Tag: USAID

USAID Global Health Fellows II Program Webinar: Next Wednesday at 2 p.m. EST

by ihsection, posted in Events and Webinars, Information and Social Media

The following announcement is from USAID’s Global Health Fellows II program.

Be Bold, Be Brave, Be Prepared – Be a Global Health Intern Next Summer!

Are you ready to gain crucial global health experience with the largest donor agency in the world? Then it’s time to prep for the Global Health Fellows Program II (GHFP-II) summer 2014 internship application! Register now for our upcoming webinar to learn about our highly-competitive compensated internships with the US Agency for International Development (USAID) in Washington, DC. You can apply for internships online in January 2014, and the webinar will give you ideas about important steps to start taking now.

GHFP-II is a premier global health program that places fellows and interns with USAID in Washington, D.C. and abroad, and provides them with expert professional and career development support. We have over 130 active fellows, and a summer cohort of about 30 interns, with other internships throughout the year.

Complimentary Webinar: Wednesday, September 18th, 11 am PST / 2 pm EST

Be prepared. To help you succeed in landing your summer internship, we’re offering an interactive webinar during which former interns and GHFP-II staff will present the collective wisdom of our recruitment and outreach teams to assist you in successfully positioning yourself for a GHFP-II internship. Included in the discussion will be an emphasis on applicants’ diverse experiences, “distance traveled,” and community influences.

Answers to Your Questions!

What would you ask a global health recruiter if you had the chance? When you register for this webinar, we invite you to submit a burning question, and we will shape the content of the presentation to answer actual questions from you and your peers. Submit your questions early!

Tune in to learn about:

  • GHFP-II and USAID
  • the GHFP-II internship application process
  • the intern experience, straight from the source
  • What you can do now to make your application stand out!

This webinar comes at no cost to you, and is available wherever internet access is available. Register today, as spots are limited!

GHFP-II Webinar

Be Bold, Be Brave, Be Prepared – Be a Global Health Intern Next Summer!

Date and Time

Wednesday September 18th, 2013 | 2 – 3:30 pm EST | 11 am – 12:30 pm PST

Click here for registration.

US Partnership with Africa: Economic Growth and Global Development – Rajiv Shah (CGDev Video)

by ihsection, posted in Information and Social Media

This is another (fairly long) video from the Center for Global Development featuring a high-profile speaker, USAID Director Rajiv Shah. This hour-long dialogue between Shah and Nancy Birdsall, CGDev president, focused on President Obama’s recent trip to Africa and covers a wide range of topics. Obviously, it can be difficult to get government officials – especially high-level ones – to deviate from the official line and get out of bureaucratic-speak, but Birdsall does try to push him a little bit, I think. They also take audience questions during the second half of the video. The first video, of the entire dialogue, is about an hour long; the following videos are clips of the interview focusing on specific topics.


The Center for Global Development was pleased to host USAID Administrator Rajiv Shah for a discussion of the US partnership with Africa. Shah was just back from accompanying President Obama in Senegal, South Africa, and Tanzania, where the president outlined a vision for US-Africa relations that puts a premium on economic opportunity, democracy, and African-led approaches to development.

At the event, Shah discussed the administration’s new commitments and USAID’s role in doubling electric power in Africa, working with young African leaders, boosting food security and global health, and attracting trade and investment to the continent.

Short Clip: Trade and the Africa Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA)

Short Clip: Update on Feed the Future

Short Clip: Energy as Constraint to Economic Growth

Short Clip: USAID and the Future of Development

Short Clip: Prospects for Food Aid Reform

Global Health Weekly News Round-Up

by Vaani, posted in News

Politics and Policies

  • The United States and representatives from 16 African nations gathered on August 27-31 at the Kofi Annan International Peacekeeping Training Center in Accra, Ghana for the pandemic planning conference.
  • Ban on smoking in Public areas went into effect in Lebanon on 3rd September.
  • The German firm that produced thalidomide (taken by pregnant women to reduce morning sickness in 1950’s and early 1960’s) issued an apology to the thousands born disabled as a result of the drug use.
  • U.S. court halts some cuts for Medicaid home care.
  • Justice officials in Berlin (Germany) have laid out guidelines on Wednesday on circumcision.
  • Japan is moving towards relaxing restrictions on American beef imports which was limited because of fears about mad cow disease.

