A little known, but potentially lethal virus is spreading throughout Latin America and the Caribbean, prompting the US Centers for Disease Control (CDC) and other health agencies to issue warnings for travelers and clinicians. Oropouche virus, an arbovirus like dengue, Zika, and chikungunya, is spread through certain midge or mosquito bites. Oropouche symptoms are similar […] Continue reading ->
The International Council of Nurses (ICN) has called on the World Health Organization (WHO) to consider a “time-limited moratorium of active recruitment of nurses” from countries on the WHO Health Workforce Support and Safeguard List. This follows a “dramatic surge” in the recruitment of nurses from low- and middle-income countries (LMICs) by wealthy countries, according […] Continue reading ->
The World Health Organization and UNICEF have appealed for ‘humanitarian pauses’ in the grinding Israel-Hamas war in the Gaza Strip in August and September to facilitate a massive polio booster campaign – as three suspected polio cases were being investigated by a Jordanian laboratory. The appeal came as the entire region see-saws between the possibility […] Continue reading ->
Bavarian Nordic has no plans to sell or manufacture its vaccines directly to African countries, the company’s Vice President of Investor Relations told Health Policy Watch, saying that donations from rich countries will likely be the main source of supplies.   WHO’s announcement of a global mpox health emergency may have sent a wake-up call to […] Continue reading ->
The World Health Organization has declared an international public health emergency for mpox, its highest level of alarm, as the virus experiences a resurgence across Africa less than two years after ending the previous emergency. The declaration comes as the case total in Africa this year has already surpassed the total from 2023. Over 2,500 […] Continue reading ->
Africa has the highest rate of suicide in the world, and the lowest per capita spending on mental health – with critical shortages, in particular, of community health workers and facilities that could help prevent many mental health conditions from becoming even more severe.  Two recent high-profile suicides in Tanzania have cast a stark spotlight […] Continue reading ->