ASEAN [to 11 April 2015]
http://www.asean.org/news

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ASEAN, Germany Launch Programme on Biodiversity
on Thursday, 09 April 2015.
JAKARTA, 9 April 2015 – A programme that will protect the biological diversity, promote the sustainable management of natural ecosystems, and improve the livelihoods of local population in the ASEAN region was launched on 7 April by the ASEAN Centre for Biodiversity (ACB) and Germany in Jakarta, Indonesia. Titled “Protection of Biological Diversity in the ASEAN Member States in Cooperation with the ASEAN Centre for Biodiversity,” the launch coincided with the programme’s planning workshop on 7-10 April.

IMF [to 11 April 2015]
http://www.imf.org/external/news/default.aspx
[We generally limit coverage to regional and global level initiatives, recognizing that a number of country-level announcements are added each week]

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World Economic Outlook (WEO) – Uneven Growth: Short- and Long-Term Factors
April 2015
Analytical Chapters 3 & 4 Released:

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Chapter 3. Where Are We Headed? Perspectives on Potential Output
This chapter finds that potential output growth across advanced and emerging market economies has declined in recent years. In advanced economies, this decline started as far back as the early 2000s and worsened with the global financial crisis. In emerging market economies, in contrast, it began only after the crisis. The chapter’s analysis suggests that potential output growth in advanced economies is likely to increase slightly from current rates as some crisis-related effects wear off, but to remain below precrisis rates in the medium term. The main reasons are aging populations and the gradual increase in capital growth from current rates as output and investment recover from the crisis. In contrast, in emerging market economies, potential output growth is expected to decline further, owing to aging populations, weaker investment, and lower total factor productivity growth as these economies catch up to the technological frontier.

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Chapter 4. Private Investment: What’s the Holdup?
Private fixed investment in advanced economies contracted sharply during the global financial crisis, and there has been little recovery since. Investment has generally slowed more gradually in the rest of the world. Although housing investment fell especially sharply during the crisis, business investment accounts for the bulk of the slump, and the overriding factor holding it back has been the overall weakness of economic activity. In some countries, other contributing factors include financial constraints and policy uncertainty. These findings suggest that addressing the general weakness in economic activity is crucial for restoring growth in private investment.

World Bank [to 11 April 2015]
http://www.worldbank.org/en/news/all
[We generally limit coverage to regional and global level initiatives, recognizing that a number of country-level announcements are added each week]

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World Bank Group, IDB and CAF United to Protect Social Gains in Latin America and the Caribbean
At the 7th Summit of the Americas, International Development Organizations Commit Efforts and Resources to Promote Inclusive Economic Growth
Panama City, April 10, 2015 – On the eve of the Seventh Summit of the Americas, the main international financial institutions of the region, the World Bank Group (WBG), the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) and CAF – Development Bank of Latin America, today reiterated their commitment to support countries in the region in their efforts to preserve and expand the economic and social gains of the last decade, at a time when the external factors that contributed to those gains have changed. “Multilateral organizations are ready to help them respond to the call coming from the main theme of this historic Summit, ‘Prosperity with Equity: The Challenge of Cooperation in the Americas,’ by contributing global knowledge, financing and convening capacity,” said Jorge Familiar, World Bank Vice President for Latin America and the Caribbean.
Date: April 10, 2015

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Global Agencies Call for Urgent Action to Avoid Irreversible Groundwater Depletion
New Vision and Global Framework for Action on Groundwater Governance
DAEGU, April 10, 2015— The FAO, UNESCO, World Bank, GEF and International Association of Hydrogeologists this week called for action by the global community to manage the increasingly urgent depletion and degradation of limited groundwater resources. Ahead of the 7th World Water Forum in Daegu and Gyeongbuk next week, the group proposed a set of principles governments can use for better groundwater management. The 2030 Vision and Global Framework for Action represents a bold call for collectively responsible action among governments and the global community to ensure sustainable use of groundwater. For too long, groundwater governance has been an area of policy neglect, resulting in its degradation and depletion. Global groundwater abstraction has tripled over the past half century. More than a fourth of current withdrawal is non-sustainable. Widespread groundwater pollution is threatening humans and the environment.
Date: April 10, 2015
Type: Press Release

