Annual letter Gates foundation: Why we swing for the fences
Do read the annual later in full here:
Gates notes
“Twenty years after starting our foundation, we’re just as optimistic about the power of innovation to drive progress.” Bill & Melinda
reflect on the first 20 years of their foundation.
Excerpt: “…
As always, Warren Buffett—a dear friend and longtime source of great advice—put it a little more colorfully. When he donated the bulk of his fortune to our foundation and joined us as a partner in its work, he urged us to “swing for the fences.” That’s a phrase many Americans will recognize from baseball. When you swing for the fences, you’re putting every ounce of strength into hitting the ball as far as possible. You know that your bat might miss the ball entirely—but that if you succeed in making contact, the rewards can be huge. That’s how we think about our philanthropy, too. The goal isn’t just incremental progress. It’s to put the full force of our efforts and resources behind the big bets that, if successful, will save and improve lives….”
“In this year’s letter, we write about the work we’ve done on health and education and why we think the risks we’ve taken have set us up for future progress. We also write about two issues that have emerged as priorities for us—the climate crisis and gender equality—and how they will factor into our next 20 years….
Vox - The surprising strategy behind the Gates Foundation’s success
https://www.vox.com/future-perfect/2020/2/11/21133298/bill-gates-melinda-gates-money-foundation
Must-read
analysis of the Gates annual letter. “
Bill and Melinda Gates’ philanthropy, explained.”
“…
the 2020 annual letter doesn’t just rattle off statistics. It delves into the strategy behind their giving, which is important for understanding everything the Gateses have done to this point. … [swing for the fences] … What the Gateses took that to mean was that they should look for opportunities of high leverage, where a smaller investment can lead to a much bigger payoff. “The goal isn’t just incremental progress,” they write. “It’s to put the full force of our efforts and resources behind the big bets that, if successful, will save and improve lives.”
It’s an approach that has had a consequential impact — and that should serve as a model for other foundations and donors who want to give effectively.”
… But there’s more to dig into here. The Gateses’ 20th anniversary letter is unusually clear in making the point that the couples’ and their foundation’s success is not built on direct provision of services, or using their money to directly fund, say, vaccine distribution. Their success is, instead, built on leverage: specifically, the ability of the Gateses with their smaller but more flexibly deployable pot of money to forge coalitions with large international organizations and governments that can in turn mobilize many more billions of dollars than the Gates Foundation can alone. …” Some cases in point: GAVI & Global Fund.
Third Global NCD Alliance Forum & other NCD news
As a reminder,
the third Global NCD Alliance Forum took place this week (
9-11 February 2020), in
Sharjah, UAE. The aim was to provide a prime opportunity to unite and mobilise NCD civil society to monitor governments’ progress and advocate for action to implement global pledges five years ahead of the next UN HLM and the 2025 date for globally agreed NCD targets.
HPW - Countries Falling Behind In Meeting Noncommunicable Disease Control Targets
https://www.healthpolicy-watch.org/countries-falling-behind-in-meeting-noncommunicable-disease-control-targets/
“
Governments are falling behind in the battle against a “global epidemic” of noncommunicable diseases (NCDs), say two new reports by the World Health Organization and the NCD Alliance, launched on the first day of a Global NCD Alliance Forum in Sharjah, United Arab Emirates. Many countries are stalled in implementing basic prevention policies, such as reducing tobacco and harmful alcohol consumption; promoting health eating and physical activity; and strengthening early NCD detection and treatment in primary health care systems, according to the WHO NCD Progress Monitor 2020 report, released Monday. Such policies are among the so-called WHO “Best Buys” for NCD prevention. Only 19% of 194 countries surveyed have fully implemented tobacco taxes; just 20% are meeting targets for salt-reduction, and one-third of countries are providing basic NCD health services such as drug therapy and counseling. And less than half of the 194 countries surveyed met at least two of the ten targets that would reflect progress against NCDs – a “grim sign” as the report calls it….”
“
Data from the second report, the NCD Alliance’s Bridging the Gap backs up this stark reality. The report, based on surveys of national and regional NCD alliances, found that only 20 percent of members believed that their country is on track to meet global NCD targets. Some 82% of members did not believe their country had sufficient accountability mechanisms to ensure NCD targets were being met. … … The Bridging the Gap report points to gaps in five major areas that are impeding progress – political leadership, investment, care, community engagement, and accountability….”
See also the
joint press release WHO/NCD Alliance -
A tsunami of noncommunicable diseases can be avoided if action taken now, reports say
Plos Med - An evaluation of Chile’s Law of Food Labeling and Advertising on sugar-sweetened beverage purchases from 2015 to 2017: A before-and-after study
https://journals.plos.org/plosmedicine/article?id=10.1371/journal.pmed.1003015
“
Lindsey Smith Taillie et al. describe the changes in purchases of sugary beverages after implementation of Chile's law on food labeling and advertising, implemented to combat childhood obesity.”
Great coverage (by Sarah Boseley) in
the Guardian -
Chile's drastic anti-obesity measures cut sugary drink sales by 23%
“
The world’s toughest controls over the promotion of sugary drinks, brought in by a nation beset by obesity, have cut purchases by nearly a quarter in two years, research has shown. Instead of a sugar tax, which the UK and other countries have chosen to impose, Chile has banned sales in schools and adopted stark black and white labels aimed at warning and educating families about the health dangers of junk food and drinks for their children….”
146th WHO Executive Board meeting (continued)
As we covered most of the agenda last week already, one more link perhaps (see also Priti Patnaik’s Editorial):
HPW - WHO Needs To Accelerate New Polio Vaccine Rollout & Action On Harmful Alcohol Consumption, Says Executive Board
https://www.healthpolicy-watch.org/eb-says-who-should-accelerate-action-to-reduce-harmful-alcohol-consumption-deadlocked-on-breast-milk-substitutes-report/
“
After a total of 12.5 hours of consultations in five informal meetings, a bloc of countries led by Thailand won WHO Executive Board approval for a landmark decision to develop a new ten year-action plan to reduce the harmful use of alcohol. Representatives of Norway and the European Union joined as co-sponsors in a compromise decision, which nonetheless saw an earlier reference to the possible development of an international legal instrument removed. Civil society actors who had lobbied hard for the new action plan, described it as a “historic moment” but lamented that the “overarching need” for more binding international measures to limit alcohol marketing and advertising, particularly to youths, had not been answered. However, the compromise text asked WHO to prepare a technical report on the harmful use of alcohol related to cross-border advertising, including marketing targeted towards youth. The compromise also greatly softened a reference to WHO’s own internal policies, which generally tolerate alcohol consumption in office cafeterias and official events, including at the Geneva Headquarters….”
