Deaths from TB rivaling those from HIV was a recent media soundbite. Overall epidemiological import is relatively slight, but it does provide a good reminder that the improvements in HIV outcomes stem from massive investment in research that resulted in better therapies. The corresponding R&D within TB has yet to occur; with luck, this sort of announcement will help jolt it along.
This “ignorance survey” asks a series of questions germane to global health of a US population. Many people do not have a firm grasp of basic truths about global health, perhaps unsurprisingly. In particular, the absence of an appreciation that global extreme poverty is actually declining, dramatically, feeds into the overall narrative of global despair that pervades our media. Worth noting that per other KFF surveys, if you frame the information correctly for people, this can dramatically impact their willingness to support global health programs.
A bold claim by the Gates Foundation – malaria eradication by 2040 – which I would view as somewhat speculative over an overarching strategy. That said, Gates has made a lot of things happen in their quite brief existence, and they clearly have the financing to support a lot more. We will see what comes of this goal; it certainly is true that just a few major innovations could completely change the landscape of malaria control.
