With plans underway for a new “Independent Panel” on Antimicrobial Resistance, endorsed at September’s UN High-Level AMR Meeting, the new body must become a strong scientific authority. It should have the power to “challenge” the agencies that create it and address both human and animal health factors driving drug-resistant pathogens. That was a key message […] Continue reading ->
Dozens of tuberculosis (TB) activists took to the stage during the opening of the annual World Conference on Lung Health in Bali, Indonesia, to demand that the price of GeneXpert tests to detect TB is slashed to $5 in low- and middle-income countries. ​ Medical test maker Cepheid and its parent corporation Danaher were asked […] Continue reading ->
Better use of existing pneumonia and typhoid vaccines as well as new TB and pneumonia vaccines that are currently in clinical trials, could save over half a million deaths annually from drug resistant pathogens that don’t respond to antibiotics, according to a new WHO report on how vaccine strategies can reduce antimicrobial resistance (AMR). And […] Continue reading ->
A UN High Level Meeting on Antimicrobial Resistance (AMR) pledged to reduce by 10% deaths from drug resistant bacteria over the next six years in a new declaration on the “silent, slow-motion pandemic” that could kill some 39 million more people by 2050. Thursday’s milestone statement, the first on the topic since 2016, also pledges […] Continue reading ->
Manufacturers of antibiotics are dumping waste into waterways that is driving antimicrobial resistance (AMR), warns the first-ever guidance from the World Health Organization (WHO) on waste water management and AMR. Antibiotic pollution is “largely unregulated” and a “neglected” issue,  according to the WHO guidance, which explains how to mitigate liquid and solid waste during the formulation […] Continue reading ->
The fight against malaria is facing a new and urgent challenge as climate change and extreme weather events threaten to undermine decades of progress, according to warnings from several countries at the 77th World Health Assembly this week. “Recent extreme weather events such as flooding in Malawi and other countries have intensified malaria transmission, disproportionately […] Continue reading ->
At the 77th World Health Assembly, Gavi, The Vaccine Alliance, urged nations to prioritize vaccinating “zero-dose” children, particularly those in regions affected by humanitarian crises and complex emergencies. These children have not received any shots, putting them at a higher risk of preventable diseases. “We are scaling up routine immunization and reaching the estimated 14.3 […] Continue reading ->