ICAO International Civil Aviation Organization [to 7 February 2015]
http://www.icao.int/Newsroom/Pages/default.aspx

ICAO Forges Clear Strategic Agreement amongst States and Industry as Landmark High Level Safety Event Draws to Successful Conclusion
MONTRÉAL, 6 FEBRUARY 2015 – The International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) concluded its second High Level Safety Conference (HLSC) yesterday, with over 850 participants from its Member States and industry showing strong and united support for the UN body’s near- and long-term strategic planning and priorities for global aviation safety.

Besides forging global consensus on two particularly challenging emerging safety issues – flight tracking and conflict zone risk mitigation – the event also delivered clear affirmations for the objectives now being pursued in every world region under the ICAO Global Aviation Safety Plan.

Also recognized was the instrumental coordinating role now being performed by ICAO’s Regional Aviation Safety Groups (RASGs), and that sector-wide safety performance is a critical prerequisite for the sustainable development of air transport and the social and economic development benefits it fosters in States and Regions.

“Importantly, our Member States have reinforced their collective responsibility for aviation safety at this event, and that its enhancement will only continue to be possible through cooperative, collaborative and coordinated efforts among all stakeholders under the leadership of ICAO,” commented ICAO Council President Dr. Olumuyiwa Benard Aliu. “This is a clear testament to our ongoing mission and role and to the historic progress we have realized as a united global community.”

As the world continues to respond to the ongoing Ebola outbreak in Western Africa, the ICAO conference also stressed its recognition of the role played by aviation in responding to public health emergencies and the importance of collaboration between the aviation and public health sectors in preparedness planning and response to public health events….

UNIDO United Nations Industrial Development Organization [to 7 February 2015]
http://www.unido.org/en/news-centre/news.html

Monday, 02 February 2015
UNIDO teams up with International Trade Centre to help developing countries in Africa and Asia
VIENNA, 3 February 2015 – The United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO) and the International Trade Centre (ITC) will intensify joint activities in support of developing countries in Africa and Asia.

This was discussed in Vienna during a meeting between LI Yong, the Director General of UNIDO, and Dorothy Tembo, ITC Deputy Executive Director, and at subsequent meetings with representatives of relevant Branches, and then formulated in a joint communique signed by Tembo and Taizo Nishikawa, the Deputy to the Director General of UNIDO.

The communique suggests that the two organizations will strengthen cooperation in the areas of trade capacity building, value chain development, investment and export promotion, industrial upgrading and enterprise competitiveness, as well as youth employment and entrepreneurship.

Enhanced collaboration is especially envisaged in Ethiopia and Senegal – within the framework of the Country Partnership Programmes aimed at fostering inclusive and sustainable industrial development – and in Sri Lanka, in the context of an initiative to strengthen the trade capacities and performance of the country’s SMEs.

UNESCO [to 7 February 2015]
http://en.unesco.org/

31 January 2015
Sharm El Sheikh Statement: Setting the scene for education post-2015
Building effective channels for regional cooperation, advancing quality education and lifelong learning, and advocating for education provision in countries affected by conflict and those hosting refugees to be accepted as a global responsibility, are among the main highlights of the Sharm El Sheikh Statement that Arab ministers of education adopted today, concluding the Arab Regional Conference for Education post-2015….
The Statement

USAID [to 7 February 2015]
http://www.usaid.gov/

All Children Reading: A Grand Challenge for Development Announces Round 2 Grantees for Technology-Based Literacy Solutions
February 3, 2015
Innovative, scalable solutions to impact children in developing countries
The U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID), in partnership with World Vision and the Australian Government, announced today 14 grantees for the second call of All Children Reading: A Grand Challenge for Development. Innovators across the world were selected for their low-cost, technology-based solutions and programs that confront fundamental literacy issues and empower children to read…
Round 2 grantees include:

