KFF Daily Global Health Policy Report

In The News

WHO Establishes COVID-19 Review Panel; Tedros Calls For International Unity In Mitigation Efforts

AP: WHO experts to visit China to plan COVID-19 investigation
“Two World Health Organization experts were heading to the Chinese capital on Friday to lay the groundwork for an investigation into the origins of the coronavirus pandemic. An animal health expert and an epidemiologist will meet Chinese counterparts in Beijing to work out logistics, places to visit and the participants for a WHO-led international mission, the U.N. organization said. A major issue will be to ‘look at whether or not it jumped from species to human, and what species it jumped from,’ WHO spokesperson Dr. Margaret Harris said at a briefing in Geneva…” (McNeil, 7/10).

Reuters: Veteran female leaders to head WHO COVID-19 review amid anti-globalism barbs
“Avowed multilateralists Ellen Johnson Sirleaf and Helen Clark will lead a World Health Organization (WHO) panel scrutinizing the global response to the COVID-19 pandemic just as international institutions are under fire. The work by Johnson Sirleaf, Liberia’s former president and Clark, New Zealand’s ex-prime minister, will come into the harsh spotlight trained on the WHO by U.S. President Donald Trump, who has accused the agency of being in China’s pocket while letting the pandemic spiral out of control…” (Miller/Nebehay, 7/9).

Washington Post: Tearful WHO director calls for global unity to fight the virus following U.S. pullout
“World Health Organization Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus pleaded Thursday for international unity to fight the pandemic devastating the world in the wake of President Trump’s announced intention to quit the organization. With tears in his eyes, Tedros said the true enemy was not the virus itself but ‘the lack of leadership and solidarity at the global level and national levels.’ ‘How difficult is it for humans to unite to fight a common enemy that’s killing people indiscriminately?’ he asked at a briefing in Geneva. ‘Can’t we understand that the divisions or the cracks between us actually are to the advantage of the virus?’…” (Schemm/Taylor, 7/9).

Additional coverage of Tedros’s comments and the investigative panel is available from Bloomberg, CBC, Fox News, The Guardian, IBT, NPR, Reuters (2) (3), STAT, The Telegraph, and VOA News.

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WHO Issues New Scientific Brief Outlining Transmission Modes Of SARS-CoV-2, Acknowledges Possibility Of Spread Through Aerosolized Droplets, From Asymptomatic People

NPR: WHO: Aerosolized Particles Unlikely To Be Significant Source Of COVID-19 Transmission
“The World Health Organization has issued a new scientific brief that summarizes what’s known about the different ways the coronavirus can transmit. The 10-page brief, posted Thursday, considers all the ways researchers think the coronavirus may be able to spread: through close contact with droplets expelled when an infected person coughs, sneezes, speaks or breathes; through the expulsion of small microdroplets that have the potential to spread over greater distances; and through contaminated surfaces. The report also looks at the possibilities for the virus to be transmitted from mother to child, from animals to humans, and through contact with urine, feces, and blood…” (Huang, 7/9).

Additional coverage of the WHO brief is available from CNBC, The Hill, and Wall Street Journal.

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Devex Examines Multilateral Development Banks' Funding, Procurement Activity Amid COVID-19

Devex: MDBs: Fast-tracking procurement in the time of COVID-19
“…From the World Bank’s mobilization of $160 billion in funding to the Asian Development Bank’s $20 billion COVID-19 pandemic response, multilateral development banks — or MDBs — acted promptly and accelerated their processes in disbursing COVID-19 funding, which was either new or reallocated from existing projects. But the funding activity and procurement notices are increasingly difficult to track since the situation is uncertain and numbers are constantly changing, with MDBs also having to navigate the effects of market disruption — high global demands and broken supply chains — brought about by the crisis…” (Coralde/Tamonan, 7/10).