Coronavirus / “SARS-CoV-2”
Again plenty of news, analysis and great reads – from an abundance of angles – this week, on the now relabelled virus, SARS-CoV-2.
We will start with a
section with some of the latest updates, and then – for the ones who want to go deeper – other sections (
Some of the broader implications; Science, Analysis, other news snippets…).
PS:
Dr. Tedros & team give
daily press briefings and are in general doing a great job, certainly also in terms of transparency & sharing of info. One of his
key messages :
Coronavirus should be seen as 'public enemy number one', says WHO Other key messages from Tedros were on the
need for global solidary, and he also
warned against 'trolls and conspiracy theories'.
The sections below will be “in steno” – as you can imagine.
Latest updates
With a
focus on the last two days, via
Cidrap News, HPW, Stat, Nature, …
“
After two days of more hopeful signs that new cases of the novel coronavirus in China might be stabilizing, a sharp increase of 14,840 new COVID-19 infections was reported early Thursday morning by the Province of Hubei, more than 10 times the previous day. The upsurge in cases was in part due to an expansion of diagnostic criteria, said Hubei officials in a statement….” (PS: on Friday, the death count was revised downwards – due to ‘double counting’)
PS: earlier this week,
FT had reported
China accused of under-reporting coronavirus outbreak “
Health experts say official testing system captures only a fraction of cases.”
Some see the hand of
Bruce Aylward already in these updated numbers (see below).
In this piece also some info on the worrying situation in
Singapore, a new (large scale) study with higher case fatality rate and some detail on the just concluded
WHO Research and Innovation Forum. (see also below for the latter )
Earlier this week, a
UN crisis team was formed (headed by
Mike Ryan). “
Ryan said the team will help the WHO focus on its health mission, while other UN groups add their expertise on the wider social and economic implications of the outbreak….”
Meanwhile,
hundreds of health workers seem to be infected in Wuhan; an international
WHO team (led by
Bruce Aylward) is
now on the ground in China (Beijing) – but featuring no CDC people … (see also
HPW on the foreseen role of this team).
For an
update on this team, see
Reuters -
Experts fear China reluctant to accept WHO ground mission (13 Feb) “
China is dragging its heels in accepting help on the ground from international health specialists, diplomats and experts said on Thursday, noting four days after a World Health Organization (WHO) advance team arrived in Beijing no details have been released on how and when the full mission will deploy….”
Meanwhile, in China,
the political fallout continues – (Guardian)
China purges regional leaders hours after spike in deaths and new cases
See also
the Economist -
Send for the hard men: China makes big changes in Hubei, both political and virus-related. Looks like Xi is sending in the Public Security guys now…
“
As infections from COVID-19 coronavirus continue to rise, a senior UN health expert on Thursday said that there were some indications that disease transmission outside China might not be the tip of the “iceberg” that had been feared. “We’re not seeing a dramatic increase in transmission outside China,” Dr. Michael Ryan, the World Health Organization’s (WHO) Health Emergencies Programme chief, said, while urging against making hasty assessments….”
Must read. “
Concerns are rising about the virus’s potential to circulate undetected in Africa and Asia.”
For related reads (on (
urgent) ramping up the situation in LMICs, and the role of WHO and others in this), see
Reuters -
Countries rush to build diagnostic capacity as coronavirus spreads
“A
week ago, only two laboratories in Africa could diagnose the novel coronavirus that originated in China and is rapidly spreading around the world. As of Sunday, the World Health Organization (WHO) expected every nation in Africa to be able to diagnose the disease. The rush reflects a global push for diagnostic capabilities, particularly in developing countries, in hopes of averting a global pandemic. But it is being slowed by a desperate need for virus samples necessary to validate the tests….”
See also
the Guardian -
African countries braced for 'inevitable' arrival of coronavirus
“
Health centres step up preparations as World Health Organization raises fears about ability to cope with major outbreak.”
See also a
Lancet World Report - Africa prepares for coronavirus
“
With cases of novel coronavirus spreading worldwide, governments and institutions are getting ready for the first cases in Africa. Munyaradzi Makoni reports from Cape Town.”
Among others: “
The Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (Africa CDC) established the Africa Task Force for Novel Coronavirus on Feb 3. It is working with WHO on surveillance, including screening at points of entry, infection prevention and control in health-care facilities, clinical management of people with severe 2019-nCoV infection, laboratory diagnosis, and risk communication and community engagement…. … As of Feb 10, WHO said that 11 countries were capable of testing for 2019-nCoV, and reagents should be delivered to other countries this week. … … Africa's preparedness efforts have been boosted with $25 million from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, with some of it going towards training. 15 experts from the African Union received training on laboratory diagnosis for 2019-nCoV in Dakar, Senegal, on Feb 6–8. …”
PS: For a related
paper from end of last week, see
Preparedness and vulnerability of African countries against introductions of 2019-nCoV.
Others look more optimistically at the threat – (Quartz)
The lessons of West Africa’s Ebola’s crisis will save the continent from the worst of coronavirus
“…The aftermath of Ebola now means West African countries including Senegal, Liberia, Sierra Leone, Cote d’Ivoire and Nigeria currently rank as better prepared for COVID-19 than richer countries with more sophisticated health systems, says Gyude Moore, fellow at Center for Global Development in Washington D.C and former minister for public works in Liberia….”
WHO press release after the
two-day R&D meeting in Geneva: “
Leading health experts from around the world have been meeting at the World Health Organization’s Geneva headquarters to assess the current level of knowledge about the new COVID-19 disease, identify gaps and work together to accelerate and fund priority research needed to help stop this outbreak and prepare for any future outbreaks. The 2-day forum was convened in line with the WHO R&D Blueprint – a strategy for developing drugs and vaccines before epidemics, and accelerating research and development while they are occurring. … … The meeting, hosted in collaboration with GloPID-R (the Global Research Collaboration for Infectious Disease Preparedness) brought together major research funders and over 300 scientists and researchers from a large variety of disciplines. They discussed all aspects of the outbreak and ways to control it including: the natural history of the virus, its transmission and diagnosis; animal and environmental research on the origin of the virus, including management measures at the human-animal interface; epidemiological studies; clinical characterization and management of disease caused by the virus; infection prevention and control, including best ways to protect health care workers; research and development for candidate therapeutics and vaccines; ethical considerations for research; and integration of social sciences into the outbreak response….”
