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Dear Colleagues,
As this week’s Featured article (by our colleague Willem van de Put) is a bit longer than usual, this intro will just provide some ‘early summer’ IHP advertisement. PR isn’t really our thing, but sometimes you just have to awaken your inner Donald. (I draw the line at making Trumpian “dance moves” on a stage, though)
And so here’s your regular reminder that, in order to make efficient use of this newsletter/knowledge management tool, we recommend you to scan first and foremost the ‘Highlights’ section (first half of the newsletter, more or less). We consider that section the weekly “One Stop” on the global health policy agenda ( including trends & advocacy), global health governance, important new reports & Commissions etc.
The HL section is a curated compilation of key reads from journals, some highlights of other newsletters and colleagues (HPW, Devex, GHF, People’s Health Dispatch, GHN…), niche newsletters, … And at least an attempt to cover both Global Health & global health (and everything in between 😊). Clearly, the section also tends to zoom in on G/global health events of the week (including Board meetings & conferences). Debatable, we know (we have a love-hate relationship with GH events…). More in general, the HL section obviously comes with its own bias. But that’s unavoidable, I’m afraid. (After all, a Deschamps “French” team also looks different from a future Zidane-led one. Or a Southgate one saying the English will have to be ‘tactically perfect’ to beat the Spanish (please don’t)😊)
Extra sections in the newsletter are optional, in line with your own professional interests. Eg. if you’re into ‘planetary health’ or ‘SRHR’ do read these additional sections – usually, they list a few more papers (or some more news) in these areas.
And so, if you’d recommend this newsletter to colleagues or friends (which we’d greatly appreciate), do inform them of this ‘double structure’!
Enjoy your reading.
Kristof Decoster
“Joint statement from WHO, UNFPA, UNICEF, UNAIDS and UN Women published on the occasion of World Population Day, calling for stronger access to sexual and reproductive health care as part of universal health coverage.”
“Projected high of 10.3bn people is lower and will come earlier than expected, analysis suggests.”
“The analysis predicts there will be about 10.3 billion people by the mid-2080s, up from 8.2 billion this year. The number is then expected to fall to about 10.2 billion by the end of the century, a figure 6% lower than was expected a decade ago….”
· Related: UN News - Growing or shrinking? What the latest trends tell us about the world’s population
https://news.un.org/en/story/2024/07/1151861
“The international community must urgently summon the commitment and investments needed to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) by the 2030 deadline, the UN Deputy Secretary-General stressed on Monday.”
“Addressing the opening of the 2024 High-level Political Forum on Sustainable Development (HLPF), Amina Mohammed called for transformative actions and bold policies to address pressing global challenges such as poverty, food insecurity and climate change…. Under the auspices of the Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC), the theme this year focuses on eradicating poverty through sustainable, resilient, and innovative solutions amid a host of crises.”
“Running through 17 July, the Forum will review progress towards Goal 1 on ending poverty, Goal 2 on zero hunger, Goal 13 on climate action, Goal 16 on peaceful and inclusive societies, and Goal 17 on strengthening means of implementation….. On the calendar are Voluntary National Review (VNR) Labs, where countries voluntarily report on their progress towards achieving the SDGs, the challenges they face and their plans to overcome them. Several side events and exhibitions are also organized on the HLPF’s margins…..”
PS: “ ….Ms. Mohammed highlighted the importance of reflecting on how to make progress towards the 2030 Agenda, in the context to the eagerly awaited Summit of the Future. “The Summit is a once-in-a-generation opportunity to mend eroded trust and demonstrate that international cooperation – human solidarity in the face of opportunity but also threats – can carry us forward,” she said….. In that context, she noted the special event on SDG Acceleration, next Monday, which will dive deeper into specific investments needed and showcase country-level examples of action…..”
https://www.sustainabledevelopmentindex.org/
“The Sustainable Development Index (SDI) measures the ecological efficiency of human development, recognizing that development must be achieved within planetary boundaries. It was created to update the Human Development Index (HDI) for the ecological realities of the Anthropocene…..”
Among the findings (via Jason Hickel): “Costa Rica tops the list. Latin America boasts eight of the ten best-performing countries. Most high-income countries continue to decline. Norway and Iceland— often mistakenly regarded as sustainability leaders — have declined nearly to the level of the United States……”
Can’t say I expect too much from Sir Keir Starmer, but hey, let’s hope he’s going to be pushed (by many) to get out of his comfort zone. And admittedly, in terms of benchmarking, things can only get better in the UK.
With among others, some analysis from UK think tanks on the ‘global development angle’ below.
But we start with a short assessment by ONE’s Aftershocks newsletter :
“The new government is expected to: • Reestablish the UK’s commitment to multilateralism. • Take steps to unwind the UK’s current status, which Lammy describes as a “money laundering superpower.” • Play an “outsized role” in reforming the multilateral development banks. ….”
https://www.devex.com/news/who-is-anneliese-dodds-the-new-uk-development-minister-107914
(gated) “The surprise appointment was not confirmed for two days, the words "international development" are missing from her official title — and Dodds has a second job.”
“…. Lisa Nandy, who had spent 10 months preparing to become the country’s development minister, didn’t get the job, Devex U.K. Correspondent Rob Merrick reports. Instead, it went to Anneliese Dodds — after a chaotic announcement period that didn’t exactly inspire hope that Labour would get the U.K.’s development act together. In fact, Dodds’ official job description leaves out that key word — “development.” Rather, her title is “Minister of State in the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office,” sparking worries that development will continue to be subsumed by the vast FCDO bureaucracy.”
“Compounding those fears is the fact that Dodds will have a second job, over at a different department, as a minister for women and equalities. Will there be enough hours in the day for her to do that plus fulfill Labour’s bold promise to “rebuild Britain’s reputation on international development?” It’s a fair question, and so far, despite the dramatic change in government, there don’t seem to be any dramatic changes in store for U.K. development: Keir Starmer, the new British prime minister, has rejected calls to restore an independent aid department. There will also be no quick return to spending the U.N. target of 0.7% of gross national income on aid, and — in the medium term at least — billions will continue to be diverted from the aid budget to house asylum seekers in the U.K….”
Ian Scoones; https://www.ids.ac.uk/opinions/the-uk-election-new-development-priorities-in-africa/
“The UK went to the polls last week with Keir Starmer, as widely predicted, now installed as prime minister and the Labour party in power for the first time in 14 years. This blog asks, will this bring a change to policies on aid and development in Africa, and what should the priorities be?
The overall backdrop:
“Although many are making comparisons with the big Labour majority of 1997 when Tony Blair swept to power, today is a very different context. There will not be a new, high-profile commitment from the UK government to development; no new aid department; no global push to reduce poverty and debt and probably very little extra money. The heady days of the establishment of DFID (the Department for International Development) led by Clare Short are long gone. The UK has lost its influence in international development circles through long years of neglect, the merging of DFID with the Foreign Office and the dropping of its commitment to the 0.7% of GDP aid target. Outside the European Union thanks to Brexit and with a shaky relationship with the US (likely getting worse in November), the UK’s once considerable soft power around aid and development has declined significantly.”
· Full blog via Zimbabweland – The UK election: new development priorities in Africa?
“…. What should the priorities be? There clearly will be many, and the manifesto gives only a few clues. Earlier in the year, the research group that I work with at the Institute of Development Studies at the University of Sussex got together and identified a few key priorities, laid out in a blog series.”
“The first one was climate change; second one on The biodiversity and nature crisis; The third contribution focuses on humanitarian assistance, an increasingly large share of the aid budget. …. … All three of these themes can be central to a new UK development effort, particularly in Africa….”
S Pantuliano et al; https://odi.org/en/insights/how-a-new-labour-government-can-reconnect-britain-at-home-and-abroad/
“….. What does this mean for the UK and its ambitions for reconnection? Looking ahead to 2030, what would it take to rebuild trust and partnerships across the Global South?”
“Here are four ways the UK can support this shift, moving beyond a paternalistic focus on poverty reduction…..”
Ian Mitchell; https://www.cgdev.org/blog/how-should-new-labour-government-rebuild-britains-approach-international-development
“The Labour party was elected with the largest majority in over 27 years at the UK’s general election. Its manifesto committed to “regain Britain’s global leadership on development” with a headline to “modernise” and a mission to “create a world free from poverty on a liveable planet”. But in their first months in office—and given the lack of fiscal space—what should they prioritise?.... In this blog, we highlight three areas for newly appointed Development Minister Anneliese Dodds and Foreign Secretary David Lammy to focus on. In particular, we set out first how to implement their commitment to multilateralism before identifying necessary fixes to the budget, but also to capability within the government, and on policies beyond aid…..”
https://ourworldindata.org/wellcome-supports-our-world-in-data-to-expand-work-on-global-health
“The landmark, seven-year collaboration will allow us to widen our analysis on key topics.”
“With a seven-year funding arrangement from Wellcome, Our World in Data will expand the exciting work we are delivering in global health data, including mental health, infectious diseases, and climate & health….. Working with Wellcome and experts in many fields — including climate science, infectious disease, genetics, psychiatry, and political science — Our World in Data will apply cross-disciplinary analysis to these issues…..”
https://globalhealth5050.org/updates/2024-global-health-5050-report-out-now/
“Global Health 50/50’s 2024 Report presents a detailed analysis of gender equality and diversity in global health leadership across 201 organisations active in global health. Drawing on seven years of annual assessments, and for the first time reviewing the data for the nonprofit (UN, multi- and bi-laterals, NGOs, etc) and the for-profit sectors separately, the Report finds that important progress has been made, including reaching gender parity among nonprofit board members. Yet significant disparities remain. The Report highlights that only 2% of nonprofit board seats are held by women from low-income countries. It calls for urgent structural changes and rigorous accountability to foster inclusive, equitable and effective organisations active in global health.”