Programs

  • The United States Agency for International Development (USAID) project has supported a $60-million initiative to improve health and nutrition status of people in Ghana especially women of child-bearing age and children less than five years.
  • The Health for All Coalition (HFAC) has launched its ‘Kick Cholera Komot Na Salone’ campaign at Tombo Park, Waterloo to eradicate cholera in Sierra Leone.
  • To improve reproductive health rights of females in Ghana, a project funded by SIMAVI, has been launched by Integrated Social Development Centre (ISODEC) with four local non-governmental organizations (NGO’s)

Research

  • Study published in Journal of Pediatrics states that the expectant mothers who learn from prenatal diagnosis that they are carrying a fetus with a congenital heart defect commonly suffer post-traumatic stress, depression and anxiety.
  • A study funded by the National Institutes of Health states that blood sugar control does not help infants and children undergoing heart surgery.
  • The researchers at North Carolina State University have shown that exposure to bisphenol A (BPA) early in life results in High levels of anxiety. This is due to significant gene expression changes in a specific region of brain called the amygdala.
  • A study found that fathers who sleep in close proximity to their children have their testosterone low as compared to those who sleep alone.
  • A study found that heath care spending in last five years of life exceeds total assets for one quarter of U.S. Medicare population.
  • In a study done at The Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia it was found that coping skills and marital satisfaction help pregnant moms to manage stress when fetus has heart defect.
  • In a study done by the Centers of Disease Control and prevention (the CDC) it found that NFL players are at higher risk of degenerative brain disorders.
  • According to a study adding a few minutes’ attempts to resuscitate patients who suffer a heart attack in hospitalization can significantly boost their chances of survival.
  • According to a study water pipe smoking is as harmful as smoking cigarettes.
  • A study states that more than half the tumors from the cancer have mutations that might be treated by new drugs that are already in pipeline or that could be easily developed.
  • A recent study stated that more young adults have insurance after health care law.
  • A recent study showed that green tea boosts brain power. It also pointed out that it can help to fight cancer, gum disease and glaucoma.
  • According to a recent study on Swedish about women half of the women may have sleep apnea.
  • In a recent study it was found that behavioral sleep training of infants might not have long term benefits.
  • A group researchers say that people can be obese but yet physically healthy and fit. They might not be at a greater risk of any heart disease or cancer than any normal weight people.
  • A study says that sunshine Vitamin D speeds tuberculosis recovery. It states that this vitamin dampen the body’s inflammatory response, reducing damage to the lungs.
  • According to a study intense workouts might be safe for the cardiac disease patients.
  • A long term study showed that the teenagers who smoked cannabis before they reached 18 may have long lasting damage to their intelligence, memory and attention.
  • Group of researchers in their study found that regular exercise might temporarily ease cigarette carvings.
  • According to a new report Australians who smoke cigarettes are declining while the waistlines of people are growing.
  • According to a study, females who are born in South Asian nations and give birth to children in Australia have almost double the rates of still birth as compared to those who were born locally.
  • Australian researchers have found a link between marijuana smoking and testicular cancer.

Diseases and Disasters

  • Earthquake of 5.7 magnitude struck southwestern China on September 7, Friday killing at least 80 people.
  • An earthquake with 7.6 magnitude hit Costa Rica on September 5. Very little damage with only one person is reported of being dead.
  • Costa Rica was hit by an earthquake of 3.4 magnitude on September 7.
  • Tornados hit Washington DC, New York City, Queens and Brooklyn (U.S.A.). No serious injuries reported.
  • In Nigeria flood kills 137 people and displaced more than 30,000 people since the beginning of July 2012.
  • Ebola outbreak killed 15 people in Congo.
  • Three visitors to Yosemite National Park California died due to infection with potentially dangerous Hantavirus.

 

Global Health News Last Week

by ihsection, posted in News

Note: There will be no news round-up next week, as the IH section will be conducting its usual array of activities during APHA’s Annual Meeting.  Please tune in for updates on section sessions and activites at the conference.  Meanwhile, you can get your global health news fix from the DAWNS digest, Humanosphere, or the Healthy Dose.

