GHSN

Quarterly Newsletter

Q2 January 2021

In this Issue • Happy New Year • Introducing the GHSN Board • Call for Action #SustainWHO • Latest Global Health Meetings • Latest Health Security News • GHSN Sponsors

Happy New Year Our Mission

2021 is finally upon us and many will be relieved to see the back Our mission is to create an international of 2020! community of academics, scientists and policy- makers who seek to share their knowledge and It was a big year for the GHSN with our official launch 7 months research on global health security. ago, and we are so grateful for our fantastic members and the support we have received from them. We encourage free thinking and support those that wish to make a meaningful impact to The GHSN has lots of exciting plans in place for 2021, kicking the improve the health and well-being of all people year off with the release of our 2nd policy report which will globally. discuss vaccine misinformation. We also have many interesting speakers lined up for our fortnightly webinars. Keep an eye out The GHSN community is an opportunity to on our website for more details! engage with members, sharing their ideas through the Association and at GHSN events We hope you have a fantastic year ahead and would like to take around the world. the opportunity to thank you again for your continued support.

The Global Health Security Network Board

A/Prof Adam Kamradt-Scott Adam specialises in global health security and international relations. His research and teaching explore how governments and multilateral organisations cooperate and interact when adverse health events such as disease outbreaks, epidemics and pandemics occur, as well as how they respond to emerging health and security challenges. Adam’s most recent research examines civil-military cooperation in health and humanitarian crises, and the correlations between gender, sexuality, health, and security.

Dr Swarup Sarkar Swarup Sarkar is an Indian epidemiologist, professional and diplomat known for his work in the field of Infectious Diseases and HIV/AIDS. He retired as the Director of Communicable diseases at the World Health Organization, South East Asia regional Office (WHO SEARO) in November 2018. Prior to his role in the WHO, he has served as the Head of South Asia and Regional Advisor of the Asia Pacific region of the UNAIDS and Director of Asia Pacific Country Programs of The Global Fund.

Dr Sara Davies Dr Sara Davies is an Australian Research Council (ARC) Future Fellow and Professor at the Centre for Governance and Public Policy, School of Government and International Relations, Griffith University, Australia. Sara’s research interests are in global health governance, health diplomacy and prevention of sexual violence in conflict situations. Sara Davies has published in Review of International Studies, Security Dialogue, and International Affairs.

Dr Seye Abimbola Seye Abimbola is a health systems researcher from Nigeria. He is currently a senior lecturer at the School of Public Health, University of Sydney. He had his initial training in medicine at the Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile-Ife in Nigeria. He gained his PhD from Sydney University in 2016, on a wide-ranging institutional analysis of primary health care governance in Nigeria. From 2018-2019, he was a Sidney Sax Overseas Early Career Fellow at the University of Oxford.

Dr Meru Sheel Meru Sheel is a global health researcher and an infectious diseases epidemiologist with interest in health emergencies, emerging infectious and vaccine-preventable diseases. She earned a PhD in life sciences from the Queensland Institute of Medical Research and the Queensland University of Technology working on new vaccines for bacterial pathogens. She completed post-doctoral training in parasite immunology with a focus on malaria and visceral leishmaniasis before moving into public health.

Dr Andrew Nerlinger Dr. Andrew Nerlinger is a physician, venture capital investor, and social impact innovator. He is the Co-founder of PandemicTech, an Austin-based virtual technology incubator launched in 2016 that supports health security innovators on the front lines of fighting pandemic infectious disease threats. He is part of the founding team of the Texas Global Health Security Innovation Consortium (TEXGHS), a consortium between academic, public sector, and private sector partners to coordinate efforts to support companies working towards pandemic preparedness and response in Texas. GHSN Call for Action

The World Health Organization was established in 1948 to serve as the directing and coordinating authority in international health work. It currently comprises 194 Member States, reflecting the fact that governments all around the world can agree that good health is fundamental to us as individuals and societies. As a member-based organization, every government contributes a small amount of funding to support the WHO’s activities. These membership dues, or ‘assessed contributions’, have been frozen though since the 1980s and have not risen in real terms. Assessed contributions provide the WHO with “core” funding, which is used to meet critical operational expenses and fund global health activities. While the majority of the WHO’s revenue was derived from assessed contributions several decades ago, these monies now only make up 17% of the annual WHO funds. The remaining 80% of the WHO’s funding is now received via voluntary contributions which are “tied” funds, allocated by donors for specific activities.