In the words of Professors Sarah Hawkes and Kent Buse, Co-Founders of Global Health 50/50: “Achieving gender equality is not merely a lofty ideal; it is a fundamental human right and central to social justice. While our report shows hard won progress in some areas, the global health system is not yet working for everyone. The voices of women from low-income countries are rarely heard in the spaces where power is exercised. And even when women are present as leaders at decision-making tables, they are running smaller organisations and being paid substantially less than their male peers. Change is needed and we are convinced our efforts to facilitate accountability can contribute.”
· PS: check out also Seye Abimbola’s view (p. 20). Including: “….. If, as this excellent GH5050 Report suggests, having targets has helped increase gender parity on senior management and boards, then I call for ‘global’ organisations to commit to a target for fair geographical representation. A target to which they can be held accountable; a target that can be monitored and reported by GH5050.”
(recommended read) “The scoop on Brazil’s plans for its G20 presidency.”
“Making multilateral development banks less risk-averse and more ambitious, especially on climate change, has been the central push in recent years by industrialized nations that say they want to see the global financial architecture work better for low- and middle-income countries. An internal document from late June, seen by Devex, shows how Brazil plans to use its presidency of the Group of 20 advanced economies to head toward “better, bigger and more effective MDBs.”….
Do read what this would entail.
“The Republican Party platform includes no mention of U.S. foreign assistance.”
“Former U.S. President Donald Trump is distancing himself from the Heritage Foundation’s Project 2025, a collection of right-wing policy proposals pulled together by the conservative think tank in Washington, D.C. Instead, he’s proposed a platform that has now been adopted by the Republican National Committee — a 16-page document that includes zero mention of U.S. foreign aid…..”
“In a letter, 19 ex-officials from France, Spain, Sweden, Australia, Canada and elsewhere urge support for a proposal by the famous economist Gabriel Zucman.”
“…The plan, according to Zucman himself, has already been supported by Spain, France, Brazil, South Africa, Colombia and Belgium, among others. But to make it viable, international leaders know well, a boost of oxygen from Washington and the rest of the capitals of the world’s largest economies would be very useful…..”
“Global Health Initiatives (GHIs) can significantly enhance their effectiveness by involving Civil Society Organizations (CSOs), particularly those in the Global South. This article, drawing from the "Too Southern to Be Funded" report and Transparency International's IDA21 report, underscores the critical need for GHIs to fund CSOs. Despite their essential role in delivering health services, advocating for policy changes, and ensuring accountability, CSOs face substantial funding challenges due to stringent donor requirements, lack of direct funding channels, capacity constraints, and perceived risks. Funding CSOs is not only equitable but also efficient, as local organizations often provide better value for money and enhance program sustainability. The article offers recommendations for GHIs, including creating dedicated funding channels, enhancing capacity building, promoting inclusive funding practices, fostering partnerships, increasing transparency, and supporting long-term funding.”
“…. This article integrates insights from the “Too Southern to Be Funded” report on the Development Assistance Committee (DAC), which operates under the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) and the Transparency International report for IDA21 ….”
“This article documents discussions by African country and regional health stakeholders, global health initiatives and development partners that sought to set the stage for African leadership towards realization of the Lusaka Agenda on the continent.”
“Several stakeholders, including representatives from 20 African countries, regional bodies, development partners, Civil Society Organizations (CSOs) and global health initiatives (GHIs) recently met in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, on June 12-13, 2024. Convened by the World Health Organization Africa Region (WHO Afro), Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), and Africa Constituency Bureau, the meeting entitled “Technical Consultation on Advancing Africa’s Leadership and Unified Voice towards Realization of the Lusaka Agenda” also had Wellcome Trust, The Global Fund, Global Financing Facility for Women, Children and Adolescents (GFF) and Gavi supporting its organization. This meeting aimed to enlist country-led discussions of the key shifts and near-term priorities espoused in the Lusaka Agenda, including development of the roadmap for the implementation of the Lusaka Agenda, which was officially launched on Universal Health Coverage (UHC) day, December 12, 2023, in Lusaka, Zambia. …. …. This article combines the discussions, conclusions, and future action from the meeting to synthesize the findings, discuss the implementation roadmap as well as the game changing and early measures described in the Lusaka Agenda…”
R Parashar, J Shiffman et al ; https://gh.bmj.com/content/9/7/e014884
« The relative priority received by issues in global health agendas is subjected to impressionistic claims in the absence of objective methods of assessment of priority. To build an approach for conducting structured assessments of comparative priority health issues receive, we expand the public arenas model (2021) and offer a framework for future assessments of health issue priority in global and national health agendas. »
Findings & Discussion: « … We observed that TB and malaria received the highest priority for most periods in the past two decades in most arenas. However, a stagnation in development funding for these two conditions over the last 8–10 years may have fuelled the neglect claims. Despite having a higher disease burden, diarrhoea has been slipping in global priority with reduced spending, fewer clinical trials and stagnating publications. Dengue remains a low-priority condition but has witnessed a sharp rise in attention from the pharmaceutical industry. »
« We expanded the arenas model by including a transnational arena (international representation) and additional measurements for various arenas. This analysis presents an approach to enable comparative trend analysis of the markers of agenda status over a multiyear period…”
A Boivin et al; https://www.bmj.com/content/386/bmj.q1460
“Let’s amplify people’s voices by connecting grassroots to the tree tops.”
Coming back on this important WHA resolution. “For the first time in the World Health Organization’s 76 year history, world leaders have unanimously committed to strengthen, systematise, and sustain social participation in health and wellbeing. This landmark resolution recognises social participation as “empowering people, communities, and civil society through inclusive participation in decision making processes that affect health across the policy cycle and at all levels of the system.”2 Governments will be held accountable for progress to 2030….”
“… The WHO resolution marks an important step forward, in three ways….. “
D Bloom et al; https://blogs.worldbank.org/en/health/Smart-health-taxes-A-win-for-public-health-and-the-economy
“…. Imagine a world where strategic investments in health not only save lives but also drive economic growth and resilience. This vision was at the heart of the 7th Annual Health Financing Forum, where hundreds of participants and experts recently gathered to explore health financing in the post COVID-19 era. …. … the World Bank’s Global Tax Program Health Taxes Project brought to the forum a special session focused on the strategic role of health taxes….”
PS: “In June, the World Bank and the World Health Organization hosted the International Dialogue on Sustainable Financing for Non-communicable Diseases and Mental Health to push this agenda at a global level in collaboration with our partners and ensure lasting benefits for both health and the economy…..”
Pamela Cipriano et al; https://www.thelancet.com/journals/langlo/article/PIIS2214-109X(24)00309-7/fulltext
« AMR-related goals and health for all by 2030 will only be achieved if the AMR response integrates with efforts to achieve UHC for everyone, everywhere. AMR can only be addressed equitably if all people have affordable access to quality health services, including for the prevention, diagnosis, and appropriate treatment of infections. As global leaders are preparing to convene at the UN General Assembly High-Level Meeting on Antimicrobial Resistance on Sept 26, 2024, we, the UHC Movement Political Panel, call on Member States to use this opportunity to leverage UHC to take a systems approach to addressing AMR, with individuals, families and communities at the centre by:….” . Read what this HL-panel suggests.
https://www.who.int/publications/i/item/9789240092099
“This “Political Economy of Health Financing: How-to Guide” lays out a structured way to organize and analyze key political economy factors that can impact a health financing reform. This Guide, along with WHO’s broader programme of work on Political Economy of Health Financing Reform, explicitly recognizes the importance of political economy factors in influencing health financing reform trajectories. This Guide is not intended as a toolbox or comprehensive mapping of all the potential political economy factors and strategies related to health financing reform. Rather, it provides a stepwise process for analysis and structured thinking about issues related to health financing and political economy. By understanding the various stakeholders involved in health financing reform, their relative power, interests and position, along with the institutions that shape the bargaining process and the related contextual and economic factors, strategies can be developed to overcome or take into account stakeholders’ resistance or support. The objective of incorporating political economy analysis in this way is to support a more strategic approach to reform as a way to increase the likelihood of effective design, adoption and implementation and ultimately progress towards UHC.”
From earlier this week. “This article provides a brief summary of the agenda items for the 25th Global Fund's Strategy Committee meeting which is taking place on July 10th 2024.”
Among others: “…. The 25th meeting of the Strategy Committee will address several key issues that will influence the operations and policies of the Global Fund (GF) for years to come such as: Resilient and Sustainable Systems for Health (RSSH): the Strategy Committee will explore its implementation in the current and upcoming grant cycles (GC7 &GC8). The introduction of “Contributory RSSH” as a separate agenda item indicates a potential evolution in the way the GF approaches health systems strengthening, possibly towards more integrated and sustainable approaches…..”
“As part of its efforts to help countries sustain their progress in health, the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria (the Global Fund) has integrated the use of its public financial management (PFM) strategy in the health sector as an enabler to drive sustainability and improve health outcomes in countries. PFM is part of the solution to enable integration and sustainable health systems strengthening…..”