October 16 was World Food Day.
October 17 was International Day for the Eradication of Poverty.

POLITICS AND POLICY

  • Scientists are warning officials negotiating a global treaty on mercury that banning the deadly chemical completely would be dangerous for public health because of the chemical’s use in vaccines. 
  • The Washington Post runs an editorial critical of the GOP presidential candidates’ hostility toward foreign aid.
  • An influential panel of MPs warned that changes in UK aid policies may make overseas aid more prone to corruption and misuse.
  • Attendees at the Asia Pacific Conference on Sexual and Reproductive Health and Rights have called on countries in the region to introduce comprehensive sexuality education in schools.
  • The Kaiser Family Foundation has released a report which finds that global HIV/AIDS funding dropped by 10% in 2010.

PROGRAMS

  • HP Signed a Memorandum of Understanding with USAID to collaborate in the fight against global poverty through initiatives directed at issues such as public health.
  • GAVI CEO Seth Berkley pens an op-ed in Huffington Post on the economic value of childhood vaccines.
  • The Pan African Parliament has passed a resolution that urges African nations to prioritize maternal, newborn and child health programs.
  • USAID is initiating research to find out whether developing world families will adopt a new cooking technology and adapt their cooking methods to save their health.
  • At an event in Washington, the Aspen Institute’s Global Leaders Council called for increased accessed to contraception worldwide. 
  • Microfinance initiatives to fund development could benefit from reinvigorating their aims and taking on new, integrated approaches, according to experts at the 2011 International Forum on the Social and Solidarity Economy in Montreal.

RESEARCH

  • A new study, by researchers from the National Institutes of Health, Gilead Sciences Inc. and universities in Belgium and Italy, suggests that a microbicide gel, which was originally developed to fight AIDS in Africa, could lower the incidence of herpes in many women.
  • RTS,S a malaria vaccine developed by GlaxoSmithKline, is showing great of promise in the early stages of its huge clinical trial.  The American Society for Tropical Medicine and Hygiene Council Member and Science Director at the PATH Malaria Control Program, Rick Steketee, explores the impact of the new RTS,S clinical trial results and what this breakthrough means for science and neglected tropical disease research. On the other hand, Sarah Boseley wonders where the money will come from once the vaccine has passed its trials, and Karen Grepin is not as excited about the new GSK malaria trial results as many others.
  • Adults who have fallen behind on mortgage payments exhibited higher rates of depression and are skipping meals and medications because they cannot pay the bills, a study published in the American Journal of Public Health found.
  • Teenage drivers have fewer crashes after they’ve been driving for a while, but new research in the American Journal of Public Health suggests that a few months behind the wheel do not improve their driving skills much.
  • A recent study finds that the best way to fight TB in patients with HIV is to treat as early as possible.

DISEASES AND DISASTERS

  • The famine in Somalia isn’t getting much public attention, but not because things are improving. Aid workers predict things will get worse before they get better. Much-needed rain is coming, but the rainfall could deepen the crisis for the four million people there who need help.
  • Numerous UN agencies are ready to be deployed if Southeast Asian nations ravaged by flooding request for assistance.
  • A report by Roll Back Malaria Partnership released at the start of the Gates Foundation’s Global Malaria Forum says that the world is making positive steps towards eradicating malaria. Specifically, 29 countries are on track to stop malaria within a decade.
  • Environmental hazards sicken or kill millions of people — soot or smog in the air, for example, or pollutants in drinking water. But the most dangerous stuff happens where the food is made — in peoples’ kitchens.
  • World Health Organization officials say the rapid and extensive globalization of food production has increased the incidence of food contamination worldwide.
  • Speculators in the agricultural commodities markets are forcing grocery prices to rise too quickly and erratically, according to some top economists marking World Food Day Sunday.
  • Climate change poses an immediate and serious threat to global health and stability, as floods and droughts destroy people’s homes and food supplies and increase mass migration, experts warn.
  • A survey of 87 countries showed more than half the countries reported more or much more awareness of mental illnesses in the past three years. Unfortunately, there is not a whole lot of new money behind that awareness.

