KFF Daily Global Health Policy Report
In The News
- WHO DG, U.N. SG Warn Of Nurses' Vulnerability In COVID-19 Pandemic, Call For More Investment, Protection On World Health Day
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Devex: WHO estimates global shortfall of 5.9M nurses as world battles COVID-19
“Nurses play a vital role on the front lines of the novel coronavirus pandemic. But a shortage of these essential health care workers could pose challenges in countries dealing with a growing number of COVID-19 cases. ‘One of the lessons I hope the world learns from COVID-19 is that we must invest in nurses and midwives,’ said World Health Organization Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus during a speech Tuesday in celebration of World Health Day, which recognized the vital work of nurses and midwives worldwide…” (Ravelo, 4/7).U.N. News: COVID-19 highlights nurses’ vulnerability as backbone to health services worldwide
“Nurses are on the frontline fighting COVID-19 but ‘an alarming failure’ in the global supply of protective clothing and new coronavirus tests — together with ‘unprecedented’ overwork linked to global staff shortages — have highlighted how vulnerable they are, the World Health Organization (WHO) said on Tuesday. The development coincides with an impassioned personal message from U.N. Secretary-General António Guterres to the world’s medical professionals for World Health Day, marked on Tuesday 7 April…” (4/7).
- Ecuador Struggles To Bury COVID-19 Victims; WHO Warns Europe To Remain Vigilant; Nations Worldwide Face Pandemic's Impacts
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AFRICA
PRI: Coronavirus lockdown: A tale of two South Africas (Gikandi, 4/7).
Science: South Africa hopes its battle with HIV and TB helped prepare it for COVID-19 (Nordling, 4/7).
Thomson Reuters Foundation: Ethiopia taps army of women health workers to fight coronavirus (Wuilbercq, 4/7).
ASIA
Al Jazeera: Coronavirus lockdown complicates Philippines’s fight against TB (Billing, 4/7).
The Hill: Lockdown ends in Wuhan, China, where coronavirus outbreak likely originated (Johnson, 4/7).
National Geographic: Handwashing helps stop COVID-19. But in India, water is scarce (Bhowmick, 4/7).
Reuters: North Korea testing, quarantining for COVID-19, still says no cases: WHO representative (Nebehay, 4/7).
U.N. News: Vulnerable Indians need urgent help to cope with COVID-19 pandemic: a U.N. Resident Coordinator blog (4/7).
EUROPE
The Hill: Finland rolls out random nationwide testing for coronavirus antibodies (Bowden, 4/7).
Reuters: WHO says Europe’s coronavirus outbreak still ‘very concerning’ despite progress (Farge, 4/8).
LATIN AMERICA
France 24: ‘You can’t escape the smell’: Ecuador city struggles to bury coronavirus dead (Ball, 4/6).
Reuters: Ecuador builds emergency cemeteries due to coronavirus outbreak (Valencia et al., 4/7).
Reuters: Honduras central bank announces measures to ease economic blow from coronavirus (Palencia/Love, 4/7).
MIDDLE EAST
Reuters: Middle East still has chance to scale up coronavirus response: WHO (Lewis/Eltahir, 4/7).
U.N. News: Course of coronavirus pandemic across Libya, depends on silencing the guns (4/7).
NORTH AMERICA
AP: Mexico urges end to harassment of health workers in pandemic (Rodríguez, 4/8).
New York Times: For HIV Survivors, a Feeling of Weary Déjà Vu (Bernstein, 4/8).
Quartz: Covid-19 may soon peak in three major U.S. cities. Here’s what that means (Ossola, 4/7).
Reuters: U.S. deports 400 migrant children under new coronavirus rules (Hesson et al., 4/7).
