HFI presents at an Innovations in Humanitarian Financing Forum Roundtable
April 14, 2021 marked the 100th year anniversary of the discovery of insulin. Still, millions of people with Type 1 and Type 2 diabetes continue to lack access to adequate treatment and care. Without access to acceptable and affordable devices to monitor glucose levels and adherence to critical insulin regimens, one in three children and adolescents who suffer from Type 1 Diabetes are at risk of dying from the disease.
To address this issue, on April 15, 2021, the Innovative Humanitarian Financing Forum (IHFF) hosted a roundtable where HFI was invited to discuss how to expand resources, improve affordability, and involve capital markets to ensure access to affordable devices for state of the art glucose monitoring in underserved low- and middle-income countries and beyond. At the roundtable, HFI's CEO Andrea Feigl and Innovative Finance Director Abdul-Rahman Lediju presented a blueprint of the Devices for Development Consortium (D4DC) – a USD 300 million hybrid advance market commitment (AMC) and innovation challenge for diabetes devices. In response, Managing Director, Fixed Income SSA Debt Capital Markets at Crédit Agricole CIB, Myriam Zapata, described the potential for social bonds to increase resources for health and other humanitarian issues.
In 2020, the social impact investment market saw its largest annual growth yet and is predicted to accelerate its growth in 2021, leading to forecasts that social sector impact investments, including health thematic investments, will become a trend during the ‘build back better’ movement. IHFF leadership Simon Meldrum (British Red Cross) and Cyrus Ardalan (Non-Executive Director and Chairman Citigroup Global Markets) highlighted both the opportunity of blended finance to accelerate global health progress, and the need for further innovative thinking on the governance and financial structure for an inaugural NCD-focused AMC.
Please stay tuned for more information on exciting next steps and ways to get involved.
Special thank you to the leadership team at IHFF for organizing the Roundtable, HFI Technical Advisory Board member Vanessa Candeias for her opening remarks, and Myriam Zapata from Crédit Agricole CIB for her insightful presentation on sustainable bonds. HFI is grateful to have been the first case study presented at an IHFF Roundtable and for the thoughtful contributions of attendees.
HFI CEO at the Global Health and Innovation Conference
HFI’s CEO Andrea Feigl had the opportunity to join the "Communicating and Evolving an Organization's Values and Impact" panel during Unite for Sight’s Global Health & Innovation Conference. During the session, Andrea and inspiring global health entrepreneurs discussed innovation in global health and shared HFI’s vision and mission to foster prosperity and wellbeing through investments in health. Thank you to everyone who attended the session and to Unite for Sight for inviting Andrea to speak.
HFI joins Union for International Cancer Control panel
Earlier this week, HFI’s CEO was a panelist for the Union for International Cancer Control’s roundtable event, “Dealing with the crisis: Strategies to overcome the financial challenges.” Andrea and other global health leaders discussed how the COVID-19 crisis necessitates the use of innovative techniques to raise capital for health issues. The panelists concluded that public-private partnerships and other collaborations that bring together various players to solve a common problem can mobilize the necessary capital for cancer care and other health challenges.
The event is the first in a series of European virtual roundtables convening CEOs to discuss insights and innovations to strengthen cancer care.
Welcome new team members
Abdul-Rahman Lediju brings over 14 years of global experience in law, investments, and international development to his role as the Director of Innovative Finance at HFI. Before joining HFI, Abdul worked as an Investment Advisor & Risk Manager for the United Nations Capital Development Fund, and he has previously worked for Deutsche Bank AG and FINCA Impact Finance. He holds a Juris Doctor from the Howard University School of Law and a Bachelor of Arts from the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor.
Dadmehr Didgar is joining HFI’s health economics team and will support further development of our epidemiological-economic model for diabetes and other NCDs. He is currently pursuing his PhD in Economics from the University of Washington where he is also an Associate Instructor. He earned his master's degree in Economics from the Sharif University of Technology and his interests include Empirical Industrial Organization, Mechanism Design, and Machine Learning.
Last but not least, Sara Mian-McCarthy recently joined HFI’s Technical Advisory Board! Sara’s passion for helping those living with NCDs started at a young age when she was diagnosed with Type 1 Diabetes. Since then, she has made it her career to close the NCD mortality gap via strengthening community and primary health care systems. Currently, she is a Partnership Manager at the Elizabeth Glaser Pediatric AIDS Foundation, where she builds out the organization’s health systems strengthening, community health, and chronic disease pipeline with institutional and corporate donors.
Blended Finance Digest: COVAX and the role of innovative finance
On April 8, COVAX achieved another extraordinary milestone by delivering life-saving vaccines to over 100 economies since its first international delivery to Ghana in February 2021. Of the over 100 economies reached, 61 are among the 92 lower-income economies receiving vaccines funded through the Gavi COVAX Advance Market Commitment (AMC).
COVAX is possible, in part, because of the ways Gavi and CEPI complement each other in the innovative finance mechanism. Gavi is leading on procurement and delivery at scale for COVAX. This involves coordinating the design, implementation, and administration of the COVAX Facility and the COVAX AMC. Additionally, Gavi is working with its Alliance partners, such as UNICEF and WHO, and local governments, on country readiness and delivery. On the other side, CEPI is leading COVAX's vaccine research anddevelopment portfolio, which aims to develop three safe and effective vaccines that can be made available to countries participating in the COVAX Facility. CEPI is also investing in the ‘next generation’ of vaccine candidates, which will give the world additional options to control COVID-19 in the future.
The roles of Gavi and CEPI are equally critical to ensure that people in all countries get rapid, fair, and equitable access to safe and effective vaccines. Looking forward, as COVAX’s model might be replicable for other drugs, vaccines, and medical devices, HFI recommends a collective approach of enhancing each stage in the value chain - from research and development to manufacturing and last-mile delivery - to maximize the value created for people in need.
April health awareness days
Throughout April, the world came together to recognize World Health Worker’s Week, National Public Health Week, World Health Day, and the centennial of the discovery of insulin.
At HFI, we strive to improve public health programs worldwide and give health workers the tools they need to care for patients. For example, we are currently exploring concrete ways to build upon the discovery of insulin through our Devices for Development Consortium. By applying innovative financing solutions to global health problems, HFI hopes more people globally will have access to quality healthcare, creating health and prosperity for all.
