Molnupiravir, an oral COVID-19 antiviral medication, has just been added as a conditional recommendation to the World Health Organization’s living guidelines on COVID-19 therapeutics.  The pill, created by Merck, had already been approved by the Medicines Patent Pool (MPP) in January to be distributed and supplied in 105 low- and middle-income countries (LMICs).  In comparison […] Continue reading ->
The European Investment Bank said Thursday that it would commit €500 million to improving African health systems, as part of a new initiative with the World Health Organization and the European Union. The joint EIB-WHO-EU statement coincided with the start of an EU-African Union Summit, which is set to talk about how to improve health systems in […] Continue reading ->
A Maltese-based foundation representing BioNTech, the German company that co-produced with Pfizer a highly successful mRNA COVID vaccine, has been accused of seeking to undermine the World Health Organization’s new initiative to promote an open-source African-based COVID vaccine manufacturing hub – while proposing to ship European-fitted mRNA vaccine facilities to Africa in sea containers as […] Continue reading ->
The Medicines Patent Pool (MPP) said Thursday that it had already signed agreements with 27 generic manufacturing companies for the manufacturing of the oral COVID-19 antiviral medication molnupiravir and supply in 105 low- and-middle-income countries (LMICs). The sublicense agreements are the result of the voluntary licensing agreement signed by MPP and MSD in October 2021 […] Continue reading ->
The US Agency for International Development (USAID) has set up a new global initiative to accelerate COVID-19 vaccination efforts, called the Initiative for Global Vaccine Access (Global VAX), the agency announced on Monday Global Vax’s aim according to USAID, is to “get COVID-19 shots into arms and enhance international coordination to identify and rapidly overcome […] Continue reading ->
Thirty-nine of the African Union’s 55 member states have now signed and/or ratified the African Medicines Agency Treaty, as of 6 July 2024, with Kenya, the Democratic Republic of Congo and Cape Verde amongst the latest to swing behind the treaty. As the countdown for other nations to sign continues, Health Policy Watch is tracking […] Continue reading ->
Some 70 cases of Zika virus were identified in India’s Kerala State over the course of July – what represents the first cases to be reported in the southern Indian state, said WHO on Thursday. WHO provided no explanation as to why the report was first published months after the outbreak was initially identified. Subsequently, […] Continue reading ->
Following news that Sanofi, a French pharma company, will abandon its promising mRNA COVID-19 vaccine candidate, Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) called for the corporation to transfer the vaccine technology and know-how to the WHO-led COVID-19 mRNA vaccine technology transfer hub in South Africa. Despite the existence of two approved mRNA vaccines and 13 candidates in advanced stages […] Continue reading ->
New statistics from Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance show that routine immunisation programmes have been hit hard by the COVID-19 pandemic. However, the latest data shows that there is extraordinary resilience in immunisation systems, with governments’ efforts to keep childhood vaccinations going despite the impact of the pandemic paying dividends. In the face of the pandemic, […] Continue reading ->
CAPE TOWN – A drug discovery and development centre based at the University of Cape Town (UCT) has joined forces with the International Federation of Pharmaceutical Manufacturers and Associations (IFPMA) to strengthen health innovation in Africa. The three-year partnership announced this week will focus on driving capacity-strengthening for drug discovery and development in Africa by […] Continue reading ->