A potentially game-changing antiviral treatment for COVID-19 that can be administered orally early on, and potentially head off much more serious cases, is set to be licensed for generic production in most low- and middle-income countries (LMICs), in an unprecedented breakthrough in access to a new COVID treatment. The historic deal, reached between the pharma […] Continue reading ->
October is Liver Cancer Awareness month, and Europe has a liver cancer problem. Over the past two decades, there has been a 70% increase in liver cancer-related mortality in the region. In 2020, 87,000 Europeans were diagnosed with liver cancer while 78,000 died from the disease in the same year. Late diagnosis is a serious […] Continue reading ->
The US government has enabled Africa to get access to 50 million Moderna COVID-19 vaccines by giving the continent its place in the vaccine queue, Strive Masiyiwa, head of the African Vaccine Acquisition Trust (AVAT) said on Tuesday. “This is a time swap arrangement whereby the United States government basically stood aside for the next […] Continue reading ->
An ambitious wish list of global economic and fiscal measures that the world should adopt to combat the COVID-19 pandemic has been floated by the World Health Organization- just ahead of a critical G-20 meeting of the world’s most industrialized nations this weekend. These include proposals for massive debt relief to debt-ridden countries and a […] Continue reading ->
Some civil society organisations (CSO) are sceptical about whether a ‘pandemic treaty’ is the best way to address future global health crises, while treaty supporters say it will provide a legal framework binding countries and global health bodies to more agile and rapid responses to future outbreaks. A session Monday sponsored by the Geneva Global […] Continue reading ->
World On Course for 2.7°C Temperature Rise by 2100 – Even If All Current Climate Commitments Are Met
The latest climate commitments from 165 of the 192 countries that are signatories to the 2015 Paris Climate Agreement would still lead to a global temperature rise of 2.7°C by the end of the century, according to an updated United Nations analysis of climate commitments and their impacts. Major emitters including China and India, remain […] Continue reading ->
Of the 1.3 billion COVID-19 vaccine dose donations promised to COVAX by wealthy countries, only 150 million doses have actually arrived – around 9% – Gavi CEO Dr Seth Berkley told the World Health Summit in Berlin on Monday. Ensuring that countries delivered their promised doses “now” was COVAX’s “core ask”, said Berkley, who added […] Continue reading ->
Amid soaring COVID-19 cases in the UK, the government is prioritising giving third booster shots to people as it banks on the country’s high COVID-19 vaccination rate being able to prevent severe illness and death. Over the past week, COVID-19 cases in the UK increased by almost 18% – with 52,000 new cases confirmed on Thursday […] Continue reading ->
In the US, cases of dogs infected with the rabies virus being brought into the country are significant enough to warrant national headlines and a year-long dog importation ban on dogs from hundreds of countries worldwide. Yet, in India, rabies does not get much media attention but it accounts for a shocking total of 20,000 […] Continue reading ->
Surging fossil fuel use to feed a COVID economic recovery and record numbers of heat-wave days for older groups and agricultural workers; these are just a few of the sobering messages contained in the new Lancet Countdown on Health and Climate Change, just 10 days before the start of the Glasgow Climate Conference. The report, […] Continue reading ->