See also
UN News -
UN health agency developing COVID-19 virus treatment master plan
“
The World Health Organization (WHO) is developing a master plan for coordinating clinical trials that could lead to potential therapies for patients infected with the COVID-19 virus, the agency’s chief, Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, announced on Wednesday.”
And
Cidrap News -
Easy COVID-19 test tops research priorities as cases climb
Also a great summary of the 2-day meeting in Geneva. “
A global research meeting wrapped up today to set priorities to answer key questions about COVID-19 and tackle the outbreak, with a simpler diagnostic test and treatment protocols at the top of the list….”
With everything you want to know about the new name of the virus (
SARS-CoV-2) and disease (
Covid-19)
For an update (including on the
sensitivity in China around the name SARS-CoV-2), see
Science News -
A bit chaotic.’ Christening of new coronavirus and its disease name create confusion.
“
The WHO Scientific and Technical Advisory Group for Infectious Hazards (STAG-IH), working with the WHO secretariat, reviewed available information about the outbreaks of 2019 novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19) on Feb 7, 2020, in Geneva, Switzerland, and concluded that the continuing strategy of containment for elimination should continue, and that the coming 2–3 weeks through to the end of February, 2020, will be crucial to monitor the situation of community transmission to update WHO public health recommendations if required….”
“
The seeming precision of the global tallies of cases and deaths caused by the novel coronavirus now spreading from Wuhan, China belies an alarming fact. The world is in the dark about the epidemic’s real scale and speed, because existing tests have limited powers—and testing is far too spotty. “We are underestimating how common this infection is,” cautions Jeremy Farrar, head of the Wellcome Trust….”
Some of the broader implications
From late last week.
“The world is facing a “severe disruption” in stocks of personal protective equipment vital for health workers to fight the novel coronavirus raging through China’s Hubei Province and threatening other countries worldwide, said WHO Director-General Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus at a Friday press briefing.”
See also
Stat (Feb 7) -
Coronavirus concerns trigger global run on supplies for health workers, causing shortages
“
CEO of India’s Cipla warns of Chinese lockdown cutting off access to essential ingredients.”
Yes. The question, is how long, and how drastic. Hard to say, at this stage.
Science (vaccines, (modelling) projections, …)
This is not really IHP’s niche, but a few links anyhow on developments in this respect.
The Conversation -
Coronavirus outbreak: a new mapping tool that lets you scroll through timeline
This new outbreak mapping tool is developed by the
London school of Hygiene and Tropical Health.
Guardian -
Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus says vaccine for COVID-19 virus could be 18 months away
Tom Frieden on the JAMA study -
New study an eye-opener on how coronavirus is spreading and how little we know (CNN) Game changer, in his opinion.
Health workers are at high risk.
Guardian -
Coronavirus 'could infect 60% of global population if unchecked'
Let’s just say this is a ‘modeller’ : )
Telegraph -
Death rate for patients hospitalised with coronavirus in Wuhan nearly 20 per cent, study shows
“
But the true mortality rate could be as low as one per cent if all mild and asymptomatic cases are taken into account, researchers say.”
FT Health -
Data experts battle to map path of coronavirus outbreak (14 Feb) “Researchers have to rely on statistics from China that have been called into doubt”.
Nature -
Did pangolins spread the China coronavirus to people?
Stat News -
Hospitals, governments need more data to prepare for the new coronavirus outbreak (by Caitlin Rivers et al)
“…
we see three other urgent priorities: understanding health care worker infections, understanding the circumstances around deaths from these coronavirus infections, and the surveillance strategy for 2019-nCoV across China.”
NYT -
The urgent questions scientists are asking about Coronavirus
Was an interesting read, published just ahead of the 2-day R&D meeting in Geneva.
HPW -
Over 30 Antiviral Drugs Being Tested Against Novel Coronavirus – As WHO Convenes Global Innovation Forum
Interview with
Thomas Cueni.
Guardian -
China trials anti-HIV drug on coronavirus patients
Cidrap -
Unmasked: Experts explain necessary respiratory protection for COVID-19 (13 Feb) Looks more and more like
surgical masks don’t really do the job…
Analyses
Stat - Understanding pandemics: What they mean, don’t mean, and what comes next with the coronavirus
https://www.statnews.com/2020/02/12/understanding-pandemics-what-they-mean-coronavirus/
Absolutely brilliant briefing by Helen Branswell on
‘pandemics’.
Science - Mission impossible? WHO director fights to prevent a pandemic without offending China
https://www.sciencemag.org/news/2020/02/mission-impossible-who-director-fights-prevent-pandemic-without-offending-china
One of the “big picture” reads of the week. On the difficult path Tedros has to tread in this outbreak.
For a related read, see also
Vox -
China hid the severity of its coronavirus outbreak and muzzled whistleblowers — because it can On the tricky business of
disease diplomacy.
Ellen ‘t Hoen - Coronavirus: The Latest Problem Big Pharma Won’t Solve
https://www.barrons.com/articles/coronavirus-the-latest-problem-big-pharma-wont-solve-51581078600
Hardhitting & thus a must-read.
See also Stat -
Major drug makers haven’t stepped up to manufacture NIH coronavirus vaccine, top U.S. health official says.
“
No major pharmaceutical company has come forward to say it would manufacture a vaccine for the novel coronavirus currently being developed by the National Institutes of Health, a top U.S. official acknowledged Tuesday, a reality that he called “very difficult and very frustrating.” The comments by Dr. Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, highlight how challenging it could be to translate the NIH’s work, being undertaken in partnership with the biotech company Moderna Therapeutics, into a vaccine that could be marketed….”
Vox - The coronavirus cruise ship quarantine is a scary public health experiment
https://www.vox.com/2020/2/11/21132732/coronavirus-cruise-ship-quarantine-japan
That’s the least you can say. By Julia Belluz.
Lancet (Comment) - Do not violate the International Health Regulations during the COVID-19 outbreak
https://www.thelancet.com/journals/lancet/article/PIIS0140-6736(20)30373-1/fulltext
New Comment by
16 global health law scholars.
“…
In imposing travel restrictions against China during the current outbreak of 2019 novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19), many countries are violating the IHR. We—16 global health law scholars—came to this conclusion after applying the interpretive framework of the Vienna Convention on the Law of Treaties3 and reaching a jurisprudential consensus on the legal meaning of IHR Article 43 (panel)….”
Time – Peter Piot quoted on the need to reform the IHR
https://time.com/5778998/ebola-coronavirus-lessons/?utm_source=twitter.com&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=social-share-article
Piot: “…
The International Health Regulations’ all-or-nothing approach must reform. In most emergencies, there is a spectrum of alerts–think of hurricanes with levels of severity from Category 1 to Category 5–and it should not be a binary decision for health….”
