Global Health and Switzerland

People's Health Dispatch "The WHO Executive Board is poised to propose enhanced Universal Health Coverage policies despite disappointing outcomes. UHC-based policies are failing in achieving the goals of increased access to healthcare and financial protection from health expenditure."

• People’s Health Dispatch

Medicus Mundi Switzerland It is not primarily the lack of medical treatment that leads to illness. Illness is often caused by social disadvantage and inequality and is therefore influenced by factors beyond the healthcare system. These include living and working conditions as well as social, political, environmental and economic factors that have a decisive influence on the development of illness. The knowledge that structural and social inequalities favour diseases has been well known for a long time and yet in recent years, especially since the outbreak of the corona pandemic, the increase in global conflicts and human rights violations, we have seen blatant setbacks on the path to equal health opportunities. We need to break new ground and deepen our knowledge to find out which social-justice-promoting approaches are most likely to lead to greater health equity. In this bulletin, you can read about key findings and promising (new) strategies on the road to health equity.

• Medicus Mundi Suisse

Peace Direct "Transforming Partnerships in International Cooperation builds on our previous research to provide an operational guide to decolonising partnerships in the humanitarian, peacebuilding and development sector. Based on consultations with 200 participants from 70 countries, it offers comprehensive recommendations to transform every aspect of partnerships between entities in the Global South and North."

• Peace Direct

Graduate Institute - Global Health Centre On 25 October 2023, the Global Health Centre’s International Geneva Global Health Platform co-organised with Medicus Mundi Switzerland and Medicus Mundi International a webinar on the theme: “Decolonising Global Health: from discourse to practice?” Moving beyond the prevailing discussions, what does it mean to decolonise global health governance in practical terms? What examples exist of successful decolonisation of international cooperation in global health? What examples exist of just global health governance structures that have reimagined aid in the post-pandemic world? These and other questions will be explored in a provocative, frank and forward-looking discussion about the complex intersectionalities of governance, aid, and the promotion of global solidarity."

• Graduate Institute - Global Health Centre

UHC2030 "The 2023 UN High-level meeting on universal health coverage (UHC) provides countries and all stakeholders an opportunity to reinvigorate progress towards delivering health for all. An action-oriented outcome focusing on building resilient and equitable health systems is key to provide the basis for implementation and accountability, building on the 2019 Political Declaration. In September 2019, at the first United Nations High-Level Meeting on UHC (UN HLM) UHC), world leaders endorsed the most ambitious and comprehensive political declaration on health in history. However, according to the latest global monitoring report on universal health coverage, UHC progress is not on track, and the COVID-19 pandemic has brought the world further away from the 2023 targets set by the political declaration."

• UHC2030
• Latest global monitoring report on universal health coverage
• Building resilience to global health threats and leaving no one behind

People's Health Dispatch "The World Health Organization’s Executive Board is holding its 152nd meeting in Geneva from January 30 to February 7. The Board’s decisions will set most of the agenda to be addressed by WHO during the year, and include health emergencies, progress reports towards Universal Health Coverage, and the state of rehabilitation services, among other things. Despite a cramped agenda, health activists have warned that key problems are being left unaddressed by the Executive Board. These include structural hurdles in the way of achieving Health for All, including the increasing influence of the corporate sector on matters concerning global health. While this affects all of WHO’s fields of work, one of the most hit is nutrition. Tackling malnutrition and hunger has been at the top of the organization’s agenda for decades, but effective action is still missing.

• People's Health Dispatch

UHC2030 "The Seventh Global Symposium on Health Systems Research (HSR2022) organised by Health Systems Global (HSG), comes at a time when more than ever we need collaboration and collective learning to build strong health systems that will support a healthy, fair and safe world. The theme for HSR2022 is “Health Systems Performance in the Political Agenda: Sharing Lessons for Current and Future Global Challenges”. Focused on the high-level political agenda and on the ground realities, HSR2022 is set to provide a catalytic forum where we can come together to share, raise awareness, advocate for change, and develop partnerships for action."

• UHC2030

Medicus Mundi International (MMI) "We are interested in working with civil society in Africa and the rest of the world to contribute to bringing coloniality in health to an end through exposing colonial tendencies in health systems, sharing experiences and research on coloniality, and aiding in global health. We aim to centre African voices on the decolonial agenda. Webinar series 2021-2022: Find the documentation of an ongoing a series of webinars organized by the “Decolonization of Health in Africa” task team in 2021-2022 as part of the overall documentation of Kampala Initiative webinars, and get in touch with the task team members to know more about what is next."

• Medicus Mundi International (MMI)

UNITED NATIONS "Intersecting global crises are threatening the 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and impacting food supplies, health, education, and security across countries worldwide, according to a new UN report released on Thursday. The Sustainable Development Goals Report 2022 reveals that the convergence of increased fighting, the continuing COVID-19 pandemic, and the long-term climate crisis, could push an additional 75 to 95 million people into extreme poverty this year – compared with pre-pandemic projections – and jeopardize the SDG blueprint for more resilient, peaceful and equal societies. “The road map laid out in the Sustainable Development Goals is clear,” stated Liu Zhenmin, UN Economic and Social Affairs chief (DESA), adding that “just as the impact of crises is compounded when they are linked, so are solutions”.