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Equal Opportunities for Europe’s Roma: An Economic Imperative in an Ageing Europe
The countries of Central Europe stand out within the European Union with populations that are ageing and shrinking faster and differently compared to their neighbors. Unlike in Western Europe where ageing has been driven mainly by increases in longevity, countries in Central Europe (and the Baltics) have been ageing largely as a result of low fertility and emigration. Demographic change is significant: For example, Bulgaria has seen its population shrink by more than 15 percent since 1990, Romania and Hungary by more than 5 percent. UN population projections show that this trend is expected to continue and even accelerate. Shrinking labor forces put economic growth at risk and contribute to fiscal pressures. A recent World Bank report argues that countries in Central Europe can respond to these challenges by promoting active, healthy and productive ageing. The heart of the policy response is to invest in people to ensure that current and future cohorts are well skilled and healthy…
Date: April 9, 2015
Type: Opinion

BRAC [to 11 April 2015]
http://www.brac.net/content/stay-informed-news#.VPstwC5nBhV

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Entrepreneur from BRAC Pakistan receives award
BRAC Pakistan’s entrepreneur Abida Perveen and her loan officer Nasreen Akhtar from Multan received the award for ‘Most Innovative MFI’ during the ninth Citi-PPAF Micro-entrepreneurship Awards 2014 held at Serena Hotel, Islamabad on 31 March 2015. Abida Perveen and Nasreen Akhtar also received USD 1,165 (PKR 120,000) as cash prize along with the award.
Jointly organised by Citi Foundation, a philanthropic arm of Citibank, and Pakistan Poverty Alleviation Fund (PPAF), the awards aim to recognise best practices, entrepreneurial skills, and leadership qualities of individual micro-entrepreneurs in Pakistan…
[undated]

International Rescue Committee [to 11 April 2015]
http://www.rescue.org/press-release-index

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Fire leaves 700 people homeless in Thailand refugee camp; the IRC responds
Posted by Peter Biro on April 10, 2015
Nearly 200 houses were destroyed in a fire that broke out in the Ban Mai Nai Soi camp in Thailand on April 7. The camp is home to 13,000 mostly Karenni refugees from Myanmar (Burma)

MSF/Médecins Sans Frontières [to 11 April 2015]
http://www.doctorswithoutborders.org/news-stories/press/press-releases

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Press release
MSF and MOAS to Launch Lifesaving Operation for Migrants in Mediterranean
April 09, 2015
Search, rescue, and medical aid operation to begin in May.
AMSTERDAM/NEW YORK—The international medical humanitarian organization Doctors Without Borders/Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) and the Migrant Offshore Aid Station (MOAS) will launch a joint search, rescue, and medical aid operation in the central Mediterranean to assist people fleeing crises and risking their lives to reach safe haven in Europe, at a time of reduced European maritime assistance to migrants, the groups announced today.

The lifesaving operation will take place between May and October, when thousands of people are expected to attempt crossing the waters between Africa and Europe. More than 3,400 people died trying to reach Europe last year, the deadliest on record for people traversing the Mediterranean. This year the death toll is predicted to be even higher, with even less assistance available to boats in distress. The Italian navy’s search and rescue operation, Mare Nostrum, was discontinued in November 2014 due to a lack of funding from European governments. It has not been replaced.

“Europe has turned its back on people fleeing some of the worst humanitarian crises of our time,” said Arjan Hehenkamp, MSF’s general director. “The decision to close doors and build fences means that men, women, and children are forced to risk their lives and take a desperate journey across the sea. Ignoring this situation will not make it go away. Europe has both the resources and the responsibility to prevent more deaths on its doorstep and must act in order to do so,” he said.

A joint MSF and MOAS team will be stationed in the central Mediterranean aboard the MY Phoenix, a 40-meter rescue ship. Equipped with high-speed, rigid-hull inflatable boats and surveillance drones, and with a crew of 20, the ship will provide lifesaving support to those in distress…

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Press release
Yemen: Medical Supplies and Staff Reach Aden, but More Help Needed
April 08, 2015
SANA’A, YEMEN/NEW YORK—A boat carrying urgently needed medical supplies arrived today at the port city of Aden in Yemen, the international medical humanitarian organization Doctors Without Borders/Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF), which operates a hospital in the city, announced.

