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Global Health Connections
November 2022

COP27 This Week | Climate Change and Health 


The indisputable link between climate change and global health is on display in Egypt this week. A number of Bay Area Global Health Alliance members are attending the 27th Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (COP27). "There’s going to be a huge rise in death and suffering from climate change, if we don’t do anything about it," said Seed Global Health’s Vanessa Kerry on CNN, advocating for greater investments in health to mitigate against climate change. Click on our members' links to learn more about their advocacy and engagement: Pathfinder, Merck, WWF, Stanford, and Google.
 

Surveilling Potential Pandemics


UC Davis virus hunters are on the ground in Uganda, where they are in search of viruses and parasites that have the potential for spillover—zoonotic disease outbreaks have risen by 63% in Africa over the past decade, thanks to climate change and population growth causing humans and wild animals to live in closer proximity. A recent visit by university researchers was documented by 60 Minutes as they took samples from bats, baboons, monkeys, and gorillas deep in the Impenetrable Forest. Watch the episode here. 

In another nod to the pressing issue of zoonotic spillover, the Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations (CEPI) recently announced that it has provided £1.5M for the university's SpillOver app. "This is a critical step forward in streamlining vaccine pipelines with the power to revolutionize epidemic and pandemic preparedness," said Alliance board member and UC Davis' Vice Provost of Grand Challenges, Jonna Mazet. Read more here.

Ending Pandemics has released the One Health Participatory Surveillance Map, designed to prevent a pandemic from taking root. The web-based compilation of systems enlists the direct participation of the public in 40 countries. Mark Smolinski, president of Ending Pandemics, said, "Our global surveillance needs to be faster and stronger. Communities directly reporting symptoms of illness or adverse events are earlier to detect and faster to respond to health crises." Explore the participatory surveillance map here.
 

Preventing the Next Pandemic: A Roundtable Discussion with Laurie Garrett on November 15 


How will we prevent the next pandemic? Join UCSF's Institute for Global Health Sciences and the Alliance on November 15, 2:15–4:00 pm PT to hear perspectives from award-winning science writer and author Laurie Garrett and other experts.

Garrett is the author of The Coming Plague: Newly Emerging Diseases in a World Out of Balance and Betrayal of Trust: The Collapse of Global Public Health. Garrett is also a columnist for Foreign Policy and science contributor for MSNBC. 

This will be a hybrid event, which can be attended in person or virtually. Please complete this form to let us know how you plan to attend the event.
 

Promising Vaccine Developments


Pfizer has announced a series of encouraging pharmaceutical developments in the past month, beginning with the news that their experimental maternal RSV vaccine, given to expectant mothers in the second half of pregnancy, successfully prevented severe illness in infants. A few days later, the company announced that it had begun a study to evaluate the effectiveness of a newly developed COVID-19 and influenza combination vaccine. Finally, a study demonstrated that the company's bivalent coronavirus booster produces more antibodies in older Americans than its original booster. It is hoped the new findings will increase bivalent booster uptake, particularly among vulnerable older adults. Read more here, here, and here.
 

SIGHT Fund Proposed for Innovative Health Technologies


The Global Health Technologies Coalition (GHTC) is leading advocacy efforts to create a new $250M "Supporting Innovative Global Health Technologies (SIGHT) Fund," a proposed flexible, catalytic fund to be housed within the US Agency for International Development's (USAID) Global Health Bureau. If approved, the disease-agnostic funding source could help expand the development of new global health technologies designed for communities in low-income and low-resource settings. Read more about the fund here.
 

Welcome to Our Newest Members



We are happy to welcome the newest Bay Area Global Health Alliance members Airbnb, CARE-WWF Alliance, and Comprehensive Community Based Rehabilitation (CCBRT). Airbnb's millions of listings worldwide offer unique stays and experiences. CARE and WWF work side-by-side to strengthen the resilience of communities and ecosystems. CCBRT provides specialized healthcare services in Tanzania in disability and rehabilitation and maternal and newborn health. It is represented by the Kupona Foundation in the US. We look forward to working together to promote equity and innovation in global health. Read more.
 

Vax Up: Connecting "Hardly Reached" Communities Through Social Media 


Vaccine confidence in "hardly reached" communities—from indigenous communities in Guatemala and Canada to girls and young women in India and sub-Saharan Africa—is the topic of the latest Vax Up podcast. As part of the Alliance's and Sabin Vaccine Institute's Insights Dialogue initiative, the podcast examines how digital media and social network platforms can help build trust in healthcare, particularly vaccines. Listen or watch here.
 

Highlights from 2022 | Growth and Impact of our Multi-Sector Alliance


The Alliance is now more than 70 members strong and includes representation from tech, private and public sector, academic, and nonprofit members. We are proud of how our Bay Area, and now global, membership has brought expertise and leadership to address the COVID-19 crisis and other health priorities. As our network has expanded, so has our vision for impact. We stand strong in our collective belief that in bringing diverse sectors together in a trusted community, we can break down silos and solve pressing health challenges that affect us all. Read the 2022 highlights here.
 

Members in the media

More member news

ICYMI: Bay Area's Arati Prabhakar on Achieving America's Aspirations


The Bay Area's Dr. Arati Prabhakar was recently named Director of the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy and as Assistant to the President for Science and Technology. Listen to her recent talk, "Science, Technology and Innovation to Achieve America’s Aspirations," at the American Association for the Advancement of Science meeting 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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