Tagged: COVID-19

    Putting opportunity within reach

    While the pace of change around the world has been accelerating rapidly over the last few decades, the pandemic-related lockdowns that began in 2020 precipitated unprecedented transformations.

    Those lockdowns destroyed the livelihoods of those with the fewest resources, throwing global supply chains and economies into uncertainty. But we also witnessed the breathtaking speed of vaccine development that saved the lives of millions, and leaps in technology such as telehealth and artificial intelligence are making near-daily breakthroughs.

    There were breakthroughs in the international development sector as well, where organizations were forced to rethink the ways they provided assistance. FHI 360 has employed locally led development approaches for decades. But when we were cut off from many of our traditional ways of working, we witnessed how much local organizations could deliver and how much we could rely on them — frankly, much more than the sector had realized.

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  • Overcoming challenges to ensure access to medical oxygen

    Medical oxygen is a lifesaving, essential medicine. Access to it is vital for treating patients at all levels of the health system, during both routine and emergency care. The COVID-19 pandemic caused surges in demand for oxygen, resulting in critical shortages, especially in low- and middle-income countries. Even in the absence of a pandemic, health care facilities need medical oxygen to treat newborns, children with severe pneumonia, people with chronic and infectious conditions, and patients requiring surgery.

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  • Fit for purpose: Building on HIV investments for the global health security response

    Twenty years ago, the U.S. President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR) was established to lead the global response to the HIV epidemic. Today, PEPFAR is a public health engine: a critical platform for strengthening health systems, preparing for and responding to pandemics, and enabling global health security. Here, we share how PEPFAR made it possible for FHI 360’s teams to effectively respond to COVID-19 in countries with established HIV infrastructure.

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  • One size doesn’t fit all: Why differentiated services are still needed for the next phase of the HIV response

    Over the past decade, there have been remarkable advances in the HIV prevention, treatment and epidemic control tools used by the global community working to address HIV. Investments in scientific discovery and implementation research have furthered our understanding of the factors driving the epidemic, as well as the biology of viral transmission. Prevention, diagnostic and treatment strategies have improved immensely, as have antiretroviral drugs. 

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  • Refocusing on the fight: Communicating about HIV during COVID-19

    While COVID-19 has been at the center of health concerns since early 2020, the fight to end HIV continues. How are HIV communicators in the United States effectively engaging with their priority audiences? Here, four HIV communicators explain why they are passionate about their work and discuss how, in the current environment, they can best reach people in the United States who historically have had to bear the largest burden of HIV.

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  • How to ensure that hand hygiene gains outlast the pandemic

    Contributors: Henry Omara, Ibrahim Abali, Kenneth Otieno Awuor, Washabiah Chagwa, Peter Gottart, Aeorangajeb Al Hossain and Julia Rosenbaum, FHI 360

    As FHI 360 marks its 50th anniversary, explore our history of solutions and future of possibilities. 

    For years, hand hygiene was a neglected issue within the broader water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH) sector — until COVID-19. During the pandemic, public health messaging has re-emphasized the importance of handwashing and contributed to gains in more people practicing better hand hygiene. But now, we are seeing signs of fatigue and handwashing rates have begun to drop. As the pandemic continues, there is an urgent need to ensure that these gains are not lost. We must create a new normal, one in which hand hygiene is a mainstay in public health interventions. There are three ways to ensure that healthy handwashing behaviors outlast the pandemic.

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  • Shaping the world we want to live in

    As FHI 360 marks its 50th anniversary, explore our history of solutions and future of possibilities. 

    Dr. Timothy Mastro, FHI 360’s Chief Science Officer, offers his perspective on where we’ve been, where we’re going and what’s at stake in human development.

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  • The Full Picture: Accurately Framing COVID-19 Vaccine “Hesitancy” among Black Americans

    As Black American public health professionals, we know that one pervasive question for Black Americans today is, “So, are you getting the COVID vaccine?”

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  • It’s been twenty-six years since the International Conference on Population and Development affirmed women’s reproductive health as an essential human right. In this episode of A Deeper Look, I sit down with Ann Starrs, Director of Family Planning at the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, to hear how new products, policies and practices are disrupting the family planning landscape and offering greater access and better outcomes for users.

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  • COVID-19 vaccine hesitancy: The problem ahead

    Vaccines are here! The end of the pandemic is in sight! There is light at the end of the tunnel! Wait a minute. Is that really a light or the next more challenging phase of the pandemic speeding toward us? After more than a year of lockdown and restrictions, all of us have grown weary of the struggle and should be racing to get vaccinated. But we are not.

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