November 2021
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 Note from Elizabeth (EJ) Ashbourne, PQMD Executive Director
Dear Colleagues,
I can’t believe the holiday season is upon us. 2021 seems to have flown by and while many of us keep thinking that work is bound to slow down, it has done completely the opposite. As we head into the last month of the year and preparations for our annual PQMD activities summary, we have had the chance to reflect on the work of our members, the work of our partners, and extraordinary community around us. All are dedicated to providing resources and services, without interruption, in order to provide quality healthcare around the world. Through the twists and turns of this year, we continue to learn how to adapt to ever changing strategies for effective communication, coordination and collaboration. Thank you for reading this newsletter where we continue to highlight the many successes of our members and the public health community. And I hope that you are also taking full advantage of our Community of Practice, on which you can participate in high level “pillar talks,” ask burning questions about critical issues of your day, learn about what’s new at PQMD, and share stories, programs, projects, and initiatives with a global constituency of global health professionals.
Also as a sign of the season, I wanted to remind everyone that today is Giving Tuesday! Our members do incredible work around the world donating medical supplies and other essential items to people who desperately need them. Help us celebrate their efforts by considering directly supporting our members’ work. We have included the links to all their donation pages in this newsletter.
This month’s newsletter is full of exciting information, including the launch of the new Global Alliance for Rare Diseases, news about our members who made the Dow Jones Sustainability Index and more. It’s clearly been a busy November.
Wishing you a happy holiday season. |
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Join us TODAY for our next Pillar Talk Webinar!
Chronic Challenges & Successes in Chronic Diseases
November 30, 2021
4:00-5:00 PM ET
Chronic diseases are an unavoidable part of the human experience - regardless of age, geography or wealth. Responsible for over 70% of deaths worldwide, chronic diseases are increasingly becoming both a focus and a pressure for health systems around the globe. And, Covid-19 is exacerbating and exploiting not only the vulnerabilities of the individuals with chronic disease conditions but also the capacity of the health systems that care for them.
Despite these challenges, advances in equitable chronic disease management are evident. Let’s talk about what programs are truly making a difference in individual care to system level capacity. What approaches are not only saving lives but also gathering data, driving research, advancing advocacy, optimizing public-private partnerships, and marching towards sustainability?
Join us for PQMD's Pillar Talk on Chronic Challenges and Successes in Chronic Diseases to learn more about how successful global programs are tackling the access, equity, and sustainability challenges that chronically plague chronic disease.
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PQMD Launches Initiative on Rare Diseases
Access to medicines is particularly challenging for patients living with rare genetic disorders, including in high-income/developed countries, and even after these life-saving treatments have been approved by regulatory authorities and are commercially available.
To address this important global health issue, PQMD launched its Global Alliance for Rare Diseases (GARD) initiative on November 3rd. Harpreet Ram, who is leading this project, shared a timeline with project deliverables, including medical donations guidelines specific to rare diseases to be developed by April 2022 and a framework and business plan to implement a sustainable rare disease product donation program model to be proposed by June 2022. You can view a recording of the kick-off call here. A full timeline of the project will be sent out starting next month for you to follow throughout the year. |
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PQMD Coffee Chat: What's Next? Emerging Infectious Diseases
On November 16th, PQMD members held a Coffee Chat with experts Peter Morris (Division Director, Preparation, Strategic Planning and Mitigation Division (PSPM), United States Agency for International Development, Office of U.S. Foreign Disaster Assistance (USAID/OFDA)) and Dennis Carrol (Chair of the Leadership Board for the Global Virome Project) as they shared their insights into what’s next after Covid. Both Peter and Dennis shared perspectives from their years of experience in the global health and development world. To learn more about future Coffee Chats (members only), visit the Community of Practice. |
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PQMD Pillar Talk – Disaster Response: Q&A with Supply Chain Experts Recording Now Available on the CoP!
During PQMD’s Pillar Talk Disaster Response: Q&A with Supply Chain Experts, panelists Tapiwa Mukwashi (Director, Global Technical Team at VillageReach) and Andrew MacCalla (Founder and Principal at Small Footprint LLC) tackled the most pertinent supply chain questions including how to optimize efficiency, deal with chokepoints and bottlenecks, mitigate risk, ensure proper sourcing, prepare for future shocks and build resiliency. With decades of best practices and lessons learned to share, the Supply Chain Experts addressed questions around the vulnerabilities of global supply chains that the pandemic has exposed and exacerbated.
View the Pillar Talk on YouTube here. |
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Opportunities, Opportunities, Opportunities!
