COVID-19 and non-communicable diseases (NCDs) are combining as a “syndemic” that reinforce each other and disproportionately impact the most vulnerable communities in every country during the pandemic period, said experts at a NCD Alliance panel on Thursday.  However, primary health care workers, particularly nurses, who are the backbone of routine NCD responses have been particularly […] Continue reading ->
  Nearly 100 World Trade Organization member countries and entities could potentially swing behind a proposal by India and South Africa to enact a wide-ranging waiver of complex World Trade Organization requirements on the use of patented products, trade secrets and copyrights on health products during the pandemic, asserted the Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) Access […] Continue reading ->
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has issued an emergency use authorization (EUA) for the first COVID-19 diagnostic test for self-testing at home and that provides rapid results. The Lucira COVID-19 All-In-One Test Kit is a molecular-based single use test that is intended to detect the novel coronavirus SARS-CoV-2 that causes COVID-19. “While COVID-19 diagnostic […] Continue reading ->
The world’s 27 million nurses and midwives – who comprise 60% of the health workforce – are not only excluded from the health system’s corridors of power, but also have faced new levels of censure and reprisal during the COVID-19 pandemic when they protested dangerous or abusive working conditions, said expert panel members at the […] Continue reading ->
Médecins Sans Frontières. As the COVID-19 pandemic threatens to derail the global response to tuberculosis (TB), Médecins Sans Frontières/Doctors Without Borders (MSF) called on governments to accelerate testing, treatment, and prevention for TB, and called on donors to provide the financial support needed to ensure increased access to new medical tools for diagnosing and treating […] Continue reading ->