Israel scored a tactical victory Wednesday evening when World Health Organization (WHO) member states agreed in a vote of 50-44 to amend a draft decision denouncing the health situation in the Occupied Palestinian Territories, with a reference calling for the release of some 125 Israeli hostages still held by Hamas. Another 83 member states were […] Continue reading ->
Four well-known heavy metals and chemical pollutants – lead, asbestos, arsenic and cadmium- continue exact a heavy toll on the lives of those in low- and middle-income countries  – with lead named a factor in as much as 5 million premature deaths annually from cardiovascular disease, according to one recent estimate. Asbestos, arsenic, and cadmium round […] Continue reading ->
Although a draft pandemic agreement may take weeks or months longer to conclude, there are moves underfoot to try to quickly wrap up negotiations and get final member state sign-off on amendments to the 2005-era WHO International Health Regulations  (IHR) at the this week’s World Health Assembly (WHA), said the co-chair of the working group […] Continue reading ->
A last ditch effort of WHO member states to finish negotiations on a pandemic accord has failed to yield agreement ahead of next week’s World Health Assembly (WHA) – with key articles in the draft text still unresolved including the thorny formula for global sharing of vaccines and medicines during international health emergencies. As of […] Continue reading ->
Senior WHO officials sounded a cautiously optimistic note Tuesday about the prospects for WHO member states to somehow wrap up down-to-the-wire negotiations on a landmark Pandemic Accord in time to submit a final agreement to the World Health Assembly, which begins next Monday, 27 May. Meanwhile, they heralded the milestone agreement “in principle” to amend […] Continue reading ->
Despite the huge human and economic cost of  COVID-19, over two years of negotiations and substantial diplomatic pressure, the World Health Organization’s (WHO) Intergovernmental Negotiating Body (INB) failed to reach consensus on a pandemic agreement by Friday (10 May), the last scheduled day of negotiations before the upcoming  77th World Health Assembly (WHA). But the […] Continue reading ->