‘Global Health Progress’ Knowledge Hub Highlights Public-Private Initiatives On Health-Related SDGs

A new knowledge hub Global Health Progress, highlighting over 200 collaborations between the biopharmaceutical industry involving more than 850 government, multilateral organization and civil society partners, was launched Friday by the International Federation of Pharmaceutical Manufacturers & Associations (IFPMA). The hub provides a worldwide mapping of health-related initiatives in which IFPMA members are engaged, searchable by disease area, geographic region, target population, partner type, and programme strategy.

The hub aims to showcase innovation and best practices; connects users with the various industry initiatives and their partners in low- and middle-income countries; and enhance opportunities for further collaborations, said an IFPMA press release. Health systems strengthening and “local ownership” of initiatives are overarching principles of the initiatives portrayed, IFPMA added.

Examples of the hundreds of collaborations portrayed on the hub range from the more traditional R&D partnerships in drug development; to innovative initiatives to bolster health systems and train health workers, such as an E-Diabetes partnership aimed at primary health care workers in West Africa and a safer childbirth initiative in Myanmar. The hub also collates innovative health financing initiatives, such as the Mobile Health Smiles Wallet which supports free health services to patients in Nairobi’s slums, through the mobile health payments App M-Tiba.

“If we are to overcome today’s most pressing global health challenges, we need some fresh, out-of-the-box thinking and innovative alliances….  Global Health Progress is one way in which we are helping to drive new collaborations to strengthen healthcare systems. Effective partnerships will help our innovations to grow, reaching more patients worldwide,” said IFPMA’s Director General, Thomas Cueni (see related interview on Inside View).

Click here to access IFPMA’s new knowledge hub, Global Health Progress.

Image Credits: IFPMA/Global Health Progress.

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