In The News
1. Officials, Advocates Concerned Over Drop In HIV Funding Documented In UNAIDS/Kaiser Family Foundation Report
IRIN: As AIDS money shrinks, who loses?
"As the global public health community gathered in the South African city of Durban this week to talk about the end of AIDS, they were greeted with news that annual international support for combating the epidemic had fallen by more than US$1 billion. The news added weight to existing calls for middle-income countries to take more responsibility for funding their own responses. As part of a global strategy to end the epidemic by 2030, representatives from many of the world's middle-income countries say they are willing to take on that challenge, and with it the opportunity to assume more control in guiding their national programs. However, there are deep concerns, both among officials and activists..." (Green, 7/21).
Rappler: Decline in HIV funding worries health advocates
"...A joint report by the UNAIDS and the Kaiser Family Foundation showed that donor funding declined from $8.6 billion in 2014 to $7.5 billion in 2015. Adjustments made for foreign exchange fluctuations still showed an overall decline in donor funding. ... The report found that funding for HIV declined in 13 of 14 donor governments. ... While it is still unclear if the funding decline is a blip or an indicator of things to come, it is [gains in HIV treatment and prevention] that experts fear will be jeopardized if funding further declines. 'The effects of BREXIT have yet to be assessed, but the U.K. is the second biggest funder of the Global Fund. The U.S. is the top funder, and we don't know yet what the changes in leadership in November will bring. We can look at other donors -- private corporations, foundations, and individual donors, but it is unclear if this will fill in the gap,' said [Jennifer Kates, vice president and director of global health and HIV policy at the Kaiser Family Foundation]..." (Santos, 7/22)
2. Britain’s Prince Harry, Sir Elton John Address AIDS 2016 Conference, Urge Young People To Become More Involved
Agence France-Presse: Prince Harry and Elton John speak out at AIDS summit
"Britain's Prince Harry and Sir Elton John shared a stage in South Africa on Thursday, warning that complacency threatened efforts to defeat AIDS and urging young people to lead the fight. Addressing about 1,000 delegates at the International AIDS Conference in Durban, Prince Harry praised how far the struggle had come since his mother, the late Princess Diana, became a champion for those with the disease..." (7/21).
Associated Press: Prince Harry says world must revive urgency in AIDS fight
"...The prince, who publicly took an HIV test earlier this month, said the world cannot lose the sense of urgency in fighting the disease. He said a new generation of leaders must step forward on the issue and make sure no young person feels any shame in being tested. Elton John called the prince a powerful ally in the fight against AIDS, the leading cause of death among adolescents in Africa..." (7/21).
CNN: Prince Harry follows Diana's footsteps to fight AIDS
"...[T]he prince particularly fears for the future of the epidemic among adolescents -- aged 10 to 19 -- for whom AIDS is currently the leading cause of death in sub-Saharan Africa, and the second leading cause of death globally. His own charity, Sentebale, founded in partnership with Prince Seeiso of Lesotho, has been working to improve and support the lives of children affected by HIV in Lesotho since 2009 and recently began working in Botswana..." (Senthilingam, 7/21).
3. PrEP Effective In Reducing HIV Infection Risk; Other Experimental Therapies Show Potential As Functional Cures, Various Studies Presented At AIDS 2016 Show
aidsmap: PrEP can further reduce the risk of HIV infection after a partner starts treatment
"Offering Truvada pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) to the HIV-negative partner in a serodiscordant couple during the first six months after the HIV-positive partner starts antiretroviral therapy (ART) can serve as a 'bridge' to provide further protection against HIV infection, researchers reported [Wednesday] at the 21st International AIDS Conference (AIDS 2016) in Durban, South Africa..." (Highleyman, 7/21).
Fortune: The Incredible New Advances in the Fight Against HIV/AIDS
"HIV/AIDS therapies have come a long way since 1987, when the first-ever drug, azidothymidine (AZT), was approved to fight the virus in the U.S. An explosion of advances in the field have changed the shape of treatment, enabling HIV-infected patients to live for years without symptoms with simple single-tablet treatment regimens. Now, scientists have hopes for a functional cure -- a cure that doesn't wipe out every possible trace of HIV but keeps it at bay -- and a potential vaccine. Here are some of the most promising advances in the field..." (Mukherjee, 7/21).
Reuters Health: Taking anti-HIV pill as needed prevents infection
"...In the ANRS IPERGAY trial, gay and bisexual men were randomly assigned to take Truvada 'as needed' -- instead of each day -- or an inactive dummy pill. The group taking Truvada had an 86 percent reduction in new HIV infections, compared to people taking the placebo. That phase of the trial ended in 2014, after which the researchers offered Truvada to all the participants. After an average of about 18 months, the risk of HIV among the 362 participants fell 97 percent, compared to results with the dummy pill in the first phase of the study..." (Seanman, 7/20).
4. South Africa To Implement New Prevention, Treatment Strategies To End AIDS; Bill Gates Says Nation Sets Example For Other African Countries
PBS NewsHour: How South Africa, the nation hardest-hit by HIV, plans to 'end AIDS'
"...[O]ur series The End of AIDS wraps up in South Africa, where, this week, many of the world's top scientists, researchers and advocates are meeting in Durban. Among the topics: Is the end of AIDS really a possibility? Perhaps no nation has paid as steep a toll from AIDS as South Africa has. But, as correspondent William Brangham and producer Jason Kane report, few other nations are doing as much to push back against the virus. This is the final report in our series, which has been supported by the Pulitzer Center on Crisis Reporting..." (Sreenivasan, 7/21).
