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Fatal imbalance between global disease burden and drug development

Despite important progress in research and development (R&D) for global health over the past decade, only a small fraction of new medicines developed between 2000 and 2011 were for the treatment of neglected diseases, highlighting the 'fatal imbalance' between global disease burden and drug development for some of the world most devastating illnesses, said Doctors Without Borders/M-decins Sans Fronti-res (MSF) and the Drugs for Neglected Diseases initiative (DNDi), in an analysis to be presented today at an international conference aimed at spurring medical innovations for these diseases.

13 Dec 2012

Blog series recognizes gender violence campaign

IntraHealth's "Global Health Blog" notes, "In honor of this year's 16 Days of Activism Against Gender Violence Campaign, the North Carolina-based Triangle Global Health Consortium ran a series of blog entries by local experts and activists on topics that span the globe."

13 Dec 2012

Canada's foreign aid agency, Grand Challenges Canada announce global health partnership

"Canada's foreign aid agency will work with Grand Challenges Canada in a bid to bring ideas for health innovation to the developing world, International Co-operation Minister Julian Fantino says," the Globe and Mail reports.

13 Dec 2012

International health, development groups meet to discuss London Summit on Family Planning

In the Management Sciences for Health's (MSH) "Global Health Impact" blog, Barbara Ayotte, director of strategic communications at MSH, reports on a luncheon discussion on the London Summit on Family Planning, held in Boston in November.

13 Dec 2012

Study investigates different approaches to eradicate mosquito-borne diseases

A special issue of Pathogens and Global Health, published by Maney Publishing, investigates different approaches to eradicate mosquito-borne diseases. Mosquitoes can transmit a number of pathogenic diseases including dengue fever, yellow fever, and malaria.

13 Dec 2012

Uganda's proposed anti-homosexuality legislation would inhibit health care access

The Center for Global Health Policy's "Science Speaks" blog examines the potential impacts of a proposed anti-homosexuality bill in Uganda, writing that the bill "would stand as an obstacle to both access to health care and to the ability of health care providers to even offer services," making prevention of "the bill's passage a matter of life and death, as well as of rights and dignity."

12 Dec 2012

Recognizing reproductive rights as human rights

Noting the recognition of International Human Rights Day on December 9, Purnima Mane, president and CEO of Pathfinder International, writes in the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation's "Impatient Optimists" blog, "Every person should be able to make decisions about her or his body," making reproductive rights a human rights issue.

11 Dec 2012

GlobalPost series examines HIV/AIDS in European, MENA regions

As part of its ongoing series, titled "The State of AIDS," GlobalPost published two articles examining the epidemic in different regions. In Eastern Europe, rates of HIV/AIDS diagnoses have risen in several countries, including Ukraine and Russia, according to the first article, which discusses some of the potential reasons for the increases.

11 Dec 2012

GAVI Alliance to support 30M HPV vaccinations among girls by 2020

"In an effort to fight the human papillomavirus (HPV), the leading cause of cervical cancer, more than 30 million girls will be immunized against HPV by 2020 with GAVI support, the global health alliance announced on Thursday," Xinhua/Global Times reports.

11 Dec 2012

GlobalPost blog interviews reporter Joanne Silberner about PRI series on cancer in developing world

GlobalPost's "Global Pulse" blog features an interview with freelance reporter and artist-in-residence at the University of Washington in Seattle Joanne Silberner, a former NPR correspondent, about her recent series for PRI's "The World," titled "Cancer's New Battleground -- The Developing World."

8 Dec 2012

GlobalPost reports on HIV/AIDS in Latin America

In its continuing series titled "The State of AIDS," GlobalPost examines the HIV/AIDS epidemic in Latin America and the Caribbean, where "[m]ajor gains have been made in the fight against the spread of HIV" over the past decade, particularly in stopping mother-to-child transmission (MTCT).

7 Dec 2012

U.S. government announces grants for implementation science projects on PMTCT

Last week, the U.S. government announced up to $7.5 million in grants over the next two years to fund "implementation science projects exploring how to achieve the goal of eliminating new pediatric HIV infections while keeping mothers alive," the Center for Global Health Policy's "Science Speaks" blog reports.

7 Dec 2012

U.S. House Minority Leader Pelosi announces new top Democrats on House committees

U.S. House of Representatives Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) on Wednesday announced the new top Democrats on House committees, Bloomberg reports.

7 Dec 2012

Strengthen health systems to integrate polio vaccinations into routine childhood immunizations, Save the Children report says

Speaking at the GAVI Partners Forum in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania, David Olayemi, senior program adviser at Save the Children in Abuja, Nigeria, said fewer than half of children in Nigeria are receiving routine immunizations for diseases such as diphtheria, tetanus, and whooping cough (DTP), and the rate is dropping, Guardian health editor Sarah Boseley reports in her "Global Health Blog."

7 Dec 2012

University of Michigan to create National Kidney Disease Registry

The University of Michigan Kidney Epidemiology and Cost Center will create a National Kidney Disease Registry to monitor kidney disease among America's veterans.

7 Dec 2012

Examining the definition of neglected diseases

"There's no generally accepted definition" for what characterizes a neglected disease, Kaitlin Christenson, coalition director for the Global Health Technologies Coalition (GHTC), writes in the Results for Development Institute's "Center for Global Health R&D Policy Assessment" blog.

6 Dec 2012

WHO establishes global monitoring framework for NCDs

"The World Health Organization (WHO) established a global monitoring framework for non-communicable diseases (NCDs) at a Geneva meeting on November 9, 2012 -- a little over a year after the U.N. General Assembly adopted a political declaration on NCDs," Management Sciences for Health's "Global Health Impact" blog reports, noting Ambassador Betty King, permanent representative of the U.S. to the U.N. and other international organizations in Geneva, announced the framework in November.

6 Dec 2012

PEPFAR to buy additional 150 rapid TB testing devices

PEPFAR will purchase up to 150 rapid tuberculosis (TB) Xpert testing devices and cartridges to test about 450,000 people for TB, "addressing a need to improve diagnoses of drug-resistant strains of disease, and to identify the disease in HIV-positive people in sub-Saharan Africa and Myanmar, the Office of the Global AIDS Coordinator announced" Tuesday, the Center for Global Health Policy's "Science Speaks" blog reports.

6 Dec 2012

Johns Hopkins focuses on MRSA, motherhood in November-December 2012 research news brief

Johns Hopkins Nursing researchers focus on MRSA, motherhood, hospital stress, intimate partner violence, and more in the November-December 2012 research news brief.

6 Dec 2012

U.S. must maintain commitment to research outlined in AIDS blueprint

Noting the recent release of the "PEPFAR Blueprint: Creating an AIDS-free Generation", Kim Lufkin, communications officer at the Global Health Technologies Coalition (GHTC), writes in the organization's "Breakthroughs" blog, "It's commendable that the U.S. government is continuing its legacy as a leader in the fight against HIV/AIDS, as this blueprint indicates.

6 Dec 2012