CGDev Video – Panel Discussion at Mead Over’s AIDS Transition Booklaunch

The Seventh Annual Richard H. Sabot Lecture: Africa—A Second Independence (CGDev Video)

John Githongo, an advocate for transparency and good governance, is well-known for his work as the anti-corruption czar in Kenya, where in 2003 he uncovered a $1 billion scheme involving some of the country’s top ministers. His probing incited a backlash that forced him to flee the country for fear of his life, taking up a fellowship at Oxford where he released a report documenting government graft. Since then, Githongo has devoted his efforts to eliminating corruption and injustice in Kenya and across Africa. His lecture will focus on what outsiders—the high-income countries and emerging powers—can do to help foster democracy and poverty reduction in the developing world.

Anti-corruption pioneer Githongo is featured speaker of CGD’s seventh annual Richard H. Sabot Lecture honoring the life and work of Richard “Dick” Sabot, a friend, co-author, and founding member of CGD’s board of directors. CGD president Nancy Birdsall hosts as moderator for a discussion after the lecture.

Linking Investments to Outcomes: Measuring Health System Effectiveness (CGDev Video)

In recent years the idea of strong health systems as a component of population health has been noted by both global health donors and national governments alike. Consequently, the question of how to measure the effectiveness of health systems interventions has become ever more pressing. But it remains unclear if efforts to assess health systems are providing enough information to establish a link between investments and improved health outcomes. How do we know if increased investments in the sector are creating the desired impact? This panel discussion will explore the linkage between health system strengthening activities and improving health outcomes and provide a platform for determining the efficacy of health systems investments. Panelists will address methodologies for analyzing health systems, beyond a mere compilation of indicators, and will explore innovative methods to measure health system performance.

CGDev Video: Which Countries will the Millennium Challenge Corporation Select this Year?

At this breakfast discussion, CGD policy analyst Casey Dunning will forecast which countries the MCC board is likely to select for FY2012 compact and threshold funding at its December 15th board meeting. This deliberation marks the ninth round of the MCC eligibility selection process. Drawing on a recent MCA Monitor analysis, Casey Dunning and Owen McCarthy will highlight current issues affecting the MCC’s selection process, including the new selection system, second compact eligibility, and the revised threshold program—and suggest principles that should guide the MCC board and management team as they choose eligible countries for FY2012.

CGDev Video: Unlocking $1 Trillion for Developing Countries

Lawrence Macdonald, vice president for communications and policy outreach at the Center for Global Development, explains how CGD helped make $1 trillion available to developing countries after the global financial crisis. In the spring of 2009, participants at the G-20 summit decided to include developing countries in its global stimulus package. But how much money was needed for the most vulnerable countries and where would it come from? Nancy Birdsall, president of CGD, prepared a note stating that they would need access to 1 trillion dollars to cope with the effects of the crisis. Birdsall then put together a blueprint for making the resources available. By channeling the plan to the right people and testifying in front of Congress, CGD helped to unlock the $1 trillion and make it possible for the IMF and World Bank to help vulnerable countries cope with the crisis.

CGDev Lecture – Achieving an AIDS Transition: Preventing Infections to Sustain Treatment (video)

Mead Over presents his latest book, Achieving an AIDS Transition: Preventing Infections to Sustain Treatment. As one of the leading health economists focused on the HIV/AIDS epidemic, Over is well-placed to propose solutions to the widening gap between funding and persons needing treatment for AIDS. As it stands today, there are two new infections each year for every individual enrolled in treatment. This book presents the AIDS Transition–lowering new infections to reverse the upward trend in persons living with HIV–as a goal for all participants in the fight against HIV. He outlines steps that donors, policy makers and practitioners can take to successfully stem the tide of HIV by incentivizing prevention while sustaining treatment.

CGDEv Video: Monitoring the Billions Spent for HIV/AIDS

CGDev Video: Commitment to Development Index

David Roodman, senior fellow at the Center for Global Development in Washington, DC, introduces the Commitment to Development Index, an annual ranking of wealthy nations on how much they help poorer ones. See http://www.cgdev.org/cdi for more.

Video: Improving Clinical Trials (Center for Global Development)

This is a recorded presentation from the Center for Global Development about improving clinical trials.

All Kinds of Belated News (Week of September 18-24)

SECTION NEWS

The Fall 2011 Newsletter has been posted!  Be sure to check out recent announcements, section updates, links to recent blog entries, and lots of fellowship opportunities!

