The COVID-19 pandemic did not so much create cracks in healthcare systems around the world, as it exposed weaknesses in them, participants at the Geneva Health Forum said Wednesday at a session on how health systems have fared during the COVID-19 pandemic. “We have found fragility everywhere,” said Edward Kelley, Director of Integrated Health Services […] Continue reading ->
Experts met at the Geneva Health Forum (GHF) this week to discuss the successes and challenges met in expanding social health protection to achieve Universal Health Coverage (UHC). Every year, around 100 million people are pushed into “extreme poverty” because they have to pay for health care, and over 800 million people – almost 12% […] Continue reading ->
Climate change poses an even greater threat to public health than the COVID-19 pandemic – and needs to be treated with equal urgency, Jagan Chapagain, Secretary-General of the International Federation of the Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC), told a virtual news conference on Tuesday. He was speaking at Tuesday’s launch of the IFRC’s […] Continue reading ->
The world’s 27 million nurses and midwives – who comprise 60% of the health workforce – are not only excluded from the health system’s corridors of power, but also have faced new levels of censure and reprisal during the COVID-19 pandemic when they protested dangerous or abusive working conditions, said expert panel members at the […] Continue reading ->
A panel of experts have called for cautious, strategic and realistic approaches in rolling digital tools out to ensure that patients remain a priority. Speaking at the Geneva Health Forum on Tuesday, panellists noted that while the expectations for digital health are high, stakeholders need to be aware that digital health tools alone will not […] Continue reading ->
In the early 2000’s, when Kenyan doctor Sally Agallo Kwenda was diagnosed with cervical cancer, it was a big shock given she was not experiencing any pain or symptoms. A bigger shock, however, was her husband’s decision to walk out on her. He claimed that he could not live with a woman who could not […] Continue reading ->
Women must be exposed to digital technology as both users and innovators – in order to fashion and expand AI designs that meet the needs of hard-to-reach populations, said experts at a Geneva Health Forum. Speaking at the session ‘How Can The World Advance Towards AI Maturity In Health?’ on Monday, Roopa Dhatt, executive director […] Continue reading ->
The COVID-19 pandemic, while devastating, has also created an opportunity for “patients to stand up, educate themselves well and build their expertise,” says Karen Alparce-Villanueva, a board member of the Philippine Alliance of Patient Organizations (PAPO). She was speaking at a session of the Geneva Health Forum that focused on “Patients as Co-creators and disseminators […] Continue reading ->
Many Geneva-based health agencies have worked together for years to improve global access to diagnostics and treatment, but the COVID-19 pandemic has necessitated much closer collaboration and speedier decision-making. This is according to experts from the WHO co-sponsored “ACT Accelerator” medicine access partnership – including UNITAID, the Foundation for Innovative New Diagnostics (FIND), and the […] Continue reading ->
Third in a series – Even before the coronavirus struck, large swathes of Africa, as well as parts of South-East Asia and Latin America, still relied on fragmented paper-based medical records, making it difficult to track people’s medical history – and thus provide high-quality treatment and care. The Virtual Innovation Fair, which is a key […] Continue reading ->