Recent news
June 2011
Global health technologies can “make the difference between life and death,” Congressman writes in opinion piece
June 14, 2011 -- “It is indisputable that the state of the world’s health, especially for mothers and children, has improved dramatically. In the past 20 years, childhood deaths have been cut in half in parts of Africa, Asia, and Latin America, but there is still much that can be done,” Representative Albio Sires (D-NJ) writes in an opinion piece in The Hill. He adds, “Around the world, for every five children who live to see their fifth birthday, one does not. One woman in 30 dies of pregnancy-related causes. In many of these cases, simple, low-cost, culturally-appropriate technologies can make the difference between life and death.”
According to Sires, health technologies “run the gamut from drugs, to vaccines, to medical devices. The right tool, administered in the right way, can help prevent devastating illnesses and other health problems. Often, they are quite simple, easy-to-use and may not even begin as solutions to a health issue.” For this reason, Sires recently introduced the 21st Century Global Health Technology Act. “This bill will help to maintain America’s leadership role in innovation and its commitment to global health, while increasing the leverage of private-sector expertise and resources in a time of fiscal constraint.” Sires adds that the bill “supports the US Agency for International Development in partnership with the private sector and collaboration with other agencies to develop new life-saving and cost-effective health technologies to improve the health of some of the most vulnerable people across the globe.” See the link below for more details.
