Grossesses chez les adolescentes – Encore aujourd’hui un grand problème mondial !

The State of World Population 2022 “Seeing the Unseen: The case for action in the neglected crisis of unintended pregnancy”. This year’s State of World Population report brings together the latest evidence on unintended pregnancy and its impact on societies, countries and global development overall. The report explores the real-world conditions that are linked to unintended pregnancies, including poverty, lower levels of education attainment and labour force participation, and exposure to violence and coercion.

• State of World Population Report 2022 - "Seeing the Unseen"
• Recording of our event

Genève, le 4 avril 2022. Les forces russes combattant en Ukraine ont utilisé de nouvelles mines antipersonnel dans la région de Kharkiv, rapporte Human Rights Watch. En cette journée internationale pour la sensibilisation au problème des mines et l'assistance à la lutte antimines, Handicap International (HI) condamne cette pratique barbare.

• Handicap International Schweiz

Présent depuis 2015 dans le pays, le réseau Médecins du Monde continue à agir en Ukraine et renforce ses actions aux frontières, afin de soulager la détresse de la population, soutenir les structures de soins et venir en aide aux personnes fuyant la guerre.

• Médecins du Monde Suisse

La Croix-Rouge suisse (CRS) soutient les personnes touchées par la crise en Ukraine. Les principales informations sont présentées ici.

• La Croix-Rouge Suisse

La situation en Ukraine et dans les pays voisins continue de s'aggraver. Des millions de personnes sont en fuite. La CRS soutient financièrement l'aide coordonnée du Mouvement international de la Croix-Rouge et du Croissant-Rouge et envoie des experts en aide d'urgence dans cinq pays.

• La Croix-Rouge Suisse

For about a year, SolidarMed has been supporting people in the province of Cabo Delgado in northern Mozambique who have fled the violence of terrorist groups. In this way, SolidarMed contributes to better health of the refugees.

• SolidarMed

In South Africa’s informal settlements, people are lacking just about everything. SolidarMed supports children and young people affected by HIV in these settlements, to give them the chance of a brighter future. Their parents also benefit from the wide-ranging projects.

• SolidarMed
• SolidarMed Fokus 22/1

Ces deux dernières années nous ont montré à quel point les inégalités en matière de santé constituent une source de tension dans le monde. C’est pourquoi la CSSR cherche toujours à se réinventer afin de répondre au mieux à ces problématiques. Dans ce bulletin nous vous invitons à vous plonger dans l’histoire de la CSSR et de ses origines antifasciste et de découvrir le quotidien des sages-femmes traditionnelles à Quetzaltenango.

• Centrale Sanitaire Suisse Romande (CSSR)

On Friday, 1 April 2022, the new headquarters of the Swiss Tropical and Public Health Institute (Swiss TPH) officially opened in the BaseLink site, an emerging life science cluster in Allschwil. Around 700 employees and students will now work, research and study in the new building designed by Basel architects Kunz und Mösch. More than 300 guests attended today’s inauguration from the areas of politics, business and science, as well as from the local neighbourhood in Allschwil.

• Swiss TPH

À Madagascar, la malnutrition est l’un des plus gros défis auquel le pays doit faire face. Un enfant de moins de cinq ans sur deux* souffre de malnutrition. Enfants du Monde a mis en place un projet d’éducation à la nutrition à destination des enfants et des enseignants de trois écoles dans la ville d’Ambanja au nord du pays. L’objectif ? Transmettre aux enseignants, aux enfants et à leurs parents les principes d’une alimentation saine et nutritive basée sur les produits locaux, dans le but de prévenir la malnutrition. La malnutrition entraîne des retards de croissance chez les enfants, qui peuvent être évités. Les cantines dans les écoles, lorsqu’il y en a, sont parfois le seul moyen pour les élèves de bénéficier d’au moins un repas nutritif par jour.

