HFI Turns One

Last month, our newsletter highlighted HFI's achievements in 2019, and we shared some of the organizational milestones we're looking forward to reaching in 2020. 

This month, we’re celebrating our one-year anniversary as a full-fledged non-profit. So I would like to take this opportunity to look back, and reflect on some of the experiences and lessons that have gotten us to where we are today. 

Our small, growing, and mighty team
Everyone can attest to how the strength of an organization and its ability to generate impact lie within the individuals who make up the organization.

This rings even more true for an early-stage startup, where the first few staff members are critical to its success. HFI has attracted individuals who have not only believed in our mission but have contributed to it and refined our approach in significant ways. We are so excited to continue building into the future. I write this from our newly minted and official office in DC. (Some, not all, of our team members above!)

As we look to expand our team, we recognize that team culture and fit are central to HFI. If you are a mission-driven individual (or know people who are) and are excited about using public and private finance to tackle chronic diseases, we would love to connect.   

Creating larger splashes: HFI featured in BBC & NCD Alliance film series
As we continue to grow and tee up our pipeline of projects, we're looking forward to developing a stronger global presence. This past month, BBC StoryWorks and NCD Alliance launched a mini-film series, highlighting organizations that are focused on #TurningTheTide on NCDs. And the Health Finance Institute was one of them. See our short film here. We set the stage for the health and economic impact of the growing NCD burden, dispelled some of the myths around these diseases, and provided new solutions to increase investments and blended finance capital. We are very thankful to the The Leona M. and Harry B. Helmsley Charitable Trust for support for this film.

For more information on how we could engage and partner with you, check out How To Work With Us.

Annual World Economic Forum Meeting at Davos and the Global NCDA Forum in Sharjah

Davos

Taking part in the World Economic Forum 2020 in Davos was exhilarating and inspiring. I was very proud to represent HFI and share the stage with Dr. Monika Puri, Head of Institutional Relations at Roche, Alan Donnelly G20 Health and Development Partnership, Edward Nopu, Secretary General's Sustainable Development Goals Advocate, and Andrew Jack from the Financial Times on Wednesday, January 22 in the SDG Tent to discuss the importance of partnerships and blended finance.

The panel, Access at the Heart of Healthcare Innovation, included patient and advocate voices and touched upon how investment in health is an investment in human capacity (beyond a right), as well as how public-private partnerships can play a role in tackling the inequalities in access to medicine and financing the SDG investment gap for achieving the health SDGs in 2030 and deliver “health for all”. 

SDGs were prominently featured in Davos, including mental health, and some promising funding and financing initiatives are emerging from this power-packed week. There are many exciting initiatives to watch out for. This includes the SDG 500, a platform that aims to raise $500 million for a blended finance fund by June 2020 targeting businesses in the agriculture, finance, energy, education and healthcare sectors in Africa, Asia and Latin America, with a gender equity lens. In addition, the Fourth Industrial Revolution also took center stage in Davos. Policymakers and CEOs were gathered to discover innovative ways to leverage technologies to drive inclusive and sustainable growth for SDGs. 

We fittingly spent our first anniversary at the 2020 Global NCD Alliance Forum - Bridging the Gap in Sharjah, and celebrated our young organization’s achievements by attending a plethora of discussions and actively participating in three events:

• Launch of the BBC Storyworks video;

• Delivering and financing quality care for NCDs: Leaving no-one behind panel hosted by the Helmsley Charitable Trust; and, 

• Sustainable investment, smarter financing for NCDs: The power of civil society in driving change workshop 

I was excited be there for the launch of the BBC Storyworks video, participate on the Helmsley Charitable Trust’s (HCT) panel, co-organize a workshop with a talented group of individuals from UNDP, PharmAccess, the Joep Lange Institute, Cancer Research UK, Sanofi, and the Framework Convention Alliance, and serve as one of two keynote speakers at the aforementioned workshop alongside Elfatih Abdelraheem from UNDP.

Below are some of my key takeaways from the 2020 NCD Alliance Forum:

• Country and civil society representation was high at this year’s forum. It is evident that more countries are recognizing that NCDs are here to stay, and NCD Alliance members from the Middle East and Africa urged the NCD community to come up with financing solutions to address the growing burden of these diseases.

• Funders, like NORAD and other private foundations, recognized the need to step up in the fight against NCDs.

• Bottom up and top down approaches need to be integrated for maximum impact. The need to include patients and practitioner voices alongside those working on policy and financing solutions was discussed on the panel hosted by the Helmsley Charitable Trust. 

Overall, the energy at the event was palpable. Local NCD Alliance leaders and patient advocates effectively communicated the urgent need to address NCDs and the call for health financing solutions was loud and clear. I left Sharjah inspired and am already looking forward to next year’s event.

 Resources

• OECD Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development, “The Heavy Burden of Obesity: The Economics of Prevention”

• Press Release: Zawya, “NCDA Global forum sheds light on effective governance and accountability policies to tackle NCDs”

• Devex, “How can data build a truer picture of the gender gap in food insecurity?”

• Devex, “Pilot program tackles 'problematic' data requirements for gender-based violence”

• Independent Commission on Aid Impact, “The changing nature of UK aid in Ghana”

Events

• 2020 Innovations in Healthcare Annual Forum, 16-17 March 2020, Washington, DC, organized by Duke University

• Micronutrient Forum 5th Global Conference 2020, 23-27 March 2020, Bangkok, Thailand, organized by the Micronutrient Forum

• The International Social and Behavior Change Communication Summit 2020, 30 March-3 April 2020, Marrakech, Morocco, organized by the CORE Group.

• Global Health and Innovation Conference, 4-5 April 2020, New Haven, Connecticut at Yale University, organized by Unite for Sight

• World Bank Spring Meetings, 13-19 April 2020, Washington, DC, organized by the World Bank Group

• SwitchPoint 2020, 16-17 April 2020, Saxapahaw, North Carolina, organized by IntraHealth International

• InterAction Forum 2020, 22-23 April 2020, Washington, DC, organized by InterAction

• The Health for All Film Festival, 16, 21, and 22 May 2020, Geneva, Switzerland, organized by WHO

• 73rd World Health Assembly, 17-21 May 2020, Geneva Switzerland, organized by the World Health Organization