New Unitaid Head Gets High Marks – but Can He Save the Organization? 28/07/2026 Elaine Ruth Fletcher Luis Pizarro, Unitaid’s newly-appointed Executive Director comes to the organization with sizeable depth and breadth of experience – as the leader of Geneva’s Drugs for Neglected Diseases Initiative (DNDi) and before that, leadership of ventures in Africa, Asia and the Americas. However, his main challenge at Unitaid will be steadying the financially troubled organization, which […] Continue reading -> Unitaid’s Opaque Leadership Search Advances Amid Plunging Budgets, Calls for Reform 17/07/2026 Felix Sassmannshausen Unitaid is quietly searching for its next leader behind closed doors amidst growing demands for transparency. Whoever takes the helm of the market-shaping agency will inherit an organisation that faces acute financial shortfalls and mounting pressure for institutional reform. As Unitaid celebrates its 20th anniversary, severe cuts to the agency’s funding threaten to disrupt the […] Continue reading -> $9.42 Billion for Global Health as US Foreign Aid Bill Passes 04/02/2026 Sophia Samantaroy The US House of Representatives passed a more than $1 trillion spending package, bringing an end to a five-day partial government shutdown over Department of Homeland Security funding. Among the allocations is a $9.42 billion package for global health programs – signaling strong bipartisan support and maintaining significant global health aid. The Fiscal Year 2026 […] Continue reading -> Challenging the Status Quo: Six Steps Towards Empowering Communities in Global Health 23/03/2024 Maayan Hoffman What actions and strategies are required for countries and communities to have more agency in their health? This is the topic of the latest episode of the Global Health Matters “Dialogues” podcast series, in which host Dr. Garry Aslanyan tries to “blow up some of the echo chambers that exist in global health.” In this […] Continue reading -> Investment in Innovation Key to Achieving Sustainable Development Health Goals 09/12/2022 Megha Kaveri The world can achieve the global health goals of the Sustainable Development Agenda 2030 only if it makes focussed investments into health innovation in the coming years. This was a key message from parliamentarians and representatives of the global health agency, UNITAID, at a panel on “Achieving the Global Health Targets Through Equitable Access to […] Continue reading -> First African Manufactured Medicine to Prevent Malaria in Pregnant Women and Infants Quality-Approved by WHO 26/08/2022 Raisa Santos Kenyan manufacturer Universal Corporation LTD (UCL) has become the first African manufacturer to be issued a World Health Organization quality certification of a key antimalarial drug used to prevent infection in pregnant women and children. This certification, known as prequalification, will enable UCL to support regional efforts to combat malaria through local production of high-quality […] Continue reading -> From COVID to Humanitarian Crises – Medical Oxygen Needs More Prioritization for its Lifesaving Capacities 17/03/2022 Raisa Santos From patients lying in the parking lots of hospitals, in the back seats of cars suffocating as their family members searched frantically for oxygen in India during its second wave of COVID last year, to the inability to receive emergency care amidst constant bombing and shelling in current war-torn Ukraine, global health experts and leaders […] Continue reading -> ‘Code Red’ Oxygen Shortages in 32 Countries; But with Finance Available Countries Need to Step up to Bat 02/09/2021 Madeleine Hoecklin As some 32 countries worldwide, including seven African nations, face “code red” oxygen shortages, WHO and its partners are in the midst of a major effort to recruit sufficient supplies to meet countries’ urgent needs for life-saving oxygen. But while over US$500 million is now available in funds and finance for oxygen through the Access […] Continue reading -> Forty New Medicines & 16 New Indications Under Consideration For WHO Essential Medicines List 21/06/2021 Elaine Ruth Fletcher Proposals to incorporate some 40 new medications in WHO’s Essential Medicines List – from complex cancer treatments to new medicines for hepatitis C and rabies – will be examined over the coming two weeks by the EML Expert Committee. The Committee, which kicked off its deliberations on Monday with a public hearing, also will consider […] Continue reading -> Unitaid Commemorates World Chagas Day With New Initiative To Prevent Mother-To-Child Transmission 15/04/2021 Editorial team In commemoration of World Chagas Disease Day, Unitaid and the Brazilian Ministry of Health launched a $19 million initiative to expand access to affordable diagnostics and treatments for women and newborns in four Latin American countries where Chagas disease is endemic – Brazil, Bolivia, Colombia, and Paraguay. Transmitted by the blood-sucking triatomine bug called Trypanosoma […] Continue reading -> Posts navigation Older posts