- COVID-19 Pandemic Impacting Aid Groups' Ability To Provide Humanitarian Relief; Social Groups, Charities Call For Massive Debt Relief In Developing Countries
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NPR: Aid Groups Say They’ve Never Faced A Challenge Like The Novel Coronavirus
“Humanitarian groups say they’ve never had to face a challenge like the novel coronavirus. … Even before the pandemic, the U.N. estimated that 168 million people will need humanitarian relief this year. We spoke to international aid groups about how the pandemic has affected their ability to provide care in emergency settings…” (Gharib, 4/7).Reuters: Social groups urge mass debt relief for poor countries hit by virus crisis
“Nearly 140 campaign groups and charities urged the International Monetary Fund and World Bank, G20 governments and private creditors on Tuesday to help the world’s poorest countries through the coronavirus crisis by cancelling debt payments. The call, spearheaded by the British-based Jubilee Debt Campaign, comes a day before a Group of 20 working group is due to meet, tasked with the coronavirus response for developing countries…” (Jones/Bavier, 4/6).Additional coverage of how the COVID-19 pandemic is impacting workers, economies, and poor populations worldwide is available from NPR, The Telegraph, and Washington Post.
- Media Outlets Discuss COVID-19 Research, Scientific Developments, Including Launch Of Human Trials For Novel Coronavirus Vaccine Candidates
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The Hill: Human testing beginning on second coronavirus vaccine candidate (Klar, 4/7).
PRI: Research on COVID-19 vaccine shows unique global collaboration, says Ebola vaccine scientist (Woolf, 4/7).
Reuters: Novavax to start human trial for novel coronavirus vaccine (Hussain/Joseph, 4/8).
Science Magazine: Former FDA leaders decry emergency authorization of malaria drugs for coronavirus (Piller, 4/7).
Science Magazine: Trials of drugs to prevent coronavirus infection begin in health care workers (Kupferschmidt, 4/7).
STAT: New research examines wastewater to detect community spread of Covid-19 (Chakradhar, 4/7).
UPI: Trials begin for potential COVID-19 drug remdesivir (Norton, 4/6).
Wall Street Journal: Hunt Is on for Genetic Clues to Why Coronavirus Impact Varies (Marcus, 4/7).
- E.U. Warns Of Difficulty Procuring Medical Equipment; U.S. Considers Lifting Coronavirus Aid Freeze, Denies Diverting Medical Supplies From China Meant For Brazil
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Financial Times: E.U. warns of global bidding war for medical equipment
“A ‘global scramble’ for anti-coronavirus medical equipment has broken out, a top Brussels official has warned, after days of angry claims by countries that cargoes have been suddenly diverted to the U.S. Janez Lenarcic, the E.U.’s crisis management commissioner, said it was now ‘difficult to arrange an orderly procurement’ to ensure crucial pandemic gear such as masks and ventilators went to those who needed them most…” (Peel et al., 4/7).POLITICO: Trump administration weighs lifting coronavirus aid freeze
“The Trump administration is weighing a partial lift of the clampdown on sending medical supplies that has prevented the U.S. Agency for International Development from shipping protective gear to countries in desperate need of help fighting the coronavirus, according to U.S. officials familiar with the matter. Agencies are discussing a draft presidential memorandum outlining the proposal, which has yet to land on the president’s desk. The memo is titled ‘Essential Medical Supplies for Foreign Assistance’ and would allow the direct procurement of some supplies for foreign countries, according to the officials…” (Lippman, 4/7).Reuters: U.S. denies hijacking Chinese medical supplies meant for Brazil
“The U.S. ambassador to Brazil on Tuesday denied reports that the U.S. government took over Chinese supplies of medical equipment that were ordered by Brazil to fight the coronavirus pandemic. Brazilian Health Minister Luiz Henrique Mandetta said last week China had ditched some Brazilian equipment orders when the U.S. government sent more than 20 cargo planes to the country to buy the same products. … ‘The U.S. government did not buy or block any material destined for Brazil. Those reports are false. We have investigated this,’ Ambassador Todd Chapman told reporters in a conference call…” (Paraguassu/Boadle, 4/7).