Mother Tongue Instruction and Reading Materials
:: Agora Center, the University of Jyväskylä – Zambia
Introduces GraphoGame, a science-based eLearning environment for literacy and teacher training.
:: Creative Associates International – Zambia
Develops a community-based, scalable model for using mobile technology to create and disseminate mother tongue reading materials to families with early grade children.
:: Kampuchean Action for Primary Education – Cambodia
Develops mother tongue instruction and reading materials, with electronic readers having interactive features for Grades 2 and 3 readers.
:: Little Thinking Minds – Jordan
Builds a child-centered ICT-based Arabic literacy program consisting of e-books and associated mobile applications that can supplement traditional school-based learning at home or in the classroom.
:: Réseau d’Acteurs pour le Renouveau de l’Education – Mali
Uses mobile technology to improve the teaching and learning of reading and writing in bilingual curriculum schools.

Family and Community Engagement
:: ChildFund International – Afghanistan
Transmits radio messages and stories to families of struggling readers, using solar-charged mobile phones.
:: Oeuvre Malienne d’Aide à l’Enfance du Sahel – Mali
Uses Stepping Stone, a low-cost mobile lesson creation tool, to determine how access to interactive digital audio and texts might enhance pre-reading and reading skills.
:: Qué Funciona para el Desarrollo A.C. – Mexico
Introduces MATCH, a technology-based platform that provides children and their parents with a selection of Spanish-written books that are tailored to the child’s reading level and coincide with his/her topics of interest.
:: Sesame Workshop India Trust – India
Strengthens family and community engagement in promoting mother tongue reading skills among early primary grade children.

Children with Disabilities
:: Benetech – India
Creates texts in local languages by developing accessible audio books paired with the most current braille-focused reading methods.
:: Catholic Relief Services – Lesotho
Improves the reading outcomes of visually impaired children through the use of the Mountbatten Pro Brailler (MB Pro) and the Jot-a-Dot portable Brailler.
:: Institute for Disabilities Research and Training, Inc. – Morocco
Develops computer software that enables educators to efficiently create instructional materials with Moroccan Sign Language graphics.
:: Resources for the Blind, Inc. – Philippines
Develops technology to create and upload accessible versions of supplementary reading materials, and provides equipment needed by visually impaired students to access the materials.
:: Studio ADC – Georgia
Develops and tests electronic versions of books and learning materials for hearing impaired children.

ECHO [to 7 February 2015]
http://ec.europa.eu/echo/en/news

New EU strategy mobilises €1 billion for Syria and Iraq
06/02/2015
The European Commission and the EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy are presenting the first EU comprehensive strategy to tackle the crises in Syria and Iraq allocating €1 billion in funding for the next two years.

Statement by Commissioner Stylianides, EU Ebola Coordinator, on rising Ebola case numbers
05/02/2015
“Ebola cases in West Africa are on the rise again. For the first time this year, we saw an increase in new infections in the week to 1 February – with 124 new confirmed cases across Sierra Leone, Guinea and Liberia. This is very worrying…

EU allocates €3 million to help flood victims in Southern Africa
05/02/2015
The European Commission is giving €3 million in humanitarian aid to assist the people affected by severe flooding in Malawi, Mozambique and Madagascar. “The current heavy rains in the region have caused floods that destroyed houses, schools,…

Amref Health Africa [to 7 February 2015]
http://amref.org/news/news/

Speed up Efforts to End Female Genital Mutilation, Urges Amref Health Africa
International Day against Female Genital Mutilation – February 6, 2015

The International Day against Female Genital Mutilation (FGM), also known as Female Genital Cutting, has been designated by the United Nations to raise awareness about the dangers of the practice. FGM is the intentional invasive injuring of the female genitalia for non-medical reasons. It is a painful damaging of the genitals aimed at subduing women, an extreme form of discrimination against women that reflects deep-rooted inequality between the sexes. It has been recognised as a severe violation of the rights of women and girls…

…Amref Health Africa has implemented programmes to eliminate FGM since 2007, including regional programmes across East Africa and Ethiopia. Amref Health Africa’s innovative anti-FGM work, especially the community-led Alternative Rites of Passage, has been widely recognised as safe and acceptable to the community.

