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New Year's Greetings and Updates
Dear Colleagues and Friends,
We hope this letter finds you well. As 2012 begins, we wanted to update you on some noteworthy developments at Global Health Strategies (GHS).
GHS Brazil: We are pleased to announce that Alex Menezes has joined GHS full-time as Vice-President and will lead our soon-to-be-opened office in Rio de Janeiro. Alex built the International AIDS Vaccine Initiative’s Brazil program and contributed to a number of IAVI’s other country programs. Over the past year, Alex has worked with several GHS clients as a consultant. GHS’s new investment in Brazil is particularly exciting given the country’s long-standing commitment to health innovation and delivery. Brazil was a key early adopter of universal AIDS treatment, and is an increasingly important manufacturer of vaccines and other health products, as well as a powerful voice in promoting global health equity.
GHS India: GHS’s New Delhi office continues to grow. In 2011, our India team moved into a larger office that now houses 14 full-time professionals working on a unique range of global health issues. GHS’s India Program has also begun an exciting implementation program focusing on school-based health. The pilot program, funded by the Michael and Susan Dell Foundation, will be launched in two Indian states. Neeraj Agrawal, a veteran of India’s polio eradication program, will lead this new program.
Launch of GHSi: In 2011, our not-for-profit affiliate, Global Health Strategies Initiatives (GHSi), received a grant from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation to support global health advocacy in four important emerging economies - Brazil, China, India and South Africa. We are convinced that these countries - and other emerging economies - will increasingly shape and drive innovation in global health research, delivery and financing.
New positions at GHS: To accommodate our expanded work, we are currently recruiting for a number of positions (and internships) in New York, Delhi and Rio. One particularly important position we are looking to fill is a NY-based Director of Finance. We are seeking a talented, committed financial professional with at least 5 years experience in finance who can help us strengthen our financial systems and infrastructure. As always, we would be grateful to your references. See additional information at www.globalhealthstrategies.com/careers.
By any measure, 2011 was an important year for GHS. We were able to work on a range of key issues including access to life-saving vaccines, TB, HIV/AIDS, malaria vaccines, polio eradication, discovery science, maternal health, cervical cancer prevention, family planning and South-to-South collaboration. And we continued to expand the countries we work in, launching small pilot projects with consultants in a number of countries, including Malaysia and Nigeria.
The global health field saw some significant advances in 2011. The GAVI Alliance raised US$4.3 billion for life-saving vaccines and recruited an impressive new leader, Seth Berkley; promising data on HIV prevention and treatment continued to emerge; a malaria vaccine demonstrated partial effectiveness in a large, late-stage trial in Africa; and studies showed that a new diagnostic test can quickly and accurately diagnose TB.
In November - not long after the world’s population passed 7 billion - the International Conference on Family Planning took place in Dakar, Senegal. This meeting powerfully demonstrated the benefits to society when women can determine the number and spacing of their children.
But significant challenges remain. The cancellation of Round 11 funding by the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, TB and Malaria was a stark reminder that increased financial constraints will continue to limit access to life-saving treatments in the world’s poorest countries.
These extraordinary challenges and opportunities will continue to motivate us in 2012. As we begin this year, we want to thank you for the support and guidance that you have provided to GHS, and wish you a very happy, healthy and meaningful New Year.
David Gold Anjali Nayyar Victor Zonana