Editor’s Note:
Careful readers will note that the number and range of organizations now monitored in our Announcements section below has grown as the impacts of the pandemic have spread across global economies, supply chains and programmatic activity of multilateral agencies and INGOs.
Airfinity [to 26 Mar 2022]
https://www.airfinity.com/insights
INSIGHTS & COMPANY NEWS
No new digest content identified.
Paul G. Allen Frontiers Group [to 26 Mar 2022]
https://alleninstitute.org/news-press/
News
No new digest content identified.
BMGF – Gates Foundation [to 26 Mar 2022]
https://www.gatesfoundation.org/ideas/media-center
Press Releases and Statements
No new digest content identified.
Bill & Melinda Gates Medical Research Institute [to 26 Mar 2022]
The Bill & Melinda Gates Medical Research Institute is a non-profit biotech organization. Our mission is to develop products to fight malaria, tuberculosis, and diarrheal diseases—three major causes of mortality, poverty, and inequality in developing countries. The world has unprecedented scientific tools at its disposal; now is the time to use them to save the lives of the world’s poorest people
No new digest content identified.
News
No new digest content identified.
Center for Vaccine Ethics and Policy – GE2P2 Global Foundation [to 26 Mar 2022]
https://centerforvaccineethicsandpolicy.net/
:: Informed Consent: A Monthly Review – March 2022is now posted here
:: Past weekly editions and posting of all segments of Vaccines and Global Health: The Week in Review are available here.
CEPI – Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations [to 26 Mar 2022]
Latest News
No new digest content identified.
DARPA – Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency [U.S.] [to 26 Mar 2022
News
No new digest content identified.
Duke Global Health Innovation Center [to 26 Mar 2022]
No new digest content identified.
The European & Developing Countries Clinical Trials Partnership (EDCTP) aims to accelerate the development of new or improved drugs, vaccines, microbicides and diagnostics against HIV/AIDS, tuberculosis and malaria as well as other poverty-related and neglected infectious diseases in sub-Saharan Africa, with a focus on phase II and III clinical trials
News
24 March 2022
24 March 2022
World TB Day 2022: EDCTP invests to End TB
On this year’s World TB Day, EDCTP joins the global health community in a call to urgently raise investments to achieve the commitments to end TB made by global leaders. Although funding towards TB research and development did not decrease as significantly as expected during the COVID-19 pandemic, it is still below half of the $2 billion annual financing target committed to by governments at the United Nations General Assembly High-Level Meeting on TB in 2018. In recognition of this chronic underfunding, EDCTP has made substantial investments in TB research and, together with our partners, recently launched the Global TB vaccine R&D roadmap and published several tools to accelerate TB vaccines R&D.
Emory Vaccine Center [to 26 Mar 2022]
http://www.vaccines.emory.edu/
Vaccine Center News
No new digest content identified.
European Vaccine Initiative [to 26 Mar 2022]
Latest News, Events
24 March 2022
Invest into new, effective TB vaccines to save lives!
Evidence Aid [to 26 Mar 2022]
Evidence Aid aims to save lives and livelihoods in disasters by providing decision-makers with the best available evidence and by championing its use.
Pharmacotherapy for posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) Added March 24, 2022
Fondation Merieux [to 26 Mar 2022]
http://www.fondation-merieux.org/
Project
March 22, 2022 – Antananarivo, Madagascar
On March 18, 2022, the stakeholders of the APRECIT project met in Madagascar and remotely for the project’s second steering committee for the improvement of the management of latent tuberculosis infection (LTI)…
News Releases
No new digest content identified.
https://www.ghitfund.org/newsroom/press
No new digest content identified.
https://www.theglobalfund.org/en/news/
News & Stories
25 March 2022
Global Fund Praises Germany’s Commitment to the ACT-Accelerator and the COVID-19 Response Mechanism
The Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria commends the announcement by Minister Svenja Schulze on the occasion of World Tuberculosis Day to make available an additional EUR175 million to the Global Fund’s COVID-19 Response Mechanism, p…
22 March 2022
Global Fund Calls for Renewed Urgency in Fight to End TB
On World TB Day, 24 March, the Global Fund is urgently calling for the world to reignite the fight to end tuberculosis (TB) by 2030.