Amanda Glassman (in the Hill) - Stop coronavirus and the next epidemic by establishing a health security fund now
Stop coronavirus and the next epidemic by establishing a health security fund now
She links such a fund with the
G7. “
Before or during the 2020 G-7 meeting, leaders should launch a Global Health Security Challenge Fund that will incentivize countries to make capital investments to close their preparedness gaps.”
But see this tweet: ”
In already fragmented donor flows context, why another “vertical“ fund? A Health Security Challenge Fund? This on top of a "vertical" fund for NCDs recommended in report by WHO launched yesterday? Fragmentation leads to distorted country health budgets!”
FT - Coronavirus crisis challenges basis of China’s social contract
https://www.ft.com/content/ba1c1538-49a6-11ea-aeb3-955839e06441
(gated) One of the many analyses on how the coronavirus presents a huge challenge for Xi Jinping and the Chinese governance model in general.
FT - US warns over Chinese ‘spying’ on African disease control centre
FT
From late last week – it’s clear that the US-China relation in this outbreak faces many potential hurdles. “
The Trump administration has cited concerns over Beijing's scientific spying program as the reason it wants to block a Chinese plan to build an $80m headquarters for the Africa Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Ethiopia, amid growing competition for influence in the continent….”
See also
Xinhua -
China refutes U.S. official's claims of China "stealing Africa's genomic data"
Devex - What NGOs need to do if the coronavirus reaches Africa
https://www.devex.com/news/what-ngos-need-to-do-if-the-coronavirus-reaches-africa-96562
“
The new coronavirus could wreak havoc on weak health systems in Africa. If the virus reaches Africa, NGOs have a key role to play, experts from WHO and Catholic Relief Services tell Devex.”
Some other analysis:
“
World leaders and international donors must strengthen the most vulnerable nations’ health-care systems.”
“Medical advances have dramatically extended life spans worldwide, but investment in basic health care has not kept up.”
Not everybody is convinced about the link Bollyky sees, but an interesting read.
Not for the (rather unlikely) figure, but for this quote:
““
The worry is not just those infected by the coronavirus itself, but all the services that will no longer run,” says Devi Sridhar at the University of Edinburgh, UK. “You will see all kinds of knock-on effects.”… These will be most serious in poor countries whose health systems are already struggling. For instance, children began dying from measles when vaccination stopped during recent Ebola outbreaks in Africa. “UNICEF calls these the uncounted dead,” says Sridhar….”
Of course, PH people aren’t happy with the term ‘super spreaders’.
“
China is advising doctors to consider mixing Western antiviral drugs with traditional Chinese medicine for the treatment of the coronavirus. But experts question the efficacy of Chinese remedies.”
“
The novel coronavirus outbreak that emerged in late 2019 has infected tens of thousands in China, community transmission is feared in other countries, and containment looks increasingly unlikely.”
“…
There is an urgent but closing window to prepare for large-scale spread of the disease in the US and elsewhere. This paper recommends actions to address pressing gaps in US and global preparedness in the event that COVID-19 cannot be contained and sustained human-to-human transmission occurs beyond China….”
Other news snippets & links
Only recently, coronavirus research has gotten again a bit in vogue.
“
The learning team of the WHO Health Emergencies Programme worked with technical experts to quickly develop and publish the online course on 26 January – 4 days before the 2019-nCoV outbreak was declared a public health emergency of international concern….”
“
The app will notify users if they have been near someone carrying the deadly virus”. More than a bit ‘Big Brother’ scary, if you ask me.
Ebola DRC
HPW - Ebola Outbreak Remains An International Public Health Emergency, Says WHO Committee
“
The Director General of the World Health Organization today decided that the smoldering Ebola outbreak in the Democratic Republic of the Congo should remain a “public health emergency of international concern,” following recommendations from a committee of experts convened under the International Health Regulations. The last embers of the 1.5 year long outbreak appeared to be dying out, with only 3 cases reported in the past week, and no cases in the past 3 days. The outbreak has been contained to only two health districts. “As long as there is a single case of Ebola in an area as insecure and unstable as eastern DRC, the potential remains for a much larger epidemic,” said Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, director general of the WHO at a press briefing Wednesday. With the WHO and worldwide media attention occupied by the coronavirus outbreak, “we must not forget Ebola,” added the Director General.
…WHO has determined that the risk of national and regional spread is still “high.”…”
“…Nonetheless, the Director general said, the “signs are extremely positive” in the Ebola outbreak. It seems likely that all districts affected by the outbreak will reach the 42-day Ebola-free threshold needed to declare the outbreak over by the next time the Emergency Committee reconvenes…”
See also AP -
WHO chief ‘very encouraged’ by dip in Congo Ebola cases
Or a
tweet from Helen Branswell (Stat): “
In the 3 weeks from Jan 20 to Feb 9 there were only 13 #Ebola cases diagnosed in DRC.”
Lancet Correspondence - Ebola virus disease and breastfeeding
https://www.thelancet.com/journals/lancet/article/PIIS0140-6736(19)32967-8/fulltext
“
We commend Mija Ververs and Akanksha Arya for highlighting an urgent need for evidence-based breastfeeding guidance in the context of Ebola virus disease. In response to the ongoing Ebola outbreak, WHO assembled an expert panel to create recommendations and implementation guidance on breastfeeding, as informed by a systematic review of evidence. On Feb 10, 2020, WHO published recommendations for the management of pregnant and breastfeeding women in the context of Ebola virus disease….”
See also a
Lancet Editorial - Appropriate care for pregnant women in Ebola outbreaks
“
On Feb 10, new WHO guidelines were released for the management of pregnant and breastfeeding women in the context of Ebola virus disease, outlining appropriate steps for clinicians to take in DR Congo. The country has had 3428 confirmed cases of Ebola over the past 18 months, the second worst outbreak after the 2014–16 west Africa outbreak of around 28 000 cases. Pregnant women require special guidelines in Ebola-stricken areas for several reasons….”
AMR
O’Neill Institute (blog) – Behind the headlines: 10 million deaths from antimicrobial resistance by 2050 (or not?)
E Friedman;
https://oneill.law.georgetown.edu/behind-the-headlines-10-million-antimicrobial-deaths-by-2050-or-not/
Interesting short blog from
Eric Friedman. He goes to the origin of the often mentioned figure of 10 million deaths per year by 2050, and draws some conclusions (+ recommendations). Among others, several
lessons on how health (and other) information is/should be presented.
