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.
May 20, 2008
In This Issue:
Policy
1. Bush Opposition to Supplemental Spending Bill, including $400 million for Medical Research.
2. Critical Legislation Would Greatly Expand U.S. Efforts to Fight TB
3. Michael Gerson on PEPFAR in the Washington Post: An AIDS Relief Miracle
4. NIAID Director on Vaccine Awareness Day: Despite Setbacks, HIV Vaccine Demands Intense Resolve
News and Reports
5. The Search Must Continue: AVAC Report Explores Potential for Moving Forward Despite Vaccine Setbacks
6. Mosquito Thrives; So Does Dengue Fever
7. President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief: One of Our Best Ambassadors
8. Self-Sterilizing Plastics Kill Drug-Resistant Bacteria
Events
9. New Options for HIV Prevention: The Continuing Need for Research Investment
10. Gorgas Memorial/Leon Jacobs Lecture
11. 35th Annual International Conference on Global Health
Policy
1. Bush Opposition to Supplemental Spending Bill, including $400 million for Medical Research.
A Fiscal Year 2008 supplemental package is being considered by the Senate Appropriations Committee. H.R. 2642, Supplemental Appropriations Bill of 2008, includes $400 million for health research by the National Institutes of Health; this level of spending for NIH would be sufficient to fund approximately 700 additional research grants in Fiscal Year 2008, increasing the potential for much-needed treatments to advance U.S. and global health.
However, President Bush is in opposition to the bill, and has threatened to veto the bill in its current form.
Click here to let your members of Congress know that you care about NIH research to improve U.S. and global health.
2. Critical Legislation Would Greatly Expand U.S. Efforts to Fight TB
One-third of the world's population is infected with the bacteria that cause TB, and one in 10 of those infected develop active TB. Strains of TB have developed that are resistant to all of our major anti-TB drugs. The U.S. House of Representatives is now considering the Comprehensive TB Elimination Act, which would greatly expand our efforts to combat TB, including the development of new, effective drugs, diagnostics, and vaccines.
Call your Representatives at 1-800-828-0498 and tell them to cosponsor the Comprehensive TB Elimination Act (H.R. 1532) to prevent the spread of drug-resistant TB in the U.S. and to develop new medical tools to fight TB.
Click here to read a summary of the Comprehensive TB Elimination Act.
3. Michael Gerson on PEPFAR in the Washington Post: An AIDS Relief Miracle.
The PEPFAR Reauthorization Act of 2008 contains, among other treatment and prevention provisions, important provisions that would facilitate research to develop some of the tools lacking to combat global infectious diseases. As the PEPFAR Reauthorization Act of 2008 awaits passage in the Senate, Michael Gerson, writing in the Washington Post, ignited debate on the Senate members who are blocking U.S. assistance for millions living with HIV: “… it takes a conscious choice -- an act of tremendous will and pride -- for members to employ these powers against an AIDS bill with overwhelming bipartisan support.”
Click here to read the article.
4. NIAID Director on Vaccine Awareness Day: Despite Setbacks, HIV Vaccine Demands Intense Resolve
It has been a year with disappointments in the search for an AIDS vaccine, but on Vaccine Awareness Day, Dr. Anthony Fauci, Director of the National Institutes of Health’s National Institute for Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), reminded the public that, although vaccine research can take a long time, persistence has paid off.
“Historically, it has taken decades to find effective vaccines to combat infectious diseases. In the 89 years it took to create an effective pertussis vaccine and the 42 years it took to develop an effective measles vaccine, researchers experienced numerous setbacks and disappointments before reaching success; yet they persevered. Finding a safe and effective HIV vaccine demands an equally intense resolve.” -- Anthony Fauci, M.D.
Read Anthony Fauci's statement here.
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News and Reports
5. The Search Must Continue: AVAC Report Explores Potential for Moving Forward Despite Vaccine Setbacks
The Search Must Continue (AVAC Report 2008)
The 2008 AVAC Report—The Search Must Continue—provides a comprehensive review of recent developments in AIDS vaccine research. It explores the issues being raised in wake of the failure of Merck’s vaccine candidate and provides context for the events and major changes of the last year in HIV prevention research.
6. Mosquito Thrives; So Does Dengue Fever
“Mosquito Thrives; So Does Dengue Fever,” (New York Times, May 13, 2008)
Dengue fever, which has increased rapidly around the world in the last few years, may not be as far away as we once thought. According to an article in the New York Times, “Though most North Americans who receive a diagnosis of dengue fever were infected while traveling to countries where the disease is endemic, including Mexico, it has also struck residents of Hawaii and Texas who had not left American shores.”
7. The President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR): One of our best ambassadors
“The President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR): One of our best ambassadors,” (Tulsa World, May 16, 2008)
As PEPFAR awaits a vote in the Senate, following successful votes in the House and the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, Jennifer Delaney, Executive Director of Global Action for Children, writes a timely op-ed piece urging the reauthorization of PEPFAR: “The $50 billion price tag is clearly worth the money in lives saved, and the goodwill PEPFAR brings to the U.S. in the eyes of other nations has a value that should not be underestimated.”
8. Self-Sterilizing Plastics Kill Drug-Resistant Bacteria
“Self-Sterilizing Plastics Kill Drug-Resistant Bacteria,” (Scientific American, May 13, 2008)
As bacteria become increasingly resistant to antibiotic drugs, we ask, what is being done to combat this? Read this article and find out about the new research and developments being made to deal with increasing resistance to antibiotic drugs as well as some potential applications for global infectious disease control.
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9. New Options for HIV Prevention: The Continuing Need for Research Investment
The AIDS Vaccine Advocacy Coalition and Caucus for Evidence-Based Prevention
in cooperation with Representatives Lois Capps and Mike Castle
Cordially invite you to attend a congressional briefing
New Options for HIV Prevention: The Continuing Need for Research Investment
Thurs. May 22, 2008 9-10:30 am
Room B340, Rayburn House Office Building, Washington, D.C.
Click here for more information.
To RSVP, contact sonia.kandathil@yahoo.com
10. Gorgas Memorial Leon Jacobs Lecture
Edgar M. Carvalho, M.D., Ph.D.
"Pathogenesis of Leishmaniasis: Parasite and Host Factors"
May 30, 2008
National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, MD
Contact: 301-496-0577
11. 35th Annual International Conference on Global Health
May 27 – 31, Washington DC
Featured Speakers:
Dr. Margaret Chan, World Health Organization
Dr. Mirta Roses, Pan American Health Organization
Click here for more information.
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Tell us YOUR global health story!
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.
Visit Families USA's Global Health Initiative for more information.
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