http://www.smartglobalhealth.org/ en Copyright 2013 2013-05-24T20:48:23+00:00 http://www.smartglobalhealth.org/blog/entry/some-good-news-on-h7n9-but-no-time-for-complacency/ http://www.smartglobalhealth.org/blog/entry/some-good-news-on-h7n9-but-no-time-for-complacency/ For two months, the global health community has once again been on alert, watching closely to see if another pandemic is around the corner. Since March 31st, 131 cases (one in Taiwan, the rest in China) of avian influenza A (H7N9) have been confirmed, causing 36 deaths in China. Fortunately, only one new case has been confirmed since April, none since the first week of May. Given how interconnected the world is today, the situation also reinforces the value of helping other countries become more resilient in being able to prevent, detect and respond to these and other emerging threats - improving their ability to implement the International Health Regulations – and thus enhancing global health security. 2013-05-24T19:48:23+00:00 http://www.smartglobalhealth.org/blog/entry/world-bank-will-step-up-analytic-work-in-support-of-universal-health-covera/ http://www.smartglobalhealth.org/blog/entry/world-bank-will-step-up-analytic-work-in-support-of-universal-health-covera/ The World Bank Group will increase its analytic work and health systems’ support as one of five measures it will take to encourage universal health coverage globally, World Bank Group President Jim Yong Kim said this week in Geneva. 2013-05-24T17:38:58+00:00 http://www.smartglobalhealth.org/blog/entry/leaders-re-focus-ihp-to-improve-health-aid-coordination/ http://www.smartglobalhealth.org/blog/entry/leaders-re-focus-ihp-to-improve-health-aid-coordination/ World Bank Group President Jim Yong Kim made a strong case May 21 for increasing alignment between donors and countries to improve delivery of health services, citing the International Health Partnership (IHP+) as a helpful vehicle. 2013-05-24T14:42:23+00:00 http://www.smartglobalhealth.org/blog/entry/dr.-kims-prescription-for-global-health/ http://www.smartglobalhealth.org/blog/entry/dr.-kims-prescription-for-global-health/ Earlier in the week, World Bank President Jim Yong Kim delivered a rousing speech to the World Health Assembly, the annual week-long jamboree of global health leadership. It comes at a critical moment. Work is underway to draft a new set of fifteen-year millennium development goals that will guide work on health and development through 2030. With such great expectations of Dr. Kim from the health community, his comments this week help us see the path he’s choosing. 2013-05-23T18:17:49+00:00 http://www.smartglobalhealth.org/blog/entry/who-attempts-to-enlist-the-extremely-powerful-forces-of-industry-to-combat-/ http://www.smartglobalhealth.org/blog/entry/who-attempts-to-enlist-the-extremely-powerful-forces-of-industry-to-combat-/ The World Health Organization is in active dialogue with the food, beverage, alcohol, and even sporting goods industries to encourage marketing changes and product formulations to help curb the growing worldwide prevalence of non-communicable diseases (NCDs). 2013-05-22T15:42:59+00:00 http://www.smartglobalhealth.org/blog/entry/strengthening-u.s.-investments-in-womens-global-health-a-csis-delegation-to/ http://www.smartglobalhealth.org/blog/entry/strengthening-u.s.-investments-in-womens-global-health-a-csis-delegation-to/ In March 2013, a delegation led by the CSIS Global Health Policy Center traveled to Zambia to report on the opportunities and challenges of strengthening U.S. investments overseas in women’s health. This report comes at a timely and important moment; the U.S. government and its partners have an opportunity to build on the current momentum and incorporate lessons learned into the next phase of planning and implementation for Saving Mothers, Giving Life (SMGL), which addresses maternal mortality; and Pink Ribbon Red Ribbon (PRRR), which integrates cervical cancer screening and treatment with HIV/AIDS services and increases breast cancer awareness. 