As the COVID-19 pandemic continues, the creation of safe and effective vaccines to fight the virus within a year of the first reported cases is a huge scientific achievement. It has shifted the conversation from “if” there will be an end to the pandemic to “when.” Even with vaccines being rolled out, we know that we won’t beat this disease fully until we beat it everywhere, so we need to ensure vaccines and medicines reach people at risk wherever they...
The fact that new COVID-19 variants, like the ones found in the United Kingdom and South Africa, have developed is both concerning and unsurprising. There is a real risk that the longer the pandemic goes on, the more the virus will adapt and mutate — coming back across borders and halting all the progress we have made. A domestic-only strategy will not work. These variants are coming into the United States from other countries, which means we must have a...
In 2020, global health has gone from a fringe issue to the forefront of people’s mind, all thanks to COVID-19. The last time the entire world came close to being as focused on a pandemic threat was over two decades ago, when HIV/AIDS was killing almost 4,000 people every day and new infections doubled year after year. Since then, the global response to AIDS has become a success story, and AIDS-related deaths have been cut by more than half. Today,...
Falling on 11 October, International Day of the Girl Child is a United Nations day that brings attention to “girls’ rights and the unique challenges girls face around the world.” Empowering young girls early in life can give them the “potential to change the world — both as the empowered girls of today and as tomorrow’s workers, mothers, entrepreneurs, mentors, household heads, and political leaders.” However, as we’ve seen with previous health crises, COVID-19’s lingering economic and social impacts on...
Marc Friend is the Assistant Director, US Government Relations at the ONE Campaign. Here’s his analysis and thoughts on recent congressional plans to strengthen global health security. COVID-19 has proven that we won’t be safe until the world works together to tackle this pandemic. Unfortunately, we also know that this won’t be the last deadly disease that the world will face. The US should be front and center leading the effort to prevent and respond to the next global health...
Listen to the experts. That’s the message actress and ONE champion Danai Gurira shared when she joined The Daily Show with Trevor Noah to discuss ONE’s #PassTheMic campaign, and the need for global cooperation to fight the coronavirus. Danai and over 40 other celebrities participated in the participated in the #PassTheMic campaign, which featured celebrities from across the world turning over their social media platforms to experts to highlight the need for a global response to the COVID-19 pandemic. When discussing...
Mark Dybul is the co-director of the Centre for Global Health Practice and Impact, and professor at Georgetown University. We interviewed him as part of our #PassTheMic campaign. Here’s some of what he had to say. This is the first time really since 1918 that the world has encountered a pandemic that reaches every corner of the earth. As soon as restrictions start to lift, the infection will start to pop up from people moving around. So we need to...
Raj Mariwala is the director of Mariwala Health Initiative, which supports organisations in India to provide mental health services to all. We interviewed her as part of our #PassTheMic campaign. Here’s some of what she had to say. COVID has shown a lot of the fault lines in our health systems, particularly around leaving people behind. We’re only as strong as the system is. So if it’s built for a certain type of person, and we know that COVID affects marginalised...
Dr. Grace Ogiehor-Enoma is the head hospital administrator at New York Presbyterian Queens and executive director of the National Association of Nigerian Nurses in North America. We interviewed her as part of our #PassTheMic campaign. Here’s some of what she had to say. The hospital I work at has been an epicentre of COVID-19. Before this, we may have had 30 patients in the emergency room, but during the surge of COVID, we were having 150 to 200. Thankfully, over the past...
Tsion Firew is a doctor of emergency medicine at Columbia University. We interviewed her as as part of our #PassTheMic series. Here’s some of what she had to say in the interview. During my career I’ve focused a lot on global health work — from serving as a medic in Iraq during the war, to being on the front line in Mosul during the fight against ISIS. When people talk to me about coronavirus and say: “This is like a battle...