Global Research Collaboration for Infectious Disease Preparedness [GloPID-R] [to 26 Mar 2022]
News
23/03/2022
Researchers and funders around the world rely on the COVID-19 Research Project Tracker and associated Living Mapping Review (LMR) to funnel resources where needs are greatest by tracking the latest COVID-19 research trends and gaps. For the first time, the LMR features an analysis of research projects on our Tracker mapped against the pillars and priorities outlined in the UN Research Roadmap for the COVID-19 Recovery…
07/03/2022
The second webinar in the ZonMw series ‘Response to COVID-19 vaccine in patients with a hematological condition and primary immunodeficiencies’… Monday April 4, 2022, from 5pm to 6pm CET.
Hilleman Laboratories [to 26 Mar 2022]
News & Insights
No new digest content identified
HHMI – Howard Hughes Medical Institute [to 26 Mar 2022]
Press Room
No new digest content identified
Human Vaccines Project [to 26 Mar 2022]
http://www.humanvaccinesproject.org/
News
No new digest content identified
IAVI [to 26 Mar 2022]
No new digest content identified
ICRC [to 26 Mar 2022]
https://www.icrc.org/en/whats-new
What’s New
Thank you to the Ambassador of Mexico for organising this meeting and thank you for the opportunity to join all of you today.Just yesterday the Security Council met to discuss Syria which has now entered its 11th year of conflict.
25-03-2022 | Statement
ICRC President completes visit to Russia to speak about humanitarian issues in armed conflict
Peter Maurer, the president of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), has completed a two-day visit to Moscow where he continued ongoing humanitarian discussions with the Russian authorities.
24-03-2022 | News release
Having access to water is increasingly a matter of survival in conflict zones
Vice-President of the ICRC Gilles Carbonnier addresses the issues of water access and the impact of conflicts and climate change at the ninth World Water Forum in Dakar.
21-03-2022 | News release
International Coalition of Medicines Regulatory Authorities [ICMRA]
http://www.icmra.info/drupal/en/news
Selected Statements, Press Releases, Research
No new digest content identified.
IFFIm
Press Releases/Announcements
No new digest content identified.
IFRC [to 26 Mar 2022]
http://media.ifrc.org/ifrc/news/press-releases/
Afghanistan: Food shortages escalate as spring fields remain bare
“In Ukraine, the needs are growing every day,” says Red Cross President
Institut Pasteur [to 26 Mar 2022]
https://www.pasteur.fr/en/press-area
No new digest content identified.
IOM / International Organization for Migration [to 26 Mar 2022]
http://www.iom.int/press-room/press-releases
News – Selected
23 Mar 2022
IOM Launches Cash Assistance Programme in Ukraine
22 Mar 2022
IOM, UNHCR Welcome the First Flights of Refugees Out of Moldova to EU Member States
21 Mar 2022
Almost 6.5 Million People Internally Displaced in Ukraine: IOM
ISC / International Science Council [to 26 Mar 2022]
https://council.science/current/
ISC is a non-governmental organization with a unique global membership that brings together 40 international scientific Unions and Associations and over 140 national and regional scientific organizations including Academies and Research Councils.
Combating predatory journals and conferences through systemic change in scientific publishing
So-called ‘predatory’ activities in academic publishing and conferences are on the increase worldwide and ‘risk becoming engrained in research culture’, according to a new InterAcademy Partnership report, which draws on a global survey of researchers.
IVAC [to 26 Mar 2022]
No new digest content identified.
IVI [to 26 Mar 2022]
March 24, 2022
Johns Hopkins Center for Health Security [to 26 Mar 2022]
https://www.centerforhealthsecurity.org/news/center-news/
Center News
No new digest content identified.
MSF/Médecins Sans Frontières [to 26 Mar 2022]
Latest [Selected Announcements]
Bangladesh
Unprecedented increase of scabies cases in Cox’s Bazar refugee camps
Project Update 25 Mar 2022
Tajikistan
Helping kids to beat TB in Tajikistan
Project Update 23 Mar 2022
National Academy of Medicine – USA [to 26 Mar 2022]
News
No new digest content identified.
