To the global health community, COVID-19 was no surprise. Devex has been warning that pandemics are a growing risk and that the world is only as strong as its weakest health system. In 2017 Devex published a report where 40 experts, Chief Medical Advisor to the President Dr. Anthony Fauci among them, said the number one global health security risk was a flu-like infection.
So today, exactly one year since the World Health Organization declared COVID-19 a pandemic, what’s the lesson?
The world has learned global health matters to everyone. At long last, human health isn’t just a local or national issue. Like climate change, it’s truly global.
Catch up on all things global health
Head to Devex’s Health page for the latest front-line and behind-the-scenes reporting.
That realization has implications. To advance global health requires certain things: strong, effective international organizations, for one; sustainable funding, for another. We also need innovation, better delivery, and new models.
Maybe you’re working on one of those things. To make progress, you need to know who else is too. You need insights and ideas, and a hard-line connection plugged right into the global health ecosystem.
Enter Devex CheckUp.
Devex has been on the global health beat for years. Thousands of global health practitioners, business leaders, policymakers, health ministers, and more — from Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus to Bill Gates, Anges Binagwaho to Winnie Byanyima — rely on our journalism.
Now we’re taking our reporting to the next level with a new, free global health newsletter called Devex CheckUp. True to its name, it’s what you need to know — at pace and with style. Sign up and you’ll get frontline and behind-the-scenes reporting for global health professionals in a quick, easy-to-read email that’s sure to make the rounds wherever global health is discussed.
Brought to you by a team of Devex journalists — Jenny Lei Ravelo in Manila, Amruta Byatnal in New Delhi, Sara Jerving in Nairobi, and many more — Devex CheckUp is the dedicated global health newsletter you’ve been waiting for. We’re bringing exclusive news and insider insights to professionals working to make the world a more equitable — and healthier — place.
From donor capitals to health ministries — we’ll take you anywhere global health decisions are made and where millions of lives hang in the balance. If being in the know on global health matters to you — as it certainly now does to the world — sign up and join us.
About the author
Raj Kumarraj_devex
Raj Kumar is the President and Editor-in-Chief at Devex, the media platform for the global development community. He is a media leader and former humanitarian council chair for the World Economic Forum and a member of the Council on Foreign Relations. His work has led him to more than 50 countries, where he has had the honor to meet many of the aid workers and development professionals who make up the Devex community. He is the author of the book "The Business of Changing the World," a go-to primer on the ideas, people, and technology disrupting the aid industry.
