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Role of business schools

Dialogue Chair Kaven Madani introduces the issue of Green Recovery

Seemin Qayum of UN Women addresses the importance of collective action by women

"Le vaccin est une arme qui permettra de combattre le virus"

Mark Carney: Net zero transition represents "greatest commercial opportunity of our time" The three-day summit, called the "Green Horizon summit", opens on the day when the international conference on the climate COP26 was initially scheduled to begin in Glasgow. COP26 has now been postponed to 2021 due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The Green Horizon Summit is seen as a key milestone en route to Glasgow COP26. It brings together leaders of finance, business, government and civil society from around the world for a progress check on green finance for the Great Reset; and to showcase innovative finance solutions to accelerate industry’s net-zero transition and for nature-based solutions. According to Mark Carney 126 countries, including half the G20, have now committed to net zero by 2050 at the latest. And there is a clear opportunity to invest in a green, resilient recovery as countries seek to recover from the pandemic. Could COVID-19 be a catalyst for achieving the objective agreed in the Paris Agreement to limit global temperature increases to below 2°C from pre-industrial levels?

Anger and exasperation, the latest coronavirus lockdowns spark protests around the world, especially in Europe. Dr Michael Ryan, WHO’s emergencies chief, at a briefing in Geneva yesterday, said "We understand people's frustrations. but governments in Europe in particular at this time are facing a very, very difficult situation" Anti-lockdown protest sees around thousands of demonstrators as European nations wound back the clocks to the spring with fresh lockdowns and restrictions aimed at halting galloping infections and deaths. Officials have said European economies, already devastated by lockdowns in March, April and May, will take a further hit from the second series of closures, even though the new measures are mostly not as strict and many governments and companies and are better equipped to deal with them. The virus has killed at least 1,196,109 people worldwide since the outbreak emerged last December, infecting more than 46 million.

Winnie Byanyima urges leaders at The World Health Summit to commit to a people's vaccine UNAIDS Executive Director and other members of the People’s Vaccine Alliance are calling for a new approach that puts public health first by sharing knowledge and maximising supply. Winnie Byanyima said people’s Vaccine for COVID-19, treatments and tests should be patent-free, mass produced and distributed fairly and free for all.

The links between tuberculosis (TB), lung health and the COVID-19 pandemic. The International Union Against Tuberculosis and Lung Disease (The Union), the world's first global health NGO celebrated its one-hundredth birthday, yesterday on the 20 October.The President of The Union, Prof Guy Marks, recognised that a global health crisis – tuberculosis – could not be defeated without international collaboration and knowledge sharing, came together and founded The Union. Reflecting on the journey so far and the distance left to travel, Prof Guy Marks also made the links between tuberculosis (TB), lung health and the COVID-19 pandemic.Delegates from 135 countries, including nearly 1000 TB survivors, are attending the conference, originally set to take place in Seville, Spain.World Health Organization Director-General, Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, is among them. He stressed that the world cannot allow the pandemic to become an excuse for failing to deliver on the commitments made to end TB, tobacco and air pollution: “The pandemic will end, but TB, tobacco, air pollution and other lung diseases will continue to steal the breath and life of millions of people every year.”Results from a survey across 19 countries of people's attitudes towards a potential COVID-19 vaccine, to be published in Nature Medicine, will be presented by lead author Jeffrey Lazarus of ISGlobal, and he will talk about concerns around regionally low levels of vaccine acceptance.

Coronavirus: Herd immunity is back in the news! and today the White House Embraces Covid-19 ‘Herd Immunity’ Declaration.What is herd immunity and how can we achieve it with COVID-19? Speaking at a news conference on Monday, Dr Tedros argued that the long-term impacts of coronavirus - as well as the strength and duration of any immune response - remained unknown.He added that “Herd immunity is a concept used for vaccination, in which a population can be protected from a certain virus if a threshold of vaccination is reached”“Never in the history of public health has herd immunity been used as a strategy for responding to an outbreak”, the WHO chief said, calling it “scientifically and ethically problematic”.

Debt of 73 low-income countries at end of 2019 was up 9.5% on previous year. A new World Bank study showed that the external debt of the 73 countries currently eligible to have this year’s repayments suspended stood at $744bn (£568bn) at the end of 2019 – an increase of 9.5% on 2018. Many countries have approached the IMF and the World Bank for short-term emergency assistance, around twice the number that requested assistance in the aftermath of the 2008 Global Crisis There is growing concern of an imminent debt crisis among low-income countries struggling to keep up the payments on money borrowed from a mix of public and private creditors over the past decade. The G20 group of large economies is reportedly poised to extend a multibillion-dollar debt freeze for the world’s poorest countries to help them weather the coronavirus crisis, and may adopt a common approach to dealing with longer-term debt restructuring, however the G20 negotiators “face resistance from China, Turkey and India” Reuters reports.

