Stuck Between Faith and Politics: Why Sierra Leone’s Safe Motherhood Bill is Still in Limbo 19/08/2026 Abdulai Gbla FREETOWN, Sierra Leone – For nearly two years, Sierra Leone’s Safe Motherhood and Reproductive Health Care Bill has been stuck in a political and social tug-of-war that has little to do with the technical business of passing a health law. Instead, the country is wrestling with who gets to define reproductive health in the country: […] Continue reading -> NIH Lifts Ban on Research in South Africa 19/08/2026 Kerry Cullinan The United States (US) National Institutes of Health (NIH) has lifted its ban on funding research projects in South Africa, according to a report by the journal, Science. The journal quotes an internal NIH memo sent to staff on Wednesday by director Dr Jay Bhattacharya, which says the NIH is exempt from an executive order […] Continue reading -> Political Declaration on Pandemics is Modified Ahead of UN Meeting 19/08/2026 Kerry Cullinan The Political Declaration to be adopted at the United Nations High-Level Meeting on Pandemic Prevention, Preparedness and Response (PPPR) on 25 September has been modified since being placed under the “silence procedure” in late July. This is according to those close to the process, who told Health Policy Watch that most changes are relatively minor […] Continue reading -> High-Profile Departures Shake Up WHO Leadership, ‘Controversial’ Appointee Returns 18/08/2026 Felix Sassmannshausen A major leadership shake-up is rocking the WHO, with two assistant directors-general, Dr Jeremy Farrar and Dr Yukiko Nakatani, leaving the organisation in quick succession. For now, Dr Bruce Aylward will take over Farrar’s role while Dr Sylvie Briand will step in for Nakatani. Moreover, following allegations of corruption against Saima Wazed, the regional director […] Continue reading -> Eighty Years Strong and Still Forgetting Water: How WHO’s Anniversary Story Erases a Century of Environmental Health 18/08/2026 Wilfried Kreisel Twice in three years – at its 75th anniversary and again this July at the Constitution’s 80th – the World Health Oganization (WHO) has told the official story of what it has achieved. Twice, water, sanitation, air, chemicals and climate have been left out. The former head of WHO’s environmental health programme argues this is […] Continue reading -> US Assumes Control Over Global Anti-Abortion Geneva Consensus Declaration, Affirms Religious Groups 17/08/2026 Kerry Cullinan The United States has assumed the secretariat of the Geneva Consensus Declaration (GCD), a global anti-abortion initiative launched by Donald Trump’s administration weeks before he was voted out of office in 2020. Hungary took over the secretariat after Trump was voted out, but the US rejoined the initiative in January 2025, a week after Trump […] Continue reading -> French Youth Social Media Ban Collapses in Court as EU Readies Regulation 17/08/2026 Felix Sassmannshausen France’s planned youth social media ban for minors under the age of 15 violates fundamental rights, the country’s Constitutional Council ruled on Friday. Critics had warned of a predictable legal defeat following a rushed legislative process. French President Emmanuel Macron announced a revision of the flagship legislation by spring 2027. The European Commission is also […] Continue reading -> Fauci: The Oracle Who Went Silent At The Wrong Time 17/08/2026 Mukesh Kapila Twenty-five democracies managed to examine their COVID pandemics without smashing their national crockery. The United States produced a partisan committee and a pre-emptive pardon that silenced the one man who could explain to millions of angry, confused Americans why they suffered so badly. But in his final martyrdom, Anthony Fauci may have done the rest […] Continue reading -> A Year After Collapse in Geneva, Plastics Treaty Negotiations Remain Paralysed 14/08/2026 Stefan Anderson When 175 countries unanimously voted in Nairobi in March 2022 to negotiate a legally binding treaty to end plastic pollution, the move was hailed as the most significant step in global environmental negotiations since the Paris climate accord. Now, a year to the day after two weeks of talks and a 24-hour final negotiating marathon […] Continue reading -> South Sudan Refugees Face Extreme Hunger Due to Funding Shortfalls 14/08/2026 Editorial team More than 650,000 refugees and asylum seekers in South Sudan risk losing access to lifesaving food, nutrition and other assistance due to critical funding shortfalls, leaving families who fled war and hunger with nowhere else to turn, UNHCR, the UN Refugee Agency, and the United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) warned on Friday. Without a […] Continue reading -> Posts navigation Older posts
