July 2021
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Note from Elizabeth (EJ) Ashbourne, PQMD Executive Director

This month, we celebrated our annual Guidelines Week from July 19-23, and I want to personally thank everyone who helped us promote PQMD’s Medical Donation Guidelines through social media or your other communication channels. Our 2021 Guidelines Week featured our Pillar Talk webinar on counterfeit medicine, the release of our new “Guidelines at a Glance” resource and the finalization of our annual review and updating of our Medical Donations Guidelines 2021. More information on all of these items below.

Additionally, I am excited to announce that we are almost ready to release our new Medical Missions Guidelines module which will be featured on our website and with our partner, Disaster Ready. More coming soon!

Finally, if you haven’t already, I’d like to strongly encourage you to consider joining our Fall session of the Global Health and Development course. If you have participated already, you know how valuable the 7 week program is that provides a Masters level survey of everything you need to know about global health and the field of international development. Registration is open now and the class begins on September 15th.

Please continue to stay safe and enjoy the rest of your summer! 

PQMD Celebrated Guidelines Week: New Guidelines at a Glance Now Available 

PQMD held a very successful Guidelines Week and we would like to thank everyone who helped us share and promote our guidelines through social media and other communication channels. During the week, PQMD released a new one-page resource, "At a Glance," for quick information related to the medical donation guidelines. You can now find the resource on PQMD's website here

Additionally, PQMD has recently updated its medical donation guidelines as part of a process to continuously improve and ensure they meet the highest standards. You can find the 2021 version on PQMD's website as well. 

For more information, you can also visit the CoP to access curated resources related to the guidelines. The informative resources are recommended by the authors of the PQMD Guidelines to ensure that donations are relevant and effective even as the regulatory and donations and delivery environments evolve. 

PQMD Partners with Rutgers Students on Research Project 

PQMD recently completed a project collaborating with an undergraduate team of students from Rutgers Innovation, Design, and Entrepreneurship Academy to explore how PQMD members talk about their successes and share the impact of their global health work to a broad public audience. We were interested in understanding what NGOs and companies are saying - but in their own words - so we looked at recent ESG, impact, CSR and annual reports.

This project considered electronically available reports across our membership to take a more granular look at what organizations and corporations chose to highlight as well as how members are telling their stories. This reflective work focused on key areas, such as: COVID-19 specific responses, if/how members utilize narratives and distinct metrics to communicate their impact as well as if/how members tie their work to the PQMD pillars. 

The Rutgers students had an opportunity to share their key findings and results with PQMD at the end of June. If you would like more information, please contact Juliemarie Vander Burg.

PQMD Programmatic Update-  Measuring for Success (MFS)

PQMD has demonstrated its commitment to impact measurement and evaluation (M&E) through the Measuring for Success (MFS) initiative. A cornerstone for this effort, the MFS Toolkit has served as a singular and comprehensive source for resources, tools, and shared experiences aimed at strengthening M&E efforts in the product donations space.

Through leadership and collaboration from PQMD’s Knowledge & Innovation (K&I) committee, the toolkit has become a living document which continues to evolve to keep up with the interests and needs of PQMD members. In early 2021, for example, PQMD addressed an immediate challenge by adding to the Toolkit a tool for rapid assessment of an organization’s COVID-19 efforts.

As the K&I committee looks ahead to a broader toolkit update in Fall 2021, we are excited to launch a set of six case studies written in collaboration with PQMD members and describing their unique approaches to designing and implementing M&E solutions within their organizations. Each case study will feature tools that are actually in use by these members. We are also developing a tool that lays out a framework for connecting key product donations pathways to key impact domains, which will set the stage for advancing broader indicator development efforts set to begin later in 2021.

Fall Session of PQMD's Global Health and Development Course Registration is NOW OPEN! 

PQMD has condensed key elements of a Master’s in Public Health curriculum to create a comprehensive Executive Survey Course on global health, for professionals or students working in the space but lacking relevant formal education. For more information and to register, click HERE

The course compresses much of the MPH curriculum with an emphasis on global concerns; participants gain an improved understanding of health disparities around the world and how they’re measured, health systems in low and lower-middle income countries, the global frameworks and key players providing sustained humanitarian assistance for global health development, and the dynamics and coordination of international disaster response.

The course is structured in 7 modules, and delivered through weekly 120-minute online sessions. Modules are delivered by topic-specific expert guest lecturers, including the course coordinator, a seasoned global health professional with substantial experience in the subject matter and adult education.

Register Now

PQMD Pillar Talk: Countering Covid-19 Counterfeiting
Recording Now Available!

On July 22nd, as part of Guidelines Week, PQMD held a Pillar Talk on Countering Covid-19 Counterfeiting. Our esteemed panelists discussed the growth, depth, and evolution of COVID-era counterfeit medical supplies; the impact this has on world-wide health systems and global public health efforts; and dug into counteractive measure that can be taken to deal with this global scourge. 

View the recording here

Find Resources and Tools
on the CoP!

Did you know that you can many different kinds of resources via the CoP?

Looking for guidance on partner assessments? Want to share the latest Guidelines at a glance tool with field staff? Trying to remember where you saved the short-term Medical Mission Checklist? Wondering if you are developing the right indicators for your audience and purpose? PQMD, through the strength of our membership and the depth of their expertise, has developed a suite of tools to help you with these questions and so many more. You can find the list PQMD's resource tools on the upper left hand side of PQMD's Community of Practice homepage. Please explore around and we hope you find this collection of resources beneficial to advancing the great work that you do day in and day out.

US FDA approves fexinidazole as the first all-oral treatment for sleeping sickness

The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has approved fexinidazole as the first all oral treatment for both stages of the Trypanosoma brucei gambiense form of sleeping sickness (Human African trypanosomiasis) in patients 6 years of age and older and weighing at least 20 kg.

Fexinidazole was developed as part of an innovative partnership between the non-profit research and development organization Drugs for Neglected Diseases initiative (DNDi),which conducted the pivotal clinical trials for this treatment, in partnership with the National Sleeping Sickness Programs of the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) and Central African Republic (CAR), and Sanofi.

Read the full press release on Sanofi's website. 

IsraAid Brings Emergency Flood Relief in Germany  

IsraAID Germany launched an emergency response after several days of deadly flooding. Their team on the ground includes international and German staff, and refugee leaders from IsraAID's programs.

Almost 200 people have died in western Germany, with at least 150 still reported missing and major damage to homes and infrastructure. Israaid's team is conducting assessments and coordinating with local rescue teams in North Rhine-Westphalia, one of the areas most affected by the floods.

Together with local emergency services and other NGOs, the Emergency Response Team is involved in cleanup efforts, distribution of essential emergency equipment, and operating aid coordination points.

To read the news release, visit IsraAid's website here


Upcoming Events

2021 Concordia Annual Summit- Save the Date

Week of September 20th


The World Health Summit

October 24-26, 2021


AidEx 2021 

November 17-18, 2021


ASTMH 2021 Annual Meeting

November 17-21


CUGH 2022

April 1-3, 2022


PQMD Global Health Policy Forum

Paris, France; April 26-28, 2022



Does your organization have news to share?
Contact
 Beth Haynes for placement in future newsletters.
Next Month's Theme: Guidelines

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