MMS News

"Critics of the Trump administration’s early actions on global health—withdrawing from the World Health Organization (WHO) and paralyzing U.S.-funded international health programs—fear that those moves will cede Washington’s long-standing leadership role to Beijing. American power and prestige, they charge, will wane, and China’s will grow. The reality is worse. A U.S. retreat on global health, if sustained, will indeed open the door for China to exploit the abrupt, chaotic withdrawal of U.S. programs in some strategic regions. (...) Without sustained support for either international institutions or health programs in the world’s poorest countries, the result will be a vacuum in global health that will make everyone less safe."

• FOREIGN AFFAIRS
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"Since reclaiming power in 2021, the Taliban have systematically denied Afghan girls and women their rights to education, employment, and freedom of movement. Now, as internal divisions shake the regime, there is a real chance that the ban on girls’ education may finally be lifted. (...) Nowhere is the fight for the rights of girls and women more urgent than in Afghanistan, where the Taliban’s return to power in 2021 has led to egregious human rights violations, including the exclusion of girls from secondary education. Now, after yet another Afghan school year has begun without girls beyond sixth grade, a rift within the regime offers hope that the ban may be reversed in the near future."

• Project Syndicate

"The global health landscape is at a pivotal moment, where Africa’s collective voice is pushing for a redefined, equitable health architecture. At the Africa Health Agenda International Conference (AHAIC) 2025, a critical plenary session titled Health for All, Not for Some examined how Africa can assert its role in shaping global health policies, financing models, and partnerships to achieve sustainable, inclusive health systems. (...)The Lusaka Agenda, a framework for advancing health equity in Africa, was a focal point of the discussion. It underscores key areas such as regional manufacturing, research and development, sustainable domestic financing, and equity. Speakers emphasized that traditional donor-driven health systems have perpetuated dependency, urging a shift toward African-led solutions."

• Amref

"There could be 2,000 new HIV infections a day across the world and a ten-fold increase in related deaths if funding frozen by the United States is not restored or replaced, the United Nations AIDS agency said on Monday. (...) Byanyima said that if funding from the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) did not resume at the end of the 90-day pause, in April, or was not replaced by another government, "there will be, in the next four years, an additional 6.3 million AIDs-deaths."

• Reuters

"KIGALI, Rwanda – “Sad”, “Worried” and “The centre is shaking”, were some of the reactions of African health leaders to the termination of US aid at a media briefing on Sunday (2 March) ahead of the 6th Africa Health Agenda International Conference (AHAIC). But speakers also stressed the need for resilience and swift action at the briefing ahead of the conference, which is hosted by Amref Health Africa in collaboration with Rwanda’s Ministry of Health, the World Health Organization (WHO) Africa Office for Africa, and the Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (Africa CDC). “The centre of our health system on the continent must hold,” stressed Rwandan Minister of Health Dr Sabin Nsanzimana. “Even as financing declines, we must find ways to increase it – whether through domestic sources or partnerships with those who see health as an investment in humanity.”

• Health Policy Watch

"UNAIDS is monitoring how the pause, review and termination of US support for HIV programs is affecting countries, communities, community organizations, healthcare workers, people living with and affected by HIV and the overall HIV response. We have created a special page on the UNAIDS website to host all the information related to the impact of the pause, review and termination of US support on the global AIDS response. On the special page you will find the latest country and regional updates, links to statements and other important resources from UNAIDS, cosponsors, the US Government and external partners, which are updated daily. Finally, you will find a section with dashboards that monitor the continuity of HIV programmes amidst the funding shifts. The new special page can be accessed via link.

• UNAIDS

"The European Health Report is produced every 3 years as a flagship publication by the WHO Regional Office for Europe. This edition is based on the indicators included in the WHO European Programme of Work, 2020–2025 – “United Action for Better Health” measurement framework. This 2024 Report finds that the health of the people in the WHO European Region continues to be negatively affected by an accumulation of hard-to-tackle threats and new hazards that require our urgent attention in the aftermath of the coronavirus disease (‎COVID-19)‎ pandemic. The new European Programme of Work, which will come into effect in 2026, will be the main policy tool for the Region, outlining how WHO and the Member States will address the challenges identified in this European Health Report 2024."

• World Health Organization

"In 2020, a group of passionate young activists – concerned about persistent inequities in healthcare and the slow pace of digital transformation – came together to establish Young Experts: Tech for Health (YET4H) – a youth-led platform that aimed to empower young people to interrogate the status quo and shape inclusive, equitable digital health systems. Born out of a pioneering research project by Fondation Botnar in collaboration with Women Deliver, YET4H began as a Youth Advisory Council before evolving into a dedicated initiative that championed innovative campaigns like “Humans of Digital Health” and drove change in health policy and governance."

