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The Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria is a worldwide movement to defeat HIV, tuberculosis (TB), and malaria and ensure a healthier, safer, more equitable future for all. They raise and invest US$4 billion a year to fight the deadliest infectious diseases, challenge the injustice that fuels them, and strengthen health systems in more than 100 countries.In recent years, the Global Fund has emerged as an important source of funding for respiratory care equipment, supplies, and services for low- and middle-income countries—with the COVID-19 Response Mechanism (C19RM), and more recently, via the inclusion of respiratory care equipment as a new allowable Resilient and Sustainable Systems for Health (RSSH) intervention.This brief outlines key information and resources for pursuing funding for oxygen and respiratory care systems through the Global Fund via the C19RM and country grants. It is intended for use by applicants, partners, civil society, and others in developing funding requests and/or advocating for prioritization of respiratory care goods and services in Global Fund grants.

PATH initiated an intervention study, A Mixed-Method Study to Improve the Outcome of Mass Drug Administration in Two Districts of Uttar Pradesh That Failed the Transmission Assessment Survey. The study aims to identify the critical factors for achieving optimal drug coverage amongst community members during mass drug administration (MDA) campaigns, develop an intervention package for use in the government’s subsequent MDA programme to improve compliance, and assess the impact of the intervention package on drug coverage.The study was conducted in the districts of Varanasi and Chitrakoot in Uttar Pradesh, as they failed Transmission Assessment Surveys (TASs), have suboptimal health indicators, and are geographically and demographically representative of districts that are lymphatic filariasis (LF) endemic in the country.The report shares the key findings and assesses the impact of the intervention package on reach and consumption of LF drugs during MDA rounds.

Japanese encephalitis (JE) is the leading viral cause of disability in Asia. The mosquitoes that transmit JE breed in areas of standing water, such as rice paddies, making rural communities of Asia particularly vulnerable. Immunization is the best method to prevent JE, but control efforts have been hindered by inadequate disease surveillance, limited/unstable vaccine supply, variable guidance and programmatic support, and competing country/state priorities. Over the past several years, focused efforts from PATH and other partners have improved the landscape of JE control across the country.In 2006, the government launched the Japanese Encephalitis Vaccine (JEV) campaign, rolling out a successful program within eight months. Over nine million children were able to receive JEV ahead of the JE season in India. This proved to be a landmark year for India’s rural population after decades of suffering from recurring JE outbreaks.This document details the phased JEV campaign across select endemic districts of Bihar, followed by the introduction of JEV in the routine immunization schedule and the lessons learned for strengthening immunization program all across.

The need for sexual and reproductive health services have become all the more critical with the ongoing political crisis in Myanmar. COVID 19-related restrictions and the political situation in Myanmar have both impacted maternal health services, and family planning in the public sector. To reduce maternal mortality and morbidity amongst low-income and conflict-affected populations of Myanmar, PATH has been supporting the government in guideline developments, integration of family planning innovations, technical support for sexual and reproductive health and rights (SRHR) policy, cervical cancer guidelines for service providers, and operational plans for cervical cancer prevention. PATH has contributed to Myanmar's first combined RMNCAH strategic plan, and during the COVID-19 pandemic, we adapted our program approach to Primary Health Care (PHC) as the express way to achieving Universal Health Coverage. In this brief, we talk about reduced health service gaps and the increase in the use of affordable, quality, reproductive health products by women and families, and how they reduce maternal mortality and morbidity.

In 2021, the Tanzania Ministry of Health, with support from PATH Tanzania, conducted a survey of health management information system (HMIS) focal people throughout Tanzania, and key informant interviews in targeted regions. The assessment was intended to document the data use practices supported by the District Health Profiles (DHP), and determine whether DHPs have facilitated data use at the council level, including how DHPs are being used to make decisions related to annual planning, and develop the annual comprehensive council health plans.Thee Tanzanian Ministry of Health, Community Development, Gender, Elderly and Children (MOHCDGEC) adopted a cross-sectional, mixed-methods approach for this assessment, applying qualitative and quantitative data-collection methods. MOHCDGEC used purposive and convenience sampling methods to recruit participants for the assessment. For the qualitative component of the assessment, MOHCDGEC mainly used key informant interviews (KIIs) with select national level staff and council level staff from six selected councils, as well as observation and document reviews, to gather findings. For the quantitative component, MOHCDGEC used online questionnaires disseminated to health management information systems focal people in all 184 councils in Tanzania.The assessment showed that majority of participants in both study groups (council level and national level respondents for KIIs and health management information system focal people for the surveys) acknowledged that there was demand for DHPs in decision-making meetings. The main users of DHPs were found to be members of council health management team (CHMT), and other users included development partners, councilors and research institutions. The assessment found that the primary uses for DHPs were to identify health problems and gaps, aid planning and budgeting, support district showcasing, identify disease trends, and aid in decision making. Despite the reported demand and the various uses for DHPs that respondents named, the findings also pointed to the perception that most of the councils were not allocating budgets for DHP preparation, production, and dissemination. The study also showed that the majority of CHMT members had never received any DHP training. The most common methods used to sensitize stakeholders to DHPs and make them aware of the existence of and potential uses for DHPs, were meetings, workshops, and seminars. The assessment findings also showed that the majority of councils were not producing the DHPs on time. Finally, the assessment respondents reported that the main challenges to using data from DHPs were lack of budget allocated for DHPs, difficulty in finding data due to changes in administration area, low commitment of stakeholders, low DHP priority, low data quality from data sources, and inadequate resources for the development and dissemination of DHPs.