Health News

Dear friends,

The Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria turns ten this year. Thanks to the Fund, more than three million people living with HIV have been put on treatment and nearly nine million cases of tuberculosis have been effectively treated. We should all be celebrating these successes, but unfortunately funding cuts have put the Fund in a precarious position.

In this week’s update, we take a closer look at the Global Fund situation with a special guest blog from Stephen Lewis, co-director of AIDS-Free World and former UN Special Envoy for HIV/AIDS in Africa.

We also look at the debate surrounding patent extensions for pharmaceuticals, which advocates say will raise the costs of medicines while doing nothing to encourage medical innovation. Finally, we discuss an issue that rarely receives public attention: what should be the standard of care for children born with intersex conditions?

Thank you for reading, and please join us on Facebook and Twitter.

Paul Silva
psilva@sorosny.org
Follow me on Twitter: @PauloNYC

World Leaders Need to Step Up for the Global Fund

The Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria has saved and prolonged millions of lives. Yet at this precise moment when the global community should be doing all it can to support the Fund, it is under the most serious assault it has endured in its ten-year history. Stephen Lewis is calling for a high-level crisis meeting, spearheaded by African leaders, to raise the money the Global Fund needs. Learn more.

Time for Fresh Thinking on Medical Innovation

In an op-ed in the Wall Street Journal, Els Torreele of the Open Society Foundations argues against proposals to extend patents on pharmaceuticals. Such a move, Torreele notes, would solidify a broken innovation model that primarily serves the financial interest of the pharmaceutical industry at the expense of patients worldwide. Join the debate on the Open Society blog.

Why Are Doctors Still Performing Genital Surgery on Infants?

Medical studies show that performing genital reshaping surgery on children with atypical genitals at birth or soon after usually causes long term psychological damage to patients. Yet this remains the standard of care in most countries, despite protests from patient advocates. One U.S. advocacy group is going to court to win justice for children born with intersex conditions. Read more about health care for intersex children.

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