National Academy of Sciences – USA [to 26 Mar 2022]
http://www.nasonline.org/news-and-multimedia/
News
Designing COVID-19 Vaccine Requirements and Incentive Programs ‘ New Expert Consultation
March 23, 2022
Vaccination mandates and requirements can be effective in increasing COVID-19 vaccination rates but their success depends on being targeted and on building trust says a new rapid expert consultation which also outlines considerations for using incentives to promote booster uptake.
National Vaccine Program Office – U.S. HHS [to 26 Mar 2022]
https://www.hhs.gov/vaccines/about/index.html
Upcoming Meetings/Latest Updates
Vaccines Federal Implementation Plan 2021-2025
On Wednesday March 2, 2022, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) published a Request for Information (RFI) to solicit stakeholder written public comments on the draft Vaccines Federal Implementation Plan 2021-2025- PDF*. HHS values input from all stakeholders and will take all public comments into consideration before finalizing this document.
We encourage your input or comments and ask that you circulate this information to others who may also wish to provide comments. Information about how to provide written public comment is found on HHS.gov and the deadline for submissions is 5 p.m. EST Tuesday March 29, 2022.
The Vaccines Federal Implementation Plan is a companion document to the Vaccines National Strategic Plan 2021-2025 published in January 2021. This plan outlines the federal government’s broad national vaccination goals and offers a framework to eliminate vaccine-preventable diseases through safe and effective vaccination over the lifespan, for both federal agencies and external partners.
The implementation plan focuses on the specific actions that federal agencies can take to further those same national vaccination goals.
http://www.nih.gov/news-events/news-releases
No new digest content identified.
OECD [to 26 Mar 2022]
http://www.oecd.org/newsroom/publicationsdocuments/bydate/
Newsroom/Library
Shortages of medicines in OECD countries
Working Paper, English, 24 Mar 2022, 54 Pages:
Suzannah Chapman, Guillaume Dedet, Ruth Lopert
Even in wealthy economies, access to medicines is increasingly affected by medicine shortages – an issue exacerbated with the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic. The aim of this paper was to examine the extent and nature of medicine shortages in OECD countries (pre-COVID-19) and explore the reasons for this growing global problem. Although differences in monitoring mechanisms make multi-country analyses challenging, a sample of 14 OECD countries reported a 60% increase in the number of shortage notifications over the period 2017-2019. While the complexity of pharmaceutical manufacturing and supply chains hampers root cause analyses, available literature suggests that shortages, as reported by marketing authorisation holders, are predominantly due to manufacturing and quality issues. Nevertheless, commercial factors – and the policy settings that influence them – may play an important role. Although several OECD countries have implemented policy measures to mitigate, monitor and prevent shortages, more robust data and further analyses of root causes and effective policy responses are needed. The way forward should involve a global approach that engages all relevant actors and looks beyond the health care sector alone.
PATH [to 26 Mar 2022]
https://www.path.org/media-center/
Press Releases
PATH and the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office supported the Vietnam Ministry of Health in developing Vietnam’s COVID-19 digital vaccination certificate
March 22, 2022 by PATH
The Vietnam Ministry of Health, the UK Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office, and PATH came together for the dissemination workshop of a project to internationalize Vietnam’s COVID-19 vaccine data and certificates.
Hanoi, Vietnam, March 22, 2022—The Vietnam Ministry of Health (MOH), the UK Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office (FCDO), PATH, and implementing partners hosted the dissemination workshop for a six-month collaboration to support the development of Vietnam’s COVID-19 digital vaccination certification. The workshop was attended by the Deputy Minister of the Vietnam MOH, Tran Van Thuan; the British Ambassador to Vietnam, Gareth Ward; and representatives of implementing partners.
