Families USA's Global Health Initiative advocates for U.S. policies that advance global health research, with the goal of developing medical technologies to improve global health.
July 29, 2008
In This Issue:
Policy
1. PEPFAR Ready for Bush Signature after Passing both House and Senate
News and Reports
2. New Report from Families USA—In Your Own Backyard: How NIH Funding Helps Your State’s Economy
3. AIDS Funding Binds Longevity of Millions to U.S.
4. Trial for Vaccine Against HIV Is Canceled
5. Foreign-Born TB Cases Need Better Control, U.S. Says
6. How to Get the Biggest Bang for 10 Billion Bucks
7. NIH Creates Global Health Program to Fight Global Diseases
Events
8. XVII International AIDS Conference
9. Vaccine Day
Policy
1. PEPFAR Ready for Bush Signature after Passing Both House and Senate
The bill has passed through both chambers of Congress and is expected to be signed by the president later this week.
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News and Reports
2. New Report from Families USA—In Your Own Backyard: How NIH Funding Helps Your State’s Economy
This new report from Families USA finds that the benefits of NIH-funded research go beyond their health impact, delivering thousands of high-paying jobs and billions of dollars worth of business activity to state economies nationwide.
To read the report, click here.
3. AIDS Funding Binds Longevity of Millions to U.S.
AIDS Funding Binds Longevity of Millions to U.S. (The Washington Post, July 26, 2008)
“What is certain is that the AIDS-treatment lifeline between rich and poor countries is growing rapidly. About 3 million people in low- and middle-income countries are now on the drugs. Five years ago, the number was 250,000.”
To read the article, click here.
4. Trial for Vaccine against HIV Is Canceled
Trial for Vaccine against HIV Is Canceled (The New York Times, July 18, 2008)
The development of a vaccine against HIV was called off last Thursday, July 17, by Dr. Anthony Fauci, the director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases. Although a vaccine is recognized to be the best form of disease prevention and control, Dr. Fauci, said “…it was becoming clearer that more fundamental research and animal testing would be needed before an H.I.V. vaccine was ever marketed."
In response to the termination of the trials, Mitchell Warren of the AIDS Vaccine Advocacy Coalition said, "...after nearly a year of public hand-wringing and unproductive public attacks on the entire search for an AIDS vaccine, it is essential that this decision not be viewed as a vote of noconfidence for the overall endeavor.”
Read the New York Times article, the NIAID statement, and the AVAC statement.
5. Foreign-Born TB Cases Need Better Control, U.S. Says
Foreign-Born TB Cases Need Better Control, U.S. Says (Washington Post, July 23, 2008)
“Public health officials worry that drug-resistant TB could become a worldwide scourge because of global travel and immigration… Dr. Henry Blumberg, of Emory University's medical school, said the research shows ‘that it's in the interest of the United States to try to enhance global TB efforts.’ ”
To read the article, click here.
6. How to Get the Biggest Bang for 10 Billion Bucks
“If you had a spare $10 billion over the next four years, how would you spend it to achieve the most for humanity?”
To read the article, click here.
7. NIH Creates Global Health Program to Fight Global Diseases
“The plan also amplifies the Center’s longtime effort to fight infectious diseases endemic to poorer regions of the world and calls for a new emphasis on ‘implementation research.’"
To read the press release, click here.
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8. XVII International AIDS Conference
Conference: August 3-8, 2008
Location: México City, México
For more information: www.aids2008.org
Online Coverage of the XVII International AIDS Conference will be provided by Kaisernetwork.org. Kaisernetwork.org will publish a free Daily Update email, sent during the week-long conference. For more information and to sign up to receive the e-mail, click here.
9. Vaccine Day
Date: September 19, 2008
Location: Johns Hopkins University
Time: 12:30-5:30 PM
Keynote Speaker: David Heymann, WHO Assistant Director-General for Health Security and the Environment, and Representative of the Director-General for Polio Eradication
For more information, click here.
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Have you lived or worked in a developing country? Have you witnessed the hardships and struggles of communities living with illness and without treatment? Or perhaps you fell ill while abroad? Whatever your global health story is, we want to know it. Click here to tell us your story.
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