This year, “Equalise” was chosen as the slogan for World AIDS day, observed 1 December. The theme is a call to action around the need to address the injustices that are fuelling the AIDS epidemic as pre-existing inequalities are exacerbated by the serious disruptions to health systems caused by the Ukraine war, COVID-19 pandemic and […] Continue reading ->
Wily malaria-carrying mosquitoes are biting people earlier in the day before they get under their protective bednets and sleeping outside homes to avoid insecticide – and many have developed resistance to the insecticide used to impregnate the bednets. Despite these and other challenges, progress against malaria has been relatively steady – even during the height […] Continue reading ->
A massive campaign is underway to distribute at least 8.8 million nets to 16 million residents of Kano State in Nigeria to prevent malaria Morning sunlight, bright as a dazzling diamond, sets Mazangudu village in Kano, northern Nigeria, awake. Motorcycle rumbles mix with the boom of microphones calling Muslims to salat prayer. A gentle breeze […] Continue reading ->
There should be much harsher penalties, including homicide charges, for those who intentionally falsify medicine and include harmful ingredients, according to Kawaldip Sehmi, CEO of the International Alliance of Patients’ Organisations (IAPO). Sehmi was speaking at an event hosted by Fight the Fakes Alliance in Geneva on Wednesday to highlight the global proliferation of fake […] Continue reading ->
A New York lawmaker warned fellow parliamentarians on Wednesday to “stay as far away from the private sector as you can” when it comes to healthcare. “The main issue in the United States is that healthcare is commodified,” said New York State Senator Jose Gustavo Rivera. “It is true, the best healthcare is available in […] Continue reading ->
A group of African parliamentarians raised a red flag on Tuesday at the UNITE Global Summit when they told representatives that they felt neglected by the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria, which funds billions of dollars of health services in their countries. “Do African parliamentarians only get involved when we have to […] Continue reading ->
The US Trade Representative’s (USTR) office announced on Tuesday that it supports extending the deadline on whether the World Trade Organization’s (WTO) Ministerial Decision on the TRIPS Agreement should be extended to COVID-19 diagnostics and therapeutics. Trade ministers adopted the Ministerial Decision on the TRIPS Agreement in June, giving members scope to diversify the production […] Continue reading ->
The battle against pandemics can only be won through multilateralism, according to Augusto Santos Silva, president of the Portuguese parliament. During a keynote address at the UNITE Global Summit on Tuesday, Silva stressed that “viruses and bacteria know no borders. They do not have to show passports and they are not subject to border control. […] Continue reading ->
Indonesia’s parliament passed a new criminal code that bans extramarital sex and criminalises abortion except for rape survivors on Tuesday, Reuters reports. The code applies to both citizens and visitors, and those who have sex outside marriage face up to a year in prison. Indonesia’s economy is heavily dependent on tourism and its tourism industry […] Continue reading ->
Parliamentarians from around the world have called on the World Health Organization to engage civil society in the establishment of a “pandemic treaty,” if the organization hopes to have such a document not only ratified but also implemented. “The current process remains exclusionary,” said Giada Girelli, a senior analyst on human rights and justice at […] Continue reading ->