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T
oday's Headlines: January 16, 2019
Government Affairs & National Security
How is the US Government Shutdown Impacting Development?
(Devex) Catholic Relief Services received approval in early December from the US Agency for International Development for an ongoing program in Malawi and submitted the necessary documents, but was then told by USAID it could not disburse the funds because of the partial US government shutdown. CRS had to use its own money - hundreds of thousands of dollars - to keep the program going as it waits for the government to reopen. Go to article
Global Health Security
Going Viral, The Transformation of Biological Risks
(World Economic Forum) We are at a critical juncture. If there is one area in which a turn inward by societies could be needlessly destructive, it is global health security. Yet, as new risks emerge, there are early signs that important governance systems and protocols are eroding. Go to article
Ebola Has Gotten So Bad, It's Normal
(Foreign Policy) Nearly 600 people have contracted Ebola since last August in eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo, making the ongoing outbreak the second largest in the 43-year history of humanity's battle with the deadly virus. And there is a genuine threat that this Congo health crisis-the 10th the African nation has faced-could become essentially permanent in the war-torn region bordering South Sudan, Uganda, Rwanda, and Burundi, making a terrible transition from being epidemic to endemic. Go to article
Medicine & Public Health
Review of International Efforts to Strengthen the Global Outbreak Response System Since the 2014-16 West Africa Ebola Epidemic
(Health Policy and Planning)
We examined the nascent landscape of international programmes, initiatives and institutions established in the aftermath of the 2014-16 Ebola outbreak with the aim of assessing their progress to date to illustrate the current state of the world's global health security architecture. We also compare these efforts with shortcomings in epidemic management documented during the epidemic, and underscore remaining gaps in regional and global epidemic response capabilities that might benefit from additional programmatic and financial support. Go to article
A Collaborative Multiyear, Multimodel Assessment of Seasonal Influenza Forecasting in the US
(PNAS) Accurate prediction of the size and timing of infectious disease outbreaks could help public health officials in planning an appropriate response. This paper compares approaches developed by five different research groups to forecast seasonal influenza outbreaks in real time in the United States. Many of the models show more accurate forecasts than a historical baseline. A major impediment to predictive ability was the real-time accuracy of available data. The field of infectious disease forecasting is in its infancy and we expect that innovation will spur improvements in forecasting in the coming years. Go to article
Science & Technology
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