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Press release
Community Management of Acute Malnutrition Can Work in India
April 07, 2015
Barcelona/New Delhi—The international humanitarian medical organization Doctors Without Borders/Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) recently published evidence from its community-based management of acute malnutrition (CMAM) program in Bihar, which revealed that it has successfully achieved a cure rate of 88.4 percent among severely acute malnourished children who completed their treatment.
This conclusion was part of a study entitled “Community-Based Management of Severe Acute Malnutrition in India: New evidence from Bihar,” which was published on April 1, 2015 in The American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, the world’s highest-ranked peer-reviewed medical journal in the field of nutrition.This observational analysis was conducted by MSF in collaboration with Darbhanga Medical College Hospital, and is based on results from the CMAM program that has been operational in Bihar’s Darbhanga district since 2009…

OXFAM [to 11 April 2015]
http://www.oxfam.org/en/pressroom/pressreleases

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Juan Alberto Fuentes appointed chair of Oxfam International
10 April 2015
Oxfam International is delighted to announce the formal appointment of Guatemala’s former Minister of Finance Dr. Juan Alberto Fuentes as its new chair.

ODI [to 11 April 2015]
http://www.odi.org/media

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Press Releases
$74 billion to deliver universal healthcare as part of ‘social compact’ with world’s poor – new report
Press release – global
Embargoed until Monday 13 April 2015 00:01
Free basic universal healthcare would cost $74 billion a year to deliver in poor countries – equivalent to 0.15% of what the world’s richest countries spend on healthcare a year, according to a new report from the Overseas Development Institute (ODI).

In ‘Financing the Future’, researchers at ODI calculate that a ‘new social compact’ comprising universal health, free primary and secondary education, and income support to protect the poorest, will cost around $148 billion in low income countries. They argue the costs for this must be shared by rich and poor countries.

The report says that while there have been enormous strides in poverty reduction over the past two decades, progress will not be so easy in the coming years, as the poor are increasingly concentrated in conflict-prone states, mainly in sub-Saharan Africa….
… Among the report’s other key recommendations are:

– New global funds should be created or the mandates of existing organisations expanded to support the introduction of universal health coverage, income support and the provision of education in humanitarian emergencies.

– 50% of aid should be provided to least developed countries, over the long term, to ensure no one is left behind by progress.
– Development must be locally-led; therefore foreign aid must work to increase local capacities so that fragile states and other poor countries can use aid effectively…

Start Network [to 11 April 2015]
http://www.start-network.org/news-blog/#.U9U_O7FR98E
[Consortium of British Humanitarian Agencies]

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Second Start Fund activation for Yemen provides £295K for displaced communities
April 7, 2015
Posted by Tegan Rogers in News.

The Start Fund has awarded £294,720 to Action Against Hunger and International Medical Corps to respond to conflict and displacement in Yemen. This is the second Start Fund allocation for the ongoing conflict in Yemen, which has been classed as a forgotten emergency by ECHO, appearing in its forgotten crisis assessment (FCA) index every year for the past six years.

International Medical Corps raised the alert one week ago, following the recent escalation of violence in the country. The alert note described how “this complex crisis, though long standing, suddenly deteriorated at the onset of Saudi airstrikes.” It went on to describe how there is a critical lack of support for those affected by the conflict, because many NGO staff operating in the area have been evacuated, access has been restricted, and supplied are limited.

