Some two-thirds of deaths of women from cervical cancer are happening in low- and middle-income countries that have not yet included human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccines for girls and young women into their immunization regimes, said WHO’s Director General Dr Tedros Adhanom Gheybresus on Wednesday. He was speaking at a high level event that saw First […] Continue reading ->
In a bid to better respond to both domestic and global needs, as well as future threats, the Biden Administration plans to spend billions of dollars to expand US vaccine manufacturing capacity enabling production of 1 billion vaccine doses a year by mid-2022, two top White House officials told US media on Wednesday. The announcement […] Continue reading ->
The inflated costs of insulin and control of its price and supply – are barriers preventing people with diabetes from accessing this life-saving medicine, according to a report released by the World Health Organization (WHO). Insulin is the basis of diabetes treatment, essential for nine million people with type 1 diabetes who cannot make […] Continue reading ->
Following World Health Organization approval last week, interim data from a phase 3 trial of BBV152, a COVID-19 vaccine developed in India, reports 77.8% efficacy against symptomatic COVID-19. The study, published in The Lancet, indicated that BBV152 induced a robust antibody response, with the majority of adverse events, including headache, fatigue, fever, and pain at […] Continue reading ->
Pakistan and eight other countries, mostly in or around conflict zones, face the largest gaps in vaccine commitments needed to reach a WHO goal of 70% coverage by September 2022. The data is part of a new “COVID Global Tracker” – launched Wednesday during a first-ever meeting of the world’s foreign ministers, convened by US […] Continue reading ->
Thirty-nine of the African Union’s 55 member states have now signed and/or ratified the African Medicines Agency Treaty, as of 6 July 2024, with Kenya, the Democratic Republic of Congo and Cape Verde amongst the latest to swing behind the treaty. As the countdown for other nations to sign continues, Health Policy Watch is tracking […] Continue reading ->
Signatories to the new African Medicines Agency Treaty have now reached 28 countries – more than half of the African Union’s 55 member states – with the balance tipping as Uganda signed the treaty instrument last week. On Friday, 5 November, after more than a decade of preparations, the African Medicine Agency (AMA) treaty […] Continue reading ->
Pfizer Friday announced that its experimental COVID-19 oral antiviral drug PAXLOVID™ reduced risks of hospitalization and death by 89% among patients who received the drug within the first three days of their illness. The company said it had stopped its Phase 2/3 trial on the drug owing to the success rate seen in an interim […] Continue reading ->
A “Zero Draft” report by a WHO Working Group gives cautious endorsement to advancing negotiations over a new “Pandemic Treaty” among WHO’s 194 member states. That endorsement by the Working Group of member states remains couched in highly nuanced, diplomatic language that makes it clear how big the lift may be to actually negotiate a […] Continue reading ->
Ahead of a critical G20 meeting this weekend, WHO and its partners are asking the world’s leading industrialized nations to come up with another US$ 23.4 billion over the course of the coming year to address stark shortages in COVID vaccines, tests and treatments remain dismally low in Africa and other parts of the developing […] Continue reading ->