‘Broad Consensus’ on Binding Pandemic Pact, Says Tedros

24/11/2021 Kerry Cullinan & Elaine Ruth Fletcher

There is “broad consensus” on the need for a “binding pact” to address the threat of pandemics, said World Health Organization (WHO) Director-General on Wednesday – a few days before the World Health Assembly special session devoted exclusively to discussing what many refer to as a pandemic treaty. “The ongoing chaos of this pandemic only […] Continue reading ->

COVID Vaccine Boosters Look ‘More Likely’ for Future, Concedes Top WHO Official

24/11/2021 Kerry Cullinan

Although the World Health Organization (WHO) continues to condemn COVID-19 vaccine boosters in the face of global vaccine inequity, a top official conceded that they looked increasingly likely in future. “The first priority everywhere has got to be reaching the unvaccinated, most highly vulnerable populations,” stressed Dr Bruce Aylward, special advisor to the WHO Director-General. […] Continue reading ->

Russia Says Sputnik COVID-19 Vaccine Shows Better Efficacy Than mRNA Vaccines

24/11/2021 Raisa Santos

Russia’s Sputnik V COVID-19 vaccine demonstrates an 80% efficacy six to eight months after the second dose – a higher efficacy than officially published mRNA vaccines, announced the Russian Direct Investment Fund (RDIF) in a press briefing on Wednesday. The efficacy data is based on “real-world data from the Ministry of Health of the Republic […] Continue reading ->

Improved Tuberculosis Tests and Treatments are Vital to Overcoming Drug Resistance

24/11/2021 Mel Spigelman & Bill Rodriguez

In the face of the COVID-19 pandemic, tuberculosis mortality has started to increase for the first time in a decade. In 2020 alone, more than 1.5 million people died from TB. Every year, about half a million people develop a drug-resistant form of TB (DR-TB). The vast majority of people with TB live in low- […] Continue reading ->

‘Vaccinated, Recovered or Dead’: Grim Warning as Europe Weighs Options Amid COVID-19 Surge

23/11/2021 Kerry Cullinan

Other European countries may follow the example of Austria, which entered a nationwide lockdown on Monday, as COVID-19 cases continue to surge across the region. New COVID-19 cases increased by over 3,5 million in a single week, and deaths by over 50,000, according to the latest report from the European Centre for Disease Prevention and […] Continue reading ->

C-TAP and Medicines Patent Pool Announce Global License for Spanish COVID-19 Test

23/11/2021 Raisa Santos

The first non-exclusive license for a COVID-19 health tool – a serological antibody test that checks for the presence of anti-SARS-CoV-2 antibodies – has been finalised by the World Health Organization’s (WHO) COVID-19 Technology Access Pool (C-TAP) and the Medicines Patent Pool (MPP). The license, announced on Tuesday in partnership with the Spanish National Research […] Continue reading ->

Independent Panel Co-Chairs Blast Slow Pace of Pandemic Reforms – Call for UN Summit After Next Week’s Special World Health Assembly

22/11/2021 Elaine Ruth Fletcher

Six months after publication of their landmark report, Make it the Last Pandemic, the co-chairs of Independent Panel have re-entered the political fray over the slow pace of urgently needed reforms to vaccine equity, pandemic finance and countries’ legal obligations – that they say are required to end the COVID-19 pandemic and head off the […] Continue reading ->

Traffic Crash Remembrance Day: Grieving Parents Urge Better Road Safety Policies

22/11/2021 Kerry Cullinan

Two parents who lost their children in car crashes urged governments to adopt better road safety policies on the World Day of Remembrance for Road Traffic Victims on Monday. South African Zoleka Mandela’s daughter died in a Johannesburg crash on her 13th birthday, while Australian Peter Frazer’s 23-year-old daughter was killed by a truck on […] Continue reading ->

United States FDA Clears COVID Vaccine Boosters for All Adults Over 18 – Pfizer & Moderna 6 Months After Second Jab

19/11/2021 Elaine Ruth Fletcher

The United States Food and Drug Administration (US FDA) on Friday gave its greenlight to the mass rollout of both Pfizer and Moderna COVID booster shots to all adults over the age of 18, from six months after a person’s second vaccine dose. J&J vaccine boosters would be authorized after just two months of the […] Continue reading ->

Reflections on the ‘Other COP’ – Progress on Tobacco Control Despite COVID and Industry Attacks

19/11/2021 Gan Quan

While the world was focused last week on the Glasgow Climate Conference (COP26), officials from 160 countries and the European Union gathered virtually to address another urgent global crisis – the crisis in tobacco consumption that is one of the largest causes of death worldwide, year after year. Otherwise known as COP9, the ninth Conference […] Continue reading ->