Africa’s brutal experiences battling Ebola and a range of other deadly diseases helped prepare health systems to deal with COVID-19. And by the time the SARS-CoV2 virus landed on the continent, its Centre for Disease Control (CDC) had already “established regional coordinating centres, increased lab capacity and unified surveillance networks”. The lessons in emergency response […] Continue reading ->
PUNE – Indian twitter for days has been a desperate space. There are appeals for oxygen cylinders, cries for funding to meet healthcare costs, and panic-stricken relatives scouting for hospital beds for their loved ones. Hospitals are now approaching the courts for help as they run out of oxygen. And even prominent lawyers and influencers […] Continue reading ->
Fifty countries have not yet resumed routine immunisations disrupted by the COVID-19 pandemic, affecting 228 million people – mainly children – and there have already been serious measles outbreaks in Yemen, Pakistan and the Democratic Republic of the Congo, according to World Health Organization (WHO) director general Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyusus. To address this, the […] Continue reading ->
As the hotly contested proposal for an IP waiver on COVID-related health products comes up again for debate on Friday, 30 April at the World Trade Organization’s TRIPS Council, legal expert Hyo Yoon Kang looks at the foundations of IP law to challenge “TRIPS waiver” naysayers. Geneva Health Files [GHF]: You have argued that IP […] Continue reading ->
One of the few silver linings of the COVID-19 pandemic is the unprecedented collaboration of every sector of society to overcome it – best demonstrated by the Access to COVID-19 Tools Accelerator (ACT-Accelerator), which celebrated its first anniversary on Friday. The ACT-Accelerator’s most famous pillar is the vaccine facility, COVAX, which has distributed almost 40 […] Continue reading ->
The African Union Commission (AUC) is developing a COVID-19 Disaster Recovery Framework to guide its member states on how to respond effectively and in a timely manner to future pandemics – as well as other health emergency risks. The framework, still in the initial stages of development, will soon be shared with the AUC’s 55 […] Continue reading ->
New COVID-19 cases climbed again globally last week for the eighth week in a row – while only 1% of the 100 million vaccine doses administered last week were in low- and middle-income countries – said senior WHO officials on Monday, citing two key barometers of pandemic policies. Meanwhile, speaking at a WHO press conference […] Continue reading ->
Six weeks after receiving 1.7 million doses of the AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine from COVAX, the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) finally started to vaccinate people on Monday. The delay followed concerns about the safety of the vaccine amid reports about possible links between the vaccine and blood clotting. In a bid to build public confidence, […] Continue reading ->
NEW DELHI, India – Delhi State aims to fight air pollution as a “mass movement” with public participation, according to Environment Minister Gopal Rai – but a recent conference he called with experts on the issue concluded with no firm commitments. Rai convened the two-day virtual conference with air pollution experts and clean air advocates […] Continue reading ->
NAIROBI – Kenya has developed an ambitious COVID-19 vaccination rollout plan – but it has only received enough doses for a million of its 50 million citizens, and dispensed slightly more than half of these – 565,000 – to health workers. Kenya is currently in the third wave of the pandemic and estimates that 4 […] Continue reading ->