Together We Can Overcome the COVID-19 Pandemic: Letters to G7 & G20

The COVID-19 pandemic is a global public health issue requiring a global solution with regional, national and local applicability. The extreme COVID-19 fatigue and uncertainty experienced by populations worldwide urgently requires both short-term and long-term practical solutions.

In countries that have been more successful in containing COVID-19, health and social professionals have been in leading roles formulating evidence-informed recommendations on the basis of best practice, and supporting societal engagement.

Therefore, the Coalition of Global Health, Primary Care and Social Work Professionals has sent an open letter to the Presidents of the 2021 G7 and G20 Summits to call on the G7 and G20 Summits to engage with the representatives of the Coalition to work directly on the co-design and co-production of local, national, regional and international strategies to effectively combat the COVID-19 global pandemic.

Together we can overcome the COVID-19 pandemic.

Letter to G20

Advancing Essential Public Health Functions to Prevent the Next Pandemic

The Essential Public Health Functions (EPHFs) are a set of fundamental actions taken to achieve the public health goal of improving, promoting, protecting, and restoring the health of the population through collective action. The COVID-19 pandemic has highlighted the need for stronger health systems; advancing the EPHFs agenda is a priority to increase our capacity to manage and prevent diseases. In order to end this pandemic and prevent the next one, each country should invest in the EPHFs and across all sectors.

Dr. James Fitzgerald, PAHO/WHO Director, Health Systems and Services and Prof. Bettina Borisch, WFPHA Executive Director, met to discuss the challenges and best approaches to implementing the EPHFs at national and international levels.

This event is available to view by clicking on the link below.

This event was supported by WFPHA and University of Geneva.

Stop Blocking the Scale-up of Vaccines and Put Health over Profit!

On the occasion of World Health Day, WFPHA has joined a broad coalition of civil society organisations across Europe urgently calling on governments and EU institutions to implement a COVID-19 response based on global solidarity and to act to ensure that COVID-19 vaccines and medical products are available to everyone, everywhere in the world by waiving intellectual property rights (IPR) and sharing know-how and technology widely.

“We must act now so the pandemic will not go into history as a moral failure by rich countries at the detriment of vulnerable lives across the world.”

Equity: COVID-19 Vaccines as a Global Public Good?

The outstanding scientific achievement of 2020 was the rapid development of safe and effective vaccines against COVID-19. 2021’s challenge is to produce sufficient doses and immunize a planet of nearly 8 billion people. The global rollout has been called a “catastrophic moral failure” by WHO Director-General Dr. Tedros Ghebreyesus for its glaring inequities, as rich countries snap up supply and poorer nations are forced to wait at the back of the queue.

This fifth and final instalment of Operation Vaccination focuses on equity in the global vaccination race. The post includes discussions about hoarding doses and vaccine nationalism, the role of COVAX in striving for a level playing field, the TRIPS waiver proposal to temporarily suspend intellectual property rights to improve manufacturing capacity, and the risks to all of us if current trends continue and the imbalance of access to COVID vaccines is not redressed.

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WHO’s Response to WFPHA and SHEM Open Letter on Inequitable Access to COVID-19 Vaccines

“Equitable access to COVID-19 vaccines is forefront in my mind.”

On 3 March 2021, Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, Director-General of the World Health Organization, has responded the World Federation of Public Health Associations and the Sustainable Health Equity Movement’s (SHEM) open letter on inequitable access to COVID-19 vaccines.

Public Health Answers: Digital Technology and the COVID-19 Pandemic

In this episode of Public Health Answers, we talk to Audrey Tang, Digital Minister, Taiwan, to know how we can prevent infodemic and how using digital technology to protect population against the COVID-19 pandemic fits into democracy.

Click on the link below to watch the video on our YouTube. Let us know what you think and what questions you would like to ask public health experts. Share your thoughts and questions in the comments below the video.