Unitaid’s Opaque Leadership Search Advances Amid Plunging Budgets, Calls for Reform 17/07/2026 Felix Sassmannshausen Unitaid is quietly searching for its next leader behind closed doors amidst growing demands for transparency. Whoever takes the helm of the market-shaping agency will inherit an organisation that faces acute financial shortfalls and mounting pressure for institutional reform. As Unitaid celebrates its 20th anniversary, severe cuts to the agency’s funding threaten to disrupt the […] Continue reading -> $9.42 Billion for Global Health as US Foreign Aid Bill Passes 04/02/2026 Sophia Samantaroy The US House of Representatives passed a more than $1 trillion spending package, bringing an end to a five-day partial government shutdown over Department of Homeland Security funding. Among the allocations is a $9.42 billion package for global health programs – signaling strong bipartisan support and maintaining significant global health aid. The Fiscal Year 2026 […] Continue reading -> Challenging the Status Quo: Six Steps Towards Empowering Communities in Global Health 23/03/2024 Maayan Hoffman What actions and strategies are required for countries and communities to have more agency in their health? This is the topic of the latest episode of the Global Health Matters “Dialogues” podcast series, in which host Dr. Garry Aslanyan tries to “blow up some of the echo chambers that exist in global health.” In this […] Continue reading -> Investment in Innovation Key to Achieving Sustainable Development Health Goals 09/12/2022 Megha Kaveri The world can achieve the global health goals of the Sustainable Development Agenda 2030 only if it makes focussed investments into health innovation in the coming years. This was a key message from parliamentarians and representatives of the global health agency, UNITAID, at a panel on “Achieving the Global Health Targets Through Equitable Access to […] Continue reading -> First African Manufactured Medicine to Prevent Malaria in Pregnant Women and Infants Quality-Approved by WHO 26/08/2022 Raisa Santos Kenyan manufacturer Universal Corporation LTD (UCL) has become the first African manufacturer to be issued a World Health Organization quality certification of a key antimalarial drug used to prevent infection in pregnant women and children. This certification, known as prequalification, will enable UCL to support regional efforts to combat malaria through local production of high-quality […] Continue reading -> From COVID to Humanitarian Crises – Medical Oxygen Needs More Prioritization for its Lifesaving Capacities 17/03/2022 Raisa Santos From patients lying in the parking lots of hospitals, in the back seats of cars suffocating as their family members searched frantically for oxygen in India during its second wave of COVID last year, to the inability to receive emergency care amidst constant bombing and shelling in current war-torn Ukraine, global health experts and leaders […] Continue reading -> ‘Code Red’ Oxygen Shortages in 32 Countries; But with Finance Available Countries Need to Step up to Bat 02/09/2021 Madeleine Hoecklin As some 32 countries worldwide, including seven African nations, face “code red” oxygen shortages, WHO and its partners are in the midst of a major effort to recruit sufficient supplies to meet countries’ urgent needs for life-saving oxygen. But while over US$500 million is now available in funds and finance for oxygen through the Access […] Continue reading -> Forty New Medicines & 16 New Indications Under Consideration For WHO Essential Medicines List 21/06/2021 Elaine Ruth Fletcher Proposals to incorporate some 40 new medications in WHO’s Essential Medicines List – from complex cancer treatments to new medicines for hepatitis C and rabies – will be examined over the coming two weeks by the EML Expert Committee. The Committee, which kicked off its deliberations on Monday with a public hearing, also will consider […] Continue reading -> Unitaid Commemorates World Chagas Day With New Initiative To Prevent Mother-To-Child Transmission 15/04/2021 Editorial team In commemoration of World Chagas Disease Day, Unitaid and the Brazilian Ministry of Health launched a $19 million initiative to expand access to affordable diagnostics and treatments for women and newborns in four Latin American countries where Chagas disease is endemic – Brazil, Bolivia, Colombia, and Paraguay. Transmitted by the blood-sucking triatomine bug called Trypanosoma […] Continue reading -> Posts navigation Older posts
