The major players in the European and African pharmaceutical sectors have called on the European Union (EU) and the African Union (AU) to support the creation of a permanent “business platform” to foster the pharma industry’s development in Africa. This emerged at a workshop Monday hosted by the the European Commission’s Directorate General for Internal […] Continue reading ->
The BA.2 sub-variant of Omicron is now the dominant COVID-19 variant in South Africa, the head of Africa’s Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) confirmed on Thursday – raising questions about whether the continued global creep of the new SARS-CoV2 sub-variant could dash hopes of a much-needed COVID-19 reprieve. “We have data from South […] Continue reading ->
A Maltese-based foundation representing BioNTech, the German company that co-produced with Pfizer a highly successful mRNA COVID vaccine, has been accused of seeking to undermine the World Health Organization’s new initiative to promote an open-source African-based COVID vaccine manufacturing hub – while proposing to ship European-fitted mRNA vaccine facilities to Africa in sea containers as […] Continue reading ->
Some 21 countries have now ratified the African Medicines Agency treaty – well beyond the 15 ratifications reached in November 2021, which allowed the AMA treaty instrument to formally take effect. Egypt, Africa’s third most populous country, is the most recent state to have both ratified and deposited the treaty – marking a significant milestone […] Continue reading ->
In a long and winding discussion Thursday at The World Health Organization’s Executive Board, low- and middle-income countries (LMICs) pledged to redouble their efforts against noncommunicable diseases (NCDs), such as diabetes and obesity, which are having increasing impacts on health and well-being – in addition to infectious diseases that have been at the forefront of […] Continue reading ->
Despite a severe lack of COVID test and serological data in Africa, most people on the continent have probably already been exposed to SARS-CoV2, said the director of the influential Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation on Thursday.  And in light of that, and the fact that COVID vaccines do not prevent infection, but rather […] Continue reading ->
While three independent review panels concur that the response of the World Health Organization (WHO) to COVID-19 was inadequate, member states made slow progress in charting better alternatives at the executive board meeting on Wednesday. WHO members are considering three main proposals to improve the global body’s future pandemic preparedness:  Setting up a Standing Committee […] Continue reading ->
Antibiotic-resistant bacterial infections killed 1.27 million people in the world in 2019, according to a one-of-a-kind study in The Lancet. According to the study, led by the Institute of Health Metrics and Evaluation (IHME) at the University of Washington, with dozens of authors worldwide, the increased resistance of many common pathogens to treatment, known as […] Continue reading ->