As India restricts COVID-19 vaccine exports to address its domestic surge, the World Health Organization (WHO) is poised to give the Chinese vaccine, Sinopharm, emergency use listing (EUL) this week – potentially catapulting China into becoming the biggest global supplier of COVID-19 vaccines for low- and middle-income countries (LMIC). However, Sinopharm is reported to be […] Continue reading ->
Africa’s brutal experiences battling Ebola and a range of other deadly diseases helped prepare health systems to deal with COVID-19.  And by the time the SARS-CoV2 virus landed on the continent, its Centre for Disease Control (CDC) had already “established regional coordinating centres, increased lab capacity and unified surveillance networks”.  The lessons in emergency response […] Continue reading ->
Fifty countries have not yet resumed routine immunisations disrupted by the COVID-19 pandemic, affecting 228 million people – mainly children – and there have already been serious measles outbreaks in Yemen, Pakistan and the Democratic Republic of the Congo, according to World Health Organization (WHO) director general Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyusus.  To address this, the […] Continue reading ->
Encouraged by how fast vaccines have been developed for COVID-19, tuberculosis advocates launched a “TB vaccine roadmap” on Tuesday and aim to use lessons from the pandemic to jumpstart the quest for a TB vaccine. The purpose of the roadmap, said Frank Cobelens of the Amsterdam Institute for Global Health and Development, is to provide […] Continue reading ->
CAPE TOWN – South Africans are consuming fewer sugary drinks since their government introduced a tax on these in 2018 – but powerful multinational food and beverage companies are inhibiting neighbouring countries from following suit, according to research published on Tuesday. South Africa was the first African country to impose a tax of approximately 10% […] Continue reading ->
The World Health Organization (WHO) and the World Trade Organization (WTO) both are hosting key global meetings aimed at improving global access to COVID-19 vaccines and fair medicine prices this week behind closed doors. The WHO Fair Pricing Forum started on Tuesday and its stated aim is to activate “additional support for countries to achieve […] Continue reading ->