Devex: Opinion: Richard Branson on why philanthropists should club together Richard Branson, founder of Virgin Group and co-founder of the Audacious Project “To bring about radical change, sometimes you have to be audacious. … Yet, too often, the really big ideas just don’t get the backing they need and fail…

Funders Concerned About AIDS: Philanthropic Support to Address HIV/AIDS Funders Concerned About AIDS (FCAA) released its 16th annual Philanthropic Support to Address HIV/AIDS report, which found that HIV/AIDS philanthropic disbursements decreased by five percent, or $37 million, in 2017 (11/29).

BMJ Opinion: Fran Baum: The Fourth People’s Health Assembly concludes by decrying the health impacts of corporate power Fran Baum, Matthew Flinders distinguished professor of public health and foundation director of the Southgate Institute for Health, Society and Equity at Flinders University, and member of the Global Steering Council of…

Forbes: The Roadblocks To Universal Health Coverage And How NGOs Can Help Remove Them Pape Gaye, president and CEO of IntraHealth International “…Forty years ago, the global health community committed to achieving primary health care for all by 2000. But today, about half of the world’s population still does not…

Devex: One trend in access to medicines may be cause for concern “Five companies are carrying out 63 percent of the most urgently needed global health research and development projects in the priority areas of malaria, HIV/AIDS, tuberculosis, Chagas disease, and leishmaniasis. But having just a handful of companies responsible…

Devex: USAID, Corteva sign memorandum as part of private sector engagement strategy “The United States Agency for International Development and Corteva Agriscience signed a memorandum of understanding to expand collaboration on scaling agricultural technology to smallholder farmers in Africa, as part of the agency’s focus on increasing private sector partnerships.…

Associated Press: WHO official predicts 6 more months battling Ebola in Congo “The emergencies chief for the World Health Organization predicted Tuesday that Congo’s Ebola outbreak will last at least another six months, saying that informal health facilities have become ‘major drivers’ of the current, deadly transmission. … In some…

Project Syndicate: An Earnest Proposal for Tackling AMR Jim O’Neill, chair of Chatham House “…[I]t is time for the U.K. to join with pharmaceutical companies in piloting a new model of finance for investment in research and development of new antibiotics. … [W]hen the right conditions are put in place,…

NPR: Merck Pulls Out Of Agreement To Supply Life-Saving Vaccine To Millions Of Kids “The pharmaceutical giant Merck & Co. Inc. is ending a long-term agreement to supply a lifesaving vaccine for children in West Africa. At the same time, the company has started sending the vaccine to China, where…

IDSA’s “Science Speaks”: 49th Union World Conference on Lung Health: Private provider engagement led to 10-fold increase in Mumbai TB case detection (Aziz, 10/26). IDSA’s “Science Speaks”: 49th Union World Conference on Lung Health: Activists call for price drop on MDR-TB drug (Aziz, 10/29).