PMAC 2020 in Bangkok (28 Jan-2 Feb)
https://pmac2020.com/site
- Of course, we also warmly recommend Renzo Guinto’s eloquent take on the PMAC conference - UHC in the age of the coronavirus (on IHP) : “…if there ever was a time that “UHC meets global health security”, it was probably now….”
· WHO Bulletin - Special theme: accelerating universal health coverage
https://www.who.int/bulletin/volumes/98/2/en/
Special issue, launched at PMAC in Bangkok. Do start with the
editorials, among others
Universal health coverage: time to deliver on political promises (by Viroj T**************** et al).
But do check out the rest of the issue as well, certainly including
Other considerations than: how much will universal health coverage cost? (By Sarah Barber et al)
Duke – Decolonizing Global Health 2020 event (31 Jan)
You can
re-watch this event from last week here:
https://trinity.capture.duke.edu/Panopto/Pages/Viewer.aspx?id=4e30fb6f-ef1e-4653-bf3c-ab4c0152496d
Well worth it, we’ve been told!
To give you a flavor, a quote on
Seye Abimbola’s lecture: “
Decolonizing anything is something of the long haul, not a hype, not a buzzword, but a tough continuous endeavour in which nobody is innocent.”
146th WHO EB meeting (Geneva, 3-8 February)
https://www.who.int/about/governance/executive-board/executive-board-146th-session
We’ll cover in steno-style – with the idea that you can click on the links if you want to know more. We definitely recommend the (excellent and daily )
HPW coverage.
HPW – What To Watch At The Executive Board: Emergencies, Universal Health Coverage & Eliminating Cervical Cancer
https://www.healthpolicy-watch.org/what-to-watch-at-the-executive-board-emergencies-universal-health-coverage-eliminating-cervical-cancer/
Analysis ahead of the WHO EB meeting: “
This week’s Executive Board meeting features a heavy agenda of topics, including a review of progress in WHO’s flagship Universal Health Coverage (UHC) initiative; steps taken to confront the burgeoning coronavirus health emergency; and review of a first-ever WHO strategy to eliminate cervical cancer. …” “
Debates over the long-term challenges posed by drug resistant pathogens and access to medicines among the world’s poorest populations are also on the docket. Here is a rundown of the key items on the agenda, and what to watch:…”
Civil society & the EB meeting
The second issue – on
WHO’s engagement with non-state actors – already proved very tricky this time (with among others,
‘tickets’ for civil society to speak – very briefly)…. It seems
space for civil society is decreasing, also in Geneva…
On this issue, read also (
Third World Network) for an in-depth report -
WHO: Secretariat Proposes Curtailment of CSO Participation in Governing Body meetings?
A few other links via TWN:
WHO Secretariat bypasses FENSA restrictions on private sector secondments
WHO Secretariat documents silent on patent barriers to scale up drug resistant TB treatment
Full report by DG Tedros at the start of the board meeting
WHO -
Report of the Director-General, 146th Meeting of the Executive Board
You know you have to read this. Account by Tedros on the past year, through WHO’s eyes.
For a quick summary, see
HPW -
WHO Head Praises China Response To Coronavirus Emergency; Criticizes “Unnecessary” Trade and Travel Restrictions
“
World Health Organization Director General Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus called for “solidarity, solidarity and solidarity” amongst WHO member states to meet the new challenge of a novel coronavirus epidemic – at Monday’s opening of a week-long meeting of WHO’s Executive Board in Geneva. “The rule of the game is solidarity, solidarity, solidarity. But we see this missing in many corners, and that has to be addressed,” he said, speaking before the 34-member governing board….”
Daily HPW (and other) coverage of EB agenda items
“
A crisis management cell at the United Nations Secretariat level is being created to support global management of the novel coronavirus outbreak, World Health Organization officials said this evening….”
Estimate
: “… the overall cost of scaling up epidemic response in low income settings for the coming months would be about US $ 675 million, while WHO has immediate needs of about US $61.5 million. Ryan said that WHO was exploring with the World Bank and other partners how to release global emergency and pandemic funds to low-income countries and fragile states for their response….”
“
To help countries cope, WHO on Tuesday held a briefing with all 150 WHO country offices worldwide, Dr Tedros said. From now on, the agency will also conduct daily media briefings about new developments in the emergency….”
See also
HPW - WHO Calls for US $675 million To Combat Coronavirus
“…
WHO issued a call to the global community to come forward with US$ 675 million in funding to help some 60 low- and middle-income countries that are at significant risk of infection with the novel coronavirus that originated in Wuhan China prepare for possible outbreaks. … … the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation had already stepped up with a US$ 100 million contribution to the plan, for research and evaluation of new diagnostics, medicines and vaccines for the novel virus, dubbed 2019-nCoV….”