• Transform Health

"The decision by President Donald Trump’s administration to cut the vast majority of its foreign aid programs has devastated the global HIV/AIDS effort—and left its leaders seething. South Africa’s HIV/AIDS program, the world’s largest, has been thrown into turmoil, researchers, clinicians, and advocates said yesterday during an impassioned press conference. And the fate of the Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS), which relies on U.S. funds to help track and coordinate the global response, is in jeopardy. “It is a huge crisis,” says epidemiologist Peter Piot, who ran UNAIDS from its inception in 1995 until 2008 and is now at the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine. Zimbabwe, Zambia, and other hard-hit countries in Africa may soon run out of anti-HIV drugs as a result of the cuts, Piot says."

• Science

"Dans le sillage de la fermeture de l’Agence des Etats-Unis pour le développement international (USaid), les annonces des coupes prévues par l’administration Trump dans l’aide internationale se multiplient. De son côté, la Suisse a devancé la tendance et la poursuit, en s’apprêtant à creuser encore davantage la tombe de l’aide internationale. Il y a à peine quelques semaines, le conseiller fédéral en charge de la Coopération suisse, Ignazio Cassis, décidait la fin du soutien aux populations d’Amérique latine et la réduction du soutien helvétique à des projets «servant les intérêts économiques du pays». (...) Cassis se montre décidé à réduire l’aide internationale, peut-être pas autant que le gouvernement étasunien, mais déjà à une hauteur effrayante de conséquences pour les personnes concernées. La politique d’Ignazio Cassis est révoltante, nous devons réagir! Nous exigeons le doublement des fonds d’aide internationale pour tous les pays qui en ont besoin, dans tous les pays où des organisations suisses sont actives, pour les prochaines années, tant que les Etats-Unis maintiennent leurs coupes!"

• Centrale Sanitaire Suisse Romande (CSSR)

"Just last month, researchers in South Africa were preparing to celebrate two major milestones in the fight against HIV: The rollout of a new injectable called lenacapavir, which had been shown to prevent sexual transmission of HIV with 100% efficacy, and the start of a Phase 1 clinical trial for an experimental vaccine against the virus. However, the future of both programs has been thrown into jeopardy, after executive orders from the Trump administration to freeze foreign aid. Across the world, thousands of researchers targeting major global diseases such as malaria and tuberculosis have found themselves in a similar situation, as the withdrawal of funding from USAID has brought clinical trials and the rollout of groundbreaking new drugs to an abrupt halt."

• Devex

"Geneva-based international organisations and NGOs were startled by an odd questionnaire sent out by the United States, revealing a troubling misunderstanding of how the multilateral system works. The questions are shocking. One asks: “Can you confirm that your organisation does not work with entities associated with communism, socialism, totalitarianism, or any other entity that espouses anti-American beliefs?” Or: “Does this project (the one run by the organisation in question – ed.) strengthen the sovereignty of the United States by limiting its dependence on international organisations and global governance structures, for example, the UN and the WHO?”

• Geneva Solutions

"The number of WHO’s top-ranked directors (D2), the highest level of staff before the Director General’s senior leadership team, has nearly doubled since Director-General Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus took office, with 75 people holding D2 positions in July 2024 in comparison to only 39 in July 2017. The cost of WHO’s top-level echelon have grown even faster, with roughly $92 million spent on just 215 Directors, the DG and his 11 member senior team – and around $130 million if you consider P6 staff who fill many of the same management functions, according to a detailed analysis of available data by Health Policy Watch."

• Health Policy Watch

"Kupela Clarke, what motivates you to work for SolidarMed? I joined SolidarMed because I am passionate about supporting the Zambian healthcare system. We show solidarity with health workers and communities working and living in difficult conditions. Together with the government, we analyse the causes of the lack of health professionals in rural areas and advocate for improvements. In this way, SolidarMed works holistically, which motivates me a lot."

• SolidarMed

"IAMANEH Switzerland is a co-signatory of a petition calling for a clear and concrete signal from politicians against gender-based violence. After eight femicides in eight weeks, the need is abundantly clear. The year 2025 began with one feminicide per week. Several organisations and groups from civil society and politics are alarmed, including IAMANEH Switzerland. We demand that the problem be finally taken seriously, put at the top of the political agenda and that significantly more resources, 350 million, be invested immediately to combat gender-based, domestic and sexualised violence."

• IAMANEH