The Advocacy/Policy Committee would like to invite you to participate in our first Advocacy Day, led in partnership with the Global Health Council. The day, scheduled for Thursday, November 3rd, 2011, immediately following the annual meeting in Washington, D.C., will be an opportunity for us to voice support for a continued focus on international health to our elected officials. With the intense Congressional pressure to cut the budget, our voices can make a real difference. As a participant during this exciting day, you will be provided with training materials on effective advocacy techniques to ensure your message is clearly heard. Even if you do not have advocacy experience, you need not hesitate to sign up because you will be teamed with others. Please consider joining your fellow International Health Section members on Thursday, November 3rd, 2011 on Capitol Hill to advocate for a healthy globe. Interested parties should register here. Please note that registration will close on October 14th. Any questions should be directed to Peter Freeman, Advocacy/Policy Committee Chair, at pffreeman@gmail.com or 773.318.4842.

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The G+ Vaccines Challenge has been launched!  G+, a new online community launched by Gerson Lehrman Group, has partnered with IndieGoGo and StartUp Health to solicit early stage ideas for tackling problems and inefficiencies in vaccine delivery  in-the-field, distribution and development. Finalists will have the unique opportunity to present their ideas to a panel of investment, NGO and corporate and life sciences professionals with the influence to advance those ideas towards realization.  You can find more information about the challenge here.

APHA NEWS

Dr. Benjamin is currently on a teaching sabbatical at Hunter College in NYC. Alan Baker (former Chief of Staff at APHA) returned to serve as Acting Executive
Director in the interim.

UN HIGH-LEVEL MEETING ON NCDs

• The UN held its first-ever meeting on the prevention and control of non-communicable diseases.  Global health journalist Tom Paulson provided some great coverage of the event on the Humanosphere blog.
• World leaders unanimously adopted the NCD Summit Outcome Document at the General Assembly in New York.
• On the sidelines of the General Assembly meeting in New York, the United States and WHO signed a memorandum of understanding to help developing countries boost capacity to meet the International Health Regulations.
• The cost for the developing world to address NCDs, based on the WHO’s recommendation to increase budgets by 4%, will be $11.4 billion.

POLITICS AND POLICY

Microsoft co-founder and billionaire philanthropist Bill Gates appears poised to endorse the adoption of a controversial financial transactions tax (FTT) to be used as a new source of development aid for poor countries.

PROGRAMS

• The multibillion dollar Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria must do a better job managing its grants to partner countries, according to an independent review panel.  A seven member panel investigating the Global Fund has recommended that it place greater emphasis on results and improve risk management.  In the Center for Global Development blog, William Savedoff is concerned that the new report suggesting changes for the Global Fund will move it away from innovating.
• USAID has announced that it will be giving a $200 million grant to the Public Health Institute to support its global health fellows program.
• Private and public actors have lined up to support Every Woman Every Child and its goal of preventing 33 million unwanted pregnancies.

RESEARCH

Researchers at the 51st Interscience Conference on Antimicrobial Agents and Chemotherapy in Chicago announced that they were able to reduce the level of HIV in infected people through cell-based therapy.

DISEASES AND DISASTERS

• The privacy curtains that separate care spaces in hospitals and clinics are frequently contaminated with potentially dangerous bacteria, according to a U.S. study.
• If today’s momentum and progress against malaria can be sustained, deaths from this infectious disease could be reduced to near-zero, and cases of infection cut by 75 per cent in the next decade, says a recent report by the Roll Back Malaria (RBM) Partnership.
• Depression may go hand in hand with a number of other physical health problems, including heart disease, cancer and diabetes. Now the latest evidence suggests that depression may also increase the risk of stroke.
• Polio has spread to China for the first time since 1999 after being imported from Pakistan, the World Health Organization (WHO) has confirmed.

TOTALLY UNRELATED TO ANYTHING: Melinda Gates is now on Twitter!

CGDev Videos: Beyond Bullets and Bombs – Fixing the U.S. Approach to Development in Pakistan (panel)

First Panel:

Second Panel:

Husain Haqqani, Pakistani Ambassador to the White House:

CGDev Video: Worms at Work – Long-run Impacts of Child Deworming in Kenya

CGDev Video: Esther Duflo – CGD sixth annual Richard H. Sabot Lecture

CGDev Video: Innovation in Vaccine Financing

CGDev Video: Rigorous Impact Evaluation and the Millenium Villages