‘Excellent Progress’ in IHR Negotiations – But Still a Long Road Ahead 24/04/2023 Kerry Cullinan Negotiations to tighten up the World Health Organization’s (WHO) International Health Regulations (IHR) to make them pandemic-ready made “excellent progress” – but it still faces enormous obstacles. WHO member states spent four days last week addressing 100 of the 300 proposed amendments to the IHR, dealing particularly with compliance, implementation, and public health response. In […] Continue reading -> Air Pollution Causes over 1,200 Childhood Deaths Annually in the European Union 24/04/2023 Kerry Cullinan Air pollution causes over 1,200 premature deaths per year in people under the age of 18 in the Europe and significantly increases the risk of disease later in life, according to European Environment Agency (EEA) air quality assessment published on Monday. “Despite improvements over past years, the level of key air pollutants in many European […] Continue reading -> Despite Hosting mRNA Hub, South Africa Buys Vaccines From India – Highlighting Tension Between Price Pressures and Local Production 20/04/2023 Kerry Cullinan CAPE TOWN – South Africa’s Health Minister was somewhat embarrassed that his government’s decision to procure pneumococcal vaccines from an Indian company rather than local company Biovac became public during a high-level international meeting on the local production of mRNA vaccines in his country. South Africa’s procurement decision coincided with a meeting in Cape Town […] Continue reading -> Africa’s Most Sophisticated Biomedical Research Centre Opens in South Africa 18/04/2023 Kerry Cullinan CAPE TOWN – The most advanced biomedical research centre on the African continent has opened in South Africa, boasting state-of-the-art research and training facilities. Stellenbosch University’s Biomedical Research Institute (BMRI) houses over 500 researchers who are examining the genetic and biomolecular basis for diseases afflicting Africans – including Professor Tuilo De Oliveira, renowned for decoding […] Continue reading -> Fringe Anti-vax Group Claims Court Challenge of Pfizer Vaccine – But No Papers Have Been Served on South African Government 17/04/2023 Kerry Cullinan A South African group that promotes anti-Semitic conspiracy theories claims to have issued a high court application to challenge the authorisation of the Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine by the country’s health minister and regulatory authority – but the health department has not been served with any legal papers. In a recent publicity drive, the Freedom Alliance […] Continue reading -> Abortion Pill Manufacturer Turns to US Supreme Court 14/04/2023 Kerry Cullinan The US Justice Department and Danco Laboratories, the manufacturer of the abortion pill mifepristone, turned to the country’s Supreme Court on Friday to overturn the limits set on access to the drug by lower courts. This follows a partly unsuccessful appeal by the two parties for the stay of a ruling last week by Texas […] Continue reading -> DNDi Offers Model for Pandemic Accord Negotiators on How Governments Can Leverage Drug R&D Investment 13/04/2023 Kerry Cullinan When governments invest in drug research and development (R&D) with pharmaceutical companies, they should ensure upfront that these drugs are affordable and widely available – and a global pandemic accord needs to provide high-level guidance on how to do this. This is the view of the Drugs for Neglected Diseases initiative (DNDi), a non-profit group […] Continue reading -> WHO Needs to Explore Incentives for Flexible Donations 11/04/2023 Kerry Cullinan Encouraging donors that make voluntary contributions to the World Health Organization’s (WHO) budget to enable these to be flexibly allocated rather than ringfenced for specific programmes might be more effective to “resolve the structural defect of WHO’s funding model than periodically calling for more assessed contributions from member states”. This is according to a new […] Continue reading -> US Abortion Pill Ruling Could Have Chilling Effect on Other Drug Approvals 11/04/2023 Kerry Cullinan Hundreds of executives from US pharmaceutical and biotech companies have condemned as “judicial activism” last Friday’s ruling by a US District judge in Texas that the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) had erred by approving the abortion pill, mifepristone. The FDA, US Department of Justice and the drug manufacturer, Danco Laboratories have opposed the ruling, […] Continue reading -> US Accused of Supporting ‘Veil of Secrecy’ Over Pandemic Accord Negotiations, As WHO Extends Countries’ Textual Deadline 06/04/2023 Kerry Cullinan International NGOs and activists have called out the US for siding with China to exclude the public from seeing drafts of the pandemic accord as it is being negotiated by World Health Organization (WHO) member states. “The attempt to create a veil of secrecy now surrounding the substantive and technical text-based negotiations on the WHO […] Continue reading -> Posts navigation Older postsNewer posts
