Raising awareness
December 1 was World AIDS Day, an international day dedicated to raising awareness of the AIDS pandemic and mourning those who have died of the disease. Here’s how different organizations in the global health community commemorated the day:
The World Health Organization shared four things you need to know about HIV.
Fred Hutchinson Cancer Center lit their campus with red lights to honor those living with HIV/AIDs, those who have died, and those working to find ways to prevent, treat, and cure the disease. Read more about how Fred Hutch is continuing their work to understand the virus, test treatments, and find ways to prevent it.
Public Health – Seattle & King County shared what King County is doing as part of the national Ending the HIV Epidemic initiative.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention explained how we can fight the stigma surrounding HIV and support people with HIV.
# Innovate4Health
Last week, the Global Health Technologies Coalition held its sixth annual Innovating for Impact Awards to celebrate the partnerships and policymakers that drive global health innovation. Awardees included Dr. Anthony Fauci (Lifetime of Service), Senators Sherrod Brown and Todd Young (Congressional Champions), and the developers of pretomanid, a therapy for drug-resistant tuberculosis (Partnership Award). If you were unable to attend, you can still catch up on the highlights of this event or join in the discussion on Twitter.
A new addition
Seattle Children’s opened a new Cancer and Blood Disorders Clinic. The new 310,000 square-foot addition to the hospital’s campus expands their ability to treat children, teens, and young adults and was specifically designed to provide transformative, patient-centered care.
Mental health matters
More than one in five women in America experienced a mental health issue last year that affected their social, emotional, and psychological wellbeing. Providence takes a deeper look at women’s mental health and shares tips on how you can give yourself the gift of mental wellness this holiday season.
The impact of exercise
A new study of identical twins indicates that consistent exercise can change the molecules in the human body that influence how genes behave. The Washington State University study suggests that markers of metabolic disease are strongly influenced by how a person interacts with their environment as opposed to just their inherited genetics.
Products to people
Tiwonge Mkandawire, Director of Supply Chain at VillageReach, is hosting a four-episode podcast called Products to People: An Integrated Public Health Supply Chain. The show does a deep dive into VillageReach’s Supply Chain Integration Framework, which provides a pathway to building high-performing public health supply chains that are equitable, people-centered, resilient, and sustainable. Listen to the first episode, Strategy and Stewardship, and subscribe wherever you stream your podcasts.
Happy holidays
From all of us at the Washington Global Health Alliance, best wishes for a happy holiday season and a healthy new year! We’ll see you in 2023!
Around the community
Jan. 9: Join the University of Washington Health Sciences Schools webinar Abortion Access, Reproductive Justice and Implications for Health Equity. This webinar will discuss the landscape of abortion access and reproductive justice in the wake of the Dobbs decision.
Jan. 19: Register now for the Women in Global Health Seattle Q4 Gathering. This virtual event will introduce the new WGH Seattle co-chairs and include a fireside chat with Elisa Wells, co-founder and co-director of Plan C, which transforms access to abortion in the United States by normalizing the self-directed option of abortion by pills in the mail.