Yesterday was a big day for us here at Devex — my colleagues teamed up with some of the brightest minds in health and technology to bring you Prescription for Progress, our annual look inside the world of global health innovation.
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Scientific innovators and top public health officials gathered with Devex yesterday to talk shop, bringing their perspectives on COVID-19, genomic surveillance, and even space.
In case you missed it, here are a few highlights:
Vinod Khosla, Indian-American billionaire and venture capitalist, on integrating artificial intelligence into health care: “My vision is if we take the right approach, we will have artificial intelligence embody most of the knowledge we have in medicine, and it should be able to substantially outperform the median physician … I actually believe it is the only way to make health care accessible.”
Dr. Soumya Swaminathan, chief scientist at the World Health Organization, on the big COVID-19 genomic sequencing gap between higher- and lower-income countries: “Governments are unable, or unwilling, to support and fund ongoing genomic surveillance of many pathogens because it does require financial investment.”
Engineer Bainomugisha, project lead at Ugandan air quality data organization AirQo, on the need for better information: “The way to make [air pollution] a priority is not by saying … we have air pollution without any facts or figures, but being able to do that groundwork on providing the data to actually show the state of air pollution.”
Simon Agwale, CEO at Innovative Biotech, on the need for health institutions in the African continent to build the full end-to-end manufacturing capacity for vaccines that affect the continent: “We must start focusing on upstream drug substance. If not, at the end of the day, we'll have empty fill-finish facilities throughout the continent without the drug substance to fill.”
+ ICYMI: How the African continent is preparing to manufacture its own COVID-19 vaccines
If you missed this year’s installment of Prescription for Progress, you can check the full event, or watch individual session recordings.
+ Tomorrow’s edition of Devex CheckUp, our must-read free weekly newsletter on all things global health, will discuss more Prescription for Progress highlights. Be sure to sign up.
Don’t overthink it
“This is not very complicated.”
International Rescue Committee President David Miliband has a list of four things that could be done right now to stave off a deadly food security crisis in Afghanistan:
• The World Bank could pay the salaries of public sector workers through the Afghan Reconstruction Trust Fund.
• The United States and its allies should clarify that their sanctions apply to Taliban individuals, not state institutions.
• Donors should inject capital to get the economy running again.
• Afghanistan needs a central bank and a functional finance ministry.
“Afghans have paid a very high price of war. Now Afghans are paying the price for peace, and that’s something that is indefensible,” Miliband says.
Solving the Afghan food crisis: 'Not very complicated,' says Miliband
+ Devex Dish recently tackled what the worst-case scenario is for Afghanistan if the World Food Programme doesn’t get enough money to fund its operations this year. Sign up to Devex Dish, our must-read free weekly newsletter that takes you inside the race for a sustainable and equitable global food system. You’ll receive the latest edition today.
Full plate
If you thought your team was understaffed, spare a moment for Amanda Milling, whose job at Britain's Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office as minister for Asia was expanded to also include the Middle East during last week’s minor reshuffle.
Previously, Asia and the Middle East were led by separate ministers, but Milling is now handling both, along with economic cooperation and growth, trade, science and innovation, global health, COVID-19, the U.K.’s development finance institution British International Investment, and migration.
But there was some new clarity for the U.K. development sector: James Cleverly, who previously held the MENA role, is now minister for Europe and North America, and his responsibilities include international development strategy and official development assistance allocations.
+ Catch up on all the latest news and analysis on FCDO and the U.K. aid sector.
Long COVID-19
“The evidence available so far suggests that the economic effects of the pandemic will be more persistent and severer for emerging economies.”
— 2022 World Development ReportThe latest edition of the World Bank’s flagship annual report finds that about 86% of the 51 countries that had their credit ratings downgraded in 2020 were emerging markets.
Read: World Bank says debt crisis in lower-income nations is 'alarming'
ICYMI: We dig into the World Bank’s monthly operational summaries published throughout 2021 to see how it allocated over $73 billion for new projects in different regions and sectors. Devex Pro subscribers can get the full funding analysis. Not yet on Pro? Experience it for free for 15 days.
Undercover
Earlier this year U.S. intelligence agencies concluded it is unlikely that so-called Havana syndrome, a string of mysterious ailments that have affected 1,000 U.S. officials overseas, was caused by a foreign adversary. Roughly two dozen of the reported cases remained unexplained when the Central Intelligence Agency released its preliminary findings.
Russian hackers have likely infiltrated critical networks in Ukraine, possibly with the intention to disrupt electricity, transportation, finance, and telecommunications services, the Washington Post reports.
From the article: “The U.S. Agency for International Development has been running a long-term project in Ukraine to strengthen cybersecurity, train a cyber workforce and develop start-ups in cybersecurity to provide products and services.”
Do you have any experience with USAID’s — or other donors’ — programs to strengthen cybersecurity? Have they been successful? Let us know at newswire@devex.com.
In other news
Without new aid funding soon, at least 8 million people in Yemen could lose humanitarian support next month. [AP]
A senior aide to Thai Prime Minister Prayuth Chan-ocha wants to expel Amnesty International from the country for cooperating with protesters seeking to reform the monarchy. [VOA]
Volunteer doctors in Somalia have opened the country's first blood bank since 1991. [Reuters]
About the author
Michael Igoe@AlterIgoe
Michael Igoe is a Senior Reporter with Devex, based in Washington, D.C. He covers U.S. foreign aid, global health, climate change, and development finance. Prior to joining Devex, Michael researched water management and climate change adaptation in post-Soviet Central Asia, where he also wrote for EurasiaNet. Michael earned his bachelor's degree from Bowdoin College, where he majored in Russian, and his master’s degree from the University of Montana, where he studied international conservation and development.