Air Pollution Causes over 1,200 Childhood Deaths Annually in the European Union 24/04/2023 Kerry Cullinan Air pollution causes over 1,200 premature deaths per year in people under the age of 18 in the Europe and significantly increases the risk of disease later in life, according to European Environment Agency (EEA) air quality assessment published on Monday. “Despite improvements over past years, the level of key air pollutants in many European […] Continue reading -> Despite Hosting mRNA Hub, South Africa Buys Vaccines From India – Highlighting Tension Between Price Pressures and Local Production 20/04/2023 Kerry Cullinan CAPE TOWN – South Africa’s Health Minister was somewhat embarrassed that his government’s decision to procure pneumococcal vaccines from an Indian company rather than local company Biovac became public during a high-level international meeting on the local production of mRNA vaccines in his country. South Africa’s procurement decision coincided with a meeting in Cape Town […] Continue reading -> Africa’s Most Sophisticated Biomedical Research Centre Opens in South Africa 18/04/2023 Kerry Cullinan CAPE TOWN – The most advanced biomedical research centre on the African continent has opened in South Africa, boasting state-of-the-art research and training facilities. Stellenbosch University’s Biomedical Research Institute (BMRI) houses over 500 researchers who are examining the genetic and biomolecular basis for diseases afflicting Africans – including Professor Tuilo De Oliveira, renowned for decoding […] Continue reading -> Fringe Anti-vax Group Claims Court Challenge of Pfizer Vaccine – But No Papers Have Been Served on South African Government 17/04/2023 Kerry Cullinan A South African group that promotes anti-Semitic conspiracy theories claims to have issued a high court application to challenge the authorisation of the Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine by the country’s health minister and regulatory authority – but the health department has not been served with any legal papers. In a recent publicity drive, the Freedom Alliance […] Continue reading -> Abortion Pill Manufacturer Turns to US Supreme Court 14/04/2023 Kerry Cullinan The US Justice Department and Danco Laboratories, the manufacturer of the abortion pill mifepristone, turned to the country’s Supreme Court on Friday to overturn the limits set on access to the drug by lower courts. This follows a partly unsuccessful appeal by the two parties for the stay of a ruling last week by Texas […] Continue reading -> DNDi Offers Model for Pandemic Accord Negotiators on How Governments Can Leverage Drug R&D Investment 13/04/2023 Kerry Cullinan When governments invest in drug research and development (R&D) with pharmaceutical companies, they should ensure upfront that these drugs are affordable and widely available – and a global pandemic accord needs to provide high-level guidance on how to do this. This is the view of the Drugs for Neglected Diseases initiative (DNDi), a non-profit group […] Continue reading -> WHO Needs to Explore Incentives for Flexible Donations 11/04/2023 Kerry Cullinan Encouraging donors that make voluntary contributions to the World Health Organization’s (WHO) budget to enable these to be flexibly allocated rather than ringfenced for specific programmes might be more effective to “resolve the structural defect of WHO’s funding model than periodically calling for more assessed contributions from member states”. This is according to a new […] Continue reading -> US Abortion Pill Ruling Could Have Chilling Effect on Other Drug Approvals 11/04/2023 Kerry Cullinan Hundreds of executives from US pharmaceutical and biotech companies have condemned as “judicial activism” last Friday’s ruling by a US District judge in Texas that the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) had erred by approving the abortion pill, mifepristone. The FDA, US Department of Justice and the drug manufacturer, Danco Laboratories have opposed the ruling, […] Continue reading -> US Accused of Supporting ‘Veil of Secrecy’ Over Pandemic Accord Negotiations, As WHO Extends Countries’ Textual Deadline 06/04/2023 Kerry Cullinan International NGOs and activists have called out the US for siding with China to exclude the public from seeing drafts of the pandemic accord as it is being negotiated by World Health Organization (WHO) member states. “The attempt to create a veil of secrecy now surrounding the substantive and technical text-based negotiations on the WHO […] Continue reading -> Posts navigation Older postsNewer posts