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COVID-19 Pandemic Raises Threat Of Extremism Worldwide, Awareness Of Outbreak Preparedness, Impacts

Wall Street Journal: Nation’s Top Emergency-Preparedness Agency Focused on Warfare Threats Over Pandemic
“The top U.S. agency charged with preparing for a pandemic and overseeing the medical stockpile spent years bracing for potential attacks on the Korean Peninsula and was ill-prepared for the coronavirus crisis that continues to surge, according to current and former government officials. … But [Robert Kadlec’s agency, the Office of the Assistant Secretary for Preparedness and Response (ASPR)], which operates within the Department of Health and Human Services, also was supposed to plan for other medical crises, such as a pandemic — an explicit mandate from Congress when it was created 15 years ago. ASPR nevertheless became so mission-driven on possible military threats that it was caught off guard when the coronavirus hit, according to current and former government officials familiar with the planning…” (Armour et al., 7/9).

Washington Post: Covid-19 pandemic is stoking extremist flames worldwide, analysts warn
“…Even as it overwhelms hospitals, covid-19 is also straining security forces in scores of countries, exacerbating long-standing conflicts while fueling grievances and spurring the growth of extremist groups, security officials and analysts say in a series of new studies and interviews. The pandemic is creating new opportunities for the Islamic State and other militants in the Middle East and Africa, where hard-hit local governments are being forced to redeploy security forces to battle the disease, the analyses show. In the United States and other Western countries, meanwhile, far-right extremist groups are building entire propaganda campaigns around it, stoking resentments against an array of supposed villains, from immigrants and ethnic minorities to politicians and health officials…” (Warrick, 7/9).

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PEPFAR's Local Partners Vital During COVID-19 Response, Birx Says At AIDS 2020; Media Outlets Report On Other News From AIDS 2020

Devex: Deborah Birx: PEPFAR’s local partner transition ‘critical’ to coronavirus response
“…As leader of the President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief, [White House Coronavirus Task Force Coordinator Deborah] Birx has pushed for federal agencies that implement international HIV programs to shift their funding from U.S.-based and international organizations to what she calls ‘Indigenous’ partners — those based in the countries where PEPFAR operates. At a time when most international organizations are limited by travel restrictions due to COVID-19, that effort to build a more local partner base is paying off in the pandemic response, Birx said Thursday. ‘Because of our inability in some cases for our international partners to be on the ground, our work to build local partnerships and fund our Indigenous partners has been really critical. Those are the individuals, along with our incredible embassy staff, that are sustaining these programs now, as many cannot travel,’ Birx said in remarks at the 23rd International AIDS Conference…” (Igoe, 7/10).

Devex: ‘Specificity matters’: What the COVID-19 response can learn from HIV/AIDS (Cheney, 7/10).

DW: COVID-19 Special: How can we protect people with HIV? (7/9).

Globe and Mail: COVID-19 pandemic disrupts crucial supply of life-saving HIV medicine for millions (York, 7/9).

Healio: Unsafe injection practices contribute to HIV outbreak among children in Pakistan (Dreisbach, 7/9).

Health-e News: #AidsVirtual2020: Health disparities and Covid-19 (Molelekwa, 7/9).

USA TODAY: Elton John says ‘racism and bigotry’ are hindering the fight against HIV/AIDS (Ali, 7/9).

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House Appropriations Committee Approves FY21 SFOPs Funding Bill, Which Would Restore Aid To Palestinians, Approve WHO Funding, Address Mexico City Policy

Al Jazeera: U.S. congressional committee moves to restore aid to Palestinians
“A subcommittee in the United States House of Representatives approved a measure on Thursday that, as part of a broader foreign aid spending bill, would reverse a Trump administration decision suspending aid to Palestinians and restore millions in aid to non-governmental organizations working in the West Bank and Gaza. The move by a subcommittee of the House Appropriations Committee — inserted into a $66bn State, Foreign Operations, and Related Programs funding bill — would restore $255m in aid to the territories during the 2021 fiscal year, which begins on October 1 this year. The aid was cut off in 2018 by the Trump administration after Palestinian officials dismissed a peace plan proposed by the president…” (7/9).

The Hill: House panel approves bill funding WHO, paring back abortion restrictions
“The House Appropriations Committee on Thursday approved a foreign policy bill that would ensure funds flow to the World Health Organization (WHO) and pare back the Trump administration’s abortion-related restrictions on foreign organizations. … It rejected a GOP amendment to withdraw funding from the WHO without approval from the secretary of State. … The bill would also scale back an abortion-related policy known as the ‘Mexico City policy,’ which blocks U.S. funds from going to [foreign] organizations that provide information on abortions…” (Elis, 7/9).