NIH Lifts Ban on Research in South Africa 19/08/2026 Kerry Cullinan The United States (US) National Institutes of Health (NIH) has lifted its ban on funding research projects in South Africa, according to a report by the journal, Science. The journal quotes an internal NIH memo sent to staff on Wednesday by director Dr Jay Bhattacharya, which says the NIH is exempt from an executive order […] Continue reading -> Political Declaration on Pandemics is Modified Ahead of UN Meeting 19/08/2026 Kerry Cullinan The Political Declaration to be adopted at the United Nations High-Level Meeting on Pandemic Prevention, Preparedness and Response (PPPR) on 25 September has been modified since being placed under the “silence procedure” in late July. This is according to those close to the process, who told Health Policy Watch that most changes are relatively minor […] Continue reading -> High-Profile Departures Shake Up WHO Leadership, ‘Controversial’ Appointee Returns 18/08/2026 Felix Sassmannshausen A major leadership shake-up is rocking the WHO, with two assistant directors-general, Dr Jeremy Farrar and Dr Yukiko Nakatani, leaving the organisation in quick succession. For now, Dr Bruce Aylward will take over Farrar’s role while Dr Sylvie Briand will step in for Nakatani. Moreover, following allegations of corruption against Saima Wazed, the regional director […] Continue reading -> Eighty Years Strong and Still Forgetting Water: How WHO’s Anniversary Story Erases a Century of Environmental Health 18/08/2026 Wilfried Kreisel Twice in three years – at its 75th anniversary and again this July at the Constitution’s 80th – the World Health Oganization (WHO) has told the official story of what it has achieved. Twice, water, sanitation, air, chemicals and climate have been left out. The former head of WHO’s environmental health programme argues this is […] Continue reading -> US Assumes Control Over Global Anti-Abortion Geneva Consensus Declaration, Affirms Religious Groups 17/08/2026 Kerry Cullinan The United States has assumed the secretariat of the Geneva Consensus Declaration (GCD), a global anti-abortion initiative launched by Donald Trump’s administration weeks before he was voted out of office in 2020. Hungary took over the secretariat after Trump was voted out, but the US rejoined the initiative in January 2025, a week after Trump […] Continue reading -> French Youth Social Media Ban Collapses in Court as EU Readies Regulation 17/08/2026 Felix Sassmannshausen France’s planned youth social media ban for minors under the age of 15 violates fundamental rights, the country’s Constitutional Council ruled on Friday. Critics had warned of a predictable legal defeat following a rushed legislative process. French President Emmanuel Macron announced a revision of the flagship legislation by spring 2027. The European Commission is also […] Continue reading -> Fauci: The Oracle Who Went Silent At The Wrong Time 17/08/2026 Mukesh Kapila Twenty-five democracies managed to examine their COVID pandemics without smashing their national crockery. The United States produced a partisan committee and a pre-emptive pardon that silenced the one man who could explain to millions of angry, confused Americans why they suffered so badly. But in his final martyrdom, Anthony Fauci may have done the rest […] Continue reading -> A Year After Collapse in Geneva, Plastics Treaty Negotiations Remain Paralysed 14/08/2026 Stefan Anderson When 175 countries unanimously voted in Nairobi in March 2022 to negotiate a legally binding treaty to end plastic pollution, the move was hailed as the most significant step in global environmental negotiations since the Paris climate accord. Now, a year to the day after two weeks of talks and a 24-hour final negotiating marathon […] Continue reading -> South Sudan Refugees Face Extreme Hunger Due to Funding Shortfalls 14/08/2026 Editorial team More than 650,000 refugees and asylum seekers in South Sudan risk losing access to lifesaving food, nutrition and other assistance due to critical funding shortfalls, leaving families who fled war and hunger with nowhere else to turn, UNHCR, the UN Refugee Agency, and the United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) warned on Friday. Without a […] Continue reading -> Posts navigation Older posts
