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One of the great things about working at GHTC is that every day we get to read stories about incredible innovations in global health. Most of the technologies we read about are inventive, some are revolutionary, and a few are so unusual, one might think they were ripped from the pages of a science fiction novel. So, to enjoy a bit of fun and mischief this Halloween, we’ve created a new game, TRICK or TREATment, to test our readers’ knowledge of global health technologies. For each question, we will present a description of a global health technology. Choose TREATment if you believe this innovation exists and has market approval. Choose TRICK if you think we are trying to pull one over on you and, instead, the product is still in development or just a figment of our imagination.  Loading... (function(i, s, o, g, r, a, m) { var ql = document.querySelectorAll('A[quiz],DIV[quiz],A[data-quiz],DIV[data-quiz]'); if (ql) { if (ql.length) { for (var k = 0; k

The Global Health Technologies Coalition (GHTC) is greatly encouraged that yesterday’s Okayama Declaration from G20 Health Ministers contains strong support for investing in research and development (R&D) initiatives to combat antimicrobial resistance (AMR) and improve public health preparedness.Global health R&D has consistently produced new advances that address major challenges facing the world today. That’s especially evident in the recent breakthroughs in fighting Ebola and drug-resistant tuberculosis. The G20 Health Ministers are sending an important signal that R&D continues to be critical for driving solutions to emerging threats. Drug-resistant infections alone would take 10 million lives by 2050 unless we move quickly to develop new solutions. Thus, we applaud the G20’s ongoing support for the Global AMR R&D Hub and continued investments in R&D for antimicrobials, diagnostics and vaccines. We’re also pleased to see GHTC member organization FIND recognized for its contributions in advancing diagnostics, which are essential for detecting, diagnosing and monitoring drug-resistant infections.The health declaration from the G20 can provide much-needed direction and momentum for ongoing efforts to achieve the 2030 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), and particularly SDG3, which is aimed at ensuring healthy lives for all. We applaud the Health Ministers for the timely recognition that R&D will be critical for dealing with rising threats and creating a more just and equitable world. 

Interested in more global health innovation news? Every week GHTC scours media reports worldwide to deliver essential global health R&D news and content to your inbox. Sign-up now to receive our weekly R&D News Roundup email. An Ebola vaccine developed by Merck & Co was approved by European regulators on Friday in a move hailed as a “triumph for public health” by the World Health Organization (WHO). The vaccine, which protects against the Zaire strain of the Ebola virus—the one that most commonly causes outbreaks—, is being used on an emergency basis during the current outbreak in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. The regulators recommended conditional marketing authorization for the vaccine, which the European Commission is likely to affirm in the coming weeks, granting full marketing authorization to all member states under its purview. The vaccine is also under review by the US Food and Drug Administration using a fast-track pathway, with a decision expected in the first quarter of next year. Last week, WHO released its 2019 Global Tuberculosis Report which highlights several new technologies in the pipeline to diagnose and treat tuberculosis (TB), including a promising vaccine that could prevent people with latent TB from developing the disease. The report cites that the vaccine is one of 23 drugs, combination regimens, and vaccine candidates currently in clinical trials. Though funding for TB research and development reached US$772 million in 2017, it remains well below the target of $2 billion annually agreed to by United Nations member states at the High-Level Meeting on TB in 2018. Researchers in Brazil have identified a new parasitic disease that causes severe damage to the liver, spleen, and skin and is believed to have infected more than 150 people and caused two deaths in a northeast region of the country. The disease displays similar symptoms to two forms of leishmaniasis–a neglected tropical disease spread by infected female sandflies that attacks both the skin and internal organs. However, this new disease, which is caused by the Cridia sergipensis parasite, does not appear to respond to conventional treatments for leishmaniasis. A researcher involved in the journal article identifying this new disease emphasized the need for further research. “This is the first warning. We still need to diagnose where this parasite is located, what the vectors are, how it is transmitted, and develop an effective medicine,” he said.