Integrating Global Health Programs

Policy Work

HIV and Universal Health Coverage

The Center for Innovation in Global Health is on the forefront of research and practice relating to the strategic integration of large, single-disease responses such as HIV with broader health systems approaches, including health security and universal health coverage. We are innovating and testing strategies that seek to identify and strengthen common elements of the health system needed to successfully combat HIV infection, support health security preparedness and response and contribute to universal health coverage (UHC).

Beginning in 2019, we led a series of discussions with other health leaders that focused on emerging issues in global health. These resulted in a paper exploring current trends in the “micro-targeting” of HIV programs, and the potential risks and benefits of this approach for broader healthcare delivery, co-authored with Dr. Miriam Rabkin of Columbia University, Nathan Ford of the World Health Organization, Dr. Sydney Rosen from Boston University, Dr. Tom Ellman from Médecins Sans Frontières South African unit, and Dr. Peter Ehrenkranz from the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation.

Improving the Public Health Impact of laboratory Services

Laboratory services remain an essential component to public health responses, from COVID-19 to HIV, TB, and malaria. In response to concerns about donor prioritization of funding for laboratory services and under utilization of laboratory results, CIGH hosted a symposium at the AIDS2018 meeting in Amsterdam, entitled: When promise meets reality: Debating the future of CD4 and viral load testing. The World Health Organization (WHO) and the African Society for Laboratory Medicine co-Chaired the meeting, and discussants were from the Malawi Ministry of Health, the Clinton Health Access Initiative (CHAI), the U.S. CDC, Médecins Sans Frontières, and the International Treatment Preparedness Coalition. Meeting discussants contributed to a Policy Forum article in PLOS Medicine entitled, The missed potential of CD4 and viral load testing to improve clinical outcomes for people living with HIV in lower-resource settings.

Past Events

23rd International AIDS Conference

The Center is collaborating with the International AIDS Society (IAS) and the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation to further this work through discussions with national governments and civil society, as well as meetings at the July 2020 23rd International AIDS Conference.

Prince Mahidol Award Conference in Bangkok

The 2020 Prince Mahidol Award Conference on Accelerating Progress Towards UHC in Bangkok, Thailand

The Center continued discussions at the Prince Mahidol Award Conference in Bangkok in February 2020. Dr. Holmes presented on behalf of his co-authors at a USAID event entitled, “Leveraging & Sustaining Gains on HIV to Support UHC”, alongside colleagues from the Thai Ministry of Health, WHO, PEPFAR, Global Fund and others.

Dr. Holmes also spoke alongside WHO Bulletin Editor Maria Trajkovska and Professor Anne Mills from the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine at the launch event for the supplement entitled, “Accelerating the path to UHC.”

Resources

Publications