Policies initiated to control the COVID-19 pandemic increased the difficulties for people who use drugs when seeking health treatment, leading drug experts to conclude that treatment programmes need to be integrated into community care. Ruth Dreifuss, former President of Switzerland and founding member of the Global Commission on Drug Policy, noted that people who use […] Continue reading ->
A new WHO White Paper on strengthening Health Emergency Preparedness and Response supports the creation of a “Global Health Emergency Council” under WHO auspices and some “targeted amendments” to existing International Health Regulations governing emergencies. However, the new White Paper, issued under the name of WHO Director General Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, also avoids taking […] Continue reading ->
Preparing for future pandemics requires us to reuse and share data quickly in order to repurpose that information for improved diagnostics and treatments, proposed data experts and scientists at a high-level discussion at the Geneva Health Forum Wednesday afternoon. “It’s the value of what’s in data that can be reused, repurposed, to create new knowledge […] Continue reading ->
Now that COVAX has enough stock of COVID-19 vaccines, its focus is on vaccination uptake – including encouraging countries to combine campaigns against measles and polio with COVID-19, and even helping with “campaign-style” vaccination drives. This emerged at a media briefing on vaccine delivery called by the Access to COVID-19 Tools (ACT) Accelerator, of which […] Continue reading ->
Pollution is responsible for the premature deaths of approximately 9 million people each year; more than the number of deaths attributable to war and terrorism, malaria, AIDS, tuberculosis, drugs, alcohol or even smoking. That’s also the equivalent of one in six premature deaths worldwide, pointed out Rachael Kupka, of the Global Alliance on Health and […] Continue reading ->