Patients will face costlier medicine and European and Indian drug companies face billion-dollar losses if US President Donald Trump’s threat issued late Tuesday of “a major tariff on pharmaceuticals” produced outside his country is realised. However, amid chaos on the financial markets, Trump back-pedalled on Wednesday and announced a 90-day pause on all tariffs except […] Continue reading ->
There is a “critical lack” of medicines and diagnostic tools for invasive fungal diseases, according to the World Health Organization (WHO), which released its first analysis of antifungals on Tuesday. Invasive fungal diseases are on the rise, particularly in immune-compromised people – yet they get little attention or resources, asserts the global body. Common infections […] Continue reading ->
Tanzania has extinguished a deadly outbreak of Marburg virus, but elsewhere across Africa, an alarming surge of health crises continue to unfold – including expanding mpox infections in Uganda, a cholera outbreak in Angola and a first-ever cholera case in neighbouring Namibia. The Marburg virus outbreak in Tanzania has officially ended, Tanzanian health authorities declared […] Continue reading ->
Countries agreed to raise $200 billion a year by 2030 to help developing countries conserve biodiversity at the resumed Conference of Party (COP16) of the UN Convention on Biodiversity (CBD) in Rome last week. The deal marks a major breakthrough after negotiations over a finance package were suspended last November in the closing hours of […] Continue reading ->
GEITA, Tanzania —The first time 78-year-old Hadija Kisanji got lost on her way home, neighbors found her sitting under a baobab tree, staring blankly at the dusty road. When they asked where she was going, she whispered, “I think I live nearby.” That was three years ago. Today, Kisanji barely remembers her own name. She’s […] Continue reading ->
Encephalitis “remains under-recognized, under-diagnosed, and underfunded”, according to a new policy report from the World Health Organization (WHO). Climate change, vaccine hesitancy, and the rising burden of vector-borne diseases are also fuelling an increased number of encephalitis cases, a rare but serious inflammation of the brain. The technical document urges coordinated global action to “confront […] Continue reading ->
In a breakthrough moment for Africa’s vaccine independence, two landmark deals could help put the continent on a path to becoming a producer, not just a buyer, of life-saving vaccines. For the first time, an end-to-end mRNA vaccine production platform will be built in Africa, with plans to manufacture 100 million doses annually. A separate […] Continue reading ->
As Africa battles a relentless mpox outbreak, a sudden freeze in United States foreign aid is crippling containment efforts, threatening vaccine distribution, and leaving the hardest-hit regions scrambling for solutions, the Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (Africa CDC) warned on Thursday. In conflict-ridden Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), the epicentre of the outbreak, […] Continue reading ->
WASHINGTON, DC – The abrupt decision by the United States National Institutes of Health to slash funding for overheads to the nation’s research centers and universities has provoked a fresh outcry among leading US researchers, global health experts and even some Republican politicians – with leading one expert saying this latest move could “seriously jeopardize” […] Continue reading ->
The disengagement of both USAID and the US Centers for Disease Control (CDC) from the WHO-led global polio eradication initiative, threatens efforts in the world’s poorest countries with about $233 million more in a year in budget shortfalls, WHO’s Regional Director for the Eastern Mediterranean Region, Hanan Balkhy, said on Friday. This, in a year […] Continue reading ->