Tag Archives: Africa

“This century’s Marshall Plan”

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“PEPFAR will be remembered as this century’s Marshall Plan” noted Rep. Jim McDermott at a briefing today.   McDermott, D-Wash, one of the co-chairs of the Congressional AIDS Caucus, was a lead off experience at today’s Health Affairs briefing on the publication’s July edition, which is devoted exclusively to coverage of the President’s Emergency Plan For […]

CDC looks at TB/HIV syndemic, Lancet looks at expectations for Jim Kim, studies look at lower HIV risks for gay fathers, importance of healthy vaginas, and more. . .

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CDC’s Grand Rounds feature examines past, future of HIV/TB response: In a world where an estimated 160 people die of tuberculosis every hour, where 25 percent of HIV/AIDS-related deaths are caused by TB, and where 9 million people can be expected to develop the disease each year, while untreatable forms of infection have emerged, “much […]

Condom gap “quite disturbing” according to PEPFAR

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There is a pervasive pattern of stockouts of condoms, both male and female condoms, in African countries confronting HIV/AIDS, according to Carolyn Ryan, MD, MPH, director of technical leadership at the Office of the Global AIDS Coordinator (OGAC).

She called the condom gap “really quite disturbing,” given that condoms are a crucial tool for HIV prevention. While HIV incidence has fallen in recent years, in 2009 there were an estimated 2.6 million people newly infected with HIV, meaning that about 7000 people are acquiring the infection each day.

For men and women in Africa, rectal microbicides are crucial

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Here at the Microbicides 2010 conference in Pittsburgh I got a chance to talk with Dr. Gita Ramjee, one of the top researchers in the field, about the most exciting scientific challenges being discussed at the meeting.  Dr Ramjee is the Director of the HIV Prevention Research Unit at the South African Medical Research Council.  […]

WHO Regional Director for Africa Discusses Abuja Declarations

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This post is by the Global Center’s Rabita Aziz.   Dr. Luis Sambo, the World Health Organization’s Regional Director for Africa, spoke to global health professionals and African diplomats today at an event sponsored by the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS), about progress made toward achieving goals in the Abuja Declarations made roughly […]

Maternal Health and HIV/AIDS in CSIS Report

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This posting is by Rabita Aziz, Program Associate at the IDSA/HIVMA Global Center The new report by the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) Commission on Smart Global Health Policy  calls for the U.S. to double contributions to better maternal and child health, to $2 billion a year.  Such investments should be focused on […]

Reactions to the New CSIS Report on "Smart Global Health Policy"

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The Center for Strategic and International Studies yesterday unveiled  a new “must-read” report for global health advocates, “Smart Global Health Policy.” While a panel at the Congressionally-chartered Institute of Medicine, made up primarily of scientists, issued recommendations on US global health policy last year, the CSIS panel is the first to involve high-level business leaders […]

UNAIDS Expert: Prevention Needs Full Funding

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Evaristo Marowa, UNAIDS Country Coordinator for Botswana, said today that major opportunities to prevent HIV, and save billions of dollars in the long run, will be missed if the US and the international community fail to increase AIDS funding for Botswana and other countries in southern and eastern Africa.  He made his comments in a presentation […]

Health Systems & the Growing Threat of Drug Resistant HIV & TB

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Dr. Luis Sambo, the WHO’s regional director for Africa, sought to draw attention this week to the growing threat of drug-resistant strains of HIV, tuberculosis and malaria on the continent, calling for aggressive action “before the situation gets out of hand.” Sambo made his comments during the 59th session of the WHO regional committee meeting […]

New vaccine would revolutionize the fight against tuberculosis…if funding is available

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How could the world dramatically lower the incidence of tuberculosis and save millions of lives?  An effective TB vaccine would revolutionize the response to TB, which kills about 5000 people each day, and eliminate the need for lengthy and often difficult drug treatment.    An effective vaccine would be of tremendous benefit all over the world, including […]