Kaisernetwork.org (Washington, DC)
28 April 2008
Politics and Policy
PEPFAR Reauthorization Bill To Benefit Malaria Efforts, Experts Say
[Apr 28, 2008]
New funding and provisions included in a bill (HR 5501) to reauthorize the President's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief would significantly benefit efforts to fight malaria worldwide, experts said last week at a forum in Washington, D.C., CQ HealthBeat reports.
The panel discussion -- hosted by the Christian Children's Fund and the Johns Hopkins Center for Communication Programs -- was one of several events held to mark World Malaria Day on Friday, April 25. During the discussion, a number of directors of nongovernmental organizations working to address malaria discussed experiences and effective strategies for future work to eradicate the disease, CQ HealthBeat reports.
The PEPFAR reauthorization bill authorizes $5 billion over five years for malaria treatment and prevention efforts and codifies the creation of a five-year plan to control the disease. Specific appropriations for malaria were not included in prior PEPFAR legislation, according to CQ HealthBeat.
The majority of NGOs' work on malaria includes community-level efforts to provide education about prevention methods, distribute insecticide-treated nets and develop awareness campaigns. According to some experts, the programs have been effective in reducing malaria cases, while others say they have had little success because the programs are new.
Maurice Middleberg, vice president of public policy for the Global Health Council, noted that House passage of the reauthorization bill is vital to fighting malaria worldwide. Middleberg said that although "funding for malaria efforts doesn't necessarily have to come from PEPFAR ... the size of this appropriation and its malaria-specific strategy is significant."
Tim McCully -- vice president for international programming at Lutheran World Relief, a faith-based organization working to combat malaria with a USAID grant in Tanzania -- said, "When I look at strategies and operation for PEPFAR" and the President's Malaria Initiative, "they have gone out of the way to attract and make funds accessible to smaller organizations with the broader range of programs, but competition for funds is still steep." McCully also discussed the importance of addressing HIV/AIDS and malaria together. According to CQ HealthBeat, some global HIV/AIDS advocates say the PEPFAR reauthorization bill has "strayed too far from its original intent" of addressing the spread of HIV/AIDS by appropriating funds specifically for malaria (CQ HealthBeat, 4/25).
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In The Courts
Appeals Court Decision Restores More Than $1M in HIV/AIDS Funds to New York Counties
[Apr 28, 2008]
The U.S. Second Circuit Court of Appeals on Friday ruled that HHS should restore more than $1 million in Ryan White Program funding to Nassau and Suffolk counties in New York state, the Long Island Newsday reports. The ruling overturns a previous decision by the U.S. District Court, which agreed with the federal government that the counties no longer qualified for the annual amount of Ryan White funding they had received since 1990 (Maloney, Long Island Newsday, 4/28).
Nassau and Suffolk counties in February 2007 filed a lawsuit against HHS to prevent the funding cuts, which were included in a Ryan White Reauthorization Bill (HR 6143). Under previous Ryan White allocations, the counties received $6.1 million annually in funding for services for people living with HIV/AIDS. Under the reauthorization bill, which was signed into law by President Bush in December 2006, Nassau and Suffolk counties and 33 other communities nationwide were placed into one category that share $145 million in funding, down from $458 million under previous CARE Act allocations, because they were no longer considered eligible metropolitan areas. The suit sought to restore Nassau and Suffolk counties' eligible metropolitan status. It also aimed to procure for the counties a waiver for a provision of the bill that states 75% of funding be spent on core medical services (Kaiser Daily HIV/AIDS Report, 3/1/07).
Federal appeals court Judge John Walker in Friday's decision wrote that although the counties did not record enough new HIV/AIDS cases during the past five years to be considered eligible metropolitan areas, an amendment passed by Congress in 1996 that protected future funding for all regions that met the metropolitan definition in that year allows Nassau and Suffolk counties to retain their funding levels. The counties recorded 1,505 new cases during the past five years, and eligible metropolitan areas generally are defined as recording more than 2,000 new cases, according to the Newsday.
Several agencies that receive HIV/AIDS funding -- including the Long Island Minority AIDS Coalition, Federation Employment and Guidance Service, and Thursday's Child -- joined Nassau and Suffolk counties in the suit. Jennifer Kim, a spokesperson for Nassau County Executive Thomas Suozzi, said that officials are "very pleased with the outcome, and we'll know in the near future how much aid we'll be getting." U.S. attorney's office spokesperson Robert Nardoza declined to comment (Long Island Newsday, 4/28).
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Global Challenges
Second Conference About HIV/AIDS in Eastern Europe, Central Asia Scheduled for May in Moscow
[Apr 28, 2008]
The second Eastern European and Central Asian AIDS Conference is scheduled for May 3 to May 5 in Moscow, UzReport.com reports. The conference -- which is being organized by the Russian government, UNAIDS and the International AIDS Society -- aims to address the HIV/AIDS situation in the region by sharing best practices and evidence, as well as mobilizing action.
The conference will focus on accelerating universal access to HIV prevention, treatment and care by 2010. It also will provide an opportunity to increase dialogue and interaction among political and community leaders, researchers, people living with HIV/AIDS and representatives from civil society. Delegates are expected to discuss ways to balance treatment programs with prevention efforts targeted at high-risk groups, such as injection drug users, commercial sex workers and men who have sex with men. More than 2,000 delegates from 50 countries are expected to attend the conference.
According to UzReport.com, HIV/AIDS in Eastern Europe and Central Asia is threatening to affect work forces and national security in the region and is burdening the health sector. The first EECAAC was held in May 2006 in Moscow, UzReport.com reports (UzReport.com, 4/25).
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Christian Science Monitor Examines Peace Corps' Efforts To Attract Experienced Volunteers for Work Related to HIV/AIDS, Other Issues
[Apr 28, 2008]
The Christian Science Monitor on Friday examined how the Peace Corps is attempting to attract skilled volunteers as it begins to address "more complex issues," such as HIV/AIDS, and "professionalize" the agency.
Peter Parr, the agency's country director in Ethiopia, last year approached Ethiopian officials about the possibility of increasing Peace Corps volunteers' work on the HIV epidemic in the country. However, the officials said that such an approach would require more skilled volunteers rather than recent college graduates with little work experience.
In Ethiopia, the Peace Corps operates with funding from the President's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief, making volunteers' work on the disease an "increasingly prominent part of its portfolio," the Monitor reports. However many volunteers lack the "commitment and capacity" to handle such work, Meskele Lera, deputy director of the Ethiopian agency that oversees HIV/AIDS activities, said.
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