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U.S. Leads World In Pandemic Response, Pompeo Says, Despite Highest COVID-19 Death Toll; CDC Sidelined Under Trump Administration; Other USG Pandemic-Related News

ABC News: Despite world’s highest COVID-19 death toll, U.S. is ‘the world leader in the pandemic’ response: Pompeo
“The United States is leading the world in the number of COVID-19 deaths and cases, but Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said that doesn’t mean the U.S. isn’t also leading the world’s response. During a press conference Wednesday, he defended America’s role in the world amid the global shock at what many see as the botched U.S. response to the pandemic and President Donald Trump’s decision to withdraw from the World Health Organization…” (Finnegan, 7/8).

Washington Post: CDC feels pressure from Trump as rift grows over coronavirus response
“…As the country enters a frightening phase of the pandemic with new daily cases surpassing 57,000 on Thursday, the CDC, the nation’s top public health agency, is coming under intense pressure from President Trump and his allies, who are downplaying the dangers in a bid to revive the economy ahead of the Nov. 3 presidential election. In a White House guided by the president’s instincts, rather than by evidence-based policy, the CDC finds itself forced constantly to backtrack or sidelined from pivotal decisions…” (Sun et al., 7/9).

Government Executive: Lawmakers Seek to Ensure Agencies Comply with Watchdog Review of WHO Funding Halt (Bublé, 7/9).

POLITICO: Trump’s health officials find ways to contradict his message downplaying virus risks (Cancryn/Ehley, 7/9).

Reuters: Trump still sees hydroxychloroquine as promising against COVID-19 — White House (Mason/Brice, 7/9).

TASS: U.S. motives behind quitting WHO unclear, says Russia’s U.N. ambassador (Gusman, 7/9).

Xinhua: U.S. move to officially withdraw from WHO draws condemnation from public health experts (7/9).

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Pandemic Accelerates Across Africa; Oxygen Supplies Run Low In S. Africa; Bolivian President Tests Positive For Coronavirus; Idlib, Syria Records First Case; U.S. Faces Patchwork Policies, No Federal Goals

AFRICA

AP: Oxygen already runs low as COVID-19 surges in South Africa (Magome, 7/10).

Devex: African Union aims to scale up COVID-19 vaccine clinical trials (Jerving, 7/10).

The Guardian: South Africa warns of coronavirus ‘storm’ as outbreak accelerates across continent (Burke, 7/9).

The Guardian: Zimbabwe health minister facing coronavirus corruption charge sacked (Chingono, 7/9).

NPR: Kenyan Health Workers Manage COVID-19, HIV In Nairobi (Greene, 7/9).

The Telegraph: Hospitals overwhelmed as Johannesburg runs out of oxygen (Thornycroft, 7/9).

U.N. News: Refugees in Africa ‘even more vulnerable than ever’ amid COVID crisis (7/9).

ASIA

AP: AP EXPLAINS: Why India cases are rising to multiple peaks (Schmall/Ghosal, 7/10).

CNBC: Outbreak of dengue fever in Southeast Asia is ‘exploding’ amid the coronavirus fight (Huang, 7/9).

CNN: Authorities in Hong Kong warn of potential ‘exponential growth’ in coronavirus cases just weeks after loosening restrictions (Berlinger, 7/10).

Foreign Policy: Is India the Next Coronavirus Hotspot? (Agrawal, 7/9).

EUROPE

POLITICO: Polish president taps into anti-vax sentiment ahead of elections (Kosc, 7/9).

LATIN AMERICA & CARIBBEAN

AP: U.N. says Latin America and Caribbean are COVID-19 ‘hot spot’ (Lederer, 7/9).

AP: Bolivian president has COVID-19 as virus hits region’s elite (Flores, 7/9).

AP: Venezuela socialist party boss announces he has COVID-19 (7/9).

The Hill: Doctors Without Borders sounding alarm about El Salvador (Johnson, 7/9).

NPR: Bolivian President Tests Positive For Coronavirus (Neuman, 7/9).

U.N. News: Address ‘unprecedented’ impact of coronavirus on Latin America and the Caribbean, urges Guterres (7/9).

