A Good Place To Start To Beat The COVID Obesity Pandemic – Warning Labels on Unhealthy Foods

01/04/2021 Svĕt Lustig Vijay

The obesity pandemic is in “the same room” as the COVID pandemic in terms of its threats to health – putting people at greater risk of premature death from multiple causes, including SARS-CoV-2, the virus that leads to COVID-19. And ever since stay-at-home measures became routine, people have gained even more weight – up to […] Continue reading ->

SARS-CoV2 Virus Origins Report – Only Beginning Of Process Says WHO; 14 Member States Call For More Transparency

30/03/2021 Elaine Ruth Fletcher

The most important takeaway about the just-released WHO report on the origins of the SARS-CoV2 virus that has infected over 100 million people to date may not be its initial findings, which need to be held under the microscope, but the fact that it has been issued at all. Speaking at a press conference on […] Continue reading ->

Global Leaders Call For New Treaty To Bolster Resilience Against Future Pandemics

30/03/2021 Svĕt Lustig Vijay

After the COVID-19 pandemic exposed fundamental flaws in the global health architecture, a proposal for a new pandemic treaty that could strengthen the world’s capacity to contain the current pandemic and prepare for future ones, is gaining momentum. That was a key message at a World Health Organization (WHO) launch of an open letter by […] Continue reading ->

Where is ‘Animal X’? Summary of SARS-CoV2 Origins Report

30/03/2021 Kerry Cullinan

The international team assembled by the World Health Organization (WHO) to investigate the origins of SARS-CoV-2 has identified animal transmission – through an elusive ‘Animal X’ – as the most likely route of infection. The long-awaited report was released on Tuesday after the 17-person expert team, together with a 17-person team of Chinese scientists, visited […] Continue reading ->

‘All Hypotheses Open’ Says WHO Director General Of SARS-CoV2 Origins Investigation

29/03/2021 Elaine Ruth Fletcher

All four original chains of query remain on the table in terms of the origins of the SARS-CoV2 virus, said WHO Director General Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus at a press briefing on Monday. But his comments appear to contradict the leaked conclusions of the investigation which point towards a natural cause for the virus emergence […] Continue reading ->

Johnson & Johnson Strikes Big Vaccine Deal With African Union – But Deliveries Only Begin In 3rd Quarter 2021

29/03/2021 Kerry Cullinan

CAPE TOWN – Johnson & Johnson (J&J) will deliver its COVID-19 vaccine to Africa from October after reaching an agreement with the African Union to supply the continent with up to 400 million doses over the next two years. However, Africa may still be struggling to obtain vaccine supplies for some months following last week’s decision […] Continue reading ->

Exclusive: Outcry Over Pakistan’s Unprecedented Plan To Sell COVID Vaccines On Private Market – Now On Hold Over Price Dispute

26/03/2021 Rahul Basharat Rajput & Muhammed Nadeem Chaudhry

ISLAMABAD – (EXCLUSIVE) A controversial plan to sell Russia’s Sputnik V COVID-19 vaccine to wealthy citizens in Pakistan has been put on hold following a dispute between the government and the private pharmaceutical company involved over the vaccines’ sale price, Health Policy Watch has learned. Meanwhile, Transparency International – Pakistan appealed to Prime Minister Imran […] Continue reading ->

COVAX Needs ‘Urgent’ Donation Of 10 Million Vaccine Doses For Last 20 Countries In Global Queue – After Indian Supply Suspended

26/03/2021 Kerry Cullinan

COVAX has run out of COVID-19 vaccines to supply the last 20 countries in the world that have not yet started vaccinations, and it urgently needs a donation of 10 million doses from either manufacturers or countries that have piiled up surplus doses, according to World Health Organization (WHO) Director-General Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus. While […] Continue reading ->

Decolonizing Tuberculosis Care: A Perspective From The Global South On World TB Day

24/03/2021 Uzma Khan

Tuberculosis care is quintessentially colonial, even in 2021. While many countries have been emancipated from their colonizers, the heritage of the colonial mindset, culture and even entire economies is deeply embedded within high burden TB countries in the post-colonial era. A disease of poverty, TB has historically been terribly neglected. Although the number one infectious […] Continue reading ->

Norway Gives Up COVAX Doses Despite Domestic Pressure – ACT Accelerator proposes manufacturing task force

23/03/2021 Kerry Cullinan

In a decisive act of global solidarity, Norway has offered almost a third of its allocation of COVAX vaccines to poorer countries, according to Dag-Inge Ulstein, Norway’s Minister of International Development. Norway has only fully vaccinated about 5% of its population – 260,000 people – and unlike many other European countries, it has not stockpiled […] Continue reading ->