• Enfants du Monde
• UNICEF

Du 6 au 8 avril prochain se déroulera, aux Nations unies à Genève, le dernier cycle de négociations pour un accord international visant à interdire l’utilisation d’armes explosives lourdes en zones peuplées. Handicap International appelle ainsi la Suisse, forte de sa tradition humanitaire, à adopter une position forte pour une meilleure protection de la population.

• Medicus Mundi Suisse

"(...) Nearly 86 years later, history is rhyming. The world, through 21st-century information technology, now views a war of conquest in Europe in near real time. Russia’s war in Ukraine has upended a world order established in the wake of a worldwide conflict and designed to prevent wars of conquest and to prevent one dictator from attempting to shift the boundaries of nations at his own whim. Again, factions are forming—either in support of the aggressor state, led by a despot who stands in opposition to basic human rights, or in favor of the established order that obligates nations to refrain from wars of conquest."

• Foreign Policy (FP)

"In its largest release of data on air quality ever, WHO has found that most of the world’s population are breathing unsafe levels of air pollutant – particularly fine particulate matter (PM2.5) and Nitrogen dioxide (NO2) – which cause excess illness and premature death from respiratory disease, as well as from cardiovascular disease and cancers. “Air Quality is poorest in specific regions, like the Eastern Mediterranean Region, the Southeast Asian region and also Africa, said Sophie Gumy, WHO technical officer of the updated data at a press briefing on Monday."

• Health Policy Watch

3-Part Webinar Series - offered by MMS Although global attention to early childhood development has been established through its inclusion in the UN Sustainable Development Goals, 250 million children (43%) younger than 5 years in low-income and middle-income countries are at risk of not achieving their developmental potential due to poverty and nutritional deficit.

• Recording Webinar 1: What is nurturing care?
• Recording Webinar 2: How can we strengthen nurturing care through health and nutrition services?
• Recording Webinar 3: How can NGOs work with government and health systems to ensure all children receive nurturing care?
• Download (pdf | 338 kB)

"In an increasingly polarised world, reaching a range of audiences - including those who are sceptical of "aid" - is vital for building broad public support to tackle the issues of global poverty, injustice and inequality collectively. However, when talking about "aid", we have a duty to move beyond narrow, tired and partial frames to a position of greater understanding and global solidarity."

• bond

"Colonial occupation of the Majority world might have ended over half a century ago, but the shadow it cast on colonies is not lost to anyone interested in the origins of global poverty. Together with its progeny the neo-liberal economic system –colonial legacies are at the heart of global poverty, inequalities and suffering. For instance, according to a report by Oxfam, corporate tax dodging alone costs poor countries at least $100 billion every year –enough to provide an education to 124 million children and prevent the deaths of almost eight million mothers and children each year."

• Health Poverty Action

La pandémie de COVID-19 modifie le paysage sanitaire mondial. Elle remodèle considérablement les systèmes et les politiques de santé ainsi que le mode de fonctionnement des organisations impliquées dans la coopération internationale en matière de santé. Depuis 2015, la communauté internationale travaille à la mise en œuvre de l'Agenda 2030 pour le développement durable conçu pour anticiper, aborder et résoudre les défis, les inégalités et les disparités qui ont été mis à nu par la pandémie mondiale de COVID-19. Les effets de la COVID-19 ont fait reculer les progrès dans de nombreux pays, effaçant les gains durement acquis. Le symposium de MMS a examiné les déterminants structurels clés qui ont contribué aux effets disproportionnés de la pandémie de COVID-19 sur les groupes marginalisés et vulnérables. Ce bulletin présente des informations complémentaires sur ce sujet.

• MMS Bulletin

"The COVID-19 pandemic has shed light on how human health and ‘planetary health’ are inextricably linked – through deforestation, urbanization and climate change, all of which increase future disease risks. This year’s Geneva Health Forum explores these and other critical global health challenges, as well as emerging solutions, just ahead of the World Health Assembly."

• Health Policy Watch

"WHO is seeking public input on this question to support the work of the intergovernmental negotiating body (INB) to draft and negotiate an international instrument to strengthen pandemic prevention, preparedness and response. The first round of hearings will be held through a webcast on 12-13 April 2022. Sessions times are in Central European Summer Time (CEST). - 12 April, 8h-11h, 14h-17h; 13 April, 9h-12h, 15h-18h. A second round of hearings is planned for 16-17 June."

