Ideas to Action:
Independent research for global prosperity
In October 2020, the Center for Global Development—in partnership with African Union Development Agency-NEPAD (AUDA-NEPAD), UN Economic Commission for Africa (UNECA), and the African Leaders Malaria Alliance—hosted a high-level roundtable on regional health product manufacturing in Africa. This blog is based on the authors’ reflections of the roundtable.
Prior to the pandemic, many low-and middle-income countries (LMICs)–Bangladesh, Ethiopia, Senegal, Uganda, and Zambia to name a few—were on track to expand their Universal Health Coverage (UHC) arrangements. To what extent can LMICs still make real progress towards UHC as their economies enter some of the most severe recessions in centuries?
The COVID-19 pandemic is a critical illness crisis, with more than two million deaths worldwide and hospitals overburdened with 67 percent of COVID-19 admissions requiring oxygen. With the emergence of new variants and the rise of second or third epidemic waves, there is unprecedented demand for oxygen as a life-sustaining, first-line therapeutic and an essential resource when caring for the critically ill.
Following the UK government’s decision to cut aid from 0.7 to 0.5 percent of GNI, recent announcements have shown that bilateral aid is likely to receive the biggest hit, all while in the midst of a global pandemic.
International commitments to curb duty-free sales of tobacco under the Framework Convention for Tobacco Control have been largely ineffective, despite their potential to contribute to tobacco control as well as fiscal goals.
Five key operational levers and choices determine how fast countries are able to roll out the COVID-19 vaccine. Ideally, someone at the national level makes these decisions, but this hasn’t always been easy in multi-level government systems.
Drawing from a workshop in February 2020, the authors offer an evidence review and proposed approach to inform policymakers as they evaluate contraception for inclusion in health benefits packages.
The reality is that getting back to normal means rapid vaccination of the entire world – to minimize further virus mutations, to enable regular trade and commerce, and to protect those that are unable to be vaccinated for other health reasons.
This blog proposes some critical steps—many of which are long overdue—that international financial institutions (IFIs) and multilateral development banks (MDBs) must take if their money is to work more effectively to support African countries recover from the pandemic’s fallout.
At a recent CGD staff presentation of our work into COVID-19 vaccines, our colleagues raised a large number of interesting questions, so, we asked our colleagues to send in their questions on the COVID-19 vaccine portfolio.
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