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GHTC's statement on Agenda item 22: Climate and Health at the World Health Organization's (WHO's) Executive Board (EB) meeting.Climate change undermines global health security, and we applaud WHO’s resolution and new Global Action Plan on Climate and Health to address these risks. WHO’s drafted plan accounts for the important role that research will play in addressing climate change, including through regional research capacity-building. We especially applaud the document’s call for member states to promote research and development (R&D) to prevent, detect, treat, and respond to climate-sensitive diseases and health outcomes.  However, while the draft includes several strong R&D provisions, it mentions the threat of antimicrobial resistance (AMR) only once. AMR is poised to cause 10 million annual deaths by 2050, and likely more with the growing influence of rising temperatures and evolving zoonotic diseases. Highlighting AMR as a global health threat inextricably linked to climate change and developing actionable guidance will be crucial for holistic and successful global action. With this in mind, we strongly suggest WHO and member states take the following actions: 1. WHO and member states should align the global action plan with last year's World Health Assembly resolution to accelerate global efforts to address antimicrobial resistance. In particular, we urge both WHO and member states to establish a global AMR laboratory network to strengthen worldwide AMR diagnostic capacity. 2. We urge WHO to work jointly with member states to strengthen resilience and adaptation to climate change through increased investments to develop new treatments that keep pace with resistance. We encourage member state investment in R&D to pioneer innovative health technologies, including prioritizing the expansion of access to health tools for those in vulnerable geographies and for the populations most impacted by AMR. 3. We encourage countries to accelerate the development and implementation of national action plans for AMR surveillance and response in addition to prioritizing a comprehensive One Health approach that appraises the needs of those most burdened by AMR. We call on WHO to continue supporting the development, revision, and implementation of AMR national action plans on a routine basis and facilitating regional- and cross-country-level collaboration and integration of national action plans.  

GHTC's statement on Agenda item 14: Global Strategy for Women’s, Children’s and Adolescents’ Health at the World Health Organization's (WHO's) Executive Board (EB) meeting.Although the Global Strategy for Women’s, Children’s and Adolescents’ Health has been instrumental in guiding global efforts, countries must scale up their implementation of high-impact interventions. The Director General’s report highlights that malaria continues to be one of the leading causes of under-five mortality, draws attention to the “severe drug drought” in maternal health, and underscores the continued inequalities when it comes to access to quality care. While not highlighted by the report, we also know that newborns in the first 28 days of their lives are especially vulnerable to drug-resistant infections, with staggering rates of morbidity and disability directly attributable to antimicrobial resistance (AMR). More broadly, one out of every five deaths due to AMR is in children, with 99.7 percent of those deaths occurring in low- and middle-income countries.With only five years to 2030, and many countries being off track to reach the targets of the Sustainable Development Goals related to maternal, newborn, and child mortality, we recommend that countries and WHO take the following actions:1. We call on member states to step up action to coordinate and increase investments in health technologies for women, scale up access to preventive tools and treatments, and include pregnant and lactating women in research and clinical trials to improve data quality and availability of therapeutics. As gaps in therapeutic options persist for pregnant and breastfeeding women, countries must prioritize efforts to accelerate the investigation, development, and introduction of better medicines for this population. 2. We urge member states to make investments in malaria research and innovation that include underserved populations, including children and pregnant and lactating women, given the many adverse health outcomes of malaria in pregnancy for both mother and baby, including on early childhood development.3. We welcome the efforts of the Global Accelerator for Paediatric Formulations Network, or GAP-f, and call on all countries and WHO to support its ongoing work, including facilitating the research and development of priority products on WHO’s Paediatric Antiretroviral Drug Optimization list. 4. We call on greater focus and alignment between this strategy and the Global Action Plan for AMR and urge WHO and member states to facilitate access to antibiotics and other treatment options for children. More research and development to combat drug-resistant infections is urgently needed. 

Withdrawal from the World Health Organization (WHO) threatens to undermine America’s health security, weaken our leadership in global health innovation, and jeopardize access to lifesaving tools that directly benefit Americans.   WHO plays a vital role in protecting the health of Americans by coordinating global efforts to fight infectious diseases and accelerate the development of new health technologies. For example, during the 2014-2016 Ebola outbreak and the recent Marburg outbreak, WHO helped convene nations, scientists, and research funders to advance vaccines and treatments. Thanks to these efforts, the United States now stockpiles Ebola vaccines and therapies—proven effective through WHO-supported trials—that would safeguard American lives if an outbreak reached our shores.   WHO’s work also directly informs US public health efforts. Operating the world’s largest flu surveillance network, WHO tracks dominant flu strains globally, guiding the annual development of flu vaccines used by millions of Americans. WHO’s disease surveillance for polio, measles, and other global health threats similarly enables US officials to better protect our communities.   In addition to protecting public health, WHO helps drive innovation that supports American businesses and jobs. WHO partners with 70 US research centers across 18 states to support health research and innovation in the United States and globally. American companies benefit from these efforts: WHO recently prequalified a Hepatitis self-test made by OraSure Technologies in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania and an innovative mpox diagnostic developed by Cepheid in Sunnyvale, California.  By opening pathways to reach other nations, WHO expands global markets for American-made products.  Withdrawing from WHO cuts the United States off from these benefits and diminishes our influence in global health. America’s leadership has been critical to WHO’s successes in advancing research, coordinating disease surveillance, and responding to global emergencies. By stepping back, we forfeit the opportunity to shape these efforts and protect American lives, businesses, and innovation.   Continued partnership with WHO is essential to safeguarding the health of Americans, preparing for future pandemics and health emergencies, and ensuring US leadership in global health innovation.  

