Dear Colleagues,

In this issue, we first cover the health sovereignty related news from the latest (39^th) African Union summit in Addis. A quote via Africa CDC set the scene: “Countries must lead, regions must coordinate, and the global level must support.”  That principle guided a high-level dialogue on reforming the global health architecture, convened by Africa CDC, South Africa and Ghana on the margins of the summit.

We also come back on the latest PABS round and Global Fund Board meeting, both in Geneva. Some days ago, France’s heavy cut of funding to the Global Fund came as another major shock. Still in the Swiss diplomatic capital, Health Policy Watch more or less kicked off the WHO DG race, with an analysis of the current (rumoured) crop of candidates. There are quite a few. Apparently, the organization needs a “unicorn”, “someone with the political skill to navigate a fractured world but the technical discipline to focus the agency’s ambitious mandate.”   In other...