(DELHI, India via The New Humanitarian) – As medical professionals across the globe grappled with COVID-19 infections, microbiologist Dr. Bhavani Eshwaragari was confronting a quieter – though no less dangerous – pandemic. Reviewing patient samples in her laboratory in Continental Hospital in the southern India city of Hyderabad, she began to notice an alarming trend […] Continue reading ->
The mystery around the rash of acute, serious hepatitis cases that have afflicted over 1000 children under the age of 16 may have been unravelled by a group of Scottish researchers who say that the interaction of two common adenoviruses, or related herpes viruses, may have caused the condition in genetically susceptible children who failed […] Continue reading ->
The World Health Organization has issued a call for people around the world to “do one thing” to prevent drowning, on the occasion of World Drowning Prevention Day. Drowning tragically claims more than 236,000 lives each year, and is one of the leading causes of death globally for young children and young people aged 1 – […] Continue reading ->
WHO has declared a new global public health emergency over the Monkeypox outbreak which has now spread to more than 16,000 people in over 75 countries and territories – in what some public health experts described as a “bold decision” by Director General Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, overriding a divided group of expert advisors. The […] Continue reading ->
After missing the target to vaccinate 70% of people in every country against COVID by July 2022, WHO’s new vaccine strategy prioritises 100% coverage for health workers and older people – but admits that every country will have to decide for itself. The World Health Organization has published an update to the Global COVID-19 Vaccination […] Continue reading ->
“It’s better to reduce the number of children affected than not to do anything at all” The World Health Organization (WHO) and Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance are planning to go ahead with the mass rollout of the RTS,S/AS01 (RTS,S) malaria vaccine, starting with three countries in Africa — Ghana, Kenya and Malawi — despite the […] Continue reading ->
Overcoming years of stalemate, the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) agreed to negotiate a proposed treaty on genetic resources and related traditional knowledge (TK) that are key components in both traditional and new medicines. Delegates to WIPO’s General Assembly decided that the negotiations both to begin the draft international instrument and to conclude the talks […] Continue reading ->
The COVID-19 pandemic was a stress test for the health sector, which is one of the fastest growing economic sectors in the world, and also one of the largest employers of women. Women are 70% of the health and social care workforce and 90% of nurses but they are clustered into jobs that are lower […] Continue reading ->
World Health Organization (WHO) member states have agreed that the future pandemic “treaty” currently being negotiated will be legally binding at the Intergovernmental Negotiating Body (INB) meeting that ended on Thursday – a day earlier than expected thanks to smooth negotiations. The INB agreed that the treaty will be set up in terms of Article […] Continue reading ->
WHO has issued stiff, dual warnings over a surging global rate of COVID infections alongside a still-expanding outbreak of Monkeypox. The latter is set to be the focus of a discussion by a WHO Emergency Committee meeting Thursday, as the committee reconvenes to decide if a public health emergency should be declared over the virus […] Continue reading ->