Lancet Infectious Diseases (Review) - The Lancet Infectious Diseases Commission on antimicrobial resistance: 6 years later
R Laxminarayan et al ;
https://www.thelancet.com/journals/laninf/article/PIIS1473-3099(20)30003-7/fulltext
“In 2013, a Lancet Infectious Diseases Commission described the state of antimicrobial resistance worldwide. Since then, greater awareness of the public health ramifications of antimicrobial resistance has led to national actions and global initiatives, including a resolution at the high-level meeting of the UN General Assembly in 2016. Progress in addressing this issue has ranged from a ban on irrational drug combinations in India to commitments to ban colistin as a growth promoter in animals, improve hospital infection control, and implement better antimicrobial stewardship. Funds have been mobilised, and regulatory barriers to new antibiotic development have been relaxed. These efforts have been episodic and uneven across countries, however. Sustained funding for antimicrobial resistance and globally harmonised targets to monitor progress are still urgently needed. Except for in a few leading countries, antimicrobial resistance has not captured the sustained focus of national leaders and country-level actors, including care providers.”
Road Safety
WHO - Ministers to agree new global road safety agenda to 2030
https://www.who.int/news-room/detail/07-02-2020-ministers-to-agree-new-global-road-safety-agenda-to-2030
Looking ahead to the meeting in Stockholm next week. “
Government ministers and senior officials from over 100 countries will meet in Stockholm, Sweden from 19-20 February to discuss new steps to halve road traffic deaths and injuries by 2030, in line with global targets agreed in the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)….”
“…Hosted by the Government of Sweden in collaboration with WHO, the 3rd Global Ministerial Conference on Road Safety offers delegates an opportunity to share successes and lessons learned, chart future strategic directions for global road safety, and define ways to fast-track progress around proven strategies to save lives. The Stockholm Declaration will be presented as the final outcome document of the Ministerial Conference calling for strong political will and international cooperation as well as partnerships across many sectors of society. The Declaration will lay out key recommendations for accelerated action to drive progress towards halving global road traffic deaths and injuries by 2030….”
Lancet Comment – Another summit on global road safety? Key questions to ask ministers
A Hyder;
https://www.thelancet.com/journals/lancet/article/PIIS0140-6736(20)30159-8/fulltext
“The 3rd Global Ministerial Conference on Road Safety will be held in Stockholm, Sweden, on Feb 19–20, 2020, as the Decade of Action 2011–20 for global road safety comes to an end. Such summits are important for global road safety in many ways. First, they can bring political attention to road traffic injuries. Second, they can provide a stimulus for countries to assess their own situations and take action. Finally, they present an opportunity for the global community to track progress of road safety efforts over time. Yet is this what global road safety needs at this juncture? Is global road safety succumbing to big declarations without action? It is time for some healthy introspection….”
“…as the world meets for another global summit and prepares another declaration, there are seven questions to ask ministers of health and transport to assess their previous actions and judge future plans….”
“…The 3rd Global Ministerial Conference on Road Safety could serve as an important milestone for monitoring progress related to global road safety across member states of WHO, and could provide a global forum for charting the direction of future partnerships and programmes. However, this will only happen if ministers are asked tough questions and there are frank and difficult conversations. Global road safety is a key component of the Sustainable Development Goals. Yet it will remain a declaration unless there is real support for implementing effective interventions in all countries. A forthcoming Series on road traffic injuries in The Lancet later this year will further assess the state of global road safety. It is time to express disappointment, demonstrate activism, hold decision makers accountable, refuse inequity of outcomes, and insist on science-based politics of road safety.”
Air pollution
Plos Med - Improving air quality needs to be a policy priority for governments globally
https://journals.plos.org/plosmedicine/article?id=10.1371/journal.pmed.1003041
“In this Perspective, Aziz Sheikh discusses the importance of research to understand the impact of air pollution on human health, commenting on a study by Yaohua Tian and colleagues that examined associations between ambient air quality and risk of hospitalization for pneumonia in adults in China.”
Guardian - Fossil fuel pollution behind 4m premature deaths a year – study
https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2020/feb/12/fossil-fuel-pollution-behind-4m-premature-deaths-a-year-study
“Air pollution from burning fossil fuels is responsible for more than 4m premature deaths around the world each year and costs the global economy about $8bn a day, according to a study. The report, from Greenpeace Southeast Asia and the Centre for Research on Energy and Clean Air, found that burning gas, coal and oil causes three times the number of deaths as road traffic accidents globally. Children, especially those living in low-income countries, are particularly affected with an estimated 40,000 dying each year before they reach their fifth birthday because of exposure to particulate pollution from fossil fuels….”
Planetary Health
FT - Flat carbon output in 2019 raises hope that emissions have peaked
https://www.ft.com/content/b42bba4c-4c13-11ea-95a0-43d18ec715f5
A glimmer of hope. But no more than that. See also
CNBC -
Energy-related CO2 emissions ‘flatlined’ last year, IEA says, raising hopes about climate “
Energy-related carbon dioxide emissions “flatlined” last year, the International Energy Agency said Tuesday in a report that raised hopes about the Earth’s climate. Global emissions remained at approximately 33 gigatonnes in 2019 despite the world economy growing by 2.9%, the IEA said. The agency cited several factors, including a drop in emissions from electricity production in advanced economies due to the “expanding role” of renewables like wind and solar….”
Climate Change News - World misses symbolic February deadline to ratchet up climate action before Cop26
Climate change news;
“
The 2015 Paris Agreement seeks to raise global ambition every five years. But only three nations have issued upgraded climate plans nine months before Cop26 in Glasgow.”
Guardian - UK to lead global fight against illegal logging and deforestation
https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2020/feb/13/uk-lead-global-fight-illegal-logging-deforestation-cop-26
“The UK is to spearhead a major global crackdown on illegal timber and deforestation, with plans to form a coalition of developing countries against the trade as part of its hosting of crunch UN climate talks this year….” “Deforestation is a leading factor in rising global greenhouse gas emissions, but many developing nations lack the means and institutions to combat illegal logging and regulate forest industries. The Department for International Development (DfID) will shortly lay out plans to help countries strengthen the rule of law, support the trade in responsible forestry and provide on-the-ground assistance to stamp out illegal logging….”
HHR - How Can We Overcome the Great Procrastination to Respond to the Climate Emergency?
R Hammonds;
https://www.hhrjournal.org/2020/02/how-can-we-overcome-the-great-procrastination-to-respond-to-the-climate-emergency/
Recommended read – by
Rachel Hammonds. Among others, she discusses the
seven Climate Justice Principles developed by the Mary Robinson Foundation which offer a rights-based path to engaging with climate change debate and decision making.