MIDDLE EAST

Arab News: Saudi Arabia hosts G20 talks on post-COVID-19 global sustainable finance plan (7/9).

BBC: Coronavirus: Idlib’s first Covid-19 case raises fears for Syria camps (7/10).

NORTH AMERICA

New York Times: These Scientists Raced to Find a Covid-19 Drug. Then the Virus Found Them (Thomas, 7/9).

PBS NewsHour: 3 things the U.S. can do to stop coronavirus (Santhanam, 7/9).

Wall Street Journal: Behind New Covid-19 Outbreaks: America’s Patchwork of Policies (Campo-Flores et al., 7/9).

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Telegraph Examines Whether Countries Will Experience COVID-19 'Second Waves'

The Telegraph: What a resurgence of Covid-19 around the world tells us about the risk of a second wave
“…Of the last 10 big respiratory disease outbreaks, five have had significant subsequent waves, and four came after a summer trough. … Several countries around the world are already seeing a resurgence of cases, some more severe than the first. But are they second waves, spikes, or simply a continuation of the first wave? And what do they tell us about the likelihood of a second wave hitting the U.K. this winter?…” (Gulland/Nuki, 7/9).

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Italian Study Shows Risk Of Mother-To-Child Transmission Of Coronavirus; More Research Needed, Scientists Say

Devex: Study shows risk of mother-to-child transmission of COVID-19 virus
“A new study shows the potential risk of in-utero mother-to-child transmission of SARS-CoV-2, the COVID-19 virus, although one of the study’s authors said further studies are needed to draw a definitive conclusion. The study, presented on Thursday at the AIDS 2020 virtual conference and on the eve of the July 10 international COVID-19 conference, collected specimens from 31 pregnant women who gave birth between March and April 2020 in Northern Italy. … The results showed one case of the virus found in the vaginal mucosa, one case of the virus found in breast milk, and two cases where the babies tested positive for the virus via nasopharyngeal swabs, said Claudio Fenizia, assistant professor and researcher at the University of Milan’s Department of Pathophysiology and Transplantation, and one of the study leads…” (Ravelo, 7/9).

Additional coverage of the study is available from The Hill and Washington Post.

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'Vaccine Nationalism' Could Harm Economy, Public Health, Eurasia Group Analysts Warn

CNBC: ‘Vaccine nationalism’ could lead to the coronavirus devastating public health and the economy, experts warn
“‘Vaccine nationalism’ is turning the search for a Covid-19 cure into an arms race, which will ultimately damage the economy and public health, experts have warned. Analysts at Eurasia Group speculated that tension over a vaccine would heat up over the summer, predicting a battle for access that will stretch into 2021 or 2022…” (Taylor, 7/10).

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20 Large Pharma Companies Create AMR Action Fund To Support Start-Ups Working To Create New Antibiotics; Coronavirus Could Speed Up Resistance, Experts Warn

New York Times: Drug Giants Create Fund to Bolster Struggling Antibiotic Start-Ups
“Twenty of the world’s largest pharmaceutical companies on Thursday announced the creation of a $1 billion fund to buoy financially strapped biotech start-ups that are developing new antibiotics to treat the mounting number of drug-resistant infections responsible for hundreds of thousands of deaths each year. The fund, created in partnership with the World Health Organization and financed by drug behemoths that include Roche, Merck, and Johnson & Johnson, will offer a short-term but desperately needed lifeline for some of the three dozen small antibiotic companies, many of them based in the United States, that have been struggling to draw investment amid a collapsing antibiotics industry. … The new AMR Action Fund will make investments in roughly two dozen companies that have already identified a promising drug with the goal of bringing two to four novel antibiotics to the market within a decade, according to the International Federation of Pharmaceutical Manufacturers and Associations, an industry trade group that is administering the fund…” (Jacobs, 7/9).

The Telegraph: Exclusive: Coronavirus could fuel a superbugs timebomb
“Coronavirus risks fueling the spread of superbugs due to the “excessive use” of antibiotics to treat sick patients, England’s former chief medical officer has warned. In her first major intervention during the virus pandemic, Dame Sally Davies urged hospitals to avoid over-using antibiotic drugs while attempting to prevent coronavirus patients from catching secondary infections…” (Gardner, 7/9).