2013-05-21T16:36:17+00:00 http://www.smartglobalhealth.org/blog/entry/the-last-best-chance-for-global-polio-eradication/ http://www.smartglobalhealth.org/blog/entry/the-last-best-chance-for-global-polio-eradication/ After 25 years of remarkable achievements and sometimes harrowing setbacks, a successful conclusion to global polio eradication could finally be within reach. Every effort should be made to capitalize on this promising moment: if we don't, the opportunity to eradicate polio may slip by. Reflections from J. Stephen Morrison, Infectious Disease, Maternal & Child Health 2013-05-01T12:15:33+00:00 http://www.smartglobalhealth.org/blog/entry/another-candidate-hiv-vaccine-fails-we-must-keep-trying/ http://www.smartglobalhealth.org/blog/entry/another-candidate-hiv-vaccine-fails-we-must-keep-trying/ Yesterday, the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) of the U.S. National Institutes of Health (NIH) announced that it was stopping further testing of a candidate HIV vaccine combination (study HVTN 505). While this is a disappointing turn of events, perseverance is needed. 2013-04-26T16:14:23+00:00 http://www.smartglobalhealth.org/blog/entry/presidents-malaria-initiative-big-success-from-a-quiet-team/ http://www.smartglobalhealth.org/blog/entry/presidents-malaria-initiative-big-success-from-a-quiet-team/ While the giant PEPFAR program to fight HIV/AIDS in developing countries gets a lot of attention in U.S. foreign policy discussions, a lesser known initiative to address malaria is achieving sustained, impressive results. The President’s Malaria Initiative (PMI), launched in 2005 by former President Bush, helps a range of countries prevent and treat malaria by providing them with technical guidance, programmatic support, and funding. Its model and achievements over almost a decade offer important lessons. Infectious Disease 2013-04-24T12:59:06+00:00 http://www.smartglobalhealth.org/blog/entry/a-guide-to-our-new-itunesu-course-global-health-policy-in-the-second-obama-/ http://www.smartglobalhealth.org/blog/entry/a-guide-to-our-new-itunesu-course-global-health-policy-in-the-second-obama-/ With the release of our Global Health Policy in the Second Obama Term iTunes University course, we’ve received a few questions about how the course works. This is a quick 101 on the course’s basics. Infectious Disease, Health Diplomacy, Maternal & Child Health, Noncommunicable Diseases, Multimedia, Publications 2013-04-11T12:33:31+00:00 http://www.smartglobalhealth.org/blog/entry/global-tb-control-through-partnerships/ http://www.smartglobalhealth.org/blog/entry/global-tb-control-through-partnerships/ On March 21, KNCV honored USAID for the agency’s contribution to the field of global TB control. Dr. Sharon Stash, Senior Fellow and Deputy Director at the Global Health Policy Center, spoke at the awards ceremony and noted options for how the U.S. government can advance these global efforts. Infectious Disease, Health Diplomacy 2013-04-09T13:33:02+00:00 http://www.smartglobalhealth.org/blog/entry/new-institute-of-medicine-report-on-illegitimate-drugs-a-moral-tragedy/ http://www.smartglobalhealth.org/blog/entry/new-institute-of-medicine-report-on-illegitimate-drugs-a-moral-tragedy/ The U.S. Institute of Medicine at the National Academy of Sciences recently released a new report on Countering the Problem of Falsified and Substandard Drugs. Commissioned by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, it raises important, indeed frightening, concerns about the quality and reliability of medicines in the U.S. and other developed nations, as well as in low- and middle-income countries that often have weaker capacities, and proposes concrete steps in response. Infectious Disease, Health Diplomacy, Noncommunicable Diseases, Measurement & Accountability 2013-03-21T12:50:53+00:00 http://www.smartglobalhealth.org/blog/entry/the-new-state-department-office-of-global-health-diplomacy-a-second-chance-/ http://www.smartglobalhealth.org/blog/entry/the-new-state-department-office-of-global-health-diplomacy-a-second-chance-/ The Office of Global Health Diplomacy offers the Obama administration a second chance, after costly stumbles in the first term, to get its global health policy right, especially