On this International Day against Female Genital Mutilation, Amref Health Africa renews its commitment to working hand in hand with governments, development partners and civil society organisations to:
:: Explore innovative ways of engaging the communities to accelerate the abandonment of FGM and to inform programming in working with communities
:: Work hand in hand with relevant bodies and institutions to build skills of frontline health workers in dealing with the effects of FGM
:: Mobilise health workers against medicalisation of FGM
:: Increase health education and health promotion among girls and women

Amref Health Africa realises that governments are solely responsible for ensuring the right to health for their citizenry and commits to supporting the governments to meet this objective. To that extent, Amref Health Africa urges governments as well as their development partners to meet the following obligations for accelerating the abandonment of FGM:
:: Allocate adequate resources to support the abandonment of FGM and increase the empowerment of women and adolescents
:: Ensure frontline workers are knowledgeable and skilled in the care of FGM-related complications
:: Support the implementation of innovative approaches to engage communities towards abandonment of FGM
:: Invest in research to understand the underlying factors that cause FGM to thrive.

Aravind Eye Care System [to 7 February 2015]

Inauguration of Prayana
Aravind – Madurai, January 9
Prayana – A Museum of Library at Aravind was inaugurated in the premises of Aravind Library and Information Centre. The centre was inaugurated by Pamela C Sieving, Former Biomedical librarian/Informationist, NIH Library Bethesda, & Bette Anton, Librarian Emerita, University of California, Berkeley in the presence of senior leadership team of Aravind. The museum holds rare pictures right from the beginning of Aravind Eye Care System, manuscripts, old equipment and instruments used for diagnostic purposes.

BRAC [to 7 February 2015]

Maya Apa – Help at hand – Bangladesh’s first app by women for women
02 February 2015, Dhaka.
In partnership with BRAC, maya.com.bd has launched the first ever one-touch help service app for women in Bangladesh. ‘Maya Apa’ is an android-based mobile application, designed, developed, and implemented by female engineers, doctors, and entrepreneurs. It allows women (or any other user) to post questions anonymously, on health, legal and psychosocial issues. Within 48 hours, experts respond with tailor-made answers…

BRAC launches new research website
01 February 2015, Dhaka.
BRAC’s research and evaluation division launched its new website research.brac.net today. This new initiative was taken with the aim to disseminate its research publications to a wider audience as well as to bring research more prominently in development discussions. Integrating many features of web 2.0, the new website presents augmented user interactivity and mobile friendliness with clear navigations. The publications can be now read online plus social media tools…

Mercy Corps [to 7 February 2015]
http://www.mercycorps.org/press-room/releases

MERCY CORPS FORMS GLOBAL LEADERSHIP COUNCIL
February 2, 2015
WORLD LEADERS JOIN MERCY CORPS’ ADVISORY COMMITTEE TO HELP SHAPE AGENCY’S FUTURE STRATEGY
Portland, Ore. — Seven world political, business and economic leaders have joined Mercy Corps’ new Global Leadership Council to help enhance the organization’s strategic impact and influence and further strengthen responses to humanitarian and economic challenges around the world.
“We are facing an unprecedented number of complex humanitarian crises on multiple continents,” says Neal Keny-Guyer, Chief Executive Officer of Mercy Corps. “Our Global Leadership Council will help Mercy Corps continue to wisely navigate and adapt to today’s dynamic, rapidly changing environment.”
Linda Mason, Honorary Chair of Mercy Corps’ board of directors, will chair the Global Leadership Council. The council’s founding members are:
:: Carolina Barco, Advisor on Sustainable Urban Development in Latin America and the Caribbean to the Inter-American Development Bank, former Minister of Foreign Affairs of Colombia and former Ambassador to the United States
:: Mohamed El-Erian, Chief Economic Adviser at Allianz
:: Fadi Ghandour, Founder and Vice Chairman of Aramex, Executive Chairman of Wamda Ventures and Managing Partner of MENA Venture Investments
:: Mo Ibrahim, Founder and Chair of the Mo Ibrahim Foundation and Founding Chairman of Satya Capital Limited
:: Indra Nooyi, Chairman and CEO of PepsiCo
:: George Papandreou, former Prime Minister and former Minister of Foreign Affairs of Greece
:: Robert Zoellick, Chairman of Goldman Sachs’ International Advisors and former President of the World Bank Group.
“These global citizens are among the foremost experts in their fields,” says Keny-Guyer. “Mercy Corps is deeply grateful for their strategic counsel and unwavering commitment to addressing the world’s toughest challenges.”

