U.S. Global Health Policy: HIV-AIDS, Maternal and Child Health, and PEPFAR   07/09/2010
(PDF) Anand Reddi and Sarah Leeper, HIV/AIDS researchers and medical students, make a strong case against the Obama Administration’s proposal to shift resources to maternal and child health at the expense of HIV/AIDS treatment scale up.  In their commentary published in AIDS, they convincingly argue that such a shift would undermine the health of women and children around the globe, not improve it. 
 
Leading HIV Experts Denounce Conviction of Gay Couple in Malawi   05/21/2010
Dr. Kenneth Mayer, co-chair of the Center for Global Health Policy, and Dr. Michael Saag, chair of HIVMA, call for the immediate release of Malawi citizens Steven Monjeza and Tiwonze Chimbalonga, who have been sentenced to 14 years imprisonment for their sexual orientation.  The criminalization of homosexuality threatens to undermine Malawi’s battle against HIV/AIDS.
 
Scientists See New Hope in Fight Against HIV and TB   05/20/2010
According to a special new issue of the journal Clinical Infectious Diseases, new science can dramatically change the trajectory of both HIV/AIDS and TB epidemics.  Breakthroughs on the horizon include novel TB drugs in the pipeline that offer the hope of a safer and faster cure, and bold HIV prevention approaches that include using antiretroviral agents as prophylactics to prevent against HIV infection.
 
NYT: “At Front Lines, AIDS War is Falling Apart”   05/10/2010
In these four articles, the New York Times documents the devastating consequences of stagnant funding for global AIDS programs.
 
AIDS Research at NIH: New Opportunities to Change the Course of the AIDS Epidemic   04/26/2010
Leading disease experts, including the NIH’s Anthony Fauci, to discuss promising scientific advances and untapped opportunities in AIDS research at an April 30th congressional briefing. 
 
Death by Drug-Resistant TB and How to Stop It   03/24/2010
Urgent U.S. action is required to address massive gaps in our ability to measure, treat, and prevent virulent new strains of drug-resistant tuberculosis, according to this new issue brief from the Center for Global Health Policy.
 
Dr. Peter Mugyenyi’s testimony before the House Foreign Affairs Subcommittee on Africa and Global Health   03/15/2010
Ugandan physician Dr. Peter Mugyenyi told lawmakers about turning away HIV-infected patients in need of treatment, as U.S. funding for PEPFAR has essentially flat-lined.
 
Ugandan Doctor Fears Ground May be Lost Against HIV-AIDS if U.S. and other Funding is not Increased   03/15/2010
Dr. Peter Mugyenyi, a renowned HIV/AIDS clinician from Uganda, visited Washington this week for a series of meetings with the press and policymakers. In this interview with Voice of America, he talks about what he’s seeing on the ground in Uganda as U.S. funding for PEPFAR levels off.
 
Reaching Men who have Sex with Men in the Global AIDS & HIV Epidemic (PDF)   02/26/2010
The Global Forum on Men Who Have Sex With Men (MSM) and HIV (MSMGF) issued a policy brief this month highlighting the urgent need to effectively reach out to gay men and other men who have sex with men, as MSM bear a higher HIV burden than other populations but prevention services reach only 9% of them worldwide.  The new report explains the imperative of working towards comprehensive and targeted social and political changes, along with developing accessible clinical services, to halt the spread of HIV.
 
White House Proposes 9% Increase in Global Health Funding   02/02/2010
The Wall Street Journal quotes Dr. Kenneth Mayer, co-chair of the Global Center’s SAC, expressing concerns about inadequate White House funding for global HIV/AIDS.
 
White House Budget Proposal for Global HIV and TB Does Not Match Threat   02/01/2010
Disease Experts Welcome Modest Increases for PEPFAR, Bilateral TB, But Say It’s Not Enough to Combat These Deadly
 
TB is Taking Our Children: Is Washington Noticing?   01/27/2010
IDSA member Robin Wood, MD, a leading HIV and TB researcher in South Africa, published this op-ed on the high rates of TB among children in Cape Town. He calls for aggressive leadership from the US and other wealthy nations to combat this deadly epidemic.
 
Christine Lubinski’s Testimony to the Tom Lantos Human Rights Commission on the Ugandan Anti-Homosexuality Bill   01/21/2010
The Global Center’s Christine Lubinski tells U.S. lawmakers that Uganda’s proposed Anti-Homosexuality Bill is a violation of human rights and a threat to gains made in combating HIV/AIDS.
 
Petition Opposing Harmful Uganda Legislation   01/19/2010
More than 1,400 physicians and other health experts call on Uganda's president to stop the "Anti-Homosexuality Bill," saying it would violate human rights and undermine public health.
 
U.S. Physician-Scientists and Public Health Experts Decry Anti-Gay Bill in Uganda   01/19/2010
Nearly 1,500 leading physicians, nurses, and public health experts have joined together to urge Ugandan political leaders to reject the Anti-Homosexuality Bill under consideration in that country’s Parliament.  
 
