Over 90% Of The World’s Countries Report Disruptions Of Critical Mental Health Services – WHO Survey

05/10/2020 Svĕt Lustig Vijay

The COVID-19 pandemic has disrupted mental health services in 93% of countries at a time when they are most needed, concludes a new WHO survey, released Monday. The survey is based on data from 130 WHO countries gathered between June and August 2020. Despite rising awareness of the enormous strain that the pandemic has placed […] Continue reading ->

Geneva’s International Chamber Of Commerce Hosts Dialogue Involving Geneva UN Agency and Big Tobacco – For Second Year In A Row

01/10/2020 Svĕt Lustig Vijay & Elaine Ruth Fletcher

For the second year in a row, Geneva’s International Chamber of Commerce has hosted a dialogue bringing local tobacco industry leaders together with a major Geneva-based UN Agency – in this case to discuss the ‘role of multinationals in economic recovery following the coronavirus’. The ICC’s 6th Business Dialogue, involving Teresa Moreira, Head Competition and […] Continue reading ->

Moderna’s COVID-19 Vaccine Unlikely To Be Available To Public Before Spring, 2021; Initial US FDA Authorization Would Be Sought In Late November

01/10/2020 Madeleine Hoecklin

Moderna intends to seek US Food and Drug Administration emergency authorization for its COVID-19 vaccine candidate for frontline medical workers by November 25th at the earliest, and only in late January for use in the general population. That means that the vaccine, if approved on schedule, would only be available for widespread distribution to the […] Continue reading ->

World Bank Unleashes US$12 Billion in “Fast-Track” Finance For COVID-19 Vaccine Purchases By Low- And Middle-Income Countries

30/09/2020 Elaine Ruth Fletcher

The World Bank will make available up to $12 billion in “fast-track financing” that low- and middle-income countries can access to procure vaccines against Covid-19 – as soon as one is approved, said the Bank’s president David Malpass, on Wednesday. The announcement at a United Nations high-level panel on the pandemic that also included commitments […] Continue reading ->

Most Countries Still Have ‘Long Way To Go’ On Tobacco Control In Public Places & Taxation

29/09/2020 Svĕt Lustig Vijay

As fresh data reveals that tobacco products kill over 2 million people a year through coronary heart disease, tobacco control advocates are more determined than ever to protect the world against a product that kills half its users, not only from heart attacks but stroke, lung cancer and other diseases as well. Comprehensive, but simple […] Continue reading ->

WHO, The Pandemic And Europe’s New Global Health Leadership Role

29/09/2020 Elaine Ruth Fletcher

Billions of dollars in vaccine investments are needed to beat back Covid-19. But on the bright side, Europe is playing a more active global health leadership role. Geneva’s ‘dean’ of global health speaks to Geneva Solutions ahead of Wednesday’s opening of the European Health Forum (Gastein), which brings together key policymakers and experts from across […] Continue reading ->

Global Aid, Local Choice – Why Calls For Transparency Cut Both Ways

28/09/2020 Ize Adava

When donor dollars go missing, the guilty must be held to account. But when past transgressions hold country-ownership of global health programs to ransom with no clear end in sight, everyone loses. Today, almost two million people are living with HIV in Nigeria yet the latest UNAIDS figures show that only about one out of every […] Continue reading ->

Infodemic Poses Serious Risk to COVID-19 Response, Warn Experts At A United Nations General Assembly Event

28/09/2020 Madeleine Hoecklin

The ‘infodemic’ is one of the “most concerning” governance challenges of our time, undermining trust in science in the midst of the pandemic, and threatening people’s physical and mental health, warned United Nations Development Program (UNDP) Administrator Achim Steimer. While the overabundance of misinformation – or ‘infodemic – is not new, it has blown out […] Continue reading ->

Heart Disease Deaths From Tobacco Use Are On The Rise

22/09/2020 Svĕt Lustig Vijay

Over the past two decades, the number of coronary heart disease deaths resulting from tobacco consumption has risen by 10,000 new deaths every year, warned WHO spokesperson Jaimie Guerra, in an interview with Health Policy Watch. Tobacco consumption in all its forms increases the risks of developing coronary heart disease, warns a new brief published […] Continue reading ->

Food Product Warning Labels Are A Cost-Effective Obesity Prevention Strategy, Says New Vital Strategies Report

21/09/2020 Madeleine Hoecklin

Most shoppers spend less than 10 seconds debating a food choice in the grocery store aisle – and yet choosing processed and low nutrient foods with high levels of sugar, sodium, and fats can lead to chronic diseases, which are expensive to control and often impossible to cure. Now, national regulatory authorities and food companies […] Continue reading ->