Just as the nearly 2 year long Ebola outbreak that ravaged the eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo has drawn to a close, a new cluster of cases is growing in the Mbandaka area of Equateur province, an area in the DRCs northwest region. Some 56 cases have been reported since the first case in […] Continue reading ->
A notorious hacking group with ties to Russia’s intelligence network has been targeting COVID-19 vaccine developers, according to the United States, United Kingdom, and Canadian government. APT29, also known as ‘The Dukes’ or ‘Cozy Bear,’ has been organizing cyber attacks in an effort to steal confidential information regarding COVID-19 vaccine development and research, according to […] Continue reading ->
In an unusually frank statement, the United States’ embattled top infectious disease expert, Dr Anthony Fauci, expressed hopes that the US would resolve its conflicts with the World Health Organization. Fauci, an expert on the White House Coronavirus taskforce and director of the National Institute for Allergies and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), in an interview with […] Continue reading ->
Some 75 new countries have submitted expressions of interest to join the COVAX Facility, potentially supporting 90 other countries who have already joined the COVAX Advanced Market Commitment initiative created to pool demand and secure lower prices for bulk purchases of a COVID-19 vaccine. Meanwhile, Moderna is pulling ahead in the COVID-19 vaccine rat race […] Continue reading ->
On Monday, the Geneva-based NCD Alliance launched the first-ever fund to bolster the efforts of NGOs worldwide fighting chronic diseases alongside the COVID-19 pandemic with some $US 300,000 in initial seed capital. The effort is unique in that it links major pharma interests that develop and produce drugs for non-communicable diseases (NCDs) to the support […] Continue reading ->
Rome, Italy – More people are going hungry, an annual study by the United Nations has found. Tens of millions have joined the ranks of the chronically undernourished over the past five years, and countries around the world continue to struggle with multiple forms of malnutrition. The latest edition of the State of Food […] Continue reading ->
It is still too early to tell how long immunity to SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19, may last after infection, the World Health Organization’s Technical Lead for COVID-19, Maria Van Kerkhove said at Monday press briefing. Van Kerkhove’s comments came just after the publication of a new study by researchers from Kings College, London, […] Continue reading ->
Ibadan, Nigeria – The World Health Organisation (WHO) is advocating for equitable access to effective COVID-19 vaccines but developments surrounding the race to a vaccine suggest this may be extremely difficult. And health policy leaders in Africa and other low and middle-income countries are increasingly worried about their prospects for being pushed to the back […] Continue reading ->
The World Health Organization announced a new program on Friday to help more than 1 billion tobacco users – a group at high risk for coronavirus complications – quit smoking during the pandemic. The project, the Access Initiative for Quitting Tobacco, will be first rolled out in Jordan, where 82.5% of men over the age […] Continue reading ->
Just three days after almost 240 scientists criticized WHO for downplaying the risks of airborne transmission of tiny SARS-CoV-2 particles, or aerosols, the Organization edged closer to its critics point of view. WHO’s latest scientific brief, published Thursday, acknowledges that “short-range aerosol transmission cannot be ruled out”. The tiny virus particles floating through the air […] Continue reading ->