Women for Women International [to 10 October 2015]
http://www.womenforwomen.org/press-releases

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Afghan Women a Year into Ghani Presidency
October 5, 2015 | Council on Foreign Relations
One year after Ashraf Ghani became President of Afghanistan, Women for Women International’s CEO Jennifer Windsor reflects on how he and First Lady Rula Ghani have worked to include women at the highest levels of government. Yet the vast majority of women still face discrimination, violence, and human rights violations that require a holistic approach to create opportunities for women across the country…

ChildFund Alliance [to 10 October 2015]
http://childfundalliance.org/news/

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A new Global Partnership to End Violence against Children
[Undated]
Author: Child Fund Alliance
Governments from all over the world gathered in New York recently to adopt the new Global Goals for Sustainable Development and a new Global Partnership to end violence against children was launched.

ChildFund Alliance, Plan International, Save the Children, SOS Children’s Villages International, the Special Representative of the Secretary-General on Violence against Children, UNICEF, the World Health Organization, and World Vision International co-hosted a side-event entitled ‘Building a world that is safer for children,’ where the partnership was announced.

The event took place on September 27th 2015, at UNICEF headquarters in New York, and was an opportunity to draw attention to the partnership, to target 16.2 of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), to engage senior government officials and influential leaders, and garner a public commitment from them…

Gavi [to 10 October 2015]
http://www.gavialliance.org/library/news/press-releases/

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New commitment from the Republic of Korea to Gavi will support childhood immunisation in the world’s poorest countries
06 October 2015
Korean support for immunisation in developing countries now stands at US$ 15 million.

Make vaccine coverage a key UN health indicator
Track progress towards universal care using a wide-reaching intervention that all countries can readily measure, says Seth Berkley.
06 October 2015
Nature 526, 165 (08 October 2015) doi:10.1038/526165a

Start Network [to 10 October 2015]
http://www.start-network.org/news-blog/#.U9U_O7FR98E
[Consortium of British Humanitarian Agencies]

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Start Fund crisis update
October 9, 2015
Posted by Helen James in News.
A summary of small to medium scale crises that the Start Fund has been alerted to, between 16 September and 5 October 2015.
:: Displacement in Columbia
:: Flooding in Sierra Leone
:: Drought in Central America
:: Outbreak of violence and displacement in Central African Republic
:: Flooding in Benin

Global Humanitarian Assistance (GHA) [to 10 October 2015]
http://www.globalhumanitarianassistance.org/

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Conflict escalation in the Central African Republic
Report Synopsis
Date: 2015/10/07
On 2 October 2015 we responded to a funding alert in response to conflict escalation in the Central African Republic.
The violence outbreak led to massive population displacement with an estimated 42,575 newly persons displaced in the Bangui region. The sudden and massive population movement is leading to many traumatised and unaccompanied or separated children from their families. The elections scheduled for 18 October 2015 are no longer taking place.

According to the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA)’s Financial Tracking Service (FTS), donors have committed or contributed US$342.8 million of humanitarian assistance to the Central African Republic so far in 2015. The US is the top donor, having contributed or committed US$84.8 million to the crisis.

So far in 2015, according to our analysis, US$17.9 million has been disbursed to the Bangui region of the Central African Republic. Of the total funding in 2015, an estimated US$21.5 million (6% of total) was committed or contributed to support internally displaced persons.

:: Read our full analysis of the current funding situation.

ODI [to 10 October 2015]
http://www.odi.org/media

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Resilience scan 2015 Q2
Research reports and studies | October 2015 | Thomas Tanner, Aditya Bahadur, Florence Pichon, Hani Morsi
This resilience scan summarises resilience writing and debates in the field from April to June 2015.

Low-carbon development in sub-Saharan Africa: 20 cross-sector transitions
Working and discussion papers | October 2015 | James Ryan Hogarth, Caroline Haywood, Shelagh Whitley
20 transitions in sub-Saharan Africa that can promote low-carbon development.

Protection of civilians in armed conflict: bridging the gap between law and reality
Briefing papers | October 2015 | Eva Svoboda and Emanuela-Chiara Gillard
Despite improvements in laws on protection, civilians continue to suffer systematic violence in conflicts. This policy brief examines the gap between laws on protection and reality and offers key suggestions.

Getting ready for SDG implementation in Latin America
resource | October 2015 | Paula Lucci, Javier Surasky and Camilo Gamba
UN governments agreed the SDGs at the General Assembly in September, but with 17 goals and 169 targets, how will Latin America approach implementation?

