Weekly News Roundup
News, Events and Observations about Health Markets in the Developing World
Program News
The Global Fund is deciding in November whether antimalarials should be made available through non-clinical private channels, such as grocery stores, to those in low-and-middle income countries. The Global Fund would support this initiative through the funding of the Affordable Medicines Facility–malaria (AMFm), which would provide heavily subsidized drugs to the poor. However there is currently a heated debate surrounding the potential dangers from selling and providing drugs through non-clinical channels. Read more about the matter here in The Guardian.
General News
Wednesday was World Polio Day; a day every year that marks the progress made against the disease, and focuses on what else needs to be done to completely eradicate polio from the world. Read the article here to learn ten facts you might not have known about the deadly disease.
The Strengthening Health Outcomes through the Private Sector (SHOPS) Project recently released a brief on their private health sector assessment of Paraguay. The assessment was conducted to help Paraguay achieve a balanced public-private mix that will be conducive to maintaining its successes post-USAID aid. Click here to download the full summary.
Healthy Lives, PSI Impact’s global health blog, recently held a webinar on the reproductive health guide, “Forecasting Guide for New and Underused Family Planning Methods”. The guide was developed by Georgetown University’s Institute for Reproductive Health (IRH), John Snow, Inc. (JSI), and Population Services International (PSI), with a grant from the Reproductive Health Supplies Coalition (RHSC). It provides instructions for both the private and public sector on how to face the challenges of scaling up new and underused family planning methods. You can read a short summary of the guide here and download the full guide here.
In the hopes of addressing the issue of mental illnesses in Asia, Africa and the Caribbean, the Canadian government through Grand Challenges Canada, the primary organization through which Canada delivers aid from its Development Innovation Fund, will finance fifteen innovative projects that improve mental health diagnosis and care in the global south. They are awarding $20 million CAD, and you can read more about this story here.
Opportunities
Fail Faire DC, an annual event in Washington D.C. where innovators in development meet to tell, laugh, and learn from their failures is back this year on November 16. The event is hosted by the World Bank and will feature speakers such as the Executive Director of mHealth Alliance and the CEO of Plan International USA. Tickets are going fast! Get yours here!