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Congress passes, President signs continuing resolution for FY 2013

Funding for HIV through PEPFAR "took a hit while the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria got a boost last week when the House and Senate passed a Continuing Resolution bill to avoid a government shutdown and continue funding the government through Oct. 1, the end of fiscal year 2013," the Center for Global Health Policy's "Science Speaks" blog reports (Aziz, 3/26).

28 Mar 2013

U.S. Office of Global Health Diplomacy should lead G20 efforts to ensure global NTD drug coverage

"Because they strike mostly forgotten people living on less than $2 per day, [neglected tropical diseases (NTDs)] have traditionally been thought of as a problem exclusive to low-income countries, especially in sub-Saharan Africa," Peter Hotez, dean of the National School of Tropical Medicine at Baylor College of Medicine and president and director of the Sabin Vaccine Institute and Texas Children's Hospital Center for Vaccine Development, writes in a Foreign Policy opinion piece

27 Mar 2013

Bill Gates reflects on visit to Ghana to learn about immunization program

"I arrive in Ghana today to see firsthand why the country's immunization system is working so well and meet the people involved," Bill Gates, co-chair of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, writes in the foundation's "Impatient Optimists" blog.

27 Mar 2013

Data important for global health policymaking

"Just like central bankers and ministers who need an accurate GDP figure for policymaking, health ministers need to know why their population is losing healthy life years," Denizhan Duran, a research assistant at the Center for Global Development, writes in the group's blog.

26 Mar 2013

Challenges remain in fight against TB, U.N. Secretary-General says

On World Tuberculosis Day, recognized on March 24, U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon "said that while there has been much progress since the World Health Organization declared TB a global health emergency two decades ago, there are still challenges to be met, mainly stopping the spread of multidrug-resistant TB, also known as MDR-TB, which threatens to reverse the gains achieved in past years," the U.N. News Centre reports.

26 Mar 2013

'Grand challenges in global health' initiative calls for applications for the 'next generation of condom'

"The Grand Challenges in Global Health initiative, backed by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, launched the 'Next Generation of Condom' challenge this month," NBC News Los Angeles reports (Ebright, 3/23).

26 Mar 2013

Blogs address issues surrounding TB, World TB Day

On Sunday, March 24, the international community observed World TB Day. The following is a summary of blog posts published in recognition of the day.

26 Mar 2013

Newly discovered molecule could form the basis of anti-malaria drugs

An international study, involving researchers from Griffith University's Eskitis Institute, has discovered a molecule which could form the basis of powerful new anti-malaria drugs.

25 Mar 2013

Development advocates urge Congress to protect global health funding, blog reports

"Earlier this week, the [Global Health Technologies Coalition (GHTC)] and other global health and international development advocates called on the House Appropriations State and Foreign Operations subcommittee to fully fund key programs in the foreign affairs budget," Ashley Bennett, the GHTC's policy officer, writes in the coalition's "Breakthroughs" blog.

25 Mar 2013

Blog examines TB control efforts in India

In a guest post in the Center for Global Health Policy's "Science Speaks" blog, part of the blog's coverage leading up to World Tuberculosis Day, Madhukar Pai, an associate professor of epidemiology at McGill University, Montreal, and an associate director of the McGill International TB Centre, "looks at the need for an evolving approach to tuberculosis."

24 Mar 2013

Organizations highlight World TB Day

World TB Day is commemorated each year on March 24, recognizing the discovery of the tuberculosis bacilli by Robert Koch in 1882.

22 Mar 2013

New Frontiers in Public Health journal launched

Frontiers, one of the world's fastest-growing Open Access publishers and among the largest social networking platforms for researchers, announces the launch of a new journal, Frontiers in Public Health.

22 Mar 2013

Johns Hopkins undergraduates develop Cooling Cure to protect newborn from brain damage

When babies are deprived of oxygen before birth, brain damage and disorders such as cerebral palsy can occur. Extended cooling can prevent brain injuries, but this treatment is not always available in developing nations where advanced medical care is scarce.

22 Mar 2013

Global health community calls for more effective, accessible TB treatment in MSF statement

"Patients, doctors and international aid groups are calling on donors and governments to support measures that would make treatment of drug-resistant tuberculosis more effective and accessible," Inter Press Service reports, noting, "The demands are being made amidst the recent or imminent approval of two new drugs" that some advocates say "present an historic opportunity to tackle the notoriously difficult-to-treat disease."

22 Mar 2013

HIV home tests: an interview with Dr Nitika Pant Pai, McGill University

30 years into the HIV epidemic, there is no vaccine in sight. Yet, even though there are fantastic and effective cheap and universally available drugs, and a treatment as prevention strategy is known to work, people do not wish to get tested for HIV! If everyone got tested, and treated, we could have brought the infection under control a long time ago!

21 Mar 2013

New issue of GHD-NET's Health & Foreign Policy Bulletin available online

The February 2013 issue of the Global Health Diplomacy Network's Health & Foreign Policy Bulletin is now available online.

21 Mar 2013

More action needed to fight TB, as drug resistance spreading

"As we mark World [Tuberculosis (TB)] Day on Sunday March 24, there can be no denying that TB, fueled by drug resistance, continues to pose a serious global health threat -- one that must be urgently addressed," John Lechleiter, chair, president and CEO of Eli Lilly and Company and chair of the board of PhRMA, writes in a Forbes opinion piece, adding, "With resistance spreading, we need a renewed global commitment that combines public and private efforts to defeat TB."

21 Mar 2013

Lancet to launch new global health journal

The Lancet on Monday announced the launch of a new journal, Lancet Global Health, according to a press release (3/18).

21 Mar 2013

TSRI receives fund to develop new field test for Onchocerciasis

Philanthropist, businessman and community leader John Moores has given The Scripps Research Institute approximately $2 million to fund the development of a new field test for Onchocerciasis, or river blindness, a parasitic infection that affects tens of millions of people in Africa, Latin America and other tropical regions.

21 Mar 2013

Blog reports on Consortium of Universities for Global Health annual conference

The Global Health Technologies Coalition's "Breakthroughs" blog reports on the Consortium of Universities for Global Health annual conference held last week, highlighting "a panel hosted by the GHTC, which focused on current fiscal and policy realities in the United States that will impact global health research and development in the coming year and beyond."

21 Mar 2013