‘We Need To Fight …Now’ – WHO Director General Urges Countries To ‘Face The Fire’ On COVID-19 Threat

05/03/2020 Elaine Ruth Fletcher

WHO Director General Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus urged countries to redouble their efforts on COVID-19 containment, saying that China’s stunning success shows that goal still may be attainable – even as 16,470 new cases of the fatal virus mushroomed elsewhere across the globe in the past 24 hours. “This not a drill. This is not […] Continue reading ->

International Research Partnership & EDCTP To Invest €44m In Next-Gen Antimalarials To Combat Drug-Resistant Malaria In Africa

04/03/2020 Press release

[Medicines for Malaria Venture] EDCTP grants the PAMAfrica research consortium €21.9 million over a 5 year period; MMV, Novartis and other partners will provide an additional €22 million. The PAMAfrica consortium brings together a global medicines company, a not-for-profit product development partnership and leading academic institutions in Africa and Europe. PAMAfrica aims to develop new […] Continue reading ->

WHO Director General “Thanks” US President Trump For Offering Tehran Support – As COVID-19 Cases Mount In Iran, Italy & Korea

02/03/2020 Elaine Ruth Fletcher

As Iran faces one of the most serious surges in COVID-19 cases around the world, WHO’s Director General Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, welcomed US President Donald Trump’s olive branch toward its bitter enemy, who on Monday told the Conservative Political Action Congress “if we can help the Iranians with this problem we are certainly willing […] Continue reading ->

New Consortium Aims To Develop “Pan-TB” Treatment Regimen

29/02/2020 Grace Ren

While health leaders battle a global outbreak of a dangerous new virus, a consortium of partners is entering the fight against one of humankind’s oldest infectious diseases, tuberculosis. A group of philanthropic, non-profit, and private sector organizations on Thursday launched a collaboration to accelerate development for a “pan-TB” treatment regimen to treat drug-sensitive and drug-resistant […] Continue reading ->

WHO Launched Digital Version Of Essential Medicines List

28/02/2020 Editorial team

The World Health Organization launched the first-ever digital version of its latest Model list of Essential Medicines (EML) on Thursday. The move is the latest step in WHO’s effort to explore technology in a new focus on digital health. “For more than 40 years, the list has become a reliable and credible source of the most […] Continue reading ->

Former Director Of Italian Medicines Agency Recognized For Drug Transparency Work

26/02/2020 Editorial team

Former general director of the Italian Medicines Agency (AIFA) Luca Li Bassi was awarded the 2019 “International Transparency in Medicines Policies Awards” by the French civil society watchdog group l’Observatoire Médicaments Transparences (the Observatory for Transparency in Medicines), for his efforts in negotiating a milestone World Health Assembly resolution in May 2019 supporting more public […] Continue reading ->

COVID-19 Versus Public Health: New Test Grounds Are Iran, Italy & Korea

24/02/2020 Elaine Ruth Fletcher & Grace Ren

With spiraling outbreaks of COVID-19 in 3 countries, Iran, Italy, and Korea, WHO officials warned Monday of growing risks that the epidemic could become a full-fledged pandemic – although Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus stepped back from the brink, telling a press briefing on Monday: “Does this virus have pandemic potential? Absolutely it has. Are we […] Continue reading ->

Experts Eye Japan For Clues On COVID-19 Trends; In Africa, Egypt, Algeria & South Africa At Highest Risk, Says Lancet Study

19/02/2020 Elaine Ruth Fletcher & Fredrick Nzwili

Experts were closely watching the development of Japan’s COVID-19 outbreak for signs of whether the virus might escape further out of control, moving closer to the tipping point of a pandemic – the worldwide spread of a new disease. Meanwhile, a new study in The Lancet found that in Africa, Egypt, Algeria and South Africa […] Continue reading ->

Egypt Confirms First COVID-19 Case In Africa; Over 1,700 Chinese Healthcare Workers Are Infected; Six Have Died

14/02/2020 Editorial team

Egypt confirmed its first COVID-19 case on Friday, the first on the African continent, Egyptian media said, a report also confirmed by the World Health Organization’s Egypt office in a tweet. A Health Ministry statement said that it had informed WHO of the infection in a foreign national, who had been tested and then placed […] Continue reading ->

Over 30 Antiviral Drugs Being Tested Against Novel Coronavirus – As WHO Convenes Global Innovation Forum

10/02/2020 Elaine Ruth Fletcher

“We all have a vested interest to stop this epidemic,” says Thomas Cueni, Director General of the International Federation of Pharmaceutical Manufacturers and Associations (IFPMA). As WHO on Tuesday convenes a Global Research & Innovation Forum to rapidly ramp up R&D, Cueni spoke with Health Policy Watch about what he describes as “the extraordinary willingness […] Continue reading ->