A potentially game-changing antiviral treatment for COVID-19 that can be administered orally early on, and potentially head off much more serious cases, is set to be licensed for generic production in most low- and middle-income countries (LMICs), in an unprecedented breakthrough in access to a new COVID treatment. The historic deal, reached between the pharma […] Continue reading ->
An ambitious wish list of global economic and fiscal measures that the world should adopt to combat the COVID-19 pandemic has been floated by the World Health Organization- just ahead of a critical G-20 meeting of the world’s most industrialized nations this weekend. These include proposals for massive debt relief to debt-ridden countries and a […] Continue reading ->
Some civil society organisations (CSO) are sceptical about whether a ‘pandemic treaty’ is the best way to address future global health crises, while treaty supporters say it will provide a legal framework binding countries and global health bodies to more agile and rapid responses to future outbreaks. A session Monday sponsored by the Geneva Global […] Continue reading ->
Of the 1.3 billion COVID-19 vaccine dose donations promised to COVAX by wealthy countries, only 150 million doses have actually arrived – around 9% – Gavi CEO Dr Seth Berkley told the World Health Summit in Berlin on Monday. Ensuring that countries delivered their promised doses “now” was COVAX’s “core ask”, said Berkley, who added […] Continue reading ->
The World Health Organization and UNICEF welcome the decision made by Taliban to support the resumption of house-to-house polio vaccination across Afghanistan. The vaccination campaign, which begins 8 November, will be the first in over three years to reach all children in Afghanistan, including more than 3.3 million children in some parts of the country […] Continue reading ->
The hoarding of more than 870 million excess doses of COVID-19 vaccines in just 10 high-income countries is likely to deprive hundreds of millions of healthcare workers and vulnerable populations in low- and middle-income countries of the opportunity to get even a first vaccine dose, according to a new report by Medecins Sans Frontieres (MSF). […] Continue reading ->
The World Health Organization (WHO) believes that is possible to get 70% of the world vaccinated against COVID-19 by June – but only if wealthy countries redirect their doses and orders to poorer countries that are lagging behind. Eleven billion vaccines are needed to reach the 70% target, said WHO Director-General Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus […] Continue reading ->
Discussions over a controversial World Trade Organization waiver on intellectual property related to COVID vaccines, treatments and other tools, have become more “constructive” said a senior WTO spokesman on Thursday, in a press briefing on the first day of the WTO’s two-day General Council meeting. There has been a “subtle shifting in the direction of […] Continue reading ->
Moderna should work through the Partnership for African Vaccine Manufacturing (PAVM) if it wants to invest in vaccine production on the continent, according to the head of the Africa Centers for Disease Control (CDC). The company announced on Thursday that it plans to invest $500-million in a “state-of-the-art mRNA facility” in Africa that can produce […] Continue reading ->
The World Health Organization (WHO) has given the go-ahead for children to get the first-ever malaria vaccine in areas where there is a high to moderate risk of infection. The vaccine, known as RTS,S, is the first to have been approved against a parasitic disease. It has been tested on 800,000 children in Ghana, Kenya […] Continue reading ->