Psychological resilience: state of knowledge and future research agendas
Working and discussion papers | October 2015 | Rebecca Graber, Florence Pichon, Elizabeth Carabine
This paper investigates new insights in contemporary psychological resilience research.

Implementing the new development framework in countries affected by conflict and fragility
Briefing papers | October 2015 | Marcus Manuel
A revolution in the rate of progress is required to achieve the SDGs, particularly in poor fragile and conflict affected states. This paper identifies elements of a possible new platform for necessary global collective action if we are to ensure no country is left…

Reforming the roads sector in Uganda: a six-year retrospective
Working and discussion papers | October 2015 | David Booth and Frederick Golooba-Mutebi
This study examines CrossRoads, a multi-donor development programme geared towards supporting the construction and maintenance of roads in Uganda.

Ford Foundation [to 10 October 2015]
http://www.fordfoundation.org/newsroom

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6 October 2015:
Ford appoints Elizabeth Alexander as director of Creativity and Free Expression
In her new role, Alexander will shape and direct the foundation’s grant programs on arts, media, and culture.

6 October 2015:
Ford names Michelle Alexander senior fellow
The legal scholar and author will contribute to the foundation’s work on democracy, rights and justice

MacArthur Foundation [to 10 October 2015]
http://www.macfound.org/

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Publication
October 8, 2015
Verifying Energy Efficiency Job Creation
A report by the American Council for an Energy-Efficient Economy examines the complexity of verifying whether energy efficiency improvements help create jobs. Job creation is often a motivating argument for investing in energy efficiency. The MacArthur-supported report identifies some of the issues that contribute to a lack of consistency in attempting to verify efficiency-related job creation, and proposes an analytically rigorous framework for program evaluators to use in future assessments. An accompanying blog post by Economist Jim Barrett also looks at best practices in verifying job creation.

Rockefeller Foundation [to 10 October 2015]
http://www.rockefellerfoundation.org/newsroom

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Rebuild by Design Competition Receives Federal Award for Innovation
NEW YORK—Rebuild by Design, the international design competition tasked with developing innovative plans to protect the New York region from another Superstorm Sandy, has been awarded the first-ever “Most Groundbreaking Federal Challenge or Prize Competition” by the General Services Administration (GSA). Rebuild was selected by GSA to receive this award from a group of more than 100 nominations. The award marks the fifth anniversary of Challenge.gov, a GSA platform that hosts competitions for more than 80 federal agencies. The award recognizes some of the most innovative prize designs that have created groundbreaking solutions to significant, intractable problems.

Rebuild by Design was an initiative of the Presidential Hurricane Sandy Rebuilding Task Force and was formed as a partnership between The Rockefeller Foundation and the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) , to develop creative and viable solutions to challenges that Superstorm Sandy made all too clear..

Wellcome Trust [to 10 October 2015]
http://www.wellcome.ac.uk/News/2015/index.htm
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James Peto appointed Head of Public Programmes at Wellcome Collection
James Peto has been appointed Head of Public Programmes at Wellcome Collection. Peto has been at the museum since it opened in 2007, co-curating, amongst others, its first temporary exhibition, The Heart and, as Chief Curator, managing a team that has delivered critically acclaimed and increasingly popular shows exploring the connections between life, art and medicine.
05 October 2015

American Journal of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene
October 2015; 93 (4)
http://www.ajtmh.org/content/current

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Economic Burden of Dengue Virus Infection at the Household Level Among Residents of Puerto Maldonado, Peru
Gabriela Salmon-Mulanovich, David L. Blazes, Andres G. Lescano, Daniel G. Bausch, Joel M. Montgomery, and William K. Pan
Am J Trop Med Hyg 2015 93:684-690; Published online July 27, 2015, doi:10.4269/ajtmh.14-0755

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Detection of Chikungunya Virus in Nepal
Basu Dev Pandey, Biswas Neupane, Kishor Pandey, Mya Myat Ngwe Tun, and Kouichi Morita
Am J Trop Med Hyg 2015 93:697-700; Published online July 20, 2015, doi:10.4269/ajtmh.15-0092

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Investigating Barriers to Tuberculosis Evaluation in Uganda Using Geographic Information Systems
Jennifer M. Ross, Adithya Cattamanchi, Cecily R. Miller, Andrew J. Tatem, Achilles Katamba, Priscilla Haguma, Margaret A. Handley, and J. Lucian Davis
Am J Trop Med Hyg 2015 93:733-738; Published online July 27, 2015, doi:10.4269/ajtmh.14-0754

