This post in KPLU 88.5's "Humanosphere" blog examines how former President Jimmy Carter gave the fight against neglected tropical diseases (NTDs) "a good first shove nearly 30 years ago," writing, "Neglected diseases like river blindness, Guinea worm, parasitic (lymphatic) elephantiasis and schistosomiasis have been in Carter's cross hairs since the mid-1980s." The blog adds, "Few would argue that it has been primarily the work of the Carter Center, carrying on the work of the CDC and others, that has brought the horrible parasitic disease Guinea worm so close to eradication today -- from millions of cases in the 1980s down to a little more than a 1,000 last year." The blog also discusses how William Foege, a former CDC official who is responsible for the smallpox vaccination strategy that helped wipe out the disease, was instrumental in bringing Carter and the Gates family into global health (Paulson, 2/1).

Republican Win In 2012 Election Could Spell End Of International Family Planning Programs

"If a Republican becomes president, ... say goodbye to international programs providing birth control to women in desperately poor countries such as Liberia," senior contributing writer Michelle Goldberg writes in this Daily Beast opinion piece. Goldberg notes that birth control has become a "significant issue in the U.S. presidential campaign," writing, "All of the Republican candidates have slammed the administration's refusal to give religious institutions a broad exemption from the mandate that insurance cover family planning."

Global Malaria Deaths Twice As High As Previously Estimated, IHME Study Suggests

"Malaria is killing more people worldwide than previously thought, but the number of deaths has fallen rapidly as efforts to combat the disease have ramped up, according to new research from the Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation (IHME) at the University of Washington" published in the Lancet on Thursday, an IHME press release reports. "More than 1.2 million people died from malaria worldwide in 2010, nearly twice the number found in the most recent comprehensive study of the disease," the press release states (2/2). The study, funded by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, "used new data and new computer modeling to build a historical database for malaria between 1980 and 2010," BBC News notes (Bowdler, 2/2).

WHO Finds Very High Levels Of Drug-Resistant TB In Russia, Moldova

"[T]he highest levels ever of drug-resistant tuberculosis (TB) have been found in Russia and Moldova," the WHO reports in research published in the February edition of the WHO Bulletin, but "the agency didn't have data from most of Africa and India, where tuberculosis rates are much higher," the Associated Press/USA Today's "Your Life" reports. According to the AP, the "experts reported that about 29 percent of new TB patients in parts of Russia were drug-resistant" and that "65 percent of previously treated patients in Moldova had resistance problems." The news service notes, "Normally, less than five percent of TB cases are drug-resistant" (2/2).

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Producing innovative programming focusing on PMTCT workshop

In early November more than 40 TV and radio program producers from 15 African countries gathered in Johannesburg for a three day workshop on producing innovative programming focusing on PMTCT. The workshop, organized by the African Broadcast Media Partnership (ABMP)—a pan-African coalition of more than 60 African broadcast companies committing significant airtime and production resources in the fight against HIV/AIDS—focused on developing innovative approaches to broadcast programming promoting access to services for Prevention of Mother to Child Transmission (PMTCT) of HIV. The workshop is part of a year-long broadcast media campaign launched by the ABMP last August designed to increase public awareness of PMTCT and to encourage broader community support for HIV positive women who are pregnant. The campaign is anchored by a series of television and radio ads, reinforced by longer form programming produced by local broadcasters. With the support of C-Change/USAID the ABMP developed a series of programming manuals to help broadcasters produce informative and entertaining programming on the topic of PMTCT and related issues such as partner support, stigma and traditional attitudes to child bearing and birth.

The training workshop was organized with the support of AusAid, UNICEF, UNAIDS and WHO.
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TIME FOR A NEW CAMPAIGN, NEW FOCUS AND NEW PASSION MAKE IT POSSIBLE. IT BEGINS WITH YOU!

The ABMP has launched a fresh 12-month TV and radio campaign (August 2010 – August 2011) focusing on the prevention of mother to child transmission (PMTCT) of HIV. The ABMP’s campaign is part of a worldwide effort to achieve universal access to PMTCT services and to end HIV infection in babies by 2015. It is achievable. Today, the risks of HIV transmission from mother to child can be virtually eliminated if the mother follows the correct PMTCT protocol.

To learn more, click here
To access the full report on the PMTCT Strategic Vision (2010–2015), click here

The ABMP ads focus on:

increasing awareness of PMTCT and its effectiveness in reducing HIV infection in babies;
encouraging pregnant women to test early for HIV and to register for PMTCT if necessary;
reducing stigma by underscoring that pregnant women need support from family and community in accessing PMTCT services;
promoting collective responsibility for achieving the goal of an end to HIV infection in babies (Make it Possible: It Begins with YOU!).

To view the television ads, click here.
To listen to the radio ads, click here.
To view the programme guides, click here.

PMTCT Study Shows Few Infants Get Protective Drug

"In parts of Africa, only about half of babies born to mothers with HIV receive the HIV prevention drug nevirapine," according to a study published July 21, 2010 by the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA). The HealthDay News/U.S. News & World Report writes that the study, which was part of an HIV/AIDS theme issue in JAMA to coincide with the International AIDS Conference-AIDS 2010, "highlights the need to expand global programs designed to prevent HIV/AIDS in newborns. It also points to the need to incorporate ongoing monitoring and quality improvements into all nevirapine-based care programs, the study authors concluded." Read more here.

To see JAMA study, click here.
For WHO international guidelines for use of antiretroviral drugs, go here
To read WHO press release, click here.

New Radio Programming Guides for Radio Producers

A new HIV/AIDS programming guide for radio program producers is now available. Designed to provide ideas about longer form programs such as talk shows, documentaries, news and magazine programs that expand the key themes of the YOU campaign, the guide follows the unfolding saga of the mini radio drama series Can Tru Luv Withstand the Test? The series, now in its second year, follows the daily lives of a group of twenty-somethings as they navigate their way through the challenges of early adulthood. The current series focus specifically on themes of gender equity, stigma reduction, HIV-testing, and multiple concurrent partnerships.
To access the Programming Guide, click here
To hear episodes of Can Tru Luv Withstand the Test? click here