• World Health Organization

"As countries in Europe and elsewhere roll back strict measures against COVID-19 and aim to soon declare the pandemic over, African countries and their public health stakeholders are also starting to shift their attention. Vaccination continues to remain important, but the focus is moving on to longer-term testing and surveillance approaches that can be integrated into, and will strengthen, national health systems."

• nature medicine

"Researchers in a pivotal African clinical trial have been denied access to a key COVID-19 antiviral drug, frustrating efforts to test the treatment in African populations and in combination with therapies that could potentially expand its utility on the continent. The Drugs for Neglected Diseases Initiative (DNDi) has asked Pfizer for supplies of its antiviral drug Paxlovid to use in the ANTICOV clinical trial, a large study in ten African countries that aims to find treatments for mild to moderate COVID-19 — particularly those that will work in resource-poor settings."

• nature

"More than 500 days have passed since - in the midst of the spreading Covid-19 pandemic - the governments of South Africa and India submitted a request to the World Trade Organisation (WTO) to temporarily suspend patents. A request guided by global principles. Whilst more than 100 countries, mainly from the Global South, supported the request, the majority of industrialised nations sought to defend economic interests instead of health imperatives, rejecting the request. A compromise proposal has since been put on the table, negotiated by the EU, the US, India and South Africa. Spoiler: It falls drastically short of the aim of global vaccine equity.

• medico international

"While the Russian invasion of Ukraine has upended trade diplomacy at the WTO in recent days, the TRIPS waiver discussions have proceeded among a small group of members and is likely nearing a compromise, although differences persist. Sources familiar with the process told us that technical deliberations among the quad that includes the US, the EU, India and South Africa, are now nearing completion."

• Geneva Health Files

"Dear members of the INB Bureau - as you start your mandate as leaders of the newly constituted Intergovernmental Negotiating Body to draft and negotiate a WHO convention, agreement or other international instrument on pandemic prevention, preparedness and response (INB), allow us to submit for your attention a set of critical issues that, in our sense, deserve to be taken into serious consideration at this early stage of the INB process. We represent a broad constituency of civil society organizations that have a long history of engagement in the WHO global health agenda. Some of us have been and still are very active in treaty-making processes, including significant efforts in the past towards including foundational accountability and transparency principles and requisite provisions in the Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (FCTC) proceedings at the WHO."

• Geneva Global Health Hub

"The first session of the newly constituted Intergovernmental Negotiating Body (INB) to draft a “pandemic preparedness instrument” for the World Health Organization (WHO) began on Monday. The six-member body, representing all WHO regions, is made up of Precious Matsoso (South Africa), Roland Driece (the Netherlands), Ambassador Tovar da Silva Nunes (Brazil), Ahmed Salama Soliman (Egypt), Kazuho Taguchi (Japan) and Viroj Tangcharoensathien (Thailand). (...) Meanwhile, almost 200 civil society leaders have asked the six negotiators to protect the process from any “undue influence of the private sector and its powerful lobbyists”. In an open letter addressed the six negotiators, the leaders have asked the INB to pay attention to a number of issues."

• Health Policy Watch

"As a physician, one of the hardest parts of the covid-19 pandemic was watching patients get steadily sicker and often die. At the bedside, we see past the numbers dispassionately presented on data dashboards and instead understand the real human suffering that is at the heart of a virus like SARS-CoV-2 spreading. (...) Yet when we pull back on public health protections, the ensuing harms are more heavily burdened on those who often are not in a position to adequately protect themselves. As healthcare workers, they often end up as our patients—and their stories offer examples of where our pandemic response failed."

• British Medical Journal (bmj)

"Women across Ukraine are grappling with the threat of rape as a weapon of war as growing evidence of sexual violence emerges from areas retaken from retreating Russian forces. The world was horrified on Sunday by a picture taken by the photographer Mikhail Palinchak on a highway 20km outside the capital, Kyiv, in which the bodies of one man and three women were piled under a blanket. The women were naked and their bodies had been partially burned, the photographer said."

