Dear Colleague,

Below are a number of products that we hope will be of use to you and your colleagues as you address the COVID-19 pandemic.

CUGH has sent out questionnaires to solicit input from our members and nonmembers on the challenges, opportunities and interventions we should advocate for that will enable academia and global health programs to survive the impact the pandemic is having on their activities.

This bulletin also includes our recent webinars related to the pandemic and additional webinars we have been running. These are all shared publicly and across our 30,000 person network globally.

Thank you in advance for sharing this newsletter widely. We hope you and yours stay safe.

Best wishes,
Keith Martin MD
Executive Director
CUGH
Each volume of our COVID-19 newsletter contains new resources. To view previously included resources, see our archive of past newsletters here : https://www.cugh.org/announcements/covid-19-newsletter

This newsletter is divided into the following sections:
  • Advocacy efforts
  • Recent pandemic updates
  • Resources for educators
  • Resources for researchers
  • Resources for health practitioners
  • Member requests
  • Other resources
ADVOCACY EFFORTS

Please provide your feedback and thoughts about the impact of the COVID-19 on global health and academia using this form.  

"Eliminating US support for the WHO will cripple the organization and only enable an array of diseases and health threats to spread." - Dr. Keith Martin

As the World Health Assembly convened its 73rd Session last week, the 194 member nations dealt with curbing the COVID-19 pandemic. The WHO is the one international agency mandated to mobilize the international community to address global health threats. Now is the time to support the organization, not undermine it. CUGH released a press release on this matter.

Wednesday, May 27, 2020, 8:30 AM ET

Join the Center for Global Development for their next webinar. A lack of transparency and accountability around COVID-19 funding announcements means it’s difficult to know how much has been pledged and by whom (department, instrument, etc.), where funds are going (specific country interventions versus regional or global initiatives), how they are getting there (loans and grants to governments or to international implementing agencies like the UN), when they will be disbursed and to whom.

Without greater transparency around the detail of funding announcements, organizations responding to the challenge cannot form a coordinated response and allocate resources effectively. This will lead to further accountability issues down the line when assessing the efficacy of aid. Join us to explore: What needs to happen to improve the situation? How can governments and funders increase accountability and transparency around the allocation of funds? 

Tuesday, June 23, 2020, 12:30 PM ET 

Chris G. Buse s who is currently a postdoctoral fellow in the UBC Centre for Environmental Assessment Research and an adjunct professor at the University of Northern British Columbia and at the University of British Columbia will share key similarities and differences for the drivers of the health policy response to COVID-19 and climate change. He will also present the scope of impact, temporal dimensions of urgency, and implications for health equity and will share policy examples from around the world.

Written by Women Deliver, this article lays out concrete steps we can take in response to COVID-19, to ensure the unique needs of girls and women are addressed.

As Congress works to develop additional legislation to address the current COVID-19 pandemic, it is essential that it include critical resources for our public health system, paid sick leave and family and medical leave for all workers, access to affordable health coverage and other important measures to protect the health of the nation.

Take the time to contact your members of Congress and urge them to prioritize public health infrastructure and paid sick, family and medical leave in any future legislation to address the COVID-19 pandemic.
RECENT PANDEMIC UPDATES

This daily (M-F) newsletter from the University of Washington provides a succinct summary of the latest scientific literature related to the COVID-19 pandemic. Click here to subscribe.

The objective of the series is to provide globally relevant information and guidance to civil society and UN Organizations, policymakers, administrators, and health care providers on palliative care in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic. 

This website from Johns Hopkins University is an outstanding resource to help advance the understanding of the virus, inform the public, and brief policymakers in order to guide a response, improve care, and save lives. It includes access to an interactive COVID-19 map.

The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's COVID-19 Center provides tailored guidance to keep people safe. The site also contains a number of resources on the virus, including cases, data, and surveillance.
RESOURCES FOR EDUCATORS

James H. Conway, Ronald G. Machoian and Christopher W. Olsen highlight the key issues concerning overseas travel that international educators must consider in the coming months.

Students’ expectations will be higher this fall. Here’s how college leaders and professors can ensure a high-quality virtual learning experience.
RESOURCES FOR RESEARCHERS

The Emergency Medicine Foundation is awarding funding of up to $100,000 in new research grants on emergency medicine areas related to COVID-19. 