The outlook for the labour market has worsened significantly since the last ILO Monitor was issued. The International Labour Organization (ILO) has released the latest projections of the impact that the COVID-19 outbreak is having on workers and businesses worldwide. The revised estimate of global working time lost in the second quarter (Q2) of this year (when compared to Q4 2019) is for 17.3 per cent, equivalent to 495 million full-time equivalents (FTE) jobs (based on a 48-hour working week), whereas the earlier estimate was for 14 per cent or 400 million FTE jobs. In Q3 of 2020, global working-hour losses of 12.1 per cent (345 million FTE jobs) are expected. One reason for the estimated increases in working-hour losses is that workers in developing and emerging economies, especially those in informal employment, have been much more affected than by past crises, the Monitor noted. It also noted that the drop in working-hour losses is more attributable to inactivity than to unemployment, with important policy implications. The ILO Monitor gives updated projections for the number of working hours lost globally as a result of the labour market disruption caused by COVID-19.

Pfizer Vaccine on Track for Regulatory Review in October Pfizer CEO said the Covid-19 vaccine they are jointly developing is on track to be submitted for regulatory review as early as October, as they released additional data from an early-stage study. Pfizer’s potential vaccine is one of three backed by the U.S. that’s currently in late-stage testing. The U.S.-based pharmaceutical giant has been working alongside German drugmaker BioNTech. In July, Pfizer released promising data from its early-stage trial.

Yes, we need a vaccine to control Covid-19. But we need new treatments, too: Thomas Cueni Hopes for a relatively quick return to normalcy are riding high on promising news about Covid-19 vaccines. Nearly 200 vaccines are in development worldwide. And with six of them already being tested in Phase 3 clinical trials, the possibility exists that a vaccine could be ready by the end of the year. But we need to be realistic: A vaccine is not a silver bullet.

What is quarantine? As more countries are imposing a quarantine on arrivals from 'high-risk' countries. The World Health Organisation says the Covid-19 quarantine period should not be reduced from 14 days. The rule currently applies to those who've been diagnosed with the virus, and their close contacts. Several countries, including France and Ireland, are considering reducing the period to seven or ten days. But Dr Maria Van Kerkhove, from the WHO, says its advice hasn't changed.

COVID-19 Threatens to Derail Fight Against HIV. Peter Sands highlights how the COVID-19 pandemic has disrupted HIV prevention, testing and treatment, and how health partners and communities are developing new solutions to unite to fight against HIV.

4 steps every country, community and people must take now to prevent coronavirus deaths.

“There is no pathway to net zero that does not involve Nature-based Solutions.” The Rt Hon Goldsmith added that we need to recognise the value of what nature provides for us.

WHO reports shows that more than 95 per cent of these deaths occurred among people over the age of 60. About 50 per cent of all deaths included people 80 years of age or older. Statistics indicate that 8 out of 10 deaths occur in people with at least one comorbidity, particularly those with cardiovascular disease, hypertension and diabetes, but also with several other underlying chronic conditions.According to the WHO, COVID-19 is changing the everyday lives of older people, the treatment and help they seek, their desire to stay socially involved and how they are viewed. Indeed, older people are affected by the need to spend more time at home, loss of social interaction with other family members, friends and colleagues, sudden cessation of work and other activities, and distress and fear of sickness and death – their own and others. Notwithstanding the vulnerability of older people, they should not be presented as though they are and have not contributed positively in the fight towards this pandemic. Dr. Naeema Al-Gasseer emphasises some of the contributions of older people during difficult times.

A World Bank's study states that the influence of major natural disasters is equivalent to a global loss of $520 billion in annual consumption and pushes some 26 million people into poverty per year. For most situations, a successful response program eliminates perceived effects and facilitates 'rapid recovery,' minimizing accumulated impacts on public safety and the economy in general.Recently, debates on a successful post-covid19 economic and social recovery are progressing. Regarding how to recover better, the Covid19 pandemic has shown that SDGs are not only important to low-and middle-income nations but all countries around the world. In addition to the various suggestions from expects, Anastasia Gage inferred the use of trickle-down effects from global, regional and local behaviour. She recommended that national governments should invest in emergency services and that more focus should be paid to those who are usually affected by unexpected circumstances such as covid19.

Coronavirus vaccine: profits Vs public health. The European Commission has raised at least €9.8 billion for a Coronavirus Global Response. It's President Ursula von der Leyen promised that any future vaccine would be “our universal, common good.” echoing UN's António Guterres who said that #COVID19 vaccine must be considered "a global public good. Not a vaccine for one country or one region". However, a crucial question posing a dilemma for both the pharmaceutical industry and politicians around the globe is already emerging: which countries will be served first with a vaccine? Whoever wins the race to come up with a successful coronavirus vaccine will also win massive profits. But while the industry vows to make a vaccine globally accessible, not all are on board with that idea, watch.