• United Nations
• The Sustainable Development Goals Report 2022

Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation (IHME) "The Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation is pleased to present Financing Global Health 2020, the 12th in the report series that tracks global health spending. The 2019 report was written and edited in the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic, and we posed a series of questions pertinent to the evolving pandemic situation: will there be enough hospital beds? Will there be enough ventilators? What about personal protective equipment and hand sanitizer – will there be enough to go around? In the year that ensued, COVID-19 has continued to exact a terrible toll. The pandemic has taken millions of lives, infected tens of millions more, and done trillions of dollars of economic damage around the world."

• Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation (IHME)

The Lancet "At the beginning of 2021, The Lancet Global Health invited readers, particularly those who are not regular contributors to our pages, to share their expertise and experiences with us in the form of Correspondence, Viewpoints, and Comments on the theme: What is wrong with global health? This page presents a collection of all published responses."

• The Lancet Global Health

Medicus Mundi Switzerland Season 4 of the MMS “Health for All” podcast portrays six people working in the field of disability inclusive development. They are dedicated to making the world more inclusive for the 1 billion people living with disabilities. - This podcast season has been developed by CBM Switzerland in collaboration with Medicus Mundi Switzerland.

• MMS Health for All Podcast
• Episode I with Hannah Kuper: Why is data and research on disability so important?
• Episode II with Mirjam Gasser and Chris Heer: Nothing about us, without us!
• Episode III with José Viera: Let’s stop discrimination and recognize diversity
• Episode IV with Gertrude Oforiwa Fefoame: “They think women and girls with disabilities aren’t sexual”
• Episode V with Ben Adams: From disability exclusion to inclusion in humanitarian response
• Episode VI with Andrea Pregel: Making telehealth services inclusive for all

International Health Policy "Benefit finding (looking for positive aspects while living through a difficult situation) is a skill we had probably practiced before, but COVID-19 pushed us all to identify good things coming out of a very difficult season for humans on planet earth. (...) One benefit in this persistent and perverse pandemic is the thinking, scholarship and voices recognising the value of communities to solve our biggest and most complex problems. These global conversations are playing catchup with key ideas that have been discussed among indigenous researchers for years."

• International Health Policy

TDR, the Special Programme for Research and Training in Tropical Diseases Hosted by Dr Garry Aslanyan with a variety of guests, the podcast discusses key questions, such as the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on research, promoting gender equality and women in global health leadership, the pros and cons of open access to research, the role of implementation research and many other topics and issues. Through the podcast, we aim to discuss and share experiences and views on different aspects of global health research, with a focus on low- and middle-income country perspectives.

• TDR Global health matters podcast

Swiss TPH "The specific needs of nomadic pastoralist communities are often not considered in public services. This is also the case in the health sector. In Ethiopia, the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation is supporting the establishment of a regional One Health centre of excellence with the aim to improve the health and wellbeing of pastoralist communities in the Horn of Africa."

• Swiss TPH

MMS Around 15% of the world’s population, or one billion people, live with some form of disability, 80% of them in middle and low-income countries. As the population ages, the number of people living with disabilities will continue to increase globally in the coming decades. Globally, people with disabilities face disproportionate levels of poverty, discrimination and social exclusion, a situation that international agreements aim to address. The majority of states have committed to upholding and implementing the rights of persons with disabilities through their equal participation in all areas of life by promoting inclusion in international cooperation. This issue of the Bulletin deals with the current status in this process and highlights the challenges that still exist, even so in Switzerland.

• MMS Bulletin

Medicus Mundi Switzerland The second season of the MMS podcast "Health for All" portrays three people who are working to fight malaria. Still every two minutes a child dies from malaria, an entirely preventable and treatable disease. Each year there are more than 200 million new infections, over 400,000 of which end deadly. This disease shows far-reaching economic, social and cultural consequences. In this episode, Carine Weiss talks to the executive secretary of the Swiss Malaria Group Julia Richter, about their commitment, why the World Malaria Day is important and why collaboration between different actors in the fight against malaria is crucial.

• MMS Health for All Podcast
• Episode 1 with Julia Richter: Malaria and Switzerland: How a country’s engagement matters
• Episode 2 with Christian Lengeler: There is no excuse for the world to still have malaria
• Episode 3 with Valentina Buj: Malaria: Gender and the Right to Health

International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies "Disasters cause enormous human suffering and loss, but the right laws and policies can help keep communities safe and save lives. Laws and policies underpin all aspects of disaster risk management. They form the often-invisible foundation of disaster risk management, protecting and preparing communities all around the world. Despite significant improvements in recent decades, many countries still need to strengthen their disaster laws to effectively manage the risks and impacts of disasters. (...) As we face climate change, a pandemic and increasingly frequent and intense disasters, the need for effective disaster laws is ever-increasing. The importance of domestic disaster laws, policies and plans is supported by three key international instruments: the Sendai Framework; the Sustainable Development Goals; and the Paris Agreement."