…. “As financial institutions, our efforts start with better alignment, planning and investment among all players, both domestic and external, to optimize the efficiency of budget allocation and spending. We work with various institutions in the PFM ecosystem (including the World Bank, Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance, and the World Health Organization, etc.) to promote collaboration and enhance efficiency in our approach,” said Adda Faye, the Global Fund’s Chief Financial Officer.”
“… To better adopt its PFM mainstreaming as a sustainability lever, last week the Global Fund brought together, for the first time, leaders from ministries of finance and health (including Health Planning, Budget Directors, Accountants General and Auditors General) from 14 countries – Benin, Burkina Faso, Cote d'Ivoire, Ethiopia, Guinea, India, Indonesia, Jamaica, Lesotho, Malawi, the Philippines, Rwanda, the United Republic of Tanzania and The Gambia – to bolster country engagement and spearhead acceleration in the PFM maturity journey.”
“The Board of the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria (the Global Fund) approved the extension of the term of the Executive Director, Peter Sands, until the end of 2026. The extension will provide continuity of leadership through the Eighth Replenishment and allow for a robust selection process for the next Executive Director. The selection of the next leader is expected in mid-2026, and they are projected to begin their term later that year….”
“UNAIDS will launch a new report, The Urgency of Now: AIDS at a Crossroads just ahead of the 25th International AIDS Conference #AIDS2024 in Munich, Germany. The report will demonstrate that ending AIDS as a public health threat is achievable by 2030 but that success is being threatened by pushes to reduce funding and to restrict human rights.”
“The HIV response is at a crossroads: success or failure will be determined by which path leaders take. The report will show that the decisions leaders make this year will determine whether AIDS is ended as a public health threat by 2030. Taking the wrong path, by limiting resourcing or clamping down on human rights, would lead the pandemic to continue to grow, costing millions more lives and undermining global health security…..”
https://www.devex.com/news/devex-checkup-the-next-frontier-in-malaria-prevention-107896
“The Joint United Nations Programme on HIV and AIDS, or UNAIDS, is convening a high-level panel to review its operating model and ensure it remains fit for purpose. The panel will be co-chaired by Kenya’s former minister of health Cleopa Mailu, U.S. Global AIDS Coordinator John Nkengasong, and Erika Castellano, executive director of the Global Action for Trans Equality. A source tells my colleague Jenny Lei Ravelo that the panel’s terms of reference are still being finalized. But among the issues it is expected to explore is the relationship between the UNAIDS secretariat and the U.N. agencies that serve as its co-sponsors. An independent assessment last year highlighted the tensions between the parties — partly stemming from reduced resources — and suggested the program revisit its modus operandi…..”
Next week, the INB meetings resume (16-17 July).
“A day during the week of 16 December has been suggested for a World Health Assembly (WHA) special session to consider the pandemic agreement – but that is to remain strictly in pencil until there is clarity about the progress made in negotiations.”
“…. next week …. the Intergovernmental Negotiating Body (INB) meets next Tuesday and Wednesday (16-17 July) for the 10th time. The agenda of this meeting is largely concerned with process rather than content, as member states contemplate a pathway that may finally clinch an agreement.”
“Top of the agenda, which is not yet public, is the proposal to “rotate” members of the INB Bureau – and the possible election of two new co-chairs…..”
PS: “WHO member states are also under pressure from civil society to open the talks up – at the very least to allow civil society organisations recognised as stakeholders in the pandemic preparation process to be present during negotiations. More than 140 civil society organisations (CSO) and supporters from 40 countries issued an open call this week to the INB and WHO member states to “demand the official involvement of CSOs in all remaining negotiations in the INB process for a new pandemic agreement.”….”
The Intergovernmental Negotiating Body must improve modalities, inclusion, and transparency for negotiation of an effective pandemic agreement to prevent pandemics https://mailchi.mp/ipppr/jointopenletter-17385819?e=ce2b5543e2
A Joint Statement from Chairs, Co-Chairs, Principals, Members and Advisors to The Elders, The Global Preparedness Monitoring Board, The Independent Panel for Pandemic Preparedness and Response, Pandemic Action Network, The Panel for a Global Public Health Convention and Spark Street Advisors.
With suggestions re the process.
https://www.thelancet.com/journals/laninf/article/PIIS1473-3099(24)00439-0/fulltext
The Editorial concludes: “…. Have we learned from the COVID-19 pandemic? Judging from the H5N1 and mpox outbreaks, not really. Or maybe not the right people. The cynical view is that instead of producing all those biomedical “lessons learned” articles, we should have been focusing more on political lessons from the devastating economic impact of the pandemic and the influence of a country's pandemic performance on subsequent voter behaviour. However, this is not our purview as a medical journal, but we would like to stress that the time to react is now, before we have the next pandemic.”
“Artificial Intelligence (AI) technologies, cyberattacks, genetic engineering, and amateur-led biology experiments could all pose threats to a country, according to the World Health Organisation’s (WHO) updated guidance on lab biosecurity. The guidance aims to help national regulatory bodies and other institutions “establish or strengthen frameworks for handling high-consequence pathogens”. It features a comprehensive set of rules, best practices, and recommendations for managing laboratory biosecurity risks and procedures at laboratory, institutional, and national levels. ….”
https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-024-02237-4
“Wealthy nations are purchasing vaccines against H5N1 influenza and boosting surveillance, but there are concerns that low-income countries will be left behind.”
PS: “….CEPI is working to ensure that the response is equitable worldwide. Half of existing vaccine supplies are already tied up in contracts or export controls, says Lurie, and it’s important to make sure that the remaining doses reach the people who need them. “As we saw during the COVID-19 pandemic, low- and middle-income countries could once again be pushed to the back of the queue.”
(gated) “A study published Monday provides new evidence that the H5N1 virus currently causing an outbreak of bird flu in U.S. dairy cattle may be adapted to better infecting humans than other circulating strains of the virus, a result that is already courting controversy among the world’s leading flu researchers…..”
https://www.thinkglobalhealth.org/article/h5n1-how-effective-wastewater-surveillance-bird-flu
“The Rockefeller Foundation's Megan Diamond explains wastewater surveillance for monitoring the H5N1 outbreak.”
Coverage of WHO’s media briefing on Thursday.
“The outbreak of a new and dangerous strain of mpox in the eastern Democratic Republic of Congo has now spread to Goma, eastern DRC’s largest city with 25 cases reported, mostly in the city’s displaced persons camps, WHO officials confirmed on Thursday. And with person-to-person transmission occurring, particularly within communities on the move after fleeing attacks by Congo’s M23 rebel forces, there is a rising risk of cross border spread of the new strain, WHO officials warned at a press conference Thursday. “
“The wide-ranging WHO press briefing also touched upon half a dozen other health emergencies and threats, including the soaring worldwide rate of dengue virus cases and evidence of an ever-widening outbreak of H5N1 avian flu amongst dairy cattle in the United States….”
“…. In the case of DRC’s mpox outbreak, the risk of cross border infection is growing, insofar as Goma sits astride a busy transport hub, right alongside the border with Rwanda. “There is a risk of cross border infection as the virus continues to move because the borders are very porous with neighboring countries – Rwanda, Burundi, even perhaps Uganda. There’s clearly a lot of population movements across those borders,” said WHO mpox specialist Rosamund Lewis. “Large scale population movements, internally displaced population movements, insecure settings – these all bring associated risks, but also the facts that not all cases are reported, not necessarily detected. “The strain that is transmitting, so far, is exclusively person-to-person,” she added, ruling out any connection between the new outbreak and animal hosts that historically harboured the disease in the wild. “It is largely through sexual contact, initially, including amongst sex workers, and increasingly in the community.””
“…. Current efforts are focused mostly on expanding diagnosis and treatment, she said. Although the DRC recently approved the emergency use of mpox vaccines, rollout has yet to begun – and Lewis provided no strategy or timeline for how and when the vaccines might eventually be deployed. “….”
https://www.afro.who.int/publications/review-whos-response-covid-19-who-african-region
“WHO’s response to the COVID-19 pandemic involved all three organizational levels: WHO country offices (WCOs), WHO Regional Office for Africa (WHO AFRO) and WHO Headquarters. This report focuses on how each of the three levels delivered WHO’s core functions in the Region to support Member States, especially focusing on WHO AFRO and the Region’s WCOs. It also describes how each level interacted with and supported one another, focusing on how WHO AFRO supported the Region’s WCOs.”
“Polio ‘switch’ paralysis: A report slated to shed light on how 3,300 children were paralysed as a result of the Global Polio Eradication Initiative (GPEI) changing a vaccine recipe has been kicked into the long grass. The publication of the final version of an official investigation into what went wrong was due in the first week of June but has been repeatedly pushed back. A GPEI spokesperson told The New Humanitarian it was “still being finalised”, however another source said the final report was ready some time ago. And now a draft version of the report, which revealed the damning findings, has disappeared from the website of the GPEI, a body made up of the biggest players in global health: the World Health Organization, Rotary International, the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, UNICEF, the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, and Gavi (the vaccine alliance). The draft was taken down once a public consultation period was over, the spokesperson said, and the final report should eventually take its place. ….”
“In today’s edition, we bring you an update you need to know, on the critical discussions taking place at the World Trade Organization, where some developing countries are seeking a review of the TRIPS Agreement - the structure on which current day intellectual property system is built upon. These discussions could go “the WTO way”, where proposals meander and languish for months and years, without making effective progress. Or, it could, reflective of changing geopolitics, revitalize policy discussions that can have implications beyond immediate trade concerns including for health, climate and how technology is shared…..”