Did you know the job openings, course offerings, and RFPs that were posted on PQMD's Community of Practice were collectively viewed almost 600 times this year? That offers quite the opportunity to share your message or spread the word among our uniquely curated PQMD Global Health community. To take advantage of this resource, simply log on to the CoP, click on Opportunities and Post Here. Your perfect candidate or job offering or favorite course could just be one post away! |
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HPIC’s Telemedicine Project Brings Healthcare to Rural Communities
Non-communicable diseases (NCDs) kill 41 million people each year, equivalent to 71% of all deaths globally. Most of these deaths occur in low- and middle-income countries like Kenya, where noncommunicable diseases are responsible for 33% of all deaths. This growing epidemic is straining health services as NCDs now account for more than half of total hospital admissions in the country.
Additionally, 60% of the Kenyan population lives in rural areas, but 80% of healthcare facilities are located in urban areas, meaning many Kenyans cannot even access healthcare services.
Using information and communication technology, HPIC’s telemedicine project connects patients living in Kakamega County, Kenya with healthcare practitioners at three Kenyan health centres, offering them quality clinical care and prescriptions without the need to travel long distances.
Learn more about HPIC’s Telemedicine project in Kenya here.
Read the full article on PQMD's website here. |
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Mölnlycke Health Care Donates 1.9 Million N95 Particulate Respirators to Operation Smile
In collaboration with fellow Partnership for Quality Medical Donations (PQMD) member organizations, global surgical nonprofit Operation Smile is distributing 1.9 million N95 particulate respirators to health workers in low- and middle-income countries worldwide from a donation received from Mölnlycke Health Care.
This donation follows a history of corporate support between Mölnlycke and Operation Smile that began in 2004. Over the years, Mölnlycke has donated nearly 1.4 million pairs of Biogel® surgical gloves to Operation Smile, helping the nonprofit deliver the safest and highest quality surgical care to patients in resource-limited environments. In addition to providing free reconstructive surgery to people born with cleft conditions, Operation Smile donates medical equipment and trains local medical professionals in best wound care and other surgical practices.
“It’s important to really understand that these masks are needed now,” said Patricia Bacuros, Operation Smile’s vice president of gifts in kind, about the urgency created by the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. “If we can really work together to deploy the 1.9 million masks within the next six months, we are going to have a broader reach and a bigger impact.”
The masks are to be distributed across Africa, Latin America and the Middle East through a partnership between Operation Smile and fellow PQMD-member nonprofit organizations.
Operation Smile will receive slightly over 1 million N95 particulate respirators with the remainder being allocated between PQMD members Project C.U.R.E., MAP International, and CMMB.
“This donation will clearly help several of our member organization protect health care workers and patients in multiple countries,” said Elizabeth Ashbourne, PQMD’s executive director. “These are organizations that work worldwide and have very sophisticated operations in-country that are led by local individuals and local doctors.”
To read the full article, click here. |
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Dow Jones Sustainability Indices (DJSI) Recognize PQMD Members
Since its launch in 1999, the DJSI has evaluated leading sustainability-driven companies based on the performance of their economic, environmental and social efforts. The indices help investors interested in integrating sustainability considerations into their portfolios and serve as globally recognized designations of the most sustainable companies. Companies are assessed using DJSI's proprietary methodology within the healthcare equipment and supplies industry, with leading performance in corporate citizenship and philanthropy, environmental reporting, marketing practices, materiality, policy influence and social reporting. This year, Baxter, Edwards Lifesciences, Sanofi and Takeda all made the list. View the rankings here. |
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Johnson & Johnson Enters into Agreement to Provide its Single-Shot COVID-19 Vaccine for the World's Most Vulnerable People through Novel Humanitarian Buffer
Johnson & Johnson has entered into an agreement with the U.S. Government and Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance (Gavi), to enable access to its single-shot COVID-19 vaccine through a novel mechanism - the COVAX Humanitarian Buffer - that will serve to protect the world's most vulnerable people.
The COVAX Humanitarian Buffer is part of the COVAX Facility and is designed to ensure that people in conflict zones or humanitarian settings can access COVID-19 vaccines, even if they live beyond the reach of traditional, government vaccination campaigns. Governments and national and international humanitarian agencies are eligible to apply to receive doses from the COVAX Humanitarian Buffer. If applications are granted and the doses allocated, the governments or humanitarian agencies that filed the application then carry out the vaccination campaigns to ensure people are protected from COVID-19.
To read the full press release, click here. |
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Correction from October Newsletter
In last month's newsletter, we did not include the correct link to the IHP article: Support for mental health in the Middle East. Please find the correct link below. Support for mental health in the Middle East |
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Center for Disaster Philanthropy
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Does your organization have news to share?
Contact Beth Haynes for placement in future newsletters.
Next Month's Theme: Humanitarian Assistance & Best Practices
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