The COVID-19 pandemic blindsided most of the world as it swept from China across the world at an unprecedent pace, infecting, ultimately killing millions of people. But more than two years later, there are some lessons that can be learned, said Tatiana Valovaya, director-general of the United Nations in Geneva on Tuesday evening. At the […] Continue reading ->
In a significant breakthrough, the World Trade Organization’s (WTO) TRIPS Council on Friday will finally discuss a compromise proposal on a waiver of intellectual property (IP) rights on COVID-19 vaccines – almost 18 months after it was first proposed by India and South Africa. Members attending an informal meeting of the TRIPS Council on Tuesday […] Continue reading ->
When we think about the critical drivers of disease prevention and control – we need to stop thinking only about medicines, vaccines and diagnostics. In fact some of the most important forms of disease control can be found in forests – which harbor thousands of pathogens, known and unknown in relative isolation from humans and […] Continue reading ->
Individuals who suffer from severe psychiatric disorders were at least twice as likely to die from COVID-19 than others who caught the virus, at least in the first year of the pandemic when the most deadly SARS-COV2 variants, including Delta, were predominant. That is the key finding in a new study published in Molecular Psychiatry, […] Continue reading ->
A core group of WHO member states have agreed on a landmark move to boost their annual “assessed” contributions to the global health organization to cover 50% of its core budget needs by 2028-2029 – but contingent on internal WHO reforms to boost efficiency and transparency. Partly in response to the reform call, a reshuffle […] Continue reading ->
Following the purchase of Twitter by billionaire Elon Musk on Monday, the World Health Organization warned about the dangers of health and vaccine misinformation on social media, and expressed hope that the acquisition would lead to an ‘improvement of quality information’. “There is misinformation and disinformation out there across whatever platform you wish to go […] Continue reading ->
On the occasion of World Immunization Week, influential global health figures share lessons learned in the global fight against two age-old diseases, malaria and polio – and more recently, COVID-19 – and how we should tackle existing and future pandemics. While COVID-19 surprised and shocked the world, it should not have. For decades, infectious […] Continue reading ->
Only 10 of Africa’s 54 countries have vaccinated more than a third of their citizens, although the continent has administered over two-thirds of the vaccine doses it has procured. The top 10 vaccinators are Seychelles (81%), Mauritius (76%), Rwanda (64%), Morocco (63%), Cape Verde (55%), Botswana (54%), Tunisia (53%), Mozambique (43%), São Tomé and Príncipe […] Continue reading ->
Some 42% of the World Health Organization’s (WHO) Eastern Mediterranean is fully vaccinated, but only five of the 22 member states have met the global goal of vaccinating 70% of their populations despite enough vaccine stocks being available, according to a media briefing on Wednesday. WHO Region Director for Eastern Mediterranean, Dr Ahmed Al-Mandhari, ascribed […] Continue reading ->
The World Health Organization (WHO) expects to publish its COVID-19 death statistics “shortly”, despite objections from the government of India – apparently because the year-long study puts the Indian death toll at around four million while the government’s official death figure is 520,000 (to end 2021). The row between India and the WHO was first […] Continue reading ->