Breakthrough Research Promises Shorter Treatment for Multi-Drug-Resistant TB

15/11/2024 Disha Shetty

In a breakthrough for patients with multi-drug-resistant (MDR) tuberculosis (TB), researchers shared positive trial results for a shorter, tailored alternative at the World Conference on Lung Health in Bali, Indonesia. The insights came from the endTB-Q trial aimed at finding a simpler, less toxic, shorter regimen for fluoroquinolone-resistant MDR-TB. Fluoroquinolone is a common class of […] Continue reading ->

As World’s Health Ministers Meet in Jeddah: Calls for Strong AMR Science Panel With Authority to ‘Challenge’ Sponsors

14/11/2024 Elaine Ruth Fletcher

With plans underway for a new “Independent Panel” on Antimicrobial Resistance, endorsed at September’s UN High-Level AMR Meeting, the new body must become a strong scientific authority. It should have the power to “challenge” the agencies that create it and address both human and animal health factors driving drug-resistant pathogens. That was a key message […] Continue reading ->

Global Measles Cases Surge by 20% as Countries Struggle to Vaccinate all Kids

14/11/2024 Kerry Cullinan

Inadequate immunisation is driving the global surge in measles cases, with an estimated 10.3 million cases in 2023 – a jump of 20% since 2022. This is according to new estimates from the World Health Organization (WHO) and the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). A total of 57 countries experienced large outbreaks […] Continue reading ->

Moroccan Mpox Test to be Used in Africa; No Marburg Cases in Rwanda for Two Weeks

14/11/2024 Kerry Cullinan

African countries will soon use a PCR test for mpox developed by Moroccan company Moldiag that is cheaper than the Gene Xpert tests currently being used, according to the Africa Centres for Disease Control and Infection (Africa CDC). “This test was approved after a number of tests were done in the [Democratic Republic of Congo] […] Continue reading ->

Tuberculosis Advocates Push for Cheaper Tests

12/11/2024 Disha Shetty

Dozens of tuberculosis (TB) activists took to the stage during the opening of the annual World Conference on Lung Health in Bali, Indonesia, to demand that the price of GeneXpert tests to detect TB is slashed to $5 in low- and middle-income countries. Medical test maker Cepheid and its parent corporation Danaher were asked […] Continue reading ->

It’s Time to Stop the World’s Oldest Pandemic: We Need a New Tuberculosis Vaccine

12/11/2024 Shelly Malhotra & Mike Frick

This week, experts and policymakers are convening at the Union’s World Conference on Lung Health to discuss tuberculosis (TB), the world’s deadliest and most neglected infectious disease. Since the turn of the 20th century, over one billion people have died from TB – a death toll greater than that from malaria, smallpox, HIV/AIDS, cholera, plague […] Continue reading ->

US Should Lift Marburg Travel Restrictions, Urges Africa CDC

07/11/2024 Kerry Cullinan

The US should lift its Marburg-related entry restrictions on people travelling from Rwanda as they are “killing” that country’s economy, according to Dr Jean Kaseya. The US requires people who have visited Rwanda in the past 21 days to fly to one of only three airports for health screening. “Now that we are out of […] Continue reading ->

Nations Back Landmark Health Deal at Troubled UN Biodiversity Summit

04/11/2024 Stefan Anderson

Nearly 200 nations have backed a groundbreaking global action plan linking health and the natural world at the close of UN biodiversity negotiations in Cali, Colombia, marking a rare victory in a summit otherwise characterised by disappointment. The final agreement on a “health and biodiversity action plan” was approved as a voluntary rather than mandatory […] Continue reading ->

Global Stockpile is Empty, But Cholera Vaccines Are Being Shipped to Outbreaks

31/10/2024 Kerry Cullinan

While the global stockpile of oral cholera vaccines (OCV) has been empty since mid-October, vaccine doses are being produced each week and shipped directly to countries in need, according to the World Health Organization (WHO). “As soon as adequate quantities are produced, they are shipped to countries in need. This is why the stockpile can […] Continue reading ->

We cannot cure TB without curing TB stigma

30/10/2024 Neelima Sharma

In 2021, I lost a close friend to tuberculosis (TB), the world’s most lethal infection. But I cannot say anything else about this friend, where I met him or when we became close. The stigma surrounding tuberculosis is too impenetrable and, unfortunately, it would not be fair to my friend’s family. Still, for me, his […] Continue reading ->