On the latter, see also Devex
- Coronavirus: Gates gives $100 million to prevent virus spread
And see
WHO for more detail on the plan
- US$675 million needed for new coronavirus preparedness and response global plan
“
The Strategic Preparedness and Response Plan (SPRP) for the new coronavirus lays out activities and resources needed by international health organizations globally, including WHO, to implement priority public health measures in support of countries to prepare and respond to nCoV-2019 for a period February-April 2020. The objectives of the plan are to limit human-to-human transmission of the virus, particularly in countries most vulnerable if they were to face an outbreak; identify, isolate and care for patients early; communicate critical risk and event information; minimize social and economic impact; reduce virus spread from animal sources; and address crucial unknowns. The plan focuses on: Rapidly establishing international coordination and operational support; Scaling up country readiness and response operations; Accelerating priority research and innovation.”
Announcement of a meeting next week. “
Hundreds of experts will meet in Geneva next (week) Tuesday and Wednesday to set research and development priorities for coronavirus drugs, diagnostics and vaccines to combat the outbreak, the World Health Organization (WHO) said on Wednesday. “There are no proven effective therapeutics for novel coronavirus,” Dr. Mike Ryan, executive director of WHO emergencies programme, told a news conference. …”
So WHO played down news that there’s already major progress on the treatment front.
“
The World Health Organization’s Executive Board tackled two big issues today – primary health care, a cornerstone of WHO’s Universal Health Coverage platform, and cancer, the world’s second leading cause of premature deaths. In a comprehensive report released on World Cancer Day, WHO outlined an action plan that could save 7 million lives from cancer in the next decade – a framework that includes recommendations on prevention policies, expansion of screening and early treatment services at the primary care level, and guidance on financing cancer interventions and price transparency for cancer therapeutics. The 149-page report, launched in parallel with a whopping 613-page companion report by the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC), was launched Tuesday. Shortly afterward, the WHO Executive Board reviewed and tacitly endorsed a new WHO operational plan for dramatically scaling up Primary Health Care services in countries worldwide….”
We come back briefly on
World Cancer Day below.
(recommended read) “
The elements are all in place for expanding universal health coverage – what’s missing is more action at the country level, World Health Organization Director General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus told the WHO Executive Board on Wednesday. “All the political work is actually done now,” Dr. Tedros said. He was reporting on WHO action since the September 2019 Political Declaration of the United Nations High-Level Meeting on Universal Health Coverage, which followed up on the 2018 Astana Declaration on Primary Health Care. The Executive Board report outlined the next steps WHO will be taking to help member states expand access to quality health services, despite the many infrastructure and funding challenges that exist at national level. One cornerstone of efforts will be the creation of a WHO Special Programme on Primary Health Care as a “one-stop” mechanism for providing support to member states on the scale-up of the most critical layer of health systems, which is regarded as a cornerstone of UHC. …”
“…
The report called for government to increase spending on primary health care by at least 1 percent of their GPD in order to achieve health targets by 2030. … … A group of prominent EB members, led by Indonesia, called on fellow member states to step up sustainable funding for health systems. Indonesia made the call on behalf of the Foreign Policy and Global Health Initiative composed of Brazil, France, Indonesia, Norway, Senegal, South Africa, and Thailand….”
PS: Other links from the EB meeting so far:
HPW -
United States Calls For WHO Guidance On Coronavirus Travel Restrictions; US CDC Official Raises “Pandemic” Possibility
“
As the number of novel coronavirus infections rose again on Thursday – to 28,060 confirmed cases in China and 225 abroad – a US Centers for Disease Control official raised the possible spectre that the epidemic could become a global “pandemic” – if countries fail to take assertive action now.”
WHO -
WHO to accelerate research and innovation for new coronavirus
“ WHO is convening a global research and innovation forum to mobilize international action in response to the new coronavirus (2019-nCoV). "Harnessing the power of science is critical for bringing this outbreak under control," said WHO Director-General Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus. “There are questions we need answers to, and tools we need developed as quickly as possible. WHO is playing an important coordinating role by bringing the scientific community together to identify research priorities and accelerate progress.” The forum, to be held 11-12 February in Geneva, is organized in collaboration with the Global Research Collaboration for Infectious Disease Preparedness….”
Measles & Meningitis Elimination – WHO EB Sets Direction For Next Decade Of Vaccines Action (HPW)
HPW -
Controversy Swirls Over WHO Alcohol Reduction Strategy
Coronavirus outbreak/epidemic/’not yet pandemic’
We will not try to cover everything here, there are just too many good reads on the Coronavirus these days, from various angles. Instead, we will point to
some reads that caught our attention for one reason or another (with very brief info each time). They are more or less
organized by theme.
As of today, there were
more than 630 deaths already (almost exclusively in China).
But let us first flag again that for
great (daily) updates, we recommend
Stat News &
Cidrap News, among others. More easily digestible also than the
WHO updates on the coronavirus 😊.
Having said that, WHO does its utmost to provide good and updated information and is doing a great job, also on the information front.
WHO tackles “infodemic” (among others, via cooperation with tech giants)
“
The World Health Organization’s digital health team has been working to help combat misinformation about the 2019 novel coronavirus. And they are working with technology companies to ensure search engines show results with reliable and accurate health information. “The good news is that the tech giants are collaborating with us to improve the situation,” said Bernardo Mariano, WHO CIO and director the department of digital health and innovation….”
