Posted by Julia Nagel on Aug 16, 2011 at 02:03 pm
While most health-related news coverage on Somalia is linked to famine, cholera, and measles, mass vaccination campaigns are occurring throughout the country to ward against other infectious diseases. One disease officials are concerned about is polio. Though eradicated from Somalia in 2008, officials worry that mass migration could cause a reemergence of the virus.
Posted by CSIS Staff on Aug 10, 2011 at 03:44 pm
Transactional sex, sexual intercourse driven by material exchanges, is quite common in sub-Saharan Africa. Transactional sex due to poverty dramatically increases the risk of HIV infection, which further debilitates women’s economic prospect. In addition to the existing HIV/AIDS interventions such as behavioral change, contraceptive promotion, and ARV treatments, a renewed focus on economic empowerment is necessary.
Posted by CSIS Staff on Aug 05, 2011 at 10:28 am
In August 2011, the CSIS Global Health Policy Center will be traveling to South Africa to look at the major efforts underway to renew United States' bilateral relationship with South Africa. In lead up to the trip, we are publishing four articles summarizing the significant health challenges facing the country: HIV/AIDS, Tuberculosis, Maternal and Child Health, and Noncommunicable Diseases. This piece on TB briefly depicts what the situation looks like in South Africa and how a growing TB epidemic is further affecting the HIV/AIDS epidemic.
Posted by CSIS Staff on Aug 04, 2011 at 12:34 pm
In the complex world of global pandemic control, smallpox is the foremost medical success story, the only human disease ever eliminated from the natural world. For public health officials, smallpox’s 1977 eradication has become an inspirational touchstone for the elimination of other diseases such as polio, guinea worm disease, measles, and malaria. Yet the continued existence of live smallpox samples is the subject of intense debate and demonstrates that global health issues are neither isolated from political and security concerns nor can always be resolved quickly or easily.
Posted by CSIS Staff on Aug 03, 2011 at 09:19 am
In August 2011, the CSIS Global Health Policy Center will be traveling to South Africa to look at the major efforts underway to renew United States' bilateral relationship with South Africa. In lead up to the trip, we are publishing four articles summarizing the significant health challenges facing the country: HIV/AIDS, Tuberculosis, Maternal and Child Health, and Noncommunicable Diseases. This piece on HIV/AIDS briefly depicts what the HIV/AIDS situation looks like in South Africa and what the government is doing to combat the challenge.
Posted by Janet Fleischman on Jul 29, 2011 at 09:02 am
The growing political and economic crisis in Malawi, highlighted by the government’s use of force against peaceful demonstrators last week, could also imperil the groundbreaking expansion of Malawi’s national HIV/AIDS program.
Posted by CSIS Staff on Jul 06, 2011 at 10:24 am
On June 28th, the CSIS Global Health Policy Center released the final report of its project on the Defense Department’s overseas medical research laboratories, which are important U.S. assets at the intersection of health and security.
Posted by CSIS Staff on Jul 01, 2011 at 12:28 pm
On June 28th, the Global Health Policy Center at CSIS hosted Ambassador Eric Goosby for a conversation on “HIV/AIDS in 2011: The Global Outlook and America’s Role.” As the U.S. Global AIDS Coordinator and a pioneer in the HIV/AIDS response, few can speak as clearly about the U.S. involvement in HIV/AIDS as Ambassador Goosby.
Posted by Margaret Reeves on Jul 01, 2011 at 09:54 am
The “GAVI Going Forward” event, hosted jointly on June 27 by CSIS and the Center for Global Development (CGD), looked at how GAVI can mitigate its weaknesses and leverage its strengths to save and improve the lives of the world’s most vulnerable children.
Lisa Carty of CSIS and Amanda Glassman of CGD moderated a panel discussion featuring Amie Batson, USAID Deputy Assistant Administrator for Global Health; Joelle Tanguy, Managing Director of External Relations for GAVI; Nicole Bates, Senior Program Officer for the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation; and Claire Moran, Development Counselor at the British Embassy.
