RABIN MARTIN NAMES BILL MARTIN CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER

Leading Consulting Firm Celebrates 10 Years of Making a Difference in Health

NEW YORK, March 27, 2012 – Rabin Martin, a leading public health consulting firm, announced today that Bill Martin will take the helm as President and Chief Executive Officer of the firm. Martin will continue to build on the firm’s growth and leadership in improving health equity in the US and around the world. Firm founder Steve Rabin assumes the role of Chairman and will focus on client strategy and new initiatives to improve access to health. Rabin Martin is one of the fastest growing public health management consulting firms today with more than 40 professionals and a global and domestic portfolio of clients and projects. The firm has designed more than $1 billion in health programing for leading companies and helped design initiatives to secure billions more in new resources for global public health needs.

“I joined Steve Rabin in 2009 hoping that together with a group of diverse but like-minded people and partners we could help people achieve better health for themselves, their families and communities,” said Bill Martin, President & CEO. “We have put together a great, creative and multi-disciplinary team from business, public health, policy, advocacy and communications backgrounds who have helped Rabin Martin become one of the fastest growing health consultancies today.”

“This is an exciting time for Rabin Martin,” said Steve Rabin, Chairman. “The firm has enjoyed tremendous growth since Bill joined, allowing us to deliver value to a growing set of clients. The projects we work on help deliver healthier lives for people everywhere. I have every confidence in Bill’s ability to chart the future success of the organization. ”

Rabin Martin Celebrates 10 Years

This year the firm celebrates its tenth anniversary of making a difference in health for leading organizations including the United Nations, Johnson & Johnson, Merck, Bayer, Bristol-Myers Squibb, the Pangaea Global AIDS Foundation, the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, Columbia University and many others.

Steve Rabin founded Rabin Strategic Partners, now Rabin Martin, in 2002. For more than a decade, the firm’s strategies and programs have been a major catalyst for change in health for top global companies and institutions. In its first 10 years it:

· Designed more than $700 million in private sector initiatives to reduce maternal mortality and increase child survival

· Created a US network of community treatment advocates in under-served communities

· Convened hundreds of NGOs, foundations, businesses and academic institutions to raise commitments to meet the Millennium Development Goals

· Designed programs and partnerships that have screened more than 1,000,000 teens for depression

· Designed programs to provide access to low-priced HIV drugs in more than 100 countries

· Created an online community for front-line healthcare workers in the US

About Rabin Martin

Rabin Martin is one of the fastest growing public health management consulting firms today with a multi-disciplinary team of more than 40 professionals serving a global and domestic portfolio of clients and projects. The firm has been a driving force behind numerous high profile global health initiatives. Rabin Martin offers strategy consulting, access to health initiatives, program implementation, partnership management, policy, advocacy, reputation and communications services for leading companies, NGOs, foundations, multilaterals and universities in several countries.

Steve Rabin is a leader in public health and strategic consulting. His counsel draws on a background in law, public health and public affairs. Rabin established Rabin Strategic Partners, now Rabin Martin, in 2002. Prior to that, he served as President of Ogilvy Public Affairs, head of the Washington, DC office of Porter Novelli and served as the Senior Vice President for Public Affairs at the Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation. Steve served on the faculty of Columbia University’s Mailman School of Public Health and was a visiting fellow at the Harvard University School of Public Health.

Bill Martin is recognized as a leading healthcare strategist and communicator. Most recently, he helped develop and implement Merck for Mothers, a $500 million, 10‐year effort to confront maternal mortality. Previously, he supported the launch of Every Woman, Every Child, a global campaign spearheaded by the United Nations and hundreds of partners that identified more than $40 billion in new resources for women’s and children’s health. Bill served as President of Global Health at Cohn & Wolfe and GCI Health and was the senior communications and investor relations officer at two biotech companies. Bill is a graduate of the School of International Service at the American University.

For more information, please visit www.rabinmartin.com.

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This press release is reprinted by Alanna Shaikh out of an obscure sense of guilt. It does not represent the opinions of Alanna Shaikh or any of her employers.

International Social Justice Funder Releases New Evaluation and Learning Report

International Social Justice Funder Releases New Evaluation and Learning Report

(San Francisco, CA) – Celebrating more than 25 years of global grantmaking, San Francisco-based International Development Exchange (IDEX) is pleased to announce its new Evaluation and Learning Report, documenting the effectiveness and impact of its unique grantmaking model that puts resources directly in the hands of local leaders and organizations in the world’s most under-resourced communities.