- European Commission COVID-19 Response Aims To Counter Chinese Account Of Pandemic Response; E.U. Science Leader Resigns, Criticizes Bloc's Response
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Devex: ‘The politics of generosity’: Brussels aims to counter Chinese narrative on coronavirus
“As the European Commission unveils its response to the coronavirus around the world this week, expect a lot of talk about ‘Team Europe.’ … The release of the commission’s global COVID-19 policy Tuesday and upcoming meeting of European Union development ministers Wednesday come after an internal note from Koen Doens, the director general of the commission’s development arm, DEVCO, that emphasized the need for ‘a strong and coordinated European response in a geopolitical context.’ ‘COVID-19 risks being politicized to the advantage of international actors with a different agenda to ours,’ the note read. ‘This is the case of China, which has moved on from being the cause and the epicenter of the crisis to being perceived as a strong supporter of efforts by affected third countries to contain the crisis’…” (Chadwick, 4/7).POLITICO: European Union science chief resigns, slamming bloc’s coronavirus response
“The president of the E.U.’s top science funding agency stepped down Tuesday, issuing a damning indictment of the bloc’s response to the coronavirus crisis. Mauro Ferrari, an Italian-American scientist who has led the European Research Council since January, said he had resigned following a dispute over the E.U.’s approach to the crisis — stating he has ‘lost faith in the system’…” (Greenhalgh, 4/7).
- Trump Administration, U.S. Lawmakers Take Varied Approaches To Countering Chinese Propaganda On Coronavirus Pandemic
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New York Times: China’s Coronavirus Battle Is Waning. Its Propaganda Fight Is Not.
“…As the pandemic unleashes the worst global crisis in decades, China has been locked in a public relations tug-of-war on the international stage. China’s critics, including the Trump administration, have blamed the Communist Party’s authoritarian leadership for exacerbating the outbreak by initially trying to conceal it. But China is trying to rewrite its role, leveraging its increasingly sophisticated global propaganda machine to cast itself as the munificent, responsible leader that triumphed where others have stumbled…” (Wang/Fu, 4/8).POLITICO: Republicans whack China over coronavirus as Trump plays nice
“Republican lawmakers are launching an all-out assault on China over its handling of the coronavirus outbreak, accusing Beijing of a deadly cover-up fraught with lies, propaganda and stonewalling. But their posture is somewhat at odds with that of the Trump administration, which has of late adopted a more restrained approach to dealing with Beijing as officials in both countries focus more on addressing the public health crisis…” (Desiderio/Toosi, 4/7).Reuters: In apparent swipe at China, Pompeo calls for transparency in coronavirus fight
“U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo on Tuesday urged all countries to be transparent and honest as they grapple with the coronavirus pandemic, a thinly veiled swipe at China, which reported no deaths from the illness for the first time since the outbreak began. … Pompeo said all countries have an obligation to provide accurate and timely data to help the world learn more about the virus. ‘Every nation, be they a democracy or not, has to share this information in a transparent, open, efficient way,’ he said. … China insists it has been transparent about the pandemic and has sharply criticized U.S. officials who cast doubt on that…” (Pamuk et al., 4/7).
