Global Health

GHealth News - On 23 March 2022, Jutta Urpilainen, European Commissioner for International Partnerships, and WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, met in Geneva to deliberate on the EU - WHO partnership in global health and the ongoing preparations for a global accord on pandemic prevention, preparedness and response. The two senior representatives of the partner organizations signed a letter of intent for a € 24.5 million EU contribution to the World Health Organization, to support the local manufacturing of and access to vaccines, medicines and health technologies in Sub-Saharan Africa. Thanking Commissioner Urpilainen, Dr Tedros commented: ‘’One of the most obvious lessons of the pandemic is the urgent need to increase local production of vaccines, especially in low- and m...

By: Madhukar Pai Young demonstrators hold placards as they attend a climate change protest organised by "Youth Strike 4 Climate", opposite the Houses of Parliament in central London on February 15, 2019. (Photo by Ben STANSALL / AFP) (Photo by BEN STANSALL/AFP via Getty Images) How do you think the world is tackling crises like pandemics and climate change? Poorly, irresponsibly, recklessly, inequitably, and lacking in urgency and global solidarity, were the responses I got from 24 young people in global health from around the world. In fact, their responses were stunningly consistent and crystal clear. These young people are outraged with the short-sightedness and self-centeredness of leaders and governments. They are tired of waiting for grown-ups to grow up and do something. In...

A patient rests under a mosquito net at the dengue ward at Benazir Bhutto Hospital in Rawalpindi, Pakistan, on Oct. 13. Without more action, a report found, billions more people worldwide could be at risk of contracting diseases like dengue fever, which is spread by mosquitoes that are expanding their range as temperatures warm. Muhammad Reza / Anadolu Agency via Getty Images By Evan Bush As temperatures warm, the health risks of climate change are expected to intensify in the U.S. and worldwide. The effects of climate change have already left millions of people hungry, caused deaths during heat waves and strained some people’s mental health as they are forced to leave their homes because of extreme weather, according to a major report from the United Nations’ Intergovernmental Pa...

By: Madhukar Pai Global health is a field that was born out of colonialism and white supremacy. Even today, it is neither diverse nor truly global. Every aspect of global health is dominated by individuals and institutions in high-income countries (HIC). This includes funding, authorship of publications, leadership of agencies, composition of boards, editorial positions, awards, and even participation in conferences. So, if global health has to be reimagined, people that typically hold power and privilege must master the art of allyship, where they see their primary role as allies or accomplices rather than leaders. Data show that two-thirds of global health agencies are headquartered in just three countries: Switzerland, UK and USA. More than 80% of CEOs and ...

GHealth News - The World Health Organization advised Ukraine to destroy high-threat pathogens housed in the country's public health laboratories to prevent "any potential spills" that would spread disease among the population, the agency told Reuters. Like many other countries, Ukraine has public health laboratories researching how to mitigate the threats of dangerous diseases affecting both animals and humans including, most recently, COVID-19. Its labs have received support from the United States, the European Union and the WHO. Biosecurity experts say Russia's movement of troops into Ukraine and bombardment of its cities have raised the risk of an escape of disease-causing pathogens, should any of those facilities be damaged. In response to questions from Reuters about its work...

By Harriet Barber Dr Anthony Fauci spoke exclusively to The Telegraph about TB in Ukraine CREDIT: J. Scott Applewhite /AP Pool The Russian invasion of Ukraine could be “devastating” for tuberculosis control in eastern Europe, and will cause a “terrible public health tragedy”, Dr Anthony Fauci has warned. Ukraine reports roughly 30,000 new TB cases annually and has one of the highest rates of multidrug-resistant TB in the world. According to the World Health Organization estimates, Ukraine has the fourth highest TB incidence rate among the 53 countries of the WHO European Region. “[The war] could be devastating, quite frankly,” Dr Fauci, the chief medical officer of the United States, told The Telegraph in an exclusive interview.  “As a public health official, as a scien...

By: Keren Landman The death of global health visionary Paul Farmer on February 21 came at a bleak moment for the world. In the wake of a badly botched pandemic response, the world’s most vulnerable face threats from a changing climate, rising regional violence, and the specter of the ripple effects of armed conflict in Europe. It can feel like a particularly hard time to find hope. And yet a recurring theme across the deluge of obituaries and remembrances from colleagues and admirers of Farmer is his unrelenting optimism about delivering sophisticated medical care to the world’s poorest people. Farmer’s rejection of cynicism and sense of moral clarity were foundational to his immense contributions to global heal...

Jakarta (AFP) – Indonesia will push for the creation of a new global health agency while the country holds the presidency of the G20, President Joko Widodo said Thursday at the virtual Davos forum. Widodo said the agency would strengthen the world's "health resilience" and help make the global health system more inclusive and more responsive to crises. "The Indonesian presidency will fight to strengthen the world's health resilience architecture, which will be run by a global agency," he said in a speech to the World Economic Forum's online meeting. "(Its) task is to mobilise world health resources, including for financing health emergencies, purchasing vaccines, medicines and medical devices." The Indonesian leader said the World Health Organization had showed limited cap...

It has been a year of colossal efforts in global health. Countries battled COVID-19, which claimed more lives in 2021 than in 2020, while struggling to keep other health services running.  Health and care workers have borne the lion’s share of these efforts but often received little recognition or reward.     Life-saving COVID-19 vaccines, tests and treatments were rolled out, but overwhelmingly in the richest countries, leaving many populations unprotected, especially in lower-income countries.   Across other health areas, from diabetes to dementia, there have been both setbacks and hard-won successes.  Here are 10 global highlights from 2021, including a few issues you might have missed: Innovati...

By: Jeff Sparrow Nurse in a Moscow hospital It’s nearly inevitable that we will face another pandemic. If we don’t plan to counter it, tomorrow will be like today, except much, much worse. For decades, scientists warned that urban encroachment on pristine habitats would unleash dangerous new viruses. Covid-19 should not have been a surprise – and, since viruses always mutate, neither should Omicron have been. Just as Omicron replaced Delta, something else will replace Omicron. It might be a fresh variant of Covid; it might be something completely new. “[A]nother pandemic is coming,” says Debora MacKenzie in her book Covid-19: The Pandemic That Never Should Have Happened, “and no one can predict which pathogen will cause the next one.” That does...