News Flash 412: Weekly Snapshot of Public Health Challenges

News Flash Links, as part of the research project PEAH (Policies for Equitable Access to Health), aim to focus on the latest challenges by trade and governments rules to equitable access to health in resource-limited settings

News Flash 412

 Weekly Snapshot of Public Health Challenges

 

148th Session of the WHO Executive Board: Another waste of time – or time to restore WHO as directing global health authority? Series of public briefings and debates hosted by the Geneva Global Health Hub
11-15 January 2021, 16.30-18.00 CET 

Health in Development Cooperation and Humanitarian Action report 2020 

2021: research and medical trends in a post-pandemic world 

Coronavirus disease (COVID-19) Weekly Update 

Latest Covid-19 Statistics from African Countries 

WHO-led team expected in China in January to probe COVID-19 origins – experts 

Coronavirus: Commission puts forward rules on rapid antigen tests and secures 20 million tests for Member States  

EMA recommends first COVID-19 vaccine for authorisation in the EU 

EMA organises a second public meeting about the new COVID-19 vaccines 

Coronavirus: Commission concludes exploratory talks with Novavax to secure a new potential vaccine 

Two Billion Doses Secured For COVAX Vaccine Facility – Distribution Will Begin in First Quarter 2021 To High Risk Groups in Low- And Middle-Income Countries 

Decision on intellectual property waiver over Covid technology on hold till 2021; what are the next steps? 

Audio Interview: Covid-19 Vaccine Fundamentals  

‘Urgent info campaigns needed’ on COVID-19 vaccines 

Johns Hopkins Launches New Courses on COVID-19 for Assisted Living and Senior Housing Communities to Address COVID-19 Challenges 

Recommendations for the Overdose Epidemic in the COVID-19 Pandemic 

Africa steps up fight against HIV with trial of new combination vaccines  

Towards a coordinated strategy for intercepting human disease emergence in Africa 

Snakebites Are a Deadly Threat Worldwide. Who’s Behind the Push for a New Treatment?

Human Rights Reader 558 

Migrants Struggle To Access Healthcare, First WHO Study Of Migrant Health During Pandemic Finds 

More funds are required to promote migrants’ health  

The EU Migration Pact: Building a True Partnership with Africa 

After COVID, Locusts And Climate Change Setback Food Security – A ‘Year Of Action’ For 2021 To Advance Global Nutrition Goals 

Children’s Participation in Action and Learning for Nutrition (PCAAN) in Mozambique 

A Pakistani Farmer is Using Technology to Stop Agricultural Exploitation 

EU-Africa partnership needed for transformation of food systems, says experts 

Climate change is destroying people’s lives. Should they be compensated? 

Soil health key to achieving SDGs 

Five Years since the Paris Agreement: The Race to Net Zero Is On 

 

 

News Flash 411: Weekly Snapshot of Public Health Challenges

News Flash Links, as part of the research project PEAH (Policies for Equitable Access to Health), aim to focus on the latest challenges by trade and governments rules to equitable access to health in resource-limited settings

News Flash 411 

Weekly Snapshot of Public Health Challenges

 

 

Governments must act fast on consensus supporting historic move to suspend monopolies during pandemic 

Intellectual Property Monopolies Block Vaccine Access  

Nearly 6 Million People Could Be Immunized By Vaccines in 2021 – But Low-Income Countries Risk Being Left Out, Warns BMJ 

Missed opportunity for immunization due to COVID-19  

COVID-19 Vaccine: Reaching People in Areas Controlled by Armed Groups 

What is the ‘know-how gap’ problem and how might it impact scaling up production of Covid-19 related diagnostics, therapies and vaccines? 