- Trump Criticizes WHO Response To COVID-19 Pandemic, Threatens To Freeze Funding, Downplays Early Warnings Of Epidemic From Trade Adviser Navarro; Republican-Backed House Resolution Calls For Defunding WHO Until Change Of Leadership
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AP: Trump blasts world health group, defends early virus steps
“President Donald Trump on Tuesday threatened to freeze U.S. funding to the World Health Organization, saying the international group had ‘missed the call’ on the coronavirus pandemic. Trump also played down the release of January memos from a senior adviser that represented an early warning of a possible coronavirus pandemic, saying he had not seen them at the time. But he turned his anger on the WHO, first declaring that he would cut off U.S. funding for the organization, then backtracking and saying he would ‘strongly consider’ such a move…” (Lemire et al., 4/7).Fox News: Republican resolution calls for defunding WHO until Dr. Tedros resigns
“Rep. Guy Reschenthaler, R-Pa., introduced a resolution in the House of Representatives Tuesday that calls for the United States to defund the World Health Organization (WHO) until its embattled Director-General Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus resigns and the United Nations-backed organization is investigated over its treatment of China during the coronavirus pandemic…” (Olson, 4/7).The Hill: Graham backs Trump, vows no money for WHO in next funding bill
“Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) on Tuesday pledged to cut funding for the World Health Organization (WHO) in Congress’s next appropriations bill unless it makes changes to its leadership. Graham said during an appearance on Fox News that he would use his position as chairman of the Senate Appropriations subcommittee overseeing foreign operations to ensure the WHO did not get funding from the U.S. ‘I’m not going to support funding the WHO under its current leadership,’ Graham said…” (Wise, 4/7).New York Times: Trade Adviser Warned White House in January of Risks of a Pandemic
“A top White House adviser starkly warned Trump administration officials in late January that the coronavirus crisis could cost the United States trillions of dollars and put millions of Americans at risk of illness or death. The warning, written in a memo by Peter Navarro, President Trump’s trade adviser, is the highest-level alert known to have circulated inside the West Wing as the administration was taking its first substantive steps to confront a crisis that had already consumed China’s leaders and would go on to upend life in Europe and the United States. … Both Mr. Navarro and Matthew Pottinger, the chief deputy at the National Security Council, were among the few officials urging colleagues in January to take a harder line in relation to the growing threat of the coronavirus…” (Haberman/Mazzetti, 4/6).STAT: Trump pledges to put a hold on U.S. funding for the World Health Organization
“…Trump said his announcement was not a decision to end all U.S. funding for the agency, but rather a chance to give his administration the chance to ‘look at it.’ The WHO did not immediately respond to a request for comment. The U.S. has provided the agency with $893 million during the agency’s current two-year funding period, which includes about $236 million in dues. That funding accounts for about 14.67% of the WHO’s total funding, according to the organization’s website. The WHO is also notoriously cash-strapped; the annual dues members companies pay to support its annual budget have been frozen for more than a decade…” (Florko/Branswell, 4/7).Additional coverage of Trump’s comments on WHO funding is available from Bloomberg, Fox News, Newsweek, NPR, POLITICO (2), Reuters, TIME, and Wall Street Journal.
- VP Pence, White House Task Force Members To Brief Congressional Lawmakers In Separate Teleconferences For House, Senate Republicans, Democrats
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CNBC: House Democrats to hold conference call with Pence, Fauci, Birx on coronavirus response
“Vice President Mike Pence and other key members of the White House coronavirus task force will hold a conference call with House Democrats on Wednesday to provide an update and field questions about the U.S. response to the pandemic. The White House team, which is led by Pence, will update the House Democratic caucus on multiple facets of the response effort, including the status of supplies and supply chains, a source familiar with the task force told CNBC. The team will also provide a breakdown of current data and modeling on the virus, the source said…” (Breuninger/Hersch, 4/7).The Hill: Pence, Fauci to brief lawmakers on coronavirus
“…Pence and his team will hold separate telephone briefings Wednesday with House Democrats and House Republicans. On Thursday, they will brief Senate Democrats and Senate Republicans. Deborah Birx, the White House’s coronavirus response coordinator, Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, and Rear Adm. John Polowczyk are expected to join the calls…” (Wong, 4/7).
- Proportion Of U.K. Aid Spending Reaches Record Level In Departments Other Than DFID
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Devex: DFID’s share of U.K. aid budget declines again
“The amount of aid spending in government departments other than the Department for International Development has reached its highest level ever, which members of the development community have characterized as ‘disappointing’ and ‘a concern’…” (Worley, 4/7).