$9.42 Billion for Global Health as US Foreign Aid Bill Passes 04/02/2026 Sophia Samantaroy The US House of Representatives passed a more than $1 trillion spending package, bringing an end to a five-day partial government shutdown over Department of Homeland Security funding. Among the allocations is a $9.42 billion package for global health programs – signaling strong bipartisan support and maintaining significant global health aid. The Fiscal Year 2026 […] Continue reading -> Challenging the Status Quo: Six Steps Towards Empowering Communities in Global Health 23/03/2024 Maayan Hoffman What actions and strategies are required for countries and communities to have more agency in their health? This is the topic of the latest episode of the Global Health Matters “Dialogues” podcast series, in which host Dr. Garry Aslanyan tries to “blow up some of the echo chambers that exist in global health.” In this […] Continue reading -> Investment in Innovation Key to Achieving Sustainable Development Health Goals 09/12/2022 Megha Kaveri The world can achieve the global health goals of the Sustainable Development Agenda 2030 only if it makes focussed investments into health innovation in the coming years. This was a key message from parliamentarians and representatives of the global health agency, UNITAID, at a panel on “Achieving the Global Health Targets Through Equitable Access to […] Continue reading -> First African Manufactured Medicine to Prevent Malaria in Pregnant Women and Infants Quality-Approved by WHO 26/08/2022 Raisa Santos Kenyan manufacturer Universal Corporation LTD (UCL) has become the first African manufacturer to be issued a World Health Organization quality certification of a key antimalarial drug used to prevent infection in pregnant women and children. This certification, known as prequalification, will enable UCL to support regional efforts to combat malaria through local production of high-quality […] Continue reading -> From COVID to Humanitarian Crises – Medical Oxygen Needs More Prioritization for its Lifesaving Capacities 17/03/2022 Raisa Santos From patients lying in the parking lots of hospitals, in the back seats of cars suffocating as their family members searched frantically for oxygen in India during its second wave of COVID last year, to the inability to receive emergency care amidst constant bombing and shelling in current war-torn Ukraine, global health experts and leaders […] Continue reading -> ‘Code Red’ Oxygen Shortages in 32 Countries; But with Finance Available Countries Need to Step up to Bat 02/09/2021 Madeleine Hoecklin As some 32 countries worldwide, including seven African nations, face “code red” oxygen shortages, WHO and its partners are in the midst of a major effort to recruit sufficient supplies to meet countries’ urgent needs for life-saving oxygen. But while over US$500 million is now available in funds and finance for oxygen through the Access […] Continue reading -> Forty New Medicines & 16 New Indications Under Consideration For WHO Essential Medicines List 21/06/2021 Elaine Ruth Fletcher Proposals to incorporate some 40 new medications in WHO’s Essential Medicines List – from complex cancer treatments to new medicines for hepatitis C and rabies – will be examined over the coming two weeks by the EML Expert Committee. The Committee, which kicked off its deliberations on Monday with a public hearing, also will consider […] Continue reading -> Unitaid Commemorates World Chagas Day With New Initiative To Prevent Mother-To-Child Transmission 15/04/2021 Editorial team In commemoration of World Chagas Disease Day, Unitaid and the Brazilian Ministry of Health launched a $19 million initiative to expand access to affordable diagnostics and treatments for women and newborns in four Latin American countries where Chagas disease is endemic – Brazil, Bolivia, Colombia, and Paraguay. Transmitted by the blood-sucking triatomine bug called Trypanosoma […] Continue reading -> Posts navigation Older posts
