Nearly one billion people in low- and middle-income countries lack access to health facilities with reliable electricity, a joint report by the World Health Organization (WHO), World Bank, and International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA) found. Electricity is essential for the functioning of medical equipment like ventilators, incubators, and cold-chain storage for vaccines, as well as […] Continue reading ->
World leaders, representatives of international development and humanitarian organizations, and UN delegations gathered in Geneva on Monday to rally financial support for Pakistan’s recovery from the devastating floods that hammered the country last year. Pakistan has appealed for $16.3 billion to assist it to rebuild the country, and almost half this amount had been pledged […] Continue reading ->
CVS and Walgreens, the two largest pharmacy chains in the United States, totaling nearly 18,000 locations nationwide, announced plans on Wednesday to carry the abortion medication mifepristone after the US Federal Drug Administration (FDA) relaxed rules for distributing the pill earlier this week. The new rule updates FDA labeling to allow any pharmacy that undergoes […] Continue reading ->
The United Nations has described it as “the most important conference on biodiversity in a decade,” aimed at creating a Paris Agreement-style agreement for biodiversity. Negotiations amongst more than 100 environment ministers and 196 governments at the Conference on Biodiversity in Montreal on the world’s 15th attempt to come to an agreement to protect the […] Continue reading ->
Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance, has pushed back on media reports that its board has decided to end COVID vaccine support for 37 middle-income countries next year – and end altogether the dedicated COVAX vaccine facility, supplying free vaccines to some 92 low- and middle-income countries, in 2024. A high-ranking official at Gavi told Health Policy […] Continue reading ->
This year, “Equalise” was chosen as the slogan for World AIDS day, observed 1 December. The theme is a call to action around the need to address the injustices that are fuelling the AIDS epidemic as pre-existing inequalities are exacerbated by the serious disruptions to health systems caused by the Ukraine war, COVID-19 pandemic and […] Continue reading ->