“Some developing countries are seeking a review of the Agreement as enshrined in the law itself. Why now? Countries including Colombia, a proponent of this review, have argued at the WTO, that IP underpins the most important and urgent challenges of our times including issues relating to health, climate, technology, among others. In a bid to enliven the policy agenda at the TRIPS Council, that has been described as anaemic, Colombia brought its proposal for a review in April 2024.”
“At a meeting on the TRIPS Council at the WTO this week (July 9-10), countries discussed the matter. It is learned that informal consultations are set to continue in the coming months, till the next meeting on the TRIPS Council in November 2024. There has been significant push back from the US, EU, Switzerland, among other developed countries against such a proposal…..”
https://hq_who_departmentofcommunications.cmail19.com/t/d-e-edyhjdt-ikudkhluul-z/
“World Health Organization (WHO) has introduced an online platform called MeDevIS (Medical Devices Information System), the first global open access clearing house for information on medical devices. It is designed to support governments, regulators and users in their decision-making on selection, procurement and use of medical devices for diagnostics, testing and treatment of diseases and health conditions. The MeDevIS platform includes 2301 types of medical devices used for a broad-ranging health issues, including reproductive, maternal, newborn and child health, noncommunicable diseases such as cancer, cardiovascular diseases, diabetes as well as infectious diseases such as COVID-19…..”
· Coverage via HPW - WHO Launches Platform for Standardised Medical Device Information
“….Medical Devices Information System, or MeDevIS, is inspired by the WHO Priority Medical Devices List (MDL) and the Essential Medicines List, the latter of which will soon have existed for 50 years, serving as an important support for health progress globally……”
https://www.statnews.com/pharmalot/2024/07/08/jnj-janssen-tb-tuberculosis-africa-patents/
(gated) “ South African antitrust authorities ended an investigation into Johnson & Johnson and its Janssen subsidiary over “excessive pricing” of a lifesaving tuberculosis drug after the companies took steps to lower the cost and widen access to the medicine. In a brief statement, the Competition Commission explained that J&J and Janssen agreed not to enforce a so-called secondary patent on bedaquiline, which is also sold under the brand name Sirturo, a step that makes it possible for generic companies to supply a lower-cost version. At the same time, the companies agreed to lower the price charged to the National Department of Health by about 40%.....”
· See also Cidrap News – J&J agrees to lower price of TB drug bedaquiline, allow production in South Africa.
“In a big victory for TB activism and children suffering from TB in India, the country’s patent office rejected Johnson & Johnson’s (J&J) patent application for the paediatric formulation of Bedaquiline on Friday, July 5. Bedaquiline is used for the treatment of multi-drug resistant TB (MDR-TB). …”
https://www.nytimes.com/2024/07/05/health/malaria-vaccine-delay.html
“After years of delay, millions of malaria vaccines are being supplied to children in Africa. Tens of thousands died waiting.”
Interesting analysis. “It didn’t become part of vaccination programs in Africa until 2024. What if the shots had arrived 9 years ago?” “143,000. That’s how many children’s deaths could have been averted…..”
“…. Policy Cures Research, a nonprofit that studies global health research investment, calculated that if the GSK vaccine had moved through the system as quickly as the Oxford-Serum shot did, the deaths of 590,000 children could already have been prevented….”
The article concludes: “It’s an unsettled debate among experts, whether the W.H.O. pilot study was worth the years it added — was it better to err on the side of caution, because the stakes were so high for children’s health, or to gamble, given the scale of malaria’s devastation?”
PS: and with a view on a future tb vaccine: “There is still no system that solves the fundamental problem of how to pay for at-risk production of a tool that is vitally important for the health of millions of people who can’t afford to pay for it. All the work on the tuberculosis vaccine is being bankrolled by philanthropies, which set their own agendas — not by the countries that need the vaccine.”
https://www.devex.com/news/a-new-injectable-could-prevent-malaria-what-s-standing-in-its-way-107848
“Though health experts agree that monoclonal antibodies could be the next big thing in malaria prevention, several significant challenges stand in the way of their widespread deployment.”
“….. monoclonal antibodies, three of which are in different clinical trial stages and are backed by key players including the United States National Institutes of Health and the Gates Foundation. Trevor Mundel, president of global health at the Gates Foundation, described them as the newest product class for the prevention of malaria……”
“…. Though health experts agree that monoclonal antibodies could be the next big thing in malaria prevention, several significant challenges stand in the way of their widespread deployment. Reluctance by the pharmaceutical industry to consider them profitable, the snail's pace of clinical trials, numerous knowledge gaps, and the herculean task of lowering their costs to enable realistic rollouts mean that it could be some time before these promising tools make their way to the communities who desperately need them…..”
A Winny; https://globalhealthnow.org/2024-07/why-india-has-so-many-drugs-dangerously-similar-names
Part of a two-part GHN series on drug naming. “India’s $50 billion pharmaceutical industry supplies drugs across the globe, but flimsy regulation in the domestic market allows countless easily confused drug names with no system for tracking the problem, says Dinesh Thakur, a public health activist and co-author of The Truth Pill: The Myth of Drug Regulation in India…..”
Olusoji Adeyi, Prashant Yadav et al ; https://journals.plos.org/globalpublichealth/article?id=10.1371/journal.pgph.0003412
“…. We posit that policies and financing for R21 manufacturing should concurrently optimize for (i) short-term efficiencies from economies of scale, which includes purchasing from external manufacturers, and (ii) actions to ensure the development of end-to-end manufacturing in Africa, such that the dependence is short-lived….”
“…Expanding the footprint of African manufacturers in the R21 value chain requires a technology transfer approach that meticulously assesses existing and potential production facilities in Africa with the capacity to manufacture the R21 vaccine in the medium term, including the production of the drug substance….”
They conclude: “For African vaccine manufacturing to be sustainable, it is imperative to take actions that ensure African scientists’ and manufacturers’ engagement in the complete value chain of producing new vaccines. This is especially important for diseases that are predominantly endemic to Africa, such as Plasmodium falciparum malaria. We call for the development and adoption of a scorecard to independently and prospectively assess how robustly any proposed initiative is positioned to achieve the strategic goal of sustainable African end-to-end manufacturing. The Scorecard would include dimensions such as: (a) alignment with the African Union’s goal of manufacturing 60 percent of Africa’s vaccine needs within the continent by 2040; (b) covenants with dated milestones for progress toward end-to-end capabilities, including explicit strategies for transferring the production of the drug substance or bulk antigen to Africa; (c) a governance structure that does not allow vetoes by any non-African institution, foundation, country, or other entity; (d) enabling access to intellectual property and tech-transfers for African vaccine manufacturers transparently and objectively; (e) commitment of African countries, under the auspices of AU, to procure quality-assured R21 vaccines from such manufacturers even before they achieve price competitiveness with products manufactured outside Africa; and (f) similar commitment of international health financing institutions to finance the procurement of R21 vaccines from such manufacturers. “
https://www.who.int/news/item/10-07-2024-who-prequalifies-the-first-self-test-for-hepatitis-c-virus
“The World Health Organization (WHO) has prequalified the first hepatitis C virus (HCV) self-test which can provide a critical support in expanding access to testing and diagnosis, accelerating global efforts to eliminate hepatitis C. The product, called OraQuick HCV self-test, manufactured by OraSure Technologies, is an extension of the pre-qualified, OraQuick® HCV Rapid Antibody Test which was initially prequalified by WHO in 2017 for professional use. The self-test version, specifically designed for use by lay users, provides individuals with a single kit containing the components that are needed to perform the self-test….”
Short report on the recent Care for Care Workers conference in Brussels (29 June). “Over a dozen organizations from across Europe met to develop a regional health workforce strategy rooted in respect and solidarity, rather than exploitation and commodification.”
“The global health workforce crisis is not just a matter of numbers but also a crisis of decent work and equity, according to Genevieve Gencianos from Public Services International (PSI). Speaking at the “Care for Care Workers” conference on June 29 in Brussels, Gencianos, alongside activists, trade unionists, and health officials, called for a new approach to tackle the problems facing public health systems worldwide, particularly the retention and recruitment of health workers.
The conference was supported by over a dozen organizations from across the region, all of which recognize the urgency of developing a workforce strategy that benefits everyone.”
“…. “There is no shortage of skilled health workers in Europe,” said Matilde De Cooman from Viva Salud, one of the core organizers of the conference alongside the People’s Health Movement (PHM) Europe and the Association of Democratic Doctors (vdää*). “There is a shortage of workable jobs, stable contracts, good wages, and healthy working conditions.” …. Instead of addressing these issues, European governments have prioritized the international recruitment of health workers, exacerbating the crisis in the Global South. Ten high-income countries currently host 23% of the global stock of doctors, nurses, and midwives, while the entire African region holds only 4%, Gencianos warned….”
D Pillai et al; KFF
· Coverage via Stat: “Amid visa complications, U.S. hospitals increasingly rely on international nurses”
“Foreign-educated registered nurses covered twice as many hospital beds in 2022 as they did in 2010, according to new analysis from KFF. In total, there are 500,000 immigrant nurses working across the country in hospitals, nursing homes, doctor’s offices, and home health services….”