Congenital heart disease awareness week (Feb 7-14)
https://nationaldaycalendar.com/congenital-heart-defect-awareness-week-february-7-14/
Congenital heart disease is an underrecognized NCD of childhood – this week tries to raise more awareness globally.
Lancet Child & Adolescent Health- Global, regional, and national burden of congenital heart disease, 1990–2017: a systematic analysis for the Global Burden of Disease Study 2017
GBD 2017 Congenital Heart Disease Collaborators;
https://www.thelancet.com/journals/lanchi/article/PIIS2352-4642(19)30402-X/fulltext#section-3d6acba1-acea-4be2-8dc9-b7e14e5b6583
“
Previous congenital heart disease estimates came from few data sources, were geographically narrow, and did not evaluate congenital heart disease throughout the life course. Completed as part of the Global Burden of Diseases, Injuries, and Risk Factors Study 2017, this study aimed to provide comprehensive estimates of congenital heart disease mortality, prevalence, and disability by age for 195 countries and territories from 1990 to 2017.”
Some of the key findings:
CHD has climbed to be number 2 and 4 cause of infant mortality in high-middle and middle SDI (socio-demographic index) countries and to number 8 and 7 cause of infant mortality in low and low-middle SDI countries.
And a few
figures: • CHD caused globally 261,247 deaths in 2017 (34.5% decline from 1990) ; • 180,624 were infants; over 85% of deaths were in low-income countries; • 11,998,283 people lived with CHD globally in 2017 (18.7% increase from 1990), causing 589,479 years lived with disability
Do check out also the related
Comment -
Congenital heart disease: a global public health concern
SRHR
UN News - $683 million appeal to deliver reproductive health services, where they’re most needed
https://news.un.org/en/story/2020/02/1057191
“
With more than half of all maternal deaths occurring in countries affected by humanitarian crises and fragility, the UN Population Fund (UNFPA) is calling for greater international support to provide life-saving reproductive health and protection services in these locations. The sexual and reproductive health agency has launched a $683 million appeal this year to assist nearly 48 million women, girls and young people in 57 countries affected by conflict or natural disasters….”
Xinhua – UN pledges support for reproductive health agenda in Africa
Xinhua;
“
The United Nations will support African governments to expand access to quality and affordable reproductive health services for disadvantaged groups like women and girls living in urban slums, officials said on Wednesday. Dereje Wordofa, deputy executive director of the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA), said in a speech read on his behalf by Hala Youssef, a UNFPA policy expert, that promoting access to reproductive health services like contraceptives is key to tackling poverty and inequality in Africa…
… Kenya is hosting a week-long pan-African conference on advancing the sexual and reproductive health and rights of women and girls in urban informal settlements. More than 500 delegates, including lawmakers, policymakers, researchers and campaigners, attending the Feb. 10-14 conference will share knowledge and best practices aimed at revitalizing the reproductive health agenda in the continent. Topics slated for discussion at the conference include the unmet need for modern family planning methods, unsafe abortions, sexual violence and unintended pregnancies that are rampant in Africa's urban slums.”
Child mortality
Study: In some African countries, more than half of women have lost a child
University of Chicago;
“Sociologists introduce new way to measure cumulative impact of child loss on mothers.”
“
University of Chicago and University of Southern California sociologists have proposed a way to estimate how the death of a child impacts mothers in sub-Saharan Africa. Their new study found that, in some countries, more than half of women have lost a child. In contrast to traditional measures of infant and child mortality, the study captures the cumulative impact of child loss through a mother’s lifetime. … … Published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, the first-of-its-kind study uses two decades of data from 20 countries in sub-Saharan Africa. The researchers found that more than half of 45- to 49-year-old mothers have experienced the death of a child under age five. Nearly two-thirds have experienced the death of any child, irrespective of age. “In the shadows of very high child mortality rates that the global health community typically focuses on, are all these grieving parents that never receive any attention,” said lead author Emily Smith-Greenaway, assistant professor of sociology at the USC Dornsife College of Letters, Arts and Sciences. “These results increase our recognition of bereavement as itself a public health threat—one that’s unfairly concentrated in low-income regions of the world.”
African Union summit (Addis, 9-10 Feb)
AU Summit: Guterres calls for ‘collective, comprehensive, coordinated’ response to challenges facing Africa
https://news.un.org/en/story/2020/02/1057011
“
The challenges facing African nations are “complex, multi-faceted and far-reaching" but a “collective, comprehensive and coordinated” response by the global community will build on the momentum that already exists to help the continent thrive, the UN chief told the African Union Summit on Sunday.”
AU -
First Continental Report on the Implementation of Agenda 2063
As a reminder
: “The January 2013 African Union Summit adopted Agenda 2063 – “The Africa We Want” – as Africa’s blueprint and master plan for sustainable development and economic growth of the continent. … …. against this background the African Union Commission (AUC) and the African Union Development Agency-NEPAD (AUDA-NEPAD) were tasked with coordinating continental-level progress reports towards achieving Agenda 2063’s First Ten-Year Implementation Plan. This report is a consolidation and evidence-based assessment of country and regional-level progress reports on Agenda 2063, complemented with interventions and results achieved at the regional and continental level.”
New Times -
Africa to create health financing hubs
“
In a bid to increase spending on healthcare in Africa, the African Union (AU) is expected to establish health financing hubs across the continent. This was revealed on Monday, February 10 on the sidelines of the 33rd African Union Summit in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. In a speech that was read by Rwanda’s Foreign Affairs Minister, Vincent Biruta, on behalf of President Paul Kagame, the Minister said it was critical to support member countries to achieve universal health coverage. “Therefore, it is very important that regional health financing hubs are in the process of being established to support Member States,” the speech read in part. According to the speech, a ‘Partnership Forum with Regional Economic Communities’ was convened in November 2019 to discuss the hosting of the regional hubs….”
New Times -
Reproductive health: First Lady pushes for policy shift in Africa
“
First Lady (i.e. from Rwanda) Jeannette Kagame has said that policy reforms, youth engagement and partnerships are key to enhancing adolescents’ sexual and reproductive health in Africa….”
Trump budget request 2021 & global health
Devex - New year, similar budget request aims to slash aid budget
https://www.devex.com/news/new-year-similar-budget-request-aims-to-slash-aid-budget-96547
Here we go again… “
The Trump administration released its fiscal year 2021 budget request Monday, which once again called for significant cuts to foreign aid, cuts that development experts said are likely to be dismissed by Congress as they have been in the past several years. The proposal calls for $44.1 billion in foreign aid spending in FY2021, a reduction of more than 20% from the $55.7 billion approved for FY2020. Included in the budget request are several proposals to consolidate different spending accounts and significant cuts to both global health and humanitarian assistance….”
