Lieve Fransen

Last updated
Lieve Fransen
Director for Social Policies and strategy 2020 for growth and competitiveness
at DG Employment and Social affairs
of the European Commission
Personal details
Born(1950-04-17)April 17, 1950
Gent, Belgium
Spouse Noah Howard
Residence(s) Brussels, Belgium
Alma mater University of Ghent for MD and university of Antwerp for PHD, Belgium
Institute of Tropical Medicine Antwerp, Belgium
Ghent University, Belgium
Website ec.europa.eu/represent_en.htm
DG Communication Website

Lieve Fransen is a senior adviser to the European Policy Centre on health, social and migration policies, and published studies on investing in social infrastructure, energy poverty and social investment. Between 2011 and 2015 she was the social policies director in the Directorate for Employment and Social affairs for the European Commissionin charge of social policies, poverty eradication, pensions, health and social protection. Before that she was director for communication and representations in the EC's communication directorate for more than 500 networks across the European Union and from 1987 till 1997 she was head of unit for human development in the European Commissions department for development.

Contents

Career

Fransen started her career as a physician in Africa during the 1970s and 1980s (mainly in Mozambique, [1] Kenya [2] and Rwanda), with a particular interest in public health, infectious diseases and sexually transmitted infections. In several African countries she developed new initiatives and ensured implementation through international cooperation and strategic planning. [1] In 1987, the European Commission hired Fransen as a consultant from the Institute of Tropical Medicine Antwerp to survey blood transfusion and HIV seropositive rates in Uganda. [3] [4] This led the European Commission in 1987 to help Uganda set up a safe blood supply, [4] and then to create the AIDS Task Force, [4] an international foundation of which Fransen was the founding executive director. [2] [4] In 2000, giving evidence to the UK House of Commons International Development Committee, Jeff O' Malley, the founding director of the International HIV/AIDS Alliance, referred to Fransen as "the EC's HIV/AIDS expert". [5]

In 1993 she joined the European Commission as the Head of the Health, AIDS and Population Sector. [4] Glenys Kinnock MEP noted that, following Fransen's appointment to the EC in 1987, spending on the EC's Health, HIV/AIDS and population programmes "had increased from 1 per cent of EC aid in 1986 to more than 8 per cent in 1998". [5] Fransen was in charge of negotiating tiered pricing for pharmaceutical products for developing countries; by 2002, however, she saw the debate on tiered pricing as becoming too difficult and too legalistic, and believed that more needed to be done to ensure access to medicines at cheaper prices in developing countries than in the West. [6] During this period, she was also guest editor for the World Bank's policy research department. In 2001 she became head of the social and human development unit at the EC's Directorate-General for International Cooperation and Development, in charge of social protection, employment, health, education and gender.

She was a founding board member and board vice-chair of the Global Fund to fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria (GFATM), [7] [8] representing the European Commission and several EU member states from 2000 to 2007, [2] where she helped create a large public/private partnership and performance-based fund, which approved around $7 billion in grants over four years. [9]

After leaving the EU in 2015, she became a senior policy advisor for the think tank, the European Policy Center or EPC and started working as a senior advisor for the Royal Philips health technology company in the Netherlands and in Africa. She helped guide the transformation of the company towards contributing to the sustainable development goals or SDGs. She organised a conference during UNGA in New York for the private sector to spearhead transformations towards the SDGs and helped set up the SDG platform in Kenya.

In 2016-2017 she coordinated an expert group for the task force chaired by President Prodi to catalyse investments in social infrastructure in the EU. With the emergence of the Corona virus in 2020 she wrote and mobilised about the need to invest in manufacturing capacities for vaccines and other pharma products in Africa and Europe and the opportunity to increase resilience through a real partnership. She also contributed to the debate about Democracy and COVID-19. In 2020 she co created the platform for transformative technologies to contribute to reach the SDGs and climate goals (P4TT.org) and became a senior partner in the organisation.

