DAVOS – In this snow-covered Alpine town where the world’s rich, powerful and elite met in January for the World Economic Forum, a quiet but consequential shift in thinking about dementia research crystallized – one with the potential to shape political engagements and research investments for the coming decade. Long treated as a disease primarily […] Continue reading ->
More than 60 countries now include refugees and migrants in their national health policies, according to a new World Health Organization (WHO) report tracking progress on commitments first set out by the World Health Assembly in 2019. The finding, drawn from a survey of 93 member states, is the first systematic count of how countries […] Continue reading ->
Global health is facing a funding crisis. Aid is shrinking, debt is rising, and the needs are only increasing. According to Christoph Benn of the Joep Lange Institute and Patrik Silborn of UNICEF Afghanistan, health systems will need to fundamentally rethink how they finance and sustain care. On a recent episode of the Global Health […] Continue reading ->
The Human papillomavirus (HPV35), globally associated with only 2% of invasive cervical cancers (ICC), has a disproportionately higher prevalence in sub‐Saharan Africa, reaching rates of 22-30% in some countries among women with ICC lesions, according to a new study. Recently, a high-level panel called for redoubled efforts in HPV vaccination, screening and treatment to meet […] Continue reading ->
South Africa and the African continent must play a far greater role in shaping the future of global health, according to Ntobeko Ntusi, president and CEO of the South African Medical Research Council. Speaking during a Trailblazers episode of the Global Health Matters podcast with Dr Garry Aslanyan, Ntusi said his world-view was shaped first […] Continue reading ->
As USAID programmes funding vital treatments for HIV/AIDS, malaria, maternal and child health, and other critical needs were imploding across Africa last year, a for-profit social enterprise startup geared up for its first real test. Using medicines procurement as its lever, the Swiss-based startup Axmed called for a radical reboot of national systems — to […] Continue reading ->
The World Health Organization (WHO) has slowed the pace on the development of a Global Plan of Action to advance the health of indigenous peoples globally, with the Executive Board voting on Thursday to delay the plan’s final consideration until May 2027. The draft strategy aims to address the stark health inequities faced by many […] Continue reading ->
The World Health Organization (WHO) is set for a massive shift in global health priorities with a new emergency care strategy, moving away from isolated hospital “silos” toward a seamless continuum of care. On Tuesday, the Executive Board unanimously adopted a 10-year strategy (2026 to 2035) for Integrated Emergency, Critical, and Operative Care (ECO), positioning […] Continue reading ->
The $9.4 billion package agreed to by the US Senate and House Appropriations Committees, is more than double the $3.7 billion requested by the Trump Administration, and signals bipartisan support for maintaining significant global health aid – although the package still must be approved by both Senate and House, and could also be vetoed by […] Continue reading ->
Stigma remains one of the most under-examined yet damaging forces shaping global health policy and practice, according to anthropologist Alex Brewis, who argues that shame-based approaches often undermine the very outcomes health interventions aim to achieve. In a recent episode of Dialogues, a special program of the Global Health Matters Podcast hosted by Dr. Garry […] Continue reading ->