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Global Health Connections
June 2022

Highlights from the Bay Area Global Health Alliance Annual Meeting

"[Having] forums where different groups that might not interact organically or otherwise can come together and share what their different interests are related to global health and see what needs they have that might be filled by others, is really important," said Amy Lin, acting director of USAID's Center for Innovation and Impact, at the Bay Area Global Health Alliance Annual Meeting on May 16. The event, held at UCSF's Mission Bay campus, brought together member global health professionals from academia, NGOs, tech, biotech, and other private sector partners. PHI president and BAGHA board chair Mary Pittman moderated the fireside chat with Lin, during which they explored where the sector is headed in light of the decolonization movement, pandemic/post-pandemic preparedness and recovery, climate change, and the current geopolitical situation. Their conversation was followed by a series of flash talks on the state of global health financing and investments from representatives from the Hewlett Foundation, the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, and the Draper Richards Kaplan Foundation. The meeting concluded with highlights on the state of the Alliance and key partnerships. You can view the entire session here.

AAHO Insights Shared at WHA. Insights Dialogue & Vax Up Examine VCF Grantee Successful Efforts

A preliminary report providing insight into how to best use social media to address vaccine hesitancy and confidence was released at the 75th World Health Assembly last month. The global research report is supported through the Vaccine Confidence Fund (VCF), a program of the Alliance for Advancing Health Online (AAHO), and financially supported by Meta and Merck.* One of the most prominent findings among the research grantees is that many audiences—especially those who are vaccine-hesitant—are more likely to engage in online conversations among small, trusted groups. Additionally, including trusted voices is likely to have a positive impact on vaccination confidence. Read the report here.

The Sabin Vaccine Institute and BAGHA have been partnering with the AAHO to present a series of community discussions about best practices to promote vaccine confidence and uptake. This past month, the work of VCF grantee Shujaaz Inc. was featured at a convening hosted by Sabin called Building Vaccine Confidence for Adolescents and Youth (watch the convening here) and in the latest release of BAGHA's Vax Up podcast. (here). Shujaaz successfully combines relatable online and on-ground campaigns (e.g., micro-influencers, comic books, meetups) to reach (and effect behavior change among) a large percentage of the 18–24 year-olds in Kenya and Tanzania. Alliance member Upswell, which worked with Shujaaz on their campaigns, is also featured in the podcast.

*Merck & Co. Inc., Rahway NJ, USA (known as MSD outside the US and Canada) (“MSD”). The Vaccine Confidence Fund is managed by Global Impact. Meta and MSD did not participate in the selection of grant recipients.

Tech for Health Systems Globally

In January, Friends of the Global Fight Against AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria, the Bay Area Global Health Alliance, and other partners held a private web dialogue with more than 50 leaders in tech and global health to explore how best to leverage digital technologies for health in a way that promotes health equity. This effort yielded several key recommendations, including:

We must seize the promise of digital transformation for health.
Urgent efforts are needed to close the digital divide.
Health-related innovations must be people-centered.
Digital solutions for health must be tailored for specific settings and populations.
A specific focus on ensuring equity and protecting human rights is essential.
Public sector infrastructure and capacity must be built and sustained.

Our convening and BAGHA members informed a short report our partner Friends put out, Leveraging Digital Technology to Improve Health Systems and Equity Worldwide, here.

Julie Gerberding Featured on A Shot in the Arm

The Alliance is pleased to introduce the latest Shot in the Arm podcast. Host Ben Plumley joins infectious disease specialist Dr. Julie Gerberding for this conversation, which follows her career—from a young HIV physician in San Francisco to the head of the CDC and on to pharmaceutical company Merck, where she was most recently Chief Patient Officer. Dr. Gerberding was recently named CEO of the Foundation for the National Institutes of Health. Watch or listen here.

Welcome to Our Newest Member

We are honored to welcome our newest member, the Bay Area-based Fistula Foundation. The organization supports fistula treatment in 33 countries in Africa and Asia—funding more than 60,000 obstetric fistula surgeries since 2009. The Alliance's 60+ members join us in welcoming our newest member as we partner to promote equity and innovation in global health. Read more here.

Alliance Board Appoints Martin Dale & Krista Donaldson

We are pleased to welcome the two newest members of the Bay Area Global Health Alliance Board of Directors--and we are thrilled to add their wealth of experience to our leadership team.

Martin Dale, director, Digital Health and Monitoring at Population Services International, executes the institutional Digital Strategy focused on increasing access and personalized delivery of health information, products, and services and powers data-driven performance improvement. He previously served as PSI’s deputy director, Evidence Department, and worked in the field in South Sudan as a Monitoring and Evaluation specialist. Martin joined PSI from the British Civil Service. He earned a bachelor’s degree in Development Economics and a master's in Demography, both from institutions in the UK.

