The United States government is moving rapidly to secure Memorandums of Understanding (MOU) with African countries that offer limited health aid for five years in exchange for 25 years’ access to countries’ data about “pathogens with epidemic potential”. Some commentators have described the terms of the bilateral MOUs as “extractive” as they fail to offer […] Continue reading ->
African countries want information about pathogens with the potential to cause pandemics to be shared “exclusively” through a global system currently being negotiated at the World Health Organization (WHO) – yet at the same time, their governments are under pressure to agree to bilateral Memorandums of Understanding (MOU) with the United States that will trade […] Continue reading ->
Canada has lost its measles elimination status after 12 months of continuous transmission of the highly infectious disease, the Pan-American Health Organization (PAHO) announced on Monday. This follows a PAHO expert meeting on infectious diseases last week, the Measles, Rubella, and Congenital Rubella Syndrome Elimination Regional Monitoring and Re-Verification Commission. “The commission determined that endemic […] Continue reading ->
The United States (US) aims to compel countries that receive its aid to fight HIV, tuberculosis and malaria to share all information about “pathogens with epidemic potential” in exchange. This is according to a US government document, the “PEPFAR [US President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief] Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) template”, seen by Health Policy […] Continue reading ->
Sexual and reproductive health rights (SRHR) are being restricted, human rights defenders are being silenced, and evidence-based policy is being replaced by ideology – “but we are not powerless or voiceless”, said Dr Tlaleng Mofokeng, the United Nations Special Rapporteur on the Right to Health. She urged governments and organisations to use the “right to health” […] Continue reading ->
Some 80 million Africans are projected to have dementia by 2050 – a fourfold increase from 2015 – and governments need to invest in brain health as an “economic imperative” to mitigate this. This call was made by the Davos Alzheimer’s Collaborative (DAC) at a meeting in Johannesburg on Tuesday, on the eve of the […] Continue reading ->
“Inadequate” and “unbalanced” were some of the complaints levelled against the first draft of a Pathogen Access and Benefit-Sharing (PABS) system when World Health Organization (WHO) member states met for text-based negotiations in Geneva on Monday. Once agreed, the PABS system will be an annex to the Pandemic Agreement, but several member states at the Intergovernmental […] Continue reading ->