• International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies

Kwa Wazee Als vor 17 Jahren die Idee entstand, im Hochland Tansanias alte Menschen, die sich in akutester Not befanden, mit etwas Bargeld zu unterstützen, dachte niemand daran, dass daraus ein umfangreiches Programm entstehen würde und dass Kwa Wazee – ‘für alte Menschen’ vielleicht am Anfang einer soziale Bewegung stehen könnte. Anfang 2021 habe ich den grössten Teil meiner Aufgaben und meiner Verantwortung abgegeben und bin selber zum Rentner geworden :-). Das ist ein passender Anlass, um mich zu verabschieden bei all jenen Freundinnen und Freunden von Kwa Wazee, welche die Entwicklung des Programms mit ihrem Vertrauen und ihrer Grosszügigkeit seit vielen Jahren mitgetragen haben – viele von ihnen von allem Anfang an. Sehr gerne teile ich mit euch ein paar Momente und Stationen meiner persönlichen Entdeckungsreise. Von Stefan Hofmann.

• Kwa Wazee

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Kinderhilfe Bethlehem Mariam (24) ist im sechsten Monat schwanger, als sie schwer an Corona erkrankt. Ein Notkaiserschnitt rettet ihr Baby, aber sie selbst stirbt einen Tag nach der Geburt. Ihre Tochter wird daraufhin wochenlang im Caritas Baby Hospital behandelt. Eine Reportage aus Bethlehem von Andrea Krogmann.

• Kinderhilfe Bethlehem

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World Health Organization "The Global report on ageism outlines a framework for action to reduce ageism including specific recommendations for different actors (e.g. government, UN agencies, civil society organizations, private sector). It brings together the best available evidence on the nature and magnitude of ageism, its determinants and its impact. It outlines what strategies work to prevent and counter ageism, identifies gaps and proposes future lines of research to improve our understanding of ageism."

• World Health Organization

Graduate Institute Geneva - Global Health Centre "The system of diplomacy has been facing several challenges with the Covid-19 pandemic and new political and economic realities. The mechanisms of global health diplomacy play a key role in coordinating, advancing, and resolving health issues at the global level. To better equip health diplomats and negotiators, the Global Health Centre published a guide to global health diplomacy, produced with the support of the Swiss Federal Department of Foreign Affairs, and the World Health Organization. Written, reviewed and supported by global health experts from different backgrounds, countries and sectors, this training manual provides key concepts on global health diplomacy, outlines the major actors and activities shaping the global health ecosystem, and presents practical tools to strengthen negotiation skills."

• Global Health Centre

MMS Medicus Mundi Schweiz analysierte, wie und inwieweit seine Mitgliedsorganisationen digitale Technologien in der internationalen Gesundheitszusammenarbeit einsetzen. Die Umfrage ergab, dass gute Ansätze und Wissen in einigen Organisationen vorhanden sind. Um jedoch diese Technologien so einzusetzen, dass die Gesundheitsversorgung aller verbessert werden kann, sind Strategien notwendig, welche auf lokalen Kapazitäten und einer ethisch verantwortungsvollen Umsetzung basieren, schreibt die MMS-Projektleiterin Carine Weiss. (Photo by Lukas Blazek on Unsplash)

• www.medicusmundi.ch

MMS This report reveals the results of the mapping exercise undertaken by MMS of its members’ use of digital technologies in health. The aim of the survey was to assess the knowledge and use of digital health technologies and to facilitate and foster collaboration between MMS member organisations. In short, it was designed to obtain a better understanding of who is doing what, how and where. (Photo by William Iven on Unsplash)

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Swiss Society of Tropical Medicine and Parasitology The SSTMP celebrates its 75th anniversary. That is why we would like to offer you a short history of the society. The richly illustrated jubilee book focuses on the many milestones in the past, introduces some of the eminent members of the society and offers a glimpse into the future.

• www.sstmp.ch

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MMS Die gegenwärtige Gesundheitskrise und die Black-Lives-Matter-Bewegung zeigen deutlich, weshalb Ungleichheit und Ungerechtigket die zentralen Faktoren sind, welche die Gesundheit von Bevölkerungen bestimmen. (Foto: by Vince Fleming on Unsplash)

• www.medicusmundi.ch

MMS Millions of people worldwide, especially the poor, are still dying with little or no pain relief or palliative care. They suffer the most severe pain because government policies in many countries are hindering access to affordable painkillers, the funding for an expansion of palliative care is largely lacking, and healthcare professionals are not adequately trained. At the same time, rather than being a luxury, palliative care is relatively inexpensive as well as being a moral and ethical imperative. In accordance with the WHO and international organisations, the experts in our current MMS Bulletin are advocating for the transition away from a health service that is primarily geared towards curing illnesses and to a more supportive medical system that places chronically ill or dying people, and improving their quality of life, at its centre. The articles in this issue offer an interesting global cross-section of the situation of palliative care in many countries. (Photo: CanSupport doctor at the home of a cancer patient in New Delhi, India, explaining to his spouse how to give pain medication/ © CanSupport)

• www.medicusmundi.ch

MMS Covid-19 lays bare insufficient progress on the 2030 agenda. Inequity is on the rise, and going back to “normal” after the pandemic is not desirable. The old normal is not good enough, leaving too many people exposed to unfair chances at quality life which ultimately endangers everyone’s wellbeing and health. Whilst the pandemic might not be impactful enough to lead to a true revolution, Bart Vander Plaetse, head of programme unit for FAIRMED hopes it will give more honest and intrinsic impetus to the 2030 ambitions. (Photo: © FAIRMED)