This is unsustainable. Voluntary contributions distort global health priorities and create additional reporting burdens on the WHO and recipient countries. The World Health Organization desperately needs guaranteed core #SustainWHO funding to carry on its vital work. Nothing has demonstrated this more than the current COVID-19 pandemic. We need a strong WHO that is sustainably financed. #DoubleAC Today, the Global Health Security Network (GHSN) joins a number of WHO Member States calling for an increase in assessed contributions, to provide the WHO with sustainable financing. We call on all countries to support #FutureWHO doubling their current assessed contributions by the end of 2021. Join us in this endeavour by writing to your government representatives, posting on social media, and talking to your friends and colleagues.

Let’s make the world a better, healthier place! Upcoming Global Health Meetings

JANUARY 2021 FEBRUARY 2021 MARCH 2021

23rd Bangkok International COVID-19 Conference: Herston Infectious Diseases Symposium on HIV Medicine Prevention Institute Inaugural Scientific 14-15 January 2021 2 February 2021 Forum Remote, Thailand Remote 4 March 2021 Remote, Australia International Conference on International Science Public Health Policies and Symposium on HIV Emerging 28th Conference on Hygiene Infectious Diseases Retroviruses and 14-15 January 2021 2-4 February 2021 Opportunistic Bali, Indonesia Avignon, France 6-10 March 2021 Remote, US nd 2 International Conference 10th International Conference on Public Health and Well- on Tropical Medicine and 8th World Congress on being Infectious Diseases Antibiotics and Antibiotic 21-22 January 2021 15-16 February 2021 Resistance Remote Remote 8-9 March 2021 Remote th 4 HIV Research for 8th International Congress on Prevention Conference Infectious Diseases 3rd World Congress on 27-28 January 2021 15-16 February 2021 Advancements in Remote Remote Tuberculosis and Lung Diseases NCIC Symposium: Antibiotic Infections in the 17-18 March 2021 Allergy in Practice & Fungal Immunocompromised Host Remote Infections in Focus 17-19 February 2021 30 January 2021 Melbourne, Australia 2nd International Conference

Remote, Australia on HIV/AIDS Prevention and

Control 18-19 March 2021 Colombo, Sri Lanka

Upcoming Global Health Meetings

JANUARY 2021 FEBRUARY 2021 MARCH 2021

Antibiotic Allergy – New and 14th World Congress on Emerging Research Pathways Virology and Infectious for Infectious Diseases Diseases 23 February 2021 22-23 March 2021

Remote Remote

4th Global Public Health 11th European Conference and Public Health Congress 25-26 February 2021 24-25 March 2021 Remote Paris, France

Annual TB Conference ASID Annual Scientific 25-27 February 2021 Meeting Vancouver, Canada 24-26 March 2021 Remote, Australia International Conference on Medical, Medicine and Australasian Society for Health Sciences Infectious Diseases Annual 27-28 February 2021 Scientific Meeting Remote, Amsterdam 24-26 March 2021 Remote, Australia

International Conference on Emerging Infectious Diseases 25-26 March 2021 Tokyo, Japan

2nd Virtual Conference on Infectious Diseases 27-28 March 2021 Remote

World Health Organization experts set to arrive in China for coronavirus origin probe A team of top scientists from the World Health Organisation arrived in China on Thursday 14 January 2021 for a long-anticipated investigation into the origins of the coronavirus pandemic. Negotiations for the visit have long been underway. WHO director-general Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus welcomed the investigation expressing on twitter ‘We are pleased that an international team of scientists and distinguished experts from ten institutions and countries are commencing their travel to China to engage in and review scientific research with their Chinese counterparts on the origins of the COVID-19 virus.’ Tedros reported ‘The team members who have arrived in Wuhan will be in quarantine for the next two weeks and will begin working remotely with counterparts in China. They will then continue their work on the ground for a further two weeks.’