The project is funded by the Vaccine Data Co-Lab, a component of the Frontier Technology program and an FCDO-led collaboration supporting actionable solutions that improve data-driven prioritization, allocation, and distribution of COVID-19 vaccines. In May 2021, the UK-funded program launched an open call for technical proposals to identify organizations working directly with local and national governments in low- and middle-income countries to ensure sustained capacity for vaccine deployment. PATH was the first organization to receive a grant from the Vaccine Data Co-Lab…
Sabin Vaccine Institute [to 26 Mar 2022]
http://www.sabin.org/updates/pressreleases
Statements and Press Releases
No new digest content identified.
UNAIDS [to 26 Mar 2022]
Selected Press Releases/Reports/Statements
24 March 2022
Working together to help refugees in the Republic of Moldova
23 March 2022

23 March 2022
21 March 2022
Eastern Cape becomes the first South Africa province to campaign on U = U
UNHCR Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees [to 26 Mar 2022]
http://www.unhcr.org/en-us/media-centre.htmlS
Selected News Releases, Announcements
UNHCR lauds Philippines’ accession to 1961 statelessness convention
Number of displaced Nicaraguans in Costa Rica doubles in less than a year
A month since the start of the war, almost a quarter of Ukraine’s population are displaced
Statement by UN High Commissioner for Refugees Filippo Grandi
One year after Palma attacks, thousands continue to flee violence in northern Mozambique
UNHCR and partners rush aid to thousands in Mozambique after Tropical Cyclone Gombe
IOM, UNHCR welcome the first flights of refugees out of Moldova to EU Member States
UNHCR condemns deadly attack on displaced people in DR Congo
High Commissioner’s message on the International Day for the Elimination of Racial Discrimination
Statement by Filippo Grandi, UN High Commissioner for Refugees
21 March 2022
https://www.unicef.org/media/press-releases
Press Releases, News Notes, Statements [Selected]
More than half of Ukraine’s children displaced after one month of war
https://www.unicef.org/press-releases/more-half-ukraines-children-displaced-after-one-month-war
Girls in Afghanistan must go back to school without any further delays
UNICEF signs supply agreement with Pfizer for oral COVID-19 treatment
https://www.unicef.org/press-releases/unicef-signs-supply-agreement-pfizer-oral-covid-19-treatment
[See COVID above for detail]
UNICEF Executive Director Catherine Russell’s humanitarian briefing at the World Economic Forum
Polio immunisation campaign begins in four countries after case confirmed in Malawi – UNICEF
https://www.unicef.org/press-releases/polio-immunisation-ESAR
Featured News
24 March 2022
[See COVID above for detail]
23 March 2022
Geneva – In advance of World TB Day, 24 March, Unitaid reaffirms its commitment to bring innovative approaches to the fight against TB.
The COVID-19 pandemic has had a devastating effect on health programmes worldwide, but tuberculosis (TB) efforts have been disproportionately affected. Disruptions and delays to crucial services caused deaths from TB to increase for the first time in over a decade.
“In a rapidly changing world, the need to confront new challenges with updated tools and strategies is more salient than ever,” said Dr Philippe Duneton, Executive Director of Unitaid. “The tuberculosis bacteria was identified 140 years ago. Yet it continues to cause 1.5 million deaths each year, and millions of people around the world still lack access to the best tools, treatments, and prevention.
“The COVID-19 pandemic puts this in a particularly stark light. Since it began just over two years ago, we have developed and deployed rapid at-home tests, several powerful vaccines, multiple treatments that avert severe disease and mobilized billions in financing. And though there remains much to do, we are hopeful that we’re starting to turn a corner…
Vaccine Equity Cooperative [nee Initiative] [to 26 Mar 2022]
News
No new digest content identified.
Vaccination Acceptance & Demand Initiative [Sabin) [to 26 Mar 2022]
https://www.vaccineacceptance.org/
Announcements, Blog
No new digest content identified.
Vaccine Confidence Project [to 26 Mar 2022]
http://www.vaccineconfidence.org/
News, Research and Reports
No new digest content identified.
Vaccine Education Center – Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia [to 26 Mar 2022]
http://www.chop.edu/centers-programs/vaccine-education-center
Vaccine Update for Providers , March 2022
In this issue:
Wellcome Trust [to 26 Mar 2022]
News. Opinion, Reports
Explainer
Explained: How climate affects health
20 March 2022
Climate change is a global health problem already impacting millions of people around the world. Here’s what you need to know.
