Over the past two decades, the number of coronary heart disease deaths resulting from tobacco consumption has risen by 10,000 new deaths every year, warned WHO spokesperson Jaimie Guerra, in an interview with Health Policy Watch. Tobacco consumption in all its forms increases the risks of developing coronary heart disease, warns a new brief published […] Continue reading ->
As global stocks of remdesivir, one of the few promising therapeutics for COVID-19, run low, the drug’s maker Gilead Sciences says that voluntary licensing to enable more manufacturers to produce the drug will not help expand access, countering advocates’ calls. Rather, the lack of a “coordinated global supply chain” is to blame for worldwide shortages […] Continue reading ->
The European Commission has announced that it will join the new WHO-sponsored COVID-19 vaccine facility (COVAX) with a € 400 million commitment – inching the visionary global fund much closer to reality. If the new COVAX facility becomes a reality, it would set a historic precedent of multilateral cooperation, not only on the pandemic, but […] Continue reading ->
The World Health Organization will establish a new high level review of the Organization’s capacity to respond todisease outbreaks in the framework of the International Health Regulations (IHR) that govern emergency response. The aim is to ensure that WHO is “as effective as possible in operations as they unfold,” announced Director-General Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus […] Continue reading ->
This Tuesday, European researchers documented two new cases of COVID-19 reinfection, just a day after the first genetically proven case of reinfection was reported in a 33-year old man in Hong Kong. The 33-year old had contracted two genetically distinct strains of Covid-19 over a period of four and a half months. The potential for […] Continue reading ->
There is insufficient evidence that treating people hospitalized for COVID-19 with blood plasma from recovered patients is safe and effective – and more randomized clinical trials are thus needed, warned the World Health Organization on Monday. Evidence overall remains “inconclusive,” said WHO chief scientist Soumya Swaminathan at a WHO press conference on Monday. She spoke […] Continue reading ->
The Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) requires “critical” support to fend off a growing Ebola outbreak in the western Province of Équateur, warned WHO’s Regional Director for Africa Matshidiso Moeti on Friday. Her warnings came as Équateur’s Ebola cases have almost doubled to one hundred in the past five weeks, of which 96 are confirmed […] Continue reading ->
Six months into the pandemic, the rapidly evolving science behind COVID-19 has complicated efforts to clamp down on the virus’ rampage around the world. Geneva Solutions asked Antoine Flahault, director of the Institute of Global Health at the University of Geneva, and leading voice on COVID-19 science in the region, how we can take swift […] Continue reading ->
There is ‘no evidence’ that the SARS-CoV-2 virus can be transmitted in food or on food packaging, said the World Health Organization on Thursday. WHO’s Executive Director of Health Emergencies Mike Ryan made the comments in response to reports that a dozen frozen chicken wings imported into China’s southern city of Shenzhen tested positive for […] Continue reading ->
European legislation on drugs for rare diseases is “far from perfect”, but it is not a ‘failure’ given the amount of private sector investment it has attracted in the past two decades, says Yann Le Cam, CEO of EURORDIS – Rare Diseases Europe, a non-profit alliance of some 930 rare disease patient organisations across 72 […] Continue reading ->