New COVID Strain B117 The newly identified variant, first recognised in England in late September, has spread to at least 45 countries and prompted further lockdowns around the world. Initially, there were doubts as to whether the large number of cases of the B117 strain in the UK were because it was more transmissible or whether it simply was due to the population density of the area. However, evidence has now shown that the new variant is much more contagious, with the UK's Office for National Statistics reporting that it now accounts for more than 60 per cent of positive tests in England — where case numbers have hit record highs — and more than 80 per cent in London. Evidence is yet to be shown if the new variant is more deadly or causes more severe illness. Inevitably though predictions can be made that when a variant infects more people it will subsequently drive-up rates of , hospitalisations and even death. With countries already struggling to contain the COVID-19 pandemic, the risk of a new strain that is much more contagious raises concerns.

Global Coronavirus death toll surpasses 2 million

The official global death toll from the coronavirus pandemic surpassed two million on 15 January 2021, according to statistics reported to Johns Hopkins University. Many have speculated that the death toll is likely higher.

The tragic milestone comes just over a year after the first Covid-19 death was reported in Wuhan, China.

Unethical COVID vaccine rollout It was announced on 7 January 2021 that the world's poorest countries can now expect to start receiving their first COVID-19 vaccine doses between the end of January and mid-February as part of the COVAX arrangement. However, WHO Director General Tedros raised concerns that there is a ‘clear problem’ as ‘Rich countries have the majority of the supply,’ urging countries and manufacturers to stop making bilateral deals at the expense of the COVAX vaccine-sharing facility. Until now, wealthier nations have been at the front of the queue for vaccine deliveries from companies including Pfizer and partner BioNTech, Moderna and AstraZeneca. Many countries have already begun the vaccine rollout, the UK alone have already vaccinated over 3.85 million. The African Union have so far secured 270 million doses of Covid-19 vaccines for distribution across the continent. This is on top of 600 million doses already secured but sadly this is still not enough to vaccinate the whole region, increasing concerns that poorer countries globally will wait far longer than richer nations to be inoculated.

Life after COVID The CEO of COVID-19 vaccine maker Moderna warned that COVID-19 is very likely to be around ‘forever’, saying ‘SARS-CoV-2 is not going away.’ Public health officials and infectious disease experts have also agreed that there is a high probability that COVID-19 will not disappear and instead will become an endemic disease. The question is will we learn from our mistakes with the COVID-19 pandemic and will there be plans in place for a better health response in the future? Whilst many are desperate to return to “normal” post- COVID-19, with the constant threat of evolving zoonotic viruses, many of us will likely live to see another dangerous outbreak. We cannot forget the devastation and must prepare and plan for next pandemic.

The Texas Global Health Security Innovation Consortium (TEXGHS) is a unique consortium between academia and public and private sector partners to coordinate efforts to support innovators and innovations fighting COVID-19 and future pandemics.

Overview Organized by the Austin Technology Incubator (ATI) at The University of Texas at Austin, TEXGHS is leading the creation and long-term success of a health security innovation ecosystem ‘Building a New Ecosystem in Texas where equitable, inclusive solutions launch locally and grow globally. Focused on Pandemic TEXGHS serves as a resource for the Texas innovation community Readiness, Response, by supporting the development of new technologies and the adaptation of existing technologies that address pandemic Recovery, and Resiliency.’ infectious disease threats. TEXGHS connects the Texas innovation ecosystem to the world by leading engagement with the broader www.texghs.org global health security community and serving as a focal point for outside innovators to support pandemic response and prevention in Texas. Focus Areas

Vaccination Therapeutics Diagnostics Prevention Access

Thank you to our sponsors

Foundation Sponsor Interested in sponsoring the GHSN? Bronze Sponsor Email: [email protected] for more details.