A special global initiative to respond to the Delta variant has been set up, as COVID-19 cases are expected to reach 200 million within the next two weeks. Meanwhile, 70% of African countries will miss the World Health Organization’s (WHO) target to vaccinate 10% of their populations against COVID-19 by the end of September, and […] Continue reading ->
This article is the first in a series on COVID-19 booster vaccines, which is an evolving discussion as more evidence emerges about the performance of vaccines against variants. A vigorous debate is underway in the global health community over the potential benefits of COVID booster vaccines for healthy people who have already received a full […] Continue reading ->
As more high income countries adopt COVID-19 passes for entry to venues like sporting and cultural events, restaurants and even workplaces, public opposition to the use of the public health tool is also growing – despite the fact that these same countries enjoy very widespread access to vaccines and rapid COVID tests. However, countries like […] Continue reading ->
Tanzania has finally started to administer COVID-19 vaccinations, amid a 16-fold increase in vaccine deliveries to Africa in this week alone in comparison to the whole of June. Tanzanian President Samia Suluhu publicly received the vaccine on Wednesday, a sharp contrast to her predecessor, John Magufuli, who died in March after months of denying the […] Continue reading ->
The World Health Organization (WHO) aims to reduce new hepatitis B and C infections by 90% and deaths by 65% by 2030 but to achieve this goal, the global health body needs countries to scale up hepatitis services including prevention, testing, and treatment. On World Hepatitis Day on Wednesday, WHO Director-General, Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, […] Continue reading ->
A billion COVID-19 vaccine doses should be reallocated from high-income countries to low- and middle-income countries (LMICs) by September, and of another billion by mid-next year, former President of Liberia Ellen Johnson Sirleaf and former Prime Minister of New Zealand Helen Clark, told United Nations member states on Wednesday. The pair, who co-chaired the […] Continue reading ->
World leaders have been given clear pointers on how to transform the global food system to be more equitable, nourishing and resistant to climate change, at the end of a three-day United Nations pre-summit attended by over 17,000 delegates. Focus now shifts to the Head of State-level summit in New York in September, but UN […] Continue reading ->
Antimicrobial resistance (AMR), fostered by the wanton use of antibiotic-laced feed and growth-boosting supplements for livestock and poultry, could lead to the “next pandemic”, warns the first-of-its-kind report on AMR that focuses on the long-ignored global animal health sector. The new report, Feeding Resistance, on the growing threat of superbug risks associated with animal health […] Continue reading ->
People living with HIV in low-and middle-income countries will soon have access to generic second-line antiretroviral drugs at a much cheaper price following an innovative agreement between Unitaid and the Clinton Health Access Initiative Inc (CHAI). The new pricing agreement announced on Monday will see pharmaceutical company Hetero Labs manufacture a generic combination of darunavir […] Continue reading ->
As the COVID-19 pandemic and climate change exacerbate global food insecurity, African countries are committed to giving more support to small farmers – particularly women. This emerged at the United Nations Food Systems Pre-Summit in Italy, which opened on Monday as a precursor to a formal UN summit planned for September. Rwandan President Paul Kagame […] Continue reading ->