The briefing note produced by ACAPS following the alert explains the impact of the recent deterioration…

People In Aid [to 11 April 2015]
http://www.peopleinaid.org/

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Take part in the People Count 2015 survey
You are invited to take part in the People Count 2015 survey that enables organisations to compare data on key HR and workforce metrics with their peers.
Read the full story (9 April 2015)

New case study: Female mine deactivating teams in Laos provide a different perspective on women in the workplace
This is the final article in our month-long series highlighting gender issues and women in leadership that began on International Women’s Day, March 8. In this case study, the Mines Advisory Group (MAG) illustrates the context and conditions in which female mine deactivation teams work, and the challenges they face in the most bombed country in the world, Laos.
Read the full story (8 April 2015)

How to unleash the human potential of your people to drive organisational effectiveness
We are currently in The Human Age, a volatile and fast-changing new era that puts unprecedented value on human potential as the driver of business success. This is the view shared by ManpowerGroup, guest author in our research report, The State of HR 2014: A Question of Impact. Human talent is now the catalyst for economic, political and social change, as well as the source of inspiration, transformation, innovation and new developments according to ManpowerGroup. The Human Age also poses great challenges to businesses and leaders. The following is a short summary of the article, which can be accessed in full from the State of HR report.
Read the full story (7 April 2015)

BMGF (Gates Foundation) [to 11 April 2015]
http://www.gatesfoundation.org/Media-Center/Press-Releases

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APRIL 09, 2015
New Chief Human Resources OfficerJoins Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation
SEATTLE (April 9, 2015) – The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation today announced that Steven Rice will join as Chief Human Resources Officer. Rice joins the foundation from Juniper Networks, where he most recently served as Executive Vice President of Human Resources.

Ford Foundation [to 11 April 2015]
http://www.fordfoundation.org/newsroom
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7 April 2015:
Foundation Launches Effort to Advance Arts, Culture, and Social Justice in the 21st Century
Building on the foundation’s legacy of commitment to the arts, the distinguished visiting fellows will explore the power of culture.

The Ford Foundation today announced a new effort centered on the roles art and culture play in illuminating and addressing urgent issues of equity, opportunity, and justice in the U.S. and around the globe. The yearlong exploration, The Art of Change, which builds on the foundation’s decades-long commitment to advancing freedom of expression, reaffirms the central importance of creativity and cultural expression to healthy societies at a time when they are increasingly under threat.

“Changes in the world around us demand, more than ever, that we recognize and celebrate art, creativity, and freedom of expression as the revolutionary forces they are,” said Darren Walker, president of Ford Foundation. “Widening inequality, growing extremism, evolving technology, and volatile markets render art—and its unique role in effecting social change—more important, not less, for societies today.”

Over the next 12 months, the Ford Foundation will bring together leading thinkers, artists, cultural leaders, and activists from around the world for a series of provocative conversations to better understand the interplay of art, creativity, equality, and justice. The initiative will help determine how the foundation can most effectively advance the arts—and by, extension, drive social change—in an increasingly diverse and evolving world…

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7 April 2015:
The Art of Change: Meet Our Visiting Fellows
Drawn from around the world, each visiting fellow is renowned in their field for their resolute focus on themes of arts and equity.

BMC Infectious Diseases
http://www.biomedcentral.com/bmcinfectdis/content
(Accessed 11 April 2015)
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Research article
Virologic and immunologic failure, drug resistance and mortality during the first 24 months postpartum among HIV-infected women initiated on antiretroviral therapy for life in the Mitra plus Study, Dar es Salaam, Tanzania
Matilda Ngarina, Charles Kilewo, Katarina Karlsson, Said Aboud, Annika Karlsson, Gaetano Marrone, Germana Leyna, Anna Ekström, Gunnel Biberfeld BMC Infectious Diseases 2015, 15:175 (8 April 2015)

Food Security
Volume 7, Issue 2, April 2015
http://link.springer.com/journal/12571/7/2/page/1

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Feeding More than 9 Billion by 2050: Challenges and Opportunities
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Editorial
Feeding more than 9 billion by 2050: challenges and opportunities
Richard Strange
This issue of Food Security contains papers (with one exception), which arose out of a workshop sponsored by the OECD Co-operative Research Programme on Biological Resource Management for Sustainable Agricultural Systems. I am indebted to the three guest editors whose photographs and biographies appear below for their invaluable help in preparing the papers for publication.