in improving cross-agency coherence of U.S. international health programs and sharpening the vision for U.S. leadership in global health. Reflections from J. Stephen Morrison, Infectious Disease, Health Diplomacy, Maternal & Child Health 2013-03-18T18:31:20+00:00 http://www.smartglobalhealth.org/blog/entry/global-burden-of-disease-new-estimates-of-whats-killing-us/ http://www.smartglobalhealth.org/blog/entry/global-burden-of-disease-new-estimates-of-whats-killing-us/ The Seattle-based Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation (IHME) recently published the most recent global estimates of disease burden that update the leading causes of death and disability across the world, based on data from 2010. It seems a devilishly complicated and ambitious endeavor. While a number of smart people have raised concerns about the reliability of the underlying data, the study report tells a powerful, compelling story about trends in mortality and disability. Infectious Disease, Maternal & Child Health, Noncommunicable Diseases 2013-03-15T13:47:18+00:00 http://www.smartglobalhealth.org/blog/entry/the-potential-contribution-of-the-global-health-service-partnership-to-redu/ http://www.smartglobalhealth.org/blog/entry/the-potential-contribution-of-the-global-health-service-partnership-to-redu/ In March 2012, the Peace Corps, the U.S. President's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR), and the Global Health Service Corps launched the public-private Global Health Service Partnership, a promising initiative that could improve the health sector in a number of developing countries. The CSIS Global Health Policy Center was fortunate to have the opportunity to play a modest role during the planning stages of this innovative enterprise. As the Partnership moves forward, a number of potential concerns will require careful attention. Infectious Disease, Health Diplomacy, Humanitarian Aid 2013-03-13T12:39:02+00:00 http://www.smartglobalhealth.org/blog/entry/the-ioms-pepfar-evaluation-implications-for-the-global-fund/ http://www.smartglobalhealth.org/blog/entry/the-ioms-pepfar-evaluation-implications-for-the-global-fund/ The U.S. Institute of Medicine of the National Academy of Sciences recently completed a congressionally-mandated impact evaluation of the PEPFAR HIV/AIDS program, which is the single largest ever health initiative of the U.S. government. The Global Fund needs to pore over the IOM evaluation and absorb its well-crafted recommendations for achieving even more in the future. Especially in lean economic times, our forward progress in fighting AIDS will depend more than ever on being smart about our approach. Infectious Disease 2013-03-11T19:07:02+00:00 http://www.smartglobalhealth.org/blog/entry/saving-mothers-a-new-initiative-to-address-maternal-mortality/ http://www.smartglobalhealth.org/blog/entry/saving-mothers-a-new-initiative-to-address-maternal-mortality/ The Center for Strategic and International Studies traveled to Zambia because it has a disproportionately high rate of maternal mortality – an estimated 440 women dying for every 100,000 live births, which is 20 times higher than the U.S. But Zambia, as well as Uganda, is also the site of a new program, called Saving Mothers, Giving Life (SMGL), designed to reduce maternal mortality by up to 50 percent in selected districts in a year. Maternal & Child Health, Multimedia 2013-03-03T22:29:51+00:00 http://www.smartglobalhealth.org/blog/entry/multimedia-global-health-policy-in-obamas-second-term/ http://www.smartglobalhealth.org/blog/entry/multimedia-global-health-policy-in-obamas-second-term/ The new volume, Global Health Policy in the Second Obama Term, analyzes seven important dimensions of a complex, widening U.S. global health agenda. Watch the authors discuss their individual topics. Infectious Disease, Maternal & Child Health, Noncommunicable Diseases, Multimedia, Publications 2013-02-23T22:32:48+00:00 http://www.smartglobalhealth.org/blog/entry/global-health-policy-in-the-second-obama-term/ http://www.smartglobalhealth.org/blog/entry/global-health-policy-in-the-second-obama-term/ This new volume from the CSIS