AP: Gates Foundation Gives $210 Million to UW, Largest Gift in School History

By Phuong Le

SEATTLE (AP) - The University of Washington is getting $210 million from the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation to help build a new facility to advance efforts to improve the health and well-being of people around the world, officials said Tuesday.

The donation from the largest private foundation in the world, located just miles from the Seattle campus, is the largest single gift in the university's history.

Seattle Times Op-Ed: Deadly Overuse of Antibiotics in Our Food Chain

A report out of the United Kingdom found that, worldwide, antibiotic-resistant bacteria could kill more people per year by 2050 than cancer kills today.

By Paul Pottinger and Bruce Speight

THROUGHOUT its history, the United Nations General Assembly has convened to discuss major global threats, including nuclear proliferation, human-rights abuses and global climate change.

The Atlantic: How Back Pain Took Over the World

By Olga Khazan

The newest iteration of the Global Burden of Disease study, which tracks the prevalence of deaths and diseases worldwide, contains some good news: On average people are living about a decade longer than they were in 1980. But there’s a catch: Health hasn’t improved as fast as life expectancy overall, which means that for many, those long, final years are spent hobbled by illness and disability.

Professor Theo Vos is quoted.

Humanosphere: A New Way to Measure Progress in Global Health

By Sean McKee, special to Humanosphere

The world has made tremendous progress in global health during the past 25 years, reducing the impact of some major killers like HIV or, well, childbirth, and greatly expanding access to drugs or vaccines to prevent and treat many millions of the poorest people on the planet.

But sustaining that rate of progress is likely to get a lot harder. And measuring success, or failure for that matter, is likely to get more important.

HealthDay: U.S. Life Expectancy Lags Behind Other Wealthy Nations

By Dennis Thompson

THURSDAY, Oct. 6, 2016 (HealthDay News) -- The United States lags behind other advanced nations when it comes to infant mortality and the life expectancy of its citizens, according to a comprehensive review of global health statistics.

The health of U.S. citizens is specifically challenged by smoking, diabetes, high blood pressure, drug abuse and gun violence, said study co-author Dr. Mohsen Naghavi. He's a professor with the Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation at the University of Washington in Seattle.

NewsBeat: Antiretrovirals Pose Low Risk to Nursing Mothers, Babies

Study involves researchers with UW International Clinical Research Center

By Bobbi Nodell

Researchers have found that breastfeeding mothers taking the antiretroviral drugs tenofovir and emtricitabine have a low risk of side effects. The study, published in PLOS, was conducted by colleagues at the UW International Clinical Research Center and partners in Kenya, Uganda and Johns Hopkins University.

Seattle Times: Cuba Rediscovered: US Students Get Free Ride in Cuban Medical School

By Ángel González

Cuba’s renowned health-care system, which flourishes despite the country’s poverty, still has lessons to teach the world, experts say. Hundreds of U.S. students have attended medical school tuition-free in Cuba, including a UW grad who plans on returning home to practice in underserved communities in Kitsap County.

Assistant Professor Paul Drain is quoted.

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Yahoo: Mixed Report for Global Health Progress

By Mariëtte Le Roux

Paris (AFP) - The world has made progress in curbing infant mortality, stunted growth and other poverty-driven problems, while obesity, alcohol abuse and partner violence has risen, a major review of UN health goals said Wednesday.

"Progress varied widely," said The Lancet medical journal which published the assessment of 188 countries' progress since 1990, measured against the UN's Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

Family Practice News: Oral HIV PrEP Also Protects Against Herpes

By Bruce Jancin

DURBAN, SOUTH AFRICA – Oral antiretroviral pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) against HIV also reduces the risk of acquiring herpes simplex virus type 2, according to research presented at the 21st International AIDS Conference.

“Given the limited interventions for primary prevention of HSV-2, efficacy against HSV-2 provides additional benefit to oral PrEP,” observed Connie Celum, MD, professor of global health and medicine at the University of Washington, Seattle.

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