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 ->
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 ->
With the fate and nature of the pandemic accord currently being negotiated by World Health Organization (WHO) member states still uncertain, global health experts are calling for “realistic” backup plans to protect the world against the next pandemic. “We need an ambitious but implementable pandemic accord – that is the Holy Grail,” Javier Guzman, Director […] Continue reading ->
Routine childhood immuniaztions rebounded in 2022 from the set-backs of the COVID pandemic. But coverage still fell short of pre-COVID numbers in 2019, with 20.5 million children missing out on one or more routine vaccines last year as compared to 18.4 million in 2019. The new data is contained in a report published jointly Tuesday […] Continue reading ->
African leaders must take the lead in the fight against Neglected Tropical Diseases, invest in their control and elimination, and foster cross-border collaboration to achieve the goal of eliminating NTDs as public health concerns by 2030. Neglected Tropical Diseases (NTDs) continue to pose a significant threat to the health and well-being of millions of people […] Continue reading ->
Three multilateral development banks and the World Health Organization (WHO) announced the launch of an investment platform on Thursday aimed at supporting low and middle-income countries to build their primary healthcare (PHC) services via grants and concessional loans. PHC is widely recognised as the most effective way to improve health and well-being, and the recent […] Continue reading ->
A new collaboration called the “Global Health Policy Lab” (GHPL) aims to develop digital tools that strengthen the available global capacity to identify, benchmark, disseminate and assess the impact of relevant health laws and policies within the field of global health. The lab, a partnership between the Harvard Health Systems Innovation Lab and the Charité […] Continue reading ->
Pandemic treaty negotiations need to be completed by member states and there’s just one year left to meet that deadline, warns the World Health Organization’s Director General. As the World Health Assembly closed its doors on it’s 75th Anniversary edition (WHA 76), which had to be extended by an extra day due to the prolonged […] Continue reading ->
The World Health Assembly (WHA) on Monday greenlit a slew of decisions and resolutions that aim to bring another one billion people under the coverage of universal health coverage (UHC), as the 76th WHA session drew closer to its end. The plan is the bedrock of WHO’s vision to deliver on so-called “triple billion targets” […] Continue reading ->
As the world continues to learn the lessons of the COVID-19 pandemic, a new set of principles aiming the help guide the future of human rights in global medical emergencies was published and discussed on Tuesday at an event of the 76th World Health Assembly (WHA). The event, titled “Beyond Panic & Neglect: Building a […] Continue reading ->