Topics may include, but are not limited to, the following: Personal Protective Equipment (PPE), including Design, Cleaning, Re-use; Ventilator Scarcity; Telemedicine; Laboratory Testing; Rapid Screening, Triage and Testing; Clinical Diagnosis; Epidemiology of Disease; Therapeutics; Diagnostic Radiology, including Point of Care Ultrasound; Emergency Medicine Workforce, including Safety; Emergency Physician Wellness; and Special Populations, such as High Risk, Homeless, Non-English Speaking, Transplantation Patients

Proposals are due June 5th, 2020 .

The virus that causes COVID-19 is unlikely to remain active in sewage, but its genetic material can still help researchers identify at-risk communities.

This post is written by three trainees involved in different facets of a COVID-19 study. They share their insights regarding the process of conducting a qualitative rapid research study in global health during a pandemic.  

Global Effort on COVID-19 Health Research is a new cross UK government funding call aiming to support applied health research that will address COVID-19 knowledge gaps. The focus is on understanding the pandemic and mitigating its health impacts in LMIC contexts. The call prioritises epidemiology, clinical management, infection control and health system responses.

This study aims to describe the methodology used to recruit a nationwide sample of adults residing in the U.S. to participate in a survey on COVID-19 knowledge, beliefs, and practices, and to outline the preliminary findings related to recruitment, challenges using social media as a recruitment platform, and strategies used to address these challenges.

Findings indicate that the social media advertisement campaign was an effective and efficient strategy to collect large scale, nationwide data on COVID-19 within a short time period.Although the proportion of men who completed the survey was lower than those who didn’t, interventions to increase male responses and enhance representativeness were successful. These findings can inform future research on the use of social media recruitment for the rapid collection of survey data related to rapidly evolving health crises, such as COVID-19
RESOURCES FOR HEALTH PRACTITIONERS

All emergency/frontline health workers to participate in a research study "GLobal Observations and Views of Emergency Frontline Health Workers Survey in COVID-19" ( GLOVES-19 ) led by Drs. Adnan Hyder and Katherine Douglass of the Department of Global Health at the Milken Institute School of Public Health, George Washington University.

The main goal of the study is to understand the practices and experiences of frontline healthcare workers during the current COVID-19 pandemic globally. Researchers hope to use the collected information to inform current response efforts and advocate for future policy decision-making. Respondents from all countries are welcome. 

Taking part in this research is completely voluntary. If you choose to take part in this study, you will be asked to complete an online survey. The survey will take approximately 15 minutes of your time.

In this webinar recording, panelists from Bangladesh, Kenya, South Africa and Zimbabwe shared the experience of people directly affected, healthcare providers and policymakers in the palliative care response to COVID-19 in Low and Middle Income Countries.

Find more information about other webinars in the series, some of which feature CUGH members, here .

Dr. Ana Esteban wrote a bilingual children's book on the virus to help youth better understand COVID-19. Feel free to use this children's book in your practice.

Composed by the American College of Physicians, this toolkit is intended to help physician practices now and in the coming weeks make adjustments due to COVID-19. 

American Society of Hematology published a sickle cell disease emergency room checklist to assist in the evaluation of individuals in the ER presenting with symptoms concerning for COVID-19 and/or complications of sickle cell disease with sickle cell disease-specific considerations for evaluation and treatment.

SARS‐CoV‐2, the virus that causes COVID‐19, is wreaking havoc around the world. This unprecedented pandemic has led to illness, death, and economic destruction. The pandemic has challenged health care systems globally for a range of reasons. In developed economies the focus on non‐communicable diseases rather than infectious diseases have caught us short. A period of complacency and a lack of focus on potential pandemics has meant that documented shortages of personnel, workforce and equipment has limited healthcare delivery.
MEMBER REQUESTS

Friday, June 5 at 12 PM Central Time

Join Northwestern University's Institute for Global Health for their next webinar. Speakers will discuss the lessons learned and emerging knowledge from the COVID-19 response in Nigeria and South Africa.

In his first interview since being hospitalised with COVID-19, LSHTM Director and world-leading virologist Peter Piot gives a personal account of his experience with the novel coronavirus. He shares lessons learned from his work on Ebola and HIV, the role of survivors in the COVID-19 response, and his renewed mission for tackling the pandemic.

The Arnhold Institute for Global Health at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai hosted a discussion on nursing perspectives on health care during the COVID-19 pandemic.

