Research into traditional medicines for COVID-19 should be welcomed, so long as it is held to the same standards as research into other drug candidates, the World Health Organization Africa Regional Office expressed in a statement issued Monday. The diplomatically-framed WHO statement came after widespread media coverage of Madagascar’s president and other African leaders over […] Continue reading ->
Routine vaccine campaigns, suspended worldwide in the wake of COVID-19 lockdowns, must be resumed immediately or else some countries could face a big surge in deaths from other preventable diseases, said Seth Berkley, CEO of Gavi, The Vaccine Alliance. Speaking at a press briefing Thursday, Berkley warned that routine immunizations for other infectious diseases such […] Continue reading ->
When the World Health Organization sounded the alarm by declaring a ‘public health emergency of international concern‘ on 30 January, “the world should have listened,” said WHO Director General Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, in his strongest response to date, to repeated allegations by the United States that WHO failed to act quickly enough in the […] Continue reading ->
In the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, there could be “a window of opportunity… that would be suicidal to miss” to revise the International Health Regulations that govern countries’ behaviour during health emergencies, said Gian Luca Burci, former World Health Organization head legal counsel and now professor of international law, at a panel hosted by […] Continue reading ->
WHO Director General Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said on Monday that the relationship between WHO and the United States is “very good” and that, despite the recent maelstrom of criticism by President Donald Trump over WHO’s handling of the COVID-19 crisis, he hoped that funding from the USA will continue.  “I hope the funding to […] Continue reading ->
Dutch Deputy Prime Minister Hugo de Jonge on Wednesday offered to support the World Health Organization to develop a pool of intellectual property rights for COVID-19 technologies, just days after WHO Director-General Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus announced WHO’s public support for the initiative. “In principle, I am sympathetic to this initiative,” Minister de Jonge wrote […] Continue reading ->
While much of the public fanfare around new COVID-19 drugs has centered around the lupus drug, hydroxychloroquine, and a failed Ebola remedy, remdesivir, other researchers are keen to explore the potential of other time-worn remedies – although here, too, experts are urging extreme caution.    Ivermectin, the antiparasitic drug that turned the tide in the […] Continue reading ->
The European Medicines Agency on Friday issued new guidance supporting the use of Gilead Sciences’ antiviral remdesivir as a COVID-19 treatment under compassionate use programmes. The new EMA guidelines on remdesivir recommend its compassionate use  in adult COVID-19 patients experiencing severe disease requiring invasive mechanical ventilation. Such compassionate use programmes are set up by individual […] Continue reading ->
The COVID-19 pandemic is the biggest challenge the world has faced since the Second World War, said United Nations’ Secretary-General Antonio Guterres. He spoke during the launch of a report on the potential socioeconomic impact of the outbreak, Shared Responsibility, Global Solidarity.  Speaking from the UN Headquarters in New York on Tuesday, Guterres said that […] Continue reading ->