The info hub for the hub of global health
Walking the talk in health equity
After over 30 years of investing resources, building expertise, and creating partnerships in Mozambique, Timor-Leste, and Côte d’Ivoire, Health Alliance International (HAI) made a monumental decision. It’s fully transitioning global operations and active programs to locally based, locally led NGOs this year. It’s a true shift toward global health equity and local autonomy. We applaud HAI’s deep commitment to equity and their leadership example, and we look forward to seeing what’s next for the local NGOs and HAI.
A big commitment
Where would you invest $2.1 billion in global health? The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation committed this amount to advance gender equality. Over the next five years, the funds will improve economic empowerment, health and family planning, and women’s leadership programs. In the words of Melinda French Gates, “The beauty of our fight for gender equality is that every human being will gain from it.”
Speaking of gender equality...
Women and adolescent girls carry the greatest health, societal, and economic burdens of malaria. Malaria No More and the RBM Partnership to End Malaria, with the help of Kati Collective, released Achieving a Double Dividend: The Case for Investing in a Gendered Approach to the Fight Against Malaria to show how gender-based investments can help stop malaria and advance gender equality.
Inoculation hesitation
Besides logistics and funding, hesitancy is a major barrier to people getting vaccines. VillageReach is working to address the issues surrounding COVID-19 vaccine uptake through social listening practices, info and feedback apps, a health phone hotline, and strengthening supply chains. It’s going to take a multi-layered approach to ensure access and confidence in the vaccine.
To better visualize hesitancy numbers, the Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation developed a tool showing US vaccine hesitancy by county and ZIP code. With this mapping tool, health officials can figure out the best ways to target vaccination campaign efforts so more people will have the info they need to make a decision.
The time is now
Don’t miss your chance to submit nominations for WGHA’s Global Health Impact Awards! We need your help to find the people and organizations making a real impact in global health. Nominate the next:
Rising star—individual age 40 or under making an exceptional impact in the field of global health.
Luminary leader—individual who has demonstrated exceptional leadership and a relentless commitment to the global health community.
Impactful organization—WGHA member organization making an exceptional impact in improving global health equity.
Submit your nominations by 5:00 pm PT on July 21, then join us on October 14 to find out who the winners are!
Community heroes in Zambia
Kids in Zambia’s Katete District are getting more playtime with parents thanks to Insaka hubs, which are parenting hubs for nurturing care at the community level. Since opening the Insaka hubs, UNICEF and the LEGO Foundation have trained 585 community-based volunteers to share playful parenting, sanitation, and child nutrition lessons with over 10,000 parents and caregivers.
Community health workers (CHWs) are also central to combatting malaria. So far this year, 500 CHWs have been trained to test, treat, and track malaria under Partners for a Malaria-Free Zambia, a collaboration between Rotary’s Malaria Partners International, World Vision, and PATH. Focused on 10 high malaria-burden districts in Central and Muchinga provinces, the goal is to train 2,000 more CHWs to provide health services for more than 1 million Zambians.
People on the move
Brendan Crabb and Selina Lo are the new chair and executive director, respectively, of the Australian Global Health Alliance.
Nicole Barnes was promoted to senior vice president for sustainable growth & resilience in the International Development Group business unit at RTI International.
Zoomin' around town
July 21: Join Medical Teams International to watch and discuss the film, The Crossing, for a Healthy Women, Healthy World summer movie discussion with the director.
July 23–24: Attend this year’s pediatric bioethics conference on Pushing the Limits: Children, Athletics and Ethics with Seattle Children’s.
July 30: Participate in Science Friday—a virtual event offering firsthand look at biomedical research focused on the immune system with Benaroya Research Institute at Virginia Mason.
Anytime
Listen to Resource Media’s Outside Voices podcast mini-series, Belonging, where immigrants or first-generation folks share stories about their personal and cultural connections to the outdoors.
"Imagine what would happen if we dismantled the systemic racism that blocks the success of Black people and allows microaggressions in the workplace to exist. What would be the transformation of our workplace if we allowed Black people to bring their magnificence and innovation to an organization without experiencing systemic racism?” "
–Cara Valentino, RTI International, in her article On the Path to Dismantling Racism