Global health briefs August 2011

July / August 2011 | Volume 10, Issue 4

Report on DOD medical research issued

The U.S. military’s global medical research efforts should receive more funding, be better integrated and work to increase awareness of their activities, according to a report published by the Center for Strategic and International Studies. Titled “The Defense Department’s Enduring Contributions to Global Health,” the report offers recommendations following a year-long independent study that analyzed the defense labs’ contributions to military readiness and global infectious disease research.

• Read about and download the full report, The Defense Department’s Enduring Contributions to Global Health, from the Center for Strategic and International Studies.

Eliminating mother-to-child HIV transmission

UNAIDS and PEPFAR unveiled a plan to virtually eliminate mother-to-child transmission of HIV by 2015 at the recent U.N. High Level Meeting on AIDS. UNAIDS estimates it will cost about $2.5 billion in additional funds to achieve the goal. PEPFAR announced it will provide $75 million on top of the $300 million it currently devotes to the effort. 

• Read the full story UN and US launch campaign to eliminate inherited HIV from BBC News June 10, 2011.

Disability key to achieving MDGs

A joint WHO/World Bank report reveals that 20 percent of the world’s poorest people have a physical or mental disability, and the Millennium Development Goals will not be reached unless governments address the needs of the disabled.

• Read about and download the full report, the World report on disability, from the World Health Organization (WHO).

Health Affairs devotes issue to vaccine strategies

The June issue of Health Affairs examines global vaccine strategies including the estimated benefits of vaccines, partnerships that have spurred research and deployment, and how distribution could be improved.

• Read the full June 2011 issue of Health Affairs.

Free books from National Academies Press

More than 4,000 books and reports published by the National Academies Press are now available for free and can be downloaded in PDF format from the organization’s website.  This includes items produced by the National Academy of Sciences, National Academy of Engineering, Institute of Medicine and the National Research Council.

• Read more about the about free National Academies Press PDF downloads.

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