BMGF – Gates Foundation Watch [to 7 February 2015]

Stanford launches major effort to expedite vaccine discovery with $50 million grant
Stanford Report, January 29, 2015
[Excerpt]
Stanford University today announced that it has received a grant from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation to accelerate efforts in vaccine development. The $50 million grant over 10 years will build on existing technology developed at Stanford and housed in the Human Immune Monitoring Core, and will establish the Stanford Human Systems Immunology Center. The center aims to better understand how the immune system can be harnessed to develop vaccines for the world’s most deadly infectious diseases….

PATH [to 7 February 2015]
http://www.path.org/news/

Press release | February 06, 2015
PATH names Kathy Cahill as vice president for International Development
Public health expert to serve on executive leadership team and oversee PATH’s international presence

Announcement | February 01, 2015
PATH, partners team up to unlock lifesaving health innovation in India
Unique collaboration joins PATH, Unitus Seed Fund, Pfizer, and partners to increase access to health products and services, support Indian entrepreneurs, and improve health throughout India

Innovative health sector financing: the Vaccine Independence Initiative
30 January 2015
This week the UNICEF Board is considering expanding the Vaccine Independence Initiative (VII). This financing mechanism was launched almost 25 years ago in 1991 to decouple the procurement of vaccines from the payment for these vaccines by countries out of national budgets. We caught up with PATH’s chief strategy officer Amie Batson, who has an intimate connection with this program….Q: What is next for the VII? A: During its meeting this week, the UNICEF Board is considering expanding the VII ten-fold (from $10 million to $100 million) to cover prefinancing of vaccines as well as many health products like bednets treated with long-lasting insecticide and supplies needed for Ebola response. As countries graduate from Gavi and other donor support, there are increasing demands for mechanisms such as the VII that create greater financial flexibility.

Save The Children [to 7 February 2015]
http://www.savethechildren.org/site/c.8rKLIXMGIpI4E/b.6150563/k.D0E9/Newsroom.htm

The Lottery of Birth: New Report Reveals World’s Most Disadvantaged Children are Being Left Behind in Global Efforts to Improve Child Survival
FAIRFIELD, Conn. (Feb. 4, 2015) — Despite historic global progress in reducing under-five child mortality rates over the past 15 years, new research conducted by Save the Children has found that large groups of children are still being left behind, simply because of where they live and the circumstances in which they are born.

Many factors, including whether a child lives in a rural area or belongs to a disadvantaged ethnic group, play a huge role in a child’s chances of survival. Save the Children describes this situation as a “lottery of birth.”

The “Lottery of Birth” report, based on inaugural analysis of disaggregated data from 87 low and middle income countries around the world, reveals that in more than three quarters of these countries, inequalities in child survival rates are actually worsening, resulting in some groups of children making far slower progress than their better-off peers…

SOS-Kinderdorf International [to 7 February 2015]
http://www.sos-childrensvillages.org/about-sos/press/press-releases

After Ebola: Orphaned children find home at SOS Children’s Villages Sierra Leone
04.02.2015 – For the first time since June 2014 new cases of Ebola in Sierra Leone have fallen below 100 per week. As the outbreak slows, focus shifts to how to care for the thousands of children left orphaned by Ebola.

