The Trump administration has put forward Luke J Lindberg, the US Department of Agriculture trade and foreign agricultural affairs under secretary, as its pick for executive director of the United Nations World Food Programme (WFP).  Lindberg would succeed Cindy McCain, who announced her resignation in October due to health issues.  “Throughout his career, Under Secretary […] Continue reading ->
Vaping is likely to cause oral and lung cancer, according to a comprehensive review of over 100 studies of the effects of nicotine-based e-cigarettes, published this week in the journal, Carcinogenesis. Carcinogenicity was evident in human studies that monitored biomarkers of harm, including DNA damage, oxidative stress, and “epigenetic change and inflammation in oral and […] Continue reading ->
Scientists working on new malaria drugs now have access to an open-access artificial intelligence (AI)-powered platform  aimed at accelerating drug discovery, thanks to a partnership between  Medicines for Malaria Venture (MMV) and deepmirror. Drug Design for Global Health (dd4gh) uses “both predictive and generative AI to give researchers, especially those in the most resource-limited settings, […] Continue reading ->
With no agreement in sight, World Health Organization (WHO) member states curtailed talks on the Pandemic Agreement annex five hours earlier than scheduled on Saturday night, resolving to meet again within a month for a further five days of negotiations. Member states will reconvene between 27 April and 1 May to negotiate further on the […] Continue reading ->
The rapid withdrawal of international health aid by the United States (US) constitutes a public health emergency of international concern (PHEIC), according to Professor Matthew Herder and colleagues writing in the BMJ this week. According to the World Health Organization’s (WHO) International Health Regulations, a PHEIC is “an extraordinary event which is determined to constitute […] Continue reading ->
Climate change is driving cholera cases in various African countries, particularly in  Mozambique, which was hit by two tropical cyclones earlier this year that caused widespread flooding, according to Dr Yap Boum of the Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention. Meanwhile, two tropical cyclones in Madagascar resulted in the deaths of 600 people, the […] Continue reading ->
India launched the most extensive free Human Papillomavirus (HPV) vaccination initiative in history to systematically combat the rising toll of cervical cancer. This ambitious 90-day campaign aims to inoculate nearly 12 million 14-year-old girls before the preventative shot is permanently integrated into the country’s universal immunization schedule. “India has joined the community of 160 countries […] Continue reading ->
The Parliaments of both Ghana and Senegal are considering harsher penalties for same-sex relationships. Last month, Ghana’s Parliament had its first reading of an anti-LGBTQ Bill, which is now being considered by its Committee on Constitutional, Legal and Parliamentary Affairs. Meanwhile, Senegal’s Cabinet approved a Bill for its Parliament last month that will double the […] Continue reading ->