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21. Coronavirus: Political Philosophy

Author:
A. Shchipkov
Publication Date:
01-2020
Content Type:
Journal Article
Journal:
International Affairs: A Russian Journal of World Politics, Diplomacy and International Relations
Institution:
East View Information Services
Abstract:
THE CRISIS caused by the COVID-19 pandemic has changed the world. Yesterday, we were living under the slogan, “Live as friends in a society without borders”; today, we are advised “to remain home and avoid con- tacts.” Each country is for itself. The slogan, “Less state and more mar- ket” has been pushed aside: anyone and everyone asks the state for help and protection. Yesterday, medicine was optimized to earn money; today, the sacred principle of profit has tumbled down. In January, hospitals were closed; today, new hospitals are being built. On the other hand, not all consequences of the pandemic are clear; we have not yet reached its end to verify the information collected about immunity, vaccines and virus mutations. We can only guess whether the pandemic happens only once or will regularly repeat itself. Today, the economy lives amid deep-cutting changes imposed by the pandemic. Promptly ended, they will be nothing more than temporary changes; if they continue for many years, they will change the very foundations of the economic, social and political systems. Overlaid on the other symp- toms of a world crisis (including a financial crisis), the pandemic created a synergetic effect. Time has come to assess possible results.
Topic:
Public Health, Pandemic, COVID-19, and Health Crisis
Political Geography:
Global Focus

22. Two Superpandemics for One Humanity Is Too Many!

Author:
A. Krutskikh
Publication Date:
01-2020
Content Type:
Journal Article
Journal:
International Affairs: A Russian Journal of World Politics, Diplomacy and International Relations
Institution:
East View Information Services
Abstract:
Interview woth Andrei Krutskikh, Special Representative of the Russian President on International Cooperation in the Field of Information Security, Director of the Department of International Information Security at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Russian Federation.
Topic:
Cybersecurity, Public Health, Pandemic, COVID-19, and Health Crisis
Political Geography:
Global Focus

23. Managing Urban Flood Risk: A Framework for Evaluating Alternative Policy Instruments

Author:
Daniel Henstra and Jason Thistlethwaite
Publication Date:
03-2019
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Centre for International Governance Innovation
Abstract:
To maximize the effectiveness of flood risk management, city governments should employ multiple policy instruments to balance the objectives of resilience (i.e., risk reduction), efficiency (i.e., benefits exceed costs) and legitimacy (i.e., political and public support). Flood risk management instruments differ to the extent that they emphasize some of these objectives over others, so informed trade-offs are required when selecting and combining them. Contextual factors, such as available resources, the level of flood risk and the degree of public risk awareness, are also salient when choosing among policy instruments for flood risk management.
Topic:
Natural Disasters, Legitimacy, Public Health, and Flood
Political Geography:
Global Focus

24. Discussion Brief: Costs of Inequality and Exclusion

Author:
Paul von Chamier
Publication Date:
10-2019
Content Type:
Policy Brief
Institution:
Center on International Cooperation
Abstract:
This discussion brief is a contribution to the Grand Challenge on Inequality and Exclusion, an initiative of the Pathfinders for Peaceful, Just and Inclusive Societies. Inequality and exclusion harm society in a number of ways, ranging from fraying trust in institutions and increasing volatility in politics, to causing economic damage, physical insecurity, and higher rates of crime and suicide. This brief lays out an array of tangible costs to show that inequality is damaging not only on normative, but also social and economic grounds. The areas of analysis include public health problems, such as anxiety, obesity, and unplanned teenage pregnancies; impacts on safety and security, including homicide rates and violent conflict; and the economic effects of GPD gaps caused by gender discrimination, vertical income inequality, and ethnicity-based discrimination. It also addresses the territorial dimensions of inequality and exclusion, and presents evidence that inequality is a force driving volatile politics, social unrest, and falling levels of trust in public institutions today.
Topic:
Security, Inequality, Public Health, Exclusion, and Civil Unrest
Political Geography:
Global Focus

25. Aggregating Demand for Pharmaceuticals is Appealing, but Pooling Is Not a Panacea

Author:
Cassandra Nemzoff, Kalipso Chalkidou, and Mead Over
Publication Date:
05-2019
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Center for Global Development
Abstract:
As low- and middle-income countries reduce their reliance on donor aid, they are increasingly obliged to assume some degree of financial responsibility for donor projects. This challenge will be particularly complex in the procurement of health commodities. In recent decades, recipient countries have benefitted from donor-aggregated demand and pooling mechanisms, negotiated prices, purchasing, and delivery of commodities. However, as countries shift away from donor support, their challenge will be finding a way to aggregate demand in order to achieve the benefits that the pooled purchasing arrangements of vertical health programs now provide. As a first step in tackling this challenge, much can be learned from a diverse group of pooled procurement initiatives that have developed over the past 40 years in high-, middle-, and low-income countries. This note reviews the rationale and functions of these initiatives, notes their potential benefits and barriers, and draws lessons regarding how best to incorporate pooled pharmaceutical purchasing models into the design and implementation of health financing reforms in countries in transition. We first provide a brief background on the procurement challenges faced by countries in transition. In section 2, we provide an overview of different types of pooling initiatives, highlighting the key features of each. Leveraging our research and key interviews, we outline the real and potential benefits of pooling in section 3, and the most pressing barriers that organizations or countries will face as they seek ways to aggregate demand in section 4. In section 5 we discuss some of the issues that countries and development partners should address when considering pooled procurement initiatives and make two recommendations: (1) countries and development partners should conduct further research on the merits of pooled procurement, and (2) they should develop a straw model of a pooled procurement governance structure that could be tested using a series of pilots.
Topic:
Budget, Public Health, Medicine, and Pharmaceuticals
Political Geography:
Global Focus

