Global Health Security: Our Impact

MTaPS Supports USAID Efforts to Contain the COVID-19 Pandemic in Priority Countries

May 19, 2020
{Photo credit: Warren Zelman}Photo credit: Warren Zelman

The USAID MTaPS Program, led by MSH, is on the frontlines supporting USAID’s efforts to contain the spread of the COVID-19 virus in high-risk countries. The program’s mandate includes advancing the Global Health Security Agenda (GHSA) and is, therefore, well equipped to respond to global public health emergencies such as the current outbreak.  MTaPS has formed a COVID-19 response team to assist countries in developing a rapid response action plan to manage the outbreak.

Helping Health Care Workers Protect Patients-and Themselves-from Infection

April 06, 2020
{Photo credit: Christina Mchau}Photo credit: Christina Mchau

By Doris Lutkam, MD, MPHPreventing and controlling the spread of infectious diseases is key to protecting the health of both patients and health care workers (HCWs). This is an urgent need in Tanzania, and not only because of the threat of COVID-19, but also to make the country vigilant about stopping the spread of HIV, tuberculosis, and antimicrobial-resistant infections.

The rising threat of antimicrobial resistance: A discussion on what happens when diseases defeat medicines

July 19, 2019
{Photo credit: Kenza Abu-Arja/MSH}From left to right: Chris Collins; Loyce Pace; Willo Brock.Photo credit: Kenza Abu-Arja/MSH

On July 16, Management Sciences for Health (MSH), in conjunction with the office of Congressman Ami Bera (D-CA), hosted “The rising threat of antimicrobial resistance: What happens when diseases resist the drugs that we’ve designed to fight them?” to discuss antimicrobial resistance (AMR), its consequences, and the efforts needed to fight it. This event, the second in a series on global health security funded by the James M. and Cathleen D.

USAID Celebrates Contributions of Rwanda Health Systems Strengthening Project

May 15, 2019
{Photo credit: MSH Rwanda}Left to right: Lisa Godwin, USAID Rwanda Health Office Director, Dr. Diane Gashumba, Rwanda's Minister of Health, Alain Joyal, RHSS Project Director, Management Sciences for Health.Photo credit: MSH Rwanda

Over the past five years, the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) has invested in measures to strengthen and sustain Rwanda’s health sector through its Rwanda Health Systems Strengthening (RHSS) Project (2014-2019). In a ceremony at the Kigali Serena Hotel, USAID, the Ministry of Health (MoH), as well as the implementing partner, Management Sciences for Health (MSH), marked the culmination and remarkable achievements of the five-year effort to strengthen the country’s health sector.

Global Health Security is US National Security

May 08, 2019
{Photo credit: Kenza Abu-Arja/MSH}From left to right: W. Gyude Moore, Reid Wilson, Ambassador Bonnie Jenkins, Dr. Rebecca Martin, and Marian W. Wentworth.Photo credit: Kenza Abu-Arja/MSH

On April 10, Congressman Gerry Connolly (D-VA) and Steve Chabot (R-OH) reintroduced the bipartisan Global Health Security Act, which reaffirms US commitment to promoting global health security. This proposed legislation aims to help the US prepare for and respond to infectious disease threats and prevent cross-border epidemics.

Management Sciences for Health Joins More than 60 Partners to Praise the US’s Renewed Commitment to Global Health Security and Advocate for Continued Funding

November 21, 2018
{Photo credit: Julius Kasujja}Photo credit: Julius Kasujja

In a letter submitted to Secretary of Health and Human Services Alex Azar on November 20, Management Sciences for Health (MSH) and more than 60 partner organizations and industry experts expressed appreciation for the US’s renewed commitment to the goals and activities of the Global Health Security Agenda (GHSA) through 2024. The letter advocated for robust funding to support the Agenda’s efforts in the Administration’s FY2020 budget request to Congress and called for the timely release of the Administration’s Global Health Security Strategy.

Community Health Volunteers on the Frontline of Malaria Prevention

July 24, 2018
{Photo Credit: Samy Rakotoniaina/MSH}A USAID Mikolo-supported Community Health Volunteer makes a home visit.Photo Credit: Samy Rakotoniaina/MSH

Madagascar experienced a surge in malaria cases in 2015, particularly in the southwestern regions, despite the Ministry of Public Health’s efforts to combat the disease. Interventions such as insecticide-treated bednet distributions and indoor spraying proved insufficient to deal with malaria in rural areas.

The Local Path to Global Health Security

May 22, 2018
{Photo credit: Brian W. Simpson}The Global Fund’s Peter Sands speaking at a #WHA71 side event in Geneva on May 22, 2018.Photo credit: Brian W. Simpson

(This article was originally published in Global Health NOW.) by Brian Simpson Brian W. Simpson, editor-in-chief, Global Health NOW GENEVA – Global Fund executive director Peter Sands set an ominous challenge before experts at a Monday side event of the World Health Assembly: “The number of infectious disease outbreaks is going up,” Sands said. “This is not a problem that is going away as mankind gets bigger and richer. This is a problem the seems to be increasing in magnitude.”

Madagascar Plague Response: Epidemic Control Starts in the Community

December 20, 2017
{Photo Credit: MSH}Community members discuss plague response.Photo Credit: MSH

Bubonic plague is endemic in Madagascar. Typically, the country experiences 400 to 600 cases of the disease each year. However, in 2017 the plague also took the pneumonic form. Between August 1 and November 26 there were 2,417 confirmed, probable, and suspected cases of plague, according to the World Health Organization (WHO). More than three-quarters of the cases were clinically classified as pneumonic.

Training Health Care Workers to Fight Antimicrobial Resistance

August 21, 2017
Health extension worker Lemlem Worku gives Zara Ahmed amoxicillin antibiotics for her 10 month old baby.Photo credit: UNICEF Ethiopia / CC BY-NC-ND

Devex has reported on the role of well-trained health workers in the fight against antimicrobial resistance (AMR). Increasing levels of AMR — a result of the misuse of drugs, poor-quality medication and improper prescriptions, among other factors — is a threat not only to people’s health, but also to the global economy, poverty levels, and the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals.