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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The Atlantic
http://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/
Accessed 9 July 2016
After Ebola [Liberia]
The disease has left a terrible legacy—and another outbreak is likely.
Lois Parshley
July/August 2016 Issue

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New York Times
http://www.nytimes.com/
Accessed 9 July 2016
Utah Resident Who Had Been Infected With Zika Dies: Health Officials
CHICAGO — The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has confirmed that a Utah resident’s death last month is the first Zika-related death in the continental United States, the CDC said in an emailed statement.
Health officials in the Salt Lake County health department in Utah reported the death on Friday of an elderly resident who had been infected with the Zika virus while traveling to an area with active transmission of the virus.
The exact cause of death is not known, the health department said in a press release.
The resident had an undisclosed health condition and had tested positive for the Zika virus. County health officials said it may not be possible to determine how the Zika infection contributed to the person’s death…
July 08, 2016 – By REUTERS –

Some Malaysians’ Rejection of Vaccines Fans Fears of Disease Surge
KUALA LUMPUR — More children are falling victim to contagious diseases in Muslim-majority Malaysia, worrying health authorities as parents reject immunization programs for fear the vaccines used infringe strict religious rules.
The deaths of five children in June from diphtheria, a disease that can be prevented by vaccines, provoked an outcry among doctors and spurred calls for an edict by religious authorities to compel Muslim families to immunize children.
“Our concern is, if it’s left uncontrolled, in the long-term we might see a significant effect on the nation as a whole,” Health Minister S. Subramaniam told Reuters in an interview.
Although Muslim religious authorities have waived the stringent halal requirement if suitable vaccines are not available, concerns have redoubled recently that some may contain substances such as pig DNA, forbidden by Islam.
Pediatrician Musa Mohamad Nordin said there was a lot of misinformation in Malaysia’s Muslim community, mostly ethnic Malays who form 61 percent of a population of about 30 million that includes substantial ethnic Chinese and Indian minorities.
“I’m upset, and also saddened, that some religious teachers are spreading rumors that vaccines contain a composition that is not permissible by Islamic jurisprudence,” added Musa, a member of Malaysia’s Federation of Islamic Medical Associations…
July 06, 2016 – By REUTERS – World – Print Headline: “Some Malaysians’ Rejection of Vaccines Fans Fears of Disease Surge”

The Cholera Epidemic the U.N. Left Behind in Haiti
By New York Times -THE EDITORIAL BOARD
JULY 6, 2016
…For starters, the international community needs to redouble efforts to fight this preventable and curable disease. In 2012, the United Nations set out to rid Haiti and its neighbor the Dominican Republic of cholera, by expanding access to clean water and improving Haiti’s beleaguered health care system. The initiative has been inadequate and underfunded, and cholera continues to sicken people.
Beyond that, the United Nations must acknowledge its role in the epidemic. Only by doing that will it be able to establish stronger safeguards for future peacekeeping operations. Experts believe that Nepalese peacekeepers in camps with poor sanitation introduced cholera to Haiti. That raised questions about health screening for peacekeepers and the sanitation standards they use.
Finally, Mr. Ban should heed the organization’s watchdogs who urged him last year to establish a system to compensate victims. “The United Nations has a particular responsibility to ensure that a very large number of victims are not left without any effective remedy for human rights violations that result from actions of forces operating under the authority of the United Nations,” they said. It’s not too late for Mr. Ban to take those words to heart.

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Wall Street Journal
http://online.wsj.com/home-page?_wsjregion=na,us&_homepage=/home/us
Accessed 9 July 2016
Brazilian Researchers Join With U.S. in Hunt for Zika Vaccine
More than a dozen drug companies already looking for a solution, which is likely several years away
By Reed Johnson and Rogerio Jelmayer
5 July 2016
A leading Brazilian biomedical research center is teaming up with the U.S. and the World Health Organization in the latest effort to develop a vaccine for the mosquito-borne Zika virus. The Butantan Institute here has said it would partner with a division of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services to develop the new vaccine for the virus, which spread across the Americas and raised concerns ahead of next month’s Rio Olympics Games in Rio de Janeiro. The U.S. division, known as the Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority, or Barda, will supply initial funding of $3 million for the project. The funds will be invested in equipment and other research-related areas, according to officials…

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Washington Post
http://www.washingtonpost.com/
Accessed 9 July 2016
Arizona is site of largest current US measles outbreak
Health officials in Arizona say the largest current measles outbreak in the United States is in part because some workers at a federal immigration detention center refuse to get vaccinated.
Astrid Galvan | AP | National | Jul 8, 2016

WHO predicts modest rise in yellow fever deaths in Africa
A top U.N. health agency official says he expects some increase in yellow fever deaths in coming months from the current outbreak in Angola and Congo, but it will be “incremental not exponential.”
Associated Press | Foreign | Jul 7, 2016