IDEX is a nonprofit grantmaking organization that provides long-term flexible funding for initiatives in marginalized communities in Africa, Asia and Latin America to empower women, build local economies and care for the environment. The core purpose of the Evaluation and Learning report is to examine the effectiveness of IDEX’s partnership-based grantmaking model from the perspective of its grant partners. The report can be viewed or downloaded here: http://bit.ly/IDEXreport.

“We commissioned this report because we wanted to hear directly from our partners whether our approach works and what we could do better,” said Rajasvini Bhansali, IDEX’s Executive Director. “We are pleased to hear from our grant partners that we walk our talk. We also wanted to share any critical lessons learned with the international grantmaking community. With these findings and recommendations, we look forward to building on IDEX’s legacy of a transformative, human rights grantmaking model that stops short of nothing but fundamental social change.”

Key findings from the report indicate that, since receiving a grant from IDEX, a majority of its partners:

• Have met all, or more than half, of their goals to address local needs
• Have been able to develop local, community-based solutions either totally or to a great extent
• Can measure a significant and substantive positive change in community members’ leadership and behavior
• Have developed stronger links with social change movements internationally
• Have greatly increased their geographic scope and the number of people interested in participating in their programs

In the report, partners emphasized IDEX’s lack of ego and agenda, support of locally driven solutions and long-term, dependable support as elements that differentiate IDEX from other grant providers. The evaluation also identifies ways IDEX can improve, including growing its base of donors and endowment to increase the amount of grants it provides. In addition, partners recommend that IDEX make a focused effort in helping partners develop deeper relationships with other funders.

IDEX’s partnership-based grantmaking approach relies on the wisdom and strength of local people who are fighting for a better quality of life in their communities. IDEX augments its long-term, annual grants of $5,000 to $20,000 with its work to scale grant partners’ successes by: building their capacity and leadership; linking them to broader social change movements; brokering additional resources; and amplifying their voices and victories. Grant partners receive support for a minimum of three years, with some receiving funding for 10 or more years, providing a consistent revenue source to be used at their discretion.

“IDEX is a a grant maker that gives support in the fullest sense of the word,” said Rose Williams, Director of IDEX grant partner Biowatch in South Africa. “The financial support is important and is provided in such a way that the partner organization can use it in the most critical areas, but our partnership always has been more than financial. They help us scale up our work, link us to other partners with common struggles and with potential donors, and facilitate our participation at an international level. They are true partners with us on behalf of the struggles and achievements of the communities with which we work.”

About International Development Exchange (IDEX):

IDEX identifies, evaluates, and grows the best ideas from local leaders and organizations to alleviate poverty and injustice around the world. IDEX connects a passionate and engaged network of supporters to the visionary leaders and organizations creating lasting solutions to their communities’ most pressing challenges. Since its founding, IDEX has supported more than 500 grassroots, community-led projects in Africa, Asia and Latin America. Annually, IDEX’s partners serve approximately 1.2 million people in impoverished communities, including marginalized women, small farmers, indigenous communities, low-income urban residents, sexual and ethnic minorities, and youth. For more information, idex.org.



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This press release is reprinted by Alanna Shaikh out of an obscure sense of guilt. It does not represent the opinions of Alanna Shaikh or any of her employers.

Award to Aeras Boosts Historic Hunt for New Vaccines against TB, as Drug-Resistant Strains Proliferate

Grant Represents Vital Step in Meeting Urgent Global Need To Fund Worldwide Scientific Efforts to Eliminate Airborne Threat