Global Health Policy Center, Global Health Policy in the Second Obama Term, analyzes seven important dimensions of a complex, widening U.S. global health agenda: HIV/AIDS; malaria; polio eradication; women’s health; health security; health diplomacy; and multilateral partners. Infectious Disease, Maternal & Child Health, Pandemic Preparedness, Noncommunicable Diseases, Publications 2013-02-23T22:14:38+00:00 http://www.smartglobalhealth.org/blog/entry/cervical-cancer-and-hiv-in-women/ http://www.smartglobalhealth.org/blog/entry/cervical-cancer-and-hiv-in-women/ Cervical cancer kills an estimated 275,000 women every year, 85 percent of whom are in developing countries. The link between HIV and cervical cancer is direct and deadly. To understand the opportunities and challenges of integrating cervical cancer screening and treatment into HIV services for women, CSIS traveled to Zambia, which has been at the forefront of integrating these services. Maternal & Child Health, Noncommunicable Diseases, Multimedia 2013-02-10T16:43:48+00:00 http://www.smartglobalhealth.org/blog/entry/president-joyce-banda-new-focus-on-womens-health-and-empowerment-in-malawi/ http://www.smartglobalhealth.org/blog/entry/president-joyce-banda-new-focus-on-womens-health-and-empowerment-in-malawi/ CSIS wanted to learn more about how women leaders in Africa are bringing new attention to women’s health and empowerment in their own countries, and to bring those voices into the discussion about U.S. policy priorities for women’s global health. To do this, we sent a small team to Malawi and Zambia in December 2012. Infectious Disease, Maternal & Child Health, Humanitarian Aid, Measurement & Accountability, Travel Blog, Multimedia 2013-01-08T20:00:12+00:00 http://www.smartglobalhealth.org/blog/entry/microbial-threats-looking-back-and-looking-ahead/ http://www.smartglobalhealth.org/blog/entry/microbial-threats-looking-back-and-looking-ahead/ The past two decades have seen a whirlwind of activity in emerging and re-emerging infectious diseases. Twenty years ago very few people talked about “One Health,” yet there is now strong consensus about the close links between animal and human health. Although it has been 60 years since Joshua and Esther Lederberg showed us that penicillin-resistant bacteria existed even before there was penicillin treatment, the problem of microbial resistance has accelerated over the past 20 years. And the scientific and public health community has shifted from talking about a “war” against microbes to a focus on better understanding microbial communities and on the interactions between hosts and microbes. Infectious Disease, Pandemic Preparedness, Measurement & Accountability 2012-12-21T18:41:04+00:00 http://www.smartglobalhealth.org/blog/entry/competing-pressures-for-u.s.-pepfar-in-botswana/ http://www.smartglobalhealth.org/blog/entry/competing-pressures-for-u.s.-pepfar-in-botswana/ Botswana has made tremendous strides in the fight against HIV/AIDS in the last decade, supported by the early and important U.S. partnership created through the President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR). In the next five years, however, that partnership will be tested as the United States and Botswana negotiate a complex, multiyear handoff of PEPFAR-supported HIV/AIDS activities and as U.S. financial assistance is reduced. U.S. funding through PEPFAR is anticipated to decrease from $75 million to a plateau of $35 million by 2016, with an annual reduction in funding of about $10 million per year. Infectious Disease, Humanitarian Aid, Measurement & Accountability, Travel Blog, Publications 2012-12-19T14:29:40+00:00 http://www.smartglobalhealth.org/blog/entry/giving-the-blueprint-legs/ http://www.smartglobalhealth.org/blog/entry/giving-the-blueprint-legs/ On November 30, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton launched the PEPFAR Blueprint: Creating an AIDS-free generation. We would like to extend our congratulations to her and Ambassador Goosby whose leadership enabled the successful completion of this difficult task in record time. Infectious Disease, Maternal & Child Health, Humanitarian