Media & Society - WHO Director-General Lee Jong-wook Dies After Blood Clot Surgery World Health Organization Director-General Lee Jong-wook in Geneva on Monday died after undergoing emergency surgery for a blood clot in his brain, Reuters reports. Lee, a native of South Korea, was 61 (Waddington, Reuters, 5/22). Lee was ill on Saturday before the annual World Health Assembly meeting in Gen www.kaisernetwork.org/daily_reports/rep_index.cfm?hint=1&DR_ID=37401

2006-05-22

Global Challenges - Brazil, France Hope To Launch Drug Purchase Facility, Including Airline Ticket Tax, by September Officials from Brazil and France on Friday said they hope to have an international drug purchase facility -- which aims to help developing countries buy HIV/AIDS, tuberculosis and malaria medicines -- operating on an initial $300 million annual budget by September, the Financial Times reports. The facility w www.kaisernetwork.org/daily_reports/rep_index.cfm?hint=1&DR_ID=36817

2006-04-25

Global Challenges - Shortage of Health Workers in Developing Countries Impeding Fight Against HIV/AIDS, TB, Malaria, WHO Report Says A shortage of more than four million health care workers in 57 developing countries is hampering efforts to combat diseases such as HIV/AIDS, tuberculosis and malaria, according to the World Health Organization's World Health Report 2006 released Friday, Reuters reports. The shortage is seen primarily in Afr www.kaisernetwork.org/daily_reports/rep_index.cfm?hint=1&DR_ID=36483

2006-04-07

Global Challenges - Half of WHO's World Regions on Track To Meet TB Control Targets; Efforts Hampered in Africa Because of HIV/AIDS, Report Says Three of the World Health Organization's six world regions likely will reach global tuberculosis control targets, while efforts to control the disease are hindered in Africa primarily because of complications related to the HIV/AIDS pandemic, according to WHO's annual Global Tuberculosis Control report relea www.kaisernetwork.org/daily_reports/rep_index.cfm?hint=1&DR_ID=36155

2006-03-22

Global Challenges - Number of HIV Cases Worldwide Increases to 40.3M; Prevalence Down in Caribbean, Some African Countries, Report Says The estimated total number of HIV-positive people worldwide has reached its highest level ever, increasing from 39.4 million in 2004 to 40.3 million currently, but some countries that have 'invested heavily' in prevention programs -- including Kenya, Zimbabwe and some Caribbean countries -- have lowered thei www.kaisernetwork.org/daily_reports/rep_index.cfm?hint=1&DR_ID=33859

2005-11-21

Administration News - President Bush Announces $7.1B Plan To Prepare for Potential Avian Flu Pandemic President Bush on Tuesday announced that he will ask Congress for $7.1 billion in emergency funding for a flu pandemic preparation strategy that calls for improving disease surveillance, stockpiling antiviral medications and vaccines, and increasing preparedness among state and local governments, the Washing www.kaisernetwork.org/daily_reports/rep_index.cfm?hint=3&DR_ID=33480

2005-11-02

Drug Access - WHO Not Likely To Achieve 3 by 5 Goal; 1M HIV-Positive People Receiving AIDS Drugs in Developing Countries, Report Says About one million HIV-positive people in developing countries are receiving antiretroviral drugs, meaning the World Health Organization likely will not meet its 3 by 5 Initiative goal of delivering antiretrovirals to three million people by the end of this year, according to a progress report released on Wed www.kaisernetwork.org/daily_reports/rep_index.cfm?hint=1&DR_ID=31093

2005-06-30

Drug Access - African Countries' Refusals To Accept FDA Approval of Generic AIDS Drugs Delaying Drug Delivery, Officials Say African countries are not accepting FDA approval of generic antiretroviral drugs, postponing the delivery of the less-expensive medications to HIV-positive people, according to U.S., U.N., African and pharmaceutical company representatives, the Boston Globe reports (Donnelly, Boston Globe, 6/20). HHS in May www.kaisernetwork.org/daily_reports/rep_index.cfm?hint=1&DR_ID=30848

2005-06-20

National Politics & Policy - HHS Lobbying WHO Director General To Block Approval of Mifepristone, Misoprostol for WHO Essential Medicines List, Guardian Reports HHS is lobbying World Health Organization Director-General Jong-Wook Lee to block the medical abortion drugs mifepristone and misoprostol from being added to the agency's essential medicines list, London's Guardian reports. A WHO committee, which includes two U.S. experts, last month unanimously recommended www.kaisernetwork.org/daily_reports/rep_index.cfm?hint=2&DR_ID=29523

2005-04-22

Global Challenges - WHO Director-General Lee Appeals for Better Nutrition for HIV-Positive People World Health Organization Director-General Jong-Wook Lee on Monday at the start of a three-day conference in Durban, South Africa, aimed at developing strategies to improve the health of HIV-positive people said that greater attention needs to be paid to the nutrition problems HIV/AIDS patients face, Xinhuan www.kaisernetwork.org/daily_reports/rep_index.cfm?hint=1&DR_ID=29244

2005-04-11