Tostan [to 7 February 2015]
February 6, 2015

Tostan’s contributions to ending FGC highlighted by Government and UN agencies at national press conference

Dakar, Senegal – At a Press Conference held yesterday in Dakar, the Government of Senegal, the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) and the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) shared the results of a recent government study on the practice of FGC in Senegal. According to this 86-page government report, Practices of Female Genital Mutilation/Cutting of Girls and Women in Senegal (December 2014), the country has seen significant decreases in the number of young girls affected by FGC. The study revealed that among girls aged 0-15, who have a mother and at least one sibling who have been cut, the prevalence of FGC dropped from 20% in 2005 to 6.2% in 2010—that’s a 69% reduction over the course of five years.

The author of the study, Saturnin Kinson Kodjo, credited Tostan’s approach of non-formal human rights education and community engagement to the increasing number of communities that are abandoning the practice of FGC. “The best solution to abandoning FGC is Tostan’s approach of capacity building in communities and public declarations of abandonment,” he said. He recommended the continuation of the Tostan program in Senegal in order to put an end the practice in the coming years.
Tostan’s Chief Executive Officer, Molly Melching, was invited to talk about the success of Tostan’s Community Empowerment Program in helping communities make the decision to abandon FGC…

ODI [to 7 February 2015]
http://www.odi.org/media

“Cookie cutter” development policies won’t deliver for the world’s poorest – new report
Tuesday 3rd February 2015
A radically different approach to development is needed if progress in reaching the poorest is to be accelerated says a new report from the Overseas Development Institute (ODI).
In spite of aid flows and robust economic growth, the report, ‘Adapting development: improving services for the poor’, shows that some countries could still take 100 years or more to deliver some basic healthcare, sanitation and education services.

BMGF (Gates Foundation)
http://www.gatesfoundation.org/Media-Center/Press-Releases

Stanford launches major effort to expedite vaccine discovery with $50 million grant
Stanford Report, January 29, 2015
[Excerpt]
Stanford University today announced that it has received a grant from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation to accelerate efforts in vaccine development. The $50 million grant over 10 years will build on existing technology developed at Stanford and housed in the Human Immune Monitoring Core, and will establish the Stanford Human Systems Immunology Center. The center aims to better understand how the immune system can be harnessed to develop vaccines for the world’s most deadly infectious diseases….

MacArthur Foundation
http://www.macfound.org/

Press release
Nine Nonprofits Recognized for Exceptional Creativity and Effectiveness, Awarded Up to $1 Million Each
Published February 4, 2015
MacArthur today named nine organizations as recipients of the MacArthur Award for Creative and Effective Institutions. The Award, which recognizes exceptional nonprofit organizations that are engaged in the Foundation’s core fields of work and helps ensure their long-term sustainability, provides each organization with $350,000 to $1 million, depending on the size of its budget.
“From tracking money in U.S. elections to protecting the vulnerable in Mexico to reinvigorating civics education, these extraordinary organizations are tackling some of the most difficult social challenges and achieving outsized impact,” said MacArthur Vice President Elspeth Revere, who leads the awards program. “This award recognizes their leadership and success, and it is also a significant investment in their long-term future.”
The recipients of the 2015 MacArthur Award for Creative and Effective Institutions are –
:: Asistencia Legal por los Derechos Humanos – Mexico City ($350,000) protects the rights of vulnerable populations amidst justice reform in Mexico
:: Firelight Media – New York City ($500,000) develops diverse documentary filmmakers to tell untold stories
:: Forest Trends – Washington, DC ($1 million) brings the value of forests into the modern economy
:: FrameWorks Institute – Washington, DC ($1 million) improves how we understand and talk about complex social issues
:: Human Rights Center, University of California, Berkeley – Berkeley, CA ($1 million) applies cutting-edge science and research to protect human rights globally
:: iCivics – Washington, DC ($750,000) reinvigorates civics education for a new generation of Americans
:: John Howard Association of Illinois – Chicago, IL ($500,000) ensures humane and fair treatment of the incarcerated in Illinois through independent oversight
:: National Institute on Money in State Politics – Helena, MT ($1 million) brings transparency to campaign finance data in all 50 states
:: Roosevelt Campus Network – New York City ($750,000) galvanizes a new generation to participate in making public policy.
Organizations use this critical support, which is large relative to their budgets, to build cash reserves and endowments, develop strategic plans, and upgrade technology and physical infrastructure…

