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GHTC Director Kaitlin Christenson attended Secretary of State Hillary Clinton’s speech at the National Institutes for Health (NIH) yesterday and blogged her reaction to the address for Breakthroughs. To a room full of dignitaries, US policymakers, members of Congress, research leaders, and global health advocates at NIH yesterday, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton declared that in the midst of difficult budget times, “investing in our future is the smartest investment we can make.” The Secretary spoke with pride and hope about the historic leadership that the US government has played in advancing progress to combat HIV and AIDS, and the need to stay the course—even as Congress considers budget cuts which may affect global health and HIV and AIDS funding—as we work toward the previously unimaginable goal of an AIDS-free generation. "An AIDS-free generation would be one of the greatest gifts the United States could give to our collective future." -Secretary of State Hillary Clinton at speech on Tuesday. Photo: Wendy Stone/PATH During her speech, Clinton highlighted the numerous advances made possible through an investment in science by the US government: American scientists were the first to report the AIDS epidemic; NIH research provided proof that HIV causes AIDS; the US government supported the development of the first drugs to treat AIDS; and continued US investments are supporting the search for a vaccine, microbicides, and other tools. But she could have added even more successes to this list. In the past two years, US-funded research has: Led to the first-ever proof of concept that both an HIV vaccine and a vaginal microbicide could work. Provided evidence that treatment of individuals who are HIV positive can actually help prevent new infections--potentially reducing the risk of transmission up to 96%. Shown that once-daily pills can work to reduce the risk of HIV in high-risk groups. It is scientific advances like these that will lead us to a new era in the AIDS epidemic, and US policymakers must do all that they can to protect our investment in the research that will yield the new tools that are so critically needed. In Washington, she joked, some would prefer that we operate in an “evidence-free zone.” But she called on all of us to stand up for science and evidence, and keep our focus on the future, urging us to consider what the world would look like if we succeeded in our goal of an AIDS-free generation. “That is the world that has always been at the core of American belief, and we have worked toward it in our own history. It’s the world I think we all would like to live in. An AIDS-free generation would be one of the greatest gifts the United States could give to our collective future.” Thanks to the scientific advances in recent years, the global community is finally positioned to end the AIDS epidemic. The US government must answer Secretary Clinton’s call to keep the momentum going and seize this historic opportunity.

Today, the GlobalPost’s “Global Pulse” blog posted a series of video interviews that GHTC conducted with prominent Americans and leading US health officials about why Americans should care about global health and research. On Tuesday, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton will be delivering a major speech on the HIV and AIDS pandemic at the National Institutes of Health. Clinton’s speech is expected to highlight US leadership in research and innovation for HIV and AIDS, particularly in developing treatment and prevention tools. Against that backdrop, the Global Health Technologies Coalition (GHTC), a Washington, D.C.-based advocacy group promoting global health research and development, interviewed prominent Americans and leading US health officials on why Americans should care about the issue. Here are the short responses from actress Whoopi Goldberg; Rep. Edward Markey (D-Mass.); US Food and Drug Administration Commissioner Dr. Margaret Hamburg; and Amie Batson, Deputy Assistant Administrator for Global Health at the US Agency for International Development. We’d also like to hear from you. In the Comments section, leave a note or send a link to a YouTube video explaining why Americans should care about global health research. Amie Batson on Why Americans Should Care about Global Health Research: FDA Commissioner, Margaret Hamburg: Representative Ed Markey (D-Mass): Whoopi Goldberg:

Center for Global Development (CGD), a Washington DC-based think-tank that works to reduce global poverty and inequality through research, officially released its newest report on global health earlier this week. The launch brought together donors, academics, public health officials, and representatives from the pharmaceutical industry to continue an important conversation about improving one of the biggest challenges in global health: bringing the best health tools that research has to offer to the people who need them most through improved regulatory pathways. The report, called Safer, Faster, Cheaper: Improving Clinical Trials and Regulatory Pathways to Fight Neglected Disease, outlines a two-pronged approach—establishing regional regulatory pathways for the oversight of clinical trials, and building quality and cost-efficiency into trial planning and design. The report was the product of a working group that included representatives from donor groups, philanthropy groups, product development partnerships (PDPs), consulting firms, the pharmaceutical industry, government, researchers, and developing and developed country regulators. New report from Center for Global Development highlights need to improve regulatory pathways to help deliver health tools to the people who need them the most. Photo Credit: Satvir Malhotra Working group chair Tom Bollyky from the Center on Foreign Relations noted that navigating through even a single regulatory pathway can often be the most challenging part of bringing new products to market. Yet, many global health product developers find themselves needing to navigate not one but several regulatory pathways, often overseen by authorities with severely limited capacity, making the process seem insurmountable. According to the working group, a unified approach to approving and overseeing clinical trials could dramatically speed up product development and delivery. CGD’s report proposes “a centralized procedure model in which participating regulatory bodies and ethics committees jointly approve and oversee clinical trials for neglected disease technologies.” Additionally, the working group proposed that changes be made with clinical trials themselves—specifically the way they are organized and financed. Clinical trials are often modeled off of previous, successful clinical trials, most of which occur in wealthy countries. As a result, trial protocols have become extremely complex and expensive to carry out, putting them out of reach for developing countries where, too often, resources are sparse. Further, the working group recommends more input from local investigators and independent stakeholders early on in the clinical trial design. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) Commissioner Margaret Hamburg highlighted the need for new ideas and processes to advance global health technologies and regulatory pathways in her keynote address. In speaking of the FDA’s interest in the new report, she told that audience that failing to address the needs of the developing world’s health concerns undermines the health, security, and wellbeing of us all. She added that now, more than ever, global diseases need global solutions.