Finally, a tweet by Africa CDC:
“Africa will need between 5.3 and 6.1 million additional health workers by 2030. Yesterday, we kicked off a three-day inception meeting for the Health Workforce Compact at @AfricaCDC Office. Our goal is to design a robust training and development model for health workers and create a policy framework adaptable at the national level, including a national health workforce compact. #HealthWorkforce #AfricaCDC.”
R Smith; https://www.bmj.com/content/386/bmj.q1502
Always worth a read, blogs by Richard Smith. This one focuses on the UK, and what it would imply if the UK finally declared war on climate change and the destruction of nature.
Among others: Establish trusted governance; slash fossil fuels, … Dramatically increase renewable energy; …. ; Transform agriculture and the nation’s diet to be largely-plant based; Rethink and transform the economy….”
Excerpt: “All flying and private and business driving would be stopped apart from those trips deemed “essential” and which could not be done by walking, bicycle, train, or bus. Defining “essential” would be one of the first tests of governance. I suggest that almost no flying would be deemed essential: people could meet virtually, and no supplies would be flown in…..”
“Copernicus Climate Change Service says results a ‘large and continuing shift’ in the climate.”
“About half the countries in the region are experiencing a rush in oil exploration that threatens the global drive to achieve net zero. But many argue that they have a right to enrich themselves in the same way the west has….”
https://www.devex.com/news/east-african-health-systems-struggle-to-manage-floods-fallout-107882
“Local NGOs say the lack of emergency response budgets is crippling their ability to deal with the aftereffects of the floods.” “East African health systems are facing tough times as the region continues to take hits from extreme weather, amid a development space struggling to compete for funds with other crisis-troubled parts of the world…..”
“Countries enduring armed conflict are disproportionately vulnerable to climate variability and change, because the adaptive capacity of people, systems and institutions already coping with the consequences of conflict tends to be limited. Based on research conducted in southern Iraq, northern Mali, and the interior of the Central African Republic (CAR), and drawing on the expertise of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) and the scientific literature on the subject, this policy report explores how people deal with the combination of conflict and climate risks, and how they cope and adapt. It discusses how the ICRC, and the humanitarian sector in general, will have to adjust and adapt to address these risks and makes an urgent call for strengthening climate action and finance in countries affected by conflict…..”
R Khatib, M McKee et al; https://www.thelancet.com/journals/lancet/article/PIIS0140-6736(24)01169-3/fulltext
“Among others, also pointing to the many ‘indirect deaths’.
“Applying a conservative estimate of four indirect deaths per one direct death to the 37 396 deaths reported, it is not implausible to estimate that up to 186 000 or even more deaths could be attributable to the current conflict in Gaza. Using the 2022 Gaza Strip population estimate of 2 375 259, this would translate to 7·9% of the total population in the Gaza Strip.”
They conclude: “…. An immediate and urgent ceasefire in the Gaza Strip is essential, accompanied by measures to enable the distribution of medical supplies, food, clean water, and other resources for basic human needs. At the same time, there is a need to record the scale and nature of suffering in this conflict. Documenting the true scale is crucial for ensuring historical accountability and acknowledging the full cost of the war. It is also a legal requirement. The interim measures set out by the International Court of Justice in January, 2024, require Israel to “take effective measures to prevent the destruction and ensure the preservation of evidence related to allegations of acts within the scope of … the Genocide Convention”.” “ The Gaza Health Ministry is the only organisation counting the dead. Furthermore, these data will be crucial for post-war recovery, restoring infrastructure, and planning humanitarian aid.”
https://news.un.org/en/story/2024/07/1151876
“In Gaza, overwhelmed hospitals, soaring temperatures, hunger and a lack of even basic sanitation present an ever more deadly threat to a population under constant attack, UN humanitarians warned on Tuesday…..”
https://news.un.org/en/story/2024/07/1151976
“More Israeli evacuation orders in Gaza are further threatening the health of people in the embattled enclave, the Director-General of the World Health Organization (WHO) said during a media briefing in Geneva on Thursday.”
Important statement from the HSG Board. Including some commitments for the future.
L London et al; Environmental Health
“ An under-recognised aspect of the current humanitarian catastrophe in Gaza is the impact of the war on the environment and the associated risks for human health. This commentary contextualises these impacts against the background of human suffering produced by the overwhelming violence associated with the use of military force against the general population of Gaza. In calling for an immediate cessation to the violence, the authors draw attention to the urgent need to rebuild the health care system and restore the physical and human infrastructure that makes a liveable environment possible and promotes human health and well-being, especially for the most vulnerable in the population. Environmental remediation should therefore form one of the most important parts of international efforts to assist reconstruction….”
And a few links:
· Telegraph - Palestinians dying as Israeli health ‘lockdown’ hits medical care across the West Bank
· Lancet Letter - The global oath: physicians, politics, and professional integrity (by M H Shah)
Titled: “On this journey no one cares if you live or die”. (Second edition of this report) Very dire reading.
And a link:
· Lancet Letter - Improving the health literacy of young refugees
F C Bull et al ; https://www.bmj.com/content/386/bmj.q1414
“Hosts, organisers, and sports’ governing bodies should ensure that everyone reaps health benefits.”
“In May the World Health Assembly endorsed a resolution proposed by over 40 countries to strengthening health and wellbeing through sports mega events. This included a call to integrate the promotion of regular physical activity to people of all ages and abilities into the objectives of events such as the Olympics…..”
https://www.science.org/content/article/high-bar-famine-declaration-can-delay-aid-scientists-say
Must-read analysis. “Lack of humanitarian action during early stages of acute food insecurity takes a heavy toll.” With focus on Gaza & Sudan, among others.
“… the global partnership of 19 organizations that assesses acute food crises, the Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC), concluded in a 25 June report that, despite widespread “catastrophic” food insecurity, Gaza had not yet met the criteria for a famine. Nor is it 100% certain that a famine is underway in war-torn Sudan, even though more than half the population faces “high levels of acute food insecurity,” IPC says. This is not just an academic debate, because governments, donors, and humanitarian agencies often wait to act until a famine is officially declared…..”
PS: “….IPC’s original intent was that governments and other organizations would act at Phase 3—when some households have high levels of malnutrition and others are forced to sell assets to buy food—and certainly by Phase 4, Emergency, characterized by extreme food shortages and high rates of acute malnutrition and disease…..”
The analysis concludes: “….Most scientists say the food insecurity scale itself is not the problem; it’s the fact that it’s not acted on. But neither IPC nor FEWS Net has the power to trigger global action in the stages that precede an official famine. “The famine prevention system is broken, not just broke,” Anastasia Moran of the International Rescue Committee concluded in a recent position paper. She calls on the key players—including big donors, various U.N. agencies, the World Bank, the International Monetary Fund, and nongovernmental organizations—to coordinate their efforts to raise attention and resources early on, before it is too late. For Haan and others, the lack of urgency is disheartening. “We are getting better and better at predicting crises,” Haan says. “Our pain point is getting timely action at the scale needed. We haven’t got the world to align with the notion that you need to activate at Phase 3. It is an absolute tragedy if you get to Phase 5.”
“The nature and question of how global health emergencies are declared to be ‘over’ is the focus of a multi-million-pound research project launching this week. “
“After the End will critically examine the way in which people around the world have experienced the declared ‘ending’ of pandemics and epidemics such as COVID and Ebola. Funded by a grant of more than £8m from the Wellcome Trust, the eight-year project will capture the lived experiences of people from the UK, Sierra Leone, Brazil and China – some of whom continue to endure the impacts of such health crises. After the End is being coordinated by the Ethox Centre, University of Oxford, in collaboration with the University of Exeter and other higher education institutions….”
· For more on this ‘After the End’ project, see https://aftertheend.squarespace.com/
A E Yamin ; https://journals.plos.org/globalpublichealth/article?id=10.1371/journal.pgph.0003449
“…. In a recent book, I argue that to use human rights strategically moving forward, we first need to critically reflect on what we have achieved over the last thirty plus years to advance health rights, and where we have fallen short of our aspirations… …. “
Yamin concludes: “We have repeatedly witnessed groups using rights to collectively achieve progress that seemed impossible—until it happened—from HIV/AIDS activism to reproductive justice movements in Latin America. The struggle for health justice is more important than ever in this context of climate change, assaults on women’s health rights, the rise of populism, and savage inequities. Advancing health justice in today’s era of inequality calls for integrating human rights frameworks and principles into broader social and political movements, and for transformations in legal frameworks beyond human rights law that structure our political economies at national and global levels.”
Ambroise Wonkam et al ; https://www.thelancet.com/journals/lancet/article/PIIS0140-6736(24)01400-4/fulltext
“…. It has been 113 years since sickle cell disease was first clinically described, yet only a few medications have been approved by the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA), and these are largely unavailable in Africa where most patients live….. “
Read what the authors suggest to make progress.
“Last year, the Alliance kicked off a multiyear research project to understand better the impact and role of digital innovations for primary health care managers. With support from the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation and in collaboration with the Digital Health and Innovation (DHI) Department at WHO, ten teams across eight countries (Bhutan, Ethiopia, Georgia, Ghana, India, Indonesia, Pakistan and Zimbabwe) have been hard at work studying a range of digital solutions and how they have strengthened health systems at the primary level. The digital solutions being studied include: electronic medical records, decision support systems, health management information systems, identification registries and directories and immunization information systems. …”
“From 12–14 June, over 30 participants gathered in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, to reflect on progress and share their key findings. The attendees included members of the Alliance Secretariat and others from WHO headquarters, researchers and policy-makers from the study teams, and representatives from the WHO Country Office for Ethiopia and the Ministry of Health of Ethiopia….”
https://uk.bookshop.org/p/books/sick-of-it-sophie-harman/6898603?ean=9780349017204
Brand new.