American Journal of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene
February 2015; 92 (2)
http://www.ajtmh.org/content/current

Editorial
Perspectives on Ebola
Philip J. Rosenthal and Daniel G. Bausch
Am J Trop Med Hyg 2015 92:219-220; Published online January 12, 2015, doi:10.4269/ajtmh.14-0831
[Free Access]
An unprecedented epidemic of Ebola virus disease (EVD) unfolded in West Africa in 2014. The epidemic has been well described in the popular press and in regular reports from public health authorities. The medical literature has necessarily been slower in describing the epidemic, but comprehensive reports are now appearing, offering valuable accounts of the clinical features, epidemiology, and public health consequences of this terrifying disease. The American Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene (ASTMH) has been deeply involved with the EVD outbreak. Numerous ASTMH members have played major roles in addressing the epidemic, including clinicians and epidemiologists working at the front lines of the epidemic at great personal risk, public health authorities guiding control efforts in Africa and elsewhere, and drug and vaccine experts working to rush effective products to the field. The annual meeting of the ASTMH served as a forum for timely expert discussions on EVD, but also highlighted the political challenges of this particular crisis, as some experts were prevented from attending the ASTMH meeting as a result of ill-founded concerns about the consequences of their recent travel to West Africa. In this issue of the American Journal of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene (AJTMH) we offer a series of Perspectives from individuals active in addressing the EVD epidemic.

As with other large disasters, the full toll of the EVD epidemic is difficult to fathom. The numbers are clear. As of the end of 2014, nearly 20,000 cases of EVD and 7,000 deaths have been reported to the World Health Organization (WHO). These numbers are likely underestimates caused by underreporting. Furthermore, although these numbers are much lower than those seen for our greatest tropical medicine challenges, the impact of the epidemic can easily be underappreciated. EVD is quite unique, even among severe infectious diseases, in causing massive disruption to societies, and in particular to the healthcare infrastructure. In affected areas of Africa, in addition to the huge direct toll of EVD, all aspects of healthcare have been torn apart. Management and control of the most important serious infectious diseases, including neonatal infections, human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) infection, tuberculosis, malaria, and other neglected diseases have been greatly disrupted. “Band-aid” solutions, such as widespread distribution of artemisinin-based combination therapies to decrease the incidence of non-Ebola febrile illnesses, have unknown efficacy, and may cause new problems, such as selection of drug resistance and loss of community confidence in the healthcare system. Outside of Africa, responses to the EVD epidemic have often been driven by fear, misguided estimates of risk, and political considerations.

Most often, we in the scientific community appropriately focus on the data—the numbers of cases, the epidemiologic characteristics, and the efficacies of new interventions. In this process we may lose sight of the fact that a crisis such as the EVD epidemic is inherently personal. People are getting infected, suffering, and dying. In the case of this epidemic, much more so than in most humanitarian disasters, many of the victims are the healthcare workers and scientists who have willingly put themselves in harm’s way to help alleviate the suffering of others. In this issue of the AJTMH we offer Perspectives focusing on the personal side of the epidemic, considering in particular the points of view of health workers as caregivers at risk, as patients, and as those working to improve our ability to manage and control this epidemic. Two perspectives, from Adaora Igonoh and Will Pooley, offer accounts from those who put themselves at personal risk caring for patients with EVD, and then contracted the disease themselves. Another, from Lewis Rubinson, offers an account of a potential Ebola virus exposure that led to complex consequences. Susan McClellan offers an account from one of the many non-African healthcare providers who eagerly put themselves at risk. Perspectives addressing an improved response to EVD include a discussion of how, despite some steps in the right direction, the public health community failed to best prepare for a potential hemorrhagic fever outbreak by Daniel Bausch, a consideration of rethinking discharge policy in seriously stressed EVD clinics by Tim O’Dempsey and others, and a comprehensive commentary on clinical preparedness for those providing EVD care from David Brett-Major and many others. Considering the political consequences of responses to the epidemic outside Africa, perspectives from groups led by Ramin Asgary and Piero Olliaro detail the consequences of the misguided effort of the State of Louisiana to protect public health by preventing attendance at the annual meeting of the ASTMH in New Orleans by anyone who had recently traveled to affected countries in West Africa.