Rockville, MD, USA | Cape Town, South Africa (March 15, 2012) – Aeras announces today the receipt of a grant by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation of up to US $220 million over five years, placing it at the forefront of a global scientific initiative aimed at developing safe, effective vaccines against tuberculosis, a disease that infects two billion people worldwide. One of the world’s largest not-for-profit biotechs, Aeras is developing modern vaccines to combat TB against the backdrop of a significant increase in drug-resistant strains. “We are grateful to the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation for their continued confidence in Aeras and their support of our efforts to develop vaccines against a disease that costs the global economy billions of dollars annually, and hits hardest in the nations of Africa and Eastern Europe, and the emerging economic powerhouses of Asia,” said Jim Connolly, President and Chief Executive Officer of Aeras. “This infusion of funding must be seen as a global call to action in response to one of the world’s deadliest diseases. It will allow Aeras to expand upon existing partnerships in Europe, Africa, China, and around the world, and to build new partnerships that will accelerate the development of safe and effective vaccines. But the scientific challenges are immense, and the threat is global. Without support for this search for new vaccines from every quarter, we will never eliminate TB as a global health threat.” Globally, the TB vaccine field estimates it will need in excess of US$1 billion over the next five years to support worldwide efforts against a disease so complex it is expected to require more than one vaccine to address geographic variations in the strains, different stages of disease, and a variety of target populations. Aeras estimates US $400-500 million will be needed over the next five years if the organization is to accomplish critical TB vaccine development goals set jointly with global research and development partners. This grant provides approximately half of the estimated cost of meeting 2012-2016 milestone targets, while addressing significant scientific questions that must be answered in order to further successful development of new vaccines. “There is an urgent need for the global community to support the full range of tools to eliminate tuberculosis, but the development of TB vaccines that can prevent men, women and children from developing the disease would be the single greatest advance in the global fight against TB,” said Trevor Mundel, President of the Global Health Program at the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. “Aeras’ work will help realize the vision for the Decade of Vaccines, to create a world in which all individuals and communities enjoy lives free from vaccine-preventable diseases, through accelerated efforts from all partners. If donor and endemic countries can join together to show their commitment through funding and collaboration, the innovative research that Aeras and others are making possible could one day have a significant impact on TB, which is gaining in its ability to resist the solutions we have in hand. The foundation thanks Aeras for its commitment to the TB research and development space, helping us realize long-term goals sooner.” Once known as “consumption” for the slow wasting away of the people who died of it, tuberculosis is one of history’s great global killers. It kills 1.4 million people every year, equivalent to the entire population of Munich, Germany or Phoenix, Arizona. One out of every three people globally is thought to be infected by the airborne TB organism, although only a portion will go on to develop the disease. And increasing cases of drug-resistant strains of TB, reported in 80 countries and 8 territories over the past several years, is one of the greatest global threats from TB today. A recent World Health Organization (WHO) study reports the highest-ever recorded levels of multi-drug resistant TB worldwide. The WHO estimates the global economic burden of TB at nearly $12 billion a year, with India and China together accounting for more than half the global economic toll. London has the highest TB rate of any capital city in Western Europe, making it one of the city’s biggest health problems today. And a new World Health Organization/European Union plan to address drug-resistant TB estimates18 percent of the global burden of resistant TB is in the European region. In the United States, just one case of extremely drug-resistant TB is estimated to cost a quarter-million dollars to treat. In the last 12 years, TB vaccine research has made dramatic strides, but it began with a tremendous handicap. Scientists had learned little about the disease since the discovery of a vaccine in 1908 that continues to have limited efficacy. So in 2000, when scientists began in earnest to search for a new vaccine, they did so in the virtual dark. “Until 20 or 30 years ago, the global community thought TB was on the way out, along with other killer infectious diseases like smallpox and polio,” said Tom Evans, Chief Scientific Officer of Aeras. “But this lowering of the guard, and the emergence of drug-resistant strains and the deadly combination of TB and rising HIV infections in Africa, has created what the WHO called ‘fire raging out of control’ in developing countries. The disease should now have our full attention.” In the past decade, the number of TB vaccines in clinical trials has grown from zero to a dozen, six of which have been developed by Aeras or with support from Aeras and its partners. Two of these are currently the most clinically-advanced TB vaccine candidates in the world. Aeras scientists and their colleagues are applying what they’ve learned to rapidly test the best proposals coming out of laboratories around the world, in a drive to identify the most promising prospects for the next generation of vaccines. Today’s grant to Aeras will help advance several vaccine candidates into pivotal large-scale efficacy trials, build a robust and diverse pipeline of innovative, next-generation candidates, and develop and utilize key scientific approaches including challenge models, systems biology, and innovative vaccine designs to strengthen and accelerate TB vaccine development. “Aeras is now at the center of the most promising research across private industry, government, and civil society, with the potential to deliver a vaccine by the end of this decade,” said Aeras’ Jim Connolly. “However, no single organization—including Aeras—can do this alone. We are in this together, and to succeed we will need to work with everyone—more investors, researchers, manufacturers, regulatory agencies, and national leaders.” ### About Aeras Aeras (www.aeras.org) is a non-profit product development organization dedicated to the development of effective TB vaccines and biologics to prevent TB across all age groups in an affordable and sustainable manner. Aeras utilizes its broad capabilities and technologies in collaboration with numerous partners and stakeholders to support the development of vaccines and other biopharmaceuticals to address TB and other significant public health needs of underserved populations. To date, Aeras has invented or supported the development of six TB vaccine candidates, which are undergoing Phase I and Phase II clinical testing in Africa, Asia, Europe and North America. Aeras receives funding from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, other private foundations and various governments. Aeras is based in Rockville, Maryland, USA – where it operates a state-of-the-art manufacturing and laboratory facility – and Cape Town, South Africa.

