More newborn babies with sepsis are dying because their infections are not responding to the usual antibiotics, according to the biggest global study on the subject yet. The study’s sponsor, the Global Antibiotic Research and Development Partnership (GARDP), is now designing an interventional trial to identify better treatment regimens. to combat rising resistance. GARDP’s study, […] Continue reading ->
On the occasion of World Immunization Week, influential global health figures share lessons learned in the global fight against two age-old diseases, malaria and polio – and more recently, COVID-19 – and how we should tackle existing and future pandemics.   While COVID-19 surprised and shocked the world, it should not have. For decades, infectious […] Continue reading ->
CAPE TOWN – As the health sector celebrates World Immunisation Week, one of the most pressing related problems is Africa’s almost total dependence on imported vaccines –  something that predates, but was highlighted by, the COVID-19 pandemic.   But addressing this dependence will mean dismantling the ‘charity’ model that has underpinned many of Africa’s immunisation programmes […] Continue reading ->
CAPE TOWN – A new partnership between African scientists and pharmaceutical company Johnson & Johnson (J&J), aimed at finding solutions to antimicrobial resistance (AMR), was launched in South Africa on Monday. The J&J Satellite Center for Global Health Discovery, housed at the University of Cape Town (UCT)’s Holistic Drug Discovery and Development (H3D) Center, will […] Continue reading ->
The World Health Organization (WHO) has recommended Paxlovid, the antiviral medicine produced by Pfizer, for patients with COVID-19 at high risk of developing severe disease – but it is concerned about limited access to the life-saving medicine. Friday’s WHO recommendation is aimed at “patients with non-severe COVID-19 who are at highest risk of developing severe […] Continue reading ->
Discussions about the creation of a new global convention on pandemic preparedness and response have already become a bit like a Christmas tree.  Last week’s WHO-convened public hearings, saw a wide array of interest groups trying to attach a number of features to the proposed international pandemic instrument, ranging from stronger accountability and transparency measures […] Continue reading ->
Only 10 of Africa’s 54 countries have vaccinated more than a third of their citizens, although the continent has administered over two-thirds of the vaccine doses it has procured. The top 10 vaccinators are Seychelles (81%), Mauritius (76%), Rwanda (64%), Morocco (63%),  Cape Verde (55%), Botswana (54%), Tunisia (53%), Mozambique (43%), São Tomé and Príncipe […] Continue reading ->