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.
October 7, 2008
In This Issue:
Policy Updates
1. Comprehensive TB Elimination Act
2. Appropriations
News and Reports
3. New from Families USA's Global Health Initiative: Updated State Fact Sheets
4. The State of Business and HIV/AIDS, Tuberculosis, and Malaria (2008)
5. $4.6 Million Bonus to Broaden Global Health Network
6. New Money for Malaria
7. Gates Gives $168 million for Research into Malaria Vaccines
8. The Forgotten Plague
9. Foreclosures Worsen Spread of West Nile
Events
10. AIDS Vaccine 2008 Conference
11. Universities Allied for Essential Medicines (UAEM) Fall 2008 Conference
12. 48th ICAAC/IDSA 46th Annual Meeting
13. American Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene Annual Meeting
Policy Updates
1. Comprehensive TB Elimination Act
The Comprehensive TB Elimination Act is set to become law. The legislation includes important language that requires the government to develop new medical tools to combat TB. While this legislation does not specifically appropriate dollars to do this work, it is a big step forward.
2. Appropriations
At the end of September, a Continuing Resolution (CR) was passed by Congress and signed by the President. This allows NIH and CDC to continue operating at their fiscal year 2008 funding levels through March 2009. This delays a final fiscal year 2009 appropriations bill until the next Administration and Congress.
News and Reports
3. New from Families USA's Global Health Initiative: Updated State Fact Sheets
Global health matters here at home, and in your state, too. How? Check out these new fact sheets developed by Families USA's Global Health Initiative. Find out how investing in global health benefits your state's economy, businesses, and health.
New state fact sheets have been added for Arizona, Colorado, Florida, Indiana, Kentucky, Louisiana, Massachusetts, Minnesota, Nevada, Tennessee, and Virginia. We will continue to add states throughout the fall.
To see how your state benefits from investing in global health, click here.
4. The State of Business and HIV/AIDS, Tuberculosis, and Malaria (2008)
The State of Business and HIV/AIDS, Tuberculosis, and Malaria (2008) (Global Business Coalition, 2008)
“Business must be an active participant in the fight against HIV/AIDS, tuberculosis, and malaria if the tragic social and economic impact of these diseases is to be brought to an end…The State of Business and HIV/AIDS, Tuberculosis & Malaria (2008) report gives solid insight into the part business is playing in the global fight.”
To read the report, click here.
5. $4.6 Million Bonus to Broaden Global Health Network
$4.6 Million Bonus to Broaden Global Health Network (SciDevNet, September 30, 2008)
"The globalization process has increased considerably the economic, political and social interdependence between countries which has a deep effect on health, and for that reason we were interested in a global health program," says Lisa DeMaria, coordinator of the program to train health professionals and support health research at INSP (Mexico’s National Institute of Public Health).
To read the article, click here.
6. New Money for Malaria
New Money for Malaria (Voice of America, October 1, 2008)
“Governments and groups promise $3 billion for a plan that aims to stop the disease in Africa by 2015. Also, the W.H.O. sharply lowered its estimate of malaria cases worldwide.”
To read the article, click here.
7. Gates Gives $168 million for Research into Malaria Vaccines
Gates Gives $168 million for Research into Malaria Vaccine (Fierce Bio Researcher, September 30, 2008)
"We need innovation, new drugs, and the most dramatic thing we need is [a] vaccine," says Bill Gates.
To read the article describing their work, click here.
8. The Forgotten Plague
The Forgotten Plague (TIME, October 2, 2008)
“Thousands of years after Tuberculosis ravaged ancient cultures stretching from Greece to Egypt, more than a century after the bacillus responsible for the disease was first identified and decades after the first antibiotic-based treatments appeared, TB continues to thrive.”
To read the article, click here.
9. Foreclosures Worsen Spread of West Nile
Foreclosures Worsen Spread of West Nile (WebMD.com, October 2, 2008)
“The mortgage crisis has spread like a virus through the world's financial system—and may be spreading a real virus, too.”
To read the article, click here.
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10. AIDS Vaccine 2008 Conference
Date: October 13-16, 2008
Location: Cape Town, South Africa
For more information click here.
11. Universities Allied for Essential Medicines (UAEM) Fall 2008 Conference
Date: October 17-19, 2008
Location: University of California, Berkeley
For more information click here.
12. 48th ICAAC/IDSA 46th Annual Meeting
Date: October 25-28, 2008
Location: Washington, D.C., at the Walter E. Washington Convention Center
For more information click here.
13. American Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene Annual Meeting
Date: December 7-11, 2008
Location: New Orleans, Louisiana, at the Sheraton New Orleans
This is ASTMH's 57th Annual Meeting.
For more information click here.
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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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