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This press release is reprinted by Alanna Shaikh out of an obscure sense of guilt. It does not represent the opinions of Alanna Shaikh or any of her employers.

Are Shoes ‘the Next Bed-Nets’?: Announcing Footwork, the International Podoconiosis Initiative

(Brighton and Sussex Medical School, Brighton, England) – Footwork, the newly-formed International Podoconiosis Initiative, brings together private and public partners to advance advocacy for and prevention and treatment of podoconiosis, popularly known as ‘podo’, one of the few readily-preventable and treatable Neglected Tropical Diseases (NTDs). Footwork envisions a world free of podoconiosis in our lifetime.

Podoconiosis is a non-infectious elephantiasis found in highland tropical areas where shoes are frequently not worn and barefoot farmers cultivate in volcanic clay soil, allowing irritant mineral particles to cause damage to the lymphatic system in the legs. Causing the disfigurement, debilitation and ostracism of an estimated 4 million people or more globally, the disease hinders livelihoods, quality of life and development in at least 10tropical countries.

Women farmers affected by podoconiosis in western Ethiopia

“Footwork will help bring a spotlight to this long-overlooked disease,” says Dr. Gail Davey, Footwork’s Executive Director and Reader in Global Health at Brighton and Sussex Medical School as well as the world’s foremost expert on podoconiosis. “Podoconiosis is readily preventable by wearing shoes and treatable through a relatively simple but critical regimen of foot-washing, off-the-shelf ointment or emollients, use of compression bandages and skillfully-applied lower-leg massage to aid lymphatic drainage. Wearing shoes not only helps prevent podoconiosis, but also a wide variety of foot-related afflictions such as wounds, parasitic worms, tetanus, Madura foot, jiggers and snakebite. Footwork will help enable shoes to be thought of as ‘the next bed-nets’.”

Dr. Lorenzo Savioli, Director of the World Health Organization (WHO) Department for Control of Neglected Tropical Diseases comments, “WHO fully supports this laudable initiative. Podoconiosis is a neglected condition that mainly affects marginalized populations. We strongly encourage projects aimed at raising awarenessabout this disease.”

Professor David Molyneux, of the Global Alliance to Eliminate Lymphatic Filariasis adds, “This is the first time that international partners have had a forum through which to begin to address the problem of podoconiosis.”

Footwork aims to achieve its vision of the eradication of ‘podo’ through a strategic combination of advocacy/awareness efforts, new research and data collection, and propagation of control interventions.

A new website has been launched in conjunction with the initiative: www.podo.org, which will serve as a central source of information on the disease as well as treatment, research, and an online community for those actively working with podoconiosis in thefield.

Footwork is led by an international and multidisciplinary Steering Committee of specialists and advocates from Brighton and Sussex MedicalSchool, WHO Department for Control of NTDs, the Global Alliance to Eliminate Lymphatic Filariasis; the Center for Neglected Tropical Diseases, Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine; the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention; the Global Network for NTDs; Children Without Worms; the International Foundation for Dermatology; International Orthodox Christian Charities; Mossy Foot UK; National Human Genome Research Institute at the National Institutes of Health; the Research Foundation for Tropical Disease and the Environment, Buea, Cameroon; the Schistosomiasis Control Initiative at Imperial College, London; the UK Coalition Against NTDs; and TOMS Shoes.