The Wistar Institute [to 26 Mar 2022]
https://www.wistar.org/news/press-releases
No new digest content identified.
WFPHA: World Federation of Public Health Associations [to 26 Mar 2022]
Latest News – Blog
No new digest content identified.
World Bank [to 26 Mar 2022]
http://www.worldbank.org/en/news/all
More than 120,000 Jordanian households to benefit from additional financing Washington DC, March 22, 2022 – The World Bank has approved US$350 million in additional financing for Jordan’s COVID-19…
Date: March 22, 2022 Type: Press Release
World Customs Organization – WCO [to 26 Mar 2022]
Latest News
Customs controls for COVID-19-related goods discussed with ASEAN Ambassadors
25 March 2022
WCO and INCB unite to support access to controlled medicines in Ukraine and neighbouring countries
22 March 2022
World Organisation for Animal Health (OIE) [to 26 Mar 2022]
https://www.oie.int/en/media/news/
Press Releases, Statements
UN Environment Programme joins alliance to implement One Health approach
18 March 2022
Joint FAO/OIE/WHO/UNEP Press release
Strengthened partnership aims to accelerate coordinated strategy on human, animal and ecosystem health
Rome/Paris/Geneva/Nairobi – Work to tackle the challenges of human, animal and ecosystem health using a more integrated approach has seen significant progress in the past year, leaders of three international organizations cooperating across these sectors said, as they expanded their group to include a fourth body, the UN Environment Programme (UNEP).
At its annual executive meeting this week, the Tripartite partnership for One Health, bringing together the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), the World Health Organization (WHO) and the World Organisation for Animal Health (OIE), formally became the Quadripartite as it signed a Memorandum of Understanding with UNEP.
The One Health approach aims to sustainably balance and optimize the health of people, animals, ecosystems and the wider environment. It mobilizes multiple sectors, disciplines and communities to work together to foster well-being and tackle threats to health and ecosystems. And it addresses the collective need for clean water, energy and air, safe and nutritious food, action on climate change, and contributing to sustainable development…
::::::
ARM [Alliance for Regenerative Medicine] [to 26 Mar 2022]
Selected Press Releases
No new digest content identified.
BIO [to 26 Mar 2022]
https://www.bio.org/press-releases
Press Releases, Letters, Testimony, Comments [Selected]
New Season of Biotech Podcast Builds Trust in Science
March 22, 2022
DCVMN – Developing Country Vaccine Manufacturers Network [to 26 Mar 2022]
No new digest content identified.
ICBA – International Council of Biotechnology Associations [to 26 Mar 2022]
https://internationalbiotech.org/news/
News
No new digest content identified.
http://www.ifpma.org/resources/news-releases/
Selected Press Releases, Statements, Publications
Joint Industry Statement on the War in Ukraine
21 March 2022 – The global research-based pharmaceutical industry stands in solidarity with the people of Ukraine and condemns the invasion of their country and the suffering it continues to cause. Overcoming the challenges that this unprecedented humanitarian crisis poses for patients is our main concern.
We are united in our mission of providing treatments and vaccines to all those affected by the war, wherever they are. Safe passage of medical products remains a top priority.
The industry is working in a variety of ways to support those affected by the unfolding humanitarian crisis. This includes providing free essential medicines and giving financial support to NGOs on the ground. We are monitoring for supply chain disruptions and building supply capacity where it’s needed as well as working with the wider health community to address issues as they arise.
To learn more about individual company efforts, please visit the website set up by the European Federation of Pharmaceutical Industries and Associations’ (EFPIA), found here.
International Generic and Biosimilar Medicines Association [IGBA]
https://www.igbamedicines.org/
News
No new digest content identified.
International Alliance of Patients’ Organizations – IAPO [to 26 Mar 2022]
https://www.iapo.org.uk/news/topic/6
Press and media [Selected]
No new digest content identified.
PhRMA [to 26 Mar 2022]
Latest News [Selected]
No new digest content identified.