See also a tweet: “
Compliments to @WHO and @google for creating an “SOS Alert” to help support good communications on #coronavirus. Search for coronavirus on Google and you see several layers of content either from WHO or reputable news sites. #2019nCoV”
See also the
Daily Mail -
Google launches 'SOS Alert' for coronavirus in search results to provide users with tips and information from the World Health Organisation on how to stay safe
And
NYT - WHO fights a pandemic besides coronavirus: an 'infodemic'
Possible scenarios (& other speculation on future of virus )
(5 Feb) “
The World Health Organization (WHO) says there is a "window of opportunity" to stop the deadly new coronavirus becoming a broader global crisis. Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said the steps China took to fight the virus at its epicentre were a good way of stopping its spread….”
“The WHO has declared a global health emergency over the outbreak but said it did not yet constitute a "pandemic", or the worldwide spread of a new disease…”
“There is still reason to believe the growing coronavirus outbreak in China can be contained, a top World Health Organization official said Saturday, pointing to some evidence that the disease may not be spreading as rapidly as is feared. He also downplayed reports that people infected with the virus may be contagious before they show symptoms — a feature that, if true, would make it much harder to control….”
- But many experts (no doubt also at WHO itself) are worried that a second scenario might materialize, and that the virus can’t be contained :
Some reads:
Stat -
Experts envision two scenarios if the new coronavirus isn’t contained “…What will a world with endemic 2019-nCoV — circulating permanently in the human population — be like? …” Check out the two scenarios put forward by experts.
NYT –
Wuhan Coronavirus Looks Increasingly Like a Pandemic, Experts Say
(must-read, by
Donald McNeil jr. (2 Feb)) “
Rapidly rising caseloads alarm researchers, who fear the virus may make its way across the globe. But scientists cannot yet predict how many deaths may result.”
Science News (report) (5 Feb) -
‘This beast is moving very fast.’ Will the new coronavirus be contained—or go pandemic? Opinions differ.
Guardian -
'Hidden' coronavirus cases could thwart containment efforts, experts warn
“
Failure to report mild symptoms combined with highly contagious nature of disease raises fears existing figures are ‘tip of the iceberg’.”
Search for vaccines (& other scientific news)
As you know, this is not IHP’s niche. So just some reads perhaps to give you a flavour:
(
interview with the CEPI ceo, Richard Hatchett): “ …
about CEPI’s strategy for helping the world develop a vaccine for the masses in the midst of an emergency, a challenge he called “the hardest problem that I have ever dealt with in my career.””
See also
CEPI and GSK announce collaboration to strengthen the global effort to develop a vaccine for the 2019-nCoV virus
- NYT - Why the New Coronavirus (Mostly) Spares Children “ So far, very few young children seem to be falling ill. The pattern was seen in outbreaks of SARS and MERS, too.” “The new coronavirus has infected more than 28,000 people, and at least 563 have died. But relatively few children appear to have developed severe symptoms so far, according to the available data. “The median age of patients is between 49 and 56 years,” according to a report published on Wednesday in JAMA. “Cases in children have been rare.”…”
- The Telegraph - Doctors stress good recovery rates to quell rising panic about the spread of the disease Among others, on “an experimental treatment: a broad spectrum antiviral called remdesivi This was initially developed to treat Ebola and it has been used in patients when the virus lingers in parts of the body such as the testes, brain and eyes. Researchers hope to start clinical trials on the drug, developed by pharmaceutical giant Gilead, within the next week or so….”
See also
Antiviral drug Remdesivir to be applied in clinical trials Thursday and in
NYT -
China begins testing an antiviral drug in coronavirus patients (remdesivir)
“Experts believe a unique genetic quirk means bats can tolerate more viruses than other mammals.”
Some reactions and first responses from big institutions and organisations
But (see Artemis (3 Feb)),
No coronavirus price response from World Bank’s pandemic cat bond yet “
The developing and still worsening outbreak of a novel coronavirus in China has not yet caused any price response from the World Bank’s pandemic catastrophe bond transaction.”
Meanwhile, for a view from the stock markets, see
FT Health -
Coronavirus strikes World Bank’s 2017 catastrophe bonds (gated) “
Originally scheduled to mature in July this year, they are teetering on the edge of default.”
“…Nobody expected coronavirus to come along. Even though China and most of its neighbours are not eligible for PEF payouts, the 2019 nCoV deaths count when the PEF bond triggers are calculated. Pay-off on the risky tranche of the July maturity looks increasingly uncertain. The World Bank’s “gamble” on a pandemic may not have been so “terrible” after all. New pandemic bond issues would probably require even more lavish terms, assuming that would be politically possible….”
“
The Group of Seven leading industrialized democracies are seeking a unified procedure to tackle the fast-spreading new coronavirus, German Health Minister Jens Spahn said on Sunday. A spokesman for the Health Ministry confirmed that Spahn had told reporters that he had spoken to U.S. Health Secretary Alex Azar to look for a joint approach and they had agreed to hold a conference all among G7 countries….”
