USAID's Office of Health, Infectious Diseases and Nutrition (HIDN) Monthly Update - September 2005

A monthly update on activities of the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) Office of Health, Infectious Diseases and Nutrition (HIDN). The Monthly Update provides information about global health news, events, jobs and information. We encourage you to circulate this publication to colleagues.

Table of Contents

• A. New Information
  • First Lady Laura Bush Spoke at a USAID Event Highlighting New Malaria Initiative
  • USAID Revolutionizes Africa’s Ability to Produce Long-Lasting Mosquito Nets
  • USAID Yemen Campaign Immunizes Children Against Polio
    
    
• B. News and Events
  • U.S. Pledges Additional $1.2 Billion to Combat Malaria in Africa
  • First Lady Laura Bush Joins African Leaders in Historic Declaration to Reduce the Burden of Malaria
  • Remarks by First Lady Laura Bush at a Fighting Malaria in Africa USAID Dinner
  • Fighting Disease Supports World Development, President Bush Says
  • Administrator Natsios Aims to Cut Hunger in Africa through Economic Growth
  • Avian Influenza Response
  • Integrated U.S. Effort Helps Mitigate Spread of Bird Flu in Asia
  • Indonesia, Angola Battle Polio Outbreaks
  • USAID Partners with Private and Non-Profit Organizations to Bring U.S. Professional Basketball Players to Kenya
  • USAID and Coca-Cola Announce Global Watershed Partnership Agreement
    
    
• C. Technical Documents
  • U.S. Foreign Aid: Meeting the Challenges of the 21st Century
  • USAID’s Fragile States Strategy
    
    
• D. Global Health Employment Opportunities
• Health Strategic Objective (SO) Team Leader
• Senior Technical Advisor: HIV/AIDS, Infectious Diseases
• Senior Technical Advisor: Population and Reproductive Health

A. New Information

• First Lady Laura Bush Spoke at a USAID Event Highlighting New Malaria Initiative
  More than 200 dignitaries and public and private sector leaders involved in the fight against malaria joined Mrs. Bush for a dinner and to witness the signing of a Declaration to Fight Malaria in the first three target countries - Angola, Tanzania and Uganda.
  
  
• USAID Revolutionizes Africa’s Ability to Produce Long-Lasting Mosquito Nets
  USAID, along with NetMark and the Mission in Kenya, is introducing a new way of mass treating long-lasting mosquito nets (LLINs) at the factory level. To be announced at a workshop on September 29, 2005 in Nairobi, this new technology will dramatically improve the supply of LLINs and potentially save millions of lives.
  
  
• USAID Yemen Campaign Immunizes Children Against Polio
  Yemen currently has the largest number of confirmed cases in the world (more than 360) and USAID is working with Yemeni officials to improve immunization coverage. The first door-to-door campaign reached more than 57,000 children in June 2005, while the second campaign is currently under way.

B. News and Events

• U.S. Pledges Additional $1.2 Billion to Combat Malaria in Africa
  First Lady Laura Bush joined representatives of three African nations and USAID Administrator Andrew Natsios on September 14, 2005 in signing an agreement that will increase U.S. funding to reduce the burden of malaria in Africa by $1.2 billion over five years.
  
  
• First Lady Laura Bush Joins African Leaders in Historic Declaration to Reduce the Burden of Malaria
  Within hours of the opening of the United Nations General Assembly, First Lady Laura Bush, alongside representatives of Angola, Tanzania and Uganda, witnessed the signing of a Declaration that will curb the burden of malaria.
  
  
• Remarks by First Lady Laura Bush at a Fighting Malaria in Africa USAID Dinner
  Speaking at the Waldorf-Astoria in New York City, Mrs. Bush said "We have the knowledge and the technology to prevent infections and to effectively treat people who have malaria. With this knowledge comes the obligation to act."
  
