( 07 November  2025)   

The weekly International Health Policies (IHP) newsletter is an initiative of the Health Policy unit at the Institute of Tropical Medicine in Antwerp, Belgium.

Dear Colleagues,

This week in global health has been full of movement. COP30 deliberations on climate hope, the G20 meeting on global priorities, and the WHO’s unveiling of its new financing strategy. Across the news, there is renewed attention on vaccines, sexual and reproductive health, and pandemic preparedness, despite the urgent need for action on climate change, non-communicable diseases, and reminders of how deeply interconnected our challenges remain.

Yet, amid all this, one pattern stands out. Even as many say we are entering a post-U.S. world order in health, its influence still quietly shapes much of the agenda. Whether in funding frameworks, health security narratives, or development priorities, the U.S. continues to set the tone even when it is not in the room.

Perhaps this is less a drift and more a transition, one where new voices are emerging, but the old echoes still linger.

Enjoy your reading.

Rajeev B R

(P.S.: Kristof will take over the coming week onwards)

There will not be translated versions and the AI summary of this newsletter this week.

As October draws to a close, the sky feels unusually heavy yet full of promise,  a reminder that even through clouds of crisis, some stars still insist on shining. From the horrors in Sudan and storms battering Jamaica to the measured hopes pinned on COP30 and the G20, this week in global health has been a constellation of despair and defiance.

Under this October Sky, we look up not just to wonder, but to persist. The Durban Promise rekindles Africa’s leadership ambitions; the new definition of global health reframes our shared purpose; and new outbreaks, measles in the US, mpox in the UK, remind us that vigilance never sleeps. Meanwhile, the world’s oldest healing traditions are being reimagined for a more inclusive future (see this week’s featured article on Traditional Medicine from the World Health Summit).

So take a moment to gaze upward. The skies may be turbulent, but persistence, as the film October Sky taught us, is what propels us beyond gravity.

Enjoy your reading.

 Rajeev BR

IHP-EV Resident