BMC Health Services Research
http://www.biomedcentral.com/bmchealthservres/content
(Accessed 10 October 2015)

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Research article
Propensity to seek healthcare in different healthcare systems: analysis of patient data in 34 countries
Tessa van Loenen, Michael van den Berg, Marjan Faber, Gert Westert BMC Health Services Research 2015, 15:465 (9 October 2015)

BMC Infectious Diseases
http://www.biomedcentral.com/bmcinfectdis/content
(Accessed 10 October 2015)

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Editorial
Challenges to the management of curable sexually transmitted infections
Marcus Y Chen, Sepehr N Tabrizi BMC Infectious Diseases 2015, 15:337 (1 December 2015)
Abstract
Each year, hundreds of millions of new cases of curable sexually transmitted infections (STIs) occur worldwide resulting in reproductive and other serious sequelae, as well as enhanced transmission of HIV. The clinical management and control of these STIs should include as a minimum access to services that provide timely and accurate diagnostic testing together with effective treatment. The provision of appropriate treatment is challenged by the development of increasing antimicrobial resistance, in particular with gonorrhoea and Mycoplasma genitalium infections, requiring new treatments and management algorithms. In addition, infections such as chlamydia, syphilis and trichomoniasis, which show few signs of resistance, are nevertheless highly prevalent and require better public health control measures. While these may be achievable in high income countries, they are still beyond the reach of many low and middle income countries, making substantial improvements in STI management and reductions in STI prevalence challenging.

BMC Pregnancy and Childbirth
http://www.biomedcentral.com/bmcpregnancychildbirth/content
(Accessed 10 October 2015)

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Research article
Changes in equity of maternal, newborn, and child health care practices in 115 districts of rural Ethiopia: implications for the health extension program
Ali Karim, Addis Tamire, Araya Medhanyie, Wuleta Betemariam BMC Pregnancy and Childbirth 2015, 15:238 (5 October 2015)
Abstract
Background
Reducing within-country inequities in the coverage of maternal, newborn, and child health (MNCH) interventions is essential to improving a country’s maternal and child health and survival rates. The community-based health extension program (HEP) of Ethiopia, launched in 2003, aims to provide equitable primary health care services. Since 2008 the Last Ten Kilometers Project (L10K) has been supporting the HEP in promoting equitable MNCH interventions in 115 districts covering about 14 million people. We report the inequities in MNCH programmatic indicators in 2008 and in 2010 in the L10K areas, along with changes in equity between the two survey periods, and the implications of these results for the national program.
Methods
The study used cross-sectional surveys of 3932 and 3867 women from 129 representative kebeles (communities) conducted in December 2008 and December 2010, respectively. Nineteen HEP outreach activity coverage and MNCH care practice indicators were calculated for each survey period, stratified by the inequity factors considered (i.e. age, education, wealth and distance from the nearest health facility). We calculated relative inequities using concentration indices for each of the indicators and inequity factors. Ninety-five percent confidence intervals and survey design adjusted Wald’s statistics were used to assess differentials in equity.
Results
Education and age related inequities in the MNCH indicators were the most prominent (observed for 13 of the 19 outcomes analyzed), followed in order by wealth inequity (observed for eight indicators), and inequity due to distance from the nearest health facility (observed for seven indicators). Age inequities in six of the indicators increased between 2008 and 2010; nevertheless, there was no consistent pattern of changes in inequities during that period. Some related issues such as inequities due to wealth in household visits by the health extension workers and prevalence of modern family household; and inequities due to education in household visits by community health promoters showed improvement.
Conclusions
Addressing these inequities in MNCH interventions by age, education and wealth will contribute significantly toward achieving Ethiopia’s maternal health targets for the Millennium Development Goals and beyond. HEP will require more innovative strategies to achieve equitable MNCH services and outcomes and to routinely monitor the effectiveness of those strategies.