Political Declaration on Pandemics is Modified Ahead of UN Meeting 19/08/2026 Kerry Cullinan The Political Declaration to be adopted at the United Nations High-Level Meeting on Pandemic Prevention, Preparedness and Response (PPPR) on 25 September has been modified since being placed under the “silence procedure” in late July. This is according to those close to the process, who told Health Policy Watch that most changes are relatively minor […] Continue reading -> High-Profile Departures Shake Up WHO Leadership, ‘Controversial’ Appointee Returns 18/08/2026 Felix Sassmannshausen A major leadership shake-up is rocking the WHO, with two assistant directors-general, Dr Jeremy Farrar and Dr Yukiko Nakatani, leaving the organisation in quick succession. For now, Dr Bruce Aylward will take over Farrar’s role while Dr Sylvie Briand will step in for Nakatani. Moreover, following allegations of corruption against Saima Wazed, the regional director […] Continue reading -> Eighty Years Strong and Still Forgetting Water: How WHO’s Anniversary Story Erases a Century of Environmental Health 18/08/2026 Wilfried Kreisel Twice in three years – at its 75th anniversary and again this July at the Constitution’s 80th – the World Health Oganization (WHO) has told the official story of what it has achieved. Twice, water, sanitation, air, chemicals and climate have been left out. The former head of WHO’s environmental health programme argues this is […] Continue reading -> US Assumes Control Over Global Anti-Abortion Geneva Consensus Declaration, Affirms Religious Groups 17/08/2026 Kerry Cullinan The United States has assumed the secretariat of the Geneva Consensus Declaration (GCD), a global anti-abortion initiative launched by Donald Trump’s administration weeks before he was voted out of office in 2020. Hungary took over the secretariat after Trump was voted out, but the US rejoined the initiative in January 2025, a week after Trump […] Continue reading -> French Youth Social Media Ban Collapses in Court as EU Readies Regulation 17/08/2026 Felix Sassmannshausen France’s planned youth social media ban for minors under the age of 15 violates fundamental rights, the country’s Constitutional Council ruled on Friday. Critics had warned of a predictable legal defeat following a rushed legislative process. French President Emmanuel Macron announced a revision of the flagship legislation by spring 2027. The European Commission is also […] Continue reading -> Fauci: The Oracle Who Went Silent At The Wrong Time 17/08/2026 Mukesh Kapila Twenty-five democracies managed to examine their COVID pandemics without smashing their national crockery. The United States produced a partisan committee and a pre-emptive pardon that silenced the one man who could explain to millions of angry, confused Americans why they suffered so badly. But in his final martyrdom, Anthony Fauci may have done the rest […] Continue reading -> A Year After Collapse in Geneva, Plastics Treaty Negotiations Remain Paralysed 14/08/2026 Stefan Anderson When 175 countries unanimously voted in Nairobi in March 2022 to negotiate a legally binding treaty to end plastic pollution, the move was hailed as the most significant step in global environmental negotiations since the Paris climate accord. Now, a year to the day after two weeks of talks and a 24-hour final negotiating marathon […] Continue reading -> South Sudan Refugees Face Extreme Hunger Due to Funding Shortfalls 14/08/2026 Editorial team More than 650,000 refugees and asylum seekers in South Sudan risk losing access to lifesaving food, nutrition and other assistance due to critical funding shortfalls, leaving families who fled war and hunger with nowhere else to turn, UNHCR, the UN Refugee Agency, and the United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) warned on Friday. Without a […] Continue reading -> Posts navigation Older posts