“ If Donald Trump is reelected in November, that could imperil WTO chief Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala’s chances of serving a second term, spectators in Geneva say.”
“…. Okonjo-Iweala, whose current term ends in August 2025, has not confirmed whether she wants to spend four more years leading the increasingly dysfunctional WTO. But the looming possibility of a Trump win this November is undoubtedly on the minds of senior officials — and it could come up as WTO ambassadors gather for a retreat today to discuss how to improve the group’s decision-making process…..”
““I think everyone is pretty much aware of the difficulty Ngozi will face if Trump wins,” former WTO spokesperson Keith Rockwell said. “That might have seemed far-fetched a year or two ago, but it doesn’t seem so far-fetched right now.” Neither the Trump campaign nor the Biden administration confirmed to POLITICO whether they would support a second term for Okonjo-Iweala…”
PS: “A Geneva-based trade expert, who was granted anonymity to candidly discuss the situation, said they believe the director general “will wait until the outcome of the U.S. election to take a decision.” “I think it will be unlikely for her to seek a second mandate if Trump is elected. I don’t think it will be good for the image of Dr. Ngozi to be the director general for four years, while she won’t be able to do anything,” the expert added.”
“Keep in mind: As a practical matter, the president of the United States does not unilaterally decide who leads the WTO. But long-established procedures encourage members to come to unanimous agreement on the leadership position, potentially giving Trump the ability to block a second term for Okonjo-Iweala. Under the group’s rules, the WTO must begin the selection process for its next director general nine months before Okonjo-Iweala’s term ends, meaning before Nov. 30. That would be less than four weeks after the U.S. presidential election.”
“The UHC Movement Political Panel is a group of global health leaders working towards achieving universal health coverage (UHC) and health for all. …. Please join us in welcoming Ambassador Minata Samaté Cessouma, Mr. James Chau, Dr. Mariam Jashi, Dr. Justin Koonin, Dr. Tlaleng Mofokeng, Ms. Gisela Scaglia and Mr. Akihisa Shiozaki as new members. ….”
“Global health NGO Management Sciences for Health (MSH) today announced the appointment of Justice Nonvignon, PhD, as Technical Director for Primary Health Care Efficiency, Effectiveness, and Equity. In that role, Dr. Nonvignon will focus on helping partner countries build sustainable and resilient health systems by using innovative health economics and financing approaches and tools….”
PS: “As the Founding Head of the Health Economics and Financing Division at the Africa Centers for Disease Control and Prevention—a position he has held for the past three years—Dr. Nonvignon led the creation of the institution’s strategy for addressing key gaps in health economics and financing policy and practice across African Union Member States….”
R Dissanayake et al ; https://www.cgdev.org/blog/supply-advice-gendered-and-problem-development-organizations
“This blog is part of a series, Beyond the Status Quo: Gender Equity within the IFIs, to be published over the next six months, featuring analysis and commentary on the various dimensions of gender equity within international financial institutions (IFIs) from both CGD and external experts.”
“…. In forthcoming research with Pieter Serneels and Benedetta Musillo, which I presented preliminary results of at the Center for the Study of African Economies Annual Conference on March 19, we use a survey experiment with a large sample of policymakers to show that—in an anonymous organization that makes substantial spending decisions in developing countries—women are systematically less likely to volunteer advice to senior decision-makers than men….”
“… We also investigated how randomly varying the gender composition of the senior decision-makers to whom advice was to be offered affected the supply of advice. The results here are less clear-cut, but they do provide pretty consistent (but weaker) evidence that more gender-diverse leadership boards induce a higher supply of voluntary advice provision…..”
J Sward (Bretton Woods Project) et al ; https://www.devex.com/news/sponsored/opinion-80-years-post-bretton-woods-it-s-time-for-just-finance-107900
“Eighty years after the Bretton Woods Conference, the outdated financial system still perpetuates inequalities. Reforming the International Monetary Fund’s Special Drawing Rights is crucial but faces opposition from high-income nations.”
S Gupta, H Brown et al; https://www.cgdev.org/publication/confronting-debt-climate-change-and-poverty-global-financial-architecture-reform-and
“On March 19, 2024, the European Parliament's Committee on Development hosted a workshop titled “Confronting Debt, Climate Change, and Poverty: Global Financial Architecture Reform and the Fiscal Space of Developing Countries.” CGD experts contributed briefings on key elements of the discussion: the concept of fiscal space of developing countries and the debate over IMF Special Drawing Rights…..”
D Sembene et al; https://www.cgdev.org/blog/making-ida21-work-africa
“… while a robust and strong replenishment of IDA21 is an imperative amid the global polycrisis, it is not a panacea. The IDA21 policy package and operational and financing framework must be consistent with the development needs and priorities of borrowing countries. Equally important is the effective implementation of the full IDA21 package, the conditions of which must be carefully identified and met….”
J Raven et al ; https://academic.oup.com/heapol/advance-article/doi/10.1093/heapol/czae063/7709499?searchresult=1
“Strengthening management and leadership competencies among district and local health managers has emerged as a common approach for health systems strengthening and to achieve Universal Health Coverage (UHC). While the literature is rich with localised examples of initiatives that aim to strengthen the capacity of district or local health managers, particularly in sub-Saharan Africa, considerably less attention is paid to the science of how to scale-up these initiatives. The aim of this paper is thus to examine the process of scaling-up a management strengthening intervention (MSI) and identify new knowledge and key lessons learned that can be used to inform the scale-up process of other complex health interventions, in support of UHC. Qualitative methods were used to identify lessons learned from scaling-up the MSI in Ghana, Malawi and Uganda. …”
A E Apeageyi et al ; https://gh.bmj.com/content/9/7/e015310
“Many sub-Saharan African countries are implementing national public health insurance programmes to achieve Universal Health Coverage. However, insurance programmes face challenges including low enrolment and questions around financial sustainability. Despite the availability of claims data, few analyses of these data exist in the published literature. Analyses of claims data are hindered by inadequate technological infrastructure, privacy concerns and challenges with data quality and representativeness. Additionally, the potential of these data to provide valuable insights for programmes may not fully be acknowledged. We highlight examples of analyses of national health insurance programmes in Ghana, Tanzania, Indonesia and the USA that used claims data that provided insight into programme sustainability, quality of care and distributional equity of health services. We urge national health insurance programmes in sub-Saharan Africa to invest in developing their infrastructure for analysing their claims data, to partner with external organisations where beneficial, and to consider making samples of their claims data available for research to provide insights towards sustainably achieving Universal Health Coverage.”
“The amount of wind and solar power under construction in China is now nearly twice as much as the rest of the world combined, a report has found. Research published on Thursday by Global Energy Monitor (GEM), an NGO, found that China has 180 gigawatts (GW) of utility-scale solar power under construction and 15GW of wind power…..”
“…. Between March 2023 and March 2024, China installed more solar than it had in the previous three years combined, and more than the rest of the world combined for 2023, the GEM analysts found. China is on track to reach 1,200GW of installed wind and solar capacity by the end of 2024, six years ahead of the government’s target.”
Focus here on the combined effects of air pollution and extreme heat on India’s farmers in the past few years.
https://www.theguardian.com/world/article/2024/jul/09/nato-military-co2-spending-2023-report
“Report says member states poured $1.34tn into their militaries last year – an increase of $126bn from 2022.”
“As leaders from member countries gather to mark the 75th anniversary of Nato in Washington DC, researchers are warning that their military budgets are eroding the climate, producing an estimated 233m metric tonnes of greenhouse gas, more planet-heating pollution than some entire countries…..”
PS: “…. If all members meet the 2% target, by 2028 they will create as much additional greenhouse gas pollution as the annual output of Russia. The additional military funds – an estimated $2.57tn – would be enough to cover low- and middle-income countries’ climate adaptation costs for seven years, by United Nations Environment Programme estimates…..”
“A rising number of lawsuits in courts around the world are holding governments and corporations to account for their treatment of the seas and those who rely on them.”
https://www.devex.com/news/study-highlights-rise-in-climate-finance-for-non-climate-projects-107907
“Almost 40% of 2021 bilateral aid badged as climate finance was for projects that “would have happened anyway," according to a Development Initiatives study.”
https://www.bmj.com/content/386/bmj.q1519
“The damage caused by flooding in southern Brazil was exacerbated by climate change denial and a lack of prevention measures by the government, says Raquel Canuto.”
https://www.devex.com/news/devex-dish-lessons-from-denmark-s-carbon-tax-on-livestock-farming-107926
“Denmark leads the charge with a world-first tax on agricultural greenhouse gases.” With some more detail on what it involves.
https://www.thelancet.com/journals/lancet/article/PIIS0140-6736(24)01406-5/fulltext
Review of the book by journalist Ryan Prior, The Long Haul: How Long Covid Survivors Are Revolutionizing Healthcare.
https://www.thelancet.com/journals/laninf/article/PIIS1473-3099(24)00446-8/abstract
“An outbreak of mpox due to a dangerous new subclade in DR Congo is causing international concern, yet no vaccine is available in the country. Alix Boisson-Walsh reports.”
