Think Global Health | June 7, 2021
Read the PublicationThe rapid and devastating movement of COVID around the world has eclipsed other health priorities over the last 18 months. The emergence of SARS-CoV-2 has overcome fragile health systems, led to the deaths of over 3.7 million people and reversed decades of progress on expanding social protection, education, child protection, and gender equality. In the shadow of this new pandemic, we have also seen some of the hard-won gains against HIV, TB, and malaria begin to unravel—especially in countries where COVID vaccination is scarce. The reality is, we cannot end AIDS or achieve other global health and development goals unless we beat COVID globally. However, it is also true that we cannot beat COVID without learning lessons from the global HIV response. As a third wave of COVID mounts in Africa, and the toll of the pandemic worsens in India and South America, we need action that is as strategic as it is bold.