• www.medicusmundi.ch

MMS The disease caused by the corona virus has spread all over the world, which is why the World Health Organisation has declared a pandemic. While medical care is already reaching the limits of its capacity in European countries, it will be impossible in the global south with similarly increasing numbers. In this folder we offer background information on the situation in resource-poor countries and political analyses of the consequences for global health. In addition we inform how our member organisations and their partner organisations are affected by the situation and how they deal with it. (Photo: Coronavirus/EpicTop10.com/flickr, CC BY 2.0)

• www.medicusmundi.ch

The disease caused by the corona virus has spread all over the world, which is why the World Health Organisation has declared a pandemic. While medical care is already reaching the limits of its capacity in European countries, it will be impossible in the global south with similarly increasing numbers. In this folder we offer background information on the situation in resource-poor countries and political analyses of the consequences for global health. In addition we inform how our member organisations and their partner organisations are affected by the situation and how they deal with it. (Photo: Coronavirus/EpicTop10.com/flickr, CC BY 2.0)

MMS The 2019 symposium held by the Medicus Mundi Switzerland network focused on the underlying causes of inequities and injustices in the health status of population groups. Inequality of opportunity and injustice make people sick: whether it is in Switzerland or on the European level, in India or Chad. Using a wide variety of examples, the experts demonstrated that if we want to achieve “Health for All” by 2030, we have to break through the social and structural barriers to equal opportunities. The MMS symposium drew new lessons and insights and showed what needs to be done so that access to health for all worldwide can be realised as quickly as possible. Read the fascinating articles in the new edition of our Bulletin. (Photo by Chris Barbalis on Unsplash)

• www.medicusmundi.ch

hmswiss

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MMS Middle childhood is often referred to as the ‘forgotten years’ of development because the majority of research has focused on development in early childhood or on adolescent growth. It is evident that there is a lack of data and information about this age group, the 5-10 year olds, and in many ways even up to the age of 15. This MMS Bulletin addresses the main topics of middle childhood: from the consequences of child marriage and the overburdening of parents bringing up their children, to better hygiene during menstruation. The Bulletin reveals the knowledge gaps, missed chances and challenges in reaching this age group in order to provide them with more effective prevention, healthcare, treatment and rehabilitation. (Photo by Alex Radelich on Unsplash)

• www.medicusmundi.ch

Handicap International Bewaffnete Konflikte spielen sich immer mehr in Städten ab. Heutzutage sind 90 Prozent der Opfer von Angriffen mit Explosivwaffen in bewohnten Gebieten Zivilisten. In der Zeit von 1914 bis 1918 machten sie 15 Prozent der Opferaus, von 1939 bis 1945 waren es 50 Prozent. Im Jahr 2018 wurden 20.384 Zivilisten durch Explosivwaffen getötet oder verletztlaut der renommierten Nichtregierungsorganisation Action On Armed Violence. Dieser Trend moderner Konflikte ist verheerend für die Zivilbevölkerung und missachtet das humanitäre Völkerrecht und die Genfer Konventionen. (Foto: HI)

• www.medicusmundi.ch

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Medicus Mundi Schweiz Equity and the sustainability of “health for all”, “leaving nobody behind”, without leaving behind the current hegemonic economic growth paradigm, is a rhetoric goal of unbearable lightness. (Eduardo Missoni)

• www.medicusmundi.ch

Medicus Mundi Suisse/ Médecins du Monde La santé mentale englobe la promotion du bien-être, la prévention des troubles mentaux, le traitement et la réadaptation des personnes qui en sont atteintes. Près de 450 millions de personnes à l’échelle mondiale sont concernées. Trop souvent stigmatisée et ignorée, la santé mentale et psycho-sociale est une composante essentielle des soins de santé, notamment dans les situations de crises et de conflits. Langue : français. Entrée libre sur inscription : enregistrez-vous auprès de : contact@medicusmundi.ch. Délai d’inscription : 9 septembre 2019. La table ronde est organisée en collaboration avec Médecins du Monde Suisse.

• www.medicusmundi.ch

MMS Migration is a reality of the 21st century, but many transit and host countries are failing to assume their responsibilities and are denying refugees and migrants their rights and the necessary measures of protection and integration. Likewise, for a long time insufficient attention has been paid to the topic of prevention and access to healthcare for migrant populations, and shortages in medical care are rife. In spite of the existence of international agreements and treaties, and the World Health Organisation recently adopting an action plan for refugees and migrants to receive equal opportunities in healthcare, many issues and key challenges remain. The articles in our MMS Bulletin give an insight into this complex topic. (Photo: Irak/ © Ibrahim Malla/IFRC)