- PS: no news yet from the G20.
On WHO’s tricky diplomatic relationship with China (and criticism of it)
“
World Health Organization Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus has called on the international community to focus on taking actions to prevent the further spread of the novel coronavirus outbreak, instead of speculating on what China did or did not do in the early days of the outbreak. “I cannot say they hid or they didn’t,” said the WHO chief during a press conference on Wednesday in Geneva, Switzerland, in response to a question referring to comments made by John MacKenzie, emeritus professor at Curtin University in Australia, and a member of the emergency committee of the International Health Regulations advising the WHO chief on the 2019-nCoV outbreak….”
One of the
must-reads of the week, by P Beaumont. Very sharp analysis of how WHO (and dr Tedros) face a difficult situation (with China and its leaders) which they must carefully navigate. WHO very much needs a cooperative China.
In general, China gets most criticism for
what happened in the early days of the outbreak (December 2019, most probably, in Wuhan); for possible
human rights infringements of its current mass quarantine; and for
Taiwan’s position in WHO. Also
general governance flaws of its system are being attacked.
Some more reads on these lines of criticism:
NYT -
Coronavirus Crisis Shows China’s Governance Failure
“As the Communist Party cements control, more officials worry about pleasing their bosses than taking care of the people.”
Reuters
- Taiwan calls China 'vile' for limiting WHO access during virus outbreak
“
Taiwan dramatically escalated its war of words with Beijing on Tuesday over the island’s exclusion from the World Health Organisation, saying “vile” China was preventing Taiwan from getting timely information about the coronavirus outbreak. Taiwan is not a WHO member because of China’s objections. Beijing says the island is a wayward Chinese province and is adequately represented in the organization by China. Taiwan says it is not and has never been part of the People’s Republic of China.
China told the WHO on Monday that it had shared full information about the coronavirus with Taiwan, and that outbreak communication had been “smooth” between the two sides….”
See also Reuters -
U.S. clashes with China over Taiwan's place at the WHO table.
BBC News -
Coronavirus: China admits 'shortcomings and deficiencies'
(even self-criticism by Xi et al): “
China's top leadership has admitted "shortcomings and deficiencies" in the country's response to the deadly coronavirus outbreak. The rare admission came from the Politburo Standing Committee, which called for an improvement in China's emergency management system. It also ordered a "severe" crackdown on illegal wildlife markets - where the virus is thought to have emerged….” They see this also as a test for China’s governance system.
Guardian -
China's reaction to the coronavirus outbreak violates human rights
The Conversation -
Coronavirus outbreak: quarantining millions in China is unprecedented and wrong
FT Health -
Coronavirus: the cost of China’s public health cover-up
PS: meanwhile,
WHO is sending a delegation to China (even including some American experts) – see
the Hill.
China’s clout & different responses countries to the coronavirus
Bloomberg -
China’s Massive Economic Power Shapes Global Response to Virus
“
As countries around the world enact measures to stop the spread of the deadly coronavirus outbreak, there’s an additional factor shaping their response: China’s enormous economic clout. While wealthy countries such as the U.S. and Australia -- both key trading partners of China -- are currently barring entry to all non-resident travelers from the mainland as the virus spreads and fatalities rise, less developed countries that rely on Beijing are taking a softer approach as they balance public health concerns, the potential economic fallout and domestic political consequences….”
See also
NYT - Quieter Response to Coronavirus in Countries Where China Holds Sway “
Top officials in Southeast Asia have played down the threat of the virus and shied away from travel bans….”
Response LMICs & Africa in particular
As you know, a key concern of Tedros & WHO.
FT –
African coronavirus fears grow
(gated) “
Africa ramps up coronavirus preparations as fears grow. US warns that continent could become ‘soft underbelly’ of the deadly outbreak.”
Guardian (4 Feb) -
African countries rush to reinforce 'fragile' defences against coronavirus In strong collaboration with WHO and other international actors.
See also
WHO Afro -
The African region reinforces preparedness for novel coronavirus
And the
Washington Post – “…
medical teams from 15 African nations are convening in Dakar on Thursday for an emergency workshop on the first layer of readiness: diagnosing the new virus. WHO officials said 24 countries, encompassing most of Africa’s population, will receive the material needed to conduct the tests by the end of the week…” “
See also
Le Monde (in French
) - Coronavirus : à Dakar, l’Institut Pasteur organise la riposte africaine
«
De jeudi à samedi, l’Institut Pasteur de Dakar (IPD) recevra en effet les représentants de laboratoires de quinze pays africains pour un atelier de formation continental. »
AllAfrica -
Nigeria, 5 Other African Countries Can Diagnose Coronavirus - WHO (5 Feb)
And via
Cidrap – “…
Early on in the outbreak, only two labs in Africa—located in Senegal and South Africa—could test samples. Now the testing can be done in four more countries: Ghana, Madagascar, Nigeria, and Sierra Leone, according to a statement yesterday from the WHO's African regional office. Eventually, 29 countries in Africa will have diagnostic testing capacity. …”
CGD (blog) -
Coronavirus and Low-Income Countries: Ready to Respond?