Education

Fransen holds a PhD from the University of Antwerp in social policies and public health.[ citation needed ]

Works

Fransen has written more than 100 peer-reviewed publications and numerous policy documents for the European Council and the European Parliament including:

Recognition

She was awarded Senegal's National Order of the Lion (1999) for special merit in the fight against HIV/AIDS and she received the Jonathan Mann Award for Health and Human Rights (2001). [10] She was awarded a lifetime achievement award in 2003 in India for het health and human rights work.

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">HIV/AIDS in the United States</span> HIV/AIDS epidemic in the United States

The AIDS epidemic, caused by HIV, found its way to the United States between the 1970s and 1980s, but was first noticed after doctors discovered clusters of Kaposi's sarcoma and pneumocystis pneumonia in homosexual men in Los Angeles, New York City, and San Francisco in 1981. Treatment of HIV/AIDS is primarily via the use of multiple antiretroviral drugs, and education programs to help people avoid infection.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">HIV/AIDS in Africa</span> HIV/AIDS in Africa

HIV/AIDS originated in the late 20th century and has become a major public health concern and cause of death in many countries. AIDS rates varies significantly between countries, with the majority of cases are concentrated in Southern Africa. Although the continent is home to about 15.2 percent of the world's population, more than two-thirds of the total population infected worldwide – approximately 35 million people – were Africans, of whom around 1 million have already died. Eastern and Southern Africa alone accounted for an estimate of 60 percent of all people living with HIV and 100 percent of all AIDS deaths in 2011. The countries of Eastern and Southern Africa are most affected, leading to raised death rates and lowered life expectancy among adults between the ages of 20 and 49 by about twenty years. Furthermore, life expectancy in many parts of Africa is declining, largely as a result of the HIV/AIDS epidemic, with life-expectancy in some countries reaching as low as thirty-nine years.

Criminal transmission of HIV is the intentional or reckless infection of a person with the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV). This is often conflated, in laws and in discussion, with criminal exposure to HIV, which does not require the transmission of the virus and often, as in the cases of spitting and biting, does not include a realistic means of transmission. Some countries or jurisdictions, including some areas of the U.S., have enacted laws expressly to criminalize HIV transmission or exposure, charging those accused with criminal transmission of HIV. Other countries charge the accused under existing laws with such crimes as murder, manslaughter, attempted murder, assault or fraud.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">President's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief</span> United States governmental initiative

The United States President's Emergency Plan For AIDS Relief (PEPFAR) is a United States governmental initiative to address the global HIV/AIDS epidemic and help save the lives of those suffering from the disease. Launched by U.S. President George W. Bush in 2003, as of May 2020, PEPFAR has provided about $90 billion in cumulative funding for HIV/AIDS treatment, prevention, and research since its inception, making it the largest global health program focused on a single disease in history until the COVID-19 pandemic. PEPFAR is implemented by a combination of U.S. government agencies in over 50 countries and overseen by the Global AIDS Coordinator at the United States Department of State. As of 2023, PEPFAR has saved over 25 million lives, primarily in sub-Saharan Africa.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Epidemiology of HIV/AIDS</span> Epidemic of HIV/AIDS

The global epidemic of HIV/AIDS began in 1981, and is an ongoing worldwide public health issue. According to the World Health Organization (WHO), by 2023, HIV/AIDS had killed approximately 40.4 million people, and approximately 39 million people were infected with HIV globally. Of these, 29.8 million people (75%) are receiving antiretroviral treatment. There were about 630,000 deaths from HIV/AIDS in 2022. The 2015 Global Burden of Disease Study estimated that the global incidence of HIV infection peaked in 1997 at 3.3 million per year. Global incidence fell rapidly from 1997 to 2005, to about 2.6 million per year. Incidence of HIV has continued to fall, decreasing by 23% from 2010 to 2020, with progress dominated by decreases in Eastern Africa and Southern Africa. As of 2020, there are approximately 1.5 million new infections of HIV per year globally.

