The World Health Organization is encouraged by early results of the efficacy of the Moderna COVID-19 vaccine but its most immediate concern is the impact of the surge in cases in Europe and the Americas, threatening both health workers and health systems. “While we continue to receive encouraging news about COVID-19 vaccines and remain cautiously […] Continue reading ->
Moderna’s mRNA vaccine candidate has had a vaccine efficacy of 94.5%, the company announced today. unveiling the stunning, initial analysis of Phase 3 clinical trial results by an independent Data Safety Monitoring Board, appointed by the US National Institutes of Health.  And news that the vaccine can be stored at 2° to 8°C (36° to […] Continue reading ->
Third in a series –  Even before the coronavirus struck, large swathes of Africa, as well as parts of South-East Asia and Latin America, still relied on fragmented paper-based medical records, making it difficult to track people’s medical history – and thus provide high-quality treatment and care. The Virtual Innovation Fair, which is a key […] Continue reading ->
Second in a series – On Wednesday, 18 November, at 2pm CET, leading experts at the Geneva Health Forum (GHF) 2020 will provide their take on how to move forward on the recently approved WHO global strategy to accelerate the elimination of cervical cancer, which kills 300,000 women every year, mostly in low-resource settings like […] Continue reading ->
BREAKING – World Health Organization Director-General, Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus has proposed the creation of a Swiss-based global repository for sharing pathogen materials and clinical samples related to potential outbreak threats – allowing for the more rapid development of medical interventions.  The COVID-19 pandemic has shown the urgent need for this kind of system, said […] Continue reading ->
Despite the big success this year in the eradication of wild poliovirus in the African region, the COVID-19 crisis has seen a temporary interruption of polio vaccine programmes. This has led to a rise in vaccine-derived polio cases which, are more likely to occur when vaccine coverage is weaker, WHO and African Region health officials […] Continue reading ->
What if every household in the world could diagnose coronavirus-triggered pneumonia from their home with a cheap handheld device? We are not at this stage yet. But the Swiss-made Pneumoscope, an intelligent stethoscope that can diagnose pneumonia in seven minutes, is bringing this dream closer to reality, says Benissa Mohamed-Rida from the Pneumoscope initiative. The […] Continue reading ->
A series of new COVID-19 drug and vaccine funding commitments worth just over US$300 million were announced on Thursday by the Gates Foundation, France and the European Commission – amidst a quickening pace of anticipation that at least one, if not two, COVID-19 vaccines may soon become available.  Appearing at the Paris Peace Forum, Melinda […] Continue reading ->
Despite nearly two years of internal restructuring, WHO’s budget at its Geneva headquarters is still twice the amount spent in all 54 countries of the Organization’s African Region, said the African bloc of stated at Wednesday’s World Health Assembly.  Speaking on behalf of the African bloc, Seychelles noted that the most recent WHO financial report […] Continue reading ->