Strengthening Africa’s Medicines Regulatory Framework is ‘Essential’ for Local Vaccine Production

13/09/2023 Kerry Cullinan

Strengthening Africa’s medicines regulatory framework is key to achieving the “bold goal” of having 60% of the continent’s vaccines produced locally by 2040, said Margareth Ndomondo-Sigonda, head of health at the African Union’s development agency, AUDA-NEPAD. But only 7% of African country’s national medicines regulatory agencies (NMRA) have “moderately developed capacity”, and more than 90% […] Continue reading ->

‘Bullying’ Pharma Giants Charged South Africa More Than EU for COVID-19 Vaccines

05/09/2023 Kerry Cullinan

Pharmaceutical giant Janssen/Johnson & Johnson (J&J) and generic manufacturer Serum Institute of India (SII) charged the South African government more than the European Union for COVID-19 vaccines – and South Africa assumed all the risk in ‘take-it-or-leave-it’ contracts with Pfizer, J&J and SII. This is according to an analysis of the contracts led by Health […] Continue reading ->

UN Draft Pandemic Declaration Offers ‘Little Hope’ for Strengthening Global Preparedness

01/09/2023 Stefan Anderson

A draft political declaration on pandemics, due to be adopted by the United Nations General Assembly later this month, offers “little hope” that the UN process will make a difference in global pandemic preparedness, global health experts said on Friday. The document, made public on Thursday, is long on words but short on commitments. The […] Continue reading ->

WHO Secures First COVID-19 Vaccine Licence from Private Pharmaceutical Company

31/08/2023 Stefan Anderson

Three years after the launch of its COVID-19 Technology Access Pool (C-TAP) initiative, the World Health Organization (WHO) has secured its first COVID-19 vaccine license from a private pharmaceutical company, the UN health body announced on Tuesday. The agreement with Medigen Vaccine Biologics Corp., a private vaccine manufacturer based in Taiwan, is a welcome but underwhelming […] Continue reading ->

Africa’s Cardiovascular Burden: A Silent Cry for Attention

23/08/2023 Ahmed Bendary & Abdelrahman Abushouk

Amidst the vibrant rhythms of Africa, a less audible rhythm beats – an alarming rise in cardiovascular diseases (CVDs) and non-communicable diseases (NCDs). Between 50% and 88% of deaths in at least seven African countries are due to NCDs, according to the 2022 World Health Organization (WHO) Noncommunicable Disease Progress Monitor. Yet, the realm of […] Continue reading ->

Made in India: Another Cough Syrup Caught by the WHO for Contamination

08/08/2023 Megha Kaveri

Adding to the spate of contaminated medicines linked back to India, the World Health Organization (WHO) has flagged another cough syrup for the presence of contaminants. This is the fifth medical product alert for an Indian formulation issued by the WHO since October 2022. “A sample of the Cold Out Syrup was obtained from one […] Continue reading ->

GSK Sues Pfizer for Patent Violations over its RSV Vaccine

03/08/2023 Megha Kaveri

Merely months after securing US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approval for its Respiratory Syncytial Virus (RSV) vaccine, British pharma giant GSK has taken Pfizer to court for patent violations. GSK filed the lawsuit in a US federal court in Delaware on Wednesday alleging that Pfizer’s RSV vaccine, Abrysvo, violates four patents surrounding the antigen […] Continue reading ->

Africa’s High Cancer Deaths Can Be Addressed by Improved Access to Key Medicines

01/08/2023 Kerry Cullinan

Africa has one of the highest cancer death rates in the world, yet this could be markedly improved by better access to treatments already widely available in high-income countries for the continent’s biggest killers – breast, cervical, lung and prostate cancers and Kaposi sarcoma. This is according to a recent study by the Botswana-Rutgers Partnership […] Continue reading ->

World Needs to Dramatically Scale Up Hepatitis Testing and Treatment

28/07/2023 Mandi Smallhorne

Viral hepatitis could become a more lethal killer than malaria, tuberculosis and HIV combined by 2040, if current trends in undetected infection and treatment continue, warned the World Health Organisation (WHO) on Friday, World Hepatitis Day. In observance of the day, WHO launched a call, under the title “One life, one liver”, to scale up […] Continue reading ->

Some Cancer Drugs Excluded from New WHO Essential Medicines List Because of Cost

26/07/2023 Kerry Cullinan

High cost has prevented some cancer drugs from being included in the World Health Organization’s (WHO) updated Essential Medicines List (EML) and Essential Medicines for List Children (EMLc) released on Wednesday. These include “patented, highly-priced” treatments for lung and breast cancer. “With the cancer medicines, we are facing now an issue where we have a […] Continue reading ->