HIV Treatment Guidelines in Resource-Limited Settings: A Model-Based Analysis
Rochelle P. Walensky et al., for the CEPAC-International Investigators
http://www.plosmedicine.org/article/info:doi/10.1371/journal.pmed.1000382#abstract2
The new 2010 WHO HIV treatment guidelines recommend earlier antiretroviral therapy (ART) initiation (CD4<350 cells/µl instead of CD4<200 cells/µl), multiple sequential ART regimens, and replacement of first-line stavudine with tenofovir. This paper considers what to do first in resource-limited settings where immediate implementation of all of the WHO recommendations is not feasible.
4. HP&P Claims on health care: a decision-making framework for equity, with application to treatment for HIV/AIDS in South Africa
Susan M Cleary, Gavin H Mooney, Diane E McIntyre;
http://heapol.oxfordjournals.org/content/early/2010/12/23/heapol.czq081.full
This paper proposes a conceptual framework for determining how best to allocate scarce health care resources in LICs where resources are typically constrained. The framework is based on communitarian claims. The framework is then applied on treatment or HIV/AIDS in South-Africa.
5. Global Public Health Structural barriers to ART adherence in Southern Africa : Challenges and potential ways forward
A. Kagee; R. H. Remien; A. Berkman; S. Hoffman; L. Campos; L. Swartz;
http://www.informaworld.com/smpp/content~db=all~content=a930402482~frm=titlelink
The authors identify three sets of structural barriers to ART adherence that are salient in
6. Globalization and Health Where does public funding for HIV prevention go to? The case of condoms versus microbicides and vaccines.
Anny JTP Peters , Maja Micevska-Scharf , Francien TM Van Driel and Willy HM Jansen;
http://www.globalizationandhealth.com/content/6/1/23
This study analyses the priorities of public donors in funding HIV prevention by either integrated condom programming or HIV preventive microbicides and vaccines in the period between 2000 and 2008. It further compares the public funding investments of the
Global Health
7. Global Health Governance Global Health Governance in a G-20 World
Laurie Garrett & El’Haum Alavian;
http://ghgj.org/Garrett%20Alavian_final.pdf
In the new issue of Global Health Governance, Garrett and Alavian reflect on global health governance in a G20 World.
8. Guardian Diplomacy and development, working together in the US
http://www.guardian.co.uk/global-development/poverty-matters/2010/dec/20/us-aid-diplomacy-policy
Two studies on the
Lots of media, organisations and stakeholders already paid attention to this review, for example the CGD and the Global health Council.
9. Guardian UK ‘s foreign aid strategy puts focus on safe abortion and contraception
Sarah Boseley;
http://www.guardian.co.uk/global-development/2010/dec/31/foreign-aid-safe-abortion-contraception
In two documents, called Frameworks for results, the UK Government commits an extra £2.1bn for maternal and child health schemes and targets halving malaria deaths in 10 hotspots.
As for malaria and fragile and conflict-torn states, you might also want to check out this blog post. Conflict scenarios that inhibit malaria control progress are more common that we often acknowledge. Good to see that the
10. WHO Bulletin (editorial) Containing antimicrobial resistance: a renewed effort
Krisantha Weerasuriya, John Stelling & Thomas F O’Brien;
http://www.who.int/bulletin/volumes/88/12/10-084236.pdf
WHO has announced that the containment of antimicrobial resistance will be the theme for the World Health Day 2011.
11. WHO Bulletin Vaccine innovation done differently
Roy Widdus;
http://www.who.int/bulletin/volumes/88/12/10-082826/en/index.html
Over the past 15 years there has been a change in perceptions of what constitutes vaccine innovation to meet developing country needs. This change could reduce the global burden of infectious diseases and contribute to the ultimate achievement of many of the Millennium Development Goals.
12. Health and Human rights (editorial) Collaborative imperatives, elusive dialogues
Alicia Ely Yamin and Alec Irwin;
http://www.hhrjournal.org/index.php/hhr/article/view/364/555
The editorial of the new issue of Health and Human rights takes up the relationship among human rights-based approaches and two other prominent streams of work linking health and social justice: social medicine and social epidemiology.
13. Lancet Pulse oximeters breathe life into surgery in poorer nations
Tony Kirby;
http://www.lancet.com/journals/lancet/article/PIIS0140-6736(10)62323-9/fulltext
Anaesthetists worldwide have joined forces with safer-surgery advocate Atul Gawande (also known as ‘the guy who addressed the casino audience in Montreux’) to enable low-income nations to buy vital pulse oximeters. Tony Kirby reports.
14. Lancet (Correspondence) International response to Niger ‘s hunger crisis
Kristalina Georgieva;
http://www.lancet.com/journals/lancet/article/PIIS0140-6736(10)62335-5/fulltext
The EU’s Commissioner for International Cooperation, Humanitarian Aid and Crisis Response does not agree with Loewenberg’s World Report on
15. Lancet (Correspondence) The Greek economic crisis: a primary health-care perspective
Nikolaos Oikonomou, Yannis Tountas;
http://www.lancet.com/journals/lancet/article/PIIS0140-6736(10)62336-7/fulltext
In another Lancet letter, Oikonomou and Tountas look at the Greek economic crisis from a primary health-care perspective.