Blake Mycoskie, founder and Chief Shoe Giver of TOMS Shoes said, “Eliminating podoconiosis in our lifetime is a bold and achievable goal. It will take passionate people from across health, research, treatment, advocacy, government and commercial entities working together to apply our talents and resources to speed up the journey to restoring a brighter future for millions of people in need.”

Footwork: the International Podoconiosis Initiative was formed in March 2012 to bring together public and private partners to support prevention and treatment of, and advocacy for, podoconiosis. Its vision is a world free of podoconiosis in our lifetimes. Footwork, found at www.podo.org, is a project of Washington DC-based New Venture Fund, an IRS-registered 501(c)3 charitable organization. The Initiative is hosted by the UK’s Brighton & Sussex Medical School, which serves as an international hub for podoconiosis research.

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This press release is reprinted by Alanna Shaikh out of an obscure sense of guilt. It does not represent the opinions of Alanna Shaikh or any of her employers.

Men Respond More Aggressively Than Women to Stress and it’s All Down to a Single Gene

The pulse quickens, the heart pounds and adrenalin courses through the veins, but in stressful situations is our reaction controlled by our genes, and does it differ between the sexes? Australian scientists, writing in BioEssays, believe the SRY gene, which directs male development, may promote aggression and other traditionally male behavioural traits resulting in the fight-or-flight reaction to stress.

Research has shown how the body reacts to stress by activating the adrenal glands which secrete catecholamine hormones into the bloodstream and trigger the aggressive fight-or-flight response. However, the majority of studies into this process have focused on men and have not considered different responses between the sexes.

“Historically males and females have been under different selection pressures which are reflected by biochemical and behavioural differences between the sexes,” said Dr Joohyung Lee, from the Prince Henry’s Institute in Melbourne. “The aggressive fight-or-flight reaction is more dominant in men, while women predominantly adopt a less aggressive tend-and-befriend response.”

Dr Lee and co-author Professor Vincent Harley, propose that the Y-chromosome gene SRY reveals a genetic underpinning for this difference due to its role in controlling a group of neurotransmitters known as catecholamines. Professor Harley’s earlier research had shown that SRY is a sex-determining gene which directs the prenatal development of the testes, which in turn secrete hormones which masculinise the developing body.

“If the SRY gene is absent the testes do not form and the foetus develops as a female. People long thought that SRY’s only function was to form the testes” said Professor Harley. “Then we found SRY protein in the human brain and with UCLA researchers led by Professor Eric Vilain, showed that the protein controls movement in males via dopamine.”

“Besides the testes, SRY protein is present in a number of vital organs in the male body, including the heart, lungs and brain, indicating it has a role beyond early sex determination,” said Dr Lee. “This suggests SRY exerts male-specific effects in tissues outside the testis, such as regulating cardiovascular function and neural activity, both of which play a vital role in our response to stress.”

The authors propose that SRY may prime organs in the male body to respond to stress through increased release of catecholamine and blood flow to organs, as well as promoting aggression and increased movement which drive fight-or-flight in males. In females oestrogen and the activation of internal opiates, which the body uses to control pain, may prevent aggressive responses.

The role of SRY regulation of catecholamines also suggests the gene may have a role in male-biased disorders such as Parkinson’s disease.

“New evidence indicates that the SRY gene exerts ‘maleness’ by acting directly on the brain and peripheral tissues to regulate movement and blood pressure in males,” concluded Lee. “This research helps uncover the genetic basis to explain what predisposes men and women to certain behavioural phenotypes and neuropsychiatric disorders.”

Full citation:Lee. J, Harley. V, “The male fight-flight response: A result of SRY regulation of catecholamines?” Bioessays, Wiley-Blackwell, March 2012, DOI: 10.1002/bies.201100159

URL Upon publication: http://doi.wiley.com/10.1002/bies.201100159

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This press release is reprinted by Alanna Shaikh out of an obscure sense of guilt. It does not represent the opinions of Alanna Shaikh or any of her employers.

