Vaccinating all of Africa’s health workers would need half a percent of all the doses that the G-7 countries have purchased, according to Global Citizen CEO Hugh Evans. On Tuesday, Global Citizen launched a five-point ‘Recover Better Together’ plan for the world, aimed at getting millions of citizens behind ending COVID-19 for all, ending the […] Continue reading ->
Despite Friday’s commitment by G-7 countries to donate another US$ 4.3 billion to a global COVID vaccine campaign, World Health Organization Director General, Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus has accused high-income nations of still undermining equitable vaccine rollout by “doing deals” with manufacturers that deplete supplies available to the COVAX global vaccine facility.  Speaking at the […] Continue reading ->
The European Commission will establish an emergency biodefense plan to prevent, mitigate and respond to new variants of the coronavirus that are supercharging transmission and threatening the performance of available vaccines. Creation of a voluntary licensing mechanism involving local manufacturers is one of the strategies proposed in the plan to hasten the production of updated […] Continue reading ->
The United Kingdom, Norway and UNICEF on Wednesday appealed to world leaders to give stronger backing to UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres’ call in March 2020 for a “global cease-fire” in order to beat the COVID-19 pandemic and get vaccines to tens of millions of undocumented migrants and refugees, as well as people living in […] Continue reading ->
The COVID-19 pandemic has revealed the profound dangers of having social, economic and health care systems that marginalize public health. To go forward, we must start by looking back. We must build a stronger foundation with better systems that can prevent future pandemics and also weave health into all aspects of society, from our workplaces […] Continue reading ->
In the next two weeks, distribution of millions of doses of the Oxford/AstraZeneca SARS-COV2 to health workers across Africa will get underway, said the director of the Africa Centers for Disease Control in a joint press briefing with the WHO Regional Office for Africa on Thursday.  CDC Director John Nkengasong told Health Policy Watch that […] Continue reading ->
News of the successful trial results of the Russian Sputnik vaccine, published on Wednesday by The Lancet has shored up the prospects of quick vaccine access for dozens of countries that have pinned their hopes on Russian or Chinese vaccine alternatives – as rich countries buy up the bulk of supplies of high-tech vaccines and […] Continue reading ->
KAMPALA, UGANDA – Responding to a swell of global criticism, a senior Ugandan health official told Health Policy Watch that Uganda’s government is not paying unreasonably higher prices for it’s AstraZeneca vaccines, in comparison to other African countries – or Europe.  “You cannot compare prices directly between countries because there are many factors to consider. […] Continue reading ->
Some 50% of countries surveyed by WHO have had cancer services partially or completely disruptive because of the pandemic, according to new WHO data released just ahead of World Cancer Day on Thursday. There have also been significant reductions in cancer-related research and clinical trials, said Andre Ilbawi, speaking at a press briefing in Geneva […] Continue reading ->