Blog
Blog ArchiveAddressing the Evolving Needs of Haiti’s Women and Children Two Years After the Earthquake
By Andrea Brush, ACTION internJanuary 12, 2010 is one of those days that I will never forget. I remember exactly where I was and the moments after the news broke of the devastating earthquake that shook the island nation of Haiti to its core. I was sitting in my office gathering my things to head home for the day and talking with my boss, who is Haitian, about the meetings we were preparing for the following day. Her phone began ringing, everything fell silent and the mood in the room instantly changed. I have never felt so helpless in my life. Fast-forward two years and I am weeks away from earning a Master’s degree in Public Health; a decision that was made before January 2010, but was cemented as the correct one after that day in my office.
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The Future of Public-Private Partnerships
By Andrea Brush, ACTION intern
“To go fast, go alone. To go far, go together” – African proverb
Last Friday, I had the opportunity to attend an event at the Center for Strategic and International Studies titled, “PepsiCo & World Food Program: A Public-Private Partnership to Transform Nutrition across Africa.” I am very interested in this topic because I studied childhood malnutrition throughout Africa, and follow the projects of the World Food Program. I was particularly interested in how the public and private sectors can best work together to combat issues such as malnutrition, but also anything ranging from vaccine campaigns to education. The future of innovation may lie in the development of partnerships between the public and private sectors. It seems logical to think that with the varied directions the world’s economy is moving in, partnerships between publically and privately funded organizations will become commonplace.
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On TB and Building a Safer Global Neighborhood
By Jessica Hoffner, ACTION intern
Disease doesn’t know the difference between your house and your neighbors. And it doesn’t know the difference between the U.S. and Zambia. People travel across borders - so does disease. In order to address global health issues such as TB, you can’t focus on only one country. TB is curable - we just need new tools for detection, better drug regimens and better integration of TB-HIV services.
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10 Years On, Funding Crisis Threatens the Global Fund’s Effort to End AIDS
This week marks the 10th anniversary of The Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis, and Malaria. The last 10 years, the Global Fund has proved to be one of the most successful efforts in the history of public health. Millions of lives have been saved in some 150 countries. But projected funding shortfalls threaten this progress. And last November, the Global Fund board canceled the next funding round and essentially suspended new grant opportunities until 2014. This is a devastating and unacceptable setback to the fight against these diseases, and donors must mobilize to fill this funding gap.
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On Its Tenth Anniversary, Support for The Global Fund Is Strong in Germany
January 27, 2012 Today, the leading German opposition parties - SPD and Greens/Alliance90 - issued powerful statements of support for the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, TB and Malaria to mark its tenth anniversary.
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TDR-TB and XXDR-TB: Frequently Asked Questions
Want to learn more about totally drug-resistant TB? Read on!
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Development Assistance for Health as the MDG Deadline Approaches
What’s it like to be a small fish in a big pond? I’ll tell you - I started my internship with ACTION just under a week ago, so I would say I’m a fairly small fish in the global health advocacy pond. On my third day at the office, I attended a Global Health Council event to discuss the Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation’s (IHME) report on global health financing. While other college sophomores were sitting in class, I was sitting next to big fish in global health, and I couldn’t have been more excited to get a glimpse into the complicated world of global health financing.
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The Rise of Totally Drug-Resistant TB: Implications For Africa
Andrew Speaker caused an international incident in 2007 when he boarded an international flight while infected with XDR-TB, a form of tuberculosis resistant to most available drugs. It was terrifying to imagine what could have happened if the flight had taken off. Was there anything scarier than flying next to a person with extensively resistant TB?
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Thoughts on a visit to Aeras
We recently sent our new intern, Andrea Brush, over to Aeras for a tour of the facilities. It’s always a great way to introduce people to an aspect of global health that not many get to see upclose. Thanks to Aeras and their staff for sharing their work with us!
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Marking a “Polio Free” Year in India
ACTION partner, Dr. Bobby John of Global Health Advocates India reflects on one year since the last wild polio case was detected in India.
“Indian investment and global support have brought things to this critical watershed moment. The next challenge is to maintain another 24 months of polio free status to truly be able to say that endemic wild polio transmission in India is a thing of the past, and to use the experience and infrastructure to raise the rates of immunization coverage among all children for the other diseases for which vaccines are available.”—Dr. Bobby john
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