Ending the COVID-19 pandemic and minimising its impact largely depends on finding effective ways to treat and immunise against the disease.
Here’s the good news: so far, billions in funding has been mobilised in record time to fast-track research and development on COVID-19. Plus, there are over 500 treatment and vaccine candidates in development, with some COVID-19 vaccine campaigns already underway.
But the bad news: this is only half the battle.
A historic effort
Delivering medication and vaccines at the speed and scale...
ONE
Megan Gieske is a storyteller and photographer based in Cape Town, South Africa.
In South Africa, women are at risk.
South Africa has one of the highest rates of violence against women and girls in the world, and a femicide rate that is five times the global average, with an estimated 12.1 in 100,000 victims each year. South Africa’s gender-based violence statistics (GBV) are equal to a country at war.
South Africa held its yearly 16 Days of Activism Against Gender-Based Violence,...
The best kinds of gifts are the ones that save lives! That’s why the (RED) Shopathon is back for the sixth year, offering up tons of ways to make your shopping count this holiday season. As a division of ONE, (RED)’s goal is to end AIDS by utilizing the power of people and companies. (RED) contributes profits of sales of (RED)-branded products and experiences to the Global Fund, which aims to end AIDS, tuberculosis, and malaria as epidemics.
As COVID-19...
In 2020, global health has gone from a fringe issue to the forefront of people’s mind, all thanks to COVID-19. The last time the entire world came close to being as focused on a pandemic threat was over two decades ago, when HIV/AIDS was killing almost 4,000 people every day and new infections doubled year after year.
Since then, the global response to AIDS has become a success story, and AIDS-related deaths have been cut by more than half. Today,...
Africa launches the largest trials of treatments for mild and moderate COVID-19 cases, mayors join forces to tackle gender inequality, and UK cuts its aid budget. Plus, a look at which countries have gender-balanced cabinets.
Here are six crucial stories you may have missed this month.
Africa’s largest COVID treatment trial launches
A network of 13 African countries joined forces with global researchers to launch Africa’s largest clinical trial of potential COVID-19 treatments. The Anticov study aims to identify treatments for mild...
Edith Esinam Asamani-Wasie, a GPE Youth Advocate in Ghana, is weighing in on the realities of gender-based violence, especially during COVID-19, and the steps everyone can take to achieve gender equality.
The pandemic has socioeconomically affected more girls and women than boys and men. First, despite progress, there is still a gender disparity in access to education. The pandemic led to the closure of schools and movement of most physical classes to virtual platforms, where there is a gender digital...
In order to end this pandemic, everyone must play their part, and that includes the private sector. Their leadership, innovation, skills, knowledge, and financial muscle are desperately needed. This crisis has undoubtedly taken a heavy toll on businesses, but the quickest way to get back on track is to end the pandemic.
Companies can play a critical role in getting vaccines and other treatments to the people globally who need them. Whether through investing in the ACT-Accelerator initiative, committing to...
With Pfizer/BioNTech, Moderna, and AstraZeneca all announcing this month that their vaccine candidates for COVID-19 are proving to be highly effective in clinical trials, the world is closer to finding a safe and effective vaccine to fight the COVID-19 pandemic. However, the pandemic will not end with a vaccine, but when everyone, everywhere has equal access to it.
That’s why we launched our Vaccine Access Test in September. The Test provides the framework to answer one important question: Are the...
COVID-19 has laid bare a blatant double standard: the world’s wealthiest countries play by one set of rules and the world’s poorest countries by another. G20 governments have spent trillions to keep their economies afloat, while others have been left without the necessary support to weather the storm. The needs are immense. As many as 150 million people could be pushed into extreme poverty by 2021 and many countries are facing a cash crunch. However, the G20 has failed...
Megan Gieske is a storyteller and photographer based in Cape Town, South Africa.
Under Cape Town Together, communities long-divided over racial lines are uniting to help those in-need.
Because of the COVID-19 pandemic and ensuing financial crisis in South Africa, Mzikhona Mgedle lost his job in the non-profit sector, but he wasn’t backing down. He started the Langa CAN, “community action network,” to meet the specific needs of his community, and he wasn’t alone.
Mzikhona Mgedle is part of a growing movement to...