01 Dec HRH2030 Director’s Digest: December 2020
December 2020: Wrapping up 2020
Dear Colleagues,
When I learned a few weeks ago that 2021 has been designated as the International Year of Health and Care Workers, I had mixed reactions. First, gratitude for the World Health Assembly for calling on member states to prioritize investments in health workforce readiness, education, and learning in the year ahead, investments that will be critical as we slowly begin to anticipate a post-COVID world. I admit that I also felt a healthy dose of skepticism about this designation, a feeling brought on, no doubt, after seeing other “named” years relating to global health that have done much to raise awareness but not enough to foster change. But for now, I will temper my reservations with the knowledge that because of the pandemic, we have seen what happens when countries aren’t ready. As Her Royal Highness Princess Muna of Jordan noted, in her address at the World Health Assembly, “applause without action is no longer acceptable.”
As countries have been responding to COVID-19, they have also been focusing on delivering essential services in other areas, including maternal and child health and malaria. In this month’s HRH2030 highlights, we cover both of these topics, with a story on improving use of prenatal care services by collaborating with local women’s groups in Mali and another on strengthening malaria supply chains through data management in Togo. We also have a news brief on our new work supporting the US-Malawi Government-to-Government Agreement. And, in case you missed it, we summarize some of the country experiences shared during the Asian Action Alliance for HRH Webinar Series.
As I said in this digest last month, I’ll be glad to wrap up 2020. But we still have a few exciting things to look forward to in December, including the Global Digital Health Forum. I will be moderating a panel discussion on Using data science to improve frontline health worker performance, joined by presenters from Data Kind, Terre des hommes, and Health Information Systems Program (HISP)-South Africa. If you’re registered, I hope to see you there—virtually, of course! And if you’re not attending, you can still follow me and the conversation on Twitter, using the hashtags #GDHF2020, #DigitalHealth, and #Data4Good.
Best,
Wanda Jaskiewicz
Project Director, HRH2030