• www.medicusmundi.ch

Swisso Kalmo Klimaerwärmung in Afrika mit katastrophalen Folgen, Notaufruf der UNO: Somalia ist mit einer weiteren schweren Dürre konfrontiert, wie der Vertreter der UNO für die Koordinierung humanitären Hilfe in Somalia am 20. Mai 2019 in Mogadischu informierte. Schon in der Hungersnot des Jahres 2011 in Ostafrika sind nach Angaben der UNO allein in Somalia 260'000 Menschen umgekommen. Heute sind in Somalia 4,5 Millionen Menschen von der Trockenheit betroffen. Sie sind auf Hilfe angewiesen. Die UNO hat deshalb aufgerufen Somalia zu helfen, um eine Katstrophe abzuwenden. (Foto: Swisso Kalmo)

• www.swisso-kalmo.ch

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Handicap International Handicap International (HI) fordert die Politiker dazu auf, sich gegen Bombardierungen auf Wohngebiete einzusetzen. Solche Bombenangriffe sind in aktuellen Konflikten fast systematisch geworden und treffen zu 92 Prozent Zivilisten, die getötet oder verletzt werden. Die Bundesräte und kantonalen Politiker werden dazu aufgerufen, Stellung zu beziehen, indem sie die Petition unterzeichnen und Druck auf den Nationalrat ausüben, damit er sich entschiedener gegen den Gebrauch von Explosivwaffen engagiert. Diese Initiative von HI ist Teil der Kampagne „Stop bombing civilians“. (Foto: HI)

• handicap-international.ch

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Swisso Kalmo Auf Grund der chaotischen Lage und der andauernden Gewaltsituation wird die Rückkehr von Flüchtlingen aus der Schweiz nach Somalia vom Staatssekretariat für Migration als unzumutbar erachtet. In unserem Land leben heute 3900 somalische Flüchtlinge. Somalia hat 15 Millionen Einwohner. Davon sind mehr als 1,1 Millionen intern Vertriebene, Menschen, die mehrere Male aus dem Gebiet, in dem sie lebten, geflohen sind. Kämpfe oder das Ausbleiben des Regens während 1-2 Jahren, haben sie gezwungen ihr Dorf oder ihre Stadt zu verlassen. Diese Familien, vor allem aus landwirtschaftlichen Gebieten stammend, leben nun an den Rändern der Städte unter erbärmlichen Verhältnissen. (Foto: Impfungen auf dem Lande durch Swisso Kalmo)

• www.swisso-kalmo.ch

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MMS La rete Medicus Mundi Svizzera pubblica questo manifesto per sostenere l’implementazione del diritto alla salute per tutti nell’arco di una generazione, per creare un sostegno più forte all’Agenda 2030, anche qui in Svizzera, e per rafforzare il consenso e l’impegno da parte di tutte le organizzazioni che collaborano per la salute in tutto il mondo.

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Fedevaco Le guide pratique «LA SANTÉ POUR TOUS EN ZONE RURALE. Développer et renforcer les centres de santé» met à l’honneur les bonnes pratiques pour développer un centre de santé communautaire au Sud. Un regard de spécialiste de la santé publique précise les enjeux de la réalisation pérenne de tels projets et une douzaine de fiches de capitalisation illustrent leur mise en œuvre par des associations sur le terrain. Coordonné par le groupe thématique santé de la Fedevaco, cet ouvrage est bâti sur les richesses partagées entre différents praticiens de la coopération au développement. Il se veut un outil incontournable pour la mise en place ou le renforcement de centres de santé en zone rurale des pays à faible revenu. Il se destine aussi bien aux organisations d’appui du Nord qu’à leurs partenaires de terrain du Sud et de l’Est. Scartezzini K, Gueye-Girardet A, Converset E, Laurent C, Lob L et Gehri M, 2018. La santé pour tous en zone rurale. Développer et renforcer les centres de santé: guide pratique. Fedevaco, Lausanne, 182 pages. ISBN: 978-2-8791277-0-3. - Lisez également le résumé dans le magazine de notre MMS bulletin: https://www.medicusmundi.ch/de/bulletin/mms-bulletin/digital-health/magazin/la-sante-pour-tous-en-zone-rurale-developper-et-renforcer-les-centres-de-sante

• www.fedevaco.ch

MMS Digitalisation in healthcare (eHealth) is fully underway. The use of smartphones, apps, tablets, telemedicine and even drones (mHealth) is booming, both in the rich North and the global South, and is revolutionising everyday medical practice. Whether in prevention, health promotion or to support treatment processes, digital technologies are being utilised in all areas. Especially for low and middle income countries, huge potential is opening up to quickly sidestep the barriers to development on the way to universal health coverage. At the same time, this digital revolution – which has generated vast amounts of data and information in recent years – contains a multitude of risks and challenges. How should technologies be employed to improve the efficiency of healthcare systems? How can the creation of new monopolies through possession of data be prevented? How can data protection and the security of personal data be safeguarded? New innovations, partnerships and standards are required to ensure, that eHealth, first and foremost, benefits its users – this is something upon which the writers of our latest MMS Bulletin all agree. (Photo: Burkina Faso, © Olivier Girard/ Terre des hommes Foundation)

• www.medicusmundi.ch

MMS The Network Medicus Mundi Switzerland is publishing this manifesto to help to achieve the right to health for all within a generation, to ensure compliance with Agenda 2030 here in Switzerland and to strengthen the shared principles of Swiss organisations and institutions active in international health cooperation to support them in their commitment to this goal.

