Dr. Richard Sezibera is the former Health and Foreign Minister of Rwanda.
Sub-Saharan Africa’s population is set to double by 2050. Already, 60% of the population is below the age of 25. This is a huge opportunity for our continent, but it can also be a ticking bomb if we don’t invest and harness the power of this demography.
What better ways are there than to start investing in them from an early age? Primary health care should remain our biggest...
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Gender inequality affects women and girls in a multitude of ways, including access to health services. When it comes to vaccines, the overall news is positive: globally, boys and girls are immunised at similar rates. However, there are variations from region to region, and this doesn’t account for specific health needs based on sex.
HPV is one of the most pressing gender-specific diseases that can be prevented with a vaccine. Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance is a key player in preventing...
After the #MeToo movement pulled back the curtains on sexual assault and harassment, gender equality efforts are on the rise. It’s the year of the woman, there are viral “feminist” videos and gendered media campaigns — and even in donor countries development strategies are catching on: women, girls, gender equality, female, and feminism are popping up everywhere in government’s foreign aid strategies.
Following trendsetters Sweden and Canada with their 2014 Feminist Foreign Policy and 2017 Feminist International Assistance Policy respectively,...
The latest official development assistance (ODA) data for 2018 show there is a lot of room for improvement: total aid is not remotely enough, the countries and regions most in need still do not receive the majority of aid, and gender blind projects are still the norm.
But there are also some positive trends that should be highlighted and continued.
Here’s an overview of what the statistics tell us about last year’s US$153 billion aid budget, including how and where the...
Vaccines are one of the most crucial modern health tools. They save up to 3 million lives every year — equal to the population of Rome — and they have the potential to save an additional 1.5 million.
There’s no denying the importance of vaccines, but children worldwide are continuing to miss out on this vital tool. Vaccines can save an additional 1.5 million lives, thanks to Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance.
Here are five challenges that are preventing vaccination, and what...
This year our campaigners are fighting to raise awareness about the power of a tiny but mighty health intervention: vaccines.
Vaccines are a critical and cost-effective intervention that have the ability to promote good health, boost economies, and reduce poverty. That’s why it’s essential that we fully replenish Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance — a global organisation fighting to make sure everyone, everywhere has access to life-saving vaccines — this coming June.
This February, our teams in the United Kingdom and the...
The rapid spread of the coronavirus has captured the world’s attention. Damaging as it may be, this tiny virus is an urgent reminder of our collective vulnerability to transnational threats — and of the urgency of common cause to protect the health of people everywhere.
National responses — factual public information, containment, testing, tracing, treatment — are critical. But so is an international response that seeks to respond to today’s emergency while also preparing the world to deal with the next...
On February 28th, the Nigerian government confirmed the first case of coronavirus in Nigeria — marking the first case in sub-Saharan Africa. While health authorities at state and federal levels are taking action to isolate and contain the virus, this incident is a reminder that diseases do not recognize or respect borders, especially in our interconnected world, and strong, well-resourced healthcare systems are necessary for outbreak preparedness.
Unfortunately, Nigeria’s public health system is under-resourced and overwhelmed, resulting in poor health...
This is the second post in a series about how we ensure children are learning in school. We kicked off with an overview of the evidence pointing to a global learning crisis and how we can solve it. Now, we’re looking into global progress in access to education, and where there is still room for improvement.
Improving education is critical to our mission of ending poverty: if everyone completed secondary education, we could cut the number of people living in...
Since the beginning of the year, the spread of coronavirus has dominated the news, and for good reason. So far, the virus has infected over 84,0000 people worldwide and killed about 2,900.
In a new development, Nigeria confirmed the first case of coronavirus in sub-Saharan Africa on 28 February. The virus was brought by an Italian citizen working in Nigeria, who is currently stable with no serious symptoms.
It comes as no surprise that coronavirus has now reached sub-Saharan Africa, but...