High-Profile Departures Shake Up WHO Leadership, ‘Controversial’ Appointee Returns 18/08/2026 Felix Sassmannshausen A major leadership shake-up is rocking the WHO, with two assistant directors-general, Dr Jeremy Farrar and Dr Yukiko Nakatani, leaving the organisation in quick succession. For now, Dr Bruce Aylward will take over Farrar’s role while Dr Sylvie Briand will step in for Nakatani. Moreover, following allegations of corruption against Saima Wazed, the regional director […] Continue reading -> Eighty Years Strong and Still Forgetting Water: How WHO’s Anniversary Story Erases a Century of Environmental Health 18/08/2026 Wilfried Kreisel Twice in three years – at its 75th anniversary and again this July at the Constitution’s 80th – the World Health Oganization (WHO) has told the official story of what it has achieved. Twice, water, sanitation, air, chemicals and climate have been left out. The former head of WHO’s environmental health programme argues this is […] Continue reading -> US Assumes Control Over Global Anti-Abortion Geneva Consensus Declaration, Affirms Religious Groups 17/08/2026 Kerry Cullinan The United States has assumed the secretariat of the Geneva Consensus Declaration (GCD), a global anti-abortion initiative launched by Donald Trump’s administration weeks before he was voted out of office in 2020. Hungary took over the secretariat after Trump was voted out, but the US rejoined the initiative in January 2025, a week after Trump […] Continue reading -> French Youth Social Media Ban Collapses in Court as EU Readies Regulation 17/08/2026 Felix Sassmannshausen France’s planned youth social media ban for minors under the age of 15 violates fundamental rights, the country’s Constitutional Council ruled on Friday. Critics had warned of a predictable legal defeat following a rushed legislative process. French President Emmanuel Macron announced a revision of the flagship legislation by spring 2027. The European Commission is also […] Continue reading -> Fauci: The Oracle Who Went Silent At The Wrong Time 17/08/2026 Mukesh Kapila Twenty-five democracies managed to examine their COVID pandemics without smashing their national crockery. The United States produced a partisan committee and a pre-emptive pardon that silenced the one man who could explain to millions of angry, confused Americans why they suffered so badly. But in his final martyrdom, Anthony Fauci may have done the rest […] Continue reading -> A Year After Collapse in Geneva, Plastics Treaty Negotiations Remain Paralysed 14/08/2026 Stefan Anderson When 175 countries unanimously voted in Nairobi in March 2022 to negotiate a legally binding treaty to end plastic pollution, the move was hailed as the most significant step in global environmental negotiations since the Paris climate accord. Now, a year to the day after two weeks of talks and a 24-hour final negotiating marathon […] Continue reading -> South Sudan Refugees Face Extreme Hunger Due to Funding Shortfalls 14/08/2026 Editorial team More than 650,000 refugees and asylum seekers in South Sudan risk losing access to lifesaving food, nutrition and other assistance due to critical funding shortfalls, leaving families who fled war and hunger with nowhere else to turn, UNHCR, the UN Refugee Agency, and the United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) warned on Friday. Without a […] Continue reading -> Posts navigation Older posts
Eighty Years Strong and Still Forgetting Water: How WHO’s Anniversary Story Erases a Century of Environmental Health 18/08/2026 Wilfried Kreisel Twice in three years – at its 75th anniversary and again this July at the Constitution’s 80th – the World Health Oganization (WHO) has told the official story of what it has achieved. Twice, water, sanitation, air, chemicals and climate have been left out. The former head of WHO’s environmental health programme argues this is […] Continue reading -> US Assumes Control Over Global Anti-Abortion Geneva Consensus Declaration, Affirms Religious Groups 17/08/2026 Kerry Cullinan The United States has assumed the secretariat of the Geneva Consensus Declaration (GCD), a global anti-abortion initiative launched by Donald Trump’s administration weeks before he was voted out of office in 2020. Hungary took over the secretariat after Trump was voted out, but the US rejoined the initiative in January 2025, a week after Trump […] Continue reading -> French Youth Social Media Ban Collapses in Court as EU Readies Regulation 17/08/2026 Felix Sassmannshausen France’s planned youth social media ban for minors under the age of 15 violates fundamental rights, the country’s Constitutional Council ruled on Friday. Critics had warned of a predictable legal defeat following a