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Opinion Pieces Comment On Obama's Notre Dame Speech, Abortion Debate
Several newspapers recently published opinion pieces regarding President Obama"s commencement address at the University of Notre Dame. Summaries appear below.~ Cal Thomas, Washington Times: "Put aside the question of whether" Notre Dame should have invited President Obama to speak at its commencement ceremony on Sunday and "[f]ocus, instead, on [his] remarks and whether he is serious, or can be made so, about actually reducing the number of abortions in America," syndicated columnist Thomas writes in a Washington Times opinion piece. "Don"t put aside, however, the argument that there is only one reason to even want to reduce the number of abortions and that is that what is being killed, terminated, evacuated (choose your term) is, in fact, human life," Thomas adds. "In speaking of "original sin," the president hit upon why abortion has been so easily tolerated for so long," he writes, adding that Obama "spoke of "self-interest" and "crass materialism" but did so in the context of economics, not abortion." Thomas reports that Obama called for making adoption ""more available"" and providing ""care and support for women who do carry their children to term."" Thomas notes that Obama"s speech also included "an appeal for discussion and respect for people with different views," which was "a good beginning, but the ending is what counts, and the initial actions of this president when it comes to abortion and stem cell research have not been pro-life" (Thomas, Washington Times, 5/19).~ Tim Rutten, Los Angeles Times: After his commencement address at Notre Dame, "it"s now clear that the president is the rhetorical equivalent of a "money player,"" which is the "kind of competitor who steps up and delivers in the big games," Rutten writes in a Los Angeles Times opinion piece. Notre Dame"s invitation for Obama to speak at commencement and receive an honorary degree "bec[a]me an engine of controversy" because of protests from "reductionists," or conservative Catholics "who insist on bringing the broad sweep of Catholic social morality down to a single issue -- abortion," Rutten writes. However, Obama "negotiated the situation with remarkable ease," Rutten continues, adding that Obama was "speaking … to three audiences far from South Bend on Sunday." The first audience was the "crucial bloc of Catholic voters who seem to be looking for ways to remain in the Democratic Party," he writes. In addition, Obama was speaking to "those Catholic Democrats in public office ... who are under intense pressure from the reductionist bishops in their home dioceses" and to the U.S. Senate, which will likely ask Obama"s Supreme Court nominee about his or her views on abortion during confirmation hearings, Rutten continues. He concludes, "Even in Washington"s charged partisan atmosphere, it will be hard to ignore the president"s call for civility at Notre Dame" (Rutten, Los Angeles Times, 5/20).~ Clarence Page, Chicago Tribune: Obama "appropriately promoted" the "ability of adversaries to work together on mutual interests" in his commencement address, Page writes in a Tribune opinion piece. Page adds that the speech was "classic Obama the pragmatist: Look past ideology, try to ignore disagreements and work together on mutual interests." Obama said that "at some level, the views of the two camps are irreconcilable," Page writes, adding that it is "because Americans hold no values more dear than "life" and "choice."" Page adds that "[i]n the abortion debate, those values clash head-on." However, Obama"s "eloquent come-together oratory enabled him to leave the university like a hero, even though he glossed over the thorny specifics that drive wedges between people of goodwill when words are hammered into law," Page continues. "For now, by focusing on civility, the president apparently hopes to defuse the abortion powder keg long enough to address his higher priorities," Page writes, concluding, "The economy, national security and health care are going to be tough fight

IPS Examines Need For New Drugs To Treat Neglected Tropical Diseases
Inter Press Service News Agency examines the shortcomings of treatments for neglected tropical diseases - which, according to the Drugs for Neglected Diseases Initiative (DNDi), account "for 12 percent of the global disease burden," and 1.3 percent of the new drugs developed between 1975 to 2004. "The diseases in question account for the deaths of 500,000 people annually, mostly in sub-Saharan Africa, but drug development is biased towards the prospect of high profits, which diseases of the poor like sleeping sickness and visceral leishmaniaisis are unable to offer," IPS writes.
News of the day
U.S. Doubles Annual Malawi HIV/AIDS Support To $45M
The U.S. government recently announced a commitment to double its support for Malawi"s efforts to fight HIV/AIDS to $45 million annually, Xinhua reports (Xinhua, 6/2).
Nutrition

International Scientists' Network To Map Drug-Resistant Malaria

PTI/Hindu reports on the Worldwide Antimalarial Resistance Network (WWARN) - an "international network of malaria scientists," which will be "established to map the emergence of resistance" to malaria drugs and "guide global efforts to control and eradicate the disease." The goal of WWARN, which "will integrate the efforts of researchers, NGOs and public health experts in malaria-endemic areas around the world," is to provide "comprehensive and rigorous evidence" for policy makers, which will help them "select the best anti-malarial treatments and to formulate strategies to control the critical problem of resistance wherever it arises," PTI/Hindu writes. Philippe Guerin, director of WWARN and an epidemiologist in the Centre for Tropical Medicine at the University of Oxford, said, "With this critical mass of data, we will have powerful evidence to help inform decisions by policy makers." He added, "It is crucial that we provide all patients with access to the right drugs at the right time." According to the newspaper, the initiative was born about four years ago "in the scientific community as malaria scientists became aware that broad collaboration was critical to achieving the long-term goal of eliminating the disease." The organization will collaborate closely with the WHO on malarial drug-resistance surveillance and is funded by a Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation grant. According to PTI/Hindu, evidence emerging from Cambodia suggests the parasite is even developing a tolerance to artemisinin (PTI/Hindu, 6/12). Counterfeit pills from China and other places are weakening the artemisinin in Cambodia, where at least three once-potent malaria drugs lost their effectiveness in before becoming useless in other parts of the world (Kaiser Daily Global Health Policy Report, 5/21). Nick J. White - a professor of Tropical Medicine at Mahidol University in Thailand and Oxford University, and chair of the WWARN board - said, "We need readily accessible, quality assured and up-to-date information on anti-malarial drug resistance if we are to eliminate malaria. WWARN will provide this essential intelligence" (PTI/Hindu, 6/12). This information was reprinted from globalhealth.kff.org with kind permission from the Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation. You can view the entire Kaiser Daily Global Health Policy Report, search the archives and sign up for email delivery at globalhealth.kff.org. © Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation. All rights reserved.


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