Additional coverage of the AMR Action Fund is available from Bloomberg, Financial Times, and STAT.

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Experts Concerned About Future Of U.K. Aid Spending Watchdog Independent Commission For Aid Impact

Devex: U.K. government dodges questions about the future of ICAI
“The U.K. government repeatedly failed to offer reassurances about the future of the Independent Commission for Aid Impact on Wednesday, despite questions from parliamentarians concerned about the future scrutiny of development policy. … The government was urged on several occasions to retain ICAI, which is widely viewed by development experts as a critical aid spending watchdog, even attracting the attention of other donors looking to improve their development programs. But when addressing the question of scrutiny, [James Cleverly, a minister with joint foreign affairs and development briefs,] did not reference the extra-governmental body…” (Worley, 7/10).

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More News In Global Health

Axios: The misinformation virus (Boodhoo et al., 7/8).

Axios: How the world could monitor for potential pandemic viruses (O’Reilly, 7/9).

Devex: 5 ways the WASH sector can prepare for the next crisis (Root, 7/9).

Financial Times: Hepatitis C drugs help combat Covid-19 in trials (Mancini/Bozorgmehr, 7/9).

The Guardian: Médecins Sans Frontières is ‘institutionally racist,’ say 1,000 insiders (McVeigh, 7/10).

New York Times: Air Pollution Takes a Global Toll on Heart Health (Bakalar, 7/9).

STAT: The first round of Covid-19 vaccines is ‘highly unlikely to be a magic bullet,’ Medicago CEO says (Silverman, 7/9).

The Telegraph: A new treatment could revolutionize help for children dying of hunger (Brown, 7/9).

U.N. News: Global Acceleration Framework to speed up water and sanitation access for all (7/9).

Washington Post: Six months, six countries, six families — and one unrelenting, unforgiving epidemic (Hendrix et al., 7/9).

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Editorials and Opinions

Opinion Pieces Discuss Role Of, Restoring Trust In WHO

The Conversation: The WHO often has been under fire, but no nation has ever moved to sever ties with it
Andrew Lakoff, professor of sociology at the University of Southern California — Dornsife College of Letters, Arts and Sciences (7/9).

The Lancet: Offline: Restoring trust in WHO
Richard Horton, editor in chief of The Lancet (7/11).

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Editorial, Opinion Pieces Discuss Various Aspects Of COVID-19 Pandemic, Including Impact On Reproductive Health In Africa, AMR, Countries Worldwide

DW: COVID-19 pandemic threatens Africa’s gains in reproductive healthcare
Evelyn Samba, Kenya country director at the German Foundation for World Population (DSW) (7/10).

The Guardian: COVID-19: Re-tooling Nigeria’s public health delivery model
Christopher Samuel, project coordinator at Telehealth Nigeria Initiative (TENI) (7/10).

The Lancet: COVID-19: the worst may be yet to come
Editorial Board (7/11).

The Telegraph: Covid-19 is speeding our march towards an antibiotic resistance catastrophe
Professor Dame Sally Davies, U.K. special envoy on AMR, and Thomas Cueni, director general of IFPMA (7/9).

Washington Post: The pandemic and the dawn of an ‘Asian Century’
Ishaan Tharoor, columnist on the foreign desk of the Washington Post (7/10).

Washington Post: Smart states have the edge in fighting covid-19. The United States isn’t one of them.
Fareed Zakaria, foreign affairs columnist at the Washington Post, host of CNN’s Fareed Zakaria GPS, and contributing editor at The Atlantic (7/9).

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Opinion Pieces Discuss mHealth In Ghana; Racial Bias In Research; Women's, Girls' Health; Antibiotic Resistance; Venezuela's Humanitarian Crisis

The Conversation: Mobile health services can help in rural Ghana if they have the human touch
Robert E. Hinson, head of the Department of Marketing and Entrepreneurship at the University of Ghana Business School at the University of Ghana (7/8).

Financial Times: Bias against black researchers harms science
Marja Makarow, chair of Technology Academy Finland (7/8).

The Guardian: The world’s poorest women and girls risk being biggest losers in DfID merger
Girish Menon, chief executive of ActionAid U.K.; Laurie Lee, chief executive of Care International U.K.; and Rose Caldwell, chief executive of Plan International U.K. (7/10).