MSI Reproductive Choices, named Marie Stopes International until November 2020, is an international non-governmental organisation providing contraception and safe abortion services in 37 countries around the world. MSI Reproductive Choices as an organisation lobbies in favour of access to abortion, and provides a variety of sexual and reproductive healthcare services including advice, vasectomies, and abortions in the UK and other countries where it is legal to do so. It is based in London and is a registered charity under English law.

The very high rate of human immunodeficiency virus infection experienced in Uganda during the 1980s and early 1990s created an urgent need for people to know their HIV status. The only option available to them was offered by the National Blood Transfusion Service, which carries out routine HIV tests on all the blood that is donated for transfusion purposes. The great need for testing and counseling resulted in a group of local non-governmental organizations such as The AIDS Support Organisation, Uganda Red Cross, Nsambya Home Care, the National Blood Bank, the Uganda Virus Research Institute together with the Ministry of Health establishing the AIDS Information Centre in 1990. This organization worked to provide HIV testing and counseling services with the knowledge and consent of the client involved.

Population Action International (PAI) is an international, civil society organization that uses research and advocacy to improve global access to family planning and reproductive health care. Its mission is to "advance universal access to sexual and reproductive health and rights through advocacy, partnerships and the funding of changemakers". PAI's headquarters is in Washington, D.C.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">HIV/AIDS in Lesotho</span>

HIV/AIDS in Lesotho constitutes a very serious threat to Basotho and to Lesotho's economic development. Since its initial detection in 1986, HIV/AIDS has spread at alarming rates in Lesotho. In 2000, King Letsie III declared HIV/AIDS a natural disaster. According to the Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS) in 2016, Lesotho's adult prevalence rate of 25% is the second highest in the world, following Eswatini.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">HIV/AIDS in Mozambique</span>

Mozambique is a country particularly hard-hit by the HIV/AIDS epidemic. According to 2008 UNAIDS estimates, this southeast African nation has the 8th highest HIV rate in the world. With 1,600,000 Mozambicans living with HIV, 990,000 of which are women and children, Mozambique's government realizes that much work must be done to eradicate this infectious disease. To reduce HIV/AIDS within the country, Mozambique has partnered with numerous global organizations to provide its citizens with augmented access to antiretroviral therapy and prevention techniques, such as condom use. A surge toward the treatment and prevention of HIV/AIDS in women and children has additionally aided in Mozambique's aim to fulfill its Millennium Development Goals (MDGs). Nevertheless, HIV/AIDS has made a drastic impact on Mozambique; individual risk behaviors are still greatly influenced by social norms, and much still needs to be done to address the epidemic and provide care and treatment to those in need.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">HIV/AIDS in Rwanda</span>

Rwanda faces a generalized epidemic, with an HIV prevalence rate of 3.1 percent among adults ages 15 to 49. The prevalence rate has remained relatively stable, with an overall decline since the late 1990s, partly due to improved HIV surveillance methodology. In general, HIV prevalence is higher in urban areas than in rural areas, and women are at higher risk of HIV infection than men. Young women ages 15 to 24 are twice as likely to be infected with HIV as young men in the same age group. Populations at higher risk of HIV infection include people in prostitution and men attending clinics for sexually transmitted infections.

UNAIDS has said that HIV/AIDS in Indonesia is one of Asia's fastest growing epidemics. In 2010, it is expected that 5 million Indonesians will have HIV/AIDS. In 2007, Indonesia was ranked 99th in the world by prevalence rate, but because of low understanding of the symptoms of the disease and high social stigma attached to it, only 5-10% of HIV/AIDS sufferers actually get diagnosed and treated. According to the a census conducted in 2019, it is counted that 640,443 people in the country are living with HIV. The adult prevalence for HIV/ AIDS in the country is 0.4%. Indonesia is the country is Southeast Asia to have the most number of recorded people living with HIV while Thailand has the highest adult prevalence.

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Cases of HIV/AIDS in Peru are considered to have reached the level of a concentrated epidemic.

