Posts written by hai-admin

EMA’s Brave Approach Governing AI in Medicines Regulation

Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Health Project Coordinator, Janneke van Oirschot, explains how the European Medicines Agency (EMA) aims to tackle the challenge of AI in medicines regulation, and what it…

6 December 2024

Unveiling the New TRIPS Flexibilities Navigator

Health Action International is happy to reveal the new update of the TRIPS Flexibilities Navigator. This update provides a smoother and easier search for the use of TRIPS flexibilities in…

19 November 2024

Health AI: A better-balanced narrative

Open any article or watch any item covering health AI on the news and the chances are you’ll be greeted with an overly positive narrative promoting it as a cost…

15 October 2024

A week among the greatest of mountains and minds: My experience at the European Health Forum Gastein

Janneke van Oirschot, HAI’s AI & Health Project coordinator took part in the Young Forum Gastein Scholarship programme of this year’s European Health Forum Gastein (EHFG). Below she shares some…

Climate and health are inextricably linked

Anyone following the news recently will have seen that heat records continue to tumble across the globe. According to the World Meteorological Organization, as of July, global average temperatures set…

30 September 2024

How a GP Group Stopped Accepting Pharma Funding

Guest blog on the decision of members of the Irish College of General Practitioners (ICGP) to stop accepting pharma funding. Written by Dr. Kieran Harkin and Prof. Susan Smith, members of the…

11 September 2024

Introducing the Digital Rights and Health Alliance

A new civil society led alliance launched today (Wednesday 19 June) is calling for the safeguarding of people and their fundamental rights in the use of new and algorithmic technologies…

AMR: Busy month, busy times to come

Antimicrobial resistance (AMR) has been declared by the World Health Organization (WHO) as one of the top threats to global health. Yet, even in the face of this grave danger…

Addressing medicines shortages in the European Union

Shortages of medicines are increasingly a matter of great concern in the European Union (EU) and are perceived as a “severe cross-border threat” by a number of national and EU…

Future MEPs: take control to ensure access to medicines

In a joint call, 12 public health organisations from 5 EU member states urge prospective Members of the European Parliament (MEPs) to safeguard access to affordable medicines. Access to medical…

INB 9: Final opportunity for States to agree on pandemic treaty?

This week, a Health Action International (HAI) delegation will be participating in the 9th (and presumedly final) session of the Intergovernmental Negotiating Body (INB) taking place in Geneva from 18th…

Civil society letter calls for European Parliament to support global access to medical tools

Nearly 80 civil society organisations, medical and legal experts have signed an open letter ahead of next week’s European Parliament plenary vote on the proposal for a Union Compulsory License….

Enabling Access to Medical Innovations for all

Wemos, Health Action International (HAI), Innovarte and Knowledge Ecology International (KEI) are happy and proud to announce that they are forming a consortium for the next four years to improve…

Putting access to insulin in the spotlight

This week in Amsterdam the Addressing the Challenge and Constraints of Insulin Sources and Supply (ACCISS) Study Team held their Multi-stakeholder Meeting 2023. And what a meeting it was! With…

5 December 2023

Everything Changes Everything Stays the Same

It may seem unlikely that I would invoke a Buddhist quote, but it seems very apt when it comes to a recent constitutional change in HAI’s governance. That said, I…

28 November 2023

Health for all requires a healthy planet

There is no health without a healthy planet – that’s why we joined the Netherlands’ largest-ever climate march last Sunday. Together with over 50 civil society organisations and hospitals, Health…

15 November 2023

A strategic approach to snakebite community engagement

This guest piece by Dr. Denis Kibira, Chief Executive Officer of DUMAIC Global Health and Coordinator of the Medicines Transparency Alliance (MeTA)-Uganda, is part of an informative series developed by…

8 November 2023

When the AI team went to Brussels

Last week, the HAI AI and communications teams visited Brussels to hold a breakfast briefing for journalists. The briefing aimed to provide journalists with the opportunity to learn more about…

26 October 2023

Flexibilities Navigator: An evermore valuable resource

Over the last few years, HAI’s European Projects and Communication Teams have been hard at work developing a specialised resource, the TRIPS Flexibilities Navigator, to encourage, embolden and enthuse decision-makers…

Reaching Snakebite Affected Communities Through Art

This guest piece by Maria Elena Barragan-Paladines, Executive Director of the Gustavo Orcés Herpetological Foundation (Ecuador), marks International Snakebite Awareness Day 2023! Maria is member of the Snakebite Community Engagement…

19 September 2023

World Snake Day: Celebrating snakes and their protectors

Guest blog by Hiral Naik, Africa Program Manager, Save The Snakes; and Chair of the Snakebite Community Engagement Network On 16 July we celebrate World Snake Day, and it is…

AI can threaten health equity for marginalised populations: the EU must act now

AI and algorithmic decision tools in healthcare may create gaping digital divides and threaten health equities, placing marginalised groups at particular risk. Hannah van Kolfschooten, Pin Lean Lau, and Janneke…

Pharma is gaming the system

Greater transparency is at the very heart of the quest for equitable access to medicines and other health technologies. Without it, it will be impossible to realise the fundamental human…

Five “Big MedTech” Myths about Medical AI Debunked

Criticism of the European Union’s AI Act by the HealthTech Industry is often based on incorrect assumptions, and is in conflict with health and fundamental rights principles, write Hannah van…

Health for all: Health for WHO(m)?

As we observe World Health Day (7th April) we also celebrate 75 years since the World Health Organization (WHO) was founded. The mantra then was ‘health for all’ and is…

Embracing Equity: International Women’s Day 2023

To mark this year’s International Women’s Day, one of our staff members shared their impressions of what embracing equity means in the workforce. The theme of this year’s International Women’s…

CAFCO brings together Youth Leaders and other Stakeholders to discuss access to SRH

The Solutions for Supporting Healthy Adolescents and Rights Protection (SHARP) Project is dedicated to improving access to adolescent sexual and reproductive health (ASRH) commodities and services and addressing the high…

22 February 2023

No taboos at Zambia SRH workshop

The Solutions for Supporting Healthy Adolescents and Rights Protection (SHARP) Project, funded by the European Union, is dedicated to improving access to adolescent sexual and reproductive health (ASRH) commodities and…

15 February 2023

Lack of diagnostics helps fuel AMR

A new report from Health Action International (HAI) and the PHG Foundation out today (24 January) says that the development and widespread use of more accurate and rapid diagnostic testing…

24 January 2023

AI and Medicines: A Year in Focus

AI and Medicines policy work at Health Action International has, with the help of consultant Hannah van Kolfschooten, accelerated over the past year. Over the course of a busy and…

16 January 2023