BMC Public Health
http://www.biomedcentral.com/bmcpublichealth/content
(Accessed 10 October 2015)

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Research article
The role of men in abandonment of female genital mutilation: a systematic review
Nesrin Varol, Sabera Turkmani, Kirsten Black, John Hall, Angela Dawson BMC Public Health 2015, 15:1034 (8 October 2015)
Open Access
Abstract
Background
Men in their roles as fathers, husbands, community and religious leaders may play a pivotal part in the continuation of female genital mutilation (FGM). However, the research on their views of FGM and their potential role in its abandonment are not well described.
Methods
We undertook a systematic review of all publications between 2004 and 2014 that explored men’s attitudes, beliefs, and behaviours in regards to FGM, as well as their ideas about FGM prevention and abandonment.
Results
We included twenty peer-reviewed articles from 15 countries in the analysis. Analysis revealed ambiguity of men’s wishes in regards to the continuation of FGM. Many men wished to abandon this practice because of the physical and psychosexual complications to both women and men. Social obligation and the silent culture between the sexes were posited as major obstacles for change. Support for abandonment was influenced by notions of social obligation, religion, education, ethnicity, urban living, migration, and understanding of the negative sequelae of FGM. The strongest influence was education.
Conclusion
The level of education of men was one of the most important indicators for men’s support for abandonment of FGM. Social obligation and the lack of dialogue between men and women were two key issues that men acknowledged as barriers to abandonment. Advocacy by men and collaboration between men and women’s health and community programs may be important steps forward in the abandonment process.

British Medical Journal
10 October 2015 (vol 351, issue 8026)
http://www.bmj.com/content/351/8026

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Trends in utilization of FDA expedited drug development and approval programs, 1987-2014: cohort study
BMJ 2015; 351 :h4633 (Published 23 September 2015)
Open Access
Abstract
Objective To evaluate the use of special expedited development and review pathways at the US Food and Drug Administration over the past two decades.
Design Cohort study.
Setting FDA approved novel therapeutics between 1987 and 2014.
Population Publicly available sources provided each drug’s year of approval, their innovativeness (first in class versus not first in class), World Health Organization Anatomic Therapeutic Classification, and which (if any) of the FDA’s four primary expedited development and review programs or designations were associated with each drug: orphan drug, fast track, accelerated approval, and priority review.
Main outcome measures Logistic regression models evaluated trends in the proportion of drugs associated with each of the four expedited development and review programs. To evaluate the number of programs associated with each approved drug over time, Poisson models were employed, with the number of programs as the dependent variable and a linear term for year of approval. The difference in trends was compared between drugs that were first in class and those that were not.
Results The FDA approved 774 drugs during the study period, with one third representing first in class agents. Priority review (43%) was the most prevalent of the four programs, with accelerated approval (9%) the least common. There was a significant increase of 2.6% per year in the number of expedited review and approval programs granted to each newly approved agent (incidence rate ratio 1.026, 95% confidence interval 1.017 to 1.035, P<0.001), and a 2.4% increase in the proportion of drugs associated with at least one such program (odds ratio 1.024, 95% confidence interval 1.006 to 1.043, P=0.009). Driving this trend was an increase in the proportion of approved, non-first in class drugs associated with at least one program for drugs (P=0.03 for interaction).
Conclusions In the past two decades, drugs newly approved by the FDA have been associated with an increasing number of expedited development or review programs. Though expedited programs should be strictly limited to drugs providing noticeable clinical advances, this trend is being driven by drugs that are not first in class and thus potentially less innovative.

Conflict and Health
http://www.conflictandhealth.com/
[Accessed 10 October 2015]

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Research
The influence of maternal health education on the place of delivery in conflict settings of Darfur, Sudan
Adam IF Conflict and Health 2015, 9:31 (5 October 2015)

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Research
Health service resilience in Yobe state, Nigeria in the context of the Boko Haram insurgency: a systems dynamics analysis using group model building
Ager AK, Lembani M, Mohammed A, Mohammed Ashir G, Abdulwahab A, de Pinho H, Delobelle P and Zarowsky C Conflict and Health 2015, 9:30 (5 October 2015)

Development in Practice
Volume 25, Issue 8, 2015
http://www.tandfonline.com/toc/cdip20/current

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Articles
When development breeds contempt: case examples of community-driven health systems initiatives
Ingrid Nanne, Mosa Moshabela, Uyen Huynh & Papa Meissa Diop
pages 1120-1130
Abstract
This article discusses case examples of community-led initiatives triggered by the introduction of an external development programme in Senegal and Mali. These are community initiatives that learn from projects initiated and funded by an external donor organisation, and transform interventions to better meet their own needs. The circumstances leading to the demand for, and successful establishment of, health infrastructure are examined to understand the triggers. These breakthroughs demonstrate unintended benefits of development, and the need to leverage donor-led initiatives. Therefore, community involvement, participation, and empowerment are key in establishing local ownership in development projects.