  
• Fighting Disease Supports World Development, President Bush Says
  The serious burden of disease in poor countries of the world is an obstacle to their development, President Bush told the U.N. General Assembly on September 14, 2005. In a speech that ranged from the global response to Hurricane Katrina to terrorism, President Bush also highlighted U.S. efforts to combat disease in the developing world.
  
  
• Administrator Natsios Aims to Cut Hunger in Africa through Economic Growth
  The United States will spend more money to spur economic growth and reduce hunger in Africa in 2006, USAID Administrator Andrew Natsios says, urging developed and developing countries to mobilize all sectors of their societies to address the issue of world hunger.
  
  
• Avian Influenza Response
  USAID is working to ensure an effective and coordinated approach to this economic and public health threat. Since mid-December 2003, 10 Asian countries have reported outbreaks of the "H5N1" avian influenza (AI) in domestic poultry, including chickens and ducks. The disease can also infect humans and has killed over half the 115 people it is known to have infected in Vietnam, Thailand, Cambodia and Indonesia. This new flu virus, to which humans have no immunity, has not yet developed the ability pass easily between people, but experts increasingly worry that this constantly changing virus could spark a human flu pandemic. For up-to-date news and information on recent USAID AI activities, view the Most Recent Developments and Actions.
  
  
• Integrated U.S. Effort Helps Mitigate Spread of Bird Flu in Asia
  The U.S. government is pursuing a broad-based, integrated response effort to help mitigate the spread of highly pathogenic H5N1 avian influenza (AI) in Asia, says Dr. Chuck Lambert, deputy under secretary for marketing and regulatory programs at the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA).
  
  
• Indonesia, Angola Battle Polio Outbreaks
  The Indonesia case count has climbed to 226, according to an announcement from the country's Ministry of Health on August 26, 2005. In Angola, the first cases of polio to be detected since 2001 began to appear in July 2005, with a total of seven reported as of August 25.
  
  
• USAID Partners with Private and Non-Profit Organizations to Bring U.S. Professional Basketball Players to Kenya
  The "Jump4Life" program's mission is to combine starpower influence with food industry expertise to affect social change and promote good nutrition among sports-minded youth and young adults in Kenya.
  
  
• USAID and Coca-Cola Announce Global Watershed Partnership Agreement
  In an effort to provide more access to clean water and to protect our environment, USAID and Coca-Cola are working together with the Global Environment and Technology Foundation to reduce the impacts of water-related problems in priority countries.

C. Technical Documents

• U.S. Foreign Aid: Meeting the Challenges of the 21st Century [PDF, 353KB]
  The 2002 National Security Strategy assigns development a new prominence in U.S. national security, along with diplomacy and defense. At the same time, there is an intense debate in the foreign policy community about how to enhance the effectiveness of foreign aid. This paper addresses both of these issues.
  
  
• USAID’s Fragile States Strategy [PDF, 305KB]
  USAID uses the term fragile states to refer generally to a broad range of failing, failed and recovering states. Fragile states have posed a growing problem since the end of the Cold War, but they are now recognized as a source of our nation's most pressing security threats.

D. Global Health Employment Opportunities

• Health Strategic Objective (SO) Team Leader
  This position is for USAID activity in Iraq and is short-term technical assistance over three to five years. The Health SO Team Leader will support the Chief of Party (COP) of a five-year, multi-million dollar project in setting up a monitoring and evaluation system and services pertaining to USAID Iraq's SO 2 Health component.
  
  
• Senior Technical Advisor: HIV/AIDS, Infectious Diseases
  Under the direction of the Office of Public Health (OPH) Director, the senior technical advisor (STA), will serve as a key member of an eight person team at the USAID mission in Phnom Penh, Cambodia.
  
  
• Senior Technical Advisor: Population and Reproductive Health
  Working in USAID's Bureau for Global Health, Office of Population and Reproductive Health, the Advisor will expand and manage private sector activities, provide support to the field, and scale-up existing partnerships, along with other responsibilities mentioned in the position description.

If you have questions or comments, please contact Chris Thomas at ChThomas@usaid.gov.

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