“South Africa is expecting a second batch of the mpox treatment, Tecovirimat, in the next few weeks amid an expected increase in cases as contact-tracing intensifies. “
And via Stat :
Mpox infects 20 and kills three in South Africa
“There have been 20 confirmed mpox cases in South Africa between May 8 and July 2, according to a notice from WHO. Three people have died of the disease, which leads to a blistery rash on the skin and mucous membranes of those infected. The new cases — largely among men who have sex with men — are the first in the country since 2022, when there were just five cases and no deaths. The health risk for the general public remains low, WHO says, but at the same time, it’s likely that the confirmed cases are just a small proportion of the actual total. There is moderate risk for gay and bisexual men, trans and gender-diverse people, and sex workers…..”
“The Kenya Medical Research Institute (Kemri) in collaboration with the Imperial College London will soon be introducing genetically modified (GM) mosquitoes in the country to stop the spread of an invasive species that transmits malaria. Kemri researchers say they aim at leveraging genetic approaches, specifically gene drive, to control the spread of malaria …..”
“A new malaria parasite, like HIV, comes from monkeys. With thousands already infected, experts fear it could one day spread between humans.”
“…In the depths of Malaysian Borneo, scientists are investigating monkey malaria – a mosquito-borne parasitic threat that’s spilling out of the lush rainforest to infect humans…..”
https://www.thelancet.com/journals/lancet/article/PIIS0140-6736(24)01435-1/abstract
“25 years since the disease emerged in the USA, experts stress the need for an effective vaccine. Talha Burki reports.”
https://www.thelancet.com/journals/langlo/article/PIIS2214-109X(24)00272-9/fulltext
“Epilepsy is an important cause of morbidity in low-income and middle-income countries, especially in sub-Saharan Africa, but large-scale community-based prevalence studies are few. The study by Daniel M Mwanga and colleagues has uniquely sought to determine the prevalence of epilepsy in an African urban setting; previous studies in the region have focused on active convulsive epilepsy in rural areas which have different disease determinants….
Comment linked to a new study in the Lancet GH: Prevalence of all epilepsies in urban informal settlements in Nairobi, Kenya: a two-stage population-based study
“Lung cancer is a significant public health issue in Asia, representing one of the leading causes of cancer-related mortality. The incidence of both non-small cell lung cancer and small-cell lung cancer in this region is high, driven by high rates of smoking, air pollution, and specific genetic mutations. Despite ongoing research and health-care efforts, the rising incidence and mortality rates of lung cancer pose an urgent challenge for health-care systems across Asia. “
“In this Series of three Review articles published in eClinicalMedicine, The Lancet Regional Health – Western Pacific, and The Lancet Regional Health – Southeast Asia, Roselle de Guzman and colleagues explore the impact of climate change on lung cancer rates in the region, including screening, early detection, management, and treatment; Yi-Long Wu and colleagues highlight the development of genetic testing technology in the Western Pacific region; and Kumar Prabhash and colleagues examine the unique factors that are associated with lung cancer in Southeast Asian population.”
https://www.bmj.com/content/386/bmj-2023-076862
“Sarah Hopkins and colleagues argue that labelling patients as frail can be problematic and call for greater inclusion of older people in deciding how best to talk about the condition.”
Re a UK Study. “Experts say success shows expansion of tax to cover other foods and drinks is a ‘no brainer’.”
“…. In this context of limited resources and overwhelming demand, coupled with a lack of transparency, two crucial questions emerge: How does corruption manifest in mental healthcare systems? Could it be exacerbating the mental health crisis, particularly in LMICs? Through my research, I’ve found three nefarious ways corruption impacts the mental health sector:….”:
“Corruption compromises the effective utilization of funds in mental health systems…. Corruption contributes to the violation of patients’ human rights. … Mental health systems’ overmedicalization thrives on grand corruption….”
Blog on the HP&P paper from a few months ago, Misunderstood and underappreciated: a critical review of mental health advocacy and activism in low- and middle-income countries
“…. In our paper, published in Health Policy and Planning, we asked the question of what factors drive (or inhibit) mental health activism and advocacy efforts in low and middle-income countries (LMICs)?....” Three dimensions: Legitimacy, Context, Timing.
S Muganuzi; https://www.thinkglobalhealth.org/article/mental-health-care-rwanda-three-decades-resilience
“Insights into Rwanda’s strategies and successes in building mental health services after genocide.”
O C Omobowale et al ; https://speakingofmedicine.plos.org/2024/07/09/plos-mental-health-community-case-studies-confronting-the-mental-health-consequences-of-child-marriage/
« …. A recent symposium brought together global experts to shine a light on this hidden crisis and identify the next steps to help affected communities. The half-day symposium was hosted by the University College London (UCL)-led Global Network on Mental Health and Child Marriage, in collaboration with the Child Marriage Research to Action Network (CRANK), a joint initiative of Girls Not Brides: The Global Partnership to End Child Marriage and the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) – United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) Global Programme to End Child Marriage. It brought together researchers, practitioners, policymakers, and donors to explore the existing evidence on the mental health consequences of child marriage and chart future action on what works to support ever married girls….”
T C Kuhangana et al ; https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0013935124003979#:~:text=In%20this%20original%20field%20study,members%20living%20on%20the%20premises.
Study in Lubumbashi, DRC. “Smelting scrap metal in artisanal furnaces to make cookware is common in Africa. Blood and urinary metals were measured in workers and residents of cookware workshops. Values were compared to those of workers in carpentry and battery repair workshops. High exposure to lead in cookware manufacturing workshops, including among children. Artisanal recycling of scrap metal represents a substantial public health threat.”
K Fenton et al ; https://www.thelancet.com/journals/lancet/article/PIIS0140-6736(24)01432-6/fulltext
Among others, authors focus on the importance of SDH in this Comment.
“…. alongside effective and equitable macroeconomic policy, the UK Government will need to prioritise policies that address the social determinants of health with long-term strategies to tackle poverty, reduce inequalities, and positively impact the health of communities….”
O Bolarinwa et al; https://www.thelancet.com/journals/lancet/article/PIIS0140-6736(24)00696-2/fulltext
“WHO's recent technical brief on the intersection of artificial intelligence (AI) with sexual and reproductive health (SRH) rights provides a timely exploration into an increasingly digital future of health-care delivery. This brief underscores the promising role of AI in enhancing service efficiency, a crucial step towards achieving Sustainable Development Goals 3.7 and 5.6—ensuring universal access to SRH services and upholding SRH rights for all. …. However, the path to integrating AI into SRH is fraught with challenges. ….”
“While ultrasound services are normal practice in many countries, software being tested in Uganda will allow a scan without the need for specialists, providing an incentive for pregnant women to visit health services early on.”
https://www.scidev.net/global/news/kenya-rolls-out-contraceptives-to-reduce-maternal-deaths/
“Kenya is seeking to reduce maternal mortality by increasing access to modern contraceptives for women who have just given birth, or had an abortion or miscarriage, the country’s health ministry has said. The programme targets four counties – Isiolo, Makueni, Kwale, and Kakamega – with stubbornly high maternal mortality rates and where the use of family planning is below 35 per cent….”
J A Shearston et al; https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0160412024004355
“16 metal(loid)s were evaluated in different kinds of tampons. Several toxic metals, including lead, were detected. Tampon use is a potential source of exposure to metals in menstruating people. The highest concentration was found for zinc ….”
Boshen Jiao,S Verguet et al; https://journals.plos.org/plosmedicine/article?id=10.1371/journal.pmed.1004421
“This study models the association between achieving adequate ANC and various health and health-seeking indicators across wealth quintiles in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs).”
https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/16549716.2024.2329369
Part of the special issue. By M Kinney et al.
And a link:
· ODI Expert Comment - Look beyond the tampon tax: alternative solutions to close gender gaps (by H Granger et al)
“Many pregnant women and babies are malnourished—and not just in poor countries”.
Link:
· Plos GPH - Assessing Africa’s child survival gains and prospects for attaining SDG target on child mortality (by S A Adedini et al)
https://healthpolicy-watch.news/sierra-leone-outlaws-child-marriage/
“Sierra Leone’s President Julius Maada Bio signed into law the Prohibition of Child Marriage Act last week, introducing a penalty of at least 15 years and a fine of around $4,000 for any man who marries a girl under 18. The law also prohibits cohabiting with a child, and fines for anyone arranging, aiding or attending such marriage ceremonies.”
“First Lady Fatima Bio’s “Hands Off Our Girls” campaign has been instrumental in advocating against child marriage in Sierra Leone…..”
But a lot more is needed.
Oliver T Mytton et al ; https://www.thelancet.com/journals/lanpub/article/PIIS2468-2667(24)00125-7/fulltext
“Adolescence is a time of physical, cognitive, social, and emotional development. This period is a very sensitive developmental window; environmental exposures, the development of health behaviours (eg, smoking and physical activity), and illness during adolescence can have implications for lifelong health. In the UK and other high-income countries, the experience of adolescence has changed profoundly over the past 20 years. Smoking, drug use, and alcohol consumption have all been in long-term decline. At the same time, obesity and mental ill health have increased and are now common among adolescents, with new risks (ie, vaping, psychoactive substances, and online harms) emerging. In this Viewpoint, we describe these and related trends in England and the UK. Although previous work has explored these changes in isolation, in this Viewpoint we consider them collectively. We explore what might be driving the changes and consider the implications for practice, policy, and research.”
(from 19 June) (in case you missed this).