The West African EVD epidemic is still unfolding. This enormous disaster is likely to have long-range consequences, with impacts on efforts to control all tropical diseases in addition to specific effects on viral hemorrhagic fever preparedness and far-reaching impacts on the affected countries. Regardless of the future overall course, the epidemic will remain deeply personal, with obvious consequences on affected patients and families, but also on health workers. We hope that the Perspectives in this issue of the AJTMH will help readers to appreciate the personal side of this epidemic, both as a major humanitarian disaster and as a formidable challenge for the international public health community.

Perspective Pieces
My Experience as an Ebola Patient
Adaora K. Igonoh
Am J Trop Med Hyg 2015 92:221-222; Published online December 22, 2014, doi:10.4269/ajtmh.14-0763
Full Text Full Text (PDF) OPEN ACCESS ARTICLE

Ebola: Perspectives from a Nurse and Patient
Will Pooley
Am J Trop Med Hyg 2015 92:223-224; Published online January 5, 2015, doi:10.4269/ajtmh.14-0762
Full Text Full Text (PDF) OPEN ACCESS ARTICLE

From Clinician to Suspect Case: My Experience After a Needle Stick in an Ebola Treatment Unit in Sierra Leone
Lewis Rubinson
Am J Trop Med Hyg 2015 92:225-226; Published online December 15, 2014, doi:10.4269/ajtmh.14-0769
Full Text Full Text (PDF) OPEN ACCESS ARTICLE

Ebola: My Head is Full of Stories
Susan L. F. McLellan
Am J Trop Med Hyg 2015 92:227-228; Published online December 22, 2014, doi:10.4269/ajtmh.14-0801
Full Text Full Text (PDF) OPEN ACCESS ARTICLE

The Year That Ebola Virus Took Over West Africa: Missed Opportunities for Prevention
Daniel G. Bausch
Am J Trop Med Hyg 2015 92:229-232; Published online January 5, 2015, doi:10.4269/ajtmh.14-0818
Full Text Full Text (PDF) OPEN ACCESS ARTICLE

Being Ready to Treat Ebola Virus Disease Patients
David M. Brett-Major, Shevin T. Jacob, Frederique A. Jacquerioz, George F. Risi, William A. Fischer II, Yasuyuki Kato, Catherine F. Houlihan, Ian Crozier, Henry Kyobe Bosa, James V. Lawler, Takuya Adachi, Sara K. Hurley, Louise E. Berry, John C. Carlson, Thomas. C. Button, Susan L. McLellan, Barbara J. Shea, Gary G. Kuniyoshi, Mauricio Ferri, Srinivas G. Murthy, Nicola Petrosillo, Francois Lamontagne, David T. Porembka, John S. Schieffelin, Lewis Rubinson, Tim O’Dempsey, Suzanne M. Donovan, Daniel G. Bausch, Robert A. Fowler, and Thomas E. Fletcher
Am J Trop Med Hyg 2015 92:233-237; Published online December 15, 2014, doi:10.4269/ajtmh.14-0746
Abstract Full Text Full Text (PDF) OPEN ACCESS ARTICLE

Rethinking the Discharge Policy for Ebola Convalescents in an Accelerating Epidemic
Tim O’Dempsey, S. Humarr Khan, and Daniel G. Bausch
Am J Trop Med Hyg 2015 92:238-239; Published online December 1, 2014, doi:10.4269/ajtmh.14-0719
Abstract Full Text Full Text (PDF) OPEN ACCESS ARTICLE

