NIH to Join Multi-center Clinical Trial of New Tuberculosis Vaccine
Aeras
Aeras announces today that the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), part of the United States National Institutes of Health (NIH), has joined as a partner for a Phase II proof-of-concept clinical trial of a tuberculosis vaccine candidate jointly developed by Aeras and Dutch biopharmaceutical company Crucell.
Global Fund Forced to Cancel Funding Round, Jeopardizing Health of Millions
ACTION and ACTION Partners
November 23, 2011 - As a consequence of donor governments' failure to fulfill their financial pledges to the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria, the fund's Board cancelled plans to fund new grants to fight the three pandemics until 2014. The Board also announced it does not have the cash on hand to fund some previously approved grants. This financing shortfall has created an emergency in the international fight against AIDS, tuberculosis, and malaria-the world's three leading infectious killers.
"Donors have triggered a genuine crisis in the response to the world's three biggest infectious disease pandemics," said ACTION Director Kolleen Bouchane. "Their failure to make good on their financial pledges to the Global Fund will absolutely mean lives lost. This is a devastating breach of responsibility that will greatly limit access to proven life-saving interventions. It is not clear that the scale of this potential tragedy is fully realized by political leaders."
Vaccines Against Major Childhood Diseases to Reach 37 More Countries
GAVI Alliance
The GAVI Alliance today announced it will provide funding for 16 more developing countries to introduce rotavirus vaccines and 18 more countries to introduce pneumococcal vaccines -- a major step towards protecting children against severe diarrhoea and pneumonia -- the two leading child killers.
RESULTS Educational Fund Executive Director Joanne Carter Makes Statement on GAVI U.S. Pledge
Joanne Carter, Results Educational Fund executive director of RESULTS and RESULTS Educational Fund, released the following statement in response to the announcement that the United States will commit $450 million over the next three years to the GAVI Alliance.
United Nations General Assembly Adopts A New Political Declaration On HIV/AIDS
ACTION
ACTION (Advocacy to Control TB Internationally) Director Kolleen Bouchane issued the following statement in response to the United Nations General Assembly's adoption today of a new political declaration on HIV/AIDS.
Global leaders urged to take action and save an additional million lives
ACTION
Advocates urged global leaders to act in response to new scientific modeling released today by the Stop TB Partnership, showing that between 2011 and 2015 it is feasible to avert over one million deaths caused by a dual infection of HIV and tuberculosis (TB). The modeling was released on the eve of the United Nations High Level Meeting on HIV/AIDS in New York City.
Global Fund statement on abuse of funds in some countries
Global Fund To Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria
Following a recent media report of misuse of Global Fund grants, the Global Fund is issuing the following statement:
The Global Fund has zero tolerance for corruption and actively seeks to uncover any evidence of misuse of its funds. It deploys some of the most rigorous procedures to detect fraud and fight corruption of any organization financing development.
The vast majority of funds disbursed by the Global Fund is untainted by corruption and is delivering dramatic results in the fight against the three diseases.
New Medical Diagnostic to Revolutionize Fight Against TB, One of the World’s Biggest Killers
ACTION
The World Health Organization today endorsed Xpert MTB/RIF, a revolutionary new technology that, if taken to scale in endemic countries, could completely change the public health approach to diagnosing and treating tuberculosis (TB), which remains one of the greatest killers on the planet.
WHO Endorses Rapid Tuberculosis Test
http://www.who.int/
The World Health Organization (WHO) has endorsed a new and novel rapid test for tuberculosis (TB), especially relevant in countries most affected by the disease. The test could revolutionize TB care and control by providing an accurate diagnosis for many patients in about 100 minutes, compared to current tests that can take up to three months to have results.
Global Fund Replenishment Meeting Ends with Massive Funding Shortfall; Lives Hang in the Balance
RESULTS Educational Fund
At the conclusion replenishment meeting of the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria today in New York, donors fell far short of investing the $20 billion needed to fully fund the fight against the three pandemics. Instead of the doubling of funding commitments needed to accelerate HIV, TB and malaria program scale up, countries announced initial increases averaging approximately 25%--or, in the case of some donors, did not pledge at all. This shortfall, unless corrected, will mean that the Global Fund will have to reject high quality country proposals, and dramatically slow down the pace of scale up.
