Vital Strategies

"There's an opportunity to really push on domestic resource mobilization so that African governments can actually determine how those resources are spent." Speaking at the Africa Health Agenda International Conference (AHAIC), our President and CEO Mary-Ann Etiebet, MD, MBA highlighted the importance of robust tax policies in building resilient health systems across Africa. There is a solution that has been tested at scale: By increasing the price of tobacco, alcohol and sugary beverages by 50%, we can save 50 million lives globally over 50 years. More in coverage by Sara Jerving at Devex: https://lnkd.in/ea_E67QU

Last week I had the chance to visit the Vital Strategies office in Addis Ababa ???? and learn first-hand about the consequential work our teams across the #Data4Health, #Partnership4HealthyCities, #RoadSafety & #AirPollution programs are doing to support governments in strengthening their #publichealth systems. ???? Launching a new partnership to strengthen health data surveillance systems with Dr. Getachew Tollera(MD, MPH) Ethiopian Public Health Institute, Mesoud Mohammed Ministry of Health, #BirukAbate & Daniel Getachew Kabtyimer Gates Foundation and 13 Ethiopian medical schools. ???? Supporting the development of policies to integrate climate threats like air pollution in health programming with the teams of Melkamu Abte (MD,MPH,MSc) Ethiopian Public Health Institute. ???? Strengthening data systems, analysis and reporting to identify critical health needs and inform the strategic priorities of MOH Mekdes Daba Feyssa, MD, MPH & Dereje Duguma MD, MPH Federal Ministry of Health Ethiopia. ???? Helping to accelerate the digitization of birth and death registration and enable seamless social service provision in support of the vision of DG Selamawit Dawit & Gosa D. Ethiopia Immigration Services. ???? to Daniel M. Chekol for your leadership of our Ethiopia office and the whole team for your continued commitment and dedication to our partners and the mission.

Cities can have a huge impact on reducing deaths from preventable causes, and the 74 cities in the Partnership for Healthy Cities have committed to doing just that. ? Join us on March 20th?on the Bloomberg Philanthropies YouTube channel as leaders from the Partnership come together to discuss best practices that are saving lives and creating healthier communities. cities4health.org World Health Organization Vital Strategies

The true cost of alcohol and tobacco extends way beyond its price tag at the bar: it also includes lives lost to disease, a strained healthcare system and economic losses from workers who die prematurely or become too sick to work. Taxing these products can recoup some of these societal costs. Read the op-ed from our partner Action For Economic Reforms (AER) here ?? https://lnkd.in/e38zV4Ta

At the recently held 2??- day #DPISummit in Colombo, Sri Lanka ????, UNDP #Tax4SDGs, Asian Development Bank (ADB), Deloitte, the Centre for Digital Public Infrastructure - CDPI), Sri Lanka Customs, the Ministry of Digital Economy in Sri Lanka, and the International Monetary Fund collaborated to explore the future of taxation in a digital world. Our working session on taxation & digitalization highlighted how Digital Public Infrastructure (DPI) can strengthen tax systems & enhance taxpayer compliance through: ? Identification – Trusted digital identities (Digi-IDs), open registries, and Single Sign-On (SSO) for seamless tax filing. ? Audit – AI-driven anomaly detection, real-time e-invoicing, and blockchain-enabled audit trails for transparency. ? Compliance – Interoperable payment networks, automated dashboards, and consent-based data sharing to simplify tax payments. UNDP Sri Lanka | Tom Beloe | Orria Go?i Delzangles | Sudarshan Rangan | Vital Strategies

At the Transforming Transportation #TTDC25 conference, Vital Strategies' Elizaveta Zeynalova shared the importance of social behavioral research when shaping interventions to prevent road crashes, injuries and deaths. We worked with local academic institutions in Colombia, Argentina and Vietnam to gather insights from motorcyclists. Motorcycle ridership has increased, leading to a rise in road deaths and injuries among riders. Understanding motorcyclists' knowledge, attitudes and beliefs is critical to developing solutions that save lives. Integrating these studies into public health can help ensure a reduction in motorcycle-related injuries and fatalities globally.

Data is critical to tackling gender-based violence. ???? In Nigeria, Dr. Sam KESHINRO, police pathologist, hosted a widely attended symposium to raise awareness on femicide, following a recent training of 150 police officers on a new data collection form to track femicide, in collaboration with the Bloomberg Philanthropies #Data4Health Initiative. With accurate data on deaths caused by gender-based violence, policymakers can build the most effective interventions to tackle #GBV and save lives. Thanks to The Nation Nigeria, The Sun Nigeria, Vanguard Media Limited, Trust TV, and more for covering this important work. Read or watch to learn more: ?? https://lnkd.in/e7hCNAxx ?? https://lnkd.in/euqUGJx6 ?? https://lnkd.in/eCpkr6uP ?? https://lnkd.in/eYPfkXZj

How can we protect children from lead poisoning? Join our webinar with Asia-Pacific Regional Network for Early Childhood (ARNEC) on Wednesday, March 26 to learn about the threat lead poses to children's health.

I was blown away by my visit to Africa CDC headquarters in Addis Ababa, established by the African Union to strengthen #publichealth capacity across the continent. Thank you to Dr Claudia S., Director External Affairs, for the invitation and opportunity to discuss shared visions, Tajudeen Raji, Acting Deputy Director General, for your hospitality, and Dr Ibrahima Sonko, MD, MPH-FETP, PhD.c for the giving the team Vital Strategies a peak at the wealth of public health data available at the click of a button in the #PublicHealthEmergency Operations Command Center. This investment in a network of real-time verified outbreak data and rapid response systems is protecting Africa - and the world - from deadly epidemics. #GlobalHealthSecurity. But they haven’t stopped there. Africa CDC is also working on broader public health system strengthening including supporting #primaryheathcare, domestic resource mobilization, and addressing #climate health threats. So exciting to see these capabilities in person! #ReImaginingPublicHealth

In a new op-ed in The Hindu, Dr. Gururaj Gopalkrishna and Vaishakhi Mallik highlight the critical role of communication campaigns and strict law enforcement in improving road safety in India. With road traffic crashes causing over 1.19 million deaths annually, the state of Karnataka's recent campaigns on speeding and correct helmet use have shown positive results, reducing risky behaviors. However, shifting the culture from accepting crashes as inevitable to viewing them as preventable tragedies requires continuous messaging and enforcement as part of a comprehensive road safety approach. Read the op-ed to learn more about how these efforts can save lives ?? https://lnkd.in/e_TcE5YZ