As 2006 draws to a close, we at the Global Health Initiative have been reflecting on the last 12 months and we started planning our activities for 2007, including the World Economic Forum Annual Meeting in Davos. This newsletter provides a summary of our achievements since the summer. I am sure that you will agree that we have had a busy three months with lots of exciting and impactive activities.
Some highlights include:
- Launch of the all-new China Health Alliance : this is an absolute first worldwide, and a must read for all those of you with operations in China
- Facilitated the selection of new private sector board members for the Roll Back Malaria and Stop TB Partnerships : join me in congratulating and welcoming the new board members and alternates – their names, commitments and how to engage with them are provided below
- Gained approval from the board of the Global Fund to proceed with the development of a policy for pro-bono services and product: this is a first crucial step of an important process
- Completed the first phase evaluation of our India Business Alliance to Stop TB : the new data presented at the IUTALD Meeting in Paris earlier this month shows how this GHI-catalysed partnership in India today has 7,000 people on TB treatment and reaches 4 million people overall. It demonstrates once again that private sector action works, and is key to fighting TB
- Developed and launched a new study, the first-ever of its kind, entitled, 'The State of Business Coalitions in sub-Saharan Africa' .It shows how business coalitions in 20 African countries support businesses in addressing HIV/AIDS
Special thanks go to all the members of the India Business Alliance without whom the results of the evaluationwould not have been possible and to the Chinese Ministry of Health, Accenture and the UNAIDS team for all their help with launching the China Health Alliance. This newsletter will allow you to find out more about each of these new GHI activities and who in our team can help you engage in them.
Yours sincerely,
Francesca
Boldrini
Director, Global Health Initiative
World Economic Forum
+41 22 869 1497 (tel.)
+41 22 869 1396 (fax)
www.weforum.org/globalhealth
P.S. If you are new to the GHI and want to engage in public-private partnership efforts against HIV/AIDS, TB or malaria please contact me directly or write to globalhealth@weforum.org.
In
this issue:
December 2006
- Upcoming GHI Events: World Economic Forum Annual Meeting 2007, Davos, 24-28 January
- Recent News: Launched the China Health Alliance; facilitated the process for the selection of private sector board members for the Roll Back Malaria and Stop TB Partnerships; stimulated major progress on donations of product and services to the Global Fund; completed the first phase evaluation of the India Business Alliance to Stop TB.
- New Business Tools: First ever study: The State of Business Coalitions in sub-Saharan Africa
- Speakers’ Corner: Brian A. Brink, Senior Vice-President, Health, Anglo American Corporation,
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Upcoming
Events
World Economic Forum Annual Meeting 2007, Davos, 24-28 January. The World Economic Forum Annual Meeting 2007 will be held under the theme “Shaping the Global Agenda: The Shifting Power of Equation”. As every year, Global Health Initiative (GHI) issues will feature both in the official programme as well as on the occasion of a number of private events.
For more information about our Annual Meeting, please follow this link:
http://www.weforum.org/en/events/AnnualMeeting2007/index.htm
Recent News
Launch of the China Health Alliance
The Global Health Initiative (GHI) launched the China Health Alliance (CHA), China's first public-private partnership for public health, at the China Business Summit in Beijing in September 2006. This public-private partnership currently engages the Chinese government, select companies (Accenture, Becton Dickinson, Esquel, iKang, Karstadt Quelle, Pfizer, Standard Chartered Bank, Swire Beverages), international organizations (UNAIDS, WHO, UNDP) and others(China National Textile and Apparel Council, Constella Futures, Marie Stopes International China).This innovative alliance is designed to reach Chinese employees, especially migrant workers, at risk of infection from HIV and TB through workplace programmes. These programmes willprovide education and training, as well as testing, treatment and other support services. In the pilot phase alone, to take place in Guangdong province, these programmes have the potential to reach up to five million people, reinforcing the immense potential of this project once expanded to other provinces.