• The Guardian

"As much as 99% of the world population breathes in air with pollution levels higher than WHO’s permissible limits. The majority of the world’s most polluted cities are in South Asia. Air pollution is linked to higher rates of miscarriages, pregnancy complications and stillbirths, affecting women’s reproductive health."

• Health Policy Watch

Discussion of the menstrual hygiene needs of women & girls and shared experiences from Africa, Asia and Europe. This event was co-organised by the Gender, Diversity and Inclusion Initiative together with the Gender Centre, the Global Health Centre, the City of Geneva and the World Health Organization.

• Global Health Centre - Recording

"The Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria enthusiastically welcomes President Joe Biden’s request to the United States Congress for a commitment of US$2 billion for the Global Fund for fiscal year 2023, the first year of the Global Fund’s 2023-2025 funding cycle. President Biden’s fiscal year 2023 budget includes “… a $2 billion contribution for the Global Fund’s Seventh Replenishment, for an intended pledge of $6 billion over three years….” The White House notes that the United States will “match $1 for every $2 contributed by other donors.”

• The Global Fund

“The fifth annual Global Health 50/50 report, Boards for all?, presents our first-ever analysis of the gender and geography of who governs global health. Through an examination of the demographics of over 2,000 board members of the most influential organisations active in global health, the report warns that global health is not living up to its name. The report further presents its annual review of the equality- and gender-related policies and practices of 200 global organisations. Building on five years of evidence, it finds signs of rapid progress in building more equitable and genderresponsive global health organisations, while also revealing stagnating progress among a large subset of global health organisations. For the first time, the Index categorises all organisations by performance and presents dedicated pages for each organisation to explore and compare findings. Boards for all? is a call to realise a globally representative and equitable global health governance that can deliver health for all…..”

• Global Health 50/50 report

"As the United Nations (UN) marks the 45th International Women's Day, why is it that women and girls living with HIV are still being denied their sexual and reproductive health and rights (SRHR)? We believe this is not only due to a lack of comprehensive services, but that low levels of health literacy among women and wider society are a significant factor. Broadly, health literacy is the ability of individuals to obtain, understand and use information to take decisions and actions relating to their health. In 1998, WHO recognized that “health literacy means more than being able to read pamphlets and make appointments,” it also requires “the achievement of a level of knowledge, personal skills and confidence to take action to improve personal and community health by changing personal lifestyles and living conditions.”

• Journal of the International AIDS Society

"The #HealthDataPrinciples are the result of a global collaborative effort: over 200 digital health experts from 130 organisations around the world came together to develop these Principles in an inclusive, bottom-up process stewarded by Transform Health." These principles will launch on April 7th 2022, but you can already learn more about these in this #gdhub episode: Kirsten Mathieson, Policy Lead at ,Transform Health, is providing insights into the development of the ‘Health Data Governance Principals’, a set of globally unifying, human rights-based Health Data Governance Principles that can provide a common vision for health data governance. Hosted by Cléo Schwerzmann (gdhub)."

• gdhub Voices
• Transform Health

"For many people, a mobile phone is the first thing we reach for to check medical symptoms, find a clinic, or look up medication side effects. But where does this intimate data go after we type it into the phone? Does it go to a foreign company, a government agency, or some third party? Do we really know what autonomy we give up when we “accept cookies”? In fact, most of us are not too sure, even as we become increasingly dependent on phones – and in fact, even when we think we have opted out of data sharing, we may be mistaken. The Covid-19 pandemic has accelerated the digital transformation, generating billions from personal data, but has also left most people in the dark about how our data is used. We are transparent to tech companies, but they are not transparent to us. To counter these and other epistemic inequalities in the digital transformation, we need new models of knowledge production that crack open this closed system, educating and empowering the public to advocate for rights-based digital governance."

• Graduate Institute Geneva - Global Health Centre