Global Health

A warm welcome to new members of the group!
Dear Global Health enthusiasts, here is this week’s news selection, read on:

Stronger Global Roadmap to Tackle NCDs is Finally Passed (Health Policy Watch, May 26, 2023)
> New global guidelines to tackle non-communicable diseases (NCDs) were finally passed by the World Health Assembly on Friday afternoon after a mammoth day-and-a-half of member states’ inputs. The guidelines update the World Health Organization’s (WHO) “Best Buys” published in 2017 and focus on the four key risk factors for NCDs – tobacco, alcohol, unhealthy diet and physical inactivity – and the four main associated diseases – cardiovascular disease, diabetes, cancer and chronic respiratory disease.
https://healthpolicy-watch.news/stronger-global-roadmap-to-tackle-ncds-…

Some hoped a new oral vaccine would solve all the polio campaign’s problems. Reality is settling in (STAT, May 26, 2023)
> When a new and hoped-to-be safer oral polio vaccine started to make its way into use in March 2021, there was huge optimism that this long-needed tool would help the polio eradication campaign quell a growing problem that was — and is still — complicating efforts to stamp out polio forever.
https://www.statnews.com/2023/05/26/some-hoped-a-new-oral-vaccine-would…

Huge Support for Universal Health Coverage and NCD Measures, But WHO Replenishment Fund is Rejected (STAT, May 25, 2023)
> An impossibly long list of member states lined up to address universal health coverage (UHC) and non-communicable diseases (NCDs) at the World Health Assembly on Thursday afternoon, indicating the centrality of these issues for countries.
https://healthpolicy-watch.news/huge-support-for-universal-health-cover…

Dear Community, here is this week’s news review:

Project brief output (Global Labs): Protecting the world from future pandemics (foraus, May 2023)
> foraus has released a project brief titled "Protecting the world from future pandemics: Four visions for more equity, capacity and paradigm shift among global health systems by 2040." The brief presents policy recommendations and innovative ideas from 22 co-authors affiliated with the University of Geneva and the Graduate Institute. These recommendations focus on pandemic prevention, preparedness, and response (PPR) to enhance global health systems and promote equity and capacity-building in the face of future pandemics.
https://www.foraus.ch/wp-content/uploads/2023/05/20230507_Global-Lab_WE…

Could the One Health framework have prevented the Covid-19 pandemic? (foraus blog, May 17, 2023)
> This article highlights the importance of the One Health approach, which integrates human, animal, and environmental health, in addressing public health challenges like the Covid-19 pandemic. It emphasizes the need for improved communication, data sharing, and collaboration between scientific disciplines to prevent outbreaks and reduce the impact of future health risks.
https://www.foraus.ch/en/posts/could-the-one-health-framework-have-prev…

Sexual Health Derailed the Last World Health Assembly; What Are This Year’s Flashpoints? (Health Policy Watch, May 18, 2023)
> Much of this year’s WHA agenda, being held in Geneva between 21 and 30 May, should be preoccupied with pandemic preparedness and the WHO’s budget. But there are some obscure items for anti-rights conservatives to latch onto if they want to derail discussion – and there is growing appetite for such disruptions throughout all UN agencies.
https://healthpolicy-watch.news/sexual-health-derailed-the-last-world-h…

After new cluster, health officials warn mpox could resurge this summer (STAT, May 18, 2023)
> Federal health officials warned Thursday that there was a significant risk the mpox virus will resurge this summer and reiterated calls for people at high risk to get vaccinated if they have not already done so.
https://www.statnews.com/2023/05/18/mpox-monkeypox-cluster-summer-resur…

WHO Calls on Countries to “Drastically Reduce” Climate Emissions to Improve Global Health (Health Policy Watch, May 19, 2023)
> The World Health Organization (WHO) has called for focused action to address global warming and climate change to promote health outcomes. Recommendations include concerted efforts to reduce carbon emissions, build climate-resilient and sustainable health systems and protect health from the impacts of climate change.
https://healthpolicy-watch.news/who-reduce-climate-emissions-improve-he…

Dear Global Health Community, please find below this week’s news selection!