For more information on the China Health Alliance please refer to the information sheet and press release: http://www.weforum.org/en/initiatives/globalhealth/InCountryAlliances/index.htm
Alternatively, if you are interested in better understanding how your organization can engage in the CHA, please contact Regina Wenzel at regina.wenzel@weforum.org or Pan Pan at pan.pan@weforum.org
From left to right: Zunyou Wu, MD, PhD., Director, National Center for AIDS/STD Control and Prevention, Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention, China; Kenneth L. Lacey, Senior Executive, Accenture, United Kingdom; Peter Piot, Executive Director, Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS), Geneva; Francesca Boldrini, Director, Global Health Initiative, World Economic Forum
Facilitated the selection of new private sector board representatives for the Roll Back Malaria and Stop TB Partnerships
The GHI welcomes the new Board Representatives for the Roll Back Malaria and Stop TB Partnerships. The representatives were elected by their constituencies in a process facilitated by the Global Health Initiative. The process commenced with an open nomination process, in which nine individuals were nominated for the RBM Partnership Board, and seven individuals for the Stop TB Partnership Board. On 17 October 2006, the new representatives were selected by consensus in an open election process that took place at the World Economic Forum's headquarter offices in Geneva.
The new Private Sector Board Representatives for:
Roll Back Malaria Partnership are:
Board Members: Ian Boulton, GlaxoSmithKline and Steven Phillips, Exxon Mobil Corporation
Alternates: Hans Rietveld, Novartis Pharma and John Thomas, BASF
Stop TB Partnership are:
Board Member: Jean-François de Lavison, bioMérieux
Alternate: Stefaan van der Borght, Heineken
For more information on how to engage with the constituencies of Stop TB or RBM please contact francois.bonnici@weforum.org or david.kim@weforum.org or francesca.boldrini@weforum.org.
Gained approval from the board of the Global Fund to proceed with the development of a policy for pro-bono services and products
The opportunity for recipients of the Global Fund to Fight HIV/AIDS, TB and Malaria to benefit from donations of products and services has been debated as one of the most difficult issues for the Fund to agree on since its inception. However, no policy currently exists to accept, evaluate or regulate in-kind donations.
In order to build consensus around the key issues and resolve complexities in developing a policy recommendation to the Global Fund Board, the GHI has been working closely with Oxfam on this issue. The joint work was presented at the recent Global Fund meeting in November at which the Board voted unanimously to approve "the process to develop a policy on donations of products and services". This represents a major shift of the Board to seriously consider the opportunity for these kinds of donations, with the creation of a dedicated Steering Group and Technical Expert Group to present policy options in 2007. The Board thanked the GHI and Oxfam for “the transparent approach to this complex, but exciting issue.” For further information, please contact francois.bonnici@weforum.org
Completed the first phase evaluation of the India Business Alliance to Stop TB
In 2002, the India Business Alliance to Stop TB (IBA) was set up by the Global Health Initiative (GHI) of the World Economic Forum to stimulate and facilitate business sector engagement in TB control in India. With the momentum to scale up the Alliance member response to tuberculosis (TB), an evaluation study to ascertain the extent to which individual programmes have contributed to an overall reduction in cases and improved treatment outcomes was initiated. Site visits, data collection from the records and reports of the companies and personal interviews with key personnel have been collated.
The evaluation results show that over the past two years, IBA has reached over 4 million people including more than 150,000 employees with access to life-saving information, and thousands have benefited from testing and treatment services. Through its 32 business partners working in partnership with the Ministry of Health, the Confederation of Indian Industry, the World Health Organization and the Global Stop TB Partnership, the Alliance demonstrates the impact that collective business response to public health issues can have.