See also
Foreign Policy -
Trump Seeks to Halve U.S. Funding for World Health Organization as Coronavirus Rages “The president’s new budget would cut more than $3 billion in global health programs.”
The dickhead.
For more
detailed analysis (and breakdown of funding requests for various US global health programs), see
KFF -
White House Releases FY21 Budget Request
PS: one of the few positive exceptions:
GAVI -
United States endorses Gavi with recommendation of US$ 1.16 billion, four-year commitment Exceeding the previous pledge in 2015.
Some papers and reports of the week
Lancet Comment – Learning health systems: an empowering agenda for low-income and middle-income countries
Kabir Sheikh et al ;
https://www.thelancet.com/journals/lancet/article/PIIS0140-6736(19)33134-4/fulltext
“
Institutions in high-income countries (HICs) are the main funders and generators of academic knowledge on health systems in low-income and middle-income countries (LMICs), and much too often this knowledge reflects their priorities rather than the needs of health systems in LMICs. This power imbalance between HICs and LMICs has been the focus of calls for reforms to global and HIC institutions. However, change must also come from within LMICs. To address this power imbalance, learning must be prioritised as a core part of strengthening health systems in LMICs….”
Read what this entails.
BMJ Global Health (Editorial) – Making sense of estimates of health aid from China
K K McDade et al ;
https://gh.bmj.com/content/5/2/e002261
Their conclusion: “
China has become a major player in the global development financing landscape. But due to limited data transparency, there are significant differences in the methodological approaches used to generate existing estimates of health aid from China. And so, it is important to exercise caution when comparing and reporting these estimates. Coherent approaches to estimating Chinese aid for health could improve alignment between China and other donors and allow for more efficient resource allocation by both fellow donors and recipient countries. Further, enhanced data transparency could also help mitigate some of the reputational risks that China has incurred recently. However, despite differences and room for growth, the existing estimates paint a consistent picture: China’s role in global health is no longer ‘emerging’. It has arrived. »
WHO Strategic Meeting on Social Determinants of Health (final summary)
https://www.who.int/social_determinants/strategic-meeting/Meeting_summaryv3.pdf?ua=1
“
This report summarises discussions from the WHO Strategic Meeting on Social Determinants of Health (SDH) that took place in Geneva on 12-13 September 2019.”
“
The overall objectives of this meeting were: to review developments in the field of SDH since the Commission on the Social Determinants of Health (CSDH) (see: Closing the gap in a generation: health equity through action on the social determinants of health (2008); and to identify key areas of work and activities for the new WHO Department of SDH.”
JAMA Forum - Legal Solutions for Universal Health Coverage
L Gostin;
https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jama/fullarticle/2760725
Must-read. Among others, with a concise overview of the
3 core legal determinants of health:
“…health laws must fulfill each element of universal health coverage, health systems must be well governed, and public officials must abide by the rule of law.”
BMJ Global Health (Analysis) - Strengthening medical specialisation policy in low-income and middle-income countries
V Sriram & S Bennett;
https://gh.bmj.com/content/5/2/e002053
“
The availability of medical specialists has accelerated in low-income and middle-income countries (LMICs), driven by factors including epidemiological and demographic shifts, doctors’ preferences for postgraduate training, income growth and medical tourism. Yet, despite some policy efforts to increase access to specialists in rural health facilities and improve referral systems, many policy questions are still underaddressed or unaddressed in LMIC health sectors, including in the context of universal health coverage. … ….
In this article, we describe three critical policy questions on medical specialties and health systems with the aim of provoking further analysis, discussion and policy formulation: (1) What types, and how many specialists to train? (2) How to link specialists’ production and deployment to health systems strengthening and population health? (3) How to develop and strengthen institutions to steer specialisation policy? We posit that further analysis, discussion and policy formulation addressing these questions presents an important opportunity to explicitly determine and strengthen the linkages between specialists, health systems and health equity.”
Final ODA data for 2018
https://devinit.org/publications/final-oda-data-2018/
“
This factsheet presents analysis of the OECD DAC’s release of final official development assistance (ODA) data for 2018. It shows how much was given and in what form, as well as a breakdown of recipient countries and sectors, and whether donor countries disbursed funds to projects focused on climate or gender….”
“…
ODA spending to sectors key for strengthening human capital – health, education and social protection – is decreasing as a share of total ODA….”
HP&P - Community engagement for health system resilience: evidence from Liberia’s Ebola epidemic
K Barker, M Kruk et al;
https://academic.oup.com/heapol/advance-article/doi/10.1093/heapol/czz174/5732805?searchresult=1
“
The importance of community engagement (CE) for health system resilience is established in theoretical and empirical literature. The practical dimensions of how to operationalize theory and implement its principles have been less explored, especially within low-resource crisis settings. It is therefore unclear how CE is drawn upon and how, if at all, it facilitates health system resilience in times of health system crises. To address this critical gap, we adapt and apply existing theoretical CE frameworks to analyse qualitative data from 92 in-depth interviews and 16 focus group discussions collected with health system stakeholders in Liberia in the aftermath of the 2014–15 Ebola outbreak. Health system stakeholders indicated that CE was a crucial contributing factor in addressing the Ebola epidemic in Liberia. Multiple forms of CE were used during the outbreak; however, only some forms were perceived as meaningful, such as the formation of community-based surveillance teams….”
Lancet Infectious Diseases (Editorial) - Staying on target
https://www.thelancet.com/journals/laninf/article/PIIS1473-3099(20)30008-6/fulltext
Editorial of the
new February issue of Lancet Infectious Diseases. “
In the Editorial in last month's issue we discussed the possibility of targeting malaria eradication, and in the November, 2019, issue we looked at progress towards the target of eradicating dracunculiasis. The start of a new decade is an appropriate time to take stock of past targets for infectious diseases' control and reflect on the value and appropriateness of future goals….”
A few blogs and mainstream articles of the week
Lancet Offline: How to defeat political populism
R Horton;
https://www.thelancet.com/journals/lancet/article/PIIS0140-6736(20)30363-9/fulltext
Horton gives the background here of
Lancet Migration. “
At last week's Global Health Lab, held at the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine, we asked, “What is the impact of populism on global health?” Tim Haughton, Jonathan Kennedy, Chiara Rinaldi, and Martin McKee sought to answer that question with an audience of the School's students and faculty….”
