World Health Organization (WHO) member states should include personal-use glucose monitoring devices in their vitro diagnostics (IVD) lists to help people with diabetes, according to the global body’s 2023 Essential Diagnostics List (EDL) released this week. Diabetes caused 1.5 million deaths in 2019, and including personal glucose testing devices “could lead to better disease management […] Continue reading ->
The World Health Organization (WHO) is poised to begin the transfers of medical supplies to the embattled Gaza Strip on Friday as part of a humanitarian convoy of 20 trucks, said WHO Director-General Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus Thursday. But he and other senior WHO officials said the corridor needs to remain open permanently in order […] Continue reading ->
There have been some gains in the past decade, but peak pollution is still 30 times WHO’s safe limit. Top Delhi government advisor Reena Gupta speaks with Health Policy Watch about progress and obstacles. Come October and millions of people in and around Delhi brace for a sharp rise in pollution in the last quarter […] Continue reading ->
Israel on Wednesday confirmed that it would agree to allow humanitarian aid into Gaza via its Rafiah crossing from Egypt, where truckloads of food, water and medicines have already been positioned in the hopes that a humanitarian corridor could soon be opened to reach some 2.3 million Gazans in a deepening humanitarian crisis. The Israeli […] Continue reading ->
BERLIN – German mRNA vaccine maker BioNTech’s partnerships with vaccine manufacturing facilities in Rwanda, Senegal and South Africa will support the African Union’s ambition to produce 60% of the continent’s vaccine needs by 2040, the company told the World Health Summit. But Ayaode Alakija, former Chief Humanitarian Coordinator for Nigeria and World Health Summit Ambassador, […] Continue reading ->
The world’s biggest greenhouse gas emitters are doing very little to address air pollution, with Saudi Arabia scoring worst of the group, according to a new global air pollution evaluation released on Wednesday. The 2023 Clean Air Scorecard analyses how governments’ climate commitments – called nationally determined contributions (NDCs) – recognise and contribute to ensuring […] Continue reading ->
Exclusive: COP28 Climate and Health Draft Declaration Ignores Fossil Fuels as Driver of Health Harms
BERLIN – A draft “health and climate ministerial declaration” set to be released at the upcoming UN Climate Conference in Dubai (COP28) 30 November-12 December, omits any reference to fossil fuels and their health harms, Health Policy Watch has learned. While the declaration mentions the need for climate mitigation, as well as the related health […] Continue reading ->
Time-bound waivers of intellectual property (IP) rights and benefits for countries that share information about threatening pathogens are some of the key components of the draft pandemic accord sent to World Health Organization (WHO) member states by the Intergovernmental Negotiating Body (INB) on Monday. These two issues have been major bones of contention in negotiations and […] Continue reading ->
Health workers in Gaza face “agonising choices” in the face of Israel’s order that all people evacuate the north of the territory: “abandon ill patients amid a bombing campaign, put their lives at risk while remaining on-site to treat patients or endanger patients’ lives while attempting to transport them to facilities that have no capacity […] Continue reading ->
BERLIN, Germany — Hours before the release of the second draft of the Pandemic Accord on Monday, German Health Minister Karl Lauterbach told the World Health Summit that a pandemic agreement with “major limitations” on intellectual property (IP) rights protection will “not fly” for Germany and most of its fellow European Union (EU) members. “For […] Continue reading ->