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  • African Science Academy Development Initiative (ASADI) Meeting in Ghana The fifth annual international conference of the African Science Academy Development Initiative (ASADI) will be held Nov. 9-11 in Accra, Ghana, in conjunction with the 50th anniversary of the Ghana Academy of Arts and Sciences. The theme of this year's conference will be improving maternal, newborn, and child health in Africa, which will be discussed by top experts from around the world. ASADI V will kick off with the release of Science in Action: Saving the Lives of Africa's Mothers, Newborns, and Children, a new report by several African science academies, assessing the effectiveness of interventions aimed at reducing maternal and childhood mortality -- the focus of U.N. Millennium Development Goals Four and Five -- in sub-Saharan Africa. The report will include estimates of lives that could be saved if proven scientific methods reached more parts of Africa. 11/9
  • Meeting HIV/AIDS Cost Demands: Is The Global Response Working? The November/December 2009 edition of Health Affairs focuses on key global health challenges – including the economic, political, scientific and ethical ones – facing world policymakers in their response to HIV/AIDS treatment and prevention. Over the next several years, the world could face a funding shortfall that would prevent millions more with HIV/AIDS from gaining access to antiretroviral drugs. Yet over the long-term, the world could also take critical steps to slash the global burden of HIV-AIDS – and the costs of battling the pandemic – by half. 11/10
  • Meeting HIV/AIDS Cost Demands: Is The Global Response Working? The November/December 2009 edition of Health Affairs focuses on key global health challenges – including the economic, political, scientific and ethical ones – facing world policymakers in their response to HIV/AIDS treatment and prevention. Over the next several years, the world could face a funding shortfall that would prevent millions more with HIV/AIDS from gaining access to antiretroviral drugs. Yet over the long-term, the world could also take critical steps to slash the global burden of HIV-AIDS – and the costs of battling the pandemic – by half. 11/10

Also In Global Health News: India Drought; NTD Research; HIV/AIDS In Beijing And African Militaries; Malaria Vaccine

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Monday, July 13, 2009

Near Drought In India Is 'Matter Of Concern'

The Observer examines the water shortage in India. "India's vast farming economy is on the verge of crisis. The lack of rain has hit northern areas most, but even in Mumbai, which has experienced heavy rainfall and flooding, authorities were forced to cut the water supply by 30% last week as levels in the lakes serving the city ran perilously low," the newspaper writes. Sharad Pawar, India's agriculture minister, on Friday said the country is facing a drought-like situation that is a "matter for concern" (Chamberlain, 7/12).

Company Contributes Patented Research For Neglected Tropical Disease Research

Alnylam Pharmaceuticals will allow neglected tropical disease researchers to use more than 1,500 issued or pending patents on its RNA interference technology, Pharmafocus reports. "These will go into GlaxoSmithKline's so-called 'patent pool' which is designed to help others develop potential treatments," the news service writes. The research will target 16 diseases including: tuberculosis, malaria, cholera and leprosy (7/10).

Beijing Sees Increase In HIV/AIDS Cases

During the first five months of 2008, 501 cases of HIV/AIDS cases have been confirmed in Beijing – "an 21.9 percent increase over the same period last year," China Daily/People's Daily Online reports (7/10). Gay men and other men who have sex with men "accounted for 44 percent of the total, said Deng Ying, director of the Beijing Disease Control and Prevention Center," Xinhua reports. City officials said they will scale up HIV/AIDS prevention campaigns to reach out to high-risk populations in the capital city of a country where experts estimate 700,000 are living with HIV (7/9).

Militaries In West, Central Africa Launch Regional HIV Network

"Military forces from 20 countries in West and Central Africa have launched a regional HIV network to share information on combating HIV within their ranks and communities, following the example of other military-led efforts to fight the spread of HIV," IRIN reports. Several studies have shown that armed forces in sub-Saharan Africa, with the exception of Ethiopia's military, have higher HIV prevalence rates than civilian populations. The article includes additional information about the efforts in Ghana and Nigeria (7/9).

Malaria Vaccine Researchers Face Cultural Challenges

A Lancet world report explores some of the cultural challenges facing RTS,S malaria vaccine researchers who are testing the vaccine in Africa. "Now, more than ever, the success of the vaccine relies on the communities whom RTS,S could benefit the most –people from places that could not be more removed from the sterile chambers of western science," the Lancet writes (Alsop, 7/11).

The Kaiser Daily Global Health Policy Report is published by the Kaiser Family Foundation. © 2009 Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation. All rights reserved.