• www.medicusmundi.ch

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Plattform Agenda 2030 While many stakeholders welcomed the adoption of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development in 2015 as a paradigm shift, a certain sense of disillusionment has already set in. More than two years have passed, but what has been achieved? Following Switzerland’s announcement that it will present a progress report to the UN in July, the civil society organisations that make up the Platform Agenda 2030 have been busy drafting their own parallel report. In doing so, they have not followed the UN guidelines for country-led reports. Instead, they have defined the topics and issues they feel to be most important.

• plattformagenda2030.ch

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MMS Das Netzwerk Medicus Mundi schreibt die Durchführung einer externen Evaluation aus. Mit dieser Evaluation wollen Vorstand und Geschäftsstelle des Netzwerk Medicus Mundi Schweiz (MMS) Auskunft über Stärken und Schwächen der Umsetzung, der in der Strategie 2017-2019 und in der Zusammenarbeitsvereinbarung 2016-2019 mit der Direktion für Entwicklung und Zusammenarbeit (DEZA) definierten Ziele.

• www.medicusmundi.ch

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Intellectual Property Watch The Swiss Federal Institute of Intellectual Property (IGE) discussed the worldwide access to medicines at a conference with a large number of stakeholders. The topic is complicated, but without increased political and economic will, new innovations and new research approaches, access to medicines can not be guaranteed, especially in developing countries. The participants agreed that high-priced monopolies and outdated concepts must be overcome. (Photo: Images Money / Flickr, CC BY 2.0)

• www.ip-watch.org

World Health Organisation (WHO) Health is closely linked to the social, economic and structural conditions in which people live and work. Thus, not only the health sector but also other policitical sectors are responsible for the health of a country's population. These relationships have already been highlighted in the Alma Ata statement in 1976 and later in the Ottawa Charter (1986). The importance of societal influences on health, and thus on a public health policy, is undoubted in today's approaches and got access into the concept of "Health in All Policies" as well as the WHO's approach of "Universal Health Coverage". (Photo: Pan American Health Organization PAHO / flickr, CC BY-NC 2.0) f

• www.who.int

Piketty-Report The social inequality between top earners and low income has, according to a study, in recent decades in almost all regions of the world increased. This is the conclusion of a research group around the well-known French economist Thomas Piketty. Thus, the income of the richest percent of the world's population has more than doubled. The middle class, however, had hardly benefited. One of the main reasons for the growing economic inequality is the transfer of huge amounts of public assets into private hands. (Photo: citizens4taxjustice / flickr, CC BY 2.0)

• wir2018.wid.world

Federal Office of Public Health FOPH "Health equity is of great importance. The National Strategy for the Prevention of Non-communicable Diseases (NCD-Strategy) and the National Strategy on Addiction and Mental Health focus on this topic in 2018. The question then arises: But what is the situation regarding health equity in Switzerland?" (Photo: FOPH)

• www.bag.admin.ch

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Medicus Mundi International (MMI) Achieving health justice requires radical change. Change in polices that create poor heath, change in the global distribution of power and resources, and change within the health justice movement itself, writes Natalie Sharples by Health Poverty Action. (Photo: Stephen O'Brien, UN-Undersecretary General for Humanitarian Affairs pays a visit to a camp in Saint Saveur, Central African Republic, in August 2016. © Nektarios Markogiannis/MINUSCA. IRIN Photo)

• www.medicusmundi.ch

MMS With the Agenda 2030 for Sustainable Development in 2015, for the first time all UN member states - including Switzerland - committed themselves to setting the course for a comprehensive global social contract in order to counteract poverty, increasing inequality and the escalating destruction of the planet. The primary objective is for national and international policies to focus more on the global common good and, above all, to reach neglected people (“Leaving no one behind”). Which concrete measures to implement these goals have been taken by Switzerland two years after the adoption of the Agenda 2030? Who are the players and what is at stake? (Photo: © CBM/Trenchard)

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Medicus Mundi International (MMI) In summer the working group on Effective Health Cooperation of the Medicus Mundi International Network (MMI EHC) launched an essay contest referring to their discussion paper on “Health Cooperation: Its relevance, legitimacy and effectiveness as a contribution to achieving universal access to health”. All representatives of organizations engaged in international health cooperation have been invited to submit their answer on how to actually change health cooperation beyond aid. In the meantime the winner - the author of the most convincing/inspiring answer selected by the jury - has been selected and MMI is happy to herewith present the winner: Natalie Sharples, Head of Policy & Campaigns at the MMI Network member Health Poverty Action. We invite you to read Natalie Sharples' rather tough message as part of our collection of essays which is now available online.

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Sonntagsblick What proves catastrophic for low and middle income countries is a lucrative business for Switzerland. The hospitals are seizing themselves up for rich foreign patients, who cannot be adequately cared for in their home countries due to poor health systems. Negative consequences: The urgently needed money is lacking in the countries of origin to improve their own health care. And even if the own (Nigerian) president does not trust his health care system, how should the own population build up the necessary trust? Martin Leschhorn, Director of the Network Medicus Mundi Switzerland asks about Switzerland's ethical responsibility and criticizes the careless handling of Swiss hospitals and authorities with the topic.

