[Press Release by UNAIDS] Five countries met the target three years ahead of the 2020 deadline and 18 more are on track; however, most countries are lagging behind and risk missing the target completely. UNAIDS urges countries to step up action. GENEVA, 22 March 2019—Ahead of World Tuberculosis Day, on 24 March 2019, UNAIDS […] Continue reading ->
The World Health Organization and global partners wrapped up a meeting today to develop a vision and strategy prototype for the post-2020 decade of action on vaccines and immunizations. This new plan of action for 2021-2030 will take a different approach that is more “bottom up” and collaborative in engaging countries and other stakeholders to […] Continue reading ->
[WHO Press Release] WHO has issued new guidance to improve treatment of multidrug resistant TB (MDR-TB). WHO is recommending shifting to fully oral regimens to treat people with MDR-TB. This new treatment course is more effective and is less likely to provoke adverse side effects. WHO recommends backing up treatment with active monitoring of drug safety and […] Continue reading ->
A new report released today by the World Health Organization and the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC) found that while overall tuberculosis (TB) mortality and incidence rates have steadily fallen in the European region over the past decade, the disease should not be “underestimated.” The report warns that these rates are not sufficient to reach global targets for reducing the disease, further noting that while the European region may have only 2.8 percent of the world’s TB burden, it has 23 percent of the world’s burden of multi-drug resistant TB (MDR-TB). Continue reading ->
Bacteria and other pathogens that are resistant to common anti-microbial medications appear to be most abundant in Africa, as well as parts of South-East Asia and other developing regions with a poor record of sewage and sanitation management, according to a new study published in Nature Communications. Image Credits: Wikimedia Commons. Continue reading ->
Severe side effects make the current course of prolonged drug treatment difficult for many patients with Chagas disease, but a Phase II clinical trial in Bolivia may have found an alternative treatment that is both quicker and significantly safer. Image Credits: Ana Ferreira/DNDi. Continue reading ->
World Health Organization Director-General Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus told reporters today that WHO is “working to find a balance between protecting patients and staff from attacks by armed groups and building community trust and ownership” in managing the response to the deadly Ebola epidemic in the Democratic Republic of Congo. Image Credits: Gabriele François Casini/MSF. Continue reading ->
Italy’s Minister of Health spoke out publicly today at a press conference in Rome on the proposed World Health Assembly resolution on drug price transparency, while an open letter published on the Ministry’s website called on other World Health Organization member states to support the initiative. Continue reading ->
In what is being called an "important moment" for tuberculosis (TB) control, a new study found that "a shorter regimen to prevent TB can be safely co-administered with dolutegravir (DTG)—the first-line drug to treat HIV in many high-burden TB countries," according to a release. Continue reading ->
Secure and reliable supply chains for life-saving medicines are essential features of the global health landscape. They ensure that quality approved drugs are manufactured and available in the quantities needed, without interruption. For the fight against malaria, securing supply chains for quality, life-saving antimalarials involves the collective effort of a range of organisations working to mitigate the risk of any shortage of these drugs. A recent success in this area has been the quality approval of a second supplier of injectable artesunate, the drug recommended by the World Health Organization to treat severe malaria. Continue reading ->