In a bid to better respond to both domestic and global needs, as well as future threats, the Biden Administration plans to spend billions of dollars to expand US vaccine manufacturing capacity enabling production of 1 billion vaccine doses a year by mid-2022, two top White House officials told US media on Wednesday. The announcement […] Continue reading ->
The inflated costs of insulin and control of its price and supply – are barriers preventing people with diabetes from accessing this life-saving medicine, according to a report released by the World Health Organization (WHO). Insulin is the basis of diabetes treatment, essential for nine million people with type 1 diabetes who cannot make […] Continue reading ->
It may be too late for many European countries to avoid harsh measures to try to curb the intense transmission of COVID-19, according to World Health Organization (WHO) officials on Friday. “Almost two million cases of COVID-19 were reported in Europe last week, the most in a single week in that region since the pandemic […] Continue reading ->
Moderna has fired back against claims made by US National Institutes of Health (NIH) that its scientists at the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAD) helped to invent the crucial component of the pharma company’s COVID-19 vaccine, stating that the mRNA sequence was “selected exclusively” by Moderna scientists. “We do not agree that […] Continue reading ->
Following World Health Organization approval last week, interim data from a phase 3 trial of BBV152, a COVID-19 vaccine developed in India, reports 77.8% efficacy against symptomatic COVID-19. The study, published in The Lancet, indicated that BBV152 induced a robust antibody response, with the majority of adverse events, including headache, fatigue, fever, and pain at […] Continue reading ->
Pakistan and eight other countries, mostly in or around conflict zones, face the largest gaps in vaccine commitments needed to reach a WHO goal of 70% coverage by September 2022. The data is part of a new “COVID Global Tracker” – launched Wednesday during a first-ever meeting of the world’s foreign ministers, convened by US […] Continue reading ->
GLASGOW – Nearly two dozen African countries, including some of the continent’s biggest methane- producing nations, have now signed The Global Methane Pledge, launched Tuesday at COP26 by United States President Joe Biden and the President of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen. While the pledge was initially announced in September with nine countries […] Continue reading ->
Greening cities, investing in urban bike lanes rather than new roads, and making plant-based foods cheaper and easier to access than ultra-processed foods. This is a doctor’s prescription for a healthier planet. As climate negotiators at Glasgow’s COP26 conference remain locked in debate over the big-picture ambition of targets for global CO2 emissions reductions, and […] Continue reading ->
Thirty-nine of the African Union’s 55 member states have now signed and/or ratified the African Medicines Agency Treaty, as of 6 July 2024, with Kenya, the Democratic Republic of Congo and Cape Verde amongst the latest to swing behind the treaty. As the countdown for other nations to sign continues, Health Policy Watch is tracking […] Continue reading ->
Pfizer Friday announced that its experimental COVID-19 oral antiviral drug PAXLOVID™ reduced risks of hospitalization and death by 89% among patients who received the drug within the first three days of their illness. The company said it had stopped its Phase 2/3 trial on the drug owing to the success rate seen in an interim […] Continue reading ->