Several significant pledges for global health – covering reproductive health, ‘transition’ and Ebola – were made on the fringes of last week’s United Nations General Assembly amid massive donor withdrawal from the sector. Reproductive health, which has suffered massive funding losses, got a $337.8 million boost from the United Kingdom, which announced its pledge at […] Continue reading ->
G20+ countries pledged an additional $700 million this week to counter the Ebola outbreak in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), Dr Jean Kaseya, Director-General of Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention, told a media briefing on Thursday. The new pledges were made at the G20+ Foreign Ministers’ meeting convened by the United States […] Continue reading ->
A blueprint to empower countries in the Global South to end their dependence on health aid, which includes the possible closure of international global health organisations, was launched by the Accra Reset on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly on Monday. “A national reset without a global reset leaves us building on shifting sand,” […] Continue reading ->
It’s been barely three years since the COVID-19 pandemic ended, yet many world leaders appear to have little appetite for pandemic-proofing. Ahead of the UN High-Level Meeting on Pandemics, a major 20-country research project offers a blueprint for the future that could save millions more lives. The United Nations hosts a High-Level Meeting on Pandemics […] Continue reading ->
Country controversies, secret terms, opaque procurement, and massive unspent Congressional funds have characterised the first year of the America First Global Health Strategy. “Services are weaker than they were a year ago, HIV testing is down, treatment of children living with HIV is down, and community-based prevention is gutted,” said Emily Bass, expert consultant for […] Continue reading ->
Countries supported by the Global Fund put over a million more people on antiretroviral (ARV) treatment, sustained tuberculosis treatment and distributed 34 million more insecticide-treated mosquito nets in 2025 than the previous year. In 2025, some 26.9 million people were on ARVs (compared to 25.6 million), 7.4 million people were treated for TB, and 196 […] Continue reading ->
Contracts, contracts, contracts. Virtually all the regional blocs that addressed the start of the eighth round of the pandemic agreement talks on Monday stressed that any pathogen access and benefit-sharing (PABS) system needs to include standard contracts with pharmaceutical manufacturers. These would set out the terms of accessing dangerous pathogens, as well as how to […] Continue reading ->
EU negotiator Americo Zampetti warns that ideological polarisation over pathogen access threatens to derail the WHO Pandemic Agreement. On the eve of the eighth round of talks on an annex to the Pandemic Agreement, the European Union’s (EU) chief negotiator has warned that “ideology” is blocking consensus. Negotiators meet at the Intergovernmental Working Group (IGWG) […] Continue reading ->
After a gruelling recent Ebola infection, Dr Patrick Oparpio, a gynaecologist based in Bunia in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), has urged health authorities to offer psychological support for Ebola survivors and their families. This week, the DRC reported 6,843 Ebola cases and 3,310 deaths – a case fatality rate of over 48% […] Continue reading ->
HIV services, mental health and harm reduction programmes have been severely affected by the huge funding cuts to organisations providing services for lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, intersex and queer (LGBTIQ) people over the past 18 months. Perversely, organisations in countries with the most repressive conditions for LGBTIQ people have been worst affected by cuts, according […] Continue reading ->