Giving Compass' Take:

•  Jackie Marchildon, writing for Global Citizen, lists the rewarding wins for global health in the past year, from vaccinations to garnering funds for the Global Financing Facility.

• How many of these wins were possible due to international partnerships in global health? How can we achieve greater global health sustainability through leveraging partnerships? 

• Read about the impact of philanthropy on global health. 

Access to good health is essential in achieving the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals, as good health and well-being are fundamental to all actions in life.

Below, check out these big global health wins from 2018 — they’re just the start of good things to come in the fight to eradicate extreme poverty by 2030.

  • The Development of a New Rotavirus Vaccine Was Approved. In January, vaccine manufacturer Bharat Biotech announced that the World Health Organization (WHO) had approved the development of a new rotavirus vaccine, ROTAVAC — which costs only $1 per dose.
  • Italy Vaccinated 95% of Its Children Against 6 Diseases. The Italian government announced in March that the country had reached its vaccination goal after making vaccines mandatory for children attending nurseries and schools.
  • Ebola Outbreak Was Contained Thanks to New Vaccine. There were two Ebola outbreaks in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) in 2018, and while one continues to pose a serious threat, the first was successfully defeated in large part to the deployment of a new Ebola vaccine. Sadly, the current outbreak has proven more difficult to combat, as there is conflict and war in the outbreak zone.
  • Paraguay Officially Eliminated Malaria. In June, it was confirmed that Paraguay hadn’t seen a case of malaria in five years, so the WHO announced that the country had officially eliminated the disease.
  • Ghana Officially Eliminated Trachoma. Ghana became the first country in the WHO’s African Region to successfully eliminate trachoma as a public health problem.
  •  Canadian Researchers Found a Way to Make All Blood Types Compatible.
  • Australia Officially Eliminated Rubella. The WHO confirmed in November that Australia had officially put an end to rubella, joining a group of over 30 countries who have all successfully eliminated the vaccine-preventable disease.
  • Over $1 Billion Was Pledged to the Global Financing Facility (GFF)

Read the full article about global health problems by Jackie Marchildon at Global Citizen