FAO warns of potentially devastating Moroccan Locust outbreak in Afghanistan’s wheat basket (FAO News, May 10, 2023)
> The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) has warned of a large-scale outbreak of the Moroccan Locust across eight provinces in North and Northeast Afghanistan, the country's wheat basket.
https://www.fao.org/newsroom/detail/fao-warns-of-potentially-devastatin…

‘Silent emergency’: Premature births claim a million lives yearly (UN News, May 9, 2023)
> A “silent emergency” that is claiming one million tiny lives born premature each year requires concerted action to swiftly improve children’s health and survival, according to a new report released by UN agencies and partners on Wednesday.
https://news.un.org/en/story/2023/05/1136512

WHO Declares End to Mpox Global Health Emergency (Health Policy Watch, May 11, 2023)
> The announcement arrives just days after WHO declared the end of the global health emergency for COVID-19 last Friday, three years and 6.9 million lives after the virus was elevated to a global pandemic in January 2020.
https://healthpolicy-watch.news/who-declares-end-to-mpox-global-health-…

OPINION: Does the end of Covid emergency declarations mean the pandemic is over? (STAT, May 8, 2023)
> The reality is that although battlefield metaphors are often employed to describe humankind’s struggle with the SARS-CoV-2 virus, there will be no 11th hour of the 11th day of the 11th month-like moment signaling that an armistice has been achieved.
https://www.statnews.com/2023/05/08/is-the-covid19-pandemic-over/

Dear Community, please find below this week's selected news. Remember, comments are always open so do not hesitate to share your opinion!

WHO declares end to COVID global health emergency (Reuters, May 8, 2023)
> The World Health Organization ended the global emergency status for COVID-19 on Friday more than three years after its original declaration, and said countries should now manage the virus that killed more than 6.9 million people along with other infectious diseases.
https://www.reuters.com/business/healthcare-pharmaceuticals/covid-is-no…

WHO declares end to COVID-19’s emergency phase (Nature, May 5, 2023)
> The pandemic has been on a “downward trend” but the risk of new variants remains, WHO’s director-general says.
https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-023-01559-z

WHO’s Two Pandemic Negotiation Processes Prepare for Joint Meetings as Equity and IP Dominate Talks (Health Policy Watch, May 4, 2023)
> Equity and intellectual property (IP) rights are – unsurprisingly – the most important and trickiest issues facing countries negotiating the terms on which the next global pandemic will be addressed. This emerged at a World Health Organization (WHO) briefing on Thursday addressed by Precious Matsoso, co-chair of the Intergovernmental Negotiating Body (INB) crafting a pandemic accord, and Dr Ashley Bloomfield, co-chair of the working group on amendments to the International Health Regulations (IHR).
https://healthpolicy-watch.news/whos-two-pandemic-negotiation-processes…

Countries urged to take more action against chemical pollution (UN News, May 1, 2023)
> Over 2,000 delegates from around the world gathered at the UN in Geneva on Monday to discuss how best to curb chemical pollution, which has had increasingly dire consequences for health and the environment.
https://news.un.org/en/story/2023/05/1136242

Dear community, here is this week’s global health review!

WHO launches new pandemic prevention plan, as COVID deaths fall 95 per cent (UN News, April 26, 2023)
> The World Health Organization (WHO) on Wednesday launched a new initiative to help strengthen countries’ ability to plan for, and deal with, another deadly pandemic like COVID-19, as latest figures show a huge fall in COVID deaths this year.
https://news.un.org/en/story/2023/04/1136052

New Africa CDC Head Proposes Airline Tax to Fund Health (Health Policy Watch, April 27, 2023)
> The new head of the Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (Africa CDC), Dr Jean Kaseya, wants to introduce a tax on all airline passengers on the continent to help finance health.
https://healthpolicy-watch.news/new-africa-cdc-head-proposes-airline-ta…

Updated International Health Regulations More Important Than Pandemic Accord ? (Health Policy Watch, April 28, 2023)
> As the current US Senate is unlikely to ratify a pandemic accord, it might make more sense for World Health Organization (WHO) member states to invest more effort in ensuring that the International Health Regulations (IHR) are adapted to respond to the next pandemic.
https://healthpolicy-watch.news/updated-international-health-regulation…

WHO has Terminated Eight Staffers’ Contracts for Sexual Misconduct in Past Seven Months (Health Policy Watch, April 16, 2023)
> Four World Health Organization (WHO) staff or consultants had their contracts terminated as a result of sexual misconduct allegations in the last quarter of 2022 – the most of any year so far.
https://healthpolicy-watch.news/who-terminated-8-staffers-sexual-miscon…

