Tag Archives: Health

Smarter taxation can help boost government revenue and health outcomes

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The shockwaves of the war in Ukraine hit many countries while they were still reeling from the COVID-19 pandemic. For many developing countries, the fiscal challenges have mounted ever since—the result of surging food, fertilizer andhealth_tax_blog_1140x500_1.png energy prices, rising interest rates, and slowing growth.

In response to the overlapping crises, nearly all countries increased their overall government and health spending. But only a few of them—mostly high-income countries—will be able to sustain these levels in the years ahead. Improving domestic resource mobilization, especially in a way that can sustainably broaden tax bases, will be crucial.

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Reversing the pandemic’s education losses

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When schools around the world moved online due to COVID-19, children in developing countries suffered the most. Even though digital learning does not produce the same outcomes as in-person education, technology used effectively can close educational gaps and prevent learning loss.

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Mobilizing against child malnutrition

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A child born at the start of 2020 was less likely to become malnourished than a child born at nutritionherothe turn of the Millennium. Investment, innovation and commitment has seen rates of malnutrition fall. Yet despite this progress, malnutrition is still blighting lives around the world. What’s more, it is being dramatically exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic, which has rolled back decades of progress in child undernutrition and worsened the growing challenge of overweight and obesity. Poverty and food shortages have increased food insecurity and shifted diets towards cheaper less nutritious foods, particularly in low-income and conflict-affected countries.  This has been compounded by disruptions to health and nutrition delivery systems, which are crucial in preventing, diagnosing and treating malnutrition.

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Partnering for green, resilient and inclusive development in Tanzania

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I had the opportunity to visit Tanzania last month, my first mission to Africa since joining the World Bank. It was a long-awaited trip, as I wanted to see for myself what more we can do to support countries that are striving to recover from COVID-19. Coming from Indonesia, I also thought there were experiences that I could share from my own country’s development.

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Supporting Pollution Reduction Efforts to Protect the Health of Egyptians and Spur Economic Recovery

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Recent studies highlighting the adverse impact of pollution on growth estimate that the annual economic cost of air pollution on health in the Greater Cairo area alone is about 1.4 percent of Egypt’s Gross Domestic Product.

Healthy citizens are the cornerstone of every country’s development and are integral for sustainable economic growth. Given the many health hazards of pollution—from cancer to respiratory ailments and much more—it is increasingly becoming recognized as an impediment to growth and development. Recent global efforts to minimize pollution, through initiatives such as the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and The Paris Agreement, aim to set global guidelines for countries in order to reduce pollution. 

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We must prepare supply chains for future COVID-19 vaccines and therapeutics

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Nothing would undermine delivery of successful COVID-19 (coronavirus) vaccines and gs1_forumtherapeutic treatments faster than the emergence of fake vaccines.  Health development and financing institutions already have their work cut out to raise public awareness and acceptance of these potential pandemic ending-solutions. The proliferation of falsified versions in marketplaces around the world would make the job even harder. The likely diversion of these highly prized commodities away from priority or underserved recipients would also be tragic. COVID-19 vaccines and therapeutics could be the catalyst to step up efforts around medicine traceability, but supply chains need to make fast progress. 

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eC2: Technical Assistance towards strengthening supply chain management of health products and technologies in selected counties

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Deadline: 20-Aug-2020 at 11:59:59 PM (Eastern Time – Washington D.C.)medical-appointment-doctor-healthcare-clinic-health-hospital-medicine[7]

The Reproductive Maternal Newborn Child and Adolescent Health (RMNCAH) Multi-Donor trust fund (MDTF) aims to enhance effectiveness in achieving sustainable RMNCAH results by strengthening the health systems and support progress towards universal health coverage. The overall objective of the MDTF supply chain management Technical Assistance for Health Products and Technologies (HPTs) is to build/strengthen HPT supply chain systems, with an emphasis on RMNCAH commodities, into efficient, effective, responsive and sustainable systems through the provision of targeted technical assistance and mentorship in 12 counties

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NL Success: IFC TechEmerge East-Africa

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We are excited to announce 3 Dutch Companies are shortlisted for the IFC TechEmerge Health East-Africa: Qtracer, CarePay and SwyMed.index

53 tech companies from 20 countries that have been selected to attend the virtual TechEmerge Health East Africa Innovation Summit (date to be confirmed; possibly Aug/Sept. 2020).

In total, over 415 tech companies from 50 countries applied to the TechEmerge Health East Africa program. Applications went through a competitive evaluation process supported by a global network of  ~30 independent expert advisors. 53 tech companies across multiple categories were identified to have market-relevant solutions that may meet the needs of participating East Africa healthcare providers (“Providers”). There are ~25 leading Providers in Kenya, Uganda and Ethiopia participating in the program, serving over 6.5 million patients across 285+ facilities, with 2,850 beds.

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