Challenging the Status Quo: Six Steps Towards Empowering Communities in Global Health 23/03/2024 Maayan Hoffman What actions and strategies are required for countries and communities to have more agency in their health? This is the topic of the latest episode of the Global Health Matters “Dialogues” podcast series, in which host Dr. Garry Aslanyan tries to “blow up some of the echo chambers that exist in global health.” In this […] Continue reading -> Investment in Innovation Key to Achieving Sustainable Development Health Goals 09/12/2022 Megha Kaveri The world can achieve the global health goals of the Sustainable Development Agenda 2030 only if it makes focussed investments into health innovation in the coming years. This was a key message from parliamentarians and representatives of the global health agency, UNITAID, at a panel on “Achieving the Global Health Targets Through Equitable Access to […] Continue reading -> First African Manufactured Medicine to Prevent Malaria in Pregnant Women and Infants Quality-Approved by WHO 26/08/2022 Raisa Santos Kenyan manufacturer Universal Corporation LTD (UCL) has become the first African manufacturer to be issued a World Health Organization quality certification of a key antimalarial drug used to prevent infection in pregnant women and children. This certification, known as prequalification, will enable UCL to support regional efforts to combat malaria through local production of high-quality […] Continue reading -> From COVID to Humanitarian Crises – Medical Oxygen Needs More Prioritization for its Lifesaving Capacities 17/03/2022 Raisa Santos From patients lying in the parking lots of hospitals, in the back seats of cars suffocating as their family members searched frantically for oxygen in India during its second wave of COVID last year, to the inability to receive emergency care amidst constant bombing and shelling in current war-torn Ukraine, global health experts and leaders […] Continue reading -> ‘Code Red’ Oxygen Shortages in 32 Countries; But with Finance Available Countries Need to Step up to Bat 02/09/2021 Madeleine Hoecklin As some 32 countries worldwide, including seven African nations, face “code red” oxygen shortages, WHO and its partners are in the midst of a major effort to recruit sufficient supplies to meet countries’ urgent needs for life-saving oxygen. But while over US$500 million is now available in funds and finance for oxygen through the Access […] Continue reading -> Forty New Medicines & 16 New Indications Under Consideration For WHO Essential Medicines List 21/06/2021 Elaine Ruth Fletcher Proposals to incorporate some 40 new medications in WHO’s Essential Medicines List – from complex cancer treatments to new medicines for hepatitis C and rabies – will be examined over the coming two weeks by the EML Expert Committee. The Committee, which kicked off its deliberations on Monday with a public hearing, also will consider […] Continue reading -> Unitaid Commemorates World Chagas Day With New Initiative To Prevent Mother-To-Child Transmission 15/04/2021 Editorial team In commemoration of World Chagas Disease Day, Unitaid and the Brazilian Ministry of Health launched a $19 million initiative to expand access to affordable diagnostics and treatments for women and newborns in four Latin American countries where Chagas disease is endemic – Brazil, Bolivia, Colombia, and Paraguay. Transmitted by the blood-sucking triatomine bug called Trypanosoma […] Continue reading -> Posts navigation Older posts
Investment in Innovation Key to Achieving Sustainable Development Health Goals 09/12/2022 Megha Kaveri The world can achieve the global health goals of the Sustainable Development Agenda 2030 only if it makes focussed investments into health innovation in the coming years. This was a key message from parliamentarians and representatives of the global health agency, UNITAID, at a panel on “Achieving the Global Health Targets Through Equitable Access to […] Continue reading -> First African Manufactured Medicine to Prevent Malaria in Pregnant Women and Infants Quality-Approved by WHO 26/08/2022 Raisa Santos Kenyan manufacturer Universal Corporation LTD (UCL) has become the first African manufacturer to be issued a World Health Organization quality certification of a key antimalarial drug used to prevent infection in pregnant women and children. This certification, known as prequalification, will enable UCL to support regional efforts to combat malaria through local production of high-quality […] Continue reading -> From COVID to Humanitarian Crises – Medical Oxygen Needs More Prioritization for its Lifesaving Capacities 17/03/2022 Raisa Santos From patients lying in the parking lots of hospitals, in the back seats of cars suffocating as their family members searched frantically for oxygen in India during its second wave of COVID last year, to the inability to receive emergency care amidst constant bombing and shelling in current war-torn Ukraine, global health experts and leaders […] Continue reading -> ‘Code