"Many bilateral aid programmes to Asia have been cut by over 40 per cent and there have been complete withdrawals from some sectors such as regional health programmes in South-East Asia. There has been a lack of strategic vision in Asia so clearly demonstrated by Australia’s reduction in assistance to Myanmar as a fledgling democracy and transitioning economy. We also remain extremely concerned that the most vulnerable people living on Pacific island nations are inadequately protected from climate change,” Purcell tells SciDev.Net. 

Global health programs — supported by U.S. and other donor countries — helped leaders to prioritize health, particularly when they supported grass-roots health advocates in Africa. Global efforts establish the expectation that governments should promote health. Funding and technical assistance from Western donors, U.N. agencies and NGOs empower national efforts.

WHO and UNFPA are scaling up primary and reproductive health services in eastern Mosul to ensure life-saving care for more than 60,000 people living near the front lines. Two WHO mobile medical clinics were deployed to eastern Mosul as soon as access was possible, marking the first time that health aid reached people in the area since June 2014.

Several governments in Latin America have expressed their solidarity with Haiti and have offered humanitarian aid after Hurricane Matthew caused over 800 deaths and significant material losses in the Caribbean nation. Food, bottled water, mattresses as well as machinery to remove rubble and medical staff form part of the convoys that different Latin American countries have sent to help the island.

Global health diplomacy has been gaining importance and its negotiators need to be well-prepared. Some countries have added a full-time health attaché to their diplomatic staff, in recognition of the importance and complexity of global health deliberations. 

Iran has been hosting an annual “New Horizons conference,” which it established to address emerging global concerns [...] as a means to create “a relationship based on culture, diplomacy and revolution.”