The World Cup in South-Africa is so far a bit of a disappointment, not because of the by now notorious “vuvuzelas”, but due to the quality of the football. We do make an exception for
Some more encouraging news comes from EU leaders in the run-up to the G20 summit later this month. “Europe will call for imposing a transaction tax on financial institutions at the G20 summit next week as well as a levy on banks to help pay for the costs of the crisis that started in the banking sector.” Even better, if a global deal is not possible,
Finally, in the “flu-gate”-saga, WHO admitted there were some “inconsistencies” in its policy on conflicts of interest. Tighter safeguards seem warranted. We know a few people that might agree.
Enjoy your reading.
Global Health
1. BMJ – Don’t abandon Labour’s initiative to improve access to health care for world’s poor people, charities urge
Peter Moszynski; http://www.bmj.com/cgi/content/full/340/jun14_2/c3153
Now that the new
2. Epidemiologic Reviews – Global Health and Foreign Policy
Harley Feldbaum, Kelley Lee, and Joshua Michaud; http://epirev.oxfordjournals.org/cgi/content/full/mxq006v1
Feldbaum et al. review the relationship between global health and foreign policy by examining the roles of health across 4 components of foreign policy: trade, diplomacy, aid, and national security.
3. Lancet – Offline: The Chatham House Rule, over-ruled
Richard Horton; Full Text
Plenty of interesting stuff again in this Lancet ‘offline’ piece. Horton sheds some light on the behind the scenes decision-making process in the Canadian government on the divisive abortion issue. Also, he reckons the Chatham House rule is sometimes abused.
4. GHE – EU event a starting point for a new era in global health governance
David Gleicher; http://bit.ly/c9DDjC
Last week, the EU organized a two day high-level event on global health, displaying the EU commitment to its global health responsibilities. Gleicher reports on the discussions in the various workshops and sessions.
Aid & Financial Crisis
5. Science Speaks – AIDS funding ahead? Africans deeply worried
Donnellyglobe; http://sciencespeaks.wordpress.com/2010/06/14/aids-funding-ahead-africans-deeply-worried/#more-2106
Tough choices lie ahead, when it comes to AIDS funding. Two African leaders in the AIDS field expressed their concern about whether the international funding would last. Instead of a global pandemic, we’d better talk about focused epidemics, they suggest. Where the epidemic is worse, that’s where the money should go.
Meanwhile, there was some more cheerful news for AIDS activists: the Kenyan government has set aside about 11 million
6. Reuters – Analysis: Donor cuts add pressure to World Bank aid drive
http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSTRE65C11S20100613
IDA donors are meeting in a
7. KFF – Financial Times Examines How GAVI’s $2.6B Shortfall Might Affect New Vaccine Programs In Developing Countries
http://globalhealth.kff.org/Daily-Reports/2010/June/16/GH-061610-GAVI.aspx
A Financial Times article explores what the dire consequences could be of a GAVI funding shortfall, estimated at 2.6 Billion for the moment.
8. Action aid – EU aid own goals pushing MDGs out of reach
http://www.actionaid.org/eu/index.aspx?PageID=5441
A timely new report by
And ONE presented its own 2010 data report on monitoring the G8 promise to
Human Resources
9. Lancet – Operational research in HIV priority areas: the African way
Mark A Boyd, Chidi A Nwizu; http://www.lancet.com/journals/lancet/article/PIIS0140-6736(10)60972-5/fulltext
A Lancet comment dwells on the South-African study by Sanne et al. on task shifting for HIV patient monitoring and management. The results are encouraging: nurse-monitored ART is not inferior to doctor-monitored therapy. There are a few caveats though.
This low-key ‘African approach’ could become all the more necessary, if Obama’s health care reform does indeed spark yet another brain drain of physicians from the developing world, as Kate Tulenko seems to think in a Foreign policy analysis.
Drugs
10. KFF – CGD – Global Drug Distribution Programs One Factor In Hastening Drug Resistance, Report Says
http://globalhealth.kff.org/Daily-Reports/2010/June/15/GH-061510-Drug-Resistance-Report.aspx
Several factors seem to lead to increased drug resistance, according to a CGD report. Drivers of drug resistance include, among others: technology gaps, weak health systems, inconsistent drug quality and the overuse of antibiotics in agriculture. But global drug distribution programs play a role as well.
11. Lancet – WHO heads back to the drug development drawing board
Asher Mullard; Full Text
Disappointment over a long-awaited report (by the Expert Working Group) on improving drug research and development for neglected diseases has driven WHO to create a new working group.