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Original Paper
Towards food security by 2050
R. Quentin Grafton, Carsten Daugbjerg, M. Ejaz Qureshi Pages 179-183

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Original Paper
The challenges of sustainably feeding a growing planet
Thomas W. Hertel Pages 185-198

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Original Paper
The debate over sustainable intensification
H. Charles J. Godfray Pages 199-208

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Original Paper
Food and water gaps to 2050: preliminary results from the global food and water system (GFWS) platform
R. Quentin Grafton, John Williams, Qiang Jiang Pages 209-220

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Original Paper
Sustainable food production: constraints, challenges and choices by 2050
Fiona C. McKenzie, John Williams Pages 221-233

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Original Paper
Sustainable intensification: overcoming land and water constraints on food production
Colin J. Chartres, Andrew Noble Pages 235-245

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Original Paper
Water productivity and food security: considering more carefully the farm-level perspective
Dennis Wichelns Pages 247-260

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Original Paper
Feeding 9 billion by 2050 – Putting fish back on the menu
Christophe Béné, Manuel Barange, Rohana Subasinghe, Per Pinstrup-Andersen… Pages 261-274

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Original Paper
The role of international trade in managing food security risks from climate change
Uris Lantz C. Baldos, Thomas W. Hertel Pages 275-290

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Original Paper
Food and biosecurity: livestock production and towards a world free of foot-and-mouth disease
Tom Kompas, Hoa Thi Minh Nguyen, Pham Van Ha Pages 291-302

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Original Paper
The coffee rust crises in Colombia and Central America (2008–2013): impacts, plausible causes and proposed solutions
Jacques Avelino, Marco Cristancho, Selena Georgiou, Pablo Imbach… Pages 303-321

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Original Paper
Oil prices, biofuels production and food security: past trends and future challenges
Hang To, R. Quentin Grafton Pages 323-336

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Original Paper
Tracking phosphorus security: indicators of phosphorus vulnerability in the global food system
Dana Cordell, Stuart White Pages 337-350

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Original Paper
Input constraints to food production: the impact of soil degradation
R. J. Rickson, L. K. Deeks, A. Graves, J. A. H. Harris, M. G. Kibblewhite… Pages 351-364

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Original Paper
The role of technology transfer to improve fertiliser use efficiency
Miles Grafton, Ian Yule Pages 365-373

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Original Paper
Genomic breeding for food, environment and livelihoods
John Rivers, Norman Warthmann, Barry J. Pogson, Justin O. Borevitz Pages 375-382

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Original Paper
Food security and trade: reconciling discourses in the Food and Agriculture Organization and the World Trade Organization
Arild Aurvåg Farsund, Carsten Daugbjerg, Oluf Langhelle Pages 383-391

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Original Paper
Public policies for improving food and nutrition security at different scales
M. Ejaz Qureshi, John Dixon, Mellissa Wood Pages 393-403

Health Affairs
April 2015; Volume 34, Issue 4
http://content.healthaffairs.org/content/current

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Cost & Quality Of Cancer Care
A New Priority For Low-Income Countries: Fighting Cancer
Joanne Silberner1
Abstract
For decades, infectious diseases were seen as the biggest health threat in the developing world. That’s beginning to change.

Infectious Diseases of Poverty
http://www.idpjournal.com/content
[Accessed 11 April 2015]

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Scoping Review
Ebola, the killer virus
Haider Ghazanfar1*, Fizza Orooj1, Muhammad Ahmed Abdullah1 and Ali Ghazanfar2
Author Affiliations
Infectious Diseases of Poverty 2015, 4:15 doi:10.1186/s40249-015-0048-y
Published: 8 April 2015
Abstract
Ebola virus disease (EVD) has mostly affected economically deprived countries as limited resources adversely affect a country’s infrastructure and administration. Probing into the factors that led to the widespread outbreak, setting forth plans to counter EVD cases in developing countries, and devising definitive measures to limit the spread of the disease are essential steps that must be immediately taken. In this review we summarize the pathogenesis of EVD and the factors that led to its spread. We also highlight interventions employed by certain countries that have successfully limited the epidemic, and add a few preventive measures after studying the current data. According to the available data, barriers to prevent and control the disease in affected countries include irresolute and disorganized health systems, substandard sanitary conditions, poor personal hygiene practices, and false beliefs and stigma related to EVD. The public health sector along with the respective chief authorities in developing countries must devise strategies, keeping the available resources in mind, to deal with the outbreak before it occurs. As a first step, communities should be educated on EVD’s symptoms, history, mode of transmission, and methods of protection, including the importance of personal hygiene practices, via seminars, newspapers, and other social media. A popular opinion leader (POL) giving this information would further help to remove the misconception about the nature of the disease and indirectly improve the quality of life of affected patients and their families.

