What We’re Reading 6/1/09

Jun 1st, 2009 10:31 AM UTC
By Chandler Smith

New York Times: Preventable Deaths (editorial)
Developed countries must not overlook the vulnerability of the world’s poor, the NY Times opines today. The piece builds upon a new report by the World Health Organization that shows that far too many people are still dying of preventable causes in the poorest countries: “Wealthy countries promised nearly a decade ago to help the world’s poorest to emerge from the deepest poverty. This is the wrong time to stop.”

Seattle Times: Progress made against poverty must continue
Guest columnists to the Seattle Times echo today’s NY Times editorial by highlighting how global poverty remains the root of some of the most significant challenges affecting our world today. Reducing it is one of the most powerful steps we can take in creating a better future, they say. During this economic recession, progress made against global poverty must not be undermined.

Reuters: Global crisis forces African governments to turn to IMF
Reuter’s Lesley Wroughton reports on how the current global crisis has transformed the IMF, including changes in the institution’s approach to how it lends to Africa.

AllAfrica.com: Africa: How Michelle Obama Can Help Africa
Janet Fleischman, a senior associate at the Global Health Policy Center of the Center for Strategic and International Studies in Washington, DC. presents on AllAfrica.com how Michelle Obama, in the upcoming trip to Ghana, can spotlight the disproportionate impact of AIDS on women and girls, and how she can help strengthen the Aids response – at home and abroad.

New York Times: The Nursing Shortage (Letter to the Editor, Sen. Durbin)
Sen. Durbin writes to the NY Times in support of the African Health Capacity Investment Act, which the Senator argues helps the growth of health care capacity in developing countries by training educators and nurses and providing them with necessary resources.

Wall Street Journal: Malaria Vaccine Tested in African Clinical Trial
Researchers have begun a major clinical trial in Africa of what could become the world’s first vaccine against malaria, a disease that kills nearly a million people every year. The vaccine’s developers — drug giant GlaxoSmithKline PLC and the Path Malaria Vaccine Initiative, or MVI, a charitable group funded by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation — began a study in 16,000 African children this week, the largest-ever trial of the potential inoculation. The study is part of a broader effort by to develop vaccines and drugs that aren’t commercially attractive but would help combat diseases that afflict poor regions such as sub-Saharan Africa.

-Chandler Smith

TAGS: What We're Reading