Aid, Measurement & Accountability 2012-12-03T18:49:54+00:00 http://www.smartglobalhealth.org/blog/entry/lessons-learned-from-aids-2012/ http://www.smartglobalhealth.org/blog/entry/lessons-learned-from-aids-2012/ In the year leading up to the International AIDS Conference, CSIS played the unusual role of assembling a diverse high-level advisory group to assist the lead organizers in navigating the special challenges in the Washington political environment. That group, the American Friends of AIDS 2012, was especially important in enlarging the space for participation by Congressional and faith communities. Reflections from J. Stephen Morrison, Infectious Disease, Humanitarian Aid, Measurement & Accountability 2012-11-27T18:33:45+00:00 http://www.smartglobalhealth.org/blog/entry/a-new-funding-model-for-the-global-fund/ http://www.smartglobalhealth.org/blog/entry/a-new-funding-model-for-the-global-fund/ At its 28th meeting last week in Geneva, the Global Fund’s board approved a fundamental change in its funding model that’s designed to be flexible, focused, and fast. While significant details remain to be worked out, the basic approach has been agreed as has a plan to implement it rapidly. Infectious Disease, Humanitarian Aid, Measurement & Accountability 2012-11-26T19:33:38+00:00 http://www.smartglobalhealth.org/blog/entry/nigeria-a-must-win-country-for-global-health/ http://www.smartglobalhealth.org/blog/entry/nigeria-a-must-win-country-for-global-health/ Home to 170 million people, many of them desperately poor, Nigeria carries a huge and disproportionate share of burden for many of the world’s most deadly diseases. Look in the global strategies for HIV, TB, malaria, maternal and child health, polio eradication, NTDs, and NCDs – among many others – and you’ll see Nigeria at or near the top of the “Must Win” countries. The reason is simple. If there isn’t success in Nigeria, the global picture remains bleak. Infectious Disease, Maternal & Child Health, Noncommunicable Diseases, Humanitarian Aid, Measurement & Accountability 2012-11-08T19:52:00+00:00 http://www.smartglobalhealth.org/blog/entry/global-health-as-a-bridge-to-security/ http://www.smartglobalhealth.org/blog/entry/global-health-as-a-bridge-to-security/ Our understanding of global health and its relationship to national security, and the well-being of the wider global community has grown and evolved over time. For these reasons, health and security are no longer separate domains for policymakers. They interact with each other. In this project, CSIS explores the nexus between health and security by collecting personal stories of a selection of our nation's leading military and global health professionals. Infectious Disease, Pandemic Preparedness, Noncommunicable Diseases, Humanitarian Aid, Measurement & Accountability, Past Events, Multimedia 2012-11-01T13:41:09+00:00 http://www.smartglobalhealth.org/blog/entry/women-and-girls-health-its-more-than-maternal-mortality/ http://www.smartglobalhealth.org/blog/entry/women-and-girls-health-its-more-than-maternal-mortality/ The tragedy of maternal mortality deserves all the attention it currently gets – and much more. But it would be a mistake to think of women’s poor pregnancy outcomes as an isolated set of purely medical challenges that can be solved by a narrow focus on emergency care. Infectious Disease, Maternal & Child Health, Humanitarian Aid, Travel Blog, Publications 2012-10-25T16:20:36+00:00 http://www.smartglobalhealth.org/blog/entry/where-did-all-the-poor-people-go/ http://www.smartglobalhealth.org/blog/entry/where-did-all-the-poor-people-go/ While the economies of most rich nations have stagnated, many countries – which for decades had been classified as low income and regarded as chronically poor – have experience sustained growth and graduated into middle income status. This is overall a good news story. The bad news is that the emergence of new middle income states has also resulted in a growing disconnect between where international development assistance is focused and where it’s needed. Humanitarian Aid, Measurement & Accountability 2012-10-16T19:01:57+00:00