International Journal of Sustainable Development & World Ecology
Volume 22, Issue 3, 2015
http://www.tandfonline.com/toc/tsdw20/current#.VSj2SpMw1hX

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Deforestation of montane cloud forest in the Central Highlands of Guatemala: contributing factors and implications for sustainability in Q’eqchi’ communities
DOI:10.1080/13504509.2014.998738
I. Popeab*, D. Bowenc, J. Harbora, G. Shaod, L. Zanottie & G. Burniskeb
pages 201-212
Abstract
Cloud forest in the Central Highlands of Guatemala provides important ecosystem services for the Q’eqchi’ Maya but has been disappearing at an increasing rate in recent decades. This research documents changes in cloud forest cover, explores some contributing factors to deforestation, and considers forest preservation and food security implications for Q’eqchi’ communities. We used a transdisciplinary framework that synthesized remote sensing/GIS analysis of land cover change, focus group dialogs, and surveys. Expansion of subsistence agriculture is a key proximate cause of cloud forest removal, followed by extraction of fuelwood and larger-scale logging operations. Predisposing environmental factors such as rugged topography, steep slopes, and poor soils contribute to low agricultural productivity that contributes to increased conversion of forest to agricultural land. The key underlying driving forces for deforestation locally are population growth and subdivision of land. Population growth is increasing the demand for agricultural land and, as a result, the Q’eqchi’ clear the forest to meet the need for increased food production. Furthermore, population growth is driving subdivision of land, decreasing fallow periods, and putting additional strain on poor soils, all of which exacerbate land degradation. Given the increase in population in the region, food production must be improved on existing agricultural land to avoid the need to put more land into production to meet food requirements. Thus, efforts to sustainably increase agricultural productivity are fundamental to efforts to conserve the cloud forest and to safeguard essential ecosystem services.

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Role of ecotourism in environmental conservation and socioeconomic development in Annapurna conservation area, Nepal
DOI:10.1080/13504509.2015.1005721
Anup K.C.a*, Kedar Rijalb & Ramesh Prasad Sapkotaa
pages 251-258
Abstract
Ecotourism as a component of the green economy is one of the fastest growing segments of the tourism industry, and focuses on environmental conservation, socioeconomic development and capitalist development. With an objective to identify and quantify impacts of ecotourism on environmental conservation, social and cultural heritage preservation, economic development and enhancement of livelihoods, this study was carried out in the Ghandruk Village Development Committee of Annapurna Conservation Area, Nepal. Two hundred and forty two households were interviewed, followed by three focus group discussions and five key informant interviews. It can be observed that socioeconomic variables had a positive effect on tourism participation with the exception of age and landholding status having a negative effect. Ecotourism helps in environmental conservation and socioeconomic development. It also helps in increasing employment and entrepreneurship at a local level. Income and expenditure of local people had increased because of ecotourism. Participation in ecotourism, the education level, an increase in productive human capital and an increase in income had enhanced people’s livelihoods. So, awareness and education programmes related to tourism, and strategies to increase the length of stay of visitors would be recommended.

JAMA Pediatrics
April 2015, Vol 169, No. 4
http://archpedi.jamanetwork.com/issue.aspx

