Biden's big asks for global health summit attendees

The people and politics driving global health.

Apr 21, 2022 View in browser   By Daniel Payne THE BIG IDEA The White House is asking foreign governments, corporations and philanthropies to commit to additional actions before its second Global Covid-19 Summit next month. | Getty Images WHAT THE U.S. WANTS — The White House, ahead of its May 12 virtual Global Covid-19 Summit, is asking countries, companies and philanthropies to help fight the pandemic worldwide. Documents sent to potential participants, obtained by Global Pulse, outline the goals for the summit and guide countries to make commitments to secure special roles at the gathering. "Based on commitments countries and partners submit, invitations will later be issued to participate at the Summit — whether in a live speaking role, a video submission, or as a feature in a Fact Sheet," one document from the White House says. The documents suggest that the highest bidders — groups making the most ambitious commitments by April 26 — will receive priority speaking positions. Some requests were sent only earlier this week, recipients told Global Pulse. Commitments, which should be "ambitious and relevant," must be new, the documents say. Programs or funding announced before December 2021 — when the U.S. announced its Global VAX campaign — won't count. Wealthier countries can make financial commitments, low-income countries can make policy commitments and middle-income countries can make both. But what does the White House want in the commitments? The requests ask participants to follow one or more of three themes — which are the same as those from the last summit, held in September 2021: "Vaccinate the World," "Save Lives Now" or "Build Better Health Security" — the last of which is listed as "Build Back Better" on one document. The U.S. wants participants to collectively provide $10 billion in donor and multilateral development bank financing, with the goal of vaccinating 70 percent of all populations and getting boosters to the most vulnerable, the request says. Another goal of the summit — co-hosted by Belize, Germany, Indonesia and Senegal — is to purchase $2 billion of treatment courses, including antiviral pills. An additional $1 billion would support oxygen supplies for low- and lower-middle-income countries. Financing the establishment of a global health security and pandemic preparedness fund is another goal the summit shared with countries, companies and philanthropies — as is the commitment to increase local manufacturing of medical supplies, vaccines and medicines. Policy goals for low- and middle-income countries include sharing detailed vaccination targets and plans, designating "a high-level leader" to coordinate with donors, addressing vaccine misinformation and creating government programs to work with COVAX, the global vaccine facility — among other lofty goals like integrating vaccine campaigns with larger health systems, improving diagnostics and tracking therapeutic resistance. Meanwhile, the White House is still struggling to continue funding its own global pandemic response. But it's doubtful the summit will cause monumental investments, people who have received the requests told Global Pulse — mainly because the U.S. hasn't been able to secure funding to continue its own programs around the world. "How are you supposed to ask countries to pony up when you aren't ponying up?" an expert working with the White House told Global Pulse. "I worked on Zika, Ebola … this is just not how it's done." Some document recipients share the sentiment and are concerned about the lack of coordination in the long list of summit goals. "We don't have particularly high expectations but are glad to see that this summit seems to show that the administration hasn't given up on addressing the practical issues," one recipient said. Leaders in the broader global health world have also recognized the summit's stakes. "Because it will be a make or break moment for U.S. leadership in global health, which will have ripple effects for other critical international development issues, there is an urgent need for a successful Summit," Rajiv J. Shah, president of The Rockefeller Foundation, told Global Pulse in a statement. "That means significant funding must be provided by the United States to lead coordination efforts, as they have done for every other global health crisis in the past century." But the administration hasn't given up on announcing new measures, one person familiar with the matter told Global Pulse. "We'll hopefully have more to announce closer to the summit," the person said. Until then, the administration is taking the stance that the U.S. has been doing its part; it just can't do it alone. "Our role in co-hosting the summit is to continue to highlight American leadership in the global Covid response," White House press secretary Jen Psaki told reporters this week. "While we are dedicated to continuing to lead the global Covid response, we also need Congress to urgently do its part to fund the global Covid response." WELCOME TO GLOBAL PULSE WELCOME BACK TO GLOBAL PULSE — Are you involved in the White House's summit? We want to hear from you. Tell us what you think about the newsletter — and send tips — at dpayne@politico.com. Global Pulse is a team effort. Thanks to editors Eli Reyes and Barbara Van Tine. Follow us on Twitter: @ErinBancoand @_daniel_payne.   