IPS: World Population Day 2020 — ‘The Time is Now to Accelerate the Promise for Women and Girls’
Ing Khantha Phavi, minister for the Ministry of Women’s Affairs of Cambodia; Chea Chantum, secretary general of the General Secretariat for Population and Development at the Ministry of Planning of Cambodia; and Daniel Alemu, acting representative at the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) in Cambodia (7/10).

Wall Street Journal: A Plan to Avert a ‘Superbug’ Pandemic
David A. Ricks, chair and CEO of Eli Lilly, and Kasim Kutay, CEO of Novo Holdings A/S (7/8).

Washington Post: A new deal could ease Venezuela’s humanitarian crisis. The international community must get behind it
Kathleen Page, physician and associate professor of medicine at Johns Hopkins University, and Tamara Taraciuk Broner, Americas acting deputy director for Human Rights Watch (7/2).

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From the Global Health Policy Community

Friends Of Global Fight Releases Statement, Posts Letter Addressing U.S. Appropriations Related To Global Fund, Global COVID-19 Efforts

Friends of the Global Fight: Friends applauds House Appropriations Committee for maintaining U.S. contribution to Global Fund, COVID-19 (7/9).

Friends of the Global Fight: Private Sector Calls for Global Action on Pandemic in Next Supplemental Appropriation (7/9).

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Blogs, Releases Address Various Aspects Of COVID-19 Pandemic, Including WHO Role, Food Insecurity, Gender Inequality

Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists: Pandemic failure or convenient scapegoat: How did WHO get here?
Thomas Gaulkin, multimedia editor of the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists (7/9).

Health GAP: Biden’s Commitment to Global Sharing of COVID-19 Vaccine Technology is a Step in the Right Direction, Must be Followed by Concrete Plans to Dismantle Dangerous Healthcare Nationalism (7/9).

IPI Global Observatory: DRC’s Success in Containing Ebola Serves as Lesson to Countries Battling COVID-19
Michael R. Snyder, independent analyst and researcher (7/9).

ONE: Diving into the data: The impact of food insecurity in Africa
Ebba Henningsson, research assistant at ONE in Berlin (7/9).

Think Global Health: We Need a Greater Commitment to Community Health
Ruth Ngechu-Kihara, deputy country director of strategic partnerships and advocacy at Living Goods Kenya (7/9).

Think Global Health: Argentina’s Quarantine — The Long View
Carlos Javier Regazzoni, director of the Human Security and Global Health Committee, Argentine Council on Foreign Relations (CARI) (7/9).

Think Global Health: Why Global Health is Missing its Moment
Jessica Pickett and Alanna Shaikh, co-founding principal consultants of strategic advisory firm Tomorrow Global, LLC (7/8).

Think Global Health: Six Months Under the Coronavirus
Theo Vos, professor of health metrics sciences, and Kevin O’Rourke, freelance scientific writer, both at the University of Washington’s Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation (IHME) (7/9).

Think Global Health: COVID-19 as a Digital Pandemic
Steve Davis, lecturer at Stanford Business School and co-chair of the WHO Digital Health Technical Advisory Group, and Precious Matsoso, director of the Health Regulatory Science Platform in the Division of Wits Health Consortium at the University of Witwatersrand and co-chair of the WHO Digital Health Technical Advisory Group (7/9).

World Bank Blogs: Gender inequality exacerbates the COVID-19 crisis in fragile and conflict-affected settings
Caren Grown, World Bank Group global director for gender, and Franck Bousquet, senior director of the World Bank Fragility, Conflict, & Violence Group (7/9).

UNAIDS: UNAIDS and the wider United Nations system supporting the COVID-19 response in Nigeria (7/10).

UNDP: In a region with no COVID-19 cases, the pain is still felt
Jorn Sorensen, resident representative for UNDP Samoa (7/9).

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Blogs, Releases Address Global HIV/AIDS Issues, Including Vaccine Research, Impact On Children, New Global Strategy

amfAR: A Tale of Two Viruses: HIV Researcher Joins Fight Against COVID-19 (7/8).

Health GAP: The World is Failing HIV-Positive Kids: What Has Gone Wrong and What We Must Do About It
Asia Russell, executive director of Health GAP (7/8).

