U.S. Africa Leaders’ Summit, Omicron in China, and Universal Health Coverage

Editors' Note

This week, nearly fifty leaders from Africa joined President Joe Biden in Washington, DC, for a U.S.-Africa Summit dedicated to improving international cooperation on their shared goals: good governance, reliable and affordable energy, and healthier populations. Zambia's President Hakainde Hichilema attended, and our first piece examines how stronger U.S. ties with Zambia can help achieve some of the goals.

As China's government loosens its zero-COVID grip, case counts are climbing fast. Think Global Health's Chen Chen reports on the significant regional disparities in China's ICU bed availability and staffing capacity as infections surge.

Our next two articles discuss universal health coverage (UHC) in recognition of this week's UHC Day. The first looks at UHC through the lens of tuberculosis care during the pandemic. The second maintains that India can achieve its UHC goals if it empowers community health workers with digital tools for tracking data, treating patients, and training health-care volunteers.

Finally, we continue our ongoing coverage of the mRNA vaccine hub in Africa with a piece by Aggrey Aluso, director of the Africa region, for the Pandemic Action Network. He argues that Africa's quest to develop its first home-grown mRNA COVID-19 vaccine could provide a new blueprint for health-care innovation that expands access to biologic drugs and vaccines globally.

As always, thank you for reading. —Thomas J. Bollyky and Mary Brophy Marcus, Editors  