OF NOTE THIS WEEK

The U.S. Senate Appropriations Committee voted last Thursday to pass a draft bill for State Department and foreign affairs funding in fiscal year 2010 that includes $7.8 billion in global health funding, says the Kaiser Global Health Policy Report. That total, an increase of $434 million over last year's funds and a rise of $178 million over what the Obama administration requested, would provide $5.7 billion to combat HIV/AIDS and $700 million to support the Global Fund.

NEWS AND HIGHLIGHTS FROM THE DONORS

• The Global Fund expands ARV support to people living with HIV by 31 percent over last year
• The Global Fund board appoints Ethiopian Minister of Health Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus as chair

OTHER NEWS AND HIGHLIGHTS

• Improvement in Efforts to Fight 3 Diseases Cited (Manila Bulletin)
• Uganda AIDS Patients Stopped Taking Drugs Due to Hunger (Ethiopian Review)
• Police: 26 Arrested in AIDS Protest at U.S.Capitol (CNN)
• Glaxo Investing $97M in AIDS Drugs for Africa (Reuters)
• Falling Family Planning Funding Threatens Global Poverty Fight (IRIN)
• Women 'Naturally Weaker' to HIV (BBC)

RECENT CGD HEALTH POLICY BLOGS

• A C-Change in Presidential Rhetoric: Compassion to Conscience and Common Interest By Ruth Levine
• Drug Marketing Push in Developing Countries Has Upside and Potential Downside for Poor People By Thomas Bollyky
• Will Barack Obama Call the World Bank for Advice About Fixing the U.S. Health System? By Ruth Levine
• Thunder is Not Yet Rain: Highlights from the Launch of the New HIV/AIDS Monitor Report on HIV/AIDS and Gender Inequality By David Wendt