The worst kept secret in Washington is now official – USAID administrator Raj Shah will step down from his position in February. From the Washington Post:
Shah spoke to us Tuesday night, but gave very little insight into why he was leaving now other than the oft-cited government official reason that after six years working in the Obama administration he wanted to spend time with his family.
He is leaving the agency in the midst of its active involvement in coordinating international response to the Ebola crisis in West Africa. He said the agency will have “a very responsible transition,” but added that the nation’s work combating the virus “is a multi-year leadership requirement of the United States.”
Shah, 41, has previously suggested he has an interest in running for political office one day, but said he “was not prepared to talk about that in detail now.”
“I don’t want to speculate on what I might or might not do,” he said. “I’m deeply honored to have had an opportunity to serve, and so impressed by the quality of public servants I work with every day, people who take personal risks…I see a lot of value in public service.”
Shah, who came from the private sector before joining the Obama administration in 2009, also would not say what kind of replacement President Obama might pick, or whether that person would share Shah’s vision of leveraging private investment to assist development around the world. But he said the humanitarian mission of USAID is something Obama is “passionate” about.
Shah told his staff in an e-mail that he’s leaving in February. In a statement, President Obama wished him “well as he embarks on a new chapter.”
—————————————-
Global Health and Development Beat
Researchers are reporting another disappointment for efforts to cure infection with the AIDS virus. Six patients given blood-cell transplants similar to one that cured a man known as “the Berlin patient” have failed, and all six patients died, reports the AP.
Organisations led by sex workers that support sex-worker rights need more funding to eliminate violence against women, halt the spread of HIV and end discrimination on the grounds of gender, according to a report published on Wednesday.
Cambodian officials say they are investigating a health clinic in a small village where more than 100 people have now tested positive for HIV.
Half a million people in three West African nations rocked by Ebola are going hungry and that number could double by March if food supplies do not improve, two United Nations agencies warned on Wednesday.
Ebola surveillance teams fanned out Wednesday in Sierra Leone’s capital to search for sick people, as the president imposed new restrictions on movement and gatherings in a bid to stop the disease’s spread.
Two hundred villagers in south-west China have signed a letter calling for an eight-year-old child to be sent away because he is HIV positive, state media has reported, in a case highlighting the stigma attached to the condition and widespread ignorance about it.
The U.N. Security Council on Wednesday renewed for 12 months its authorization for humanitarian access without Syrian government consent into rebel-held areas of Syria at four border crossings from Turkey, Iraq and Jordan.
Scores of Ethiopian health workers arrived in Liberia on Tuesday to bolster the response to an Ebola outbreak that the government says it wants to stamp out before Christmas.
The EU has agreed rules to stamp out tax evasion and stop dirty money from criminal gangs or terrorism finance being channeled through anonymous companies.
In the north-west of India, the business in brides is booming. Skewed sex ratios in states including Haryana, where there are only 830 girls for every 1,000 boys and young women being lured away to jobs in India’s booming cities, means men like Yadav are increasingly left with few options when it comes to finding a wife.
—————————————-
Spotlight on PSI
Ambassador Ashley Judd shares the story of Haitian health worker Virgila in the blog:
Virgila is more charismatic and animated than most actors I know.
She’s a PSI-trained health worker on the outskirts of Port Au Prince, Haiti. And she’s passionate about her work. She goes door-to-door educating women about the benefits of reversible contraception like the Intrauterine Device (IUD).
Giving birth is dangerous business for Haiti’s poor, who suffer the highest maternal mortality rate in the western hemisphere. To save the lives of mothers, we must ensure that we prevent unintended pregnancies from occurring.
Virgila says, “I reach women wherever they are. I go door-to-door. I go to hospitals. I go to mother’s associations. I go to community meetings.”
She waves her arms, “There is so much need. It’s never ok to stop working. I want women to be able to have the number of children they want.”
Roslyne, a woman who arrived at the clinic today to get an IUD says, “Ms. Virgila knocked on my door one day. That’s why I’m here.” Roslyne — who ekes out a living for her family by selling spinach she grows — has five children, ages 13, ten, six, two and one. She didn’t know about the IUD before Virgila told her about it.
The work Virgila does changes people’s lives — plain and simple.
—————————————-
Buzzing in the Blogs
The USAID Impact blog provides an inside look at a new Ebola clinic in Sierra Leone. An excerpt:
According to the ETU’s medical director, some of the facility’s 150 staff members were nervous to start caring for Ebola patients in spite of all the training they received. But by day three, things started coming together.
“For the first two days, you could see people’s anxiety…more of the fear of it being real,” said IMC medical director Vanessa Wolfman. “But we have a great psychosocial team to talk to staff about their fears. Now we’re getting into a routine. Everyone’s much more comfortable and can rely on each other.”
This reliance and teamwork is evident even before the first patient is seen. On one end of the medical complex, there’s a small group of people around emergency room nurse Lisa Woods, helping her get into the protective suit, gloves, apron, boots, and goggles that will keep her safe while treating Ebola patients.
“You don’t have any touch with the patients,” said Woods, her voice slightly muffled from the mask covering half her face; giant red goggles cover the other half. “I think that’s the hardest part, not being able to connect with my patients in a human way. Like right now there’s a 14-year-old in there, and boy, that’s hard.”
On the other end of the treatment complex, groups of men and women are washing hundreds of articles of clothing, boots, goggles, and gloves by hand. Right next to them, several people are hooking up a washing machine that was recently delivered—just in time to speed up the laundering process before more patients arrive and the ETU gets busier.
“We are really sympathetic with the patients,” said Idrissa Kamara, a nurse at the ETU. “These people are our people. So we take great care of them because we don’t want to see them missing.”
Just then, the medical director announces that another ambulance is on its way with a confirmed Ebola patient. Idrissa and the other nurses walk out of the staff rest area, to suit up and take care of another one of their own.
—————————————-
Capital Events
Thursday
12:30 PM – Health-Wealth Trade-offs: Effects of Mineral Mining in Developing Countries – CGD
—————————————-
By Mark Leon Goldberg and Tom Murphy
Subscribe to receive the Daily Impact in your inbox each morning!
Have a news or story tip? Email us at [email protected].
Disclaimer: Opinions presented in this email do not necessarily reflect the views of PSI.