SABC News: Test and treat as of September: Mostoaledi
"...[South African Health Minister Aaron] Motsoaledi indicated new developments in May: 'I announced that from September we are going to go onto test and treat. All this time ever since the advent of HIV/AIDS we have been treating people when their CD4 count was at a particular level. Now the CD4 count no longer matters from the first of September, we find you, we test you. If you are HIV-positive, we put you on treatment immediately'..." (7/20).
SA News: Microsoft's Bill Gates lauds SA's HIV response
"U.S. billionaire Bill Gates, one of the leading funders of HIV prevention programs, has singled out South Africa as a model of the African continent in the fight against the spread of HIV/AIDS. He has urged the country to continue to do more to curb the pandemic. ... He was speaking during a session titled 'Accelerating the decline of the burden and incidence of HIV in sub-Saharan Africa' at the 21st International AIDS Conference underway in Durban..." (7/20).
5. U.S. President Obama Encourages Foreign Aid Continuity At White House Global Development Summit
Devex: President Obama takes 'victory lap' at global development summit
"President Barack Obama -- and key members of his foreign policy team -- enjoyed what many called a development 'victory lap' this week in Washington, D.C. Officials billed Wednesday's White House Summit on Global Development as one part 'celebration' and one part 'recommitment.' In the twilight of an administration that launched multiple development initiatives and built on others it inherited, the resounding message to development professionals -- 'just a lot of do-gooders in one room,' as Obama dubbed them -- was keep doing what you're doing..." (Igoe, 7/22).
6. SDGs Should Be Inspiration For Nations Beset With Conflict, U.N. Official Says; Report Ranks Countries’ Progress Toward Reaching Goals
Thomson Reuters Foundation: U.N. goals to cure global woes are beacon for troubled nations, official says
"Nations grappling with conflict and discord may be too absorbed by their own troubles to tackle goals set out by the United Nations to fight poverty, inequality, and other global woes, a top U.N. official said on Wednesday. For those nations, the U.N.'s ambitious set of global objectives will have to serve as a beacon to follow when they are able, said Assistant U.N. Secretary-General Thomas Gass after a U.N. forum to assess the goals' progress..." (Wulfhorst, 7/20).
Washington Post: A new report rated countries on 'sustainable development.' The U.S. did horribly
"...When it comes to [meeting economic, social, and environmental goals simultaneously,] not all countries are faring very well at the moment. That's the gist of a new report from Bertelsmann Stiftung, a large German foundation, and [Columbia University economist and U.N. adviser Jeffrey] Sachs's Sustainable Development Solutions Network, which has actually ranked the countries of the world based on where they stand at the outset of trying to achieve these goals over the next decade and a half..." (Mooney, 7/21).
7. Obama Administration Announces Availability Of $60M More In Zika Response Funding From Reprogrammed Ebola Money
Roll Call: Obama Administration Announces Added $60 Million to Fight Zika
"Some $60 million will soon flow to states, cities, and territories to fight the Zika virus, White House officials announced Thursday. ... An Office of Management and Budget aide confirmed on background that the additional $60 million comes from the $589 million in total funds the administration reprogrammed in April to fight the virus, in the absence of Congress appropriating $1.9 billion in emergency funds that were requested in February..." (Mejdrich, 7/21).
8. Researchers Find Evidence Zika Carried By More Common Culex Mosquitoes
Reuters: Brazil scientists find Zika traces in Culex mosquitoes in wild
"Brazilian researchers on Thursday said they found signs of the Zika virus in a common mosquito that is a separate species from the insect known to be the primary means of transmission..." (Prada, 7/21).
Washington Post: Zika is found in common Culex mosquitoes, signaling a potentially larger risk
"...Until now, Zika was believed to be carried mainly by the Aedes aegypti mosquito, which is much less numerous, lives in clean water, and is more likely to bite during the day. ... The virus is also carried by the Aedes albopictus mosquito, which lives in more rural environments. Culex mosquitoes are much more widespread. They breed in dirty water and bite at night. Public health officials have feared that Culex mosquitoes could be involved in Zika transmission, something that would necessitate new strategies to combat the disease..." (Phillips, 7/21).
9. Bill Gates Discusses Foundation’s Continued Focus On Health In Africa In Reuters Interview
Reuters: Health remains priority for work of Gates Foundation in Africa
"Bill Gates said health would remain a priority for the work of his foundation in Africa and it faced a struggle to bring down the rate of new HIV infections in the world's poorest continent. Speaking to Reuters in the Ethiopian capital Addis Ababa, Gates said the foundation planned to spend $5 billion in Africa in the next five years. The Horn of Africa country is one of the biggest recipients of funds from the foundation..." (Maasho, 7/21).
10. MSF Calls For Urgent Humanitarian Aid Response For 500K People In Northeastern Nigeria’s Borno State
PRI: 50,000 children may die if Nigeria's food shortage isn't dealt with -- and fast
"With 4.4 million food insecure individuals in northeastern Nigeria, the region is on the brink of famine. Boko Haram, the militant group who has overrun the area, is clearly a major cause of this crisis, which has taken international aid agencies by surprise..." (Lambert, 7/21).
VOA News: MSF Reports Humanitarian Catastrophe in Nigeria's Borno State
"Doctors Without Borders (Médecins Sans Frontières, or MSF) is calling for a major aid response to a humanitarian catastrophe in northeastern Nigeria's war-torn Borno state, where at least 500,000 people are in urgent need of food, medical care, water, and shelter..." (Cocoli, 7/20).