President Clinton Announces Program for the Fifth Annual Clinton Global Initiative University MeetiMadeleine Albright, Biz Stone, and Usher among tng

Madeleine Albright, Biz Stone, and Usher among the newly announced featured speakers

More than 1,000 students representing all 50 states and more than 75 countries to attend CGI U 2012 at the George Washington University in Washington, D.C., March 30 – April 1

New York, NY – Today, President Bill Clinton announced the program and speakers for the fifth annual meeting of the Clinton Global Initiative University (CGI U), which will be held March 30 to April 1, 2012 at the George Washington University in Washington, D.C. This year, more than 1,000 students will attend CGI U, representing all 50 states, more than 75 countries, and approximately 300 college and universities.

“CGI U gives students an opportunity to get involved and become more effective global citizens,” said President Clinton. “Since our first meeting in 2008, young leaders from around the world come together each year. Their passion and commitments continue to inspire me and each other. More than 1,000 students will attend the fifth annual meeting of CGI U to share ideas and take action to improve the world we all share.”

The CGI U program will feature sessions that will examine issues throughout its five focus areas: Education, Environment and Climate Change, Peace and Human Rights, Poverty Alleviation, and Public Health. The meeting will examine critical topics such as the transformation of the Middle East, the global economic crisis and its impact on young people, recruiting and retaining teachers, the famine in the Horn of Africa, cost-effective campus sustainability programs, and the youth movement for global health. These sessions will allow students to gain further insight into today’s pressing global challenges and acquire the skills needed to make progress on their own Commitments to Action.

On Saturday, March 31, Jon Stewart will join President Clinton for an exclusive conversation addressing some of the most pressing domestic and international issues facing the next generation. Stewart will open the conversation with a few questions for President Clinton and will then focus the majority of the session on a Q&A format between the President and CGI U students.

The full agenda for CGI U 2012 can be found at http://www.cgiu.org/meetings/2012/agenda.asp.

Additional program participants for CGI U 2012 include: Madeleine Albright, chair, Albright Stonebridge Group; Biz Stone, co-founder and chief creative officer, Twitter; Usher Raymond, chairman and founder, Usher’s New Look Foundation; Abdilmalik Buul, chairman, Somali Youth League; Allison Basile, metrics officer, Grassroots Business Fund; Anita Ahuja, co-founder, Conserve India; Benjamin Lu, student, New York University School of Medicine; Cheryl Dorsey, president, Echoing Green; Christina Newman, founder, Hens for Haiti; Dana Mauriello, founder and president, Profounder; Daphni Leef, activist, Tent Movement, Tel Aviv; Deqo Mohamed, chief executive officer, Dr. Hawa Abdi Foundation; Esteban Bullrich, minister of education, City of Buenos Aires; Grace Ochieng, co-founder, New Vision Sewing Co-Op, Lwala Community Technology; Haile Debas, director, Global Health Sciences; Jeremy Kane, founder and CEO, LEAD Public Schools; Jesse LaGreca, blogger, Daily Kos; Lara Setrakian, foreign correspondent, ABC News and Bloomberg Television; Matt Severson, president, the School Fund; Matthew Morantz, director, Making Waves Canada; Maya Cohen, executive director, GlobeMed; Megan Chapple-Brown, director, Office of Sustainability at the George Washington University; Michael Gerson, columnist, The Washington Post and advisor, One Campaign; Mohammed Anwar, chief executive officer, Empathy Learning Systems Private Limited; Molly Katchpole, fellow, Rebuild the Dream; Rebecca Hamilton, author, Reuters; Robyn Allen, chief executive officer, ArcMetra; Roxanne Quimby, founder, Elliotsville Plantation Inc.; Slava Rubin, founder and CEO, IndieGoGo; Veronika Scott, founder and CEO, the Empowerment Plan; Vincent Ndebwanimana, advisor, Rwanda Village Concept Project; Wendy Hanamura, vice president of strategy and general manager, Link Media, Inc.; and Ziad Aly, founder and CEO, ALZWAD.

Previously announced speakers include: Chelsea Clinton, board member, Clinton Global Initiative and the William J. Clinton Foundation; Jon Stewart, executive producer and host, The Daily Show with Jon Stewart; Rye Barcott, founder, Carolina for Kibera; Sadiqa Basiri, co-founder, Oruj Learning Center; Robin Chase, chief executive officer, Buzzcar; Ashifi Gogo, founder and chief executive officer, Sproxil, Inc.; Cynthia Koenig, chief executive officer, Wello; and Kathryn Schulz, author, Being Wrong.

