In an unusually bold step for the cautious global health agency, the World Health Organization has called upon countries to suspend the sale of captured live wild mammals in food markets as an emergency measure. The appeal follows on the publication of a report by a WHO-convened international team examining the origins of the SARS-CoV2 […] Continue reading ->
ISLAMABAD – Pakistan authorities are threatening to fire healthcare workers who refuse to be vaccinated with the Chinese-donated SinoPharm COVID-19 vaccine.  In a harshly worded letter, , the Directorate of Health Services in Sindh warns frontline health care workers that reluctance to get the jab will result in “strict disciplinary action” including suspension or dismissal […] Continue reading ->
Two competing approaches to promote access to medicines were born during the HIV/AIDS pandemic in the year 2000. Today, at the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, these same approaches are once more on a collision course.  On the one side is the ‘international’ COVID response, led in name by WHO, but in fact by what […] 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 ->
With COVID-19 pandemic curves beginning to flatten out in many parts of the Europe, Health Policy Watch presents a snapshot of infection and death trends in WHO’s European region through graphs that tell the story, using up-to-date data from the COVID-19 tracker of the Geneva-based Foundation for Innovative New Diagnostics (FIND). Notably, some striking, but […] Continue reading ->
Testing: the crux of effective outbreak responses Testing is an essential component of effective outbreak responses. Without widespread testing, we cannot know whether a disease is spreading nor take measures to appropriately respond to it. “All countries should be able to test all suspected cases, they cannot fight this pandemic blindfolded, they should know where […] Continue reading ->
Fifa Rahman, Unitaid NGO Delegation board member and PhD Candidate at the University of Leeds, moderated a panel at the recent IAS Conference on HIV Science in Mexico entitled “How To Fix Our Medical R&D Model: A Spotlight On TB Treatment.” The panel featured speakers from Médecins Sans Frontières’ (MSF/Doctors Without Borders) Access Campaign, Drugs […] Continue reading ->
Kawaldip Sehmi, CEO of the International Alliance of Patients’ Organizations (IAPO), answers 5 questions on why the Essential Medicines List is important for patients. IAPO is a United Kingdom-based alliance of 276 member organisations from 71 countries representing 50 disease areas, and working in collaboration with civil society, UN agencies and the healthcare industry. Sehmi holds a […] Continue reading ->