PUBLICATION NOTICE
The HIV/AIDS Monitor will publish its last issue of year next week on Wednesday, December 23. Our coverage of major global HIV/AIDS initiatives will return in January. Happy holidays!
OF NOTE THIS WEEK
UNITAID, an international drug purchase facility, announced Monday the creation of a "patent pool" that would encourage drug manufacturers to give a limited number of generic drug makers access to their AIDS drug patents, AFP reports. In addition to saving low- and middle-income countries over $1 billion a year, the mechanism "will make medical advances work for the poor, while compensating companies for sharing their technology," said Philippe Douste-Blazy, the head of UNITAID's executive board. Read more in Forbes.
Also this week, HIV/AIDS Monitor Director Nandini Oomman takes stock of the new PEPFAR strategy in a blog post and the latest CGD podcast. She praises the evidence-based framework PEPFAR has laid out and its move toward much greater openness and transparency, but stresses that the challenge ahead will be in designing concrete plans that implement the strategy effectively and measure its impacts.
NEWS AND HIGHLIGHTS FROM THE DONORS
- The Global Fund publishes an overview of Round 9 proposal funds
- PEPFAR launches three annexes to its five-year strategy
- The World Bank hosts China and international partners to discuss China's new strategy for improving health in Africa
OTHER NEWS AND HIGHLIGHTS
- Patent Pool to Lower Prices for AIDS Treatments (AFP)
- Anti-Gay Bill May Cost Uganda Research Institution (AFP)
- Half a Million TB Deaths in People with HIV in 2008 (Aidsmap)
- AIDS Prevention Gel Fails in Trial, Researchers Say (NY Times)
- Insurance Against HIV/AIDS in Africa Becomes Available (Telegraph)
- AIDS Drugs Don't Need Routine Lab Monitoring (US News)
- Editorial: An AIDS Mission Renewed (Wash. Post)
RECENT CGD HEALTH POLICY BLOGS
HIV/AIDS MONITOR RECOMMENDATIONS AND POLICY IMPACT
- The HIV/AIDS Monitor has been tracking the policy changes among PEPFAR, the Global Fund and the World Bank MAP related to the recommendations that have come out of our research. Explore these changes using our interactive flash tool.