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Global Health Connections
April 2022

Ukraine's Health Care System Under Attack


"Attacks on health care are a violation of international humanitarian law," said WHO Director-General Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus last week in announcing that more than 100 attacks had taken place on health care in Ukraine since the Russian invasion began in late February. In an interview with NPR's Ari Daniel, Tarik Jašarević, a WHO spokesperson working on the Ukrainian crisis, said the deepening conflict "really put[s] the very existence of the health care into question." Jašarević also reported on the current state of health care at this month's WHO Tech Task Force meeting. The Bay Area Global Health Alliance (BAGHA) serves as the secretariat for the task force, which also includes members AIfluence, Google, Ideo.org, Soul Machines, Viamo and Meta.

Are you searching for a way to help in Ukraine? Stanford's Center for Innovation in Global Health founder and director, Michele Barry, recently shared this opportunity for medical professionals to volunteer by providing telemedicine services to besieged Ukrainians. The Global Fund for Women invites you to consider a women's fund for your monetary contributions. Check out this Inside Philanthropy article to learn which funds are helping deliver aid in Ukraine. According to the article, women's funds are better at reaching the people in need, and they deliver financial aid six times faster than traditional philanthropic channels. Also, be sure to visit here for more information about how additional BAGHA members are mobilizing to help.
 

AIDS, TB & Malaria Are In; Broader Global Health Funding Falls Short in US Budget


The FY 23 US budget includes $2B for the Global Fund. "Our deepest thanks go to the Biden administration for its continued bold leadership and commitment to ending the AIDS, TB, and malaria epidemics," remarked Chris Collins, president and CEO of Friends of the Global Fight. This fall, the Biden administration will host the Global Fund's next Replenishment Conference; it is pledging $6B for this Seventh Replenishment. Read more here, here, and here.

While global health leaders praised the Global Fund pledge, many found the broader budget for global health funding disappointing. "The President's proposed budget request falls far short of the need," remarked Elisha Dunn-Georgiou, Global Health Council president and CEO. Heather Ignatius, PATH's managing director for policy and advocacy, wrote that the budget "fails to propose the needed resources to ensure that many other essential global health services—which have been disrupted during COVID—are set back on track." The US Senate also cut the requested funding for the global COVID response. Read the statements from the Global Health Council and PATH.

This June, in honor of the AIDS Memorial Quilt's 35th anniversary, portions of the quilt will be on display in San Francisco's Golden Gate Park—marking the quilt's return after more than two decades on the East Coast. Chevron and Gilead Sciences provide support for this annual AIDS Memorial. Additionally, Gilead recently announced $24M in grants to address AIDS in under-resourced communities. Read more here and here.
 

Pandemic Preparedness: How It's Going


As the world starts to move on from the pandemic—prematurely or not—and we start the third year of living with COVID 19 in our midst, Alliance members reflect on what worked and begin to prepare for the inevitable next pandemic. 

How do we best build on the lessons learned to invest "in health systems that can deliver equitably and reach everyone," as Friends of the Global Fight CEO Chris Collins asks in this Q&A? "We need an approach that includes communities in decision-making and that monitors quality and equity in delivery. We should put a premium on building health systems that can engender trust," he adds. 

UC Davis Grand Challenges, Healthy Davis Together, and BAGHA are seizing an opportunity to think through those types of questions and develop a roadmap for academic integration in pandemic preparedness and response planning that influences the future of public health. Join the Academic Integration in Pandemic Preparedness Workshop's live-streamed plenary sessions to hear from leaders, changemakers, and cross-sector collaborators from April 26–April 28. Register here. 

Born during the pandemic, PHI's Together Toward Health successfully connected government and philanthropic leaders with community-based organizations to provide equitable COVID recovery in California. They succeeded through smarter funding, greater flexibility, and trust that those doing the actual work should lead it. Read their complete analysis here.
 

What's Next in Global Health Funding?


In response to a pandemic-fueled surge in global health funding, Neha Agarwal, co-lead, PATH Global Program, Diagnostics, and co-vice chair, BAGHA board, examined how to create a smarter funding model. She helped develop an industry-specific framework to guide global health investments called the Impact Investment Matrix. It promotes good decision hygiene and helps users answer these questions: What is the universe of investment options? Is my organization the best suited to make or implement a particular investment? Are internal and external partners aligned on an investment's expected impact? Read more here.
 

Join Us for Our 2022 Annual Meeting | May 16, San Francisco



The Bay Area Global Health Alliance invites all members to join our 2022 Annual Meeting, 2–5 pm PT, Monday, May 16. This is an in-person (or virtual) opportunity for Alliance members to reflect on the past year, discuss future trends, and make connections to further global health innovation and equity.

The meeting will be held at UCSF Mission Hall. The first part of the meeting will be accessible via Zoom (registration link in this form). Then, we will move to the outdoor patio for refreshments and networking. 

Please save the date and register here.  We hope to see you on May 16!
 

CUGH: Harnessing Social Media & Digital Platforms to Improve Health Outcomes


"The ability to customize a message to the right person, addressing their concerns at the right time, is tremendous … the impact … can almost double if that group gets the right message," said Renos Vakis, a lead economist with the World Bank, in discussing how social media can improve health outcomes. He made his remarks at a satellite session of the Consortium of Universities in Global Health (CUGH) Annual Conference convened by BAGHA and Sabin Vaccine Institute, partners of the Alliance for Advancing Health Online (AAHO). In addition to Vakis, the multipart session featured a fireside chat with representatives from The Rockefeller Foundation's Mercury Project, WHO's Tech Task Force, and the University of the Valley of Guatemala; it was moderated by Jen Siler, Sabin. Grantees of the AAHO's Vaccine Confidence Fund (including UCSF and Maya Health Alliance) delivered a series of informative lightning talks discussing their grant project findings. Watch the recording here. 

We extend our gratitude to Dr. Michele Barry, senior associate dean of global health at Stanford, as she completes her two-year tenure as chair of the CUGH board this month.  

Members in the media

Vax Up: ImmUNITY Chicago


ImmUNITY Chicago is a public-private partnership that promotes vaccine confidence in Chicago's communities of color by combining the social media communications expertise of the private sector, proven advocacy from a national vaccine-confidence non-profit, and grassroots community outreach. Join a lively conversation as host Ben Plumley explores the extensive reach and impact the partnership has had. Featuring Elyse Galloway, VP, Health, Edelman; Erica DeWald, director, Strategic Communications and Partnerships, Vaccinate Your Family; Ava Skolnik, associate director, Health Equity Programs & Partnerships, Merck; and Kristen Hobbs, senior project manager, Quality Improvement & Equity, National Minority Quality Forum. Watch here.
 

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Let us know your news for our next issue and your thoughts on this issue. Please write to communications@bayareaglobalhealth.org. Thanks!
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