EU publishes proposed drug laws overhaul, setting up tussle with industry (Reuters, April 27, 2023)
> Brussels on Wednesday published a long-awaited draft of its proposed overhaul of laws governing the European Union's pharmaceuticals industry, setting up a tussle with drugmakers which warn they will invest and innovate elsewhere.
https://www.reuters.com/business/healthcare-pharmaceuticals/eu-publishe…

EU Pharma Reform Proposes Cuts in Regulatory Protections & Faster Drug Approval Times (Pink Sheet, April 26, 2023)
> Proposals for the overhaul of the EU pharmaceutical legislation will make medicines more available, accessible and affordable while supporting innovation and boosting the “competitiveness and attractiveness” of Europe’s pharma industry, the European Commission claims. The research-based industry thinks otherwise, saying cuts in regulatory protections will undermine R&D.
https://pink.pharmaintelligence.informa.com/PS148116/EU-Pharma-Reform-P…

EU to link pharma incentives to public health objectives (Pinsent Masons, April 27, 2023)
> New medicines will obtain different levels of regulatory data protection in the EU in future under proposals that seek to link the extent of protection available to the extent to which the product serves public health objectives.
https://www.pinsentmasons.com/out-law/news/eu-to-link-pharma-incentives…

Dear Global Health Community, here is this week's news selection for you! Read along:

Yemen health system ‘edging closer to collapse’ warns WHO (UN News, April 21, 2023)
> Yemen’s fragile health system is “severely overburdened” the World Health Organization’s (WHO) leading official for emergency operations in the country said on Friday, and more international funding is urgently needed to stop it deteriorating further.
https://news.un.org/en/story/2023/04/1135922

WHO Launches Largest Global Collection of Health Inequality Data (Health Policy Watch, April 20, 2023)
> The World Health Organization (WHO) has launched the largest global collection of publicly available disaggregated data on health inequality, which aims to empower public health officials to conduct more targeted responses to health threats.
https://healthpolicy-watch.news/who-launches-largest-global-collection-…

Study reveals alarming global burden of antimicrobial resistance in bacterial infections (News Medical & Life Sciences, April 23, 2023)
> In a recent article published in the Lancet journal, researchers quantified the global bacterial antimicrobial resistance (AMR) burden to present deaths and disability-adjusted life-years (DALYs) attributable to and associated with 23 pathogens, 12 major infectious syndromes, 18 drug categories, and 88 pathogen–drug combinations.
Study reveals alarming global burden of antimicrobial resistance in bacterial infections
https://www.news-medical.net/news/20230423/Study-reveals-alarming-globa…

Human, economic, environmental toll of climate change on the rise: WMO (UN News, April 21, 2023)
> The relentless advance of climate change brought more drought, flooding and heatwaves to communities around the world last year, compounding threats to people’s lives and livelihoods, the UN’s World Meteorological Organization (WMO) said on Friday.
https://news.un.org/en/story/2023/04/1135852

WHO’s New Leadership Team Is a Mixed Bag of Political Appointees and Specialists (Health Policy Watch, April 17, 2023)
> Nearly a year after his appointment to a second term as WHO’s Director General, Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus has finished a revamp of his senior leadership team – keeping key loyalists in place, while adding new faces that are a clear nod to powerful member states such as China, France and Japan.
https://healthpolicy-watch.news/whos-new-leadership-team-is-a-mixed-bag…

Protection from climate change requires strong health systems (World Meteorological Organization, April 11, 2023)
> The health impacts of climate change will not be addressed without strong public health systems. To mark World Health Day on 7 April, the joint WMO-WHO Office on Climate and Health took a look at the role of universal health care systems in protecting people from the myriad of growing health risks tied to our changing environment.
https://public.wmo.int/en/media/news/protection-from-climate-change-req…

Dear Global Health Community, I hope this week’s news selection finds you well. Read below:

