A landmark meeting hosted next week by the International Energy Agency (IEA) will bring together major powers to debate the key actions for a climate-friendly COVID-19 recovery in an online forum open to public viewing.  The IEA Clean Energy Transitions Summit will be live-streamed July 9th, and bring together the world’s largest economies and developing […] Continue reading ->
A COVID-19 vaccine candidate under development by pharma giant Pfizer and biotech firm BioNTech showed promise in interim results released Wednesday. The vaccine candidate, BNT162b1, was able to induce the formation of antibodies that neutralized SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19, in all participants who received doses between 10ug to 30ug, according to a report […] Continue reading ->
High-level WHO official Emer Cooke has been nominated as the head of the European Medicines Agency (EMA), the critical regulatory body for European health product approvals. Cooke, an Irish national with 30 years’ experience in international regulatory affairs, is currently the Director of the WHO’s Regulation and Prequalification Department since 2016. In this role, she […] Continue reading ->
Africa must tackle both the climate and coronavirus crises at the same time, according to a new paper published by the UN Economic Commission for Africa (UNECA), joining other regional agencies such as the European Commission and the World Health Organization in calling for a “green recovery” from COVID-19. The paper, Climate Change and Development […] Continue reading ->
As COVID-19 puts the world collectively on pause, essential programmes for neglected tropical diseases (NTDs) are also feeling the cut. NTDs are estimated to impact up to 1.3 billion people around the world, mostly prevalent in poor, marginalized communities with low access to healthcare. “One of the things that’s been severely affected is our neglected […] Continue reading ->
Preliminary results from a Swiss study found that the prevalence of antibodies against SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19, in children ages 5 to 9 years old is 68% lower than the seroprevalence in adults aged 20 to 49 years old.  The study, titled SEROCoV-POP, reported seroprevalence results from almost 2800 participants followed from April […] Continue reading ->
A severe disruption of reproductive and children’s health services during the pandemic could cause more deaths in women, children, and adolescents than COVID-19 itself,  according to World Health Organization Director-General Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus. “The indirect effects of COVID19 on this group may be greater than the number of deaths due to the virus itself,” […] Continue reading ->