Global Health and Science

When mothers held up their infants to receive a promising experimental malaria vaccine in Bagamoyo, Tanzania, Burness Communications was there. When health ministers from across Latin America issued a call for improved treatment of childhood diarrheal diseases; when the Government of Vietnam launched a nation-wide campaign to end blindness caused by trachoma; when inmates in a high-security Mexican prison learned the facts about HIV and shared their stories with policy makers and journalists, Burness was there.

For more than 15 years, Burness Communications has been working with global health organizations and champions to communicate the issues that mean life or death to millions around the world. We work with our clients to develop the messages, frame the campaigns, tell the stories, and promote them all on a global scale.

Our work has helped build support for investments in research and life-saving public health interventions. We have tackled issues including the development of a malaria vaccine and the expansion of existing childhood vaccine delivery. We have worked to amplify our clients’ voices in the struggle for increased laboratory diagnostic capacity; improved disease surveillance and diagnostics; funding for basic biomedical research, and formulation of evidence-based global health policy for fighting HIV and tuberculosis. At the core of this work has been the effort to make the fruits of scientific progress available to all who would benefit—particularly the millions of children who die each year from preventable diseases.

We have:

  • Advanced the efforts of organizations like the GAVI Alliance and the Albert B. Sabin Vaccine institute to close the global vaccine gap, bringing vaccines that are ubiquitous in industrialized nations to millions in the developing world who lack access to them.
  • Supported the PATH Malaria Vaccine Initiative’s quest for the world’s first-ever malaria vaccine.
  • Shed light on the threat of simultaneous HIV and TB infection with the Center for Global Health Policy and the Forum for Collaborative HIV Research.
  • Worked with the Paul G. Rogers Society to train an elite corps of Global Health Ambassadors to advocate for research in global health in U.S. policy circles.
  • Advised WGBH on its comprehensive outreach campaign for the spectacular PBS series, Rx for Survival.
  • Highlighted novel treatments, interventions and preventive measures in the fight against HIV with the Forum for Collaborative HIV Research, the American Society for Clinical Pathology, Results for Development and Population Services International.

African Women in Agricultural Research and Development (AWARD)

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Established in 2008, African Women in Agricultural Research and Development (AWARD) is a project of the Gender & Diversity Program of the Consultative Group on International Agricultural Research (CGIAR). It was launched following a successful three-year pilot program in East Africa with support from the Rockefeller Foundation from 2005-2008.
AWARD offers tailored, two-year fellowships designed to fast-track the careers of African women scientists and professionals delivering pro-poor agricultural research and development that benefits rural communities, especially women.

The Forest Trust

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Established in 1999, The Forest Trust (formerly Tropical Forest Trust) is a non-profit international organisation seeking to address the problem of deforestation by working with companies and communities and help them trade Forest Responsible Products.
TFT does that by working in supply chains to set up traceability systems and assist producers towards sustainable forest management.

Tapping new resources for global health innovation

by Megan Dold on Mon, 05/17/2010 - 10:32am

 "[G]lobal health [is] important not just for humanitarian reasons, but for reasons of international security and for the health and well-being of the American people.  In my new post at a domestic agency, we see global health as a necessary component of that well-being." (BVGH Blog, “Don’t blame the market”)

So asserted Dr. Nils Daulaire, newly appointed Director of the Office of Global Health Affairs at the U.S. Dept. of Health and Human Services, on the Obama Administration's revamped commitments to global health. He addressed an audience of over 200 leaders in global health, biopharmaceuticals, academia, and donor organizations, who gathered in Chicago this month at the second Partnering for Global Health Forum, organized by BIO Ventures for Global Health (BVGH, a Burness client) and held in conjunction with the BIO International Convention. 

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Honoring environmental research that could change the world

by Carol Schadelbauer on Fri, 05/14/2010 - 11:11am

Wildlife authorities and environmentalists waited warily, and wearily, as a huge oil spill took aim last Thursday at Louisiana's ecologically fragile coast…Forecasts showed the spill making a beeline for the pristine barrier islands of Breton National Wildlife Refuge, home to the brown pelican, which faces a new threat less than six months after it was removed from the endangered species list. Houston Chronicle, 4.29.2010

Conservationists are constantly confronting new threats to the species they protect.  And whether it is an oil spill creeping closer to pelican nesting grounds, deforestation threatening Golden Lion Tamarin Monkeys, or Kenyan farmers shooting cheetahs, a few fundamental questions remain: How can humans and endangered species coexist peacefully?  What causes extinction in the first place – and how can we predict which species will be next?

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Global HIV-TB Briefing: Stemming the Deadly Twin Epidemics of HIV and Tuberculosis

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Date: 
Thu, 05/20/2010 - 9:30am - 12:00pm
City: 
Washington, DC
Sponsor: 
Center for Global Health Policy
Event Type: 
Briefing

Center for Global Health Policy Logo
 

A new roadmap for agricultural research

by Megan Dold on Tue, 04/13/2010 - 11:03am

 “Today, 1.4 billion people around the world live in extreme poverty.  Many of them are women and children.  Most of them are farmers.”

That’s World Bank President Robert Zoellick in a video address two weeks ago to the Global Conference on Agricultural Research for Development (GCARD), an unprecedented gathering in Montpellier, France that brought together researchers, policymakers, farmers, donors, and members of civil society from every region of the world. 

The goal?  Create a new framework for getting cutting-edge agricultural research to the farmers who need it to feed themselves, their families and their countries.  

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World Health Organization

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WHO is the directing and coordinating authority for health within the United Nations system. It is responsible for providing leadership on global health matters, shaping the health research agenda, setting norms and standards, articulating evidence-based policy options, providing technical support to countries and monitoring and assessing health trends.

In the 21st century, health is a shared responsibility, involving equitable access to essential care and collective defense against transnational threats.

www.who.int/en/

Syngenta Foundation for Sustainable Agriculture

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The operational strategy of the Syngenta Foundation can be summarized in three words: smallholders, productivity and markets. The Foundation supports partners who work in agriculture in resource-poor settings in developing countries and emerging markets. The purpose is to help small farmers become more professional growers by extending science-based know-how, facilitating access to quality inputs, and linking them to markets in profitable ways. Small farmers are the key group requiring attention in agricultural and rural development.

Results for Development Institute

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The Results for Development Institute (R4D) is a nonprofit organization dedicated to accelerating social and economic progress in low and middle income countries. We provide policy analysis, critical information, decision-making tools, and policy advice to governments, civil society organizations, and international funders in order to stimulate positive change.

International Water Management Institute

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IWMI is one of 15 international research centers supported by the network of 60 governments, private foundations and international and regional organizations collectively known as the Consultative Group on International Agricultural Research (CGIAR). It is a non-profit organization with a staff of 350 and offices in over 10 countries across Asia and Africa and Headquarters in Colombo, Sri Lanka.

www.iwmi.cgiar.org/index.aspx