The U.S. federal government has cut funds for international health research and global health aid, withdrawn from the World Health Organization. With this retreat from commitments to international health work compounded by cuts from the European Union, many leaders in global health are examining the obstacles for global health research and care delivery with fresh eyes.
Even in the face of these obstacles, this is a moment of great possibility, with novel medications like lenacapavir promising to transform the treatment and prevention of HIV; shorter, less toxic, and more affordable treatments for drug-resistant tuberculosis; and remarkable efforts to build global capacity to deliver surgical, chronic disease, and cancer care.
Drawing on two decades of experience delivering medicine in challenging circumstances — including the world’s first cholera vaccination program in the midst of an outbreak — and researching how to get care where it’s most needed, Louise Ivers discussed her vision of the road ahead with Harvard Medicine News.
Ivers is professor of global health and social medicine in the Blavatnik Institute at HMS, HMS professor of medicine at Massachusetts General Hospital, and director of the Harvard Global Health Institute at Harvard University.
Harvard Medicine News: What does the future of global health research and care delivery look like in the context of the massive international funding cuts we’re seeing?
Louise Ivers: The thing to say first and loudest is, we must persist, and we will persist.
The global community of people who work in solidarity to achieve health for all is not going to be dissuaded of the moral imperative to do this work.
