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In this guest post, Mandy Slutsker, senior project associate with the ACTION Partnership, writes about a new report that calls for increased efforts to fight tuberculosis among children worldwide. When Sipho* was just 18 months old, he began coughing and his feet began to swell. His mother Masia was sent home from a clinic near their home in Swaziland with medicine for a common cold, but his condition only worsened. Eventually, Sipho was diagnosed with a drug-resistant strain of tuberculosis (TB)—and so began an exhausting daily odyssey for him and Masia. Every day for six months, the pair traveled six kilometers so Sipho could receive a grueling treatment regimen of injections and crushed pills. Despite recent progress toward addressing childhood TB at the global level, children like Sipho are still misdiagnosed and subject to harsh treatment regimens meant for adults. Increased investments in research and development are needed to develop new child-friendly TB diagnostics, drugs, and vaccines. Photo credit: PATH As an advocate, I am thrilled to see childhood TB receive this attention—the issue gained recognition at international conferences, served as the theme of this year’s World TB Day, and is the subject of new guidelines from the World Health Organization. But I can’t forget TB takes the lives of 1.4 million people every year—and children remain largely unreached and uncounted. If we want to end TB as a killer of children, we need to do more than just talk. It’s time for action. Unfortunately, many barriers stand in our way—a lack of political will, inadequate funding for TB programs, and failure to invest in research and development (R&D) for child-friendly diagnostics, drugs, and vaccines. The standard microscope method available in many high-burden countries to diagnose TB largely isn’t effective in children, few child-friendly TB drugs exist, and the current TB vaccine fails to protect both children and adults against the most common form of the disease. How do we overcome these challenges? In my opinion, it all comes down to advocacy. It’s time for civil society, healthcare workers, governments, and the private sector to come together and ensure no child dies from this preventable and treatable disease. Civil society must mobilize to ensure governments and donors quickly invest additional resources in R&D to create new child-friendly diagnostics, drugs, and vaccines. In addition to R&D investments, we have to ensure new treatments—and better formulations of existing treatments—can reach children as quickly as possible. So donors, the private sector, and regulatory authorities must all work together to clarify the development pathway for childhood TB drugs. For too long we’ve worked in silos, not communicating with one another. We each have a role to play. We’ve built the momentum, now it’s time to act. Read the full brief, Children and Tuberculosis: From Neglect to Action, at Action.org and join the #kidsTB #putkids1st conversation on Twitter. *Names have been changed to ensure confidentiality

With the results of the presidential and congressional elections now almost two days behind us, there has been increasing reaction and speculation about what President Barack Obama’s second term and new congressional leadership could mean for foreign policy, international development, and global health. Below, we provide a round-up of some of the most interesting reads in the wake of the election results. Devex examines if Obama’s re-election is a “boon for US foreign aid.” While “Obama’s win is good news for the US Agency for International Development (USAID), which could have faced deep budget cuts in a Republican administration,” questions still “linger” over leadership. “Secretary of State Hillary Clinton is not expected to stay for more than a few months into Obama’s second term, if at all. Some Washington insiders also suggest that USAID Administrator Rajiv Shah is interested in pursuing a political career sooner rather than later.” According to the US Global Leadership Coalition (USGLC), the election has resulted in “broad bipartisan support for America’s global leadership and the International Affairs Budget,” although there are “challenges ahead to reconcile commitments to development and diplomacy with the need to address America’s fiscal crisis.” USGLC provides a detailed look at the new players in Washington and the likely playing field for the 113th Congress. The Center for Global Development identifies the “five things that should be at the top of the President’s global health agenda for the next four years.” These priorities include the President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief, strengthening global health partnerships, and sustainability. Both National Journal and Foreign Policy examine how Rep. Howard Berman’s (D-CA) loss and a new Republican chair of the House Foreign Affairs Committee will shake up the foreign policy leadership in Congress. National Journal reports that one day “after the election ensured Republicans will keep their majority in the next Congress, Rep. Ed Royce (R-CA) made his first public play to secure the chairmanship of the House Foreign Affairs Committee.” And according to Foreign Policy, “Berman will be remembered for his decades of tireless work on foreign policy and his reputation as a legislator who sought to build consensus to push forward a bipartisan agenda.” Pharmalot looks at what the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) will look like after the election results have settled. “Apart from an occasional reference, the agency is not part of the campaign dialogue.” However, the FDA will still be affected by the looming sequester, which would leave the agenda with about $320 million less to spend in Fiscal Year (FY) 2013 than it did in FY 2012. Pharmalot also examines what could happen to FDA leadership in the coming months.

In this regular feature on Breakthroughs, we highlight some of the most interesting reads in global health research from the past week. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton unveiled a blueprint for achieving an AIDS-free generation, which recognizes the need for research to develop new HIV and AIDS treatment and prevention tools. A new tuberculosis vaccine candidate has been given regulatory approval to begin clinical trials in Europe, making it the first of its kind to do so. An experimental vaccine based on a molecule that protects animals against influenza may one day offer a faster way to develop new vaccines for humans. At a recent World Health Organization meeting, member states agreed to focus on strengthening national regulatory capacities as part of a plan to promote the prevention and control of substandard medical products worldwide. In related news, WHO member states have also agreed to endorse a strategic work plan for global health research that includes proposals on the coordination, financing, and monitoring of research expenditures. A new report from the Milken Institute explores possible incentives and innovative financing mechanisms to develop treatments for diseases that primarily affect the developing world.

In this regular feature on Breakthroughs, we highlight some of the most interesting reads in global health research from the past week. President Barack Obama recently pledged to restore the United States to a position of global leadership in research and technology, but Nature examines how sequestration threatens research funding. GHTC members the Drugs for Neglected Diseases initiative (DNDi) and the Medicines for Malaria Venture (MMV) announced the identification of three chemical series that could lead to new treatments for neglected tropical diseases. The series were made possible by MMV's open access Malaria Box. The US Agency for International Development recently announced the launch of its Higher Education Solutions Network—a new partnership with seven top American and foreign universities designed to develop innovative solutions to global development challenges, including global health. Pharmaceutical companies Johnson & Johnson, Merck, and Eli Lilly plan to launch a one-stop database of global clinical trial sites aimed at streamlining paperwork and speeding the process for testing new drugs. A US Food and Drug Administration panel voted unanimously to recommend the effectiveness of a new hepatitis B vaccine but also raised concerns about its safety, asking for more data from studies on a wider population.