Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
Perspectives: PEPFAR Under Threat And Must Be Saved, Says Former President Who Created It
When I took office in 2001, the situation with HIV/AIDS on the African continent and elsewhere was dire. A group of advisers including Condi Rice, Josh Bolten and Mike Gerson encouraged me to act before an entire generation was lost. (Former President George W. Bush, 9/13)
In the early 2000s, therapies for HIV were widely available in Western countries but scarce in the developing world — in places like Botswana, one-third of the adult population was infected. Millions of people were dying from AIDS. In response, George W. Bush created the President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief — PEPFAR, for short. Over time, it would blossom into the largest global health initiative ever dedicated to a single disease. (Arjun Sharma, 9/13)
Two weeks ago, the Biden administration announced the first 10 prescription drugs that will be subject to price negotiation. In other health-care policy news, this week, the Food and Drug Administration approved updated versions of mRNA coronavirus vaccines that are better tailored to one of the most common current variants of covid-19. (Megan McArdle, 9/13)
As the CEOs of the National Organization for Rare Disorders and the Biotechnology Innovation Organization, the threat to rare disease drug development hits close to home for us. NORD was established 40 years ago by rare disease patients and families to drive advances in care, research, and policy. (Rachel King and Peter L. Saltonstall, 9/13)
Patients often ask two questions about every medical treatment: Will it help me? Will it hurt me? The Food and Drug Administration knows many of the answers. It wants patients to know them, too. (Baruch Fischoff, Steven Woloshin, Tamar Krishnamurti and Barry Dewitt, 9/12)
Drug shortages are rocking the U.S. health care system. Over 300 medicines were in short supply in the second quarter of this year—more than at almost any other time in the past decade. Policymakers agree that something must be done about this growing problem. But there's less consensus about what to do. (Jean-Claude Dubacher, 9/11)