Despite Hosting mRNA Hub, South Africa Buys Vaccines From India – Highlighting Tension Between Price Pressures and Local Production 20/04/2023 Kerry Cullinan CAPE TOWN – South Africa’s Health Minister was somewhat embarrassed that his government’s decision to procure pneumococcal vaccines from an Indian company rather than local company Biovac became public during a high-level international meeting on the local production of mRNA vaccines in his country. South Africa’s procurement decision coincided with a meeting in Cape Town […] Continue reading -> Africa’s Most Sophisticated Biomedical Research Centre Opens in South Africa 18/04/2023 Kerry Cullinan CAPE TOWN – The most advanced biomedical research centre on the African continent has opened in South Africa, boasting state-of-the-art research and training facilities. Stellenbosch University’s Biomedical Research Institute (BMRI) houses over 500 researchers who are examining the genetic and biomolecular basis for diseases afflicting Africans – including Professor Tuilo De Oliveira, renowned for decoding […] Continue reading -> Fringe Anti-vax Group Claims Court Challenge of Pfizer Vaccine – But No Papers Have Been Served on South African Government 17/04/2023 Kerry Cullinan A South African group that promotes anti-Semitic conspiracy theories claims to have issued a high court application to challenge the authorisation of the Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine by the country’s health minister and regulatory authority – but the health department has not been served with any legal papers. In a recent publicity drive, the Freedom Alliance […] Continue reading -> Abortion Pill Manufacturer Turns to US Supreme Court 14/04/2023 Kerry Cullinan The US Justice Department and Danco Laboratories, the manufacturer of the abortion pill mifepristone, turned to the country’s Supreme Court on Friday to overturn the limits set on access to the drug by lower courts. This follows a partly unsuccessful appeal by the two parties for the stay of a ruling last week by Texas […] Continue reading -> DNDi Offers Model for Pandemic Accord Negotiators on How Governments Can Leverage Drug R&D Investment 13/04/2023 Kerry Cullinan When governments invest in drug research and development (R&D) with pharmaceutical companies, they should ensure upfront that these drugs are affordable and widely available – and a global pandemic accord needs to provide high-level guidance on how to do this. This is the view of the Drugs for Neglected Diseases initiative (DNDi), a non-profit group […] Continue reading -> WHO Needs to Explore Incentives for Flexible Donations 11/04/2023 Kerry Cullinan Encouraging donors that make voluntary contributions to the World Health Organization’s (WHO) budget to enable these to be flexibly allocated rather than ringfenced for specific programmes might be more effective to “resolve the structural defect of WHO’s funding model than periodically calling for more assessed contributions from member states”. This is according to a new […] Continue reading -> US Abortion Pill Ruling Could Have Chilling Effect on Other Drug Approvals 11/04/2023 Kerry Cullinan Hundreds of executives from US pharmaceutical and biotech companies have condemned as “judicial activism” last Friday’s ruling by a US District judge in Texas that the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) had erred by approving the abortion pill, mifepristone. The FDA, US Department of Justice and the drug manufacturer, Danco Laboratories have opposed the ruling, […] Continue reading -> US Accused of Supporting ‘Veil of Secrecy’ Over Pandemic Accord Negotiations, As WHO Extends Countries’ Textual Deadline 06/04/2023 Kerry Cullinan International NGOs and activists have called out the US for siding with China to exclude the public from seeing drafts of the pandemic accord as it is being negotiated by World Health Organization (WHO) member states. “The attempt to create a veil of secrecy now surrounding the substantive and technical text-based negotiations on the WHO […] Continue reading -> Posts navigation Older postsNewer posts
