While it pales in comparison to tobacco industry marketing, two new capital investment funds worth some $75 million to support low- and middle-income countries in their fight against tobacco are being created by signatories to the Framework Convention on Tobacco Control and a related Protocol on illegal sales.  Together, the funds would yield an estimated […] Continue reading ->
As the Glasgow Climate Conference winds to a close, the final COP26 declaration appears destined to contain watered-down language on fossil fuel phase-out, and no clear way forward for the $100 billion in finance needed by low-income countries. Against that landscape, Médecins Sans Frontières Dr Maria Guevara talks about why health is the elephant in […] Continue reading ->
Pakistan and eight other countries, mostly in or around conflict zones, face the largest gaps in vaccine commitments needed to reach a WHO goal of 70% coverage by September 2022.  The data is part of a new “COVID Global Tracker” – launched Wednesday during a first-ever meeting of the world’s foreign ministers, convened by US […] Continue reading ->
An international pandemic treaty based on equity could be the antidote to current weaknesses and imbalances in the global response to COVID-19, according to a group of influential authors in a Lancet paper published on Tuesday. A number of the authors are associated with The Independent Panel for Pandemic Preparedness and Response chaired by Helen […] Continue reading ->
Most countries’ drug policies are misaligned with governments’ obligations to promote health, human rights and development, according to the first-ever Global Drug Policy Index, which was launched on Monday. Drug policies that rely on criminalisation, police intervention and forced eradication have a detrimental effect on the health and human rights of the affected community instead of […] Continue reading ->
GLASGOW – Nearly two dozen African countries, including some of the continent’s biggest methane- producing nations, have now signed The Global Methane Pledge, launched Tuesday at COP26 by United States President Joe Biden and the President of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen.  While the pledge was initially announced in September with nine countries […] Continue reading ->
Greening cities, investing in urban bike lanes rather than new roads, and making plant-based foods cheaper and easier to access than ultra-processed foods. This is a doctor’s prescription for a healthier planet.  As climate negotiators at Glasgow’s COP26 conference remain locked in debate over the big-picture ambition of targets for global CO2 emissions reductions, and […] Continue reading ->
Thirty-nine of the African Union’s 55 member states have now signed and/or ratified the African Medicines Agency Treaty, as of 6 July 2024, with Kenya, the Democratic Republic of Congo and Cape Verde amongst the latest to swing behind the treaty. As the countdown for other nations to sign continues, Health Policy Watch is tracking […] Continue reading ->