World Health Organization’s Censorship Of Report On Italy’s Pandemic Response Sets Dangerous International Precedent – Critics Say  

WHO EXECUTIVE BOARD EB148/1 (annotated) 148th session 14 December 2020 Geneva, 18–26 January 2021 Provisional agenda (annotated)  

Coronavirus disease (COVID-19) Epidemiological Update 

Coronavirus Variant Identified In England 

Fair Research Contracting – Key to Promoting Solidarity for Science and Development in a post-COVID-19 World by Carel IJsselmuiden, Kirsty Kaiser, Abigail Wilkinson, Farirai Mutenherwa 

The role of implementation research for pandemic response 

Covid-19 VIRAT and VRAF Country Assessment Tool: The Need of the Hour by Tanushree Mondal

EU finalizes €500M boost for COVAX 

Canada pledges C$485 million in COVID-19 aid for other nations 

Too Big To Ignore: 7 Recommendations To Address Our Growing Mental Health Crisis 

Study finds malaria drug can also prevent relapse in children 

Human mobility in the Amazon ‘pushes malaria to cities’ 

The Medicines Patent Pool sublicenses sutezolid, an investigational drug for TB treatment, paving the way for clinical development 

Heart disease and stroke killing people in greater numbers than ever, WHO data show  

New alliance seeks to fight ‘plague’ of fake medicines 

DNDi 2020 Year in Review 

Human Rights Reader 557 

Almost 2 billion people depend on health care facilities without basic water services – WHO, UNICEF 

PRESS RELEASE: URGENT CALL FROM INTERNATIONAL CSO TO ECUADOR ON THE CHEVRON CASE 

Busting myths around the Energy Charter Treaty  

Energy Efficiency for Developing Countries: Pivoting from Fewer Inputs to More Outputs  

Dirty development dumped  

Green Deal: Sustainable batteries for a circular and climate neutral economy  

Global Health And Air Pollution Advocates Hail Landmark UK Court Ruling Recognizing Air Pollution As Factor In Child’s Death   

 

 

 

 

 

 

Fair Research Contracting – Key to Promoting Solidarity for Science and Development in a post-COVID-19 World

The institutional competence to negotiate and conclude equitable and fair research agreements and contracts usually differs significantly between partners in high income (HIC) compared to those in low-to middle-income (LMIC) countries. Legal expertise for competent research contract negotiation is very limited in LMICs, especially in the public sector. As negotiating contracts and agreements is essential to the ‘business of science’, to becoming globally competitive, and to fair public-private sector engagements, this lack of research contracting expertise in LMICs adds substantially to their continued economic and infrastructural disadvantage

 

By Carel IJsselmuiden, Kirsty Kaiser

COHRED, Switzerland

Abigail Wilkinson, Farirai Mutenherwa

School of Applied Human Sciences, University of KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa

 

 Fair Research Contracting

Key to Promoting Solidarity for Science and Development in a post-COVID-19 World

 

 

Fair research collaborations are borne from good contracts

Almost all research of any importance is done collaboratively between researchers in more than one organisation, often in more than one country. Typically, research collaborations in global health involve institutions from high income (HIC) and low-to middle-income countries (LMICs). Trust between the collaborating parties is essential for facilitating collaborations and reducing conflicts, for increasing equitability in research collaborations by encouraging fair sharing of outcomes, benefits and costs, and for building up the research institutions and systems in LMICs. This kind of trust can be firmly established through fair agreements and contracts between institutions.

Institutional competence in research contracting is as essential for institutional growth and sustainability as excellent science is for innovation and development. Having or having access to such competence should be a prerequisite for any research institution aiming to solve priority health, equity and development challenges. Many, if not all, renowned research institutions in high-income countries have their own centres of excellence in research contracting[1] and their governments provide support for those who lack such competence. [2]  In contrast, institutions in many LMICs are poorly equipped and lack access to expertise in this area. As negotiating contracts and agreements is essential to the ‘business of science’, to becoming globally competitive, and to fair public-private sector engagements, this lack of research contracting expertise in LMICs adds substantially to their continued economic and infrastructural disadvantage.

The massive health, financial, institutional and political implications of bringing a COVID-19 vaccine to market is the latest example of the crucial importance of having good contracts in place for vaccine research collaborations[3] [4].

Contracting capacity in LMICs

The institutional competence to negotiate and conclude equitable and fair research agreements and contracts usually differs significantly between partners in HICs compared to those in LMICs. Legal expertise for competent research contract negotiation is very limited in LMICs[5], especially in the public sector. As a result, in spite of international commitments to engage researchers in LMICs in COVID-19 research, it is entirely predictable that the increase in social and economic capital that will result from COVID-19 vaccine research will largely accrue to HICs. In fact, LMICs have been seriously under-represented in COVID-19 vaccine research [6] [7]. A recent update from the World Economic Forum suggests that LMICs are still not being included in research opportunities [8].  This is likely due to not having research systems that can handle this kind of research. And so, a vicious circle is born in spite of best intentions.

