Global Health Briefs August 2010

UN reports global life expectancy up

People are living longer, reports the U.N., due to nutrition and hygiene improvements and advances in vaccines and medical treatments. Global life expectancy increased sharply, from 47 years in the 1950s to 68 years at present, despite the devastation of HIV/AIDS.

• Read the full news release Commission on Population and Development to Discuss Growing Burden of Non-Communicable Diseases from the United Nations.

UN announces MDG progress

In its annual assessment of global progress toward the Millennium Development Goals , the U.N. warns that progress is uneven and lists areas where accelerated efforts are needed to meet the final targets in 2015.

World Bank creating public health labs

The World Bank is committing $63 million to create a regional network of 25 public health labs in East Africa. The goal is improved public health across borders for vulnerable populations of Kenya, Tanzania, Uganda and Rwanda by increasing access to diagnostic services and utilizing the Internet and mobile communications.

• Read more about the East Africa Public Health Laboratory Networking Project from The World Bank.

Accordia issues capacity building report

Accordia Global Health Foundation has released a report titled Return on Investment: the Long-Term Impact of Building Healthcare Capacity in Africa. Fogarty’s Dr. Michael Johnson, Dr. Linda Kupfer and Dr. Rachel Sturke authored a chapter about the long-term impact of research capacity building.

• Download the full report, Return on Investment: The Long-Term Impact of Building Healthcare Capacity in Africa , from the Accordia Global Health Foundation.

MSH reviews capacity building literature

A position paper, Challenges Encountered in Capacity Building: Review of Literature and Selected Tools, has been released by Management Sciences for Health. It highlights capacity building for HIV/AIDS as responses shift from emergency services to long-term care.

• Download the full position paper Challenges Encountered in Capacity Building: Review of Literature and Selected Tools , from the Management Sciences for Health.

New metrics to assess R&D investments

A new multi-agency effort called STAR METRICS will monitor the impact of federal science investments on jobs, knowledge generation and health outcomes. NIH, the National Science Foundation and the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy are leading this initiative.

• Read the June 1, 2010 news release STAR METRICS: New Way to Measure the Impact of Federally Funded Research from the NIH.

To view Adobe PDF files, download current, free accessible plug-ins from Adobe's website .