Africa’s Most Sophisticated Biomedical Research Centre Opens in South Africa 18/04/2023 Kerry Cullinan CAPE TOWN – The most advanced biomedical research centre on the African continent has opened in South Africa, boasting state-of-the-art research and training facilities. Stellenbosch University’s Biomedical Research Institute (BMRI) houses over 500 researchers who are examining the genetic and biomolecular basis for diseases afflicting Africans – including Professor Tuilo De Oliveira, renowned for decoding […] Continue reading -> Fringe Anti-vax Group Claims Court Challenge of Pfizer Vaccine – But No Papers Have Been Served on South African Government 17/04/2023 Kerry Cullinan A South African group that promotes anti-Semitic conspiracy theories claims to have issued a high court application to challenge the authorisation of the Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine by the country’s health minister and regulatory authority – but the health department has not been served with any legal papers. In a recent publicity drive, the Freedom Alliance […] Continue reading -> Abortion Pill Manufacturer Turns to US Supreme Court 14/04/2023 Kerry Cullinan The US Justice Department and Danco Laboratories, the manufacturer of the abortion pill mifepristone, turned to the country’s Supreme Court on Friday to overturn the limits set on access to the drug by lower courts. This follows a partly unsuccessful appeal by the two parties for the stay of a ruling last week by Texas […] Continue reading -> DNDi Offers Model for Pandemic Accord Negotiators on How Governments Can Leverage Drug R&D Investment 13/04/2023 Kerry Cullinan When governments invest in drug research and development (R&D) with pharmaceutical companies, they should ensure upfront that these drugs are affordable and widely available – and a global pandemic accord needs to provide high-level guidance on how to do this. This is the view of the Drugs for Neglected Diseases initiative (DNDi), a non-profit group […] Continue reading -> WHO Needs to Explore Incentives for Flexible Donations 11/04/2023 Kerry Cullinan Encouraging donors that make voluntary contributions to the World Health Organization’s (WHO) budget to enable these to be flexibly allocated rather than ringfenced for specific programmes might be more effective to “resolve the structural defect of WHO’s funding model than periodically calling for more assessed contributions from member states”. This is according to a new […] Continue reading -> US Abortion Pill Ruling Could Have Chilling Effect on Other Drug Approvals 11/04/2023 Kerry Cullinan Hundreds of executives from US pharmaceutical and biotech companies have condemned as “judicial activism” last Friday’s ruling by a US District judge in Texas that the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) had erred by approving the abortion pill, mifepristone. The FDA, US Department of Justice and the drug manufacturer, Danco Laboratories have opposed the ruling, […] Continue reading -> US Accused of Supporting ‘Veil of Secrecy’ Over Pandemic Accord Negotiations, As WHO Extends Countries’ Textual Deadline 06/04/2023 Kerry Cullinan International NGOs and activists have called out the US for siding with China to exclude the public from seeing drafts of the pandemic accord as it is being negotiated by World Health Organization (WHO) member states. “The attempt to create a veil of secrecy now surrounding the substantive and technical text-based negotiations on the WHO […] Continue reading -> Posts navigation Older postsNewer posts
Fringe Anti-vax Group Claims Court Challenge of Pfizer Vaccine – But No Papers Have Been Served on South African Government 17/04/2023 Kerry Cullinan A South African group that promotes anti-Semitic conspiracy theories claims to have issued a high court application to challenge the authorisation of the Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine by the country’s health minister and regulatory authority – but the health department has not been served with any legal papers. In a recent publicity drive, the Freedom Alliance […] Continue reading -> Abortion Pill Manufacturer Turns to US Supreme Court 14/04/2023 Kerry Cullinan The US Justice Department and Danco Laboratories, the manufacturer of the abortion pill mifepristone, turned to the country’s Supreme Court on Friday to overturn the limits set on access to the drug by lower courts. This follows a partly unsuccessful appeal by the two parties for the stay of a ruling last week by Texas […] Continue reading -> DNDi Offers Model for Pandemic Accord Negotiators on How Governments Can Leverage Drug R&D Investment 13/04/2023 Kerry Cullinan When governments invest in drug research and development (R&D) with pharmaceutical companies, they should ensure upfront that these drugs are affordable and widely available – and a global pandemic accord needs to