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Press Mentions

Amanda McClelland, Think Global Health: A Call for Global Solidarity

May 13, 2020

“As the novel coronavirus pandemic has spread, some countries have retreated into isolationism, and reverted to a nationalism hardly seen in recent memory,” writes Amanda McClelland, Senior Vice President, Prevent Epidemics and Resolve to Save Lives. “Governments must prioritize their own populations, yes—but even when there are surpluses, many have chosen to restrict or ban the export of soap, hand sanitizer, gloves, masks, medicine, and pharmaceutical ingredients. While protecting the self-interests of countries and their people is understandable, the world is interconnected, and the health, safety, and security of any country are inextricably linked to the survival of others.” 

McClelland argues that governments and donors must fund public health both at home and globally. “If COVID-19 has taught us anything, it’s that we are one world—a world where many places need money and technical help.”

Read the entire op-ed:

https://www.thinkglobalhealth.org/article/call-global-solidarity

About Amanda McClelland

Amanda McClelland is the Senior Vice President of Prevent Epidemics and Resolve to Save Lives at Vital Strategies where she leads a team working to accelerate progress to make the world safer from the next epidemic. 

Amanda is a notable expert in international public health management, especially in emergency health, epidemic control, mass casualty in low resource settings, disease prevention and response operations. Her achievements include coordinating frontline Ebola response during the 2014 Ebola epidemic, for which she received the 2015  Florence Nightingale Medal for exceptional courage, and publishing a landmark study on the impact of unsafe burial practices, which confirmed the live-saving benefits of a comprehensive approach to Ebola prevention. She brings this expertise to the Prevent Epidemics initiative, prioritizing and planning interventions and support in countries and regions at risk from future epidemics and strengthening action packages in prevention, detection and response to epidemics. In addition to providing technical assistance, directly or through partners, Amanda’s team mobilizes resources to support preparedness, and works to galvanize political will to address gaps in epidemic preparedness.  

Prior to joining Vital Strategies, Amanda served as the Global Emergency Health Advisor for the International Federation of Red Cross Red Crescent (IFRC). Amanda earned her Master of Public Health and Tropical Medicine from James Cook University in Queensland, Australia and her Bachelor of Nursing from Queensland University of Technology.  

About Vital Strategies

Vital Strategies is a global health organization that believes every person should be protected by a strong public health system. We work with governments and civil society in 73 countries to design and implement evidence-based strategies that tackle their most pressing public health problems. Our goal is to see governments adopt promising interventions at scale as rapidly as possible. To find out more, please visit vstrategystage.wpengine.comor Twitter @VitalStrat.

About Resolve to Save Lives

Resolve to Save Lives is determined to prevent millions of deaths from cardiovascular disease and epidemics, with a focus on accelerating action through speed, simplicity, and scale in low- and middle-income countries. Resolve to Save Lives is an initiative of the global public health organization Vital Strategies. We received $225 million from Bloomberg Philanthropies, the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, and Gates Philanthropy Partners, which is funded with support from the Chan Zuckerberg Foundation. For more information on Resolve to Save Lives’ work, please visit www.preventepidemics.orgor Twitter @ResolveTSL.

About the Bloomberg Philanthropies Coronavirus Global Response Initiative 

The $40 million Bloomberg Philanthropies Coronavirus Global Response Initiative was announced on March 17. It partners with Resolve to Save Lives, Vital Strategies, and the World Health Organization, to help lower-income countries and cities respond to the COVID-19 pandemic. The Coronavirus Global Response Initiative joined Bloomberg Philanthropies’ Coronavirus Local Response Initiative, which is focusing on convening American mayors to receive the most up-to-date information on the virus from experts from the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health and the Bloomberg Harvard City Leadership Initiative.