- AMC for Pneumococcal Disease Launched in Rome
- Demand Forecasting Feedback Due March 23
- Leading Edge Group Establishes International Initiative for Impact Evaluation at a Meeting in Bellagio
- New Working Paper on the Impact of Healthworker Migration
- HIV/AIDS Monitor Analyzes the Impact of Funder Disbursement Policies
- IMF Working Group Update
- Recent Publications on Maternal Mortality and Reproductive Health
- View Lecture on the Keys to Successful Global Health Policy
- Rachel Nugent and April Harding Join CGD
AMC for Pneumococcal Disease Launched in Rome
On February 9, Canada, Italy, Norway, Russia, the UK, and the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation committed a total of $1.5 billion towards a pilot Advance Market Commitment for pneumocococcal disease to create incentives for vaccine development and ensure adequate supply capacity, which is expected to prevent more than 500,000 child deaths over the 10-year contract period and over 5 million deaths by 2030. (See CGD's Making Market for Vaccines Initiative for information about the AMC Working Group, and the new GAVI and World Bank website for details about the application of the AMC to pneumo.) Support has also emerged within the U.S., where Senator Lugar has introduced the "Vaccines for the Future Act of 2007" to appropriate additional funding.
Demand Forecasting Feedback Due March 23
CGD's Global Health Forecasting Working Group recently has issued a consultation draft report that lays out its findings and proposed solutions to improve the system of forecasting demand for drugs, vaccines, diagnostics and other critical medical technologies for the developing world by: 1) improving the capacity to develop credible forecasts by taking forecasting seriously; 2) mobilizing and sharing information in a coordinated way through the establishment of an infomediary; and 3) sharing risks through creative contractual arrangements. See our Q&A for a basic overview of the problem, or review the executive summary (pdf) and consultation presentation (pdf) for more detail. Input received through March 23rd will help the Working Group finalize its recommendations; the final report will be published in late spring and launched at the Global Health Council's annual conference in Washington, DC. For occasional updates on the Working Group's progress and consultation outcomes in the interim, please subscribe to our new Demand Forecasting E-Update.
Leading Edge Group Establishes International Initiative for Impact Evaluation at a Meeting in Bellagio
On February 16-20, at the Rockefeller Foundation's Bellagio Conference Center in Italy, a group of pioneering stakeholders met to finalize key design features of an international institution to promote more and better impact evaluations of social and economic development programs, building on the recommendations of the Evaluation Gap Working Group. This "Leading Edge Group" - comprising six low- and middle-income countries, four bilateral aid agencies, three development banks, three foundations, one international NGO, and one multilateral organization - is now developing a proposal to recruit member governments, foundations, development agencies, and other key development stakeholders for the provisionally-titled International Initiative for Impact Evaluation. See the meeting report (pdf) for more details.
New Working Paper on the Impact of Healthworker Migration
In his new working paper "Do Visas Kill? Health Effects of African Health Professional Emigration" (featured in the most recent issue of Nature), CGD Research Fellow Michael Clemens uses new data on African health professionals abroad to test whether lower emigration raises the number of domestic health professionals, increases the mass availability of basic primary care, or improves a range of public health outcomes. The results suggest that Africa's generally low staffing levels and poor public health conditions are the result of factors unrelated to international movements of health professionals, and that the option to emigrate has positively affected Africans' decisions to enter the health field. Contrary to conventional wisdom, he finds that impeding the migration of skilled health professionals, by sending and receiving countries, does little to improve health systems or heath outcomes in Africa.
HIV/AIDS Monitor Analyzes the Impact of Funder Disbursement Policies
As part of the HIV/AIDS Monitor Initiative, CGD Program Coordinator Michael Bernstein and former CGD staff member Myra Sessions have recently released a paper documenting the amounts of AIDS funding committed and disbursed by PEPFAR, the Global Fund, and the World Bank’s MAP, and the policies used to transfer these funds. The first in a series of five global-level analyses, this paper finds that a large amount of new money for HIV/AIDS has been disbursed by the three funders, with the funding provided at different times, to different recipients, and through different mechanisms. To explore the effects of these three funders’ policies and practices in particular country contexts, the HIV/AIDS Monitor has initiated research in Ethiopia, Mozambique, Uganda and Zambia in collaboration with local partner institutions. The first country-level report, Tracking the Funding, will be released this summer. In the meantime, we invite you to subscribe to the new HIV/AIDS Monitor Update for periodic newsletters on our HIV/AIDS-specific work.
IMF Working Group Update
The second meeting of the Working Group on IMF Programs and Health Spending took place on February 22-23. The Group considered a number of background papers including draft case studies of Zambia and Mozambique and a paper on what IMF programs with low-income countries have assumed about aid flow. A case study of Rwanda and a paper examining the pros and cons of providing budgetary protection to certain priority spending categories are also under preparation. The final policy report of the Working Group is expected to be issued in late May or early June.
Recent Publications on Maternal Mortality and Reproductive Health
Visiting Fellow Jeremy Shiffman authored a feature article in the February issue of the British Journal of Obstetrics and Gynaecology entitled "The state of political priority for safe motherhood in Nigeria" (pdf), which was accompanied by a supporting editorial (pdf). Jeremy drew on this work as well as other cross-country analysis for a keynote presentation at a recent conference on maternal mortality. In addition, Director of Programs and Senior Fellow Ruth Levine recently prepared a short essay on USAID's Track Record in Family Planning.
View Lecture on the Keys to Successful Global Health Policy
Ruth Levine delivered the inaugural talk at the Johns Hopkins Global Health Leaders Forum on February 9, where she discussed the key ingredients of successful global health policies. You can view her lecture here (Real Player required).
Rachel Nugent and April Harding Join CGD
CGD warmly welcomes two new health staff. Rachel Nugent serves as a Senior Health Program Associate, providing economic and policy expertise to support GHPRN Working Groups, manage CGD programs on Population and Economic Development, and conduct research on other global health topics. She has 25 years of experience as a development economist in the fields of health, agriculture and the environment, most recently serving as a Technical Director at the Population Reference Bureau. April Harding, Senior Economist in the Human Development Department in the Latin America and Caribbean Region of the World Bank, joins us on a two-year staff exchange. During her time at CGD, April will concentrate on the role of the private health sector in developing countries and opportunities for more effective engagement by the donor community.
Global Health Policy Blog For ongoing news, updates and commentary about our own work and our partners' activities, I encourage you to visit and contribute comments to our Global Health Policy blog. Recent highlights have included:
- The appropriate global response to avian influenza
- Findings from a new conditional cash transfer program in Peru
- Fighting paralysis in the effort to eradicate polio
- Combining interventions to prevent malaria while fighting resistance
Suggestions for posts can be sent to globalhealthpolicy@cgdev.org.
Regards,
Ruth Levine
Director of Programs and Senior Fellow
Center for Global Development