 

 

Conversely, if ample contracting expertise had been available to LMIC institutions participating in COVID-19 clinical research, for example, then much more institutional and research system strengthening could have resulted from these collaborations, LMICs would have been better prepared to participate in global research in a next pandemic and could have faster provided the solutions appropriate to LMICs where the need for intervention is most needed.[9] 

Turning the tables – enabling LMIC institutions to negotiate and conclude more equitable collaboration agreements

Fair research contracts can address systemic challenges in research capacity development in LMICs, supporting them on the road to becoming knowledge economies.[10]  A more reasonable share in outcomes and benefits can be re-invested in research system development. Fair Research Contracting[11] can help institutions and countries to better understand where they need to improve to become ‘research contracting competent’. If that happens, LMICs research systems can turn the tables – instead of relying on the goodwill of HICs, LMICs can negotiate and conclude collaboration agreement in ways that best suit their development priorities.

 

References

[1] https://www.ucl.ac.uk/research-services/research-contracts/what-research-contract-and-why-do-i-need-one

[2] The Lambert Toolkit. https://www.gov.uk/guidance/university-and-business-collaboration-agreements-lambert-toolkit

[3] Global coalition to accelerate COVID-19 clinical research in resource-limited settings. COVID-19 Clinical Research Coalition. (2020). https://www.thelancet.com/journals/lancet/article/PIIS0140-6736(20)30798-4/fulltext

[4] Borderless collaboration is needed for COVID-19—A disease that knows no borders. Mohamed et al. (2020). https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/infection-control-and-hospital-epidemiology/article/borderless-collaboration-is-needed-for-covid19a-disease-that-knows-no-borders/CDC82720199AC7BE4654F123DB79508E

[5] Improving international research contracting. Sack et al. (2009). https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2704040/

[6] Consolidation in a crisis: Patterns of international collaboration in early COVID-19 research. Fry et al. (2020). https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0236307

[7] Scientific globalism during a global crisis: research collaboration and open access publications on COVID-19. Lee & Haupt. (2020). https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s10734-020-00589-0

[8] COVID-19: Collaboration is the engine of global science – especially for developing countries. Kituyi. (2020). World Economic Forum. https://www.weforum.org/agenda/2020/05/global-science-collaboration-open-source-covid-19/

[9] The need for COVID-19 research in low- and middle-income countries. Gupta et al. (2020). https://link.springer.com/article/10.1186/s41256-020-00159-y

[10] Fair Research Contracting.  A Self-Assessment Tool for Institutions. https://frcweb.cohred.org/wp-content/uploads/COHRED_SCNAT-FRC-Self-Assessment-Guide_V1.pdf

[11] Fair Research Contracting. http://frcweb.cohred.org (accessed 11 Dec 2020)

Covid-19 VIRAT and VRAF Country Assessment Tool

The issue of deployment of Covid-19 vaccines will be a big issue once it hits the market. Find a talk here on the Vaccine Introduction Readiness Assessment Tool (VIRAT), comprehensively referred to as the VIRAT/VRAF (Vaccine Readiness Assessment Framework) 2.0, whereby a workstream was constituted with the joint collaboration from partner agencies - like WHO, UNICEF, GAVI, World Bank, Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation Country Offices - and it was named the COVAX Country Readiness and Delivery Workstream

By Dr Tanushree Mondal

Associate Professor and Assistant Director of Medical Education, Government of West Bengal 

Covid-19 VIRAT and VRAF Country Assessment Tool

The Need of the Hour

 

This year 2020 has revealed a whole lot of secrets, and among those, one of the most salient was the Covid-19 pandemic. This not only took the lives of many innocent people, but at the same time, put the society at stake. With no vaccines around to offer protection, the pandemic seemed to surge its claws. Much had been said and researched about this deadly virus and its vaccine, yet no conclusive results are out yet. However, the countries are getting ready to combat the situation when the vaccine enters the Industry. The issue of deployment of such vaccines will be a big issue once it hits the market. This section talks of the Vaccine Introduction Readiness Assessment Tool, comprehensively referred to as the VIRAT/VRAF (Vaccine Readiness Assessment Framework) 2.0 [1]. This tool has been implemented in many countries post Covid like Sudan, Niger and many other countries.