Red’ Oxygen Shortages in 32 Countries; But with Finance Available Countries Need to Step up to Bat 02/09/2021 Madeleine Hoecklin As some 32 countries worldwide, including seven African nations, face “code red” oxygen shortages, WHO and its partners are in the midst of a major effort to recruit sufficient supplies to meet countries’ urgent needs for life-saving oxygen. But while over US$500 million is now available in funds and finance for oxygen through the Access […] Continue reading -> Forty New Medicines & 16 New Indications Under Consideration For WHO Essential Medicines List 21/06/2021 Elaine Ruth Fletcher Proposals to incorporate some 40 new medications in WHO’s Essential Medicines List – from complex cancer treatments to new medicines for hepatitis C and rabies – will be examined over the coming two weeks by the EML Expert Committee. The Committee, which kicked off its deliberations on Monday with a public hearing, also will consider […] Continue reading -> Unitaid Commemorates World Chagas Day With New Initiative To Prevent Mother-To-Child Transmission 15/04/2021 Editorial team In commemoration of World Chagas Disease Day, Unitaid and the Brazilian Ministry of Health launched a $19 million initiative to expand access to affordable diagnostics and treatments for women and newborns in four Latin American countries where Chagas disease is endemic – Brazil, Bolivia, Colombia, and Paraguay. Transmitted by the blood-sucking triatomine bug called Trypanosoma […] Continue reading -> Posts navigation Older posts
First African Manufactured Medicine to Prevent Malaria in Pregnant Women and Infants Quality-Approved by WHO 26/08/2022 Raisa Santos Kenyan manufacturer Universal Corporation LTD (UCL) has become the first African manufacturer to be issued a World Health Organization quality certification of a key antimalarial drug used to prevent infection in pregnant women and children. This certification, known as prequalification, will enable UCL to support regional efforts to combat malaria through local production of high-quality […] Continue reading -> From COVID to Humanitarian Crises – Medical Oxygen Needs More Prioritization for its Lifesaving Capacities 17/03/2022 Raisa Santos From patients lying in the parking lots of hospitals, in the back seats of cars suffocating as their family members searched frantically for oxygen in India during its second wave of COVID last year, to the inability to receive emergency care amidst constant bombing and shelling in current war-torn Ukraine, global health experts and leaders […] Continue reading -> ‘Code Red’ Oxygen Shortages in 32 Countries; But with Finance Available Countries Need to Step up to Bat 02/09/2021 Madeleine Hoecklin As some 32 countries worldwide, including seven African nations, face “code red” oxygen shortages, WHO and its partners are in the midst of a major effort to recruit sufficient supplies to meet countries’ urgent needs for life-saving oxygen. But while over US$500 million is now available in funds and finance for oxygen through the Access […] Continue reading -> Forty New Medicines & 16 New Indications Under Consideration For WHO Essential Medicines List 21/06/2021 Elaine Ruth Fletcher Proposals to incorporate some 40 new medications in WHO’s Essential Medicines List – from complex cancer treatments to new medicines for hepatitis C and rabies – will be examined over the coming two weeks by the EML Expert Committee. The Committee, which kicked off its deliberations on Monday with a public hearing, also will consider […] Continue reading -> Unitaid Commemorates World Chagas Day With New Initiative To Prevent Mother-To-Child Transmission 15/04/2021 Editorial team In commemoration of World Chagas Disease Day, Unitaid and the Brazilian Ministry of Health launched a $19 million initiative to expand access to affordable diagnostics and treatments for women and newborns in four Latin American countries where Chagas disease is endemic – Brazil, Bolivia, Colombia, and Paraguay. Transmitted by the blood-sucking triatomine bug called Trypanosoma […] Continue reading -> Posts navigation Older posts