Zambian Study Finds Longer Breastfeeding Best for HIV-Infected Mothers   01/14/2010
A new study suggests that halting breastfeeding early causes more harm than good for children not infected with HIV who are born to HIV-positive mothers. Stopping breastfeeding before 18 months was associated with significant increases in mortality among these children, according to the study in the Feb. 1, 2010 issue of Clinical Infectious Diseases.
 
AIDS Activists Worry About Spending Under Obama   01/04/2010
NPR quotes Global Center’s Christine Lubinski in a story examining the Obama Administration’s global AIDS strategy.
 
UNITAID issues Call For Interest   12/24/2009
UNITAID is looking for experts to serve on its Proposal Review Committee, an independent panel that provides technical advice and analysis of proposals for UNITAID funding. Click here to read more about the “call for interest” by UNITAID, which works to increase access to treatment for HIV/AIDS, malaria, and tuberculosis in resource-poor countries by leveraging lower prices for drugs and diagnostics.
 
Proposed regulation on prostitution could deter effective HIV prevention efforts, physician experts say in letter to HHS   12/23/2009
Leaders of the Center for Global Health Policy and the HIV Medicine Association expressed serious concern about a proposed rule requiring PEPFAR-funded organizations to declare their opposition to prostitution and sex trafficking, saying the rule could have a detrimental effect on efforts to reach vulnerable population at high risk for HIV infection.
 
Obama Is Criticized on AIDS Program   12/09/2009
The New York Times examines the five-year US global AIDS strategy and the Administration's move to scale back treatment through PEPFAR as it shifts attention to other diseases.
 
Is Obama Scaling Back Bush's AIDS Initiative?   12/02/2009
Time Magazine cites a commentary piece, published in Clinical Infectious Diseases, written by two IDSA physician experts who warn against a pullback in the US commitment to combating global AIDS. The story also highlights a memo sent by the Global Center and other groups to Ambassador Eric Goosby, the US Global AIDS Coordinator, calling for PEPFAR to set bold treatment target, reaching 7 million people with antiretroviral drugs by 2014.
 
On World AIDS Day, Strategy for Future of PEPFAR Released   12/02/2009
The Online NewsHour quotes Global Center Director Christine Lubinski in this story on the US’s new five-year Global AIDS Strategy. Lubinski expresses disappointment with the lack of a more aggressive PEPFAR treatment target, saying millions of lives are at stake.
 
Impact of U.S. Global AIDS Program Extends Far Beyond HIV-AIDS   11/30/2009
New commentary in CID says that arguments promoting a shift in U.S. global health resources toward more “cost-effective” interventions to address childhood diarrhea and other diseases—at the expense of continued expansion of efforts to combat the HIV/AIDS pandemic—discount issues of context and could have devastating consequences.
 
Smart Investments in AIDS and Global Health: Building on What Works   11/30/2009
This new issue brief, released today by the Center for Global Health Policy and amfAR, The Foundation for AIDS Research, documents how the international response to HIV/AIDS is changing the trajectory of the pandemic—saving lives and preventing new infections—and  yielding important outcomes well beyond AIDS. The report details how investments made in global HIV programs are generating sustainable positive results, such as improved child and maternal health services, better TB screening and treatment, and enhanced healthcare infrastructure. These changes hold the promise for improving healthcare for millions. The issue brief warns against a slowdown in the scale-up of global AIDS programming in 2010, which would have serious negative impacts on both the global response to the AIDS epidemic and broader efforts to advance global health.
 
Letter to President Obama on Global AIDS   11/23/2009
In a letter to President Obama, academic, scientific, and public health leaders from around the world urge the White House to keep the promise on the US response to global AIDS and warn against pitting AIDS against other health threats as the Administration frames its Global Health Initiative.
 
World AIDS Day (PDF)   11/23/2009
In advance of World AIDS Day, HIV/AIDS doctors and researchers said the Obama Administration’s five-year global AIDS strategy needs to set out aggressive new treatment and prevention targets for PEPFAR, the U.S. President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief, and should include robust funding levels to combat the global pandemic.
 
Women and Health: Today's Evidence, Tomorrow's Agenda   11/11/2009
A new report from the World Health Organization shows that HIV/AIDS the leading cause of death globally among women of reproductive age.
 
47th IDSA Annual Meeting: Global Health Press Conference   11/04/2009
IDSA physician-scientists talk about the promise and perils in treating HIV & TB and changing the course of these global twin epidemics.
 
NGOs Praise End to HIV Travel Ban   11/02/2009
IPS News quotes HIVMA’s outgoing chair Arlene Bardeguez in a story about the Obama Administration’s decision to lift the HIV travel ban.
 
The Needle Exchange Next Door   11/02/2009
Global Center Director Christine Lubinski talks about the positive impact needle-exchange programs have had on HIV infection among injection drug users in this National Journal multi-media story. Congress is considering lifting the ban on federal funding for needle exchange, but with so many restrictions as to make implementing such programs unfeasible.
 