Pharmaceutical CEOs to G7: Protect Intellectual Property Rights and Pathogen Access in WHO Pandemic Accord (Health Policy Watch, April 14, 2023)
> CEOs from the world’s largest pharmaceutical companies issued a call to G7 leaders on Friday to oppose the inclusion of intellectual property rights waivers and pathogen benefit sharing in the World Health Organization’s (WHO) pandemic treaty.
https://healthpolicy-watch.news/pharmaceutical-ceos-to-g7-protect-intel…

China records world's first human death from H3N8 bird flu, WHO says (Reuters, April 12, 2023)
> A Chinese woman has become the first person to die from a type of bird flu that is rare in humans, the World Health Organisation (WHO) said, but the strain does not appear to spread between people.
https://www.reuters.com/world/china/china-records-worlds-first-human-de…

Flexibly funding WHO? An analysis of its donors’ voluntary contributions (BMJ, April 6, 2023)
> A recent article argues that the WHO needs to explore new incentives for flexible donations.
https://gh.bmj.com/content/8/4/e011232

‘Fully financing’ HIV response in Africa will save millions of lives: UNAIDS (UN News, April 12, 2023)
> Fully financing the HIV response in Africa will produce substantial health, social and economic gains for the continent, a new report backed by the UN agency devoted to ending AIDS (UNAIDS) has revealed.
https://news.un.org/en/story/2023/04/1135592
The report in question: https://impact.economist.com/health/the-triple-dividend-of-hiv-financin…

DNDi Offers Model for Pandemic Accord Negotiators on How Governments Can Leverage Drug R&D Investment (Health Policy Watch, April 13, 2023)
> When governments invest in drug research and development (R&D) with pharmaceutical companies, they should ensure upfront that these drugs are affordable and widely available – and a global pandemic accord needs to provide high-level guidance on how to do this.
https://healthpolicy-watch.news/dndi-offers-model-for-pandemic-accord-n…

Dear community, I hope you had nice Easter holidays with your loved ones. Here is this week’s news selection:

Countries wrangle over definition of ‘pandemic’ in race to agree treaty (Financial Times, April 5, 2023)
> Countries negotiating a crucial treaty designed to shape the world’s response to future pandemics have so far struggled to agree on key points including the basic definition of a pandemic, despite targeting a rapid timetable for a deal in 2024.
https://www.ft.com/content/cbfe34be-2b76-4bf5-82cd-396e8695569d

As WHO turns 75, let’s prescribe science, solutions and solidarity for our future health (WHO, April 7, 2023)
> Turning history’s page on its deadliest conflict, countries came together in 1948 to heal a bloodied world. Following years of war, distrust and pain, nations elevated the physical and mental well-being of people to a new level, forging a global pact and purpose to safeguard and advance health for all.
https://www.who.int/news-room/commentaries/detail/as-who-turns-75--let-…

Climate Change Pushing an ‘Alarming’ Spread of Dengue, Chikungunya and Zika (Health Policy Watch, April 6, 2023)
> Climate change is driving the spread of mosquito-borne arboviruses – dengue, chikungunya and Zika – into new areas, thus leading the world to newer crises, the World Health Organization (WHO) warned this week.
https://healthpolicy-watch.news/climate-change-pushing-an-dengue-chikun…

Holistic approach urgent for health of people, animals and environment (UN News, March 27, 2023)
> UN agency chiefs issued a call on Monday for global action to balance and optimize the health of people, animals and the environment, as part of a new “One Health” approach.
https://news.un.org/en/story/2023/03/1135057

Dear Global Health community, here is this week’s news selection!

EU Prioritises ‘Common Good’ in Its Pandemic Accord Draft Proposals (Health Policy Watch, March 29, 2023)
> The European Union (EU) has prioritized “common good” proposals and “legal provisions” in its initial text-based proposals for the pandemic accord, according to a rationale published alongside these proposals.
https://healthpolicy-watch.news/eu-prioritises-common-good-in-its-pande…

WHO and the Inter-Parliamentary Union launch a new handbook on Universal Health Coverage (UN News, March 31, 2023)
> The World Health Organization (WHO) recently participated in a number of joint activities at the 146th Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU) Assembly which took place from 11-15 March 2023 in Manama, Bahrein.
https://www.who.int/news/item/31-03-2023-who-and-the-inter-parliamentar…

