The World Health Organization (WHO) is introducing immediate cost-cutting measures including a freeze on all but critical staff recruitment, according to an email from the Director-General to staff sent late Thursday. The body is also prioritising activities related to health priorities, “significantly reducing” travel, limiting procurement and suspending office upgrades. All meetings will be virtual […] Continue reading ->
The new US Administration has ordered all 13 operating divisions of its Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) to stop all external communications until 1 February. It has also halted grant payments, and frozen all travel ‘indefinitely’ and cancelled attendance at various external meetings of National Institutes of Health staff, according to Nature. The […] Continue reading ->
African countries will have “no option” but to find other sources of support for their public health programmes if the United States pulls back – and Korea, China and Japan have already provided help during recent disease outbreaks. This is according to Dr Ngashi Ngongo, a senior Africa Centres for Disease Control and Infection (Africa […] Continue reading ->
Welcome to the fifth issue of the Governing Pandemics Snapshot. This issue provides critical insight into the past six months of negotiations over a World Health Organization (WHO) Pandemic Agreement, examining whether a meaningful agreement can be achieved this year. It addresses remaining contentious issues such as Pathogen Access and Benefit Sharing (PABS) and One […] Continue reading ->
Last week’s nomination hearing of Lee Zeldin, President Donald Trump’s pick to lead the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) shed little light on how he would chart the future of PFAS and other “forever chemicals” regulation. President Donald Trump began action on his pledges to deregulate environmental protections, promote fossil fuel production, and withdraw from the […] Continue reading ->
DAVOS, Switzerland – While the United States decision to withdraw from the World Health Organization has thrown the world of global health into turmoil, former US Congressman Patrick J. Kennedy remains hopeful that a “more thoughtful” conversation can be held with the new US Administration of President Donald Trump once the political dust has settled. […] Continue reading ->
Hours after reclaiming the presidency, Donald Trump moved swiftly on Monday to withdraw the United States from the Paris climate agreement and unleash a barrage of executive orders aimed at dismantling US climate policy, boosting fossil fuel production, and undercutting green energy technologies. The sweeping actions, which are expected to trigger months of legal challenges […] Continue reading ->
As leaders from across sectors gather this week at the World Economic Forum to tackle global challenges, all solutions and priorities should be assessed first with a view to dismantling entrenched inequities. One urgent disparity that demands attention is child survival in Africa. A child born in sub-Saharan Africa is 14 times more likely to […] Continue reading ->
United States President Donald Trump may face a lawsuit over his failure to get the approval of US Congress to withdraw from the World Health Organization (WHO). “Trump made a unilateral decision to pull out of WHO. But we joined WHO in 1948 by an Act of Congress. Trump needs Congress’ approval to withdraw,” said […] Continue reading ->
President Donald Trump has signed an executive order to withdraw the United States from the World Health Organization (WHO), citing its handling of the COVID-19 pandemic and other global health crises. Trump criticised the WHO for failing to operate independently of what he called “inappropriate political influence” from its member states. He also took issue […] Continue reading ->