26. Struggling with Scale: Ebola’s Lessons for the Next Pandemic

Author:
Jeremy Konyndyk
Publication Date:
05-2019
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Center for Global Development
Abstract:
The next pandemic is a matter of when, not if. Preparing for this inevitability requires that policymakers understand not just the science of limiting disease transmission or engineering a drug, but also the practical challenges of expanding a response strategy to a regional or global level. Achieving success at such scales is largely an issue of operational, strategic, and policy choices—areas of pandemic preparedness that remain underexplored.
Topic:
International Cooperation, Ebola, Public Health, and Pandemic
Political Geography:
Global Focus

27. Understanding the Opportunity Cost, Seizing the Opportunity: Report of the Working Group on Incorporating Economics and Modelling in Global Health Goals and Guidelines

Author:
The Working Group on Incorporating Economics and Modeling in Global Health Goals and Guidelines
Publication Date:
05-2019
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Center for Global Development
Abstract:
Internationally set goals and guidelines directly influ­ence the setting of health care priorities at the national level, affecting how limited resources are generated and allocated across health care needs. The influence of global priority setting, such as through the formu­lation of overarching goals or normative guidelines for specific disease areas, is particularly significant in low- and middle-income countries that rely heavily on overseas development assistance. Because no sys­tematic approach exists for dealing with resource con­straints, however, which vary across countries, goals and guidance are often inappropriate for some country contexts; their implementation can, therefore, reduce the efficiency and equity of health care spending. The Working Group on Incorporating Economics and Modelling in Global Health Goals and Guidelines, co-convened by the Center for Global Development, Thanzi la Onse, and the HIV Modelling Consortium, has brought together disease specialists, policymakers, economists, and modelers from national governments, international organizations, and academic institutions across the globe to address these issues, to take stock of current approaches, and make recommendations for better practice. The Working Group deliberated on the roles and purposes of goals and guidelines and consid­ered how economic evidence might be formally incor­porated into policy recommendations and health care decision making. The target audiences for this report are international health institutions, large stakehold­ers in disease programs across the world, and national governments.
Topic:
Development, Health, Health Care Policy, and Public Health
Political Geography:
Global Focus

28. Imagining the Alternative Worlds of 2030: Policy Implications for the Future of Global Health Procurement

Author:
Janeen Madam Keller and William Savedoff
Publication Date:
06-2019
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Center for Global Development
Abstract:
The availability and affordability of health products—medicines, diagnostics, devices, and equipment—are critical to achieving universal health coverage and improving health outcomes. Yet low- and middle-income countries face multiple challenges in procuring health products related to institutional inefficiencies, market failure, and fragmented demand. At the same time, the world is evolving rapidly in ways that will affect health procurement, from changes in countries’ eligibility for foreign assistance to advances in information technologies. Looking forward, efforts to improve global health procurement must proactively address the sweeping changes on the horizon. Drawing on a range of political, economic, and social trends, this paper envisions how the global landscape might change between now and 2030, with a focus on the implications for global health, particularly the procurement of health products. The paper develops three possible but distinct futures—worlds characterized as atomistic, privately led, or multilateral.It concludes by describing the policy options and locus of action to improve global health procurement in light of these scenarios, emphasizing three areas of work: financing and modes of collaboration, procurement procedures and tools, and procurement capacity.
Topic:
Health, Health Care Policy, Public Health, and Health Crisis
Political Geography:
Global Focus

29. Tackling the Triple Transition in Global Health Procurement

Author:
Rachel Silverman, Amanda Glassman, Kalipso Chalkidou, and Janeen Madan Keller
Publication Date:
06-2019
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Center for Global Development
Abstract:
There have been impressive gains in global health over the past 20 years, with millions of lives saved through expanded access to essential medicines and other health products. Major international initiatives backed by billions of dollars in development assistance have brought new drugs, diagnostics, and other innovations to the fight against HIV, malaria, tuberculosis, and other scourges. But behind these successes is an unacceptable reality: in many low- and middle-income countries, lifesaving health products are either unavailable or beyond the reach of the people who need them most. While each country’s context is unique, a reliable, affordable, and high-quality supply of health products is a vital necessity for any health system. In its absence, lasting health gains will remain elusive.
Topic:
Health, Public Health, Pandemic, Procurement, and Medicine
Political Geography:
Global Focus

30. Vaccine Introduction and Coverage in Gavi-Supported Countries 2015-2018: Implications for Gavi 5.0

Author:
Roxanne Oroxom and Amanda Glassman
Publication Date:
06-2019
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Center for Global Development
Abstract:
With a vision of “creating equal access to new and underused vaccines,” Gavi set several coverage-specific targets for 2020 as part of its Phase IV strategy, including the immunization of an additional 300 million children, increased pentavalent 3 and measles-containing vaccine (MCV) 1 coverage, and greater equity in coverage across wealth quintiles.[1] The strategy also called for broadening protection through improved routine coverage and the introduction of new vaccines.[2]
Topic:
Health, Children, Public Health, and Vaccine
Political Geography:
Global Focus