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Luzerner Zeitung Obwohl immer noch zu viele Menschen an Malaria sterben, sind im Kampf gegen die Inektionserkrankung grosse Erfolge erzielt worden - vor allem auch Dank einer gelungenen Kooperation zwischen Industrie und öffentlicher Hand, wie der Präsident der Swiss Malaria Group, Christian Lengeler, im Interview mit der Luzerner Zeitung betont. Durch Milliardenfinanzierung aus privater Hand wurde die Forschung vorangetrieben und Medikamente zum Selbstkostenpreis in Entwicklungsländern abgegeben. Doch nun droht Gefahr, denn die Erreger werden zunehmend resistent gegen die wichtigsten Malariamedikamente und durch Kosteneinsparungen bei der humanitären Hilfe wird die Erforschung neuer Medikamente gefährdet. (Foto: Christian Lengeler / Swiss Malaria Group)

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SRC This study is the result of a two-year SRC learning process run by the SRC on the challenges and effective approaches to health work in fragile contexts. The focus is on the interaction between health programmes and their context: How does a fragile context influence healthcare work? Can a health programme help reduce that fragility? The conclusions are based on the results of two case studies in South Sudan and Haiti, together with discussions at the Health in Fragile Contexts conference organized by the SRC, SDC and Medicus Mundi Schweiz health network in August 2016. (Photo: Remo Nägeli © SRC)

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Centrale sanitaire suisse romande (CSSR) Since its founding 80 years ago, the "Centrale Sanitaire Suisse Romande (CSSR)" based in Geneva, has been engaging for a better health care in the southern countries, especially in Latin America and Palestine. CSSR has emerged from a group of doctors and nurses who provided medical assistance during the Spanish Civil War. Later, the organization also looked after civilian victims of various conflicts and humanitarian crisis. Three main areas of activity are at the center of the organization: improvement of maternal and child health, community rehabilitation and humanization of health care.

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Researchers for Global Health (R4GH) The association "Researchers for Global Health (R4GH)" is a new member organisation of the network MMS and is a joint initiative of researchers of the University of Zurich and the Institute of Infectious Diseases (IDI) of the Makerere University in Kampala, Uganda. Joint research, education and clinical care activities are focusing on global health challenges. They want to work together as equal partners and benefit from the mutual experiences. There are currently two active research projects, both at the IDI in Kampala, investigating the effects of HIV and TB drugs, and focusing on further questions about these two diseases. It is planned to include non-communicable diseases (NCDs) as well as "one-health" pathologies and neglected tropical diseases (NTDs) in their field of research.

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MMS Améliorer la situation sanitaire là où l'État ne peut garantir le droit à la santé et où tout investissement dans la santé est réduit en poussière en raison d'affrontements violents ou de démêlés politiques. Tels sont les défis particuliers de la coopération pour la santé. - Cette année, le Réseau Medicus Mundi Suisse se consacre en priorité à la coopération pour la santé dans des contextes fragiles. Tentative de bilan intermédiaire avant le grand symposium de MMS en 2 novembre 2016. (Photo: © Italienisches Rotes Kreuz, Yara Nardi)

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United Nations (UN) The long-awaited report of the UN high-level panel on access to medicines in developing countries is seen as a landmark report in the debate and gives a number of recommendations. The report focus on the use of human rights as the basis of policies and on access to medicines and the failure of the current research system, which does not make a sufficient contribution to the development of worldwide urgently needed drugs. While the civil society welcomed the result of the report, massive criticism comes from the pharmaceutical industry, which complains that the report does not address the real barriers to comprehensive health care. (Photo: United Nations)

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MMS It is a difficult task to implement health programmes in environments where the health systems are already weak and threatened by a wide range of political and social conflicts. Working in such fragile contexts demands a sensitive approach for not worsening the situation. But international health cooperation can also play an important role in conflict transformation. At a side event to the World Health Assembly, which was co-organised by the Network Medicus Mundi Switzerland, the dutch organisation Cordaid and the Swiss Red Cross presented their experiences.

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Swiss Malaria Group Bern - 25 April 2016 In order to commemorate World Malaria Day, the Swiss Malaria Group signed together with president of the Swiss national council Christa Markwalder, president of the state council Raphaël Comte and Parliamentarians Isabelle Chevalley (Green Liberal Party), Marina Carrobbio (Social Democratic Party), Yvonne Feri (Social Democratic Party) and Rosemarie Quadranti (Civic Democratic Party), the Bern Malaria Declaration, in which they join forces to advocate for a new era of comprehensive action against malaria under the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.

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spectra Global health is increasingly becoming an issue of international relations. Diseases do not stop at national borders. Increased need for coordination and greater coherence in the commitment to international health are calling for greater cooperation between the states. Switzerland has already adopted in 2005 with the HFP (Swiss Health Foreign Policy) an instrument to address these complex challenges adequately. Switzerland has taken a pioneering role within the international community. The HFP focuses on cross-border exchange of experience and the dissemination of best-practice models. (Photo: Health screening in Guinea / Flickr)

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Swiss Academies of Sciences (SCNAT) Current anthropogenic pressures on the biosphere are historically unprecedented. These complex and far-reaching changes are disrupting many of the Earth’s systems, cycles and feedback mechanisms, leading to adverse impacts and threatening the foundations of human health and well-being. This factsheet of the Swiss Academies highlights the principal drivers of global change, placing particular emphasis on associated health impacts.

