Dear Global Health community, we hope you had a nice start of the week! Before moving on to this week’s news selection, here are is an announcement:
Global Lab #2: Protecting the world from future infectious diseases crises
We just opened registrations for our next participatory project. Our focus is on pandemic prevention and the fight against disease crises. With the “zero draft” of the pandemic treaty expected to be ready for negotiations by WHO member states this month, we want to give students from the university of Geneva and the Graduate Institute the opportunity to collaborate and exchange their ideas with professionals from the International Geneva and co-write a final project output with policy recommendations. The event will take place on 24.3 in Geneva and registrations are open until 9.3, so make sure to reserve your spot! Interested? You can find more information and sign up for free on the Policy Kitchen project page: https://policykitchen.com/global-lab-prevention-infectious-diseases-cri…
And here is this week’s news selection:
All countries 'dangerously unprepared' for future pandemics, says IFRC (IFRC, Jan. 30, 2023)
> As WHO member states are negotiating a Pandemic Treaty (as we will be discussing in our Global Lab Project mentioned above), the International Federation of Red Cross released a concerning report regarding preparedness levels for future outbreaks. "The next pandemic could be just around the corner. If the experience of COVID-19 won't quicken our steps toward preparedness, what will?" said Jagan Chapagain, secretary general of the IFRC, the world's largest disaster response network. "There will be no excuse for a continued lack of preparedness after having gone through three terrible years." https://www.reuters.com/business/healthcare-pharmaceuticals/all-countri…
Rare polio case highlights how hard it will be to keep polio gone once it’s eradicated (STAT, Feb. 2, 2023)
> An incident that took place at a Dutch polio vaccine production facility late last year is a critical reminder of a major challenge the world faces if and when polio eradication is completed: How do we keep polio from re-establishing itself, given that laboratories and vaccine manufacturers in numerous countries will need to continue to work with the viruses? https://www.statnews.com/2023/02/02/rare-polio-case-highlights-how-hard…
In relation to the polio news above:
Global health leaders urge world to be razor-sharp in focus to finish polio once and for all (Relief Web - OCHA, Feb. 2, 2023)
> While polio is mostly eradicated, it still has a couple strongholds: Pakistan and Afghanistan. At this week’s WHO Executive Board in Geneva, global health and policy experts urged a strong focus on finishing polio in the remaining highest-burden areas, from where the virus would continue to spread if given the chance. https://reliefweb.int/report/world/global-health-leaders-urge-world-be-…