FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS REGARDING THE GLOBAL HEALTH COUNCIL

Q: Is anyone working to revive the Global Health Council (GHC) and the membership it served?

A: Yes.  A group consisting of individuals from some of the Global Health Council’s 400 member organizations has organized as an Interested Members Group (IMG).  An IMG steering committee has been formed to consider options.  

Q: How can I become involved?

A:  Members of the GHC – both organizational and individual – can join the IMG by e-mailing Crystal Lander (clander@msh.org) or Chanell Hasty (chasty@msh.org) with your name, affiliation, and contact information.  There is also a Global Health Council discussion group on LinkedIn where you can join the conversation and follow developments.  Finally, members and friends of the Global Health Council will receive an email or find on this GHC webpage an invitation to respond to a survey designed to inform the community’s response and shape the potential future of GHC.

Q: What were the reasons behind the Global Health Council’s decision to close its doors around the end of June?

A: The reasons were primarily financial.  Over the past couple of years, donor funding from various sources had been reduced or terminated; membership declined from its peak in 2010; and this year’s annual conference was going to be significantly under-attended due to the competing International AIDS Conference in Washington, DC. These factors combined to place the Council in a difficult position.  In its press release, the GHC Board of Directors also mentioned that there were many other organizations now playing awareness-raising and convening roles in global health, increasingly around specific health issues.  But many members have noted the uniquely broad-based convening and advocacy role the Council played, and the vacuum that would be left by an abrupt end to its services. 

Q: So what does it mean that the GHC is “closing its doors”?  Is it dissolving?

A:  The GHC is not dissolving at this point.  Its 501 (c) (3) status as a U.S.-based charitable organization will remain, but it is ending current operations at or around June 30^th.  A few staff members are still on board, but on June 30^th their services will end and GHC will be an organizational shell.

Q: Is the GHC Board still active?  What is it doing now?

A:  The Board is currently negotiating with creditors with a focus on avoiding bankruptcy and keeping the organization solvent so the GHC platform and brand can be preserved.  Conference registrations have been refunded.  Dues payments will not.  Another primary goal of the Board is doing the best it can for the remaining GHC staff.

Q: What happens to GHC assets after June 30?

A: In short, there are no financial assets remaining.  The Council’s chief assets are its membership and the collaborative credibility it can lend to the field of global health.  That is what the IMG is hoping to retain and revitalize.

Q: What will happen to the advocacy roundtables and technical working groups that the GHC convened or hosted?

A:  Some of the roundtables and technical working groups have reorganized informally so they can continue meeting until other options can be explored.  For example: information about the Malaria roundtable can be obtained from PATH and UNF; Maternal, Neonatal, and Child Health task force from Results and CARE; the U.S. Coalition for Child Survival from PSI.

Q: What is the future of the Global Health Conference?

A:  The GHC Board has cancelled the conference for 2012.  Scheduling a conference of similar scope in 2013 depends on the interest shown by GHC members and interested partners, and what transpires in the coming months as we explore options.

Q: What about the information-sharing role the Council performed?

A:  Discussion groups on social media sites such as Facebook and LinkedIn will continue. The GHC website will likely remain up for a period of months, although it is unlikely to be kept up-to-date.  The IMG will explore with remaining GHC staff alternatives for continuing communication links or list-serves.

Q: What are the next steps for the Interested Members Group (IMG) and its Steering Committee?

A:  The IMG has met with members of the GHC Board and will continue to play an advisory role to the Board as the GHC moves toward closing its doors. In future months the IMG will continue to explore alternatives on behalf of the membership for restoring services to members that are lost without an effective GHC in place.