In a new episode of COVID Considerations, Dean Patricia Davidson talks about how the sequencing and timing of public health measures matters when it comes to controlling infectious diseases.

Government-enforced social isolation may help relatively affluent populations limit the spread of COVID-19, but these measures can be devastating for the nearly 1 billion people around the globe currently dwelling in urban slums, where physical space is scarce, and many rely on daily wage labor for survival. UC Berkley's Kara Manke writes more about this topic and how one can help.
OTHER RESOURCES

COVID-19 is sweeping the country’s jails and prisons. They have proven to be breeding grounds for contagion, with close quarters and a lack of protective gear. Some have released inmates early to free up space -- but people inside say it is too little, too late. Yamiche Alcindor reports, and William Brangham talks to Dr. Homer Venters, former chief medical officer of the New York City jail system.

Thursday, May 28, 2020, 1:00 PM ET

In this presentation, Dr Mira Ziolo will give a brief background to zoonoses and spillover events. She will discuss the trends we are seeing in the new millennium and answer why we are seeing these trends. She will then take a deeper dive into underlying factors that drive these spillovers. She will discuss disparities in both animal and human populations and how those affect disease emergence. Climate Change will be brought in as a large driver for that emergence.

Thursday, May 28, 2020, 3:00 PM ET

Inter-American Development Bank President, Luis Alberto Moreno, joins CGD President Masood Ahmed to discuss how the COVID-19 pandemic is developing in Latin America. They will discuss IDB's support of safety nets for vulnerable populations, assistance to SMEs, and fiscal policies to ameliorate the economic impacts of the health crisis.

Friday, May 29, 2020, 11:00 AM ET

In this online event, panelists will discuss Senegal’s response to the COVID-19 pandemic’s economic impact and address challenges facing Senegal’s policymakers in reviving the economy. The conversation will focus on the key elements of the policy package (including the budgetary measures) implemented by Senegal since the advent of the crisis. What further policies are planned for mitigating the crisis’ impact? How will these plans be consistent with the government’s long-term goals? How is the country is seeking to save lives and shield the most vulnerable population groups from income losses?

Innovation is our exit strategy for the COVID-19 pandemic —and plan A of that strategy is developing a vaccine. No other health technology has the same potential to return our lives to a semblance of what they were before the pandemic. But how close are we? Amid the barrage of news stories covering a range of more than 100 vaccine candidates in development, it can be hard to understand how close scientists actually are to delivering a safe and effective vaccine to the world. To help you sort through the disarray, the Global Health Technology Coalition has answered some frequently asked questions to give you the facts that matter most.

Wednesday, May 27, 2020, 11:00 AM ET

In an effort to shed some light on the impact of the corona virus in South Asia, the Institute for South Asia Studies at UC Berkley has launched   COVID Conversations: Reflections from South Asia , a new series of virtual programs. Featuring UC Berkeley faculty in conversation with scholars, public intellectuals, health care providers, business leaders, journalists, and others in South Asia, the goal of this program is to understand the impact of the crisis from many different perspectives.  

Wednesday, May 27, 2020, 10:00 AM ET

Greece reacted swiftly and decisively to the threat of the novel coronavirus, keeping its death toll remarkably low. Now the nation is cautiously working on plans to open up to tourism — a critical sector of the economy — while keeping the deadly virus at bay.

On May 27, the Brookings Foreign Policy program, in partnership with the UVA Miller Center, will host Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis for a conversation on Greece’s successful response to the COVID-19 crisis and the challenges ahead as the country re-opens to tourism. Following welcome remarks by Brookings President  John R. Allen  and UVA President James E. Ryan, Brookings Robert Bosch Senior Fellow  Amanda Sloat   and UVA Miller Center Director and CEO  William Antholis  will moderate a conversation with Prime Minister Mitsotakis. Questions from the audience will follow the discussion.

Tuesday, June 9th, 2020, 3:00 PM ET

Register now to join the American Lung Association in nationwide virtual Better Breathers Club meetings for adults living with chronic lung diseases during the COVID-19 pandemic. This webinar will focus on maintaining lung disease management mmid COVID-19.

Two months in, and we’re all feeling it: quarantine fatigue. Wbur chats with the experts about how the concept of harm reduction might help us approach the future.
Consortium of Universities for Global Health
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