By
A Glassman. After pointing out the vulnerability of health systems in LMICs, she points to a
Pandemic Preparedness Challenge Fund (in the second half of the blog) as potential way forward.
On the US response so far & the tricky relationship between the US and China
As Laurie Garrett pointed out, if the US (and Trump in particular) aren’t careful, they might blow up what remains of a ‘relationship’ with China through the way they’re “handling” the outbreak.
A few reads:
“As it improvises its way through a public health crisis, the United States has never been less prepared for a pandemic.”
“
For the United States, the answers are especially worrying because the government has intentionally rendered itself incapable. In 2018, the Trump administration fired the government’s entire pandemic response chain of command, including the White House management infrastructure. In numerous phone calls and emails with key agencies across the U.S. government, the only consistent response I encountered was distressed confusion. If the United States still has a clear chain of command for pandemic response, the White House urgently needs to clarify what it is —not just for the public but for the government itself, which largely finds itself in the dark….”
Must-read analyses of the coronavirus (with focus on governance issues)
But first an absolute must-read from another (
equity) angle. “
One aspect of the 2019 novel coronavirus (2019-nCoV) outbreak has been surprisingly overlooked. What is life like for those quarantined in Chinese cities? Here is an extract from one correspondent, received on Feb 2, in an email entitled, “A desperate plea from an ordinary citizen in China”. I have edited the text only slightly for clarity.” Poignant.
Excerpt: “…
The bottom line is, a large population in China is suffering, not just from the virus but from the resulting isolation, high uncertainty, anxiety, and stress, reduced resources and freedom for daily living, and loss of income. And the point on income really should be considered. With weak social protection in China, in conjunction with the estimate of 60% of labour engaged in the informal economy in Asian and Pacific developing countries (according to the International Labour Organization), lack of employment benefits and protection renders people extremely vulnerable to crises, such as the current one….”
“Worldwide political commitment to pandemic preparedness is essential”
“
The 2019 flagship report of the Global Preparedness Monitoring Board, A World at Risk, made it clear that the key question is not whether there will be a global pandemic, but when. While scientists and public health professionals are working non-stop to contain the novel coronavirus 2019-nCoV, political scientists, economists, and sociologists should also ready themselves for rapid response. The current outbreak that originated from Wuhan, China, first recognised barely a month ago, is very different from other outbreaks in terms of scale, connectivity, and political implications. It will teach us important lessons about preparedness but also about the response to outbreaks in different political systems within a new geopolitical world order.” Very neat analysis. Don’t know why they insist on (still) calling China a “developing country”, though.
For a somewhat related read, see The Atlantic -
The New Coronavirus Is a Truly Modern Epidemic
By
Ed Yong: “New diseases are mirrors that reflect how a society works—and where it fails.”
With more nuance than the current ‘yes-no’ of PHEIC.
“
There are two different outbreaks: one outbreak of a coronavirus, and one of viral fake-news, argue
Clare Wenham and colleagues.”
Karan on the rising Sinophobia.
“…
The speed with which the sequence of 2019-nCoV has been shared is a potent reminder of how we should avoid tying up the research community in red tape when we are in a race to find a new vaccine or treatment for a new virus or other pathogen. But that is precisely what a legally binding international agreement, the Nagoya Protocol on Access and Benefit Sharing, has inadvertently ended up doing. This supplementary international agreement to the Convention on Biological Diversity could make it extraordinarily difficult to conduct disease surveillance or forge research collaborations around the world. The Nagoya Protocol has the laudable aim of giving each country sovereignty over its biological resources. But this could hinder, or even prevent, the global collaboration required to find new treatments or vaccines….” Do note the author, though.
“
Gender inequities make outbreaks worse, so why not integrate gender analysis into the response now to help save lives?”
(by
Arne Ruckert et al) Among others, they emphasize the importance of
One Health governance.
“
Most of the world's supply of masks and respirators comes from China, and a supply chain gap poses a risk to everyday health care beyond the viral epidemic.”
PEPFAR
Devex – PEPFAR seeks coordination with other aid donors, says US AIDS chief
Devex;
“
Ambassador Deborah Birx, the U.S. global AIDS coordinator, says she is not worried about the Trump administration’s repeated proposals to slash her budget, but that is not stopping her from looking for other sources of funding wherever she can find them. This year, for the first time, the President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief is actively pursuing opportunities to enlist other countries’ official development assistance in its efforts to control the epidemic, Birx said in a discussion with Devex President and Editor-in-Chief Raj Kumar on Tuesday….”