provide high-level guidance on how to do this. This is the view of the Drugs for Neglected Diseases initiative (DNDi), a non-profit group […] Continue reading -> WHO Needs to Explore Incentives for Flexible Donations 11/04/2023 Kerry Cullinan Encouraging donors that make voluntary contributions to the World Health Organization’s (WHO) budget to enable these to be flexibly allocated rather than ringfenced for specific programmes might be more effective to “resolve the structural defect of WHO’s funding model than periodically calling for more assessed contributions from member states”. This is according to a new […] Continue reading -> US Abortion Pill Ruling Could Have Chilling Effect on Other Drug Approvals 11/04/2023 Kerry Cullinan Hundreds of executives from US pharmaceutical and biotech companies have condemned as “judicial activism” last Friday’s ruling by a US District judge in Texas that the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) had erred by approving the abortion pill, mifepristone. The FDA, US Department of Justice and the drug manufacturer, Danco Laboratories have opposed the ruling, […] Continue reading -> US Accused of Supporting ‘Veil of Secrecy’ Over Pandemic Accord Negotiations, As WHO Extends Countries’ Textual Deadline 06/04/2023 Kerry Cullinan International NGOs and activists have called out the US for siding with China to exclude the public from seeing drafts of the pandemic accord as it is being negotiated by World Health Organization (WHO) member states. “The attempt to create a veil of secrecy now surrounding the substantive and technical text-based negotiations on the WHO […] Continue reading -> Posts navigation Older postsNewer posts
Abortion Pill Manufacturer Turns to US Supreme Court 14/04/2023 Kerry Cullinan The US Justice Department and Danco Laboratories, the manufacturer of the abortion pill mifepristone, turned to the country’s Supreme Court on Friday to overturn the limits set on access to the drug by lower courts. This follows a partly unsuccessful appeal by the two parties for the stay of a ruling last week by Texas […] Continue reading -> DNDi Offers Model for Pandemic Accord Negotiators on How Governments Can Leverage Drug R&D Investment 13/04/2023 Kerry Cullinan When governments invest in drug research and development (R&D) with pharmaceutical companies, they should ensure upfront that these drugs are affordable and widely available – and a global pandemic accord needs to provide high-level guidance on how to do this. This is the view of the Drugs for Neglected Diseases initiative (DNDi), a non-profit group […] Continue reading -> WHO Needs to Explore Incentives for Flexible Donations 11/04/2023 Kerry Cullinan Encouraging donors that make voluntary contributions to the World Health Organization’s (WHO) budget to enable these to be flexibly allocated rather than ringfenced for specific programmes might be more effective to “resolve the structural defect of WHO’s funding model than periodically calling for more assessed contributions from member states”. This is according to a new […] Continue reading -> US Abortion Pill Ruling Could Have Chilling Effect on Other Drug Approvals 11/04/2023 Kerry Cullinan Hundreds of executives from US pharmaceutical and biotech companies have condemned as “judicial activism” last Friday’s ruling by a US District judge in Texas that the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) had erred by approving the abortion pill, mifepristone. The FDA, US Department of Justice and the drug manufacturer, Danco Laboratories have opposed the ruling, […] Continue reading -> US Accused of Supporting ‘Veil of Secrecy’ Over Pandemic Accord Negotiations, As WHO Extends Countries’ Textual Deadline 06/04/2023 Kerry Cullinan International NGOs and activists have called out the US for siding with China to exclude the public from seeing drafts of the pandemic accord as it is being negotiated by World Health Organization (WHO) member states. “The attempt to create a veil of secrecy now surrounding the substantive and technical text-based negotiations on the WHO […] Continue reading -> Posts navigation Older postsNewer posts