To join the Alliance or to learn more please contact: shaloo.puri@weforum.org
Links:
- Poster (PDF, 1 page, 1,2 MB) based on interim findings of the evaluation study presented at the International Union Against Tuberculosis and Lung Disease (IUATLD) Conference, Paris, November 2006
- India Business Alliance: Information sheet (PDF, 2 pages, 76 KB)
- India Business Alliance: Statement of Concern, Context and Commitment (PDF, 4 pages, 79 KB)
GHI Welcomes New Team Member:
Regina Wenzel , Project Manager, Global Leadership Fellow and Project Manager, China Health Alliance
Regina joins the Forum after five years as a banker in Canada with both the Royal Bank of Canada and HSBC Bank Canada. HSBC Holdings selected her as the HSBC/Earthwatch Environmental Fellow to Sri Lanka, where she worked on an environmental conservation project. Previously, Regina worked in Taiwan as the Trade Promotion officer for the British Trade and Cultural Office and led the UK disaster analysis and recovery team after the 1999 earthquake. She also worked in China with a Sino-German joint venture. Regina holds a BA in both Modern Chinese and Management Studies from Durham University (United Kingdom) and a MA in International Relations and Asia-Pacific Studies from the University of East Anglia (United Kingdom). Fluent in Mandarin, German and English and proficient in Cantonese and French, Regina enjoys international travel, playing Chinese violin and exploring the outdoors.
New Business Tools
Launched of a new study: 'The State of Business Coalitions in sub-Saharan Africa'
The GHI and the World Bank in cooperation with Deutsche Gesellschaft fur Technische Zusammenarbeit (GTZ), UNAIDS, Corporate Council on Africa and PharmAccess Foundation conducted and launched a new study: "The State of Business Coalitions in sub-Saharan Africa", on 1 November 2006. This study shows how 27 African countries are supporting business in addressing HIV/AIDS. At least 20 coalitions exist in sub-Saharan Africa today, with more than 16 having been established in the last five years to meet growing demands. Today, these coalitions are reaching more than 1,950 organizations in Africa through successfully mobilizing business efforts in a coordinated way, facilitating the sharing of best practices and serving as the voice of the private sector in calling for increased action and facilitation of treatment programmes. The study provides guidance to newly-launched and those soon-to-be formed coalitions; shares best practices, benefits, achievements; and highlights key challenges facing coalitions.
Other businesses and donors are urged to back the approach and help strengthen these coalitions as an important part of the solution to battling the HIV/AIDS epidemic in Africa.
- Download the full study (PDF, 36 pages, 742 KB) and individual country coalition profiles
For more information on this new study or business coalitions worldwide, please contact Inderjit Sidhu at inderjit.sidhu@weforum.org
Speaker's Corner
Brian A. Brink, Senior Vice-President, Health, Anglo American Corporation, South Africa
The Global Fund and the Private Sector
The Global Fund to fight AIDS, TB and Malaria has now been operating for five years. It was created as a partnership between government, the private sector and civil society, with a view to dramatically scale up the resources needed to fight the most devastating diseases affecting developing countries. To date, the Global Fund has committed US$ 6.8 billion through more than 460 grants in 136 countries, resulting in 770,000 more people receiving antiretroviral therapy for AIDS; 2 million people being treated for TB under DOTS regimens; and 18 million bed nets distributed to prevent malaria.
The private sector plays a prominent role in the affairs of the Global Fund and participates through one of the voting board seats allocated to donor constituencies.
The immediate challenge for the private sector is to scale up its involvement in the activities of the Fund. It can do this in three ways:
1) through direct cash contributions to the Fund
2) through co-investment proposals for grants made at country level
3) through the contribution of in-kind products and services
All three of these modalities require a lot of work to maximize private sector participation. Direct cash contributions have recently shown improvement through the successful launch of the (RED) campaign initiated through DATA and strongly supported by Bono. There is still a need for businesses to consider direct cash contributions to the fund – if every Global 1000 company gave US$ 100,000 annually, this would amount to US$ 100 million dollars a year, ranking the private sector among the top 10 donors.
Co-investment proposals at country level have proved challenging, but now that the Global Fund has agreed to set fixed round dates, it should be easier to start building partnerships at country level and planning proposals with a long lead time. The request for proposals for the next round of funding (round 7) will be launched on 1 March 2007. The time to start working on these is now!
There is encouraging news with regard to the third modality of support for the Global Fund. The Board, at its last meeting in Guatemala, approved the process to examine the options for developing a policy on donations of products and services. Hopes are high that the steering group elected to guide this process will be able to make a big difference in this very important endeavour for the Private Sector. All of us on the private sector delegation are very hopeful that the steering group will achieve a positive outcome in the not-too distant future.
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