rushed legislative process. French President Emmanuel Macron announced a revision of the flagship legislation by spring 2027. The European Commission is also […] Continue reading -> Fauci: The Oracle Who Went Silent At The Wrong Time 17/08/2026 Mukesh Kapila Twenty-five democracies managed to examine their COVID pandemics without smashing their national crockery. The United States produced a partisan committee and a pre-emptive pardon that silenced the one man who could explain to millions of angry, confused Americans why they suffered so badly. But in his final martyrdom, Anthony Fauci may have done the rest […] Continue reading -> A Year After Collapse in Geneva, Plastics Treaty Negotiations Remain Paralysed 14/08/2026 Stefan Anderson When 175 countries unanimously voted in Nairobi in March 2022 to negotiate a legally binding treaty to end plastic pollution, the move was hailed as the most significant step in global environmental negotiations since the Paris climate accord. Now, a year to the day after two weeks of talks and a 24-hour final negotiating marathon […] Continue reading -> South Sudan Refugees Face Extreme Hunger Due to Funding Shortfalls 14/08/2026 Editorial team More than 650,000 refugees and asylum seekers in South Sudan risk losing access to lifesaving food, nutrition and other assistance due to critical funding shortfalls, leaving families who fled war and hunger with nowhere else to turn, UNHCR, the UN Refugee Agency, and the United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) warned on Friday. Without a […] Continue reading -> Posts navigation Older posts
US Assumes Control Over Global Anti-Abortion Geneva Consensus Declaration, Affirms Religious Groups 17/08/2026 Kerry Cullinan The United States has assumed the secretariat of the Geneva Consensus Declaration (GCD), a global anti-abortion initiative launched by Donald Trump’s administration weeks before he was voted out of office in 2020. Hungary took over the secretariat after Trump was voted out, but the US rejoined the initiative in January 2025, a week after Trump […] Continue reading -> French Youth Social Media Ban Collapses in Court as EU Readies Regulation 17/08/2026 Felix Sassmannshausen France’s planned youth social media ban for minors under the age of 15 violates fundamental rights, the country’s Constitutional Council ruled on Friday. Critics had warned of a predictable legal defeat following a rushed legislative process. French President Emmanuel Macron announced a revision of the flagship legislation by spring 2027. The European Commission is also […] Continue reading -> Fauci: The Oracle Who Went Silent At The Wrong Time 17/08/2026 Mukesh Kapila Twenty-five democracies managed to examine their COVID pandemics without smashing their national crockery. The United States produced a partisan committee and a pre-emptive pardon that silenced the one man who could explain to millions of angry, confused Americans why they suffered so badly. But in his final martyrdom, Anthony Fauci may have done the rest […] Continue reading -> A Year After Collapse in Geneva, Plastics Treaty Negotiations Remain Paralysed 14/08/2026 Stefan Anderson When 175 countries unanimously voted in Nairobi in March 2022 to negotiate a legally binding treaty to end plastic pollution, the move was hailed as the most significant step in global environmental negotiations since the Paris climate accord. Now, a year to the day after two weeks of talks and a 24-hour final negotiating marathon […] Continue reading -> South Sudan Refugees Face Extreme Hunger Due to Funding Shortfalls 14/08/2026 Editorial team More than 650,000 refugees and asylum seekers in South Sudan risk losing access to lifesaving food, nutrition and other assistance due to critical funding shortfalls, leaving families who fled war and hunger with nowhere else to turn, UNHCR, the UN Refugee Agency, and the United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) warned on Friday. Without a […] Continue reading -> Posts navigation Older posts
