LUSAKA, Zambia – Ensuring that Africa can manufacture its own vaccines will represent “the second independence of Africa”, Dr Jean Kaseya, Director General of the Africa Centre for Disease Control and Prevention (Africa CDC), said at the start of the Conference for Public Health in Africa 2023 (CPHIA) on Monday. “Many African countries got their […] Continue reading ->
Unusual outbreaks of respiratory illness and pneumonia in Chinese children have prompted the World Health Organization (WHO) to ask the country for detailed information.  Children’s hospitals in Beijing and Liaoning Province, some 800km apart, are “overwhelmed with sick children, and schools and classes were on the verge of suspension”,  according to local Chinese media, as […] Continue reading ->
The third round of international negotiations over a global plastics treaty has ended in a stalemate, leaving nations no closer to an agreement to stem the tide of plastic pollution that is choking the planet and endangering human health.  The week-long talks at UN Environment Programme (UNEP) headquarters in Nairobi marked the halfway point towards […] Continue reading ->
The world is on a trajectory to heat up by nearly 3°C this century unless governments take “relentless” action to cut greenhouse gas emissions, according to a new report released Monday by the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP). The Emissions Gap report, an annual assessment by UNEP that measures the difference between government pledges to […] Continue reading ->
As the Global North poaches African doctors, healthcare falls to overworked and unmentored interns, some of whom learn medical procedures from YouTube. Fifteen of the world’s (fiscally) richest countries have over 55,000 African doctors in their health systems, a new data analysis by The Continent shows. These are doctors who qualified before entering those countries.  […] Continue reading ->
With the annual United Nations (UN) climate conference, COP28, due to start at the end of the month, climate-vulnerable countries have reiterated that wealthy countries should cut down their carbon emissions, provide finance to vulnerable countries, and help with technology transfer so all countries can transition to a greener economy faster.  Meanwhile, recent meetings between […] Continue reading ->
In the worst week of air pollution in the Indian capital this winter, rural farm fires on average contributed to 25% of urban pollution concentrations. Hundreds of kilometres to the north, Punjab, the main source of the pollution, had missed a government-declared target to halve the number of seasonal crop stubble fires – although progress […] Continue reading ->