HIV vaccine trial ends due to poor results
Guardian - Key HIV vaccine trial in South Africa ends because of poor results
https://www.theguardian.com/science/2020/feb/03/key-hiv-vaccine-trial-in-south-africa-ends-because-of-poor-results
“
The latest trial of a vaccine against HIV has been halted because interim results show it is not working, the National Institutes of Health in the United States has announced. … … The end of the trial taking place in South Africa is a blow to the vaccine field and to Aids experts and advocates…. The failure of the HVTN 702 study will be especially disheartening because it was set up in South Africa to trial the only vaccine that has ever shown any degree of success – the RV144 clinical trial in Thailand led by the US Military HIV Research Program and the Thai ministry of health….”
See also
Devex -
Promising HIV vaccine proves ineffective
GAVI replenishment
Devex - Gavi replenishment tops concerns at Global Forum on Childhood Pneumonia
Devex;
“
The need for a successful replenishment of Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance to increase childhood immunization against pneumonia dominated conversations at the Global Forum on Childhood Pneumonia this week. … Other calls at the gathering in Barcelona included the need for more domestic resources and international development assistance, national commitments to childhood nutrition, and a reduction in air pollution….”
Short report with quite some info last week’s
Global Forum on Child Pneumonia (in Barcelona). For more on this Global Forum, see
Global Health Now -
Global Forum Renews Political Will on Childhood Pneumonia (by S Kassabian)
Migration & Health
Lancet Editorial - Safeguarding the health and livelihoods of migrants
https://www.thelancet.com/journals/lancet/article/PIIS0140-6736(20)30290-7/fulltext
“
On Feb 5, the Lancet Migration was launched. This new global collaboration between The Lancet, researchers, implementers, and others in the field aims to advance the health of migrants, building on the recommendations and ambitions of the UCL–Lancet Commission on Migration and Health. Lancet Migration will focus on multidisciplinary research, dissemination, and advocacy to improve the health and wellbeing of migrants around the world. …”
World Cancer Day (4 Feb)
See also the section on the WHO’s Executive Board Meeting.
UN News - Tackle ‘unacceptable inequalities’ in cancer care, saving up to seven million lives, WHO urges
https://news.un.org/en/story/2020/02/1056602
“
Global cancer rates could rise by 60 per cent over the next 20 years unless cancer care is ramped up in low- and middle-income countries, the World Health Organization (WHO) has warned. Less than 15 per cent of these nations offer comprehensive cancer treatment services through their public health systems, compared with more than 90 per cent among their richer counterparts, according to the UN agency. “At least 7 million lives could be saved over the next decade, by identifying the most appropriate science for each country situation, by basing strong cancer responses on universal health coverage, and by mobilizing different stakeholders to work together”, said WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus. Ahead of World Cancer Day this Tuesday (4 February), WHO and its specialized International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) have released two reports: one aimed at setting the global agenda on the disease; the other focused on research and prevention….”
See also
WHO -
WHO outlines steps to save 7 million lives from cancer
International Day of Zero Tolerance for Female Genital Mutilation (6 Feb)
WHO - Female Genital Mutilation Hurts Women and Economies
https://www.who.int/news-room/detail/06-02-2020-female-genital-mutilation-hurts-women-and-economies
“
Female genital mutilation (FGM) exacts a crippling economic as well as human cost, according to World Health Organization (WHO). “FGM is not only a catastrophic abuse of human rights that significantly harms the physical and mental health of millions of girls and women; it is also a drain on a country’s vital economic resources,” said Dr Ian Askew, Director of WHO’s Department of Sexual and Reproductive Health and Research. “More investment is urgently needed to stop FGM and end the suffering it inflicts.” New modelling reveals that the total costs of treating the health impacts of FGM would amount to USD 1.4 billion globally per year, if all resulting medical needs were addressed. For individual countries, these costs would near 10% of their entire yearly expenditure on health on average; in some countries, this figure rises to as much as 30%. The interactive modelling tool that generated these data was launched on the International Day of Zero Tolerance for Female Genital Mutilation….”
See also
UN News - Female Genital Mutilation costs $1.4 billion annually: UN health agency.
And a
joint statement -
Unleashing Youth Power: A Decade of Accelerating Actions Towards Zero Female Genital Mutilation
“
Joint statement by UNFPA Executive Director Dr Natalia Kanem, UNICEF Executive Director Henrietta Fore and UN Women Executive Director Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka and WHO Director-General Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus on the occasion of International Day of Zero Tolerance for Female Genital Mutilation.”
Family Planning
CGD (blog) - From Vision to Architecture: Three Questions to Guide the Global Family Planning Movement Towards 2030
F Apter, R Silverman et al ;
https://www.cgdev.org/blog/vision-architecture-three-questions-guide-global-family-planning-movement-towards-2030
“The start of 2020 marks a critical juncture for Family Planning 2020 (FP2020) and the broader family planning community to chart a way forward for the next chapter. With the initiative’s original 2020 goal now out of reach, the Beyond 2020 Vision (developed last year following extensive consultation) will help shape a formal process to incorporate lessons learned, revisit FP2020’s structure and functions, and anticipate future needs towards the 2030 SDG milestone of universal family planning access. … … Here are three central questions we hope will be top of mind for the Core Partners and broader family planning community as these critical next steps in the process get underway….” The first one being
: “Will new players join the original Core Partners?”
