Second in a series: In the wake of the expanding media attention to a suppressed WHO report evaluating the early days of Italy’s COVID-19 pandemic response, WHO has begun circulating guidelines to staff for responding to the media over questions that have remarked about recommendations for Q&A The internal WHO memo obtained by Health Policy […] Continue reading ->
One out of every four health facilities worldwide lacks even the most basic access to water supplies. And in the world’s 47 least developed countries, one in every two facilities lacks such access, according to a new WHO report, co-authored with UNICEF, on access to water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH) in health care facilities. The […] Continue reading ->
WHO’s Director General Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus on Friday issued yet another plea to leaders of rich countries to “honor their pledges” to fund COVID-19 vaccines sufficient to immunize the highest risk groups across the world. He spoke a day after South African officials raised the spectre that the world was heading towards a state […] Continue reading ->
United States Food and Drug Agency Commissioner Stephen Hahn Friday said that the agency will “rapidly work toward the finalization and issuance of an emergency use authorization” for the cutting edge Pfizer/BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine – following a vote by an independent FDA expert panel on Thursday recommending that the vaccine be approved. FDA Commissioner @SteveFDA […] Continue reading ->
The combined health and economic shocks triggered by COVID-19 have revealed profound weaknesses in health systems, with direct consequences on the future of healthcare, says a new World Health Organisation report on global health financing systems. “COVID-19 has revealed [the] underlying weakness of country and global health financing systems. There needs to be a proactive […] Continue reading ->
While some of the world’s richest countries have now stockpiled more COVID vaccines than they have people to inject, the world’s 67 poorest countries may only be able to vaccinate 1 in 10 people against COVID-19 next year, unless urgent action is taken by governments and the pharmaceutical industry to make sure enough doses are […] Continue reading ->
The NCD Alliance has called the millions of avoidable deaths due to noncommunicable disease (NCDs) a “collective failure”, as new WHO data shows NCDs now constitute 7 of the top 10 causes of death globally, up from 4 of 10 top causes of death in 2000. According to WHO’s new Global Health Estimates released Wednesday, […] Continue reading ->
Just hours after the UK jabbed its first citizen against the coronavirus, researchers have confirmed that Oxford’s vaccine is safe and effective in the first peer-reviewed publication of a Phase III coronavirus vaccine trial yet. “The results for me are very compelling,” said AstraZeneca’s executive vice president Mene Pangalos on Wednesday at a press conference. […] Continue reading ->
The WHO Foundation has appointed a senior pharma executive as CEO of the flagship WHO Foundation, suggesting it will make a big push to secure donations from the broader private sector as the curtain closes on a precarious budget year. But speaking at a press briefing on Monday, the WHO DG commented on the recruitment […] Continue reading ->
WHO officials have expressed concern about yet another spike in COVID-19 infections and deaths across the Americas, following the Thanksgiving holiday on Thursday, and in the run-up to Christmas – echoing concerns already being expressed by United States health authorities. The US has reported 2 million new COVID-19 cases in the past 2 weeks: a […] Continue reading ->