Ebola Policies That Hinder Epidemic Response by Limiting Scientific Discourse
Ramin Asgary, Julie A. Pavlin, Jonathan A. Ripp, Richard Reithinger, and Christina S. Polyak
Am J Trop Med Hyg 2015 92:240-241; Published online January 5, 2015, doi:10.4269/ajtmh.14-0803
Abstract Full Text Full Text (PDF) OPEN ACCESS ARTICLE

Out of (West) Africa—Who Lost in the End?
Piero Olliaro, Estrella Lasry, and Amanda Tiffany
Am J Trop Med Hyg 2015 92:242-243; Published online December 15, 2014, doi:10.4269/ajtmh.14-0753
Full Text Full Text (PDF) OPEN ACCESS ARTICLE

International Aid and Natural Disasters: A Pre- and Post-Earthquake Longitudinal Study of the Healthcare Infrastructure in Leogane, Haiti
Maxwell Kligerman, Michele Barry, David Walmer, and Eran Bendavid
Am J Trop Med Hyg 2015 92:448-453; Published online December 15, 2014, doi:10.4269/ajtmh.14-0379
Abstract Full Text Full Text (PDF) Supplementary File OPEN ACCESS ARTICLE

BMC Health Services Research
http://www.biomedcentral.com/bmchealthservres/content
(Accessed 7 February 2015)

Research article
Streamlined research funding using short proposals and accelerated peer review: an observational study
Adrian G Barnett12*, Danielle L Herbert13, Megan Campbell12, Naomi Daly24, Jason A Roberts24, Alison Mudge24 and Nicholas Graves12
Author Affiliations
BMC Health Services Research 2015, 15:55 doi:10.1186/s12913-015-0721-7
Published: 7 February 2015
Abstract (provisional)
Background
Despite the widely recognised importance of sustainable health care systems, health services research remains generally underfunded in Australia. The Australian Centre for Health Services Innovation (AusHSI) is funding health services research in the state of Queensland. AusHSI has developed a streamlined protocol for applying and awarding funding using a short proposal and accelerated peer review.
Method
An observational study of proposals for four health services research funding rounds from May 2012 to November 2013. A short proposal of less than 1,200 words was submitted using a secure web-based portal. The primary outcome measures are: time spent preparing proposals; a simplified scoring of grant proposals (reject, revise or accept for interview) by a scientific review committee; and progressing from submission to funding outcomes within eight weeks. Proposals outside of health services research were deemed ineligible.
Results
There were 228 eligible proposals across 4 funding rounds: from 29% to 79% were shortlisted and 9% to 32% were accepted for interview. Success rates increased from 6% (in 2012) to 16% (in 2013) of eligible proposals. Applicants were notified of the outcomes within two weeks from the interview; which was a maximum of eight weeks after the submission deadline. Applicants spent 7 days on average preparing their proposal. Applicants with a ranking of reject or revise received written feedback and suggested improvements for their proposals, and resubmissions composed one third of the 2013 rounds.
Conclusions
The AusHSI funding scheme is a streamlined application process that has simplified the process of allocating health services research funding for both applicants and peer reviewers. The AusHSI process has minimised the time from submission to notification of funding outcomes.

BMC Infectious Diseases
http://www.biomedcentral.com/bmcinfectdis/content
(Accessed 7 February 2015)

Research article
An outbreak following importation of wild poliovirus in Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region, China, 2011
Hai-Bo Wang, Wen-Zhou Yu, Xin-Qi Wang, Fuerhati Wushouer, Jian-Ping Wang, Dong-Yan Wang, Fu-Qiang Cui, Jing-Shan Zheng, Ning Wen, Yi-Xin Ji, Chun-Xiang Fan, Hui-Ling Wang, Gui-Jun Ning, Guo-Hong Huang, Dong-Mei Yan, Qi-Ru Su, Da-Wei Liu, Guo-Ming Zhang, Kathleen H Reilly, Jing Ning, Jian-Ping Fu, Sha-Sha Mi, Hui-Ming Luo, Wei-Zhong Yang BMC Infectious Diseases 2015, 15:34 (31 January 2015)
Abstract | Provisional PDF | PubMed