DNDi Offers Model for Pandemic Accord Negotiators on How Governments Can Leverage Drug R&D Investment 13/04/2023 Kerry Cullinan When governments invest in drug research and development (R&D) with pharmaceutical companies, they should ensure upfront that these drugs are affordable and widely available – and a global pandemic accord needs to provide high-level guidance on how to do this. This is the view of the Drugs for Neglected Diseases initiative (DNDi), a non-profit group […] Continue reading -> WHO Needs to Explore Incentives for Flexible Donations 11/04/2023 Kerry Cullinan Encouraging donors that make voluntary contributions to the World Health Organization’s (WHO) budget to enable these to be flexibly allocated rather than ringfenced for specific programmes might be more effective to “resolve the structural defect of WHO’s funding model than periodically calling for more assessed contributions from member states”. This is according to a new […] Continue reading -> US Abortion Pill Ruling Could Have Chilling Effect on Other Drug Approvals 11/04/2023 Kerry Cullinan Hundreds of executives from US pharmaceutical and biotech companies have condemned as “judicial activism” last Friday’s ruling by a US District judge in Texas that the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) had erred by approving the abortion pill, mifepristone. The FDA, US Department of Justice and the drug manufacturer, Danco Laboratories have opposed the ruling, […] Continue reading -> US Accused of Supporting ‘Veil of Secrecy’ Over Pandemic Accord Negotiations, As WHO Extends Countries’ Textual Deadline 06/04/2023 Kerry Cullinan International NGOs and activists have called out the US for siding with China to exclude the public from seeing drafts of the pandemic accord as it is being negotiated by World Health Organization (WHO) member states. “The attempt to create a veil of secrecy now surrounding the substantive and technical text-based negotiations on the WHO […] Continue reading -> Posts navigation Older postsNewer posts
WHO Needs to Explore Incentives for Flexible Donations 11/04/2023 Kerry Cullinan Encouraging donors that make voluntary contributions to the World Health Organization’s (WHO) budget to enable these to be flexibly allocated rather than ringfenced for specific programmes might be more effective to “resolve the structural defect of WHO’s funding model than periodically calling for more assessed contributions from member states”. This is according to a new […] Continue reading -> US Abortion Pill Ruling Could Have Chilling Effect on Other Drug Approvals 11/04/2023 Kerry Cullinan Hundreds of executives from US pharmaceutical and biotech companies have condemned as “judicial activism” last Friday’s ruling by a US District judge in Texas that the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) had erred by approving the abortion pill, mifepristone. The FDA, US Department of Justice and the drug manufacturer, Danco Laboratories have opposed the ruling, […] Continue reading -> US Accused of Supporting ‘Veil of Secrecy’ Over Pandemic Accord Negotiations, As WHO Extends Countries’ Textual Deadline 06/04/2023 Kerry Cullinan International NGOs and activists have called out the US for siding with China to exclude the public from seeing drafts of the pandemic accord as it is being negotiated by World Health Organization (WHO) member states. “The attempt to create a veil of secrecy now surrounding the substantive and technical text-based negotiations on the WHO […] Continue reading -> Posts navigation Older postsNewer posts
US Abortion Pill Ruling Could Have Chilling Effect on Other Drug Approvals 11/04/2023 Kerry Cullinan Hundreds of executives from US pharmaceutical and biotech companies have condemned as “judicial activism” last Friday’s ruling by a US District judge in Texas that the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) had erred by approving the abortion pill, mifepristone. The FDA, US Department of Justice and the drug manufacturer, Danco Laboratories have opposed the ruling, […] Continue reading -> US Accused of Supporting ‘Veil of Secrecy’ Over Pandemic Accord Negotiations, As WHO Extends Countries’ Textual Deadline 06/04/2023 Kerry Cullinan International NGOs and activists have called out the US for siding with China to exclude the public from seeing drafts of the pandemic accord as it is being negotiated by World Health Organization (WHO) member states. “The attempt to create a veil of secrecy now surrounding the substantive and technical text-based negotiations on the WHO […] Continue reading -> Posts navigation Older postsNewer posts
US Accused of Supporting ‘Veil of Secrecy’ Over Pandemic Accord Negotiations, As WHO Extends Countries’ Textual Deadline 06/04/2023 Kerry Cullinan International NGOs and activists have called out the US for siding with China to exclude the public from seeing drafts of the pandemic accord as it is being negotiated by World Health Organization (WHO) member states. “The attempt to create a veil of secrecy now surrounding the substantive and technical text-based negotiations on the WHO […] Continue reading -> Posts navigation Older postsNewer posts