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WHO "WHO launched a new comprehensive analysis of global health trends since 2000 and an assessment of the challenges for the next 15 years. "Health in 2015: from MDGs to SDGs" identifies the key drivers of progress in health under the United Nations Millennium Development Goals (MDGs). It lays out actions that countries and the international community should prioritize to achieve the new Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), which come into effect on 1 January 2016."

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Globalization and Health "In contrast to the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), the Sustainable Development Goals with the proposed health agenda aspires to be universally applicable to all countries and are appropriately broad in encompassing both communicable and non-communicable diseases as well as emerging burdens from, among other things, road traffic accidents and pollution. We argue that success in realizing the agenda requires a paradigm shift in the way we address global health. (...) We are concerned that neither the international community nor the global health community truly appreciates the extent of the shift required to implement this health agenda which is a critical determinant of sustainable development." (Photo: Sustainable Development Goal #3: Good Health and Well-being © flickr)

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The Lancet The Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) has been prepared over the last three years. These goals are set to replace the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs). Are the SDGs able to overcome the unfinished business of the MDGs? UN has developed these very ambitious 17 goals in order to "free the human race from the tyranny of poverty and want and [will] heal and secure our planet for present and future generations”. Many observers are satisfied especially that with SDG 3 health has been given a central role. Nevertheless there are also voices of concern. (Photo: David Cameron speaks at UNGA 2015 © flickr)

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World Health Organisation (WHO) June 2015 - “A WHO and World Bank Group report launched today shows that 400 million people do not have access to essential health services and 6% of people in low- and middle-income countries are tipped into or pushed further into extreme poverty because of health spending. "This report is a wakeup call: It shows that we’re a long way from achieving universal health coverage. We must expand access to health and protect the poorest from health expenses that are causing them severe financial hardship," says Tim Evans. (International health policy)

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MMS There is a strong call within the international health cooperation to transform evidence based research into policy and action. Implementation research is often driven by the scientific community. In this side event, the organisers want to turn this argument upside down: NGO want to strengthen applied research in their projects and programmes. They argue that embedding implementation research in their programmes will create applied knowledge and evidence for the scaling up successful NGO interventions. -- A Network Medicus Mundi Switzerland Side Event in cooperation with FAIRMED, SolidarMed and Swiss Red Cross.

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The Ebola crisis in West Africa showed the inability of the Western world to respond rapidly to epidemics and health crises. In the journal PLoS Medicine renowned health experts including Prof. Marcel Tanner from the Swiss Tropical and Public Health Institute (Swiss TPH) plead for a new global funding model to accelerate the development of new drugs against poverty diseases (Photo: Jean-Pierre Zellweger).

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PLOS Medicine PLOS Medicine writes: "On April 14, 2015, the World Health Organization (WHO) published a new statement on the public disclosure of clinical trial results (S1 Text). The WHO statement not only re-affirms the ethical imperative of clinical trial results reporting, it also defines reporting timeframes, calls for results-reporting of older but still unpublished trials, and outlines steps to improve linkages between clinical trial registry entries and their published results. This updates and expands WHO’s 2005 statement that “the registration of all interventional trials is a scientific, ethical, and moral responsibility.” (Photo: DNA lab, University of Michigan/flickr)

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The Lancet In an open letter to the journal The Lancet almost 100 members of the global health scholary community call upon all WHO Member States to recommit themselves to strengthening global outbreak alert and response by sustainably investing in the WHO, its departments, and personnel.

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SolidarMed, SRC With the Millennium Development goals coming to an end by 2015, a debate is going on about what could be a coherent global framework for the upcoming decade. As it stands now, the new framework will be called “sustainable development goals” and build on the triple bottom line: Social inclusion, economic development and ecologic sustainability. Concerning health, various concepts have been discussed: Wellbeing; reduction of avoidable mortality/morbidity, universal health coverage (UHC) and others. Amongst these, UHC has emerged as the most promising. To discuss and clarify the terminology and meaning of UHC, the Swiss Red Cross and SolidarMed have held a joint workshop in 2013. Out of this workshop, we have now developed a joint, short paper, which is now available.

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MMS Swiss citizens will vote about the so called ECOPOP-Initiative on 30th November 2014. It has two postulations: On the one hand the initiative intends to annually limit the migration in Switzerland to an average of 0.2%, and on the other hand it demands that 10% of the Swiss development cooperation budget will be earmarked for voluntary family planning. This background paper wants to inform you on that initiative as the second postulation of it touches our symposium’s theme. The board of the Network Medicus Mundi Switzerland as well as many member organisations clearly reject this initiative.

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MMS Canadians have long been proud of their healthcare system yet current research suggests a worrisome decline in some outcome indicators and rising levels of inequalities over the last few years. One factor explaining a disproportionate share of these outcomes is failure to reach marginalized populations such as Indigenous peoples. In 2012 most Aboriginal-led health programming was cut, leaving health policy development for Canada's 1.2 million Aboriginal people in the hands of the federal government. First Nations have started a grassroots social movement in 2012 known as Idle No More fighting for indigenous rights.

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