A Workstream was constituted with the joint collaboration from partner agencies like WHO, UNICEF, GAVI, World Bank, Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation Country Offices and it was named the COVAX Country Readiness and Delivery Workstream [2].

Now what is so special about this tool?

This is a tool that is intended to help all the countries and their Ministries to:

  1. Assess the readiness to introduce COVID-19 vaccines which is the talk of the town
  2. Build a road map for vaccine introduction
  3. Avoid Data Duplications and minimize burden on the country’s resources
  4. Identify and analyze the gaps and prioritize actions in order to ensure enhanced readiness
  5. Identify opportunities for financial support through various partner organizations.

Now this tool measures ten key areas such as: Planning Coordination, Budgeting, Regulation, Prioritization and Covid-19 Surveillance, Service Delivery, Training & Supervision, Monitoring Evaluation, Vaccine and Cold Chain Logistics Infrastructure, Safety Surveillance, and last but not the least, Demand Generation and Communication. The tool does not end here, as it is supplemented by fifty more qualitative as well as quantitative indicators. All these information are entered into an Excel file.

The Excel Sheet has five different components, namely:

  1. General indications for use- It describes the timing and intervals to implement critical pre-planning activities. It also enables with activity and areas dashboards to give a graphic illustration of the progress achieved.
  2. National readiness  (Figure 1)
  3. Readiness dashboard activity (Figure 2)
  4. Readiness dashboard areas and
  5. Reference Page- It contains list of planning and technical documents like guidelines, guiding principles etc.

                                                                                                                                                      Figure 1

                                                                        Figure 2

The Supply Chain activities encompass a wide range of areas like strengthening national logistics working group, mapping key roles and responsibilities for vaccine deployment, mapping potential port(s) of entry, point(s) of storage and fallback facilities, assessing dry storage and cold chain capacity at all levels, establishing contractual agreements for vaccine introduction, provision of standard operating procedures for collection and disposal of medical wastes, updating vaccine stock management tools and establishing security arrangements to ensure integrity of the new vaccine.

With such a great initiative undertaken by the Workstream, we can hope for a better future ahead and thereby combat with our challenges that came alongside with the pandemic. 

————————

Essential Reading

[1]- COVID-19 vaccine introduction readiness assessment tool https://www.who.int/publications/i/item/WHO-2019-nCoV-Vaccine-introduction-RA-Tool-2020.1 

[2]- The country readiness and delivery workstream https://www.who.int/initiatives/act-accelerator/covax/covid-19-vaccine-country-readiness-and-delivery/act-accelerator-country-readiness-and-delivery-for-covid-19-vaccines

News Flash 410: Weekly Snapshot of Public Health Challenges

News Flash Links, as part of the research project PEAH (Policies for Equitable Access to Health), aim to focus on the latest challenges by trade and governments rules to equitable access to health in resource-limited settings

News Flash 410 

Weekly Snapshot of Public Health Challenges

 

The proof of the pudding is in the eating 

Some Surprises in the European Commission’s New Intellectual Property Strategy 

President-Elect Biden Can Take Administrative Action To Dramatically Cut Consumers’ Health Care Costs And Cover Millions Of Uninsured 

To rebuild CDC, Biden picks Rochelle Walensky  

Webinar: Investor-state dispute settlement and economic recovery in Africa, 14 December 2020  

New Project Offers Real-World Case Studies to Teach Big Data Lessons to Help Solve Pressing Health Issues 

Strategic Reset: How Bilateral Development Agencies Are Changing in the COVID-19 Era 

China’s economic response to Covid-19

Coronavirus disease (COVID-19) Weekly Update 

Evidence of SARS-CoV-2 RNA in an Oropharyngeal Swab Specimen, Milan, Italy, Early December 2019 

Effect of internationally imported cases on internal spread of COVID-19: a mathematical modelling study  

