Victoria K. Holt
Distinguished Fellow
Legacy Program: Global Health Security
Hearing on “United Nations Peacekeeping in Africa”
April 30, 2019 – Tori Holt tesified in front of the Subcommittee on Africa, Global Health, Human Rights and International Organizations, a part of the House Foreign Affairs Committees in the U.S. House of Representatives about the United Nations (U.N.) Peacekeeping in Africa, highlighting the important role the United States need to play in global …
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Getting Real About Refugees and Public Health
They came. They saw. They left. Leaders convened in Brussels earlier this week to discuss how to move forward in earnest with the EU-Turkey Joint Action Plan on refugees. The informal summit was certainly much ado about nothing. They proposed twelve goals, none of them new nor unexpected. EU officials placed emphasis on how to manage …
Refugees, Europe, and Good Public Health Policy
By Melissa S. Hersh: In advance of a major summit on migration between Europe and Turkey slated for today, the Sweden Democrats — Sweden’s far-right, anti-immigration party — is the latest in a series of European parties to highlight infectious diseases as a reason for not accepting migrants. What’s wrong with the message the Sweden …
Lessons from Ebola: Preparing for the Next Infectious Disease Crisis
By Sharon Jackson: The emergence of novel infectious diseases during the last 50 years has challenged both developed and developing countries. Regardless of the level of development and resource endowment, the optimal emergency preparedness and public health response to an infectious disease crisis needs at least the following three components: policies that maximize the utility …
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New Views on Health and Conflict: Mitigating Impact and Rebuilding Health Systems
Dr. Len Rubenstein, John Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health and Gloria J. Kim & Marcia D. Fernandez, John F. Kennedy School of Government, Harvard University presented findings on the impact of armed conflict on population health and health systems, and the implications for U.S. national security and foreign assistance strategies. Gloria Kim and Marcia …
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Controlling Epidemics: Use of Isolation Measures
Tools to control infectious disease outbreaks include medical and non-medical interventions. If the disease-causing agent is a novel pathogen or medical countermeasures (vaccines and drugs) are not available, immediate public health measures, such as quarantine and isolation, may be critical to mitigating the epidemic. Quarantine and isolation measures include voluntary and involuntary social distancing efforts. …
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Challenges in Health Diplomacy: Sharing Influenza Viruses and Access to Vaccines and Other Benefits
The recent H1N1 influenza pandemic re-emphasized the significance of sample and benefit sharing in the global response to public health crises. In 2007, the World Health Organization (WHO) initiated an Intergovernmental Meeting on Pandemic Influenza Preparedness (IGM) to develop a framework for the transfer and use of virus specimens and fair …
Russell Rumbaugh and Barry Blechman’s op-ed on USAF strategic agility published in Breaking Defense
The myriad of conflicts raging worldwide right now would pose a challenge to any defense strategy. From Russian aggression in Ukraine and China’s belligerence in contested waters to a particularly violent flaring of the Israel-Palestine conflict and Iraq’s internal chaos, these crises feature open violence each of which may require a military response. Yet, a …
Barry Blechman’s profile is featured in The Washington Post among other key players in the security
Barry Blechman Co-founder of the Henry L. Stimson Center (since 1989) Why He Matters As Obama’s campaign against nuclear weapons heats up, he’s going to need to rely on people like Blechman. Blechman co-founded the Henry L. Stimson Center, a nonpartisan think tank that focuses on national and international security issues. He also launched DFI …
Global Health Security: A Long-Term Prescription
The Challenge We need a coherent global health strategy that looks beyond each crisis to the bigger picture. The 2003 SARS outbreak, when a new and virulent pneumonia spread by international travelers killed hundreds and wreaked havoc on Asian economic growth, illustrated the vulnerability of even developed nations to emerging infections. The ongoing HIV/AIDS epidemic …
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Global Health Security: A Long-term Prescription
We need a coherent global health strategy that looks beyond each crisis to the bigger picture. The US has invested billions of dollars in confronting health threats abroad – one disease at a time. The Challenge We need a coherent global health strategy that looks beyond each crisis to the bigger picture. The 2003 SARS …
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Julie Fischer and Rebecca Katz Publish “Momentum for Global Health Security” Op-ed in the Hill
Amidst contentions over Palestinian statehood, a walkout by delegations during the Iranian president’s address, and the challenges of reinvented governments, a revolutionary moment for global health security snuck by virtually unnoticed at the 2011 United Nations General Assembly. On September 21st, President Obama delivered his address to the Assembly. After touching on a range of …
NCDs: Redefining Global Health Security for the 21st Century
On September 19th, the United Nations General Assembly convened global leaders to confront an emerging health issue with major socioeconomic implications for only the second time in history. Leaders gathered at the UN High Level Meeting on Non-Communicable Diseases in New York to chart a path forward in addressing the threat of non-communicable chronic diseases …
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New Report Finds Flat Global HIV/AIDS Assistance to the Developing World
A new report, “Financing the Response to AIDS in Low- and Middle-Income Countries: International Assistance from Donor Governments in 2011,” finds funding in 2011 returned to 2008-9 levels, after a one-year drop in 2010. The report was co-authored by Stimson Senior Advisor Eric Lief, with UNAIDS and the Kaiser Family Foundation. Click here to read.
