Research Of The Task Force For Global Health Organization
With so many injustices faced by millions every day, it is important that organizations specializing in social welfare exist. This course has been very informative and has shown the different struggles people face day in and day out. The organization I chose to research for this paper is The Task Force for Global Health (TFGH). Focusing on the ways it serves the public, its strengths, and weaknesses, as well as how their efforts have helped people.
Founded the year of 1984 by Dr. Bill Foege and his colleagues Carol Walters and Bill Watson. The founding partners were the World Health Organization, UNICEF, Rockefeller Foundation, The World Bank, and the United Nations Development Program. The Task Force is led by the office of the president and an executive team made up of 8 members. The president as well as CEO is David A. Ross ScD, who took office in May of 2016. Before becoming president, Dr. Ross was the director of the Task Force’s Public Health Informatics Institute and vice president for program development. For more than 30 years he has led several programs that aimed to strengthen the information capacity of public health systems in the United States as well as other countries. The program directors are made up of global health experts all who report to the board of directors. Those who are over the programs are experts in the field of neglected tropical diseases, infectious disease, public health informatics, vaccines, and field epidemiology. While the board of directors oversees the business resources as well as operations.
The group consists of several experts in philanthropy, global health, development, finance, and law. The compassion of the board members benefits The Task Force immensely and allows them to make a global impact. In total there are 152 scientists, program experts, and other global health professionals. All sharing the same goal of providing everyone access to good health. Some of the programs ran by them are the Center for Vaccine Equity, Children Without Worms, African Health Workforce Project, and Mectizan Donation Program. The initial plans for The Task Force was to create a temporary organization that was able to work on one specific global issue. At that particular time that goal was low child vaccination rates in third world countries. Due to their high success rates as well as successful partnerships, they have been able expand their focus and work on several large-scale health issues world-wide.
The original name for the organization was The Task Force for Child Survival, much like the name suggest, their focus was centered around health crisis that effected children worldwide. When they discovered a need to address health issues involving more people throughout the world, they then changed their name to The Task Force for Global Health. With so many in the world suffering, it is necessary that everyone is able to acquire quality care. The Task Force knew that in a world with such an amass amount of wealth, there should plenty of resources available to address health issues. When thinking of ways to combat these issues they created both a mission and vision statement. The mission is as followed, “we exist to forge the partnerships needed to foster innovative thinking, catalyze action, and finally solve large-scale health challenges affecting vulnerable populations. ” While their vision states, “A world free of debilitating diseases where all people are protected by strong public health systems. ” Both statements provide clear descriptions of their sole focus. They also believe in various values such as, collaboration, stewardship, and compassion to name a few. Knowing how large scale addressing global health problems can be, TFGH relies on partnerships. Since the year 1984 they have collaborated with others with a wide range of global issues. In addition to collaboration they have used research to control if not eliminate infectious diseases.
One of the key ways they are able to do so is by disease surveillance. This is done through information and laboratory technology. Technology has also allowed them to increase access to quality care. Through the use of a smartphone data, they are able to interpret research and determine which areas need immediate attention. The use of these technologies help them understand the disease presence in different areas. Next year they intend on creating a new technical hub where the main purpose is viral hepatitis elimination. Over the next decade they will work towards numerous goals in hopes of eradicating trachoma, lymphatic filariasis, and river blindness. They will also continuously support the global effort for eradicating polio. Currently, the Task Force receives funding from the US governments such as the CDC, U. S. State Department, U. S. Department of Health and Human Services as well as the U. K. Department for International Development, charitable foundations, corporations, and nongovernmental agencies. anyone is able to see a full list of funders by accessing their progress reports.
Another large contribution comes from the pharmaceutical companies Pfizer and Merck. companies such as this donate medicines such as anti-parasite medicines and antibiotics for the elimination of tropical diseases. The donations are received by the 501(c)(3) non-profit corporation Global Health Solutions. Operating with high levels of efficiency as well as resources they constantly measure their administrative, project management, and financial management practices against those of leading corporations. This helps to ensure that they are appropriately using the resources given to them in order to better serve those in need. In the year of 2017, 88% of their revenue went to programs. In the year of 2017 alone, the yearly budget was 2. 7 billion dollars, this included medicine contributions. Thanks to the large contributions, The Task Force was ranked among the largest U. S. nonprofits, according to Forbes. It is also worth mentioning that they were unable to be rated by Charity Navigator due to not meeting the standards for spending at least one percent of their yearly budget on fundraising. As defined by the IRS, the Task Force for Global Health, Inc. is a tax-exempt 501(c)(3) corporation. Not only do they have a supporting organization, they also receive in-kind contributions (charitable gift where specific goods and services are given instead of money to buy them).
All financial transactions are audited each year and are made available on their website. They currently meet all charity standards created by the Better Business Bureau BBB. While a majority of the TFGH work is done outside of the United States, they believe in helping countries both developed and developing. Currently they assist public health departments by creating strong immunization record systems. This helps to ensure that all communities are safe from diseases that can be prevented by a vaccine. One of the founding members of the Georgia Global Health alliance, they are planning on applying learned issues from global health programs to fix current public health problems in Georgia.
Aside from unknown illnesses affecting different communities globally, I cannot think of many weaknesses if any. The TFGH has gone above and beyond to ensure they help those in need. through the use of donations from different organizations as well as expert technology, they have been able to make a huge impact on so many lives. I think one of the strengths of this organization is that they have caring people willing to advocate for the less fortunate. Day in and day out they work together to make good health available to those in need. It was remarkable to see them spend 88% of their funding on the issues at home. So often you run across organizations that say one thing but do another. it is nice to know that compassionate people exist.
When researching their purpose, I was reminded of different articles I have read in my social problems class. It is evident that America has issues regarding the current state of or healthcare system. Many ill people are finding it difficult to receive beneficial care due to high cost. America is one of few countries where one of its citizens can go bankrupt due to medical care. People are finding themselves trying to decide between taking care of their families or treating whatever ailment they may have. When compared to other nations such as Japan, it makes one wonder if those in power truly care about the citizens of the United States. While I am more than aware that there are thousands of countries whose citizens are suffering much more, I think we could all benefit from a universal plan that puts people first.
The reason I chose The Task Force for Global Health is because I agree with their mission. They saw a proper and devised a plan to correct the issue. If more people were as compassionate about others as the creators of this organization, we would be able to conquer so many issues. I hope that them working with the Georgia Global Health Alliance is affective and they are able to fix some of the crisis that the less unfortunate so often have to face.