- As DRC Ebola Outbreak Nears Official End, Measles Epidemic Continues To Spread In Country, Worldwide
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Al Jazeera: Measles: In Ebola’s shadow, a quiet killer is on a rampage in DRC
“…Since the start of 2019, the DRC’s measles epidemic has infected more than 341,000 people and killed some 6,400, taking almost three times as many lives as Ebola over the same period…” (Murray, 4/7).New Humanitarian: Briefing: As Congo’s Ebola epidemic draws to a close, coronavirus concerns and relapse risks
“The Democratic Republic of Congo’s deadliest ever Ebola outbreak appears to be drawing to a close, but aid groups have cautioned against scaling down response efforts too quickly amid concerns of survivors relapsing, the infection living on in body fluids, and a growing number of COVID-19 cases spreading across the country…” (Kleinfeld, 4/7).Additional coverage of increasing numbers of measles-related deaths worldwide is available from Nature.
- Syrian Government 'And/Or Allies' Likely Responsible For Attacks On Hospitals, Civil Facilities, U.N. Report Summary Says
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New Humanitarian: In the news: Hospitals likely attacked by Syrian government ‘and/or its allies,’ U.N. finds
“Syria ‘and/or its allies’ were likely responsible for armed attacks on Syrian hospitals and other civilian facilities last year, including some on a U.N. no-strike list, according to a summary of a U.N. report released Monday. The report details a U.N. investigation that also found it ‘probable’ that an extremist armed group attacked a settlement of Palestine refugees — one of six attacks from April to July 2019 that was investigated in detail…” (4/7).
- More News In Global Health
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AFP: Virus may spark ‘devastating’ global condom shortage (4/8).
Devex: In Burkina Faso, aid groups face a test of the ‘humanitarian-development nexus’ (Mednick, 4/8).
Devex: Meet Andy Herscowitz, DFC’s first chief development officer (Saldinger, 4/8).
The Guardian: Face masks cannot stop healthy people getting Covid-19, says WHO (Sample, 6/7).
PBS: Bill Gates on where the COVID-19 pandemic will hurt the most (4/7).
U.N. News: U.N. General Assembly: The world’s ‘town hall’ remains open during COVID-19 crisis (4/7).
U.N. News: Children vulnerable to abuse and violence during coronavirus lockdowns, U.N. experts warn (4/7).
U.N. News: ‘Say no to hate speech and xenophobia,’ urges Guterres, marking 26 years since genocide in Rwanda (4/7).
Washington Post: History’s deadliest pandemics, from ancient Rome to modern America (Rosenwald, 4/7).
Editorials and Opinions
- Editorial, Opinion Pieces Discuss Various Aspects Of COVID-19 Pandemic
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Wall Street Journal: Billionaires Have Their Uses
Editorial Board (4/7).Devex: Opinion: Elections and COVID-19 — what we learned from Ebola
Anthony Banbury, president and CEO of the International Foundation for Electoral Systems (4/8).Financial Times: How to marshal a crowd to launch a moonshot against Covid-19
Anjana Ahuja, contributing writer on science for the Financial Times and visiting lecturer in science journalism at City University in London (4/7).Financial Times: We must focus attention on our next steps
Martin Wolf, chief economics commentator at the Financial Times (4/7).The Hill: People with disabilities are the forgotten vulnerable community in the age of COVID-19
Rep. Jim Langevin (D-R.I.), first person with quadriplegia to serve in the House of Representatives, and Jay Ruderman, president of the Ruderman Family Foundation (4/7).New York Times: Boris Johnson vs. the Coronavirus
Katy Balls, deputy political editor of the Spectator (4/7).New York Times: Pharmaceutical Profits and Public Health Are Not Incompatible
Daniel Hemel, assistant professor at the University of Chicago Law School, and Lisa Larrimore Ouellette, associate professor at Stanford Law School (4/8).New York Times: Trump Is the Wartime President We Have (Not the One We Need)
Susan E. Rice, national security adviser from 2013 to 2017 and former United States ambassador to the United Nations (4/7).New York Times: A Billion People Live in Slums. Can They Survive the Virus?
