June 28, 2013
A roundup of news on drug resistance and other topics in global health.
In the fourth biennial World HAI Forum on Healthcare-Associated Infections, organized by Biom rieux, CDDEP Director Ramanan Laxminarayan talks about the connection between human and animal antibiotic use and resistance. [CDDEP]
New CDDEP research published in the journal PLoS One examines factors that influence participation rates in the Rashtriya Swasthya Bima Yojana, India’s social health insurance scheme for the poor, and finds that political and institutional factors prominently influence participation and enrollment rates.
The Council on Health Research for Development s Colloquium 2013 Report, produced in collaboration with the Lancet Commission on Investing in Health (CIH), argues that the current framework for investment in health research is inadequate and calls for a greater and more sustainable investment to improve global health.
The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation (RWJF) recently published results from Extending the Cure, CDDEP s research and consultative effort that frames the growing problem of antibiotic resistance as a challenge in managing a shared societal resource. [RWJF]
Mark Dybul, executive director of the Global Fund, explains that defeating infectious diseases like AIDS, tuberculosis and malaria requires a special focus on the human rights of the most vulnerable populations, who face an increased risk of infection and a lower quality of care because they are criminalised and at the margins of society. [Thomson Reuters Foundation]
A Huffington Post article reports that the US is pressuring India to respect US patents on pharmaceutical drugs and curb the production of low-cost generics. [Huffington Post]
New research published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS) describes how bacteria form biofilms, which are resistant to both antibiotics and the human immune system, that enable a quick colonization of medical devices, including implants. [ABC Australia]
A consolidated interactive map to track the rapidly increasing insecticide resistance in malaria-carrying mosquitoes, known as the IR Mapper, was launched in April to provide a user-friendly approach to visualizing and exploring up-to-date information on insecticide resistance. [IRIN]
The FDA recently released cybersecurity guidelines for medical devices and hospital networks to address the vulnerabilities and incidents that could directly impact medical devices or hospital network operations, and compromise patient safety. [FDA, Scientific American]
Researchers have identified a new anti-tuberculosis compound, named as TCA1, that killed different strains of the tuberculosis bacterium, including extensively drug-resistant strains, in cell-cultures and in mice, according to a study published in the journal PNAS. [Scripps Research Institute]
A video from CBS discusses the threat of hospital-acquired infections and the progress made in treating these infections more effectively. [CBS]
An article in Think Africa Press raises concerns on the problems created by substandard Chinese drugs sold in Africa, some of which may contain impurities or the wrong amount of medication. [Think Africa Press]
The FDA has extended the use of Vibativ, a medication previously approved for complicated skin infections, as a last-resort option to treat patients with bacterial pneumonia caused by Staphylococcus aureus. [FDA]
According to a study in the journal Trends in Parasitology, standard definitions of resistance to artemisinin and artemisinin combination therapies (ACTs) are necessary to understand the threat of artemisinin resistance and to develop appropriate policy responses.
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