From COVID to Humanitarian Crises – Medical Oxygen Needs More Prioritization for its Lifesaving Capacities 17/03/2022 Raisa Santos From patients lying in the parking lots of hospitals, in the back seats of cars suffocating as their family members searched frantically for oxygen in India during its second wave of COVID last year, to the inability to receive emergency care amidst constant bombing and shelling in current war-torn Ukraine, global health experts and leaders […] Continue reading -> ‘Code Red’ Oxygen Shortages in 32 Countries; But with Finance Available Countries Need to Step up to Bat 02/09/2021 Madeleine Hoecklin As some 32 countries worldwide, including seven African nations, face “code red” oxygen shortages, WHO and its partners are in the midst of a major effort to recruit sufficient supplies to meet countries’ urgent needs for life-saving oxygen. But while over US$500 million is now available in funds and finance for oxygen through the Access […] Continue reading -> Forty New Medicines & 16 New Indications Under Consideration For WHO Essential Medicines List 21/06/2021 Elaine Ruth Fletcher Proposals to incorporate some 40 new medications in WHO’s Essential Medicines List – from complex cancer treatments to new medicines for hepatitis C and rabies – will be examined over the coming two weeks by the EML Expert Committee. The Committee, which kicked off its deliberations on Monday with a public hearing, also will consider […] Continue reading -> Unitaid Commemorates World Chagas Day With New Initiative To Prevent Mother-To-Child Transmission 15/04/2021 Editorial team In commemoration of World Chagas Disease Day, Unitaid and the Brazilian Ministry of Health launched a $19 million initiative to expand access to affordable diagnostics and treatments for women and newborns in four Latin American countries where Chagas disease is endemic – Brazil, Bolivia, Colombia, and Paraguay. Transmitted by the blood-sucking triatomine bug called Trypanosoma […] Continue reading -> Posts navigation Older posts
‘Code Red’ Oxygen Shortages in 32 Countries; But with Finance Available Countries Need to Step up to Bat 02/09/2021 Madeleine Hoecklin As some 32 countries worldwide, including seven African nations, face “code red” oxygen shortages, WHO and its partners are in the midst of a major effort to recruit sufficient supplies to meet countries’ urgent needs for life-saving oxygen. But while over US$500 million is now available in funds and finance for oxygen through the Access […] Continue reading -> Forty New Medicines & 16 New Indications Under Consideration For WHO Essential Medicines List 21/06/2021 Elaine Ruth Fletcher Proposals to incorporate some 40 new medications in WHO’s Essential Medicines List – from complex cancer treatments to new medicines for hepatitis C and rabies – will be examined over the coming two weeks by the EML Expert Committee. The Committee, which kicked off its deliberations on Monday with a public hearing, also will consider […] Continue reading -> Unitaid Commemorates World Chagas Day With New Initiative To Prevent Mother-To-Child Transmission 15/04/2021 Editorial team In commemoration of World Chagas Disease Day, Unitaid and the Brazilian Ministry of Health launched a $19 million initiative to expand access to affordable diagnostics and treatments for women and newborns in four Latin American countries where Chagas disease is endemic – Brazil, Bolivia, Colombia, and Paraguay. Transmitted by the blood-sucking triatomine bug called Trypanosoma […] Continue reading -> Posts navigation Older posts
Forty New Medicines & 16 New Indications Under Consideration For WHO Essential Medicines List 21/06/2021 Elaine Ruth Fletcher Proposals to incorporate some 40 new medications in WHO’s Essential Medicines List – from complex cancer treatments to new medicines for hepatitis C and rabies – will be examined over the coming two weeks by the EML Expert Committee. The Committee, which kicked off its deliberations on Monday with a public hearing, also will consider […] Continue reading -> Unitaid Commemorates World Chagas Day With New Initiative To Prevent Mother-To-Child Transmission 15/04/2021 Editorial team In commemoration of World Chagas Disease Day, Unitaid and the Brazilian Ministry of Health launched a $19 million initiative to expand access to affordable diagnostics and treatments for women and newborns in four Latin American countries where Chagas disease is endemic – Brazil, Bolivia, Colombia, and Paraguay. Transmitted by the blood-sucking triatomine bug called Trypanosoma […] Continue reading -> Posts navigation Older posts
Unitaid Commemorates World Chagas Day With New Initiative To Prevent Mother-To-Child Transmission 15/04/2021 Editorial team In commemoration of World Chagas Disease Day, Unitaid and the Brazilian Ministry of Health launched a $19 million initiative to expand access to affordable diagnostics and treatments for women and newborns in four Latin American countries where Chagas disease is endemic – Brazil, Bolivia, Colombia, and Paraguay. Transmitted by the blood-sucking triatomine bug called Trypanosoma […] Continue reading -> Posts navigation Older posts