The Global Health Technologies Coalition (GHTC) yesterday honored Senator Cory Booker (D-NJ), Senator Susan Collins (R-ME), and Congresswoman Chrissy Houlahan (D-PA) for their leadership in championing global health research and development (R&D) at its 2024 Innovating for Impact Awards, an annual initiative celebrating US policymakers and partnerships catalyzing global health innovation. GHTC also recognized the partners that developed and are accelerating global access to the novel oral polio vaccine type 2 (nOPV2)—a next-generation oral polio vaccine that is accelerating global polio eradication efforts—for their efforts to advance this groundbreaking new product.Senator Booker, who is chairman of the Foreign Relations Subcommittee on Africa and Global Health Policy, was honored with a Congressional Champion Award for his leadership in introducing the Supporting Innovative Global Health Technologies (SIGHT) Act to establish a new disease-agnostic R&D program at the US Agency for International Development (USAID), as well as his support of numerous other bills to bolster R&D for neglected diseases, antimicrobial resistance, and infectious disease monitoring. “Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere, in the same way that infectious disease anywhere is a threat to the justice, the safety, the peace, the health of all people everywhere,” Senator Booker said in accepting the award. GHTC also recognized Senator Collins, who is Vice Chair of the Senate Appropriations Subcommittee and a member of the Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee, with a Congressional Champion Award for the pivotal role she has played in protecting and expanding funding for global health research at the National Institutes of Health and other key US agencies, as well as her support of critical bills to advance global health research, including the Reach Every Mother and Child Act to advance innovative tools to end preventable child and maternal deaths. “As a leader of the Senate Appropriations Committee, I’ve long supported strong funding for global health programs…We have proven that compassionate, targeted foreign aid, in conjunction with private philanthropy, can save lives and improve health for millions of people all around the world,” Senator Collins stated in prerecorded acceptance remarks. Additionally, Congresswoman Chrissy Houlahan was celebrated with a Congressional Champion Award for her leadership in introducing the SIGHT Act to supercharge health innovation at USAID, as well as her co-sponsorship of other notable legislation to strengthen preparedness and response to health emergencies, including the Global Health Security and Global Pandemic Prevention and Biosecurity Acts. “Disease does not respect boundaries, and health emergencies are clearly continuing…so that’s the exact reason…that I’m supporting and introducing the Supporting Innovative Global Health Technologies Act,” Congresswoman Houlahan remarked in her acceptance speech. “It’s important that we work with our partners across government, across the nonprofit world, and of course, across the world of business…to make sure that we address issues such as disease,” she noted. Finally, GHTC presented the Partnership Award to Dr. John Konz, Global Head of Viral Diseases at PATH’s Center for Vaccine Innovation and Access,  who accepted the award on behalf of the many partners who contributed to the development and global rollout of nOPV2. This innovative vaccine has been engineered to be less likely than the original oral polio vaccine to cause vaccine-derived polio cases, and it protects against the type 2 strain of polio virus, which causes the majority of these cases. Though these cases are extremely rare, because the world has achieved such stunning success in reducing polio, these variant cases today outnumber wild polio cases, posing a significant barrier to eradication.nOPV2 was advanced from idea to impact thanks to a constellation of global partners. These include the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation; Bio Farma; Cevaxin; the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention; Fighting Infectious Diseases in Emerging Countries; the US Food and Drug Administration; icddr,b;   Intravacc; the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine’s Medical Research Council Unit The Gambia; the United Kingdom’s Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency; UNICEF; the University of Antwerp; the University of California, San Francisco; the World Health Organization (WHO); and the Global Polio Eradication Initiative. In 2020, nOPV2 became the first-ever vaccine to be authorized for emergency use by WHO, and since then, more than a billion doses have been delivered to children in high-risk settings—bringing us closer to a polio-free world.“It’s been a privilege for PATH to lead and facilitate this project over the past nine years, and it’s an honor to accept this award on behalf of the people and the organizations that made this vaccine a reality,” said Dr. Konz. “It’s truly a story of 70 years of investments and innovation.”  “GHTC is thrilled to honor Senator Booker, Senator Collins, Congresswoman Houlahan, and the partners who advanced nOPV2 with our Innovating for Impact Awards,” said Dr. Kristie Mikus. “Strong political will and smart partnerships are key to delivering next-generation cures and vaccines to fight the world’s deadliest health threats. We’re delighted to recognize the outstanding work of our honorees who are making progress possible.”Now in its eighth year, the Innovating for Impact Awards celebrate US commitment to global health R&D and honor the multisector partnerships and policymakers helping to transform breakthrough scientific research into lifesaving technologies for unmet global health challenges. Learn more about the initiative and past honorees.View photos from the event on Flickr and Facebook.