Recent news
April 2011
USAID head highlights health research and innovation in annual letter
April 5, 2011 -- In his 2011 annual message, US Agency for International Development (USAID) Administrator Rajiv Shah describes the agency’s recent work to address global poverty, hunger, and illness through programs such as the Global Health Initiative. “Compared to 1990, today four million more children live past their fifth birthday every year, because they have access to simple vaccines against diseases like measles and polio. Five million HIV patients no longer face a death sentence because they’ve been supplied with lifesaving antiretroviral drugs. And 188,000 more women survive the natural act of childbirth, thanks to the skilled attendants by their side,” Shah writes in the letter. He adds, “In the future, our biggest opportunity to save lives in global health lies in inventing a new wave of medical technologies that are cheap, easy-to-use, and can be delivered anywhere. After all, a world-class vaccine doesn’t need to be administered in a world-class hospital for it to be effective.”
According to Shah, a “prime example of this type of breakthrough came last December, when a USAID-funded trial at a South African AIDS research lab gave women around the world a new way to reduce HIV transmission: a microbicide gel. Though still in development, women will eventually be able to use this gel to protect themselves against HIV.” He concludes, “Inventing these technological breakthroughs may sound audacious. But only by setting big goals can we inspire the innovation necessary to bend the curve of progress and meet them.” See the link below for more information.