French Youth Social Media Ban Collapses in Court as EU Readies Regulation 17/08/2026 Felix Sassmannshausen France’s planned youth social media ban for minors under the age of 15 violates fundamental rights, the country’s Constitutional Council ruled on Friday. Critics had warned of a predictable legal defeat following a rushed legislative process. French President Emmanuel Macron announced a revision of the flagship legislation by spring 2027. The European Commission is also […] Continue reading -> Fauci: The Oracle Who Went Silent At The Wrong Time 17/08/2026 Mukesh Kapila Twenty-five democracies managed to examine their COVID pandemics without smashing their national crockery. The United States produced a partisan committee and a pre-emptive pardon that silenced the one man who could explain to millions of angry, confused Americans why they suffered so badly. But in his final martyrdom, Anthony Fauci may have done the rest […] Continue reading -> A Year After Collapse in Geneva, Plastics Treaty Negotiations Remain Paralysed 14/08/2026 Stefan Anderson When 175 countries unanimously voted in Nairobi in March 2022 to negotiate a legally binding treaty to end plastic pollution, the move was hailed as the most significant step in global environmental negotiations since the Paris climate accord. Now, a year to the day after two weeks of talks and a 24-hour final negotiating marathon […] Continue reading -> South Sudan Refugees Face Extreme Hunger Due to Funding Shortfalls 14/08/2026 Editorial team More than 650,000 refugees and asylum seekers in South Sudan risk losing access to lifesaving food, nutrition and other assistance due to critical funding shortfalls, leaving families who fled war and hunger with nowhere else to turn, UNHCR, the UN Refugee Agency, and the United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) warned on Friday. Without a […] Continue reading -> Posts navigation Older posts
Fauci: The Oracle Who Went Silent At The Wrong Time 17/08/2026 Mukesh Kapila Twenty-five democracies managed to examine their COVID pandemics without smashing their national crockery. The United States produced a partisan committee and a pre-emptive pardon that silenced the one man who could explain to millions of angry, confused Americans why they suffered so badly. But in his final martyrdom, Anthony Fauci may have done the rest […] Continue reading -> A Year After Collapse in Geneva, Plastics Treaty Negotiations Remain Paralysed 14/08/2026 Stefan Anderson When 175 countries unanimously voted in Nairobi in March 2022 to negotiate a legally binding treaty to end plastic pollution, the move was hailed as the most significant step in global environmental negotiations since the Paris climate accord. Now, a year to the day after two weeks of talks and a 24-hour final negotiating marathon […] Continue reading -> South Sudan Refugees Face Extreme Hunger Due to Funding Shortfalls 14/08/2026 Editorial team More than 650,000 refugees and asylum seekers in South Sudan risk losing access to lifesaving food, nutrition and other assistance due to critical funding shortfalls, leaving families who fled war and hunger with nowhere else to turn, UNHCR, the UN Refugee Agency, and the United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) warned on Friday. Without a […] Continue reading -> Posts navigation Older posts
A Year After Collapse in Geneva, Plastics Treaty Negotiations Remain Paralysed 14/08/2026 Stefan Anderson When 175 countries unanimously voted in Nairobi in March 2022 to negotiate a legally binding treaty to end plastic pollution, the move was hailed as the most significant step in global environmental negotiations since the Paris climate accord. Now, a year to the day after two weeks of talks and a 24-hour final negotiating marathon […] Continue reading -> South Sudan Refugees Face Extreme Hunger Due to Funding Shortfalls 14/08/2026 Editorial team More than 650,000 refugees and asylum seekers in South Sudan risk losing access to lifesaving food, nutrition and other assistance due to critical funding shortfalls, leaving families who fled war and hunger with nowhere else to turn, UNHCR, the UN Refugee Agency, and the United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) warned on Friday. Without a […] Continue reading -> Posts navigation Older posts
South Sudan Refugees Face Extreme Hunger Due to Funding Shortfalls 14/08/2026 Editorial team More than 650,000 refugees and asylum seekers in South Sudan risk losing access to lifesaving food, nutrition and other assistance due to critical funding shortfalls, leaving families who fled war and hunger with nowhere else to turn, UNHCR, the UN Refugee Agency, and the United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) warned on Friday. Without a […] Continue reading -> Posts navigation Older posts