Global Health Progress

Even in the midst of the economic crisis, America cannot afford to curb investments in global health initiatives, said experts at a recent Capitol Hill briefing. Panelists at the forum, sponsored by FamiliesUSA and Research!America, examined the potential consequences of the global spread of communicable and chronic disease on the health, economy and national security of the United States.

This week’s roundup of blog entries on global health topics includes a drug donation success story, low-tech data collection methods, and some powerful photography projects.

Accordia Global Health Foundation, formerly the Academic Alliance Foundation, has received a $12.5 million grant from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation to support a landmark study to identify the most effective and cost-efficient way to prepare healthcare workers in sub-Saharan Africa to treat infectious diseases such as HIV/AIDS, malaria and tuberculosis.

The Indoor Residual Spraying (IRS) campaign which was carried out from August 25 to October 18 was a success. This was revealed Thursday by the Center for Infection Control (CIDC) during an evaluation meeting with stakeholders at Hotel la Pallise, Nyandungu. According to CIDC, the exercise which was carried out in five districts of the country was a success with a 94 percent outcome against the expected 85 percent.

Arabella Philanthropic Investment Advisors, experts in trends in philanthropic giving, recognized neglected tropical disease (NTD) control as one of the top high-impact, underfunded issues that philanthropists should address in a time of financial instability and growing global need.

A ground-breaking South African study has provided the first hard evidence that treating HIV-positive babies with antiretroviral (ARV) medicines from as early as six weeks dramatically improves their chances of survival.

Health authorities in Zimbabwe were struggling on Friday to contain an unprecedented outbreak of cholera, with the water-borne disease spreading to nine out of the troubled African nation’s 10 provinces.

In its first 8 years, the Global Programme to Eliminate Lymphatic Filariasis (GPELF) achieved an unprecedentedly rapid scale-up: >1.9 billion treatments with anti-filarial drugs (albendazole, ivermectin, and diethylcarbamazine) were provided via yearly mass drug administration (MDA) to a minimum of 570 million individuals living in 48 of the 83 initially identified LF-endemic countries.

HIV-positive infants who begin receiving antiretroviral therapy immediately after being diagnosed with the virus are 76% less likely to die than HIV-positive infants who do not receive treatment until the disease has progressed, according to a study published Thursday in the New England Journal of Medicine, Reuters reports.

Malian President yesterday said Africans must strengthen the global research for health in their countries. Amadou Toumani, who made this call at the opening ceremony of the 2008 global forum on health in Mali, said that it has become necessary to ensure that malaria, tuberculosis and HIV/AIDS should not be found on the surface of the continent.