CGI U 2012 will conclude with a day of service on April 1, mobilizing nearly 800 attendees and volunteers who will work alongside local veterans to give back to the D.C. community. This year, the service project will be held in partnership with Rebuilding Together and the United Service Organizations (USO), and will include remarks by President Clinton and other special guests at the Kelly Miller Middle School, located in the Lincoln Heights neighborhood of Washington, D.C. Participants will be assigned to one of the two partner organizations’ projects, including participating in a wide variety of home repair activities to low-income homeowners in need and assembling packages that will be sent to military units who are either about to deploy or are currently overseas. In total, CGI U participants will contribute more than 2,500 hours of service for Rebuilding Together and the USO.

Building on the successful model of the Clinton Global Initiative (CGI), CGI U brings together students, national youth organizations, nonprofit leaders, entrepreneurs, and celebrities engaged in efforts to create positive change.

CGI University is grateful for the support of its sponsors: The Victor Pinchuk Foundation, The Peter G. Peterson Foundation, Microsoft, Laureate Education, Andy Nahas, and the Prospect Fund.

View and share session webcasts from the CGI U 2012 by visiting: http://www.cgiu.org. Follow us on Twitter at @CGIU and @ClintonGlobal or on Facebook at Facebook.com/CGIUniversity for meeting news and highlights. The event hashtag is #CGIU.

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This press release is reprinted by Alanna Shaikh out of an obscure sense of guilt. It does not represent the opinions of Alanna Shaikh or any of her employers.

Elimination of blinding disease in sight for Nigeria

Research published, co-authored by staff at the development charity Sightsavers, evidences that the blinding disease onchocerciasis may be eliminated through ivermectin treatment over a sustained period. The findings show the disease may already be eliminated in one Nigerian state¹ - a significant milestone on the road towards the end of this blinding neglected tropical disease (NTD) in Africa.

Globally the World Health Organization (WHO) estimates that 120 million people² are at risk from, and 37 million³ people are already infected with, onchocerciasis (also known as river blindness), a parasitic disease transmitted by the bite of the black simulium fly which breeds in fast-flowing water.

The disease is treated by Mectizan® (ivermectin*), which is donated by global pharmaceutical company MSD, (known as Merck in the US and Canada) and distributed to individuals by NGOs such as Sightsavers.

The research confirms that ivermectin treatment can eliminate onchocerciasis infection and probably disease transmission in endemic African countries. It does this by killing the larval stage of the parasite. It is also thought that repeated treatment may affect the fertility and longevity of adult worms, increasing the feasibility of eliminating infection and transmission long-term. This enhances a study in Senegal and Mali which indicated that ivermectin taken six monthly or annually for 15 to 17 years³ could help control the disease. Both studies were supported by the African Programme for Onchocerciasis Control (APOC), Sightsavers’ key partner in fighting onchocerciasis.

Commenting on the findings, Simon Bush, Sightsavers’ Director of Neglected Tropical Diseases and an author of the research said: “Onchocerciasis needlessly devastates the lives of individuals, families and whole communities, which is why the research findings are significant not just for those living in Kaduna, but for those at risk across Africa. This research strongly suggests elimination has been achieved in two foci areas of Kaduna State. If we can start declaring areas disease-free, and help rid Africa of this parasitic disease, we would not just eliminate one of the NTDs but would reduce levels of avoidable blindness and alleviate the negative impact on economic productivity. This move to elimination will be followed in many Sightsavers-supported projects.”

The epidemiological evaluation using the skin snip parasitological diagnostic method was carried out in two onchocerciasis foci areas in Kaduna State, examining 3,703 people in 27 communities. Comparison of the findings with a 1987 Sightsavers’ baseline survey revealed that the median prevalence pre-treatment infection levels of 52 per cent were, after almost 20 years of treatment, reduced to 0 per cent. All individuals examined were skin snip negative for the prevalence of O.volvulus microfilia in the skin¹.

Kaduna State is one of 32 states where onchocerciasis is a public health problem in Nigeria. The main strategy for control of the disease is by mass distribution of Mectizan® (ivermectin). To ensure the tablets reach the remote communities, Sightsavers has helped to pioneer the community-based distribution system which uses trained village volunteers to hand out the drugs at a local level. Large-scale distribution of this treatment was started by Sightsavers in Kaduna State in 1991 with support of the Ministry of Health.

