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Ancient berry could protect against diabetic retinopathy

The ancient Tibetan goji berry could help fight blindness caused by long-term diabetes according to studies conducted by University of Sydney researchers.

5 Jun 2012

U.S., Norway announce new private-public initiative to improve maternal health in developing countries

Speaking at a health conference in Norway on Friday, U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton announced the United States would provide $75 million a new private-public effort, dubbed "Saving Mothers, Giving Life," which aims "to improve the health of mothers and their babies in developing countries," Agence France-Presse reports.

5 Jun 2012

HCMS, ACOEM announce important expansion to Blueprint for Health

The American College of Occupational and Environmental Medicine (ACOEM) and the HCMS Group have announced an important expansion to their "Blueprint for Health" - a free internet-based calculating tool that helps employers better comprehend and analyze the impact of medical costs, absence, and work impairment among their employees.

5 Jun 2012

PMTCT of HIV 'critical, effective' to making progress in child survival

In this post in the Management Sciences for Health's (MSH) "Global Health Impact" blog, Scott Kellerman, global technical lead for HIV/AIDS at MSH, discusses USAID's "Every Child Deserves a 5th Birthday" campaign and recent attention to the prevention of mother-to-child transmission (PMTCT) of HIV.

2 Jun 2012

Target of 25% reduction in premature mortality from NCDs by 2025 a 'rallying call' for global health community

Member states at the 65th session of the World Health Assembly, which concluded last week, "agreed to adopt a global target of a 25 percent reduction in premature mortality from non-communicable diseases [NCDs] such as cardiovascular disease, cancer, diabetes and chronic respiratory diseases by 2025."

1 Jun 2012

Foreign-born populations in the U.S. are at increased risk for chronic HBV

The prevalence of chronic hepatitis B virus (HBV) infection in the U.S. may be as high as 2.2 million cases according to a new study now available in Hepatology, a journal published by Wiley-Blackwell on behalf of the American Association for the Study of Liver Diseases.

1 Jun 2012

Einstein receives NIH grant to create new vaccine against TB

The National Institutes of Health (NIH) has awarded researchers at Albert Einstein College of Medicine at Yeshiva University a five-year, $5.9 million grant to develop a new vaccine against tuberculosis (TB), including the toughest-to-treat forms of the disease known as multi drug-resistant and extensively drug-resistant. The grant will build on a new approach to TB vaccine design that is based on genetically altered Mycobacterium smegmatis, which is closely related to the bacterial species (Mycobacterium tuberculosis) that causes TB in humans.

1 Jun 2012

Aeras, IDRI partner to develop novel TB vaccine

In a guest post on the Global Health Technologies Coalition's "Breakthroughs" blog, Jamie Elizabeth Rosen, media and communications manager at Aeras, interviews Steven Reed, founder, president, and chief scientific officer of the Infectious Disease Research Institute (IDRI), "a 120-person non-profit biotech committed to applying innovative science to the research and development of products to prevent, detect, and treat infectious diseases of poverty."

31 May 2012

Implications of eradicating polio, or failing to do so, go beyond public health

In this Atlantic opinion piece, Rachel Hills, a freelance writer based in London, examines the WHO's decision on May 25 to declare polio a public health emergency, "calling for the 194 member states to fully fund the Global Polio Eradication Initiative, and fill the currently $945 million gap in its budget for 2012-13."

31 May 2012

'Silo' effect of western health aid to Africa damaging continent's future

In a two-part series in his Slate blog "The Reckoning," author Michael Moran examines the "silo" effect of Western aid to improve health in Africa, writing in the first part, "Charities know that raising money for exotic disease eradication in the West is a good deal easier than, say, funding upgrades to substandard cardiac facilities.

30 May 2012

Paper examines global health and climate change

In paper published online by the journal Globalization and Health, Kathryn Bowen and Sharon Friel of the National Centre for Epidemiology and Population Health at the Australian National University examine how global health fits into climate change adaptation activities.

30 May 2012

Officials at 65th World Health Assembly adopt resolutions on broad range of health issues

"The 65th World Health Assembly concluded Saturday after adopting 21 resolutions and three decisions on a broad range of health issues," a WHO press release reports.

