As the 2018 International AIDS Conference kicks off in Amsterdam (23-27 July), Gottfried Hirnschall, Director of the HIV/AIDS Department and the Global Hepatitis Programme of the World Health Organization, discussed in a wide-ranging interview with John Zarocostas for Health Policy Watch the advances, setbacks, and challenges ahead in the global fight against the HIV/AIDS epidemic. On 18 July, a new report by UNAIDS warned that new infections are rising in around 50 countries, and that AIDS-related deaths are not falling fast enough and flat resources are threatening success. Dr Hirnschall leads the WHO's work in development and implementation of cutting-edge normative policies and guidance, and of technical support to countries to scale up national responses to HIV and hepatitis. He also oversees the Global Hepatitis Programme, which coordinates the organisation’s response to viral hepatitis. Hirnschall holds an MD from the University of Vienna, Austria, and an MPH from the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health. Continue reading ->
Basic research in health is often conducted by public universities or institutions, and public health activists have underlined the view that because research is funded by public money, medicines should not be so highly priced. A new study by an independent economic research institute shows that the pharmaceutical industry is a substantial partner in research activities and its investment in basic research is growing. The study, however, falls short of providing answers to key questions such as what is included in research and development figures, or what kind of basic research is conducted. Continue reading ->