Edward C. (Ted) Green is an American medical anthropologist working in public health and development. He was a senior research scientist at the Harvard School of Public Health and served as senior research scientist at the Harvard Center for Population and Development Studies for eight years, the last three years as director of the AIDS Prevention Project. He was later affiliated with the Department of Population and Reproductive Health at Johns Hopkins University (2011–14) and the George Washington University as research professor. He was appointed to serve as a member of the Presidential Advisory Council on HIV/AIDS (2003–2007), and served on the Office of AIDS Research Advisory Council for the National Institutes of Health (2003–2006). Green serves on the board of AIDS.org and the Bonobo Conservation Initiative. and Medical Care Development.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Health in Cameroon</span>

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sustainable Development Goals</span> United Nations 17 sustainable development goals for 2030

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Angelina Eichhorst</span> Dutch diplomat

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Dr. Winnie Mpanju-Shumbusho is a Tanzanian paediatrician and public health leader who until December 31, 2015, served as World Health Organization (WHO) Assistant Director General for HIV/AIDS, Tuberculosis, Malaria and Neglected Tropical Diseases based in Geneva, Switzerland. From 2016 to 2019, she served as board chair of RBM Partnership To End Malaria. Before joining WHO in 1999, Mpanju-Shumbusho was Director General of The East, Central and Southern African Health Community (ECSA-HC) formerly known as the Commonwealth Regional Health Community for East, Central and Southern Africa (CRHC-ECSA).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sustainable Development Goal 3</span> Good Health and Well-Being

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References

  1. 1 2 Cliff, Julie; Walt, Gill; Nhatave, Isabel (2004). "What's in a Name? Policy Transfer in Mozambique: DOTS for Tuberculosis and Syndromic Management for Sexually Transmitted Infections". Journal of Public Health Policy. 25 (1): 46. doi:10.1057/palgrave.jphp.3190003. JSTOR   3343445. PMID   15134131. S2CID   45133543.
  2. 1 2 3 Piot, Peter (2012). No Time to Lose: A Life in Pursuit of Deadly Viruses. W. W. Norton & Company. pp. 112–113, 173, 319. ISBN   9780393084115 . Retrieved 16 July 2019.
  3. Schneider, William H. (2013). The History of Blood Transfusion in Sub-Saharan Africa. Vol. 27. Ohio University Press. pp. 21–8. doi:10.1016/j.tmrv.2012.08.001. ISBN   9780821444535. PMID   22981696 . Retrieved 16 July 2019.{{cite book}}: |journal= ignored (help)
  4. 1 2 3 4 5 Winsbury, Rex, ed. (1995). Safe Blood in Developing Countries - the Lessons from Uganda (PDF). Brussels, Belgium: European Commission. pp. 34–35, 60–61. Retrieved 16 July 2019.
  5. 1 2 International Development - Third Report. London, England: House of Commons. 2001. pp. §4, para 241–242. Retrieved 18 July 2019.
  6. Cronin, David (10 July 2002). "EU accused of lacking commitment to Third World's battle against AIDS". Politico. Retrieved 19 July 2019.
  7. Clark, Jocalyn (26 August 2006). "HIV programmes in poor countries lack health workers". British Medical Journal. 333 (7565): 412. doi:10.1136/bmj.333.7565.412-d. PMC   1553493 . PMID   16931835.
  8. "Collaboration between the European Commission and the World Bank (press release)", /europa.eu, European Commission, 21 April 2006, retrieved 28 July 2019
  9. GLOBAL HEALTH Global Fund to Fight AIDS, TB and Malaria Has Improved Its Documentation of Funding Decisions but Needs Standardized Oversight Expectations and Assessments (GAO-07-627) (PDF). United States Government Accountability Office. May 2007. pp. 1, 6. Retrieved 20 July 2019.
  10. Dungus, Abubakar (19 November 2001). "UNFPA Goodwill Ambassador Wins Jonathan Mann Award for human rights, health and HIV/AIDS Work". UNFPA - United Nations Population Fund. Retrieved 19 July 2019.

Social impact of digitalisation 2018 Social infrastructure with the European long term investors 2017 Social investment at the EPC 2016 Energy Poverty at the EPC 2017