Reception and Launch of HIV/AIDS, Disability and Discrimination Guide
Stimson was pleased to host the reception and launch of One Billion Strong’s HIV/AIDS, Disability and Discrimination: A Thematic Guide on Inclusive Law, Policy, and Programming. The guide addresses the unique vulnerability of persons with disabilities within the context of HIV and AIDS law, policy, and programming. It focuses on strategies for overcoming the barriers …
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The International AIDS Conference 2012
This week, the eyes of the health community will be on Washington, DC, as the United States hosts the International AIDS Conference for the first time in 22 years. While the conference convenes every two years, it has not been on US soil since 1990, due to a travel ban on HIV-positive individuals into the …
Costing Framework for International Health Regulations (2005)
The revised International Health Regulations (IHR [2005]) conferred new responsibilities on member states of the World Health Organization, requiring them to develop core capacities to detect, assess, report, and respond to public health emergencies. Many countries have not yet developed these capacities, and poor understanding of the associated costs have created a barrier to effectively …
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Global Health Security program publishes article on costing framework of the IHR (2005)
Global Health Security experts Vibhuti Haté, Sarah Kornblet, and Julie E. Fischer publish in Emerging Infectious Diseases, with lead author Rebecca Katz of George Washington University. The complete article, “Costing Framework for International Health Regulations (2005),” and its abstract are available here.
Book Event: Security and Development in Global Politics
Stimson hosted a book event to discuss topics explored in the new book, Security and Development in Global Politics, which looks at seven core international issues from the point of view of security and development: aid, humanitarian assistance, governance, health, poverty, trade and resources, and demography. At no time has security and development been more …
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Two Malarias
By Karen Masterson – The November 2011 newsletter of Roll Back Malaria – a partnership sponsored by the World Health Organization, the United Nations and the World Bank – contains the following headline: “Nearly a third of all malaria affected countries on course for elimination over the next decade.” In this short sentence, RBM conjures …
Biological Weapons Under Review at the BTWC
By Meghan Seltzer – The Seventh Review Conference of the Biological and Toxins Weapons Convention (BTWC) is currently underway in Geneva, Switzerland, through December 22. At this meeting, countries are discussing a range of issues concerning the BTWC, which is one of two treaties that govern efforts by the international community to prevent an attack …
Advancing the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (Farsi Version)
The Stimson Center project, Iran and America: A Dialogue about Disability, held in partnership with BlueLaw International LLP, the Harvard Law School Project on Disability, and Iranian partner organizations, assembled civil society leaders, academics, and other experts for a US-Iran cross-cultural dialogue on disability law and rights. The Dialogue has afforded a unique, open platform …
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Advancing the Rights of Persons with Disabilities: A US – Iran Dialogue on Law, Policy, and Advocacy
The Stimson Center, BlueLaw International LLP, and the Harvard Law School Project on Disability would like to invite you to a panel discussion and publication release on their joint project, Iran and America: A Dialogue about Disability. The event will be held on Tuesday, November 29th at the Stimson Center from 2:00 – 3:30 p.m. …
Advancing the Rights of Persons with Disabilities: A US-Iran Dialogue on Law, Policy, and Advocacy
The Stimson Center project, Iran and America: A Dialogue about Disability, held in partnership with BlueLaw International LLP, the Harvard Law School Project on Disability, and Iranian partner organizations, assembled civil society leaders, academics, and other experts for a US-Iran cross-cultural dialogue on disability law and rights. The Dialogue has afforded a unique, open platform …
Eric Lief Contributes to New Study on Innovative Financing Mechanisms for Global Health
Eric Lief is a contributer to a new report released by the Kaiser Family Foundation on Innovative Financing Mechanisms for Global Health. The complete report can be found here: http://www.kff.org/globalhealth/upload/8247.pdf
The Rise of Health Diplomacy
By Sarah Kornblet, Julie E. Fischer and Rebecca Katz – Around the world, global health increasingly has become a part of foreign policy agendas and is included in national security, trade, and diplomacy discussions. The SARS outbreak of 2003 and the 2009 H1N1 influenza A pandemic show how quickly emerging infections can spread, costing lives …
Global Health Security Program Publishes Analysis on Health Diplomacy in the Milbank Quarterly
Stimson’s Global Health Security program, with Rebecca Katz of George Washington University, published a new analysis on Defining Health Diplomacy: Changing Demands in the Era of Globalization in the new issue of the Milbank Quarterly. In this article, the authors describe the context, practice, and components of global health diplomacy, as applied operationally. They examine …
Study Co-Authored by Eric Lief Cited by Desmond Tutu Op-Ed
A Desmond Tutu op-ed cited Financing the Response to AIDS in Low-Income & Middle-Income Countries, a 2010 study co-authored by Stimson Senior Associate Eric Lief and Jen Kates of the Kaiser Family Foundation. The report found that funding has fallen in 2010, following a string of double-digit-percentage increases over a decade and flat funding in 2009.
