Media/Policy Watch
This section is intended to alert readers to substantive news, analysis and opinion from the general media on vaccines, immunization, global; public health and related themes. Media Watch is not intended to be exhaustive, but indicative of themes and issues CVEP is actively tracking. This section will grow from an initial base of newspapers, magazines and blog sources, and is segregated from Journal Watch above which scans the peer-reviewed journal ecology.

We acknowledge the Western/Northern bias in this initial selection of titles and invite suggestions for expanded coverage. We are conservative in our outlook in adding news sources which largely report on primary content we are already covering above. Many electronic media sources have tiered, fee-based subscription models for access. We will provide full-text where content is published without restriction, but most publications require registration and some subscription level.

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Al Jazeera
http://america.aljazeera.com/search.html?q=vaccine
Accessed 5 September 2015
DR Congo measles epidemic ‘a looming crisis’
MSF warns onset of rainy season will destroy chances of ending epidemic that is quickly gaining ground in Katanga.
03 Sep 2015 22:41 GMT
The measles epidemic spreading through the Katanga province in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) has to be halted within the next 60 days, or the country will face a major health crisis, medical charity Doctors without Borders (MSF) has warned.
Michel Janssens, coordinator for MSF in DRC, told Al Jazeera on Thursday that immediate action was needed to address the outbreak as it would be close to impossible to access those in need during the rainy season, expected within the two months…

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BBC
http://www.bbc.co.uk/
Accessed 5 September 2015
Sierra Leone village in quarantine after Ebola death
4 September 2015
Nearly 1,000 people in Sierra Leone have been put under quarantine following the death of a 67-year-old woman who tested positive for Ebola

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Brookings
http://www.brookings.edu/
Accessed 5 September 2015
Opinion | August 31, 2015
Stuffing data gaps with dollars: What will it cost to close the data deficit in poor countries?
By: Laurence Chandy and Christine Zhang
We calculate a financing gap for data needs based on an analysis of existing survey coverage for three pillars of development data: the population census, living standard surveys, and health surveys. We find that, at least in the case of living standard surveys and health surveys, the global financing gap is trivially small—approximately $23 million a year. This points to other constraints beyond finance that stand in the way of complete data coverage. We conclude by recommending three immediate actions the IMF, World Bank, USAID, and UNICEF could take to advance this agenda.

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Center for Global Development
http://www.cgdev.org/
The Politics of Priority Setting in Health: A Political Economy Perspective – Working Paper 414
Publications
9/3/15
Many health improving interventions in low-income countries are extremely good value for money.

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Forbes
http://www.forbes.com/
Accessed 5 September 2015
Polio Outbreak In Ukraine Is Grim Reminder Of Need For Continued Vigilance
The outbreak of polio in Europe where there had been no cases in five years is a grim reminder that the disease continues to threaten children around the world until it is completely eradicated around the world.
Devin Thorpe, Contributor Sep 04, 2015

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The Huffington Post
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/
Accessed 5 September 2015
A Plan to End All Preventable Deaths by 2030
(9/3)
Flavia Bustreo, World Health Organization Assistant Director-General for Family, Women’s and Children’s Health, and Vice Chair of the Board of Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance
…Everyone, Everywhere
As we move into the SDG era, we should look back on lessons learned as we strove to achieve the MDGs. With the SDGs, we must aim for progress across the board — in remote and rural areas and among the poorest and most disadvantaged residents of urban centers. We need to be able to identify the gaps so that we can allocate limited resources effectively.
The number of countries striving to provide health services equitably and universally is growing. In 2030, I hope that we can look back and affirm that indeed we have reached the health goal, and that the greatest advance of the SDGs was to ensure that the progress and improvement in health touched everyone, everywhere.
An Open Letter to the Generation That Will Grow Up With the Sustainable Development Goals: Anthony Lake
1 September 2015

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Washington Post
http://www.washingtonpost.com/
Accessed 5 September 2015
Failures of Dallas hospital during Ebola crisis detailed in new report
Amy Ellis Nutt
September 4
Lack of communication among emergency room staff, poor configuration of information on the patient’s electronic health record and diminished focus on patient safety were three of the main deficiencies of Texas Health Presbyterian Hospital in Dallas where a man infected with the Ebola virus was misdiagnosed last year and died, according to an independent report released by the hospital Friday….

As the school year begins, it’s time to think about vaccination policies
31 August 2015
…“States are beginning to realize that they have effective measures to combat these outbreaks, and philosophical exemptions are eroding these protections and resulting in significant costs to states,” says Carrie Byington, a professor of pediatrics at the University of Utah and the chairwoman of the American Academy of Pediatrics Committee on Infectious Diseases.
Research shows that eliminating or limiting exemptions can improve vaccination rates and reduce disease outbreaks.
California and Vermont passed laws this year eliminating exemptions for philosophical reasons starting next year; California’s law eliminates religious exemptions as well…