The United Nations (UN) General Assembly voted overwhelmingly in favour of a political declaration to combat non-communicable diseases (NCDs) and promote mental health on Monday, with 175 member states voting in favour, only the United States and Argentina voting against, and Paraguay as the only abstention. The declaration was due to have been adopted by […] Continue reading ->
A new treatment has been approved for gonorrhoea, a sexually transmitted infection (STI) that is increasingly developing resistance to all current antibiotics.  The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved the use of zoliflodacin to treat uncomplicated gonorrhoea on Friday, following the publication in The Lancet of the results of a phase 3 trial of […] Continue reading ->
In Spain last winter, something remarkable happened: paediatric wards fell silent. “Hospitals were empty, and nobody could believe it,” said Dr Javier Díez-Domingo, director of the Vaccine Research Centre in Valencia.  After the country introduced monoclonal antibodies against Respiratory Syncytial Virus (RSV) for every infant, RSV-related hospitalisations dropped by 83%. Thousands of healthy babies stayed […] Continue reading ->
The Indian government claims that farm fires in Punjab, which contribute significantly to air pollution, have been reduced by 90% during this fall and winter season of harvest and crop-waste disposal – historically a factor in sending heavy clouds of air pollution drifting around northern India. But those claims have appeared all the more specious […] Continue reading ->
The World Food Programme (WFP) is warning of a rapidly deteriorating humanitarian emergency in Sudan on Friday, with conditions in the besieged city of El Fasher in Sudan’s Darfour region described as “beyond horrific.”  Speaking at a briefing to UN reporters in Geneva, Ross Smith, WFP’s Director of Emergency Preparedness, said “anywhere between 70 and […] Continue reading ->
Following eleven hours of intense negotiations overnight, the European Union (EU) clinched a landmark agreement on the most significant pharma reform of its medicines market in over 20 years on Thursday.  Reached in the final moments of the Danish EU Presidency’s mandate, the deal aims to strike a critical balance stimulating pharma innovation, particularly for […] Continue reading ->
Kenya’s High Court suspended the implementation of the country’s Memorandum of Understanding with the United States on Thursday after two separate court challenges by the Consumer Federation of Kenya (COFEK) and local Senator Okiya Omtatah. COFEK argues that the agreement contravenes Kenya’s Data Protection Act, Digital Health Act, Health Act, and new data regulations that […] Continue reading ->