MSF Alarmed Over Plans to Cut US AIDS Program – Medical aid organization Doctors Without Borders expressed concern that proposed budget cuts to a U.S. program for HIV treatment threatens the progress being made against the pandemic in Africa. While President Obama “has pledged to expand PEPFAR to include more people, his budget proposal for the fiscal year 2013 cuts more than a half-billion dollars from the program.” PEPFAR senior advisor Tom Walsh emphasized that “PEPFAR has made dramatic gains in efficiency, and that the budget requested for 2013 is the amount needed.” (VOA, Gabe Joselow)
Opinion: Biotech Can Safeguard Africa’s Breadbasket – While the population on the African continent continues to grow, the “average yield of grain crops [in Africa] hasn’t increased since the 1960s. African nations should “embrace agricultural biotechnology and also make sure farmers have ready access to fertilizer” in order to safeguard against crop failures and pest outbreaks. African farmers have the opportunity to reduce waste and increase trade opportunities by relying on better science. (WSJ, Gilbert Arap Bor)
Crisis Warning on North Africa – Northern Africa’s Sahel region risks being plunged into a dramatic humanitarian crisis unless aid for those affected by drought, conflict and poverty is increased immediately, UN officials warned Tuesday. The Director-General of the World Health Organization, Margaret Chan, explained that “droughts in 2005 and 2010 meant many of the 15 million people affected in the impoverished region have already sold off their reserves to survive.” (AP)
Malawi’s New President Faces Obstacles to Improving Women’s Rights – Previously a women’s rights advocate, Malawi’s President Joyce Banda has been sworn in “at a time when . . . there are . . . very conservative forces that work against advancing rights for women.” Increasing privatization in the nation has eliminated government subsidies for social services that focused on helping women, “such as improving access to healthcare, housing and water.” Malawi’s women “need an advocate for their access to low-cost, high-quality HIV medications,” as nearly 60 percent of adults living with AIDS in Malawi are women. (VOA, Ricci Shryock)