Development finance
EBA – Mobilising private development finance: implications for overall aid allocations
Polly Meeks et al;
Eba;
“
The use of development finance to ‘catalyse’ private finance has become a growing trend in development cooperation. From Addis Ababa to Washington DC, international norm-setting forums have stressed the need to catalyse private investment in order to ‘maximise finance for development’ and contribute to the Sustainable Development Goals. In this study, the EBA focus on one specialised form of development finance - Official Development Assistance (ODA) – and its increasing use for ‘catalytic’ purposes.” With some interesting findings…
And a link in Devex:
What to watch in development finance in 2020
Planetary Health
Bloomberg - Climate Models Are Running Red Hot, and Scientists Don’t Know Why
https://www.bloomberg.com/news/features/2020-02-03/climate-models-are-running-red-hot-and-scientists-don-t-know-why
One of the more worrying reads of the week. “The simulators used to forecast warming have suddenly started giving us less time.”
Excerpt: “
There are dozens of climate models, and for decades they’ve agreed on what it would take to heat the planet by about 3° Celsius. It’s an outcome that would be disastrous—flooded cities, agricultural failures, deadly heat—but there’s been a grim steadiness in the consensus among these complicated climate simulations. Then last year, unnoticed in plain view, some of the models started running very hot. The scientists who hone these systems used the same assumptions about greenhouse-gas emissions as before and came back with far worse outcomes. Some produced projections in excess of 5°C, a nightmare scenario. The scientists involved couldn’t agree on why—or if the results should be trusted….”
BMJ Blog - Richard Smith: Must capitalism end to avoid climate collapse?
R Smith;
https://blogs.bmj.com/bmj/2020/01/31/richard-smith-must-capitalism-end-to-avoid-climate-collapse/?utm_campaign=shareaholic&utm_medium=twitter&utm_source=socialnetwork
Fabulous blog on a fabulous discussion in London last week. Must-read.
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Before last night’s passionate and well argued debate at the Royal Geographical Society on the motion “To stop climate collapse, we must end capitalism”. With somewhat surprising results after the debate, including by the author who changed his mind during the debate.
Guardian - Humanity under threat from perfect storm of crises – study
https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2020/feb/06/humanity-under-threat-perfect-storm-crises-study-environment
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The world is facing a series of interlinked emergencies that are threatening the existence of humans, because the sum of the effects of the crises is much greater than their individual impacts, according to a new global study. (Climate, extreme weather, biodiversity, food and water crises) … … The report, which took the form of a survey of 222 leading scientists from 52 countries, conducted by the
international sustainability network Future Earth, found that the responses to these emergencies by governments, civil society, business and institutions did not recognise their interlinked nature. Trying to solve the problems individually, without taking account of the “cascading” impacts, was likely to be ineffective, the scientists said. More than a third of the scientists surveyed said
the five crisis types would worsen one another “in ways that might cascade to create global systemic collapse”…. …
The report also warned of social problems that scientists identified as potential major risks for the future. These included the rise of populism and fake news, trends in migration and the rise of artificial intelligence.”
Some key papers & reports of the week
Lancet Public Health - Corporate practices and the health of populations: a research and translational agenda
N Maani, M McKee et al ;
https://www.thelancet.com/journals/lanpub/article/PIIS2468-2667(19)30270-1/fulltext?rss=yes
“…
As the study of commercial determinants of health continues to expand, we highlight four conceptual and methodological challenges that hinder its development, and suggest productive areas for future research….”
Scandinavian Journal of Public Health - Next steps in the development of the social determinants of health approach: the need for a new narrative
Olle Lundberg;
https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.1177/1403494819894789
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During the past 15–20 years the Social Determinants of Health (SDoH) framework has become the main approach to understand health inequalities. With this model a range of factors important for health and inequalities in health over the life-course have been connected into a larger framework. Despite its usefulness and popularity within the field, and wide use in influential reviews, the SDoH framework has not been easy to communicate to stakeholders in other sectors, and we cannot as yet see much of substantial societal change as a result of it. In this Commentary I try to discuss possible reasons behind our difficulties to communicate the SDoH perspective. Some of these reasons relate to how we frame and present the different parts of the framework, others are more linked to common beliefs and practices that I think we should rethink. In both cases, I believe that we would benefit from a more general discussion around these fundamental issues, both in order to communicate our important insights but also to better understand our own key study objective, namely how health inequalities are generated, sustained and potentially reduced.”
Globalization & Health - Development assistance for health and the Middle East and North Africa
Y Zhao, J Dieleman et al ;
https://globalizationandhealth.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/s12992-020-0545-z
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Donor countries in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) including Saudi Arabia, Kuwait and United Arab Emirates (UAE) have been among the largest donors in the world. However, little is known about their contributions for health. In this study, we addressed this gap by estimating the amount of development assistance for health (DAH) contributed by MENA country donors from 2000 to 2017. ….”