Generic Drug Repurposing For Public Health And National Security: COVID-19 And Beyond 

Massive UK Vaccine Roll-Out Begins Showcasing Muscle of UK National Health Service 

First Ever Peer-Reviewed COVID-19 Vaccine Trial Results – The Oxford Vaccine 

Ensuring equitable access to COVID-19 vaccines 

Global equitable access to COVID-19 vaccines estimated to generate economic benefits of at least US$ 153 billion in 2020–21, and US$ 466 billion by 2025, in 10 major economies, according to new report by the Eurasia Group 

COVID-19: Poor left behind as rich nations ‘hoarding vaccines’ 

Pfizer and Moderna vaccines can only be scaled up globally if many more suppliers can produce 

New Alliance Formed To Fight Fake COVID-19 Vaccines & Medicines – In Wake Of Interpol Warning Of Looming Threat 

Editorial: The Vital Pedagogy of the New Coronavirus 

In a Pandemic, Mental Health Charities Struggle With Fundraising Challenges and Increased Need

A research and development fund for new treatments for bacterial infections 

Social, cultural and economic aspects of antimicrobial resistance 

Assessing the state of universal health coverage in times of Covid-19: An impossible task, as proven… 

Addressing barriers to primary health-care services for noncommunicable diseases in the African Region 

Human Rights Reader 556 

54 million women and youth face staggering humanitarian challenges 

Tanzania: Over 100 Girls Now Flee FGM in Mara 

Hospital Detentions for Non-payment of Fees A Denial of Rights and Dignity 

Global emissions fell by 7% in 2020 due to COVID lockdowns, says UN report 

Climate action for human rights 

 

 

 

PEAH News Flash 409

News Flash Links, as part of the research project PEAH (Policies for Equitable Access to Health), aim to focus on the latest challenges by trade and governments rules to equitable access to health in resource-limited settings

News Flash 409

 

Α Vicente Navarro’ s lecture on US elections 

EUROPEAN CITIZENS’ INITIATIVE:  Right to Cure 

State of commitment to universal health coverage: synthesis, 2020 

Virtual panel discussion, The UN and Civic Space: Strengthening Participation, Protection and Promotion, at 16:00am to 17:30am (CET) on Friday 4 December 2020 

The democratisation of health care: will Africa be left behind? 

Coronavirus disease (COVID-19) Weekly Epidemiological Update  

Coronavirus: Commission presents “Staying safe from COVID-19 during winter” strategy 

COVID Vaccine Fever: Moderna Announces US FDA and European Medicines Agency Submissions; Pfizer and AstraZeneca First In Line For UK Approvals 

UK approves Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine for use in world first 

Widespread COVID-19 vaccination in Africa will likely start mid-2021

The Collateral Damage of COVID-19  

Stigmatization Threatens Progress On HIV Prevention and Treatment, Says US Special Representative Deborah Birx 

Surge of Aids-related deaths feared as Covid pandemic puts gains at risk  

Key HIV Treatment To Be Rolled Out Among More Children & Adults In Low- And Middle-Income Countries 

Donor Government Funding for HIV in Low- and Middle-Income Countries in 2019 

Malaria set to kill more people this year than Covid-19 in sub-Saharan Africa, experts warn 

‘Evolving’ malaria mosquitoes getting harder to control 

WHO calls for reinvigorated action to fight malaria 

Strengthening public health in China 

Veterinary medicines: One Health – the only way forward 

Human Rights Reader 555 

Building Racial Equity Into The Walls Of Health Policy 

How a Bank’s New Foundation is Backing Work to Revitalize Marginalized Neighborhoods 

Opinion: To end violence against women, we must uncover inconvenient truths  

Measuring Women’s Economic Empowerment: A Compendium of Selected Tools 

IBFAN calls for reconsideration of harmful decision on baby food marketing 

COVID-19 an Opportunity to Build Resilience around Food Systems 

Event: The Health Effects of Climate Change Date: Tuesday, December 8, 2020 

Pushing back against the tide: Vanuatu’s climate fight  

Italian and German trains hitch up to hydrogen bandwagon 

How China, Italy, the UK, and US Can Drive G20 Fossil Fuel Subsidy Reform