30 May 2012

Officials at WHA fail to agree on convention to encourage R&D into health issues in developing countries

Health officials attending last week's World Health Assembly "failed to come to an agreement on a binding convention on stimulating research and development [R&D] focusing on the health problems of developing countries," BMJ reports.

30 May 2012

Sixty-fifth World Health Assembly covers some of the biggest challenges facing public health

The Sixty-fifth World Health Assembly concluded Saturday after adopting 21 resolutions and three decisions on a broad range of health issues. The six days of discussions involved nearly 3000 delegates, including health ministers and senior health officials from amongst the 194 WHO Member States, as well as representatives from civil society and other stakeholders.

28 May 2012

World Health Assembly endorses Global Vaccine Action Plan

Ministers of Health from 194 countries at the Sixty-fifth World Health Assembly today endorsed a landmark Global Vaccine Action Plan (GVAP), a roadmap to prevent millions of deaths by 2020 through more equitable access to existing vaccines for people in all communities.

28 May 2012

Senate Appropriations Committee approves FY13 state and foreign operations appropriations bill

The Senate Appropriations Committee on Thursday approved a $52.1 billion appropriations bill to fund U.S. state and foreign operations in FY 2013, Devex reports. "The committee voted 29-1 to send the ... bill to the full Senate floor for consideration," the news service writes, adding, "It is still unclear when the bill will be scheduled for a full Senate vote" (Mungcal, 5/25).

25 May 2012

Blog examines Kaiser Family Foundation survey on Americans' views of U.S. global health efforts

Highlighting the findings of a Kaiser Family Foundation survey released on Monday that examines Americans' views on U.S. global health efforts, journalist Tom Paulson writes in KPLU's "Humanosphere" blog, "The news media ... largely ignored this but it deserves more attention."

25 May 2012

Editorial, opinion piece examine future of World Health Organization

As the World Health Assembly draws to a close in Geneva this week, and Margaret Chan accepts her appointment to a second five-year term as director-general of the World Health Organization (WHO), an editorial and an opinion piece examine the future of the U.N. health agency.

25 May 2012

Despite challenges, U.S. GHI moves toward integrated approach to global public health

In this Lancet opinion piece, Jennifer Kates, vice president and director of global health and HIV policy for the Kaiser Family Foundation, and Josh Michaud, principal policy analyst at the Foundation, examine the U.S. Global Health Initiative (GHI), which "represents the bulk of the U.S. global health budget and bilateral activities in more than 80 countries."

25 May 2012

Capitol Hill briefing addresses research agenda to end AIDS epidemic

In a guest blog post on the Center for Global Health Policy's "Science Speaks," Chris Collins, vice president and director of public policy at amfAR: The Foundation for AIDS Research, and Mitchell Warren, executive director of AVAC: Global Advocacy for HIV Prevention, summarize a Capitol Hill briefing "on the research agenda for beginning to end the AIDS epidemic" that took place Wednesday.

25 May 2012

Global Health News and Research

Ancient berry could protect against diabetic retinopathy

U.S., Norway announce new private-public initiative to improve maternal health in developing countries

HCMS, ACOEM announce important expansion to Blueprint for Health

PMTCT of HIV 'critical, effective' to making progress in child survival

Target of 25% reduction in premature mortality from NCDs by 2025 a 'rallying call' for global health community

Foreign-born populations in the U.S. are at increased risk for chronic HBV

Einstein receives NIH grant to create new vaccine against TB

Aeras, IDRI partner to develop novel TB vaccine

Implications of eradicating polio, or failing to do so, go beyond public health

'Silo' effect of western health aid to Africa damaging continent's future

Paper examines global health and climate change

Officials at 65th World Health Assembly adopt resolutions on broad range of health issues

Officials at WHA fail to agree on convention to encourage R&D into health issues in developing countries

Sixty-fifth World Health Assembly covers some of the biggest challenges facing public health

World Health Assembly endorses Global Vaccine Action Plan

Senate Appropriations Committee approves FY13 state and foreign operations appropriations bill

Blog examines Kaiser Family Foundation survey on Americans' views of U.S. global health efforts

Editorial, opinion piece examine future of World Health Organization

Despite challenges, U.S. GHI moves toward integrated approach to global public health

Capitol Hill briefing addresses research agenda to end AIDS epidemic

Leveraging the power of automation to boost research

Automating research - solutions and best practices

How can microdialysis benefit drug development

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