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| Supporting Aidspanâs SAI roundtable for optimising the use of grant funds from GHIs |
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| Group picture of roundtable participants ©Aidspan |
In collaboration with Aidspan, an international NGO and independent observer of the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Malaria and Tuberculosis (the Global Fund), BACKUP has been supporting the capacitation of Supreme Audit Institutions (SAIs) since 2020. The goal is to ensure accountability and optimise the use of financial resources from Global Health Initiatives (GHI).
Together with the Office of the Auditor General of Rwanda, Aidspan and BACKUP organized a roundtable event from 5 to 7 September 2023 in Kigali, Rwanda to review the results achieved so far. Representatives from Gavi, the Global Fund, and SAIs as well as their umbrella organisations came together and discussed important issues of accountability, transparency, and collaboration. The discussions highlighted the importance of collaboration between donor organizations and SAIs as well as its significance in achieving global health goals.
Read more in Aispanâs report of the event: Promoting accountability and collaboration in global health: insights from an Aidspan roundtable â Aidspan as well as about the whole project: Enabling national audit institutions to audit GF grants â Healthy Developments (bmz.de).
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| Universal Health Insurance for Zanzibar |
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| Group picture: Sitting: Nina Siegert, GIZ; Hon. Nassor Ahmed Mazrui, Minister of Health; Mr Mbarouk Omar Mohammed, Zanzibar Health Services Fund. Standing: ZHSF team © GIZ |
The Revolutionary Government of Zanzibar has been providing universal access to public healthcare since independence in 1964, with no user fees at the point of access. However, the provision of health services faced both financing and quality challenges. The lack of adequate public facilities increased demand for private health providers and resulted in high out-of-pocket expenditure.
How did BACKUP Health support tackling this issue and what is unique about this support? Find out more about this in the Healthy Developments article. |
| Global event on enhancing sustainability of investment for vaccine manufacturing in Africa |
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| Group picture of participants © Africa CDC |
Supported by BACKUP Health, the largest meeting of the African vaccine industry to date took place from June 27 to June 29 2023 in Ethiopia. The meeting âEnhancing the sustainability of investment for vaccine manufacturing in Africaâ was hosted by the African Union, Africa CDC, UNCTAD, and the African Vaccine Manufacturing Initiative (AVMI). The event aimed to strengthen the ties between the private and public sectors within Africa and Europe and provided opportunities for matchmaking between international and African companies â an essential factor in enhancing the sustainability of investment for vaccine manufacturing in Africa.
Moreover, BACKUP Healthâs new business case simulation tool as well as the corresponding business case study were presented and discussed during the event. It addressed the forumâs key question on developing commercially viable business models for vaccine manufacturing that will mitigate risks and ensure financial sustainability. |
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| Supporting skilled labour for African vaccine production â podcast & workshop for biomanufacturing training centres |
Podcast: Building Africaâs Vaccinology Expertise and Leadership
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| Podcaster Ruth Evans interviewing a participant of the Afro ADVAC course 2023 © Frauke Göbel, GIZ |
The development of local vaccine production in Africa depends on the availability of a highly qualified workforce with the necessary expertise. This is why BACKUP Health supports expanded access to training opportunities Africa-wide. The African Advanced Vaccinology course (AfroADVAC) is one example: Designed to develop African leadership in vaccinology expertise, the fourth Afro-ADVAC Course was held in Muldersdrift, South Africa, from 17th to 26th April. It brought together 50 participants from 16 African countries, and an additional 50 participants online, as well as experts from all over the continent. In this Healthy DEveloments podcast, the participants talk about their personal experiences, shedding light on their course expectations and their aspirations for contributing to vaccine production in Africa.
For more information, you can listen to the Podcast: Building Africaâs vaccinology expertise and leadership â Healthy DEvelopments (bmz.de) or read the article. |
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Workshop & Study: Innovative Solutions for Sustainable Biomanufacturing Training Centres in Africa
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| On-site and virtual participants of the workshop for biomanufacturing training centres ©GIZ |
| In close cooperation with the Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (Africa CDC) and GIZ Ghana, BACKUP Health organised a workshop on sustainable working and financing models for biomanufacturing training centres, that can ensure high-quality training by combining hands on and theoretical knowledge. The event brought together participants from African and international training initiatives, as well as selected partners from the public and private sectors and aimed to |
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clarify the sustainability criteria for biomanufacturing training centres in Africa, |
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strengthen partnerships between African and international training centres and other stakeholders, and |
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coordinate the strategies of African training initiatives. |
| During lively discussions, the participants developed a variety of innovative concepts and solutions that have the potential to drive the development of sustainable training centres on the continent. In addition, an expert team presented the results of its research, commissioned by BACKUP, on sustainable financing and operational models for training centres in Africa. Find the study here: Business and Operational Models for African Biomanufacturing Training Centres (Africa CDC) |
| BACKUP Health receives EU co-financing for supporting local vaccine production in Africa |
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Starting in January 2023, BACKUP has been a key contributor to the Team Europe Support Structure (TESS) for the Team Europe Initiative on Manufacturing and Access to Vaccines, Medicines and Health Technologies in Africa (MAV+).
GIZ â in collaboration with Enabel (Belgium) and Expertise France (France) â is supporting the African Unionâs Partnership for African Vaccine Manufacturing (PAVM) and implementing its Framework for Action. The ultimate goal is to improve equitable access to safe, effective, quality, and affordable health products for all Africans, in line with SDG 3.8.
Find more information here: Team Europe invests over 20 million to boost African Vaccine Manufacturing (europa.eu) |
| How cooperation with FCDO has strengthened BACKUP Health |
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| BACKUP Health with the Association for the Promotion and Development of Women (MAHLAHLE), in Mozambique ©GIZ |
In 2020, the United Kingdomâs Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, FCDO, entered into a unique collaboration with BACKUP Health â with the aim to make both partiesâ development cooperation work more aligned as well as more effective and efficient. The British Government decided that its pledge to the Global Fund should be accompanied by technical support, some of which should be implemented by BACKUP Health on its behalf. This collaboration between Germany and the UK is the largest co-financing of any German-supported health programme ever and involving German and British colleagues working together for the first time in such an arrangement. The goal is to use BACKUP as a vehicle to support the Global Fund and since recently also exploring how BACKUPâs long experience providing technical support related to the Global Fund can be applied to other Global Health Initiatives.
Read more about how the partnership helped BACKUP to reflect on and improve its work and how two organisations with different cultures and ways of working together are cooperating â with a joint goal. How cooperation with FCDO has strengthened BACKUP Health: Learnings from the first three years of a unique collaboration â Healthy DEvelopments (bmz.de) |
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| Providing health services in times of war: BACKUP Healthâs work in Ukraine |
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| The mobile clinic team © Ina Laz |
For almost two years, Ukrainian health services have been under continuous attack due to the Russian war of aggression. Since January 2023, due to the precarious situation, BACKUP Health has been responding quickly and flexibly by supporting two local NGOs to maintain basic health services in Ukraine. The programme is working together with Alliance for Public Health (APH) and 100% Life â the Global Fundâs main partners in Ukraine. In cooperation with BACKUP, APH was able to help run four mobile clinics which, in pairs, go on weekly missions deep into the war-affected areas to provide essential health services to at least 120 people. 100% Life has been setting up shelters for people fleeing the violence â especially the most vulnerable groups.
Read more to find out about the challenges of delivering healthcare between landmines and artillery fire or taking care of people who have lost everything. |
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Further recommended reading |
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Global Fund Observer: Independent newsletter about the Global Fund provided by Aidspan to over 7,000 subscribers in 170 countries. |
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