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Viewpoint | April 2015
Program Science—A Framework for Improving Global Maternal, Newborn, and Child Health
Maryanne Crockett, MD, MPH, FRCPC, DTM&H1; Lisa Avery, MD, MIH, FRCPC2; James Blanchard, MD, MPH, PhD3
Author Affiliations
JAMA Pediatr. 2015;169(4):305-306. doi:10.1001/jamapediatrics.2015.9.
Extract
In 2000, leaders from 189 countries set forth Millennium Development Goals, 2 of which focused on significant reductions in child mortality and maternal mortality by 2015. Despite substantial progress toward these goals, many countries are lagging, with increasing disparity among countries with differing resources. There is a strong consensus that much of this mortality could be prevented through the effective implementation of known evidence-based interventions.1- 3 In particular, there is evidence that the greatest effect on mortality occurs when efforts are initially focused on the most vulnerable individuals.4 Therefore, the main challenges in reducing mortality relate to how best to improve the availability, quality, and use of these critical interventions, especially for those who most need them. Meeting this challenge will require a better understanding of the distribution and configuration of health services, factors that are associated with enhancing and maintaining the quality of services, and the factors that promote and prevent use of these services along the continuum of care.5 In this regard, academic institutions can and should contribute much more effectively to generate and translate scientific knowledge that will result in better programs to improve maternal, newborn, and child health (MNCH). To fulfill this important academic mission, “science must leave the ivory tower and enter the agora,” as Gibbons urged 17 years ago.

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Editorial | April 2015
The Know, Do, and Quality Gaps in International Maternal and Child Health Care Interventions
James M. Tielsch, PhD1
Author Affiliations
JAMA Pediatr. 2015;169(4):313-314. doi:10.1001/jamapediatrics.2014.3741.
Extract
Tremendous progress has been made in reducing the mortality rates for young children, especially in low- and middle-income countries, with annual deaths down from 12.6 million in 1990 to 6.3 million in 2013.1 Although it is unlikely that number 4 (reduce child mortality) of the Millennium Development Goals set by the United Nations in 20012 will be achieved by the deadline this year, an even more ambitious goal for the elimination of preventable deaths among newborns and children younger than 5 years by 2030 is likely to be set by the United Nations General Assembly in the fall of 2015.3 Discussions about these laudable goals often center on claims such as, “we know what works, we just need to do it.” In fact, estimates of coverage of proven interventions for child survival are significantly lower than needed to maximize the effects, with the most important coverage gaps seen in the areas of family planning, interventions for newborns, and case management of childhood diseases, such as diarrhea, pneumonia, and malaria.4 This is often referred to as the know-do gap. In this issue, Mohanan et al5 provide a distressing description of this gap related to the diagnosis and treatment of diarrhea and pneumonia by health care practitioners in Bihar, India.

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The Know-Do Gap in Quality of Health Care for Childhood Diarrhea and Pneumonia in Rural India
Manoj Mohanan, PhD; Marcos Vera-Hernández, PhD; Veena Das, PhD; Soledad Giardili, MA; Jeremy D. Goldhaber-Fiebert, PhD; Tracy L. Rabin, MD; Sunil S. Raj, MD; Jeremy I. Schwartz, MD; Aparna Seth, MBA
Includes: Supplemental Content
Editorial: International Maternal and Child Health Care Gaps; James M. Tielsch, PhD

Journal of the Royal Society – Interface
06 May 2015; volume 12, issue 106
http://rsif.royalsocietypublishing.org/content/current

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A review of back-calculation techniques and their potential to inform mitigation strategies with application to non-transmissible acute infectious diseases
Joseph R. Egan, Ian M. Hall
J. R. Soc. Interface 2015 12 20150096; DOI: 10.1098/rsif.2015.0096. Published 8 April 2015
Abstract
Back-calculation is a process whereby generally unobservable features of an event leading to a disease outbreak can be inferred either in real-time or shortly after the end of the outbreak. These features might include the time when persons were exposed and the source of the outbreak. Such inferences are important as they can help to guide the targeting of mitigation strategies and to evaluate the potential effectiveness of such strategies. This article reviews the process of back-calculation with a particular emphasis on more recent applications concerning deliberate and naturally occurring aerosolized releases. The techniques can be broadly split into two themes: the simpler temporal models and the more sophisticated spatio-temporal models. The former require input data in the form of cases’ symptom onset times, whereas the latter require additional spatial information such as the cases’ home and work locations. A key aspect in the back-calculation process is the incubation period distribution, which forms the initial topic for consideration. Links between atmospheric dispersion modelling, within-host dynamics and back-calculation are outlined in detail. An example of how back-calculation can inform mitigation strategies completes the review by providing improved estimates of the duration of antibiotic prophylaxis that would be required in the response to an inhalational anthrax outbreak.

