I know many of you have only begun to settle in 2024 after the holidays, and maybe you’re already wondering when you’ll next have the day off.
But there’s another reason that you should start looking at your calendar. It’s going to be a packed year yet again for global development, especially for health.
First up is Davos, which is kicking off next week. Health isn’t the main agenda, but we expect there to be discussion of antimicrobial resistance — which will have its second high-level event in New York during the U.N. General Assembly in September — as well as preparations for “Disease X,” a placeholder name for an unknown virus that can cause a pandemic. My colleague Vince Chadwick will be on the ground in Switzerland next week, so send tips and raclette recommendations to him at vince.chadwick@devex.com.
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Next is the African Union summit in February. While the summit’s theme is education, we’re expecting updates on the Africa Epidemics Fund. African heads of state agreed to its creation in 2022, and now the Africa Centre for Disease Control and Prevention is expected to submit details for it, including its governance framework, for approval, according to my colleague Sara Jerving.
Then there’s the World Health Assembly in May, where a much debated pandemic treaty will be up for consideration, as well as revisions to the International Health Regulations, a legally binding instrument governing WHO and countries’ actions in a public health emergency. But before that is the WHO executive board meeting that starts on Jan. 22, which will set the agenda for the assembly. Among those up for decision is an investment round for WHO to cover its work for the next four years.
Read: Key moments to watch in 2024 (Pro)
ICYMI: What’s next for Africa’s revamped health institutions?
And in case you need a refresher: What is the pandemic treaty and what would it do?
Unfinished business
2023 was a tough year for U.S. foreign aid. Lawmakers failed to agree on foreign affairs funding and to reauthorize PEPFAR, the U.S. flagship global HIV/AIDS initiative. They now need to reach a deal for both, and fund key U.S. aid programs before automatic cuts kick in, which could have significant implications for health.
But it isn’t going to be easy, especially with the elections in November.
“It’s going to be a busy year and it’s too bad that these things are all going to be litigated during an election year where attention is lower, emotions are higher and potential for compromise is more limited,” Catholic Relief Services' Bill O’Keefe tells my colleague Adva Saldinger.
Read: Foreign aid 'red warning lights' to watch in the US Congress in 2024 (Pro)
+ Devex Pro members can also read our article on what “extremism” in U.S. politics means for PEPFAR’s future. Not a Pro member yet? Start your 15-day free trial period to read the piece and get access to all our expert analysis, insider insights, career resources, and more.
New year, same old problems
In 2023, WHO released new guidance to improve testing and diagnosis of sexually transmitted infections, such as gonorrhea and syphilis which are both on the rise. But finding new cases isn’t the only thorny issue.
There is a shortage of drugs to treat STIs. In Malawi, patients travel long distances for treatment, only to be told that it isn’t available. Medicines do arrive, but the demand is so high that they last only weeks.
According to Moctar Menta, media adviser at the International Planned Parenthood Federation Africa Region, the problem is inefficient supply chain management, procurement delays, as well as poor forecasting, storage, and distribution in many sub-Saharan African countries. Some are also dependent on drug donations.
When left untreated, STIs can cause a range of health problems, including infertility, birth defects, mental illness, and heart disease. And when patients can’t find a cure in health facilities, they turn to traditional healers who offer concoctions that don’t really address the problem.
Read: Why are sexually transmitted infections on the rise?
From the archives: WHO calls for point-of-care diagnostics for STIs
One big number
95%
—That’s the proportion of cervical cancer cases linked to the human papillomavirus. An HPV vaccine is available — but to date, only 21% of girls under 16 worldwide have received it, even though it was approved nearly 20 years ago.
This has tragic consequences. A woman with cervical cancer dies every 90 seconds, and nearly 210,000 children, most in the global south, are orphaned annually by the disease.
But solutions are available to help turn this around, writes Anuradha Gupta, president of global immunization at the Sabin Vaccine Institute, in an opinion article for Devex. Health workers can offer the vaccine to young girls while screening their mothers for the virus. HIV and AIDS clinics can also offer HPV screening and treatment. Furthermore, Gupta says, messaging about the vaccine needs a rebrand: Instead of focusing on the virus and its transmission, health advocates should focus on the vaccine’s potential to save lives.
Opinion: HPV vaccine is a cancer moonshot but there aren’t enough takers
Who’s naughty and nice
More than two decades ago, donors pledged to spend at least 10% of their official development assistance on sexual and reproductive health and rights programs. But only one country reached that goal in 2023 — the United States, which directed 16.03% of its ODA to SRHR, according to the donor funding atlas. Canada was the next biggest spender, but was short of the goal at 8.33% of its ODA.
The lowest spender? Greece, with only 0.07% of its ODA allocated to SRHR.
Read: Sexual and reproductive health aid — which countries are good and bad?
What we’re reading:
More than 10 children lose one or both of their legs every day amid the war in Gaza, and many amputations are done without anesthesia. [CNN]
A bomb blast in northwestern Pakistan has reportedly killed five police officers who were deployed to protect polio vaccination workers. [Al Jazeera]
A U.N. rapporteur has criticized WHO over the members of its new committee in charge of developing the first global guidelines on adult transgender care. [The Guardian]
About the author
Jenny Lei Ravelo@JennyLeiRavelo
Jenny Lei Ravelo is a Devex Senior Reporter based in Manila. She covers global health, with a particular focus on the World Health Organization, and other development and humanitarian aid trends in Asia Pacific. Prior to Devex, she wrote for ABS-CBN, one of the largest broadcasting networks in the Philippines, and was a copy editor for various international scientific journals. She received her journalism degree from the University of Santo Tomas.
