EDITOR’S NOTES

Author:

Arlette Campbell White

Article Number: 1

ABSTRACT The GFO editorial

A warm welcome to all our subscribers.

This edition of the Global Fund Observer (GFO) starts with the third of our feature articles in our series on COVID-19, this time focusing on the influence of COVID-19 on already fragile health systems (The impact of COVID-19 on health systems in the developing world ). Still with COVID-19 in mind, Harm Reduction Asia shares some lessons learnt on how communities of people who use drugs in India and Nepal have come together to help each other access much-needed harm reduction services during times of restrictions and lockdowns (South-East Asia: The impact of COVID-19 on harm reduction and community resilience). And our article on COVAX, COVID-19 vaccination in Africa: From hope to reality , discusses the roll-out of vaccination programs in the continent. Finally, the COVID-19 Response Mechanism has now been replenished and the Global Fund has just published guidelines and application instructions for the recently approved phase two. (The Global Fund publishes guidelines and application instructions for the recently approved phase two of the COVID-19 Response Mechanism)

Somewhat belatedly, to acknowledge the importance of International Women’s Day on 8 March, we publish an English-language version of an article that first appeared last month in our sister publication, the Observateur du Fonds Mondial (OFM): ‘Health services provided by women in a sector led by men ‘. Gender equality in health service provision is still an aspiration, regardless of which country you live in.

GFO readers familiar with our newsletter may have noticed the absence of our reports on the Office of the Inspector General (OIG) publications in the past year. This hiatus was, as you may have guessed, a result of coronavirus lockdown and restrictions; accordingly, we are now making up for it with two articles in this edition, one on the procurement of long-lasting insecticidal bed-nets (OIG investigation into the Procurement of Sub-Standard Long-Lasting Insecticidal Nets from Pakistan ) and the other on Nigeria’s supply chain (OIG investigation into the Nigeria Supply Chain ). Both the OIG and we have a lot of catching up to do, so expect to see at least one if not more reports on OIG investigations over the course of the next few GFO issues.

As ever, Aidspan and our editorial team, under the leadership of Ida Hakizinka, does its best to ensure the accuracy of data and statements in our published articles ― and hence our inclusion of hyperlinks ― but if you, the reader, identify an error or important omission, please notify me and provide me with your data source; and I shall be happy to publish a correction or amendment.

If you enjoy the GFO and find it relevant to your work, please encourage your colleagues to subscribe !

Don’t forget: if you are aware of an interesting development relevant to disease programmes or health systems and that you feel is worthy of global discussion, do let me know together with the name of a person prepared to write about this. Suggestions and comments can be sent to me in English, French or Spanish. My email address is: acampbell.white@aidspan.org.

Arlette Campbell White