“ The Unitaid Executive Board convened its 44th session to review the past year’s progress in accelerating the introduction and equitable adoption of key health products, and set a bold new approach for the future investments by voting to approve five new areas for intervention. The five new investment areas will strengthen Unitaid’s already robust investment pipeline in low- and middle-income countries by advancing core work in women’s and children’s health, regional manufacturing, health system strengthening and pandemic preparedness and response. Specifically, the interventions will: Improve access to care for moderate and severe anemia in pregnant and nursing women; children; and people who have been affected by malaria. Enhance risk detection and management of pre-eclampsia, a potentially fatal complication in pregnancy. Advance innovations in sustainable oxygen production and supply. Promote people-centered care through integrated diagnostic tools and delivery, and expanding access to self-testing for cervical cancer, HIV and tuberculosis. Support regional manufacturing of priority health products for equitable access and health security.”
https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-024-02224-9
“Strategies for public engagement need to be rigorously tested around the world to maximize the potential of immunization.”
Cfr a US study.
“ Only one in four U.S. patients prescribed Novo Nordisk’s Wegovy or Ozempic for weight loss were still taking the popular medications two years later, according to an analysis of U.S. pharmacy claims provided to Reuters that also showed a steady decline in use over time. The analysis does not include details about why patients quit. But it does offer a longer view on the real-world experiences of patients taking the drugs than previous research that studied use over a year or less…..”
“Evidence that many people may stop using the weight-loss therapies not long after starting is influencing a debate over their cost to patients, employers and government health plans. Wegovy and similar medicines, which belong to a class of drugs known as GLP-1 receptor agonists, can cost more than $1,000 per month, and may require extended use to yield meaningful benefits. Their U.S. prices have drawn fire recently from President Joe Biden and other public officials, who said such drugs could cost the country $411 billion per year if only half of adults with obesity used them. That is $5 billion more than Americans spent on all prescription drugs in 2022…..”
PS: “Novo Nordisk in a statement cited several limitations to the analysis. It noted that Wegovy wasn't launched until June 2021, the middle of the study period, and wasn't immediately covered by insurance. And Ozempic isn't approved for weight loss, which can affect patients' coverage and persistence with therapy, the Danish drugmaker said. The company said it "does not believe these data are sufficient to draw conclusions about overall patient adherence and persistence to various GLP-1 medicines, including our treatments."….”
“Researchers found differences in the gut microbes of autistic people, raising hopes for faster diagnosis.”
“The finding suggests that a routine stool sample test could help doctors identify autism early, meaning people would receive their diagnosis, and hopefully support, much faster than with the lengthy procedure used in clinics today. …. …. Writing in Nature Microbiology, the researchers describe how gut microbes differed markedly in children with and without autism….”
And a link:
· LA Times - - Opinion: It’s not just hype. AI could revolutionize diagnosis in medicine (by G Singal et al).
O A Chukwu et al ; https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0277953624005483
“Different countries in the region have had different policy responses to the issue. Ghana’s response has been strategic, positive, and leading them towards UHC. Nigeria has witnessed policy stagnancy, encumbered by health systems politics. To achieve UHC, health worker shortages need strategic context-based policy solutions……”
“During the Africa Health Agenda International Conference (AHAIC) held in Kigali, Rwanda in early March 2019, we organized a French-language discussion workshop with participants from six African countries where French is an official language. They shared their experiences on the impact of language barriers on global health. They spoke of the challenges they faced due to the dominance of the English language in scientific discourse. ….”
“… In our recent article in PLOS Global Public Health, entitled “From Barrier to Enabler: Transforming Language for Global Health Collaboration,” we recommend the following:….”
https://hub.jhu.edu/2024/07/08/johns-hopkins-investment-financial-aid-medical-students/
“Thanks to new $1 billion financial aid gift, most medical students will now attend Johns Hopkins tuition-free, and many will receive additional support to cover living expenses. Financial aid for nursing, public health, and other graduate programs will ensure access for top talent from middle-class and low-income backgrounds.”
· Related analysis via Stat – Free medical school tuition unlikely to have a major impact on the U.S. health care system
A Winny; https://globalhealthnow.org/2024-07/why-do-prescription-drugs-have-such-crazy-names
Interesting analysis.
Quote: “…. Prozac was the Big Bang of the pharmaceutical naming universe,” Scott Piergrossi (president of Creative at the Brand Institute, the firm behind countless drug names) says. “It was powerful, approachable. It captured hearts and minds”—and it set the tone for the power of a short, easy-to-pronounce, invented name…..”
These days, it appears ChatGPT plays a major role.
“The new left that is emerging in Europe and the US must confront head-on both the new structure of the economy and the productivity imperative. Only then will it turn into the genuine political movement of the future and a credible alternative against today's populist far right.”
“… What the left needs, then, is a credible program of creating good, productive jobs throughout the economy – especially in lagging regions and for workers with less than a university education. The representative target of such a program is not an auto or steel worker, but a care or retail worker. Moreover, labor-friendly innovation must be at the center of the program. Boosting wages and jobs at the same time requires organizational and technological innovations that enhance the productivity of less-educated workers. Unlike automation and other forms of labor-saving technologies, labor-friendly innovations help ordinary workers perform a greater range of more complicated tasks. Digital tools that confer expertise are an example…..”
“The city is gripped in an opioid crisis worse than America’s. Locals say overly liberal drug laws have sparked a catastrophe.”
HJ Liwanag et al; https://academic.oup.com/heapol/advance-article/doi/10.1093/heapol/czae062/7709498?searchresult=1
“Organisations that perform Health Policy and Systems Research (HPSR) need robust capacities, but it remains unclear how these organisations should look like in practice. We sought to define ‘HPSRIs’ (pronounced as ‘hip-srees’, i.e., ‘Health Policy and Systems Research Institutions’) as organisational models and developed a conceptual framework for assessing their capacities based on a set of attributes. “
“…. Beyond the research function, our framework outlined eight organisational attributes of well-performing HPSRIs that were grouped into four domains, namely: research expertise: (1) excellent research, (2) capacity building driven; leadership and management: (3) efficient administration, (4) financially sustainable; policy translation: (5) policy orientation, (6) effective communication; and networking: (7) participatory approach, (8) convening influence. We developed a self-assessment instrument around these attributes that HPSRIs could use to inform their respective organisational development and collectively discuss their shared challenges. In addition to developing the framework, the workshop also analysed the positionality of HPSRIs and their interactions with other institutional actors in the HPSR ecosystem and recommend the importance of enhancing these interactions and assigning responsibility to a national/regional authority that will foster the community of HPSRIs. When tailored to their context, HPSRIs that function at the nexus of research, management, policy, and networks help achieve the main purpose of HPSR, which is to ‘achieve collective health goals and contribute to policy outcomes.’”
N Zimmerman et al; https://www.ijhpm.com/article_4618.html
“Health system resilience has become a desirable health system attribute in the current permacrisis environment. The article by Saulnier and colleagues reviews the literature on health system resilience and refines the concept, pinpointing dimensions of resilience governance that have not reached consensus, or that are missing from the literature. In this commentary we complement the findings by discussing different conceptual frameworks for understanding resilience and introducing resilience testing, a method to assess health system resilience using a hypothetical shock scenario. Resilience testing is a mixed-methods approach that combines a review of existing data with a structured workshop, where health system experts collaboratively assess the resilience of their health system. The new method is proposed as a tool for policy making, as the results can identify attributes of the current health system that may hinder or boost a resilient response to the next crisis.”
https://health-policy-systems.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/s12961-024-01160-4
By C Mansilla, J Lavis et al.
https://health-policy-systems.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/s12961-024-01165-z
By A Movsisyan et al.
https://gh.bmj.com/content/9/7/e015289
by J Marshall et al.
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S027795362400546X
by P Mos et al.
https://health-policy-systems.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/s12961-024-01166-y
by R Waitzberg et al.
P M Obadia et al; https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/15563650.2023.2276040
“Illegal drugs are becoming a public health problem in African cities. In 2021, Bombé, a new drug of unknown composition, caused an outbreak of neuro-psychiatric symptoms in Kinshasa. Bombé was rumored to be based on ground catalytic exhausts stolen from cars….”
“BREAKING: The Lancet has just published this article "conservatively" estimating that the death toll in the Gaza genocide could be 186,000 people or more. That's 8% of the population, obliterated. These are apocalyptic figures.”
“The Lancet, pretty much the most credible scientific journal in the world regarding medicine, has *conservatively* reported that 186k people *or more* could have been killed in Gaza. This is not being broadcast on Western media channels. “
(re media coverage of bombing child hospital in Ukraine) “It's extremely jarring to see how Western politicians have suddenly discovered that bombing hospitals and killing children is bad, after spending the past 9 months backing it to the hilt in Gaza.”
“Great to be flying to Addis tomorrow for the Inception meeting to develop a Health Workforce Compact for the African continent. Excited that five member states will be in attendance for this initial meeting (Burundi, Ethiopia, Morocco, Nigeria, and South Africa) - we will be relying on their guidance in ensuring this compact suits their needs and addresses gaps up to Africa’s Agenda 2063.”
“Today marks a crucial step to operationalise the Health Impact Investment Platform, a partnership between @EIB @WHO @AfDB_Group @isdb_group @ADB_HQ to support primary healthcare investments in low/mid income countries. At WHO HQ signing the Governance Framework w/ @DrTedros.”
https://phmovement.org/charter4health-podcast
“As People's Health Movement (PHM) Its Global Secretariat and the Communications Program, we are very happy to present Charter4Health a new podcast series on the right to health…..”