Dr. Jashi Meets with Helga Fogstad, UNICEF’s Director of Health

Dr. Mariam Jashi, CEO of the Global Sepsis Alliance, met Helga Fogstad, UNICEF’s new Director of Health, during her visit to the United Nations in New York on the margins of the 68th Session of the Commission on the Status of the Women (CSW68).

Dr. Uzma Syed, a Board Member of the US Sepsis Alliance and the Author of the Book “COVID-19 Viral Sepsis” joined Dr. Jashi at the UNICEF meeting and contributed substantially to the discussions.

The GSA delegation presented to UNICEF colleagues the latest estimates of the global sepsis burden, which affects 26 million women and girls every year and is responsible for the deaths of 2.9 million children under 5 and 261,000 mothers during pregnancy, childbirth, postpartum, or post-abortion. The GSA CEO further summarized the progress, achievements, remaining challenges, and how to make the sepsis response the next success story of Global Health.

Helga Fogstad, both in her current position and as the former Executive Director of the Partnership for Maternal, Newborn, and Child Health (PMNCH), reaffirmed her commitment and vision for strengthened prevention and management capacities of maternal and neonatal sepsis at national and international levels in line with the latest guidance of the WHO.

As a former UNICEF staff and senior government official, Dr. Jashi highlighted the critical role of UNICEF in reinvigorating the global response to sepsis for attaining health-related SDGs.

The UNICEF Director of Health and GSA CEO agreed to continue dialogue and closer collaboration for positioning sepsis higher on the global health agenda for women and children. Specifically, UNICEF expressed interest in contributing to the 2030 Global Agenda for Sepsis, a new multi-year strategic plan to be launched by GSA in May 2024. The parties also agreed to explore possible collaboration around the sepsis side events that GSA plans to convene on the margins of the 79th Session of the UN General Assembly and the 2024 High-Level Meeting on AMR in September 2024.

With outstanding health expertise and the prominent health portfolio of UNICEF at global, regional, and country levels, the Global Sepsis Alliance looks forward to strengthened collaboration with Director Fogstad and her colleagues to alleviate the immense human suffering from sepsis, especially among children and women living in the most vulnerable and resource-limited settings.