All Kinds of Belated News (Week of September 18-24)

by ihsection, posted in APHA IH Section, News

SECTION NEWS

The Fall 2011 Newsletter has been posted!  Be sure to check out recent announcements, section updates, links to recent blog entries, and lots of fellowship opportunities!

The Advocacy/Policy Committee would like to invite you to participate in our first Advocacy Day, led in partnership with the Global Health Council. The day, scheduled for Thursday, November 3rd, 2011, immediately following the annual meeting in Washington, D.C., will be an opportunity for us to voice support for a continued focus on international health to our elected officials. With the intense Congressional pressure to cut the budget, our voices can make a real difference. As a participant during this exciting day, you will be provided with training materials on effective advocacy techniques to ensure your message is clearly heard. Even if you do not have advocacy experience, you need not hesitate to sign up because you will be teamed with others. Please consider joining your fellow International Health Section members on Thursday, November 3rd, 2011 on Capitol Hill to advocate for a healthy globe. Interested parties should register here. Please note that registration will close on October 14th. Any questions should be directed to Peter Freeman, Advocacy/Policy Committee Chair, at pffreeman@gmail.com or 773.318.4842.

The G+ Vaccines Challenge has been launched!  G+, a new online community launched by Gerson Lehrman Group, has partnered with IndieGoGo and StartUp Health to solicit early stage ideas for tackling problems and inefficiencies in vaccine delivery  in-the-field, distribution and development. Finalists will have the unique opportunity to present their ideas to a panel of investment, NGO and corporate and life sciences professionals with the influence to advance those ideas towards realization.  You can find more information about the challenge here.

APHA NEWS

Dr. Benjamin is currently on a teaching sabbatical at Hunter College in NYC. Alan Baker (former Chief of Staff at APHA) returned to serve as Acting Executive
Director in the interim.

UN HIGH-LEVEL MEETING ON NCDs

  • The UN held its first-ever meeting on the prevention and control of non-communicable diseases.  Global health journalist Tom Paulson provided some great coverage of the event on the Humanosphere blog.
  • World leaders unanimously adopted the NCD Summit Outcome Document at the General Assembly in New York.
  • On the sidelines of the General Assembly meeting in New York, the United States and WHO signed a memorandum of understanding to help developing countries boost capacity to meet the International Health Regulations.
  • The cost for the developing world to address NCDs, based on the WHO’s recommendation to increase budgets by 4%, will be $11.4 billion.

POLITICS AND POLICY

Microsoft co-founder and billionaire philanthropist Bill Gates appears poised to endorse the adoption of a controversial financial transactions tax (FTT) to be used as a new source of development aid for poor countries.

PROGRAMS

  • The multibillion dollar Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria must do a better job managing its grants to partner countries, according to an independent review panel.  A seven member panel investigating the Global Fund has recommended that it place greater emphasis on results and improve risk management.  In the Center for Global Development blog, William Savedoff is concerned that the new report suggesting changes for the Global Fund will move it away from innovating.
  • USAID has announced that it will be giving a $200 million grant to the Public Health Institute to support its global health fellows program.
  • Private and public actors have lined up to support Every Woman Every Child and its goal of preventing 33 million unwanted pregnancies.

RESEARCH

Researchers at the 51st Interscience Conference on Antimicrobial Agents and Chemotherapy in Chicago announced that they were able to reduce the level of HIV in infected people through cell-based therapy.

DISEASES AND DISASTERS

  • The privacy curtains that separate care spaces in hospitals and clinics are frequently contaminated with potentially dangerous bacteria, according to a U.S. study.
  • If today’s momentum and progress against malaria can be sustained, deaths from this infectious disease could be reduced to near-zero, and cases of infection cut by 75 per cent in the next decade, says a recent report by the Roll Back Malaria (RBM) Partnership.
  • Depression may go hand in hand with a number of other physical health problems, including heart disease, cancer and diabetes. Now the latest evidence suggests that depression may also increase the risk of stroke.
  • Polio has spread to China for the first time since 1999 after being imported from Pakistan, the World Health Organization (WHO) has confirmed.

TOTALLY UNRELATED TO ANYTHING: Melinda Gates is now on Twitter!