The next step is an entomological evaluation of residual onchocerciasis transmission levels during a full season required by APOC to confirm if elimination can be declared and treatment in this area ceased. Sightsavers is working with APOC to support this surveillance.

Onchocerciasis is one of 17 NTDs identified by the WHO⁴ which are believed to affect one billion of the poorest and most vulnerable people in the world. Sightsavers maintains that treating such diseases is one way to help alleviate poverty in some of the world's poorest communities. Last month it launched its plan to invest more than £27 million over the next decade to help combat this NTD across Africa. It is also investing in programmes to support the elimination of the blinding NTD trachoma across Africa and Asia by 2020.

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This press release is reprinted by Alanna Shaikh out of an obscure sense of guilt. It does not represent the opinions of Alanna Shaikh or any of her employers.

UK LAUNCH OF GROUNDBREAKING INDEX DESIGNED TO EMPOWER WOMEN AND FIGHT HUNGER

Ahead of International Women’s Day on March 8^th, a significant new breakthrough in the measurement of women’s empowerment in developing countries will be launched in the UK. The “Women’s Empowerment in Agriculture Index” (WEAI) is the first measure to directly capture women’s empowerment and inclusion levels in the agricultural sector.

The Index will be launched at the Houses of Parliament on 7^th of March at an event co-hosted by two All Party Parliamentary Groups focused on developing countries. The Index is a partnership between Oxford University’s Oxford Poverty and Human Development Initiative (OPHI), the US Government’s Feed the Future initiative, the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) and the International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI).

Empowering women in agriculture means helping them produce food, bring their produce to market, obtain loans, access tools, tackle problems in their communities and benefit from opportunities to grow their businesses. To encourage women farmers, the index focuses on five areas: decisions over agricultural production, power over productive resources such as land and livestock, decisions over income, leadership in the community, and time use. Women are considered to be empowered if they have adequate achievements in four of the five areas. The Index also compares the empowerment of women and men from the same household, asking both genders the same survey questions.

Piloted in three countries with diverse socioeconomic and cultural contexts—Bangladesh, Guatemala, and Uganda—the Index was developed to track the change in women’s empowerment that occurs as a direct or indirect result of U.S. government interventions under its Feed the Future initiative to tackle global hunger and food security. The U.S. government will use the Index for performance monitoring and impact evaluations.

“The Women’s Empowerment in Agriculture Index marks a major advance in our ability to measure empowerment. It brings into stark relief the ways in which women are empowered, and the areas in which they are disempowered,” said Dr. Sabina Alkire, OPHI Director and co-creator of the Alkire Foster method for measuring multidimensional poverty, which has been used to construct the index. “In giving us an improved understanding of empowerment, it enhances our ability to better empower women and improve their lives.”

“Through Feed the Future, President Obama's global hunger and food security initiative, we are fundamentally transforming our approach to agricultural development, working closely with partner governments, smallholder farmers and private sector players to make smart, cost-effective investments," said Dr. Rajiv Shah, USAID Administrator. "The Index will be used to monitor and evaluate Feed the Future programs and their impact on gender to ensure that our efforts are encouraging women and supporting the essential role they play in reducing hunger and advancing prosperity.”

Traditionally, money and education are used as indirect signposts of women’s empowerment. The new survey questions used for the WEAI expose the weaknesses in these ‘proxies’ by showing, for example, that having money or being educated does not guarantee that women are able to thrive as entrepreneurs in the field of agriculture.

“Identifying gaps in empowerment is especially useful for designing interventions that are appropriate in terms of context and culture,” said Dr. Agnes Quisumbing, IFPRI Senior Research Fellow. “Knowing these gaps, policymakers will be in a better position to design and implement interventions to close the gaps.”

The WEAI pilot results show some surprising new findings:

• In the sample from the Western Highlands of Guatemala, wealth is a poor indicator of empowerment—three-quarters of women in the wealthiest two-thirds of the population are not yet empowered.
• In the southern Bangladesh sample, more than half of women are less empowered than the men with whom they share their house, yet they are usually confident speaking in public.
• In the sample from rural parts of Uganda, lack of control over resources and time burdens contribute most to the disempowerment of women.

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This press release is reprinted by Alanna Shaikh out of an obscure sense of guilt. It does not represent the opinions of Alanna Shaikh or any of her employers.