For nearly three years, AVAC and partners have been tracking the pipeline of COVID-19 research and development, documenting COVID-19’s profound effects on the AIDS response, calling out the need for stronger health systems and expanded domestic funding for health, and pushing for a human rights-based approach to pandemic prevention, preparedness and response—one that builds on the decades of activism and engagement that has shaped the response to HIV.
Early on in the COVID-19 pandemic, AVAC created the COVID News Brief as a way to share vaccine developments and urgent questions surrounding equity, misinformation, social justice and the research enterprise with our community.
Three years on, the world has witnessed remarkable achievements in research and development only to see the benefits of those advances hoarded by rich countries as COVID-19 rages on. Global health leaders and advocates are studying how the HIV and TB responses struggled and adapted in the midst of COVID-19, and lessons that can be applied to PPPR.
Today, as we continue our work in HIV, in COVID and among multiple pandemics in a changing global health architecture, we are delighted to expand our news brief to Pandemic Watch, a new, weekly round-up of pandemic-related news. Pandemic Watch folds COVID-19 news into a curated digest that expands beyond COVID to reflect the evolving field of PPPR. If you already received the COVID News Brief, you'll automatically begin to receive Pandemic Watch. If you'd like to sign up to receive Pandemic Watch, click here.
Major decisions are coming about the architecture of global health, as priorities for new structures and principles, such as the Pandemic Fund, the Pandemic Accord, and the UN Declarations on Universal Health Coverage and PPPR, among others, are set.
The future depends on a global understanding that pandemics are borderless. As Chris Collins and colleagues wrote in PLOS Global Public Health, Leveraging the HIV Response to Strengthen Pandemic Preparedness, and shared on our Px Pulse podcast, The Shape of Pandemic Preparedness is Being Decided. Now is the Time for Collective Action, the HIV response has given the world a platform to integrate, expand and adapt to new pandemics. This requires investing in resilient healthcare systems; incorporating a central role for community engagement and community leadership; and drawing on lessons learned from decades of negotiations on access to medicines. All of these elements are essential to achieve equity and impact when the world responds to pandemics. Ongoing planning must also prioritize recognition of the unique role of the WHO and its trusted evidence-based guidance, which position it to be the best candidate to coordinate pandemic responses.
We hope you’ll continue to read Pandemic Watch, and check out more background and resources on PPPR.
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