On the heels of extraordinarily successful results announced by four coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) vaccine developers within three weeks of one another, the question of whether developing countries will be āleft behindā continues. COVAX (one of the three pillars of the Access to COVID-19 Tools (ACT) Accelerator), a massively funded global collaboration involving 187 countries, aims to ensure that they…
COVID-19 HAS A NEGATIVE IMPACT ON KEY POPULATIONS IN THE MENA REGION
GFO: Where did the idea of conducting this study on key populations and COVID-19 come from? Roy Wakim (RW): The Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region has been particularly affected by the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), more specifically Egypt, Maghreb countries and Yemen. An initial webinar on key populations and COVID-19 was organized by the [MENA] key populations’ platform,…
ENDING AIDS: MULTIPLE CHALLENGES IN A CHANGING WORLD
As the world observes World AIDS Day on 1 December 2020 with the theme of āglobal solidarity and shared responsibilityā and as the Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS) presents the new targets for 2025, it is also a good time to reflect on the challenges to come, from a āglobal healthā perspective. According toĀ UNAIDS, 26 million people living…
MALARIA: TWENTY YEARS OF INCREDIBLE PROGRESS, BUT THE HARDEST PART REMAINS
GFO: What progress have we made with the global response to malaria? RG, BR:Ā According to the World Health Organizationās (WHO) 2020 report on malaria, global malaria mortality fell by 60 percent over the 2000ā2019 period. The Africa region has seen a decrease in the annual number of malaria deaths from 680Ā 000 in 2000 to 384Ā 000 in 2019. Southeast Asian countries…
HAPPY HOLIDAYS FROM AIDSPAN AND THE GLOBAL FUND OBSERVER
On behalf of Aidspan and the Global Fund ObserverĀ (French and English editions), I would likeĀ to thank all our readers and partners for their continued support this year. As 2020 draws to a close, we wish you all a restful holiday season and peace, joy, and prosperity throughout the coming year, 2021. This edition of the Global Fund Observer will be…
JOINT UNITED NATIONS PROGRAMME ON HIV/AIDS SETS NEW AIDS TARGETS, WHILE THE WORLD HEALTH ORGANIZATION CALLS FOR BETTER TARGETING OF MALARIA INTERVENTION
The World Health Organization (WHO) released theĀ World Malaria Report 2020: 20 years of global progress and challengesĀ on 30 November 2020. The report details progress made in the fight against malaria in the last two decades (between 2000 and 2019) and highlights progress against global malaria targets. According to the report, the world has made great progress in the last two…
AFRICAN MINISTERS OF HEALTH DISCUSSED INCREASED DOMESTIC FINANCING AND EFFICIENCY, LEADERSHIP, AND FINANCIAL PROTECTION AMID COVID-19 IN AFRICA
The African Union convened a series of virtual meetings of health and finance ministers from central, North, and West Africa and regional economic organizations to discuss domestic resource mobilization for health amid the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic on 17, 23, and 24 November 2020, respectively. The objectives included a discussion of the impact of COVID-19 on African economies and…
CONTINUITY OF HIV, TB AND MALARIA SERVICES IN CHALLENGING OPERATIONAL ENVIRONMENTS
The RAME, RĆ©seau d’AccĆØs aux MĆ©dicaments Essentiels (Access to Essential Medicines Network), commissioned a study in 2019 on community organizationsā good practices, opportunities, and limitations in ensuring continuity of care in challenging operational environments (COEs). Five countries, classified as COEs by the Global Fund, were selected to participate in the study: Central African Republic, Chad, Guinea, Mali, and Niger. RAME…
SUPPLY CHAIN-RELATED CHALLENGES REPORTED IN EIGHT COUNTRIES FOR 2019ā2020
In most countries, Global Fund grants are highly commoditized as the largest proportion of the grant investments are used to pay for health and non-health commodities. This means that the supply chain, together with procurement, absorb a significant proportion of grant funds. The extent to which countries handle these two areas is critical to achieving the Global Fundās mission. As…