The mRNA Vaccine Technology Transfer Hub in South Africa will start animal studies on its first COVID-19 vaccine candidate in October, a senior World Health Organization official said Wednesday. If all goes according to plan, human clinical trials will begin towards the end of 2023. “We did start this (mRNA vaccine hub) with a longer […] Continue reading ->
At a World Trade Organization Public Forum this week, public health advocates argued for the creation of a new WTO framework to stimulate voluntary offers by countries to supply more ‘public goods’ to trading partners and the world, including investments, assets and know-how critical to protecting the world against future pandemics and other health or […] Continue reading ->
From bedrooms in China to boardrooms in Geneva, people offered their views on how to protect the world against future pandemics during the second round of public hearings called by the World Health Organization (WHO). The public hearings are part of the WHO intergovernmental negotiating board (INB) process to develop a pandemic “convention, agreement or […] Continue reading ->
NEW YORK – Global health leaders and experts urged nations to improve their preparedness and ability to respond to global pandemics in ways that go well beyond the health sector, even as political will to handle the COVID-19 pandemic and other health crises seems to be lagging. “Pandemic issues go far wider than health,” former […] Continue reading ->
Global COVID-19 cases have dropped to their lowest level since the start of the pandemic in March 2020, World Health Organization (WHO) Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus told a media briefing on Wednesday. In the past week alone (5-11 September), the number of new weekly cases decreased by 28% while new weekly deaths decreased by 22%, […] Continue reading ->
TEL AVIV – When Belgian Ann Li got sick with COVID in March 2020, she did not know that the disease would follow her for years. “Even though I’m standing here in front of you looking seemingly healthy, I still suffer the consequences of the initial infection,” she told the audience of a panel devoted […] Continue reading ->
TEL AVIV – Russia’s invasion of Ukraine will likely have long-lasting impacts on public health in Europe, both directly and in terms of global challenges related to food security and climate. That was among the key messages from the World Health Organization’s Director-General Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus and Regional Director for Europe Hans Kluge at […] Continue reading ->
The number of people on tuberculosis treatment rebounded to 5.3 million in 2021 and is nearing pre-pandemic levels of 5.5 million, according to a new Global Fund report. That’s an encouraging sign of progress after treatment plummeted to just 4.5 million people in 2020, the report, released on Monday, notes. Overall, the new report shows […] Continue reading ->
In one of the first concrete measures to attempt to redress huge inequities exposed by the COVID-19 pandemic, the Washington-based World Bank formally established a new billion-dollar financial intermediary fund (FIF) to invest in helping the world – particularly low- and middle-income countries – strengthen defenses against pandemics and epidemics. FIF’s governing board officially set […] Continue reading ->
In an effort to prevent the spread of monkeypox, the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO) signed an agreement with Bavarian Nordic to obtain 100,000 vaccine doses for Latin America and the Caribbean. That will allow PAHO to start delivering the doses to the 12 countries that requested them in September. The agreement will make the […] Continue reading ->