The Lancet
Apr 11, 2015 Volume 385 Number 9976 p1365-1476
http://www.thelancet.com/journals/lancet/issue/current

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Editorial
Achieving respectful care for women and babies
The Lancet
DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/S0140-6736(15)60701-2
Summary
April 11 is the International Day for Maternal Health and Rights, which aims to encourage rights-based, respectful care of women during pregnancy and childbirth. The day was launched last year by the Center for Health and Gender Equity, and co-sponsored by a consortium of maternal health organisations, including Women Deliver and the International Planned Parenthood Federation. These organisations are calling on governments, international institutions, and the global community to officially recognise the day and promote and support this issue.

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Comment
Making sense of health estimates
Irene Agyepong, Tumani Corrah, Yan Guo, Bruce Hollingsworth, Michael Klag, Kim Longfield, Maria de Fatima Marinho de Souza, Peter Piot, JVR Prasada Rao, John-Arne Røttingen, Peter Smith, Marc Sprenger, Trevor Sutton, Sarah Curran, Edmond SW Ng, on behalf of the Independent Advisory Committee to the Global Burden of Disease
Published Online: 18 March 2015
DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/S0140-6736(15)60024-1
Summary
Epidemiological data provide the metrics from which burdens attributable to different diseases and conditions causing ill health can be estimated. Comprehensive, consistent, and coherent health estimates, together with information about any associated uncertainties, are indispensable for decision making by governments, non-governmental organisations, practitioners, and national and international funders in helping to gauge and track the changing demands and challenges presented by poor health. Estimates of disease burden are an essential platform for public health policy and priority setting, and for evaluating intervention programmes.

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Articles
Severe Ebola virus disease with vascular leakage and multiorgan failure: treatment of a patient in intensive care
Timo Wolf, MD, Gerrit Kann, Prof Stephan Becker, MD, Christoph Stephan, MD, Hans-Reinhardt Brodt, MD, Philipp de Leuw, MD, Thomas Grünewald, MD, Thomas Vogl, MD, Prof Volkhard A J Kempf, MD, Prof Oliver T Keppler, MD, Prof Kai Zacharowski, MD
Published Online: 18 December 2014
DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/S0140-6736(14)62384-9
Supplementary video
Zacharovsky and colleagues demonstrate infection control procedures for Ebola. Audio/Video – Download File (43.75 MB)
Summary
Background
In the current epidemic of Ebola virus disease in western Africa, many aid workers have become infected. Some of these aid workers have been transferred to specialised hospitals in Europe and the USA for intensified treatment, providing the potential for unique insight into the clinical course of Ebola virus disease under optimised supportive measures in isolation units.
Methods
A 38-year-old male doctor who had contracted an Ebola virus infection in Sierra Leone was airlifted to University Hospital Frankfurt, Germany, on day 5 after disease onset. Within 72 h of admission to the hospital’s high-level isolation unit, the patient developed signs of severe multiorgan failure, including lungs, kidneys, and gastrointestinal tract. In addition to clinical parameters, the diagnostic work-up included radiography, ultrasound, pulse contour cardiac output technology, and microbiological and clinical chemistry analyses. Respiratory failure with pulmonary oedema and biophysical evidence of vascular leak syndrome needed mechanical ventilation. The patient received a 3 day treatment course with FX06 (MChE-F4Pharma, Vienna, Austria), a fibrin-derived peptide under clinical development for vascular leak syndrome. After FX06 administration and concurrent detection of Ebola-virus-specific antibodies and a fall in viral load, vascular leak syndrome and respiratory parameters substantially improved. We gave broad-spectrum empiric antimicrobial therapy and the patient needed intermittent renal replacement therapy. The patient fully recovered.
Findings
This case report shows the feasibility of delivery of successful intensive care therapy to patients with Ebola virus disease under biosafety level 4 conditions.
Interpretation
The effective treatment of vascular leakage and multiorgan failure by combination of ventilatory support, antibiotic treatment, and renal replacement therapy can sustain a patient with severe Ebola virus disease until virological remission. FX06 could potentially be a valuable agent in contribution to supportive therapy.
Funding
University Hospital of Frankfurt.