Politics & Policies
Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus has been elected as the new WHO director general.
The State Department on Monday officially announced a broad expansion of the Mexico City Policy, a regulation put in place by every Republican president since Ronald Reagan that prevents foreign nongovernmental organizations that perform or promote abortions from receiving American dollars.
If a serious infectious disease blossomed across the globe today, the US death toll could be double that of all the casualties suffered in wars since the American Revolution.
A report from an expert committee convened by the National Academy of Sciences, Engineering and Medicine outlines global health priorities and strategies to maintain US leadership.
Programs, Grants & Awards
Each year, the Duke Global Health Institute honors outstanding students and faculty members with several awards. This year, as is commonly the case, the award conferring committees were hard-pressed to select winners, given the abundance of nominations for highly deserving candidates.
The Global Health Corporate Champions is an activity of USAID’s Global Health Fellows Program (GHFP) II, which is implemented by the Public Health Institute and supported by PYXERA Global. GHFP-II supports the Agency’s thought leadership in building a diverse, technically excellent, culturally competent group of American global health leaders.
Research
The US is on track to end the HIV epidemic within the next decade.
A new report from the WHO and its partners estimates that nearly 1.2 million adolescents die from largely preventable causes every year, that would be 3000 deaths each day.
Researchers have identified the molecular mechanism by which the deadly superbug “Golden Staph” evades antibiotic treatment. These results may provide clues to counter antibiotic resistance.
WHO data shows that nearly half of all deaths are now recorded, a trend that implies improvement in collection of vital health statistics and progress towards attaining sustainable development goals.
Diseases & Disasters
USAID is exploring the merger of its disaster and food assistance offices to create an entity that would manage a $4 billion humanitarian operations.
According to the WHO, there are now 29 suspected Ebola cases in Congo.
According to a new study, risk of dementia is significantly decreased among retirees who volunteer.
A state of emergency has been declared in Yemen after Cholera killed 157 people between April 27 and May 13.
The Nuclear Threat Initiative has joined the global health council to broaden its biosecurity mission.
Technology
The Indian government’s decision to include pneumococcal conjugate vaccine in its Universal Immunization Program is a big public health win.
A severe shortage of the injectable polio vaccine is threatening to hinder polio eradication.
Environmental Health
Stanford University has produced a new report that outlines recommendations to mitigate health impacts of climate change.
There is concern that continued destruction of forests in Asia-Pacific region will hamper the advancement towards meeting the sustainable development goals.
Equity & Disparities
According to a recent UNICEF analysis of 11 countries in the Middle East and North Africa, at least 29 million children live in poverty in the region.
A new Lancet Global Health article discusses lack of gender parity in leadership positions in the field of global health. Women make up for about 84% of the student body but this number declines sharply to only about 24% in leadership positions.
Maternal, Neonatal & Children’s Health
The underground sex industry notoriously eludes any efforts to officially measure its size, but those of us who study it can say one thing for sure: It’s a booming industry in the US and it’s bigger than you think.
According to a new WHO report, pregnancy related complications are the leading cause of death globally among adolescent girls between 15 and 19 years of age.
Human Rights
About 2 migrant domestic workers die each week in Lebanon; there is growing and urgent need for better policies, laws and enforcement.
UNHCR has opened a 12th camp for residents fleeing the Mosul conflict.
IH CONNECT 