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Practical Note
Social and economic inclusion of people with disabilities: practical lessons from Bangladesh
Waheduzzaman Polu, Aprue Mong & Catherine Nelson
pages 1182-1188
Abstract
People with disabilities remain one of the most excluded minorities, often deprived of the benefits of mainstream development programmes. This practical note reports on lessons learnt in delivering a programme combining a community based rehabilitation (CBR) and self-help group approach with disabled persons in rural Bangladesh. Our findings demonstrate how targeted programmes can bring about the social and economic inclusion of disabled persons. We also highlight the greater effectiveness of CBR programmes when targeting a more diverse client base, when not based on debt recovery, and how targeted programmes can even benefit the wider community.

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Viewpoint
Twenty reasons why local knowledge will remain relevant to development
Oluwatoyin Dare Kolawole
pages 1189-1195
DOI:10.1080/09614524.2015.1078777
pages 1189-1195
Abstract
Local knowledge has continued to gain popularity among development practitioners in the last four decades. However, the future of local knowledge seems hazy to some academics and researchers, perhaps due to the methodological challenges in operationalising local knowledge in development research. Rather than appropriate its full potential for sustainable (global) progress, renditions on the relevance of local knowledge in development research agenda have largely become rhetoric. Nonetheless, this viewpoint outlines 20 pertinent reasons in support of the relevance of local knowledge and why it has a future in development theory and practice.

Health Affairs
October 2015; Volume 34, Issue 10
http://content.healthaffairs.org/content/current

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Global Health: Insurance
Assessing Latin America’s Progress Toward Achieving Universal Health Coverage
Adam Wagstaff, Tania Dmytraczenko, Gisele Almeida, Leander Buisman, Patrick Hoang-Vu Eozenou, Caryn Bredenkamp, James A. Cercone, Yadira Diaz, Daniel Maceira, Silvia Molina, Guillermo Paraje, Fernando Ruiz, Flavia Sarti, John Scott, Martin Valdivia, and Heitor Werneck
Health Aff October 2015 34:1704-1712; doi:10.1377/hlthaff.2014.1453
Abstract
Two commonly used metrics for assessing progress toward universal health coverage involve assessing citizens’ rights to health care and counting the number of people who are in a financial protection scheme that safeguards them from high health care payments. On these metrics most countries in Latin America have already “reached” universal health coverage. Neither metric indicates, however, whether a country has achieved universal health coverage in the now commonly accepted sense of the term: that everyone—irrespective of their ability to pay—gets the health services they need without suffering undue financial hardship. We operationalized a framework proposed by the World Bank and the World Health Organization to monitor progress under this definition and then constructed an overall index of universal health coverage achievement. We applied the approach using data from 112 household surveys from 1990 to 2013 for all twenty Latin American countries. No country has achieved a perfect universal health coverage score, but some countries (including those with more integrated health systems) fare better than others. All countries except one improved in overall universal health coverage over the time period analyzed.

JAMA Pediatrics
October 2015, Vol 169, No. 10
http://archpedi.jamanetwork.com/issue.aspx

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American Pediatric Society
Global Collaboration to Develop New and Existing Drugs for Neonates
Jonathan M. Davis, MD; Mark A. Turner, MB, PhD, MRCPCH
This Viewpoint discusses the specific areas that should be considered by global investigators when collaborating on the development of drugs for neonatal patients.
Neonates do not have access to medicines that have been adequately tested for dosing, safety, and efficacy.1 Physicians must use their best judgment to make up for these knowledge gaps, leading to incorrect, and possibly harmful, doses of unnecessary and expensive medications. Some experts even believe that it is difficult or unethical for research to be conducted in neonates.2 Neither of these beliefs are justified, and it is inappropriate to expose neonates to potential risk without conclusive evidence that the drugs they are receiving are safe and efficacious. Neonates must participate in all stages of drug development in trials that use contemporary methods, because the health care industry has an ethical duty to meet the needs of this population.3

Review
Influenza A Virus Infection, Innate Immunity, and Childhood
Bria M. Coates, MD; Kelly L. Staricha; Kristin M. Wiese, MD; Karen M. Ridge, PhD
Abstract
Infection with influenza A virus is responsible for considerable morbidity and mortality in children worldwide. While it is apparent that adequate activation of the innate immune system is essential for pathogen clearance and host survival, an excessive inflammatory response to infection is detrimental to the young host. A review of the literature indicates that innate immune responses change throughout childhood. Whether these changes are genetically programmed or triggered by environmental cues is unknown. The objectives of this review are to summarize the role of innate immunity in influenza A virus infection in the young child and to highlight possible differences between children and adults that may make children more susceptible to severe influenza A infection. A better understanding of age-related differences in innate immune signaling will be essential to improve care for this high-risk population.