Defining Health Diplomacy: Changing Demands in the Era of Globalization
Stimson’s Global Health Security program, with Rebecca Katz of George Washington University, published a new analysis on Defining Health Diplomacy: Changing Demands in the Era of Globalization in the new issue of the Milbank Quarterly. In this article, the authors describe the context, practice, and components of global health diplomacy, as applied operationally. They examine …
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New report finds global HIV/AIDS assistance has dropped to middle- and low- income countries
A new report co-authored by Stimson Senior Advisor Eric Lief with the Kaiser Family Foundation finds funding to have fallen in 2010, following a string of double-digit-percentage increases over a decade and flat funding in 2009. Read the complete set of reports.
Financing the response to AIDS in low-income & middle-income countries
The latest analysis of global AIDS assistance financing for 2010 has been released by UNAIDS and the Kaiser Family Foundation. The report finds funding to have fallen in 2010, following a string of double-digit-percentage increases over a decade and flat funding in 2009. Stimson Center Senior Advisor Eric Lief co-authored the analyses for 2007, 2008, 2009 and …
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Julie Fischer authors article on the health challenges facing growing urban areas in the future
Julie Fischer and Rebecca Katz author an article for the current issue of Global Health Governance on the international flow of risk. Read the complete article.
The International Flow of Risk: The Governance of Health in an Urbanizing World
In 2008, the world’s urban population exceeded its rural population for the first time. The United Nations estimates that about 15% of the world’s population now lives in “megacities” of 10 million or more people, or in near-megacities of 5-10 million. Three-quarters of the megacities are in low- and middle-income nations, where rural-to-urban migration will …
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A World Transformed: Lessons from HIV/AIDS
By Julie E. Fischer – This week marks the 30th year of living in a world transformed by awareness of AIDS – and of understanding that the devastating pandemic actually began decades earlier. This 30-year marker recognizes that on 5 June 1981, CDC published a report describing puzzling pneumonias in five previously healthy young homosexual …
The International Health Regulations (2005): Surveillance and Response in an Era of Globalization
In an era of routine air travel and disease multipliers born of human behaviors, a public health crisis anywhere in the world is a potential problem everywhere. For over one hundred years, nations have negotiated measures to prevent cross-border disease spread. Approaches that endured through the twentieth century focused on protecting international trade and travel …
Dr. Julie Fischer discusses global health and national security
Click here to read Julie Fischer’s interview with the The Kaiser Daily Global Health Policy report.
Cooperative Threat Reduction: Reducing Biological Risks in East Africa
By Kevin Wickel – In November 2010, Senator Richard Lugar and a team of Pentagon officials travelled to biological research facilities in Kenya and Uganda to highlight the regional bioterrorism threat. The Department of Defense has subsequently announced that the Nunn-Lugar Cooperative Threat Reduction program would, for the first time, expand its biological threat reduction …
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Containing Drug Resistant Malaria: the Risks of Weak Health Systems
By Karen Masterson – For decades, the global health community has sought affordable drugs to obliterate malaria-causing microbes – which include strains so virulent and fast acting they can kill a child the same day symptoms appear. Africans are the most in need of effective drug therapies because they are the hardest hit, absorbing 90 …
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The Revised International Health Regulations: A Framework for Global Pandemic Response
The 2009 H1N1 influenza outbreak tested the revised International Health Regulations [IHR (2005)] robustly for the first time. The IHR (2005) contributed to swift international notification, allowing nations to implement their pandemic preparedness plans while Mexico voluntarily adopted stringent social distancing measures to limit further disease spread – factors that probably delayed sustained human-to-human transmission …
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Comparative Analysis of National Legislation supporting the International Health Regulations
In 2005, the World Health Organization adopted the revised InternationalHealth Regulations, or IHR (2005), to establish obligationsfor detecting and responding to public health emergencies ofinternational concern. The success of the IHR (2005) rests on the ability of statesto implement the objectives and to execute the regulations ina legal and politically acceptable manner. Implementation ofthe IHR …
The International Flow of Risk
Greater economic integration, changing human behavior and technological innovation present unique challenges for the 21st century. Constituting a web of interdependency and transfer of risk, the Global Health Security team aims to examine contemporary, transboundary trends through the lens of public health and global security Mega Cities: The Nexus of Risk
Sustainable Finance for Health
The sustainable finance for health arm of the Global Health Security teams works to produce quantitative analysis of a growing and changing donor landscape as it pertains to sustainable development financing, health and security.
Holding on to the One Child Policy: China’s Great Demographic Trade-Off
Beijing’s 2008 decision to maintain a somewhat liberalized version of its One-Child Policy surprised both Chinese and foreign demographers. Was the decision the product of a strategic calculation, or simply bureaucratic inertia? And was Beijing’s decision a smart one? By Richard Cincotta – Demographers in China and abroad were surprised when, after weeks of …
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