Krista Donaldson, CEO, Equalize Health (formerly D-Rev), leads the design and scaling of disruptive medical devices to address global health inequities. Among her numerous accolades, she was named one of Fast Company’s “50 Designers Shaping the Future.” Previously, she managed part of Iraq’s reconstruction portfolio at the US Department of State and worked at KickStart International (Kenya) and the design firm IDEO (USA). Krista holds a master’s degree in Product Design and a Ph.D. in Mechanical Engineering from Stanford University.

Read more here.

Members in the media

Pfizer: FDA Advisers Recommend Vaccines for Youngest Children [New York Times]
Global Fund for Women: Five Lessons from Feminists Around the World as the US Faces the Reality of a Post-Roe America [MS Magazine]
Ipas: How Will Laws Against Abortion Be Enforced? Other Countries Offer Chilling Examples [Salon.com]
UC Berkeley: Universal Health Care Could Have Saved More Than 330,000 US Lives During COVID [Scientific American]
Google Maps Now Helps You Find Fresh Air [Verge]
PATH: It Took 35 years to Get a Malaria Vaccine. Why? [Undark]
Stanford: 'Systemic Greenwash': Scientists Call On UN to Ditch Sustainability Goals [Indpendent]
PHI: Cancer Registry Funding Cuts Could Jeopardize Data & Critical Research [LA Times]
Pfizer's Three-Dose Covid Vaccine Works Safely in Young Children, Review Says [Wall Street Journal]
PATH: Global Leaders Are Preparing for the Next Pandemic with Commitments to a Proposed New Fund for Prevention and Response [Business Insider]
Google Executive on Monkeypox & Other Challenges: 'Information Is a Determinant of Health' [STAT]
Meta: What the Pandemic Taught Facebook About Public Health [Devex Pro]
Pfizer Booster Urged by CDC for Children Ages 5–11 [AP]
UCSF: Meet the New Subvariants, Your Summer Bummers [Vox]
Stanford: What’s Going on with the Testing Requirement for Travel? [New York Times]
UCSF: Coronavirus FAQ: I Got COVID. Then I Got It Again. What's the Deal with Reinfection? [NPR]
Pfizer to Spend $120M to Boost US COVID Pill Manufacturing [Reuters]
UC Berkeley: Politics & Pandemic Fatigue Derail California's COVID-19 Vaccine Mandates [LA Times]
Google-Backed Study Aims to Find Out if Smartphones Making Us Miserable [STAT]
Gilead Sciences Nabs Top HIV Philanthropic Fundraising Spot, Passing Gates Foundation [Fierce Pharma]
UNICEF: Ukraine Crisis Costs UNICEF $12M Extra in Horn of Africa Drought [Devex]
UNICEF: 'Only God Can Help': Hundreds Die as Somalia Faces Famine [AP]
CUGH: Pollution & Health: A Progress Update [Lancet]
CUGH: "Modern" Pollution Sources Kill More People than Ever; Overall Death Toll 9M [Health Policy Watch]
UC Berkeley Professor from Angola Talks about the Threat to Abortion Rights—Globally [48 Hills]
Pathfinder International: Understanding Connection Between Women's Health & Climate Change [Geo News]
Pathfinder International: US, Egypt launch the Women’s Economic & Social Empowerment Program [Egypt Independent]
Ipas: The US Is Falling Behind as Countries Around the World Expand Abortion Access [Fortune]
Ipas: US Dangerously Out of Step on Abortion Access [PLOS]
Zipline Is Launching Its Drone Delivery Services in Nigeria [Quartz Africa]
Mastercard Study Advocates Financial Inclusion as a Driver for Better Access to Health & Education [Pakistan Observer]
Watch. UCSF: COVID Cases, Hospitalizations Rising in the Bay Area [NBC]
Listen. UC Berkeley: Listen: 'Racism Is America's Oldest Algorithm': How Bias Creeps into Health Care AI [STAT]
Listen. Ipas: How Can Global Feminists Help Fight Back on Roe? [ODI Think Change Podcast]
Listen. PHI: Is Pollution Making Us Fat? [The Guardian Science Weekly Podcast]

Innovations in Digitizing Distribution of Health Products: Current Trends in Nigeria, Ghana, Kenya & Uganda

Join the Alliance, Salient Advisory, and Population Services International as we examine the findings of Salient's soon-to-be-released market intelligence report on commercially driven innovations in health care supply chains in Africa. The report results from a longitudinal study of more than 80 digital health innovators in African health technology ecosystems. Findings from innovating early-stage start-ups to established companies like mPharma inform the report, which highlights key trends shaping the growth and impact of digitized distribution in health across Nigeria, Ghana, Kenya, and Uganda.

The conversation will be held on June 30 at 8 am PT and will feature Remi Adeseun, director for Africa, Salient, Dunni Lawal, engagement manager, Salient, and Martin Dale, PSI's director of Digital Health and Monitoring. Register here.