How Does Corruption Affect Healthcare Worldwide? (Health Policy Watch, March 29, 2023)
> According to an article recently published in the Lancet, some 10% to 25% of the USD $7 trillion spent on healthcare globally every year is lost because of corruption – an amount that exceeds the investments needed to achieve universal healthcare by 2030.
https://healthpolicy-watch.news/how-does-corruption-affect-healthcare-w…
The article in question:
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/31785827/

WHO convenes the Fifth Global Forum on Human Resources for Health (WHO, April 3, 2023)
> Health systems are dependent on health worker availability, accessibility and quality. Yet chronic shortages of health workers, underinvestment in their education and training, as well as low salaries and mismatch between education and employment strategies are leading to major challenges.
https://www.who.int/news/item/03-04-2023-who-convenes-the-fifth-global-…

UK develops early warning system for future pandemics (Euractiv, April 3, 2023)
> British researchers are developing a system that could eventually be used to pinpoint emerging variants and act as an early warning system for new diseases and future pandemics.
https://www.euractiv.com/section/politics/news/uk-develops-early-warnin…

Dear Global Health community, I hope you had a pleasant start into the week. A warm welcome to our new group members!

Please find below this week’s news selection.

5 things you should know about the UN 2023 Water Conference (UN News, March 19, 2023)
> The UN 2023 Water Conference, which takes place at UN Headquarters from 22-24 March, is being hailed as a once-in-a-generation opportunity to accelerate progress towards universal access to safe water and sanitation by 2030.
https://news.un.org/en/story/2023/03/1134597

‘The potential is clear’: Unlocking the economic value of sanitation (The New Humanitarian, March 23, 2023)
> From hospitals and schools to homes and workplaces, 3.6 billion people right now need access to safely managed sanitation. That is a very large user base waiting for toilets, handwashing facilities, hygiene products, systems that move sewage, and much more.
https://www.thenewhumanitarian.org/opinion/2023/03/23/sanitation-econom…

What does equitable global health research and delivery look like? Tackling Infections to Benefit Africa (TIBA) partnership as a case study (Relief Web - OCHA, March 25, 2023)
>There is a current global push to identify and implement best practice for delivering maximum impact from development research in low-income and middle-income countries. This report describes a model of research and capacity building that challenges traditional approaches taken by western funders in Africa.
https://reliefweb.int/report/world/what-does-equitable-global-health-re…

WHO chief warns against misinformation over global pandemic accord (UN News, March 23, 2023)
> The head of the UN World Health Organization on Thursday spoke out forcefully against “misinformation on social media and in the mainstream media” which has falsely alleged that a new global pandemic accord being negotiated, would allow the WHO to override national sovereignty relating to a future outbreak.
https://news.un.org/en/story/2023/03/1134967

OPINION: Access to NCD Medicine Needs to be Protected in Future Pandemics (Health Policy Watch, 22 March, 2023)
> During the COVID-19 pandemic, people living with cancer, heart diseases, chronic respiratory diseases, diabetes and other non-communicable diseases (NCDs) experienced difficulties in accessing their routine medicines, according to a new report released by the World Health Organization on Wednesday.
https://healthpolicy-watch.news/access-to-ncd-medicine/
> The report in question:
https://apps.who.int/iris/handle/10665/366528

Cyclone freddy: fears cholera outbreak will spiral in Malawi as healthcare, water supplies disrupted (Save the Children, March 17, 2023)
> Families and children displaced by Cyclone Freddy in Malawi face the risk of an unprecedented cholera outbreak with a lack of running water, sanitation facilities and open defecation in camps fuelling fears of waterborne diseases, Save the Children warned.
https://www.savethechildren.net/news/cyclone-freddy-fears-cholera-outbr…

Scientists Call For Global Plastics Treaty as Evidence of Health Impacts Mounts (Health Policy Watch, March 22, 2023)
> Human health is in grave danger because of plastics across their entire lifecycle, a new study has found. The study, conducted by an international consortium of scientists, has pointed out that from production to disposal, plastics are bad news.
https://healthpolicy-watch.news/global-plastics-treaty-monaco-ocean-wee…
> the study in question:
https://www.annalsofglobalhealth.org/collections/special/the-minderoo-m…

Bats live with dozens of nasty viruses — can studying them help stop pandemics? (Nature, March 21, 2023)
> Researchers are examining the weird immune systems of bats, hoping to help prevent the next outbreak.
https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-023-00791-x