review the meeting recording here: https://iu.mediaspace.kaltura.com/media/t/1_kmk9vswy?st=35 🧭 Meeting Overview Context: The group gathered to address the recent disruption caused by the sudden withdrawal or reduction of U.S. government aid in digital/global health initiatives. Tone: Open, honest, and solution-focused dialogue centered on sustainability, national ownership, and collaboration. Purpose: To share personal experiences, challenges, and opportunities arising from the funding shift, and to propose actionable steps forward.
🧑🤝🧑 Key Participants & Contributions Steven Wanyee Framed the conversation around leadership and sustainability amid global funding shifts. Encouraged honest sharing of experiences and constructive dialogue. Proposed developing a shared report and advocacy plan.
Paul Biondich (Regenstrief Institute) Reaffirmed Regenstrief's commitment to supporting digital health work despite U.S. policy changes. Emphasized using the crisis as an opportunity to address long-standing structural issues. Encouraged collective learning and self-determination.
🌍 Country-Specific & Individual Contributions Dr. Alinafe Mbewe (Malawi) Described chaos caused by abrupt partner withdrawal — some systems fell back to paper-based. Expressed the urgent need for ownership, technical capacity, and "patriotism" in digital health. Prioritized critical system elements that can be sustained locally. Strongly advocated for new terms of partnership: “If you're coming back, come back on our terms.”
Innocent Chiboma (Zambia) Shared Zambia's creation of a minimum essential services package to maintain continuity. Highlighted the value of existing government-hosted systems and gaps in local troubleshooting capacity. Suggested that facilities with more local ownership were more resilient.
Daniel Otzoy (RECAINSA, Latin America) Criticized the paternalistic nature of traditional aid models. Called for South-South collaboration and leveraging public-private partnerships for innovation. Highlighted regional resilience and encouraged cross-country knowledge sharing.
Phiona Advocated for sustainability through evaluating and scaling already-existing systems. Called on the community to look inward for solutions and seek alternative philanthropic support. Shared a paper on digital health sustainability.
Andrew Likaka Described significant disruption across institutions he supports. Urged governments to move from commitment to real investment. Suggested a needs assessment and alignment of digital strategies with budgets.
Trymore Chawurura (Zimbabwe) Shared that digital health strategies often diverged from donor-driven implementations. Warned that governments may abandon digital health due to lack of budgeted funding. Emphasized the need for digital literacy within governments for sustainability.
Sylvere (Rwanda) Highlighted internal innovation and capacity-building during COVID-19. Shared that most digital tools used in Rwanda are now locally owned. Promoted a phased, domestic-led transition toward full digital sovereignty.
🧠 Themes & Insights 🔧 Resilience & Ownership Many countries are striving to take charge of digital health systems and not rely entirely on external aid. Importance of government leadership, strategic planning, and resource allocation.
🚨 Crisis as Catalyst 🤝 Collaboration & Learning Calls for deeper collaboration across countries and organizations, especially within the Global South. Willingness to share tools, strategies, and lessons.
💰 Financial Models Recognition of the need to rethink funding models. Proposals for diversified financing, including domestic resources and new philanthropic partners.
💬 Proposed Actions Compile a collective report capturing these experiences. Advocate through regional forums and institutions. Push for digital health to be recognized and budgeted at national levels. Strengthen internal capacities through training and system simplification.
✅ Emerging Action Items Develop a formal report summarizing the meeting’s findings and proposals. Promote domestic digital health investment and integrate digital health into national budgets. Encourage country ownership by redefining terms of collaboration with implementing partners. Conduct national needs assessments for digital health systems. Share existing tools and frameworks for sustainability evaluation. Support cross-country mentorship and experience sharing (South-South collaboration)
Discussion Points: At the start of this meeting members provided acknowledgment of the current global climate as an "interesting time", setting a thoughtful tone for the meeting. There was an emphasis on maintaining and strengthening collaboration between teams across different regions. This meeting stressed the importance of communication and updates between field teams and leadership. Some participants provided updates on being in the field, suggesting ongoing project implementation and data gathering activities. The meeting involved project updates, coordination, and possibly strategy planning discussions.
Themes & Trends 🧩 Cross-National Collaboration 🌍 Field Engagement & Ground-Level Operations 📡 Communication & Connection 🔄 Adaptability in Uncertain Times 📈 Ongoing Project Work Action / Follow up items: Leaders to share findings or progress from field work involving ongoing data collection or implementation. Several points in the discussion suggested a need for consistent communication between field teams and leadership.Continued collaboration was emphasized, indicating a possible task to maintain or strengthen cross-country or cross-team coordination.
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