Syringe exchange programs around the world: The global context   10/22/2009
A new report from the Gay Men's Health Crisis documents the success of syringe exchange programs internationally in curbing HIV epidemic. The report comes as Congress considers lifting the domestic ban on federal funding for syringe exchange programs.
 
Global HIV-AIDS Physicians, Advocates Call on White House to Set Bold HIV Treatment Goals for PEPFAR   10/21/2009
The Center for Global Health Policy joined with a coalition of other organizations in calling for PEPFAR to reach 6 million people with antiretroviral drugs by 2013 and 7 million by 2014
 
Memo to Ambassador Eric Goosby: Recommendation for US Target Treatment   10/20/2009
Center for Global Health Policy joins other advocates in calling for bold HIV treatment goals for PEPFAR program
 
47th IDSA Annual Meeting HIV-TB Schedule   10/13/2009
The HIV/TB sessions scheduled for the 47th Annual Meeting of the Infectious Diseases Society of America, set for Oct. 29-Nov. 1 in Philadelphia.
 
The 2009 Pacific Health Summit Report   10/09/2009
The 2009 Pacific Health Summit Report, “Multidrug-Resistant Tuberculosis, Overcoming Global Resistance,” details the key findings and impact of this summer’s meeting in Seattle, which put a spotlight on the threat of drug-resistant TB.
 
AIDS activists call on Obama to keep campaign promises for Africa   10/06/2009
Free Speech Radio News talks to Global Center Director Christine Lubinski and Dr. Robin Wood, a South African HIV/AIDS physician-scientist, about the implications of stepping back from the fight against global AIDS.
 
Towards Universal Access: Scaling up priority HIV-AIDS interventions in the health sector   10/06/2009
New UNAIDS report details progress, remaining challenges in scaling up HIV/AIDS treatment and prevention.
 
Better Strategy Needed to Stop TB in Africa, Doctor Says   10/02/2009
Voice of America reports on Dr. Robin Wood's research documenting high rates of TB infection in the developing world. The Global Center hosted Dr. Wood, the director of the Desmond Tutu HIV Centre at the University of Capetown.
 
Progress In Treating HIV; Still A Long Way To Go   10/02/2009
NPR discusses the success of ARV programs in the developing world.
 
U.S. Global Health Policy: In Focus - U.S. Strategy for Combating the Global TB Epidemic   10/01/2009
Two of the U.S. government’s top infectious disease specialists joined with renowned South African physician Robin Wood for a live interactive webcast on the threat of TB in the developing world and the U.S. response to it, including the status of a Congressionally mandated five-year global TB strategy.
 
2009 Annual Meeting HIV Track   09/16/2009
HIV and TB Sessions at IDSA Annual meeting in Philadelphia, Oct. 29-Nov. 1
 
Now available on Forum website: PATH Collaboration Report   09/03/2009
The Forum for Collaborative HIV Research, in collaboration with Program for Appropriate Technology in Health (PATH), released a new report on the need for proactive efforts to balance the safety and well being of participants and their fertility choices with the needs of clinical trials.  
 
Travel and immigration limitations for people with HIV remain a concern   09/01/2009
Infectious Disease News, August 2009.
 
The Center for Global Health Policy Outlines Concerns about House Proposal for Foreign Aid Reform   08/14/2009
Global Center staff, in collaboration with nearly two dozen other groups, submitted a formal response to the House Foreign Affairs Committee expressing deep concerns about how global health would fare under the committee’s initial outline for foreign aid reform legislation.
 
Put Your Ideals Into Practice   08/13/2009
Doctors Without Borders Seeks HIV/AIDS and TB Specialists
 
HIV Clinicians, Researchers Support Lifting the HIV Immigration Ban   08/11/2009
HIVMA applauds the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) for its proposal to remove HIV infection from the list of communicable diseases of public health significance.
 
ID, HIV Experts Urge Congress to Fully Repeal Ban on Federal Funding for Needle Exchange Programs   07/20/2009
IDSA, HIVMA and the Center for Global Health Policy strongly urge the House of Representatives to fully repeal the ban on federal funding for needle exchange programs.
 
Disease Experts Applaud Move to Overturn HIV Entry Ban   06/30/2009
The Infectious Diseases Society of America, the HIV Medicine Association (HIVMA), and the Center for Global Health Policy strongly support the Obama administration’s move to lift the two-decades-old ban on travel and immigration to the U.S. by HIV-positive individuals.
 
The Future of U.S. Global Health Policy   06/23/2009
The Center for Global Health Policy’s Christine Lubinski was a featured guest on the NewsHour Insider Forum, in which reporter Ray Suarez moderated a discussion about President Barack Obama’s $63 billion global health initiative. Lubinski and Michele Moloney-Kitts, assistant U.S. global AIDS coordinator, talked about the future of PEPFAR, the threat of drug-resistant TB, and other pressing global health issues.
 
Influenza A(H1N1)   06/03/2009
This new strain of influenza could be of particular concern to HIV-positive patients.
 
Disease Experts Applaud End to HIV Entry Ban  
The Obama Administration announced today that it has lifted the ban on travel and immigration to the U.S. by HIV-positive individuals.