![By Chief Petty Officer Robert Gallagher (https://www.dvidshub.net/image/227675) [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons](https://hyderus.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/06/Malaria_study_DVIDS227675-150x150.jpg)
Have US donations in the campaign to fight malaria been responsible for saving the lives of up to two million children in Africa? Foreign aid often faces the accusation of not being cost efficient, or poorly directed. In many cases there are a lack of follow up studies analysing the impact of the donations. A study published in PLOS Medicine is … [Read more...] about US malaria donations saving two million children?
health policy
Mexico City Policy: Putting the US at odds with the EU?
![By Voice of America (http://www.voanews.com/a/3430100.html) [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons](https://hyderus.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/09/Trump_accepts_nomination-150x150.jpg)
The London Family Planning summit has reportedly documented $5 billion in pledges to aid family planning services in developing nations, however, will the policies of the Trump administration hinder these efforts? On Tuesday, July 11, World Population Day was observed, with a timely theme: “Family Planning: Empowering People, Developing … [Read more...] about Mexico City Policy: Putting the US at odds with the EU?
Hype for UN’s report on access to medicines is confused and contradictory
The first sentence of the official press release for the new UN report on access to medicines captures all the problems with the report, probably inadvertently. Here is the monster sentence Whether it’s the rising price of the EpiPen, or new outbreaks of diseases, like Ebola, Zika and yellow fever, the rising costs of health technologies … [Read more...] about Hype for UN’s report on access to medicines is confused and contradictory
Policy dialogue in the Twitter age
The UN Secretary General has a High Level Panel on Access to Medicines. Helen Clark, the Administrator (Chief Executive) of UNDP and a former prime Minister of New Zealand, recorded a video for the panel members. She discussed UNDP's accomplishments in getting the price of medicines cut for African countries, including Equatorial Guinea. Equatorial … [Read more...] about Policy dialogue in the Twitter age
Access to advanced medicines and affordability: a look forward to 2016
We think that there will be unparalleled attention in 2016 on the issues of access to advanced medicines and on how to pay for them. Past controversies have largely focussed on access in low and middle income countries; this time Europe and North America will command at least as much attention. Ironically, the world’s richest and the poorest will … [Read more...] about Access to advanced medicines and affordability: a look forward to 2016
Five myths about access to medicines in emerging markets
Pharma companies can have an “emerging markets strategy” Emerging markets are nothing like one another: an Argentinian denied an expensive new drug will usually just go and get a court to order his insurer or the state to pay for it; an Indonesian may never even find out what’s wrong with him. Argentina spends about $1050 per person on … [Read more...] about Five myths about access to medicines in emerging markets
The basics about spending on health around the world
Most industrialised countries use about nine percent of GDP for government health spending and about 11 percent of GDP for overall health spending (public and private combined). This chart from the World Bank (based on WHO data) shows the percentage of GDP spent by governments on health and this one the overall health spending. The … [Read more...] about The basics about spending on health around the world
The failure of global health advocacy spelled out in numbers
No fashionable university is without its own department doing studies and advocacy on global health these days and NGOs and consultancies proliferate. Richard Horton and his team at The Lancet seem to produce ever more elaborate reports and commissions demanding an extra $30 billion here or $50 billion there. None of them tell you that funding for … [Read more...] about The failure of global health advocacy spelled out in numbers
International declarations and treaties don’t change things — Tweets do
There was a time when international declarations changed the world. Maybe some still do but increasingly leaders communicate in 140 characters, not 20-page communiqués. Even international agreements and treaties may not be worth the paper they're written on, much less the thousands of days of staff time that go into them, according to an elegant … [Read more...] about International declarations and treaties don’t change things — Tweets do
Does bad qualitative research guide US policy?
Last week, the US Centers for Disease Control posted an interesting article (in advance of publication in Emerging Infectious Diseases) on attitudes to antibiotic resistance amongst primary care providers. It is full of good ideas and it might even reflect what US providers think. As a basis for public policy, though, it is dangerously inadequate. … [Read more...] about Does bad qualitative research guide US policy?
The Three Commitments
Why Consultants end up not telling the truth
The worst kind of market research interviewing technique ever
Why bright people can’t explain themselves