Posted by Seth Gannon on Jun 30, 2011 at 09:09 am
In the spring of 2010, CSIS launched a year-long, independent examination of the U.S. Army and Navy overseas medical research laboratories. The impetus was an awareness that despite the laboratories’ impressive scientific accomplishments and contributions to U.S. national interests and global health, they are not well understood outside of research circles and consequently find themselves undervalued in today’s environment of fiscal austerity. They stand at the intersection of health and security, a topic of increased importance to U.S. approaches to global health.
The CSIS project aimed to assess the laboratories’ contributions and achievements; examine the factors that constrain their performance; and propose reforms that will put them on the best course to continued success
Posted by Margaret Reeves on May 17, 2011 at 12:11 pm
On the question of whether WHO has value to U.S. global health policy and U.S. national interests, the answer, in the opinion of the authors of this paper, is decidedly yes—provided that WHO narrows its focus strategically to those activities for which it is best suited and for which it has the greatest prospects of delivering substantial value.
Posted on Apr 28, 2011 at 09:00 am
The 2010 floods were by far the worst natural disaster in Pakistan’s history. Flooding of almost biblical proportions ultimately affected more than 20 million people and covered one-fifth of the country’s territory. However due to coordinated emergency reponse, the international community avoided a large-scale disease outbreak in Pakistan in 2010.
Posted by Julia Nagel on Apr 25, 2011 at 10:52 am
Malaria kills 800,000 people around the world every year. Of this number, 90% of fatalities occur in sub-Saharan Africa and a substantial majority of these deaths are children under the age of five. While these numbers appear stark, there are many achievements to celebrate on this World Malaria Day.
Posted on Apr 12, 2011 at 03:34 pm
In the past year, the events in Japan, Haiti, and elsewhere have put increased attention on emergency response. This month's blog is dedicated to responding to health needs during crisis situations: the necessary communications, the challenges that arise, and a host of other factors that go into this complex work.
Posted by Margaret Reeves on Mar 25, 2011 at 10:02 am
The 2011 High Level Meeting (HLM) on AIDS, which will be convened by the UN Secretary General in New York from June 8 to 10, comes at a turning point in the global AIDS response. 2011 marks 30 years of AIDS, ten years since the landmark UN General Assembly Special Session on HIV/AIDS and five years since the 2006 High Level Meeting where the universal access commitment was made. It is now more important than ever to gain high-level commitments from countries to remain engaged and accountable in the fight against HIV.
Posted by Margaret Reeves on Feb 17, 2011 at 03:26 pm
It’s an exciting, but trying time for development in Washington. A number of new initiatives have been launched by the White House including the Global Health Initiative and Feed the Future, but their fate is uncertain and much rests on their ability to demonstrate real impacts. The President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR) has made strong gains over the past seven years. As the program moves from an emergency response to a sustainable development effort, it has committed to changes to increase efficiencies, innovations and impact. On Thursday, February 10 PEPFAR hosted a day-long meeting to highlight some of the key approaches that will be implemented to ensure that PEPFAR’s new “Smart Investments” save as many lives as possible.
Posted by CSIS Staff on Dec 01, 2010 at 10:14 am
With December 1st marking World AIDS Day and numerous breakthrough prevention studies announced this year, this month's blog will focus on HIV/AIDS.
Posted by Katherine Bliss on Nov 24, 2010 at 06:45 pm
Improving access to water and sanitation may seem like an indirect way to fight gender based violence, but studies show it's incredibly effective.
Posted by Janet Fleischman on Nov 11, 2010 at 09:22 am
The opportunities to integrate health services to better address the client’s needs – especially women – is a key piece of the Obama administration’s Global Health Initiative (GHI). I went to Kenya in November to look for lessons for GHI from another US program - APHIA.
Posted by Phillip Nieburg on Nov 04, 2010 at 12:32 pm
A recent visit to an HIV/AIDS conference in Nigeria gave me an opportunity to review recent reports on several important infectious diseases in the country. The progress report was decidedly mixed.
