Developing Health Partnerships that Transcend Boundaries

Few global initiatives have the potential to touch more lives than the World Health Organization’s Immunization Agenda 2030, which seeks to ensure that vaccines for more than 20 life-threatening diseases are distributed in equitable ways so “everyone, everywhere, at every age, fully benefits from vaccines to improve health and well-being.” 

In drafting the shared goals of the agenda, the Johns Hopkins University International Vaccine Access Center (IVAC) worked with a range of nongovernmental organizations and global ministries of health to develop accountability scorecards and conduct advocacy and outreach. 

“Johns Hopkins’s experience in research, learning, technical assistance, data, and so much more added incredible value to the partnership,” says Lisa M. Hilmi, MPH, RN, executive director of the CORE Group, an organization based in Washington, D.C., that focuses on community-level public health efforts and helped create the agenda. 

While global health issues may be receiving more attention now than they were before the current COVID-19 era, the work of building and maintaining successful international partnerships for public health solutions is often not that different from other collaborative efforts. 

“Long-lasting partnerships require trust, frequent and good communication, mutual respect, clear roles and responsibilities, flexibility, and strategic vision,” says Hilmi. At the same time, the complexity and history of global health requires senior international officers (SIOs) and other leaders to evaluate additional considerations.

“Long-lasting partnerships require trust, frequent and good communication, mutual respect, clear roles and responsibilities, flexibility, and strategic vision.” —Lisa M. Hilmi

“The nature of the work means it