Limited IP waiver text says WTO members “will decide” on inclusion of COVID-19 tests and treatments within six months.  The World Trade Organization’s first ministerial conference in four and a half years reached agreement early Friday morning on what officials described as “an unprecedented outcome” of six agreements, including a deal to curb some fishing […] Continue reading ->
The World Trade Organization (WTO) is extending its 12th Ministerial Conference (MC12) for a fifth day, buying time for delegates to negotiate some tough deals in five main areas: the pandemic response, COVID-19 vaccines, fishing subsidies, food shortages and agriculture. The long-delayed ministerial conference, which opened on Sunday and was originally planned to close on […] Continue reading ->
GENEVA — The monkeypox outbreak has spread to almost 200 cases reported by more than 20 nations outside of Africa, where the disease is endemic. But the epidemic can be contained through a quick response, World Health Organization (WHO) officials told a public briefing for member nations on Friday. With few vaccines and drugs available […] Continue reading ->
The World Health Assembly on Thursday approved a resolution condemning Russia’s invasion of Ukraine by 88 votes to 12 – but the 53 abstentions reflected the discomfort of many member states with a debate that polarised the global health body.  Russia’s counter-resolution only garnered 15 votes including those of Belarus, Burundi and Eritrea, with 66 […] Continue reading ->
  GENEVA – Faced with a chorus of demands for accountability from member nations, Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus again pledged greater efforts by the World Health Organization’s (WHO) leadership to eliminate sexual exploitation and abuse by its staff and contractors at the World Health Assembly on Wednesday.  The discussion followed the recent publication of a […] Continue reading ->
In a groundbreaking decision on financing reform, the World Health Assembly (WHA) resolved on Tuesday that half of the world body’s budget will be derived from members’ fees by 2030. That will reduce the World Health Organization’s (WHO) massive reliance on donors. But there was less enthusiasm for revising the International Health Regulations (IHR). The […] Continue reading ->
World Health Organization (WHO) Director-General Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus has been re-elected unopposed to spend another five years at the helm of the UN health agency, after receiving the World Health Assembly’s overwhelming endorsement as a health diplomat fluent in war and a pandemic. Tedros, a former Ethiopian health minister and the first African to […] Continue reading ->
GENEVA – The world is still not ready to handle pandemics despite all of the international efforts to improve health care in recent years, Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus warned in a wide-ranging opening address to the World Health Assembly’s 194 member nations. The World Health Organization must respond to dozens of global emergencies — cyclones, […] Continue reading ->
GENEVA – Russia’s attacks on healthcare facilities amid its war in Ukraine took center stage on the first full day of the World Health Assembly (WHA), where 46 mostly European nations including Turkey, Ukraine, and the United States proposed a draft resolution “condemning in the strongest terms” Russia’s invasion and the attacks on health facilities, […] Continue reading ->