Conclusion
: “MENA country donors especially UAE, Saudi Arabia and Kuwait have been providing substantial amount of DAH, channeled through their bilateral agencies, WHO and other multilateral agencies, with a prioritized focus on health system strengthening. DAH from the MENA region has been increasing for the past decade and could lend itself to important contributions for the region and the globe.”
CGD - Blueprint for a Market-Driven Value-Based Advance Commitment for Tuberculosis
https://www.cgdev.org/publication/blueprint-market-driven-value-based-advance-commitment-tuberculosis
See the related
blog -
A Final MVAC Blueprint—and the Start of an R&D Revolution? (by R Silverman, K Chalkidou et al):
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Despite decades of investment, TB remains a global crisis. Each year, TB kills 1.6 million people—making it the world’s deadliest infectious diseases. We have set out to develop a solution: what we ultimately called the Market-Driven, Value-Based Advance Commitment (MVAC), a mechanism to create and guarantee a market for better TB treatment, if and when such a treatment becomes available.”
CFR working paper – Refuge From Disease
S K Khor & D Heymann;
CFR;
“Mitigating potential communicable disease in refugee populations is a subset of efforts for human rights, equality, and dignity. A basic multilateral framework could improve health care in these situations and provide an example for future challenges.”
IJHPM - Global Problem of Hospital Detention Practices
K Handayani et al ;
http://www.ijhpm.com/article_3750.html
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Although an official definition by the World Health Organization (WHO) or any other authority is currently lacking, hospital detention practices (HDP) can be described as: “refusing release of either living patients after medical discharge is clinically indicated or refusing release of bodies of deceased patients if families are unable to pay their hospital bills.” Reports of HDP are very scarce and lack consistent terminology. Consequently, the problem’s scale is unknown. This study aimed to find evidence of HDP worldwide, explore characteristics of HDP reports, and compare countries with or without reports. … … We conclude that HDP are more widespread than currently acknowledged. Urgent intervention by stakeholders is required to stop HDP.”
WB report – Obesity: Health and Economic Consequences of an Impending Global Challenge
https://www.worldbank.org/en/topic/nutrition/publication/obesity-health-and-economic-consequences-of-an-impending-global-challenge
“A
new World Bank report sheds light on why the growing obesity epidemic needs to be tackled now. Building upon evidence from several other reports, it identifies an action agenda for countries to follow, with support from the World Bank and the international development community.”
Press release:
Obesity-Related Diseases Among Top Three Killers in Most Countries, World Bank Says
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Long believed to be a problem exclusive to high-income countries, evidence shows that over 70 percent of the world's 2 billion overweight and obese individuals live in low- or middle-income countries. Faced with increasing disability, mortality, health care costs, and lower productivity, obesity is a growing concern for all countries regardless of income level, says a new World Bank report launched here today. Obesity has a major impact on national economies and on human capital by reducing productivity and life expectancy and increasing disability and health care costs. It is projected that in the next 15 years, the costs of obesity will total more than US$7 trillion in developing countries. The report Obesity: Health and Economic Consequences of an impending global challenge states that obesity-related diseases are now among the top three killers across the globe, except in Sub-Saharan Africa. Recent data show that since 1975 obesity has nearly tripled and now accounts for 4 million deaths worldwide every year. …”
NEJM Perspective - The Neglected Hospital — The District Hospital’s Central Role in Global Health Care Delivery
R Rajbhandhari, P Farmer et al ;
https://www.nejm.org/doi/full/10.1056/NEJMp1911298
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Advancing emerging surgery, noncommunicable-disease, and quality agendas in global health will be possible only if investments are aimed at strengthening an undervalued component of health systems in low- and lower-middle-income countries: the district hospital….”
Key blogs & mainstream news of the week
Devex - Exclusive: With lending to Africa up, Malpass splits World Bank Africa department in two
https://www.devex.com/news/exclusive-with-lending-to-africa-up-malpass-splits-world-bank-africa-department-in-two-96515
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The World Bank will split its regional department for Africa in two, effective later this year, World Bank President David Malpass said Wednesday. Since 2000, the 54 countries of Africa have been internally divided at the World Bank into a regional department dubbed “Middle East and North Africa” and another simply called “Africa” that included all of sub-Saharan Africa. According to an internal announcement obtained by Devex, as of July 1, 2020, the Africa department will be divided into “Western & Central Africa” and “Eastern & Southern Africa.” Each new department will be led by its own vice president….”
CGD (blog) - A New Framework to Measure Aid Effectiveness
I Mitchell et al;
https://www.cgdev.org/blog/new-framework-measure-aid-effectiveness
“…
in a new paper we propose a suite of 17 international agency-level indicators that we think provide a sound, evidence-based and balanced framework for measuring the “Quality of Official Development Assistance” (QuODA) between countries and agencies….”
Tweet of the week
R Horton on the sad news re:
Coronavirus 'kills Chinese whistleblower doctor Li Wenliang'
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We are receiving tributes embedded in extreme grief for the contributions and work of Li Wenliang. He represents the best of health workers—speaking truth to power and dedicated to protecting and advancing the health of those in his community.”