Borgen Magazine: Four Companies in Developing Countries Contributing to the SDGs (Cade, 12/17). Devex: Q&A: The need for more early stage investment in RMNCAH solutions (12/18). Devex: Q&A: The value of the private sector in health system strengthening (12/18). Devex: If COVID-19 changes finance, will that help development funding? (Saldinger,…

Devex: Exclusive: France to launch development innovation fund chaired by Esther Duflo “France will start a Fund for Innovation in Development next year to test and scale up solutions to poverty and inequality, a move its founders hope will ‘transform’ the country’s approach to aid. The Fonds d’Innovation pour le…

Bloomberg: Asia Trounces U.S. in Health-Efficiency Index Amid Pandemic “As a pandemic ravaged the world, Asian economies led by Hong Kong and Singapore topped a ranking of most-efficient health care systems. The Bloomberg Health-Efficiency Index, first conducted in 2013, tracks life expectancy and medical spending to determine which health-care systems…

STAT: One-quarter of the world may not get a Covid-19 vaccine until 2022, experts warn “As wealthy governments race to lock in supplies of Covid-19 vaccines, nearly a quarter of the world’s population — mostly in low- and middle-income countries — will not have access to a shot until 2022,…

CIDRAP News: COVID-19 surges stretch health systems in U.S., elsewhere “COVID-19 cases, hospitalizations, and deaths in the United States continue to climb, with some declines seen in some Upper Midwest states, but surging activity in states such as California. In Europe, some countries are struggling with slowing their activity in…

AP: French President Macron tests positive for COVID-19 “French President Emmanuel Macron tested positive for COVID-19 Thursday, following a week when he has met with numerous European leaders. The French and Spanish prime ministers are among those self-isolating because they had recent contact with him. Macron took a test ‘as…

AFP/YouTube: Virus hunters delve into Gabon forest in search for next threat | AFP (12/16). Devex: Q&A: The woman tasked with bringing gender to the center of the Gates Foundation (Cheney, 12/17). Devex: Q&A: Addressing polio through a gender lens (12/17). Devex: How a new data portal aims to accelerate…

New York Times: In Landmark Ruling, Air Pollution Recorded as a Cause of Death for British Girl “A 9-year-old girl who suffered a fatal asthma attack in 2013 became the first person in Britain to officially have air pollution listed as a cause of death, a British official said. The…

Bloomberg: The Coronavirus Vaccine Could Be the Ultimate Gateway Drug (Baker/Patel, 12/16). Bloomberg: Southeast Asia Covid-19 Vaccine Tracker: Who Gets What, When (Sayson/Jiao, 12/16). Borgen Magazine: America’s Role in the Fight Against Global Poverty (Wallman, 12/14). Devex: Fragile countries are ‘backdoors’ for Russian attacks, says former Trump official (Igoe, 12/15).…

POLITICO: Africa visit by E.U. officials set off coronavirus super-spreader fears “A visit to Addis Ababa in October by a high-level delegation including E.U. foreign policy chief Josep Borrell was designed to showcase a donation of 7.5 tons of coronavirus testing kits. Instead, it ended up setting off fears of…