Johnson & Johnson: Johnson & Johnson and Its Partners Mark a Milestone in the Quest for a Global Preventive HIV Vaccine With the Imbokodo Study (7/7).

UNAIDS: Next global AIDS strategy: be part of making history (7/9).

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Resources Address Government Health Spending, One Health, Other Global Health Issues

Brookings: Can we avoid a lost decade of development?
Kevin Watkins, former Brookings expert and CEO of Save the Children U.K. (7/9).

Center for Global Development: Costing Health Services in India — Incremental Steps Towards More Transparent Decision-Making
Lorna Guinness, honorary assistant professor at the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine, and colleagues (7/9).

London School of Economics & Political Science: Is big data good for our health?
Oliver Johnson, digital media producer at LSE (7/9).

Save the Children: Yemen: Tens Of Thousands Of Severely Malnourished Children Are Left Without Treatment Since March (7/10).

Think Global Health: Which Governments Prioritize Health Spending?
Joseph L. Dieleman, associate professor at the Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation (IHME) at the University of Washington, and colleagues (7/7).

World Bank: Safeguarding Animal, Human and Ecosystem Health: One Health at the World Bank (7/9).

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From the U.S. Government

USAID's Deputy Assistant Administrator For Asia Discusses Agency's COVID-19 Response Efforts In Central Asia

USAID: Remarks by Deputy Assistant Administrator for Asia Javier Piedra at the Post COVID-19: Building Resilience in Central Asia
During remarks on building resilience in Central Asia post-COVID-19, USAID Deputy Assistant Administrator for Asia Javier Piedra discussed USAID and Central Asia’s more than 25-year partnership and highlighted USAID’s efforts to respond to COVID-19 in the region (7/9).

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From KFF

KFF Analyzes Global Health Aspects Of House SFOPs FY21 Appropriations Bill

KFF: House Appropriations Committee Approves FY21 State and Foreign Operations (SFOPs) Appropriations Bill
The House Committee on Appropriations approved the FY 2021 State & Foreign Operations (SFOPs) appropriations bill (and accompanying report) on July 9, 2020. The SFOPs bill includes funding for U.S. global health programs at the State Department and the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID). Funding for these programs, through the Global Health Programs (GHP) account, which represents the bulk of global health assistance, totaled $9.2 billion, an increase of $64.5 million (1%) above the FY 2020 enacted level and $3.2 billion (53%) above the President’s FY 2021 request (7/9).

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KFF, UNAIDS Release Annual Analysis Of Donor Government Funding For Global HIV

KFF: KFF/UNAIDS Analysis Finds Donor Governments Spent US$7.8 Billion for HIV in 2019, Down Almost $200 Million From the Previous Year
“A new report from KFF (Kaiser Family Foundation) and the Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS) finds donor government disbursements to combat HIV in low- and middle-income countries totaled US$7.8 billion in 2019, a reduction from the US$8 billion in 2018 and nearly the same as the funding levels of a decade ago. Half of the 14 donor governments analyzed in the study decreased their spending on global HIV efforts from 2018 to 2019; six increased; and one held steady. Donor government funding supports HIV care and treatment, prevention, and other services in low- and middle-income countries…” (7/6).

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KFF Fact Sheet On U.S. Government, World Health Organization Available

KFF: The U.S. Government and the World Health Organization
This fact sheet provides information about the World Health Organization (WHO) and U.S. government funding and engagement with WHO. In April, the White House first announced it would be suspending financial support for WHO pending a review of the organization’s activities related to the COVID-19 pandemic. Assessed contributions from the U.S. to the WHO have ranged from $107 to $119 million over the last decade. The U.S. also has made additional voluntary contributions, ranging from $102 to $401 million per year (4/16).

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KFF Provides Resources On Global, Domestic Aspects Of COVID-19 Pandemic

KFF: COVID-19 Coronavirus Tracker — Updated as of July 10, 2020
Data on country government actions in response to COVID-19 are included in the tracker (7/10).

Additional KFF COVID-19 resources on the global situation, as well as those focused on the response and impact within the U.S., are available here. KFF’s blog series “Coronavirus Policy Watch” is available here.

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