Ideas to Action:

Independent research for global prosperity

Multimedia

CGD's weekly Global Prosperity Wonkcast, event videos, whiteboard talks, slides, and more.

Non-Communicable Diseases a Huge Problem in Developing World (Interview with Rachel Nugent)

11/1/10

Rachel NugentHeart disease, high blood pressure, diabetes and cancers are usually considered diseases of the rich world, the result of too much food and too little exercise. But these serious diseases are already a huge problem in the developing world, accounting for about half of the burden of disease. Yet new research from the Center for Global Development has found that barely 3% of foreign aid and philanthropic spending for developing world health addresses these often overlooked diseases.

My guest this week is the lead author of that research, Rachel Nugent, CGD deputy director of global health. In a forthcoming working paper co-authored with Andrea Feigl – Scarce Donor Funding for Non-Communicable Diseases: Will it Contribute to a Health Crisis? – Rachel examines the impact of non-communicable diseases in the developing world and assesses the response of international donors. In the Wonkcast, we discuss her findings and recommendations for addressing this challenge.

The Race Against Drug Resistance

10/8/10

A short film tells the story of Khalifa, a nurse in Ghana who contracted typhoid. She takes one drug and then another—each more expensive than the last—but still she isn’t well. The film uses expert interviews and animation to explain why drug resistance threatens us all—and what we can do about it.

HIV/AIDS Donors and Africa’s Health Workforce: Nandini Oomman

9/8/10

Nandini OommanMy guest this week is Nandini Oomman, director of the Center for Global Development’s HIV/AIDS Monitor. Her team has just released a new report, Zeroing In: AIDS Donors and Africa’s Health Workforce, which looks at how AIDS programs could be better designed to strengthen the capacity of nurses and doctors in developing countries. On the Wonkcast, Nandini and I discuss the report, and also explore the overall lessons learned from the HIV/AIDS Monitor, which is wrapping up its work this year after four years of operation.

The Race Against Drug Resistance (event video and audio)

6/16/10

The world is rapidly losing the ability to fight disease because of an invisible adversary: drug resistance. Resistance is inevitable but human actions are hastening it. Without a global effort to ensure lasting effectiveness of treatment, drug resistance is poised to get worse fast, raising costs, claiming more lives, and making future generations vulnerable to diseases that are easily cured today. After two years of study and analysis, CGD’s expert Drug Resistance Working Group urges four crucial steps to combat the problem in a pivotal new report, The Race Against Drug Resistance. On Tuesday, June 15, 2010 the Center for Global Development hosted the launch event of The Race Against Drug Resistance at the National Press Club.

Turning the Tide Through Better Prevention: Mead Over on the AIDS Transition

5/25/10

Mead OverEven as the cost of treating HIV/AIDS has fallen dramatically, the number of people newly infected has remained high. What can be done to reverse this trend and finally defeat this disease? This week on the Wonkcast, I’m joined by Mead Over, a senior fellow here at the Center for Global Development and perhaps the world’s leading expert on the economics of HIV/AIDS. He has recently published two major essays, which introduce the concept of the “AIDS transition”—the point in time where the number of people living with the disease begins to fall. He argues persuasively that to reach this point, international donors must greatly strengthen incentives for effective prevention.

“We should be very proud of the accomplishment in bringing down the numbers of AIDS deaths,” says Mead. “But the number of new infections… has not fallen enough. And so the result is we have a new take-off in the numbers of people living with AIDS.” Since 1997, he says, the number of HIV-infected people has increased by 50%, rising from around 22 million in 1997 to 33 million today.

Interviews with African HIV/AIDS Researchers

5/8/10

The Center for Global Development's HIV/AIDS Monitor staff works with local researchers in three African countries -- Mozambique, Uganda and Zambia - to jointly plan the key research questions and

Video from the XVII International AIDS Conference

5/8/10

As part of the XVII International AIDS Conference in Mexico City, the Center for Global Development addressed these issues in a two-part panel discussion on How are HIV/AIDS donors interacting with

The Private Sector And Global Health: Interview with April Harding (Video)

3/17/10

In this video, CGD visiting fellow April Harding describes the private sector's success in supporting health initiatives in developing countries. Harding provides an example of maternal care in India where government vouchers for private doctors provided the additional human resources to lower rates of maternal mortality.

Harding lead a CGD working group to identify how the private sector could support the health goals of the public sector. The working group recommended that donors create a private sector advisory facility that would provide on-demand support to policymakers in developing countries. So far, five donors have agreed to support this facility.

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