“
The political weaponisation of migration is a threat to ideas of universality, equity, and justice, ideas that are central to our concepts of health and health care. According to the International Organization for Migration (IOM), there are 272 million international migrants today—people living in a country other than their own. The IOM emphasises how small this number is: just 3·5% of the world's population. But that figure still represents over half the population of the European Union. It is a vast signal of human vulnerability. … … Last week, The Lancet announced the launch of Lancet Migration, a new global collaboration to advance migration health. This initiative follows the 2018 publication of our UCL–Lancet Commission on Migration and Health, chaired by Ibrahim Abubakar. Miriam Orcutt is Lancet Migration's Executive Director and she will lead a programme of work on migration's intersection with universal health coverage, the climate emergency, and gender. The academic community can't retreat in the face of extreme political populism, which is fuelling racism, xenophobia, and hate. We have to do something. Lancet Migration is our effort to resist. Please join us.
PS: While I certainly agree migration is a key element in the rise of political populism, it’s not the only one. I miss this (i.e. the importance of also making the world socio-economically fairer) a bit in Horton’s piece.
You might want to read together with a new
Guardian Longread -
The trouble with anti-populism: why the champions of civility keep losing.
HSG blog – It’s time to get the right balance for women in science and research
https://www.healthsystemsglobal.org/blog/391/It-s-time-to-get-TheRightBalance-for-women-in-science-and-research.html
“…
To promote the roles and contributions of women in HPSR and to demand more actions to tackle the structural barriers facing women in the field and beyond, Health Systems Global (HSG) has been planning the campaign: ‘Getting the balance right: Addressing gender power relations in and beyond health systems research.’…”
CGD (blog) - “Reasonable” Health Technology Assessment: What Does It Require?
J Lakin & K Chalkidou;
https://www.cgdev.org/blog/reasonable-health-technology-assessment-what-does-it-require
“
Governments are under continuous pressure to make difficult trade-offs about the use of scarce public resources. This applies to the budget as a whole, but also within sectors like health. “
Health Financing in Africa (blog) – Call it bananas, I don’t care
G van Heteren;
http://www.healthfinancingafrica.org/home/call-it-bananas-i-dont-care
10 years of PBF is being celebrated. The whole year, blogs will be published – with this one (by G van Heteren) kicking off the series.
“
After a few decades of practical experience, we can safely say that Performance-Based Financing (PBF) can be a powerful approach, but only if we keep agile on updating it. Call it bananas, I don’t care…but in moving PBF/RBF let’s be clear and constantly critical about the basics, brace ourselves for the serious battles, be honest about money and power, and act collectively…”
PS: Health Financing in Africa also started another series of blogs – #
10ans du Rapport Mondial sur la Couverture Sanitaire Universelle. 1st contribution by Léonard Ntakarutimana (in French) -
Le rapport OMS 2010 sur le financement des systèmes de santé et la couverture sanitaire universelle: quelles résultats pour les populations africaines?
Open Democracy - If work dominated your every moment, would life be worth living?
https://www.opendemocracy.net/en/transformation/if-work-dominated-your-every-moment-would-life-be-worth-living/
Important read, certainly for all the (/us) workaholics in global health …”
An obsession with work causes needless human suffering and immiserates our imagination.”
Excerpt: “…‘
Total work’, a term coined by the German philosopher Josef Pieper just after the Second World War in his book Leisure: The Basis of Culture (1948), is the process by which human beings are transformed into workers and nothing else. By this means, work will ultimately become total, I argue, when it is the centre around which all of human life turns; when everything else is put in its service; when leisure, festivity and play come to resemble and then become work; when there remains no further dimension to life beyond work; when humans fully believe that we were born only to work; and when other ways of life, existing before total work won out, disappear completely from cultural memory. We are on the verge of total work’s realisation. Each day I speak with people for whom work has come to control their lives, making their world into a task, their thoughts an unspoken burden….”
Katri Bertram - Engaging in women's networks does not exclude engaging with men
https://katribertram.wordpress.com/2020/02/11/engaging-in-womens-networks-does-not-exclude-engaging-with-men/
Among others on the importance of being mentored by women. “….
What I do hope, though, is that younger men also look for (female) role models and mentors….”
PS:
Katri also wrote another blog
- Founder's Syndrome in Global Health (or as others call it,
‘Initiavitis’).
Social Watch – UN 2020: Between ‘Likes’ and love
R Bissio;
http://www.socialwatch.org/node/18408
"Last year over 200 defenders of Human Rights and the environment were killed in Latin America. They gave their lives for their communities and for the principles that the United Nations stands for. And yet, the statistical framework for the SDGs tells us that the “partnerships” that should contribute to achieve sustainable development will be measured by the dollars they mobilized. The blood spilled by our friends and colleagues doesn't count." During a debate over the 75th anniversary of the UN, at the Pyeong Chang Peace Forum, Social Watch coordinator Roberto Bissio expressed the frustrations of civil society over the lack of meaningful interaction with the UN.”
IHP – The ‘Down’ side to the 2020 Oscars
S Nagesh;
https://www.internationalhealthpolicies.org/featured-article/the-down-side-to-the-2020-oscars/
Shubha Nagesh describes what stood out for her at this year’s Oscar ceremony: “…
when The Peanut Butter Falcon actor Zack Gottsagen took the stage with his co-star Shia La-Beouf, to become the first presenter with Down syndrome in the ceremony’s history.” And links this to the situation in India, where she works:
“In India, and specifically where I work, Uttarakhand, the Himalayan state of India, we don’t see enough inclusion in society for persons with disabilities (particularly for young adults)….”
Why Is Bloomberg's Long History of Egregious Sexism Getting a Pass?
https://www.gq.com/story/bloomberg-sexism
If I’m correct, Bloomberg is some sort of ‘
global health champion’.
“
The surging Democratic presidential candidate has fielded some 40 sexual harassment and discrimination lawsuits brought against him and his organizations over decades.”
Tweets of the week
Richard Horton
“I’m in a place where I’m not allowed to say who is present. And someone has just said: “I’m tired of the SDGs.” Five years in, a decade to go, and still with no serious understanding of the meaning of sustainability, isn’t this rather shocking? “
Jason Hickel
“Words that are not mentioned in the Paris Agreement text: -coal -oil -gas -fossil fuels This has to change. We need legally binding commitments to scale down fossil fuels with concrete, annual targets. And we need them this year.”
David Wallace-Wells
“Four of the six countries most skeptical of capitalism are the BRICs—for about a generation the poster children of globalization-driven growth.” (Tweet related to WEF -
These countries think capitalism does more harm than good )
