In combatting COVID-19, many countries around the world are currently facing “house on fire moments,” as described by Michael Osterholm, director of the Center for Infectious Disease Research and Policy at the University of Minnesota. However, the syndemic of COVID-19 and TB poses an even more deadly threat. TB and COVID-19 respiratory diseases affect mostly […] Continue reading ->
Rapid diagnostic tests (RDTs) could play a critical role in decentralising testing and reaching remote communities as WHO launches an Africa roll-out, but a recent study has found that only two of the six RDTs making it to the final round of testing met WHO accuracy standards. RDTs test for proteins produced by the SARS-CoV-2 […] Continue reading ->
The United States Food and Drug Administration decision Thursday to approve Gilead Science’s Remdesivir as a COVID-19 treatment failed to consider the results of the recent WHO “Solidarity Trial” – which found no measurable benefits for the drug’s use – because the pharma company failed to include the study in its FDA submission for approval, […] Continue reading ->
While most of us hope that if we can just get one vaccine to market that will be enough to solve our global COVID-19 matrix – the controversial ‘human challenge’ studies now getting underway highlight how many more twists and turns we are likely to face before we finally get out of the pandemic maze. […] Continue reading ->
America’s most-respected public health guru, Dr Anthony Fauci, said Wednesday that he is “cautiously optimistic’ that at least one COVID-19 vaccine will prove to be safe and effective later this month or next. While warning that “one can never guarantee a safe and effective vaccine… we are cautiously optimistic that we will have one based […] Continue reading ->
The COVID-19 pandemic will end at some point. But TB, tobacco use, air pollution and other lung diseases will continue to “steal the breath and life of millions of people every year”, unless we reimagine the future, said WHO’s director-general Dr Tedros Adhanon Ghebreyesus, appearing at the opening of the 51st Union World Conference On […] Continue reading ->
Current levels of public reluctance to be immunized with a forthcoming COVID-19 vaccine are so high that the resistance would in fact pre-empt many countries from reaching sufficient levels of “community” immunity, according to a new study of vaccine hesitancy among people in 19 of the most COVID-impacted countries around the world. The study of […] Continue reading ->
WHO is launching a collaboration with R&B Vocalist Kim Sledge of “We Are Family” fame to reproduce her signature album in a campaign aimed to promote global solidarity for COVID-19, and raise funds to battle COVID-19. The campaign, which will be coordinated by The World We Want Foundation, is to feature a special edition cover […] Continue reading ->
Along with recording the most deaths from COVID-19 of any country in the world, the US has ranked highest among leading OECD countries in deaths per capita from the infectious disease, according to a recent study published in the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA) by researchers from Harvard University and the University of […] Continue reading ->
As the northern hemisphere enters winter, “COVID-19 cases are accelerating, particularly in Europe and North America,” said WHO’s Director General Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, speaking at a Monday press briefing. In words that echoed warnings from European officials last week, Dr Tedros and WHO’s health emergencies team stressed that governments need to double down on […] Continue reading ->