Lee W. Riley, Eva Raphael, and Robert Snyder, all epidemiologists (4/8).POLITICO: Now’s Not the Time for Isolationism
Michèle A. Flournoy, cofounder and managing partner of WestExec Advisors, and Lisa O. Monaco, partner at O’Melveny & Myers and principal at WestExec Advisors (4/8).Project Syndicate: Can Latin America Afford to Fight COVID-19?
Alejandro Izquierdo, principal research technical leader, and Martin Ardanaz, fiscal and municipal management specialist, both at the Inter-American Development Bank (4/7).Project Syndicate: Will COVID-19 Derail the African Century?
Michael Wilkerson, CEO of Fairfax Africa Holdings Corporation and Board chair of Atlas Mara (4/7).STAT: Misinformation about an outbreak like Covid-19 is important public health data
Laurent Hébert-Dufresne, assistant professor of computer science at the University of Vermont and core faculty member of the Vermont Complex Systems Center, and Vicky Chuqiao Yang, Peters scholar and Omidyar fellow at the Santa Fe Institute (4/7).USA TODAY: Coronavirus: In times of disease, divisions always fester
Joel M. Zinberg, associate clinical professor of surgery at Mount Sinai Icahn School of Medicine (4/8).Wall Street Journal: Coronavirus Finds the Weak Spots in U.S. Health Security
Jason Riley, member of the Wall Street Journal Editorial Board (4/7).Wall Street Journal: The Coronavirus Threat South of the Border
Walter Russell Mead, James Clarke Chace professor of foreign affairs and the humanities at Bard College, the Ravenel B. Curry III distinguished fellow in strategy and statesmanship at the Hudson Institute, and Global View columnist at the Wall Street Journal (4/6).Washington Post: Four ways U.S. intelligence efforts should change in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic
Glenn S. Gerstell, senior adviser at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, and Michael Morell, contributing columnist to the Washington Post and former deputy director and twice acting director of the CIA (4/7).Washington Post: Trump gutted his personnel office. Now it’s doomed to fail when we need it most
Rudy Mehrbani, senior fellow at the Brennan Center for Justice and senior adviser at Democracy Fund Voice (4/7).Washington Post: The coronavirus crisis is turning Americans in both parties against China
Josh Rogin, columnist for the Global Opinions section of the Washington Post and political analyst for CNN (4/8).
- More Opinions In Global Health
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The Lancet: The status of nursing and midwifery in the world
Editorial Board (4/7).The Conversation: What drives abuse of women in childbirth? We asked those providing the care
Patience Afulani, assistant professor, and Rebecca Griffin, communications specialist, both with the University of California, San Francisco (4/6).Devex: Opinion: Girls’ education as a solution to climate change is about more than fertility
Christina Kwauk, fellow at the Center for Universal Education at the Brookings Institution (4/6).Devex: Opinion: Measure what matters — not just what’s easy
Andrew Bastawrous, CEO and co-founder of Peek Vision (4/7).Global Health NOW: Health Care Facilities Are Everyone’s Frontline
Margaret “Migs” Muldrow, founder and board chair of the Village Health Partnership (4/6).Health-e News: Sexual and reproductive health and rights are an important component of human rights
Angelica Pino, director of programs for Sonke Gender Justice (4/7).
From the Global Health Policy Community
- Global Health Community Addresses U.S. Response To COVID-19 Pandemic
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Council on Foreign Relations: U.S. Coronavirus Response: Who’s In Charge of What?
Lindsay Maizland, writer and editor with the Council on Foreign Relations (4/7).CSIS: A Covid-19 Response Corps Can Help Stop the Pandemic
U.S. Reps. Susan Brooks (R-Ind.) and Ami Bera (D-Calif.), members of the CSIS Commission on Strengthening America’s Health Security (4/6).Just Security: COVID-19 Shows How the U.S. Got National Security Wrong
Oona A. Hathaway, Gerard C. and Bernice Latrobe Smith Professor of International Law at Yale Law School and director of the Center for Global Legal Challenges at Yale Law School (4/7).
- Global Health Community Recognizes World Health Worker Week, Discusses Role, Importance Of Nurses, Nursing Workforce Policies
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IntraHealth International’s “VITAL”: Rwanda’s Nurses Communicate to Protect Themselves and Their Clients
Casey Bishopp, communications officer at IntraHealth International, and Philippe Kayibana, community health facilitator at Ingobyi, discuss the importance of health workers being able to engage in open dialogue and clear communication, especially when responding to pandemics (4/7).Women in Global Health: Applause is great, but nurses and midwives also need safe and decent work and fair pay
Roopa Dhatt, executive director, and Ann Keeling, member of the Board of Directors and senior fellow, both at Women in Global Health, discuss findings from the recently released State of the World’s Nursing report and highlight the importance of investing in gender-sensitive nursing workforce policies (4/7).World Economic Forum: On World Health Day, new report says the world needs 6 million more nurses
Josephine Moulds, freelance journalist, discusses findings from the State of the World’s Nursing report and highlights the need for more nurses globally and the WHO’s call for investments in accelerating nursing education (4/7).
From the U.S. Government
- President Trump, Vice President Pence, Members Of Coronavirus Task Force Provide Updates On U.S. Response To COVID-19 In Press Briefings
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White House: Remarks by President Trump, Vice President Pence, and Members of the Coronavirus Task Force in Press Briefing | April 7, 2020
In this press briefing held Tuesday evening, President Trump, Vice President Pence, and members of the White House Coronavirus Task Force discuss developments regarding the U.S. response to COVID-19 (4/7).White House: Remarks by President Trump, Vice President Pence, and Members of the Coronavirus Task Force in Press Briefing
In this press briefing held Monday evening, President Trump, Vice President Pence, and members of the White House Coronavirus Task Force discuss developments regarding the U.S. response to COVID-19 (4/7).
- U.S. Announces Additional $225 Million In U.S. Foreign Assistance To Address COVID-19 Globally
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U.S. Department of State: Continuing U.S. Leadership in the Global COVID-19 Response Through Additional U.S. Foreign Assistance
In a press statement, U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, announces an additional $225 million in U.S. foreign assistance to respond to COVID-19 globally, saying, “Our COVID-19 aid is focused on helping to reduce transmission of the virus through diagnosis, the prevention and control of infections in health facilities, preparing and bolstering emergency health systems, improving laboratories, training health care workers and more — all in an effort to respond to additional outbreaks to mitigate further impact to Americans overseas and better protect Americans at home from further transmission across our borders…” (4/8).
- HHS Secretary Provides Statement On World Health Day
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HHS: Secretary Azar Statement on World Health Day
In a statement recognizing World Health Day, which takes place annually on April 7, HHS Secretary of State Alex Azar states, “On World Health Day, we rededicate ourselves, as an international community and as individual nations, to fighting this [COVID-19] pandemic with science-based public health policies. … This year’s theme for World Health Day, ‘Celebrating Nurses and Midwives,’ is also an important reminder of the work being done by frontline health care workers every day, around the world, to save lives. Preparing for and responding to outbreaks that can cross borders is one of the most important contributions we can make to support our health care workers, and we applaud the heroic work they have been doing to battle the global pandemic” (4/6).
From KFF
- KFF Resources Examine Global, Domestic Issues Related To COVID-19 Pandemic
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KFF: COVID-19 Coronavirus Tracker — Updated as of April 8, 2020 (4/8).
Additional KFF COVID-19 resources, including those focused on the response and impact within the U.S., are available here. KFF’s new blog series “Coronavirus Policy Watch” is available here.