INTRODUCING DIGITAL FUTURE DAILY - OUR TECHNOLOGY NEWSLETTER, RE-IMAGINED:  Technology is always evolving, and our new tech-obsessed newsletter is too! Digital Future Daily unlocks the most important stories determining the future of technology, from Washington to Silicon Valley and innovation power centers around the world. Readers get an in-depth look at how the next wave of tech will reshape civic and political life, including activism, fundraising, lobbying and legislating. Go inside the minds of the biggest tech players, policymakers and regulators to learn how their decisions affect our lives. Don't miss out, subscribe today.     THE STATE OF THE PANDEMIC HOW WILL PANDEMIC PREP BE FUNDED? — Several global health groups have suggested a financial intermediary fund to strengthen health systems in the long term. But what that fund looks like — and who manages it — is a next step in imagining a new infrastructure to prevent and better handle future pandemics. The WHO Council on the Economics of Health For All recently released recommendations for a FIF — which promotes long-term funding commitments, sufficient scale to address needs around the world, alignment with existing global health funding, universal access to the fund's governance and resources and accountability through every aspect of the process. Mariana Mazzucato, chair of the council, told Global Pulse new approaches to global health funding should be considered at the World Bank-International Monetary Fund Spring Meetings — including how the fund is governed. She argued that the WHO should be a key player in guiding the fund and not just multilateral development banks. "It's a bank; it's not a development organization," she said of the World Bank, which would house the fund, adding that future development work needs to be thought of in terms of "divisions of labor." She also said the FIF should move away from a donor-centric approach to a common-goods approach where all countries contribute — and all countries have access. "Health financing is a long-term investment, not an expenditure," she said, noting that there's still a long way to go from ideals to actual policy. "This is all kind of pie-in-the-sky right now." A NEW BOOSTER TO FIGHT OMICRON — Moderna said Tuesday that its bivalent booster shot — made with both the original strain of Covid-19 and the Beta variant — offered more protection against variants, including Omicron, than the original formulation, POLITICO Europe's Sarah-Taïssir Bencharif reported. Another booster formulation, using Omicron in its development, is in late-stage trials, the company said, and could offer even more tailored protection against the strain. The company said the new formulations were the lead candidate for the northern hemisphere's fall season. GLOBAL PULSE NUMBER Six The number of countries reporting cases of a mysterious form of hepatitis in children, the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control announced this week. Five European countries — the U.K., Denmark, Ireland, the Netherlands and Spain — reported cases, along with the U.S. AROUND THE WORLD POLAND PULLS OUT OF VACCINE CONTRACTS — Poland won't fulfill its commitments to buy Covid-19 vaccines, its health minister said Monday, citing an oversupply of shots and fiscal strain from the Ukrainian refugee crisis. Poland's leaders said they tried to reach an agreement with suppliers to slow down the supply but suppliers weren't flexible with the request, POLITICO Europe's Carlo Martuscelli reports. BioNTech and Pfizer would only say they had an agreement with the European Commission to supply its Covid-19 vaccine to EU member states. ANOTHER HIT TO THE GLOBAL ECONOMY — The World Bank and International Monetary Fund released a new economic outlook that projects severe consequences from the war in Ukraine, POLITICO's Katy O'Donnell reports. Global health funding could be at risk in an economy already suffering from war, supply chain woes and pandemic recovery. Those working to develop pandemic preparedness plans and strengthen health systems worldwide fear increasing budget pressures could put a stop to the momentum of increased funding for their work in the wake of Covid-19. LEVERAGING PANDEMIC TOOLS — Covid-era tools like telemedicine, remote monitoring and improved diagnostic capabilities should be used far into the future for cancer patients, 35 members of Bloomberg New Economy International Cancer Coalition argue in a new paper. They call for making "a permanent paradigm change" in diagnosing and treating patients, as well as studying new methods of care. WHAT WE'RE CLICKING NPR: Shanghai reports first Covid-19 deaths of latest outbreak Reuters: The case for testing Pfizer's Paxlovid for treating long Covid The New York Times: China's Covid shutdowns go far beyond Shanghai   STEP INSIDE THE WEST WING: What's really happening in West Wing offices? Find out who's up, who's down, and who really